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Sunday 31 January 2016

Only one bishop?


Monsignor Bregantini, don’t you feel a bit alone? You are the only bishop in this piazza. Is the Church split then on Family day?
Nobody came here in someone else’s name; we had the free choice to come or not and I decided to be here. I came because I felt the need to be beside my people along with the many other people who believe in the family. Certainly, it would have been wonderful to see other bishops in this piazza.

And why didn’t it happen?
On the one hand because they wanted it to be the lay people to do the talking; but on the other, perhaps it’s easier not being here, not exposing oneself…

Part the Second on the $400,000.00 "plus shipping" Holy-Moly Doors at Toronto's Our Lady of Sorrows Church

My international readers will pardon a local story, or be amused by it.

A few weeks ago, I posted a story about new doors on Toronto's Our Lady of Sorrows Church. I was told about these a few months ago, their unsuitability on the Church. I drove by to take a look a few weeks ago. The story of the new doors remained pretty quite until Toronto's archdiocesan owned Catholic Register (funded by a "surtax" from the cathedraticum, the parish tax levied on the collection plate, in case one wonders how it survives in the age of blogs) reported on it with a photo and a note underneath, "the new $400,000.00 doors." 


Yes, that is right, $400,000.00 (plus or including shipping)  for two doors.




Now, I am the first to give glory to God through fine things and beautiful churches and art. Yet, the most beautiful liturgy could be celebrated on a rock or in a barn with possibly more edification; given the state of the Church today and the manner in which Her liturgy is celebrated by priests and treated by people, that is more likely the case.


The original doors can be seen on this painting by Toronto artist David Crighton. One is impressed by the symmetry and playfulness between the coffered doors and round stain-glassed windows beside them. 

A commenter is quite annoyed with me for shining some light on the doors and the cost. 


From the combox of the post highlighted above:



"I'm going anonymous with my reply as I live in fear of Vox and his rapier fingertips."
I suspect that my anonymous friend does not like the fact that blogs allow the faithful to stand up to these clericalists. Think of what our parents and grandparents could have done with the knowledge and tools a half-century ago to stop the wreckovators from destroying our historic churches. Here in Toronto, few High Altars survive and only one intact communion rail and it was only a wrought iron affair in a suburban 1950's era church. The fine wood and marble, including the one here at Our Lady of Sorrows were smashed or used as parking curbs. Perhaps my writer should ask how that happened and how the mensa in this fine church was destroyed. 

"Take a look at the last picture. The door (singular) was a gift to the parish from a group of wealthy Catholics within the Archdiocese, including several wealthy parish families."

I am very happy that "wealthy Catholics" contribute to the development and beautification of our churches but there is a larger issue. Did these "wealthy Catholics" specifically ask to spend their money on bronze doors or did someone in the parish go shopping for the bronze doors and seek out the money later to pay for them? Is this money that could have helped other parishes meet their Family of Faith goal? Was it good stewardship to spend the generous gift of our "wealthy Catholic" on two new and unnecessary doors? There was nothing wrong with the existing doors and they suited the building's original Lombard design.

"It was NOT purchased with Family of Faith dollars (The Archdiocesan long-term funding strategy and Pastoral Plan - Vox) and thus NOT by unknowing Sorrows parishioners at large."

Ah, I see, so you have been getting pressure from the little people as to the accountability of the campaign. Then good that I am doing this, you should thank me now as they will know that it was other peoples $400,000.00 that went for these doors. 
"This is fact. More facts: The door was created in Italy by one of the foremost sculptors of our time, Ernesto Lamagna (www.ernestolamagna.it), former secretary for sculpture at the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters."
How wonderful for this sculptor. I am glad that you chose excellence over a Canadian. I visited his website, I'm not terribly impressed though I imagine some are. So what? The point is they were not necessary, they do not suit the building and they were $400,000.00!
"He has created masterpieces for many Catholic churches around the world. The panels, frame (and keys!) are cast bronze and, as one might well imagine, weigh a whole lot (sorry but I don't have a number - suffice to say that the crane and crew struggled). The shipping alone amounted to tens of thousands of dollars. Plus installation."
Yes, it must have been quite the undertaking, I trust the walls can support them. You admit that the cost was "Tens of thousands of dollars" for "shipping alone?" So, is that on top of the $400,000.00? Are we now looking at say, oh, I don't know ... $450,000.00? What the heck, why don't we just say a half million? 

