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Sunday 19 August 2018

"It is time to admit that there is a homosexual subculture within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church"

Bishop Morlino of Madison has issued the strongest response to the latest exposé of perverts, predators and homosexuals and the cover up from the hierarchy. 

I note that in Canada, two bishops have commented, Archbishop Smith of Edmonton together with his Alberta colleagues, and Archbishop Miller of Vancouver

Two.

In all of Canada.


Image result for morlino madison
August 18, 2018

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ of the Diocese of Madison,

The past weeks have brought a great deal of scandal, justified anger, and a call for answers and action by many faithful Catholics here in the U.S. and overseas, directed at the Church hierarchy regarding sexual sins by bishops, priests, and even cardinals. Still more anger is rightly directed at those who have been complicit in keeping some of these serious sins from coming to light.

For my part – and I know I am not alone – I am tired of this. I am tired of people being hurt, gravely hurt! I am tired of the obfuscation of truth. I am tired of sin. And, as one who has tried – despite my many imperfections – to lay down my life for Christ and His Church, I am tired of the regular violation of sacred duties by those entrusted with immense responsibility from the Lord for the care of His people.

The stories being brought into light and displayed in gruesome detail with regard to some priests, religious, and now even those in places of highest leadership, are sickening. Hearing even one of these stories is, quite literally, enough to make someone sick. But my own sickness at the stories is quickly put into perspective when I recall the fact that many individuals have lived through them for years. For them, these are not stories, they are indeed realities. To them I turn and say, again, I am sorry for what you have suffered and what you continue to suffer in your mind and in your heart.

If you have not already done so, I beg you to reach out, as hard as that may be, and seek help to begin to heal. Also, if you’ve been hurt by a priest of our diocese, I encourage you to come forward, to make a report to law enforcement and to our Victim’s Assistance Coordinator, so that we might begin, with you as an individual, to try and set things right to the greatest extent possible.

There is nothing about these stories that is okay. These actions, committed by more than a few, can only be classified as evil, evil that cries out for justice and sin that must be cast out from our Church.

Faced with stories of the depravity of sinners within the Church, I have been tempted to despair. And why? The reality of sin – even sin in the Church – is nothing new. We are a Church made of sinners, but we are sinners called to sanctity. So what is new? What is new is the seeming acceptance of sin by some in the Church, and the apparent efforts to cover over sin by them and others. Unless and until we take seriously our call to sanctity, we, as an institution and as individuals, will continue to suffer the “wages of sin.”

For too long we have diminished the reality of sin – we have refused to call a sin a sin – and we have excused sin in the name of a mistaken notion of mercy. In our efforts to be open to the world we have become all too willing to abandon the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In order to avoid causing offense we offer to ourselves and to others niceties and human consolation.

Why do we do this? Is it out of an earnest desire to display a misguided sense of being “pastoral?” Have we covered over the truth out of fear? Are we afraid of being disliked by people in this world? Or are we afraid of being called hypocrites because we are not striving tirelessly for holiness in our own lives?

Perhaps these are the reasons, but perhaps it is more or less complex than this. In the end, the excuses do not matter. We must be done with sin. It must be rooted out and again considered unacceptable. Love sinners? Yes. Accept true repentance? Yes. But do not say sin is okay. And do not pretend that grave violations of office and of trust come without grave, lasting consequences.

For the Church, the crisis we face is not limited to the McCarrick affair, or the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, or anything else that may come. The deeper crisis that must be addressed is the license for sin to have a home in individuals at every level of the Church. There is a certain comfort level with sin that has come to pervade our teaching, our preaching, our decision making, and our very way of living.

If you’ll permit me, what the Church needs now is more hatred! As I have said previously, St. Thomas Aquinas said that hatred of wickedness actually belongs to the virtue of charity. As the Book of Proverbs says “My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate wickedness (Prov. 8:7).” It is an act of love to hate sin and to call others to turn away from sin.

There must be no room left, no refuge for sin – either within our own lives, or within the lives of our communities. To be a refuge for sinners (which we should be), the Church must be a place where sinners can turn to be reconciled. In this I speak of all sin. But to be clear, in the specific situations at hand, we are talking about deviant sexual – almost exclusively homosexual – acts by clerics. We’re also talking about homosexual propositions and abuses against seminarians and young priests by powerful priests, bishops, and cardinals. We are talking about acts and actions which are not only in violation of the sacred promises made by some, in short, sacrilege, but also are in violation of the natural moral law for all. To call it anything else would be deceitful and would only ignore the problem further.

