Lifestyles of the Rich, Catholic Church Edition

You'll recall the Catholic Archbishop of Newark who has a taste for high living, and who was constructing a dream home courtesy of his fleeced flock.  Today, we're learning of another "Prince of the Church" who's living like a real prince