"The door is a piece of fine art. Eye of the beholder, remember? These eyes behold a beautiful work that matches astonishingly well with the architecture of the church."
They don't actually. The wood coffered oak doors designed by the architect were in the Lombardy Style and were designed for the building. They reflected elements of the interior ceiling as the doors did to the ceiling at St. Pius X Church on the same street one parish east...Oh, wait, they spent a few hundred thousand tearing out the original ceiling for angels with faces painted replicating parishioners ... what am I thinking!
"It tells two moving stories remarkably well. It will be something people come to see, study, photograph and write about for generations. And you, dear reader... Have you come to see the door? The parish and indeed the archdiocese, is blessed to have it."

I've seen it from the street, that was enough. Yes, a work of art they are, they do not suit the building, nobody should have spent a half million dollars on two doors! 

"In 1964/65 many cried foul at the exorbitant cost of the pipe organ ($37,500)" 

Indeed as I indicated, a Casavant and the finest tracker organ in Canada. A masterwork for the Glory of God and His praise in the liturgy and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; a thing desirable for solemn worship.
"and many more hated the mosaics and were shocked by their cost."
They are beautiful and tell the story of the rosary and the Life of Christ and His sorrowful Mother. We have been decorating ceilings and walls with biblical stories since the catacombs. They catechise. they inspire, they help contemplate. They keep a daydreaming mind of a simple human being focussed on all that is holy. Doors do not, once you're in, you're in. 
Beautiful things - be they a pipe organ, marble panels, mosaics, a bespoke icon,
Bespoke? My such an erudite word. That icon was not necessary, what was removed for it was necessary, the Altar Cross original to the reredos was relegated to a side wall, no additional art or colour was necessary in this Church, art for art's sake is not what is needed when what is lacking is proper worship and catechesis! Were you ashamed by the crucified Lord?
"or a door - COST MONEY. How much money is reflective of the times in which they are acquired. "
What soul will be saved by sitting and contemplating the doors. If you care so much about St. Michael the Archangel then recite the prayer after Mass. Did you know the Cardinal Archbishop of this place tried to get the priests of Toronto to do this until he was scorned by them as the prayer was "so negative." True story! 
"Oh and the carpet is burgundy, not brown, and is cleaned regularly, thank you very much. It will be removed soon enough in favour of a newly restored sanctuary floor."
How wonderful and while you're at it, restore the wrecked and discarded marble communion rail and encourage people to kneel to receive Our Lord. You might also consider the mensa on what was the High Altar and how about a conference in the parish on the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite so that it might take place there every Sunday. How about the Ordinary Form celebrated "ad orientem" as it was intended and the GIRM calls for if you actually read it? How about homilies by visiting priests that don't undermine the teaching of the Church on the family. (I do have a recording, after all) 
Looking forward to Vox's take on Renovations: Phase Two - 'The Cube'. Should be quite a ride (and read!) 
Is that a hint on what you will do with the Altar? Perhaps you should publish a picture or rendering on the webpage of the plan for the sanctuary.
Original doors courtesy of C.VanderWouden Photography
Should the good people at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish desire to have the Mass celebrated according to the Missal of 1962, the Traditional Latin Mass, that is their right. I urge them to contact Una Voce Toronto at unavocetoronto@gmail.com if they would like to learn more and to speak to their Pastor about Summorum Pontificum. They also have the right to received Holy Communion on the tongue and to kneel to receive the Lord should they so desire. 

As for the next phase, if they do not know now what is planned, perhaps they should make some inquiries about "The Cube."

They should also listen carefully to certain homilies and know that if a priest tells them that the "family" is something other than what the Church has always taught, even should society or the state call it so, it is not the case and know that St. Domenic would not be amused.

Saturday 30 January 2016

Edmonton Eparchial Bishop David Motiuk deceived and aided "trans" activist thereby undermining Bishop Fred Henry

The politically socio-fascist government in the Canadian province of Alberta is forcing a radical homosexualist and so-called "transgendered" agenda on Catholic schools there.Bishop Fred Henry has been leading the charge against this totalitarian agenda.