There has been a great deal of effort to keep separate acts which fall under the category of now- culturally-acceptable acts of homosexuality from the publicly-deplorable acts of pedophilia. That is to say, until recently the problems of the Church have been painted purely as problems of pedophilia – this despite clear evidence to the contrary. It is time to be honest that the problems are both and they are more. To fall into the trap of parsing problems according to what society might find acceptable or unacceptable is ignoring the fact that the Church has never held ANY of it to be acceptable – neither the abuse of children, nor any use of one’s sexuality outside of the marital relationship, nor the sin of sodomy, nor the entering of clerics into intimate sexual relationships at all, nor the abuse and coercion by those with authority.

In this last regard, special mention should be made of the most notorious and highest in ranking case, that being the allegations of former-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s (oft-rumored, now very public) sexual sins, predation, and abuse of power. The well-documented details of this case are disgraceful and seriously scandalous, as is any covering up of such appalling actions by other Church leaders who knew about it based on solid evidence.

While recent credible accusations of child sexual abuse by Archbishop McCarrick have brought a whole slew of issues to light, long-ignored was the issue of abuse of his power for the sake of homosexual gratification.

It is time to admit that there is a homosexual subculture within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that is wreaking great devastation in the vineyard of the Lord. The Church’s teaching is clear that the homosexual inclination is not in itself sinful, but it is intrinsically disordered in a way that renders any man stably afflicted by it unfit to be a priest. And the decision to act upon this disordered inclination is a sin so grave that it cries out to heaven for vengeance, especially when it involves preying upon the young or the vulnerable. Such wickedness should be hated with a perfect hatred. Christian charity itself demands that we should hate wickedness just as we love goodness. But while hating the sin, we must never hate the sinner, who is called to conversion, penance, and renewed communion with Christ and His Church, through His inexhaustible mercy.

At the same time, however, the love and mercy which we are called to have even for the worst of sinners does not exclude holding them accountable for their actions through a punishment proportionate to the gravity of their offense. In fact, a just punishment is an important work of love and mercy, because, while it serves primarily as retribution for the offense committed, it also offers the guilty party an opportunity to make expiation for his sin in this life (if he willingly accepts his punishment), thus sparing him worse punishment in the life to come. Motivated, therefore, by love and concern for souls, I stand with those calling for justice to be done upon the guilty.

The sins and crimes of McCarrick, and of far too many others in the Church, bring suspicion and mistrust upon many good and virtuous priests, bishops, and cardinals, and suspicion and mistrust upon many great and respectable seminaries and so many holy and faithful seminarians. The result of the first instance of mistrust harms the Church and the very good work we do in Christ’s name. It causes others to sin in their thoughts, words, and deeds – which is the very definition of scandal. And the second mistrust harms the future of the Church, since our future priests are at stake.

I said that I was tempted to despair in light of all of this. However, that temptation quickly passed, thanks be to God. No matter how large the problem, we know that we are called to go forward in faith, to rely upon God’s promises to us, and to work hard to make every bit of difference we can, within our spheres of influence.

I have recently had the opportunity to talk directly with our seminarians about these very pressing matters, and I have begun to, and will continue to, talk with the priests of the diocese, as well as the faithful, in person and through my weekly column and homilies, making things as clear as I can, from my perspective. Here now, I offer a few thoughts to those of my diocese:
In the first place, we must continue to build upon the good work which we have accomplished in protecting the youth and vulnerable of our diocese. This is a work on which we can never rest in our vigilance, nor our efforts to improve. We must continue in our work of education for all and hold to the effective policies that have been implemented, requiring psychological exams for all candidates for ministry, as well as across-the-board background checks for anyone working with children or vulnerable individuals.

Here again, I state, as we have done consistently, if you have knowledge of any sort of criminal abuse of children by someone in the Church, contact law enforcement. If you need help in contacting law enforcement contact our Victim’s Assistance Coordinator and she will help connect you with the best resources. If you are an adult victim of sexual abuse from childhood, we still encourage you to reach out to law enforcement first, but even if you don’t want to, please still reach out to us.

To our seminarians: If you are unchastely propositioned, abused, or threatened (no matter by whom), or if you directly witness unchaste behavior, report it to me and to the seminary rector. I will address it swiftly and vigorously. I will not stand for this in my diocese or anywhere I send men for formation. I trust that the seminaries I choose, very discriminately, to help form our men will not ignore this type of scandalous behavior, and I will continue to verify that expectation.