In October, I posted the article below from LifeSiteNews. An activist by the name of Marcel Parnas who is a man suffering under a belief that he is a woman and married to a woman (he got that part right, at least) was instrumental in the government's policy development.

The article below from last October shows the diabolical disorientation of Ukrainian Catholic Bishop David Motiuk, who rather than correct Mr. Parnas,confirmed him in his error emboldening him to aid the government in its attack on Catholics leaving Bishop Henry alone to defend the truth. 


That will be one mighty heavy millstone.

Transgender activist claims Catholic bishop supported transition to female: permitted to teach Sunday School

EDMONTON, Alberta, October 16, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) -- A biologically male transgender activist who says he is now female is claiming that his transition is not only supported by his local Ukrainian Catholic bishop, but that he has been encouraged to continue receiving Holy Communion and has been assured that when he dies, he will receive the Christian Rite of Burial as a ‘she.’

Will the Apostolic Exhortation serve to undermine "the natural moral law"?

Dates are important as are symbols. When Pope Francis issued his motu proprio watering-down the annulment process, that he signed it on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, issued it on her Nativity day and brought it into force on the feast of her Immaculate Conception. I heard speculation here in Toronto and then articulated by a contact in Rome that the Pope had chosen March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, as the date for the release of the apostolic exhortation on the family. Dates are indeed important and I wrote on the potential of that date last weekThe rumour has been also been stated now by Edward Pentin.  



Did  your read that?


A recognized moral theologian has said he was "deeply disturbed" and that the document would undermine that "natural moral law."


Pentin is not an alarmist; his credentials are solid. So, we wait and in the meantime we pray and ensure that we do not let up one iota on our protest, denouncement and resistance to what we expect is coming. If we are wrong and it is does not happen, then we will know that we were right and did our job because every indication is that the worst will happen.

And then, all hell will break loose, quite literally I should think.

St. Joseph, intercede for the Church!

Friday 29 January 2016

Militant homosexual and anti-Catholic New Ways "ministry" persecutes Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary

The heretical, so called "ministry," New Ways, which is nothing more than a political front for the homosexualist movement to undermine the Catholic faith and morality has come out against Bishop Fred Henry and his courageous statements to Calgary's Catholics and the fascist totalitarianists of Alberta's NDP government. 

Barona asks a good question and has all the details at "Why were they invited to the Synod on the Family?"

http://torontocatholicwitness.blogspot.ca/2016/01/militant-homosexual-organization-new.html

I want to ask this!

"Who gave them press credentials?"



Thursday 28 January 2016

What are we are left to conclude about Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.?

Just another day in the Dominican universe, or so it seems.

There is a Eucharistic Congress going on in the Philippines. I've intentionally not blogged about it to give no publicity to the speakers there including this Dominican.  


Timothy Radcliffe, come out, ... and bring your friends with you.

His pictures tell much including the fact that he is desperate need of a hairbrush and some personal grooming.

See also:

The Homosexual Dominicans and their attack on the Catholic Church.
http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-homosexual-dominicans-and-their.html

Timothy Radcliffe's heresy and vulgarity on his "eucharistic sodomy" is not new, was Pope Francis aware of it or not?
http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/2015/05/timothy-radcliffes-heresy-and-vulgarity.html

Pope Francis appoints "gay sex" advocate Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. to Pontifical Council
http://voxcantor.blogspot.ca/2015/05/pope-francis-appoints-gay-sex-advocate.html


FR. RADCLIFFE: CHURCH MUST BE OPEN TO GAYS
NEWS: WORLD NEWS
by Christine Niles  •  ChurchMilitant.com  •  January 27, 2016    97 Comments

CEBU, Philippines (ChurchMilitant.com) - Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., former head of the worldwide Dominican order, is saying Catholics "must be open to gay people."
Kicking off the 51st Eucharistic Congress in Cebu, The Philippines, Sunday, Radcliffe was the first speaker and discussed "The Christian Virtue of Hope." At an interview given at the event, Fr. Radcliffe offered his thoughts on the Church and homosexuals.

Lutheran heretic "bishop" declares Pope has Catholic "enemies" limiting his freedom to speak - Bishop Kiss Me is back at work!

In Edward Pentin's National Catholic Register report on the scandalous provision of Holy Communion to Lutheran heretics there was a paragraph that seems to have escaped attention:




Mr. Salmi
What does Mr. Salmi mean by "unity between different denominations?" He states that the Bishop of Rome "repeatedly indicated" it. Is Salmi a liar or is it true? If it is true, what does the occupant on the Seat of Peter think about the Church, that She is just one of many "denominations?" That those who separated from Her need to returning? Is this not true ecumenism

More concerning of course is the homosexualist Salmi's next disclosure, that "Pope Francis has theological enemies" and that he "may be limited in how freely he can speak."


Should we presume that this is something that the Pope indicated to Salmi in a private conversation? as that is the take-away from such a statement - "Help, they're keeping me prisoner." 


Does Mr. Salmi think that it is Catholics against the Pope? One would have to assume that since he mentions "theological enemies in the Vatican" one must conclude, based on the evidence in front of us, that it is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or other "Catholics" who Francis who seem to intimidated the Pope into not speaking his mind.


Well, either Mr. Salmi is a liar or he is right based upon his report of his meetings with Francis. If he is right, and this is what the Pope thinks, then the Pope must reassess what it is he thinks about Catholic Theology.  


Frankly, (pardon the pun) Pope Francis seems to have no fear or limit to what he says.


One cannot be at war with oneself unless you are suffering under a serious mental defect or condition, and that may very well be the case. It is against the Law of Non-contradiction. You are either Catholic or you are not and that goes for laity and Pope alike.


Read now what Victor Manuel Fernandez had to say. If that is not someone you recall, this will help. He is the Pope's "ghostwriter" of Evangelii Gaudium, Laudato Si and presumably the Apostolic Exhortation on the Family, now moving back and forth between Francis and the CDF. He is also the author The Art of Kissing

This warped prelate is also suspected to be writing the Apostolic Exhortation expected soon according to Rorate. How bad will it be given what we've seen already from this errant cleric.

So, where is the truth? Is it as Mr. Salmi states or Archbishop Kissing? And who was that "powerful and influential man" that McCarrick spoke about who said, "Bergoglio can put us back on track." 

For those who say there is no crisis, I have some ice to sell in Nunavut.