To our priests: Most simply, live out the promises you made on your ordination day. You are called to serve Christ’s people, beginning with praying daily the Liturgy of the Hours. This is to keep you very close to God. In addition, you promised to obey and be loyal to your bishop. In obedience, strive to live out your priesthood as a holy priest, a hard working priest, and a pure and happy priest – as Christ Himself is calling you to do. And by extension, live a chaste and celibate life so that you can completely give your life to Christ, the Church, and the people whom he has called you to serve. God will give you the graces to do so. Ask Him for the help you need daily and throughout every day. And if you are unchastely propositioned, abused, or threatened (no matter by whom), or if you directly witness unchaste behavior, report it to me. I will not stand for this in my diocese any more than in our seminaries.

To the faithful of the diocese: If you are the victim of abuse of any kind by a priest, bishop, cardinal, or any employee of the Church, bring it forward. It will be addressed quickly and justly. If you have directly witnessed sexual advances or any type of abuse, bring it forward as well. Such actions are sinful and scandalous and we cannot allow anyone to use their position or power to abuse another person. Again, in addition to injuring individuals, these actions injure the very Body of Christ, His Church.

Furthermore, I add my name to those calling for real and sustained reform in the episcopate, priesthood, our parishes, schools, universities, and seminaries that would root out and hold accountable any would-be sexual predator or accomplice;

I will hold the priests of the diocese to their promise to live a chaste and celibate life of service to you and your parish, and evidence of failure in this regard will be justly addressed;

I will likewise hold every man studying for the priesthood for our diocese accountable to living a chaste and celibate life as part of his formation for the priesthood. Failure to do so will lead to dismissal from diocesan sponsorship;

I will continue to require (with our men and our funds) that all seminaries to which we send men to study be vigilant that seminarians are protected from sexual predators and provide an atmosphere conducive to their holistic formation as holy priests, in the image of Christ;

I ask all the faithful of the diocese to assist in keeping us accountable to civil authorities, the faithful in the pews, and to God Almighty, not only to protect children and the youth from sexual predators in the Church, but our seminarians, university students, and all the faithful as well. I promise to put any victim and their sufferings before that of the personal and professional reputation of a priest, or any Church employee, guilty of abuse;

I ask everyone reading this to pray. Pray earnestly for the Church and all her ministers. Pray for our seminarians. And pray for yourselves and your families. We must all work daily on our own personal holiness and hold ourselves accountable first and, in turn, hold our brothers and sisters accountable as well, and

Finally, I ask you all to join me and the entire clergy of the Diocese of Madison in making public and private acts of reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for all the sins of sexual depravity committed by members of the clergy and episcopacy. I will be offering a public Mass of reparation on Friday, September 14, the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross, at Holy Name Heights and I ask all pastors to do the same in their own parishes. In addition, I ask that all priests, clergy, religious, and diocesan employees join me in observing the upcoming Autumn Ember Days (Sep. 19, 21, and 22) as days of fasting and abstinence in reparation for the sins and outrages committed by members of the clergy and episcopacy and I invite all the faithful to do the same. Some sins, like some demons, can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.

This letter and these statements and promises are not intended to be an exhaustive list of what we can and need to do in the Church to begin to heal from, and stave off, this deep illness in the Church, but rather the next steps I believe we can take locally.

More than anything else, we as a Church must cease our acceptance of sin and evil. We must cast out sin from our own lives and run toward holiness. We must refuse to be silent in the face of sin and evil in our families and communities and we must demand from our pastors – myself included – that they themselves are striving day in and day out for holiness. We must do this always with loving respect for individuals but with a clear understanding that true love can never exist without truth.

Again, right now there is a lot of justified anger and passion coming from many holy and faithful lay people and clerics across the country, calling for real reform and “house cleaning” of this type of depravity. I stand with them. I don’t know yet how this will play out nationally or internationally. But I do know this, and I make this my last point and last promise, for the Diocese of Madison: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Faithfully yours in the Lord,

Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino

Bishop of Madison

19 comments:

Dan said...

Well I wonder how long it will be before he's destroyed.

Dan said...



"The Church’s teaching is clear that the homosexual inclination is not in itself sinful, but it is intrinsically disordered...." Of course this will have to be changed.

I had faith and spent hours each day in prayer, up to seeing how Francis and his disciples are doing everything they can to belittle and destroy the faith AND seeing how silently others stand by and let them.

STILL no one condemns the German bishops and Francis for not addressing the German bishops.

All I have left is bitterness and contempt.

This is a heiarchy that seeks to destroy men and women of faith and who have elevated faithless men to positions of power so that the "blander ingredients of the faith" will continue.

What exactly will be attractive about a Church that promotes almost the same things as Hollywood? Where children are taught to be afraid of friendly priests and all the nuns look like lesbians in pantsuits? Nothing!

I had faith. When I was a teen my entire family had decided the Catholic faith was a joke. I endured teasing from my own mother when I rode my bike across town to make it to mass and confession...

It took realizing that the shepherd's hold the faith in contempt, and knowing that IF there were any left that had any faith - they weren't going to do anything about it... that finally took mine.

I'm getting close to 60, so that's that. I suspect that NOTHING will change except for the fact that files will no longer be kept on complaints, just to avoid the possibility of being found.

I predict the shepherds will continue to destroy anything that we would recognize as the Catholic faith.

Ana Milan said...

Spoken like a true apostle of The Lord. Contrast this address with the Raymond Arroyo interview of ++Burke the other night &, more to the point, with the demonic silence of the entire Hierarchy. We know where PF stands so I disregard him, but no Catholic Bishop/Cardinal has spoken with such fervour for Christ & hatred of sin that Bishop Morlino. Now it is up to the laity of Madison Diocese to see that this wonderful shepherd they are so blessed to have is NOT driven off or his work & surveillance tampered with in any way. We, the laity, must speak in the defence of such shepherds if they find the nerve to make themselves known to us & rid the OHC&A Church of Christ of the demons planted there decades ago, whose names & titles are being revealed to us. I do not consider it incidental that such action is now beginning to take place wth the start of the Novena of Rosaries Coast to Coast in America & pray that by its culmination in October we will have seen the back of these vile perpetrators of the sin that cries to Heaven for vengeance. Only when this is accomplished can we look forward to a new dawn ushered in by Our Lady's Triumph.

Brian said...

Vox
Will Morino take action against homosexual culture among the priests of his own diocese? And that, of course goes as well, for the two Canadian bishops to which you linked. Not going to happen. Boilerplate statements of anguish and disgust over this Pennsylvania scandal are all fine and dandy. But what about the real house cleaning done with the courage and example of a St. Charles Borromeo. The homosexual culture within the hierarchy is not possible without a homosexual culture within the clergy at large. This pus runs deep. Widespread defrocking of homosexual clerics??? What bishops have such a backbone?

Domine libera nos a negligentia episcoporum.

M. Prodigal said...

This is good but many of us--even little pewsitters--have known about the infiltration of sodomites and heterodox individuals for many years. Of course, up until now, to speak of it or report it meant that you were either paid off or you were marginalized, persecuted, etc.

Tom A. said...

Modernism folks, that is the real enemy. This sodomite crisis is simply a symptom of the rot, not the cause. I doubt the good bishop is ready to speak out against the real enemy.

Kathleen1031 said...

Modernism does not rape boys. Bishops Morlino has put on the armor of God and defended Christ and His Bride. Of course we need to thank him and pray for him, and the people of his area should be ready to stand by him and support him. He has stood up among this wolves and said, no more, and for this we need to be very grateful! We only have a tiny insight into how rough this will be for him now. How we have longed to hear such defense, and such a statement of not just "sorrow" which is meaningless.

It is a scandal, and corrupting, to read the accounts of these boys and young men. Catholics do not run to sordid details, but I encourage all to make it a point to fully understand from the reports of these boys what has been done to them, and, the life long effect which is devastating. When I keep the image formed in my mind of what these perverts have done, I have a firm resolution to stay with this and do whatever I can to help rout them out of our church. It is also why we can't say the problem is modernism, it may be modernism in it's origin, but these boys and young men suffered rape and sodomy and corruption, by a man WE put in place to represent GOD. This is so evil as to be unspeakable if it weren't necessary. We must face this and not dodge it, out of respect for God and these boys and young men. They have suffered enough.

Dan, you didn't come this far to let these men rob you of your faith. Why let them have that victory. If your mother fell into mud, would you say you are too dirty for me and I will not help you! We have things out of our control and must rely on God alone, but God has no other hands but ours. Do what we CAN, even commenting on blogs is something, don't let it rest, remind others this is a homosexual problem in our priesthood and you want it fixed, petition your state AG to form a grand jury for your state to uncover racketeering and criminality in our church, support the good bishops like Bishop Morlino, pray more, learn your faith more, demand changes to the seminary process, etc. We must put on the armor of God also. It does not mean we can't protest, we do not have to go to Mass and sit there like dummies, or financially support this apostate church. Being Catholic may look different from here on in, but so be it. We can't live in Disneyworld as long as our priests and bishops are buggering boys on a grand scale. Fight it, and fight it with resolve. Faith is going to be sorely tested now, dig in and be determined you will not be robbed of it in addition to everything else they have taken.

TLM said...