Trusted theologian says Francis is stronger than adversaries inside the curia

Robert Mickens, Rome


The theologian widely acknowledged as the principal ghostwriter of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, says the Jesuit pontiff has already begun changing the Church in ways that cannot be reversed.
Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, rector of the Catholic University of Argentina, said that, even if the pope’s adversaries tried to turn back the clock in the next pontificate, the People of God would not stand for it.
“The people are with (Francis) and not with his few adversaries,” he said in an exclusive published Sunday in the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera.
The 52-year-old Fernandez is one of the pope’s principal theological advisers. Francis, who had to fight Vatican opposition to name his fellow countryman university rector in 2009, appointed the theologian titular archbishop only two months after he became pope.
The archbishop said the 78-year-old Jesuit pope is patiently laying the groundwork for reforms that cannot be undone. 
“No, there’s no turning back,” he told the paper’s highly respected political analyst, Massimo Franco.
“If and when Francis is no longer pope, his legacy will remain strong,” the archbishop said.
“For example, the pope is convinced that the things he’s already written or said cannot be condemned as an error. Therefore, in the future anyone can repeat those things without fear of being sanctioned,” he added.
Archbishop Fernandez is one of the leading theological aides to the pope, who last year was appointed to a special commission inside the Synod of Bishops.
Below is our English translation of the bulk of his interview in the May 10 edition of Corriere della Sera.
*********
Archbishop Fernandez, in the two years since the pontificate began has resistance to the pope inside the Vatican increased or diminished?
“I don’t live in Rome and I can only talk about what I see when I go there. You have to make distinctions. I saw that some people in Rome were shocked at first, but now they understand the meaning of what Francis is calling for and they’re happy to be part of this path (he’s set out) for the Church, and they are helping the pope. Others tend to say: we’ll do what we can, go along with him as long as he’s here, because in the end he’s the pope. This group seems to be in the majority, even though I can’t confirm that. Others — really just a few — are, instead, going their own way. And from what one can see, they tend to ignore Francis’ teachings.”
Could you give us an example?
“I’ve read that some people say the Roman Curia is an essential part of the Church’s mission, or that a Vatican prefect is the sure compass that prevents the Church from falling into ‘light’ thought; or that this prefect ensures the unity of the faith and guarantees a serious theology for the pope. But Catholics, reading the Gospel, know that Christ assured special guidance and enlightenment for the pope and bishops all together, but not for a prefect or another structure. When you hear such things it almost seems as if the pope were their representative, or was someone who came to cause trouble and needs to be controlled.”
It doesn’t seem like that’s a line that’s being followed, though.
“It’s not, because most of the People of God love Francis. Maybe the council of nine cardinals could help to better clarify how far the jurisdiction of the most important prefects extends. But the thing that worries me most is that theologians are not offering new analyses on the Church, the theological reasons for its structures, the jurisdiction of national and regional episcopal conferences and the proper place of the Roman Curia in relation to the pope and the College of Bishops.
Some say Francis is isolated. Do you think that’s true?
“Not at all. The people are with him and not with his few adversaries. This pope first filled St. Peter’s Square with crowds and then began changing the Church. Above all, for this reason he is not isolated. The people sense in him the fragrance of the Gospel, the joy of the Spirit, the closeness of Christ and thus they feel the Church is like their home. But I would also say that he has a wide circle of people from whom he asks advice on various issues. He listens to more people than just those in the dicasteries of the curia, and in this way he is closer to the different voices in the Church and in society. I’m referring to those people he receives at Casa Santa Marta, to the requests that arrive in letters, to the encounters in the squares. It’s exactly for this reason that today the Church is listened to more in the international debates and world leaders look at her with great respect.”
No doubt, and in a deep and clear way, especially at the beginning. And yet, more recently, there’s a certain anxiety. Thing are proceeding more slowly. The reform of the curia seems to be stalled.
“The pope goes slow because he wants to be sure that the changes have a deep impact. The slow pace is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the changes. He knows there are those hoping that the next pope will be turn everything back around. If you go slowly it’s more difficult to turn things back. He makes this clear when he says ‘time is greater than space.’”
When Francis says he will have a short pontificate doesn’t this help his adversaries?
“The pope must have his reasons, because he knows very well what he’s doing. He must have an objective that we don’t understand yet. You have to realize that he is aiming at a reform that is irreversible. If one day he should intuit that he’s running out of time and he doesn’t have enough time to do what the Spirit is asking him, you can be sure he will speed up.”
Would it be possible to have a pope without Vatican or away from the Vatican?
“The Roman Curia is not an essential structure. The pope could even go and live away from Rome, have a dicastery in Rome and another one in Bogota, and perhaps link-up by teleconference with liturgical experts that live in Germany. Gathered around the pope, in a theological sense, is the College of Bishops in order to serve the people.”
Aren’t you worried that his pontificate will quickly be tossed aside after he’s no longer pope?
“No, there’s no turning back. If and when Francis is no longer pope, his legacy will remain strong. For example, the pope is convinced that the things he’s already written or said cannot be condemned as an error. Therefore, in the future anyone can repeat those things without fear of being sanctioned. And then the majority of the People of God with their special sense will not easily accept turning back on certain things.”
Don’t you see the risk of “two Churches”?
“No. There’s a schism when a group of important people share the same sensibilities that reflect those of a vast section of society. Luther and Protestantism came about that way. But now the overwhelming majority of the people are with Francis and they love him. His opponents are weaker than what you think. Not pleasing everyone does not mean provoking a schism.”
Isn’t this idea of the pope having a direct rapport with the people something risky, while the Church’s ecclesiastical class feels marginalized?
“But the Church is the People of God guided by their pastors. Cardinals could disappear, in the sense that they are not essential. The pope and the bishops are essential. Then again, it is impossible that everything a pope does and says will please everyone. Did everyone like Benedict XVI? Unity does not depend on unanimity.
Do you think a conclave would re-elect Francis today?
“I don’t know, possibly not. But it happened, and everything one could image before or after the conclave is not important. The only thing that matters and that’s important is that the voting is done in the conclave, with the special assistance of the Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit guides the conclave and you cannot contradict the Holy Spirit. If some (cardinals) now have regrets it doesn’t change anything.”
Do you think Francis could be forced to leave Casa Santa Marta for security reasons, because of a terrorist attack by Islamic fundamentalists?
“He doesn’t think like that. And I haven’t found any decisive arguments for that to happen. Then again, I think those that organize these big attacks have a certain intelligence and are able to distinguish between the United States of Bush and the Vatican. Certainly, there could be an isolated fanatic … No, I think Francis will remain at Casa Santa Marta, strong and with great confidence.