Excellent Kathleen! I as well perceive Bishop Morleno's response to be authentically heartfelt. Pray for him that the knives don't come out for him as he so directly blamed this abuse on homosexuality. He is the ONLY prelate that I have seen so far in hitting the nail on the head. BTW, in his Diocese he greatly encourages the Traditional Mass and celebrates it himself, but as far as I understand, has asked every Parish in his Diocese to include it. He's a 'straight shooter'. May God Bless him with perseverance and courage for the days ahead and Bless us, his lowly ones with the same!! We MUST put on our armor fully to fight the demons within our midst.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in you. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Anonymous said...

FYI, Abp. Prendergast of Ottawa has an article in the Ottawa Sun: https://ottawasun.com/opinion/columnists/prendergast-going-forward-its-important-to-seek-the-truth-no-matter-how-painful-or-shameful-it-is

Anonymous said...

I am relieved and grateful to see Bishop Miller declare his dioceses intentions.

The Church has accommodated homosexuals instead of calling them to confession and repentance. It's time for all pastors to speak of the Church's teaching from their pulpits each day and on Sundays. This is the only way many of the faithful will learn the beauty of Our Holy Catholic Church's teachings and beliefs.

Tom A. said...

Modernism does much worse than rape boys, it leads souls to hell.

Anonymous said...

Brian said,
"Boilerplate statements of anguish and disgust over this Pennsylvania scandal are all fine and dandy. But what about the real house cleaning done with the courage and example of a St. Charles Borromeo."

I agree. The Canadian Church needs to be cleansed. It will be painful, shocking and deeply disappointing. But Jesus is purifying His bride, and she will be more beautiful than we could've imagined.
Br. A

Anonymous said...

So now Pope Francis is sending Bishop Scicluna here to "investigate". From the comments I have read...people are concerned he is coming to retrieve the secret archives in the various Diocese.
Apparently there is real fear in the Vatican that the Fed AG Sessions will launch a Rico Suit.
I pray he does.

Anonymous said...

In two months' time GB Montini will be sainted by the apostate in the throne of Peter. Don't be too happy yet.

Peter Lamb said...

Sodomy in the "church" is not the problem. It is simply one of the strategies implanted by the judeo-masons in their satanic battle against the Catholic Church. It has been very effective in its aim of causing scandal, despair and loss of Faith. Let this good Bishop go the whole hog and denounce the heresies of vatican II and of the false conciliar popes. Let him lead his Faithful away from the false novus ordo church back to indefectible Catholicism. Which does greater damage to the flock at large - sodomite priests, or false Religion with invalid Mass and Sacraments? Let him obey St. Paul and have done with heretics. Let him renounce his allegiance to demon bergoglio. Let him join the faithful Bishops in the fields. Then he will have laid down his life for Christ.

Anonymous said...

+JMJ+

Why didn't Bishop Morlino and the others two bishops in Alberta speak out a decade ago? Or even five years ago?? Why now??? The answer seems obvious. Pressure from the pews, and the media, post-Pittsburgh Report.

People in the pews have known for decades, and called it out, when they saw it. There have been books written about all these repulsive actions that never got a response like Bishop Morlino's. Why? The report from Pittsburgh, all the reports from L.A. and other parts of Calif... The reports fro the archdiocese of NY... And now, bishops are "speaking out"? Calls for all the bishops to resign are already making the MSM...

It's too late, now. The perpetrators and their allies far outnumber Morlino, and other bishops like him. Even Bruskewitz Lincoln Diocese had issues. But the grand jury investigations will continue, as the secular powers-that-be smell blood. This may be the only way to out these rotters. Seems the Church itself, refuses...

God's Ways, are not the Church's Ways, these days. Or so it seems...

James

Tom A. said...

Peter, it is much easier for people to be outraged when the evil is done against the innocents. That riles up even the passions of the pagans and rightly so. But where was the outrage and passion when the Church turned its back on God and dethroned His Kingship at Vatican 2? Where is the outrage when so many "traditionalists" continue to blaspheme the Pure Spotless Bride of Christ, Holy Mother Church by insisting that the marxist heresiarch Bergolio is actually Christ's Vicar on Earth. It makes a mockery of Christ's promise to the Church. Same goes for the ecumenical heresiarchs Montini, Wojtyla, and Ratzinger. I am not surprised the least that the conciliar false church is infested with sodomites. I am only shocked at how many give these sodomite modernists the honor of refering to them as priests or bishops.

Anonymous said...

https://www.traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/A795-Kiss.htm

Joseph Ostermeir said...

I think the immediate cause is homosexuality, but the root cause is the modernist revolution, which explains why this clerical crisis is so pervasive, protected, and ideological.