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Bishop Fred Henry - A man with a pair ... (of letters)

The first one is here!

The new letter is below. Bishop Fred Henry is responding to the totalitarian actions of the socialist government in Alberta attempting to force the homosexualist and transgendered agenda on Catholic schools. The trustees and school board chairs have shown themselves to be defiant and badly catechized Catholics. The bishops are reaping what they have sowed and it is hard to be sympathetic to them for their half century of catechetical malfeasance.

Still, one must appaud when it is meet to do and Bishop Fred Henry must be supported in prayer and in action.

God bless him, I say.




Totalitarianism in Alberta - Part II
In my recent Pastoral Letter, I wrote that the Alberta Government Gender Guidelines issued on January 13 show no evidence of consultation with, or sensitivity to, the Catholic community. They breathe pure secularism. This approach and directive smack of the madness of relativism and the forceful imposition of a particular narrow-minded anti-Catholic ideology.

If you are reading this piece in the hopes of discovering an apology and/or a retraction, you might as well stop reading right now. That's simply not going to happen.

I have received considerable support for what I said and the way in which I said it. Nevertheless, there were a few "nay-sayers" ­ some have called for my resignation, others have resorted to unpublishable name calling, and of course, there were several references to the famous catch-all these days, "Who are you to judge?" The later suggesting that I was espousing a teaching contrary to the openness of Pope Francis.

In point of fact, Pope Francis has said quite a bit about gender. "The acceptance of our bodies as God's gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the ­Father and our common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one's own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment. It is not a healthy attitude which would seek to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it" [Laudato Si 155].

Furthermore, in Sacred Scripture there are different but interrelated sets of texts about judgment. Without attempting to be exhaustive, there are at least three that are especially noteworthy:

1) Warnings about judgment: "Stop judging that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged...." This is not an injunction against judgment, but a warning that the judgment should be rendered with a good heart free from hypocrisy, arrogance, meanness of spirit, or hate. Consequently, "remove the beam from your own eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye." The principal purpose of a judgment is to help a brother or sister avoid debilitating actions and improve. The awesome burden of judging is the realization that we will be "judged as we have judged." Some cite the incident of the woman caught in adultery and brought to Jesus by those who would stone her as evidence that we should not judge others. Nothing could be further from the truth. The incident manifests God's mercy and loathing of hypocrisy, but he did judge her behavior as evidenced by his admonition: "Go and sin no more."

2) Instances of judgment abound: ­Peter to Simon the magician "...for your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness of yours... for I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chain of wickedness" [Acts 8: 20-23]. Paul to Elymas, "you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right, full of every sort of deceit and fraud. Will you not stop twisting the straight paths of the Lord?" [Acts 13:9-10]; and Paul to Peter, "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he clearly was wrong" [Gal 2:11].

3) Cautions particularly to overseers or leaders about judgments: "Thus says the Lord: you, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me if I tell the wicked, 'oh, wicked one, you shall surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked one from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself" [Ezekiel 33: 7-9].
Paul's advice to Timothy is difficult for some of us: "Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant, correcting opponents with kindness. It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to their senses out of the devil's snare, where they are entrapped by him, for his will" [2 Tim 2: 23-26].

Only God can judge the state of the human soul but it is pure nonsense to suggest we cannot and should not judge human behaviour. Reluctance to judge moral behaviour is the inevitable consequence of moral relativism and moral subjectivism that has eroded confidence in the ability to determine objective moral truth on which sound judgment is based.

The last word on this subject belongs to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: "How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves ­ thrown from one extreme to the other.... Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error [cf Ephesians 4, 14].

Having a clear Faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labelled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires. However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an 'Adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties.

A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth" [Way of the Cross in 2005 for Good Friday].

F. B. Henry
Bishop of Calgary


Bishop Henry can be reached at:
bishop.henry@calgarydiocese.ca

Telephone: (403) 218-5526
Fax:              (403) 264-0272

How wonderful that his brother Bishops in Canada are lining up behind him. Oh, you mean they're contacting him and encouraging him and offering Mass for him, just not speaking out and standing beside him? 

Oh, well; I guess the dog's got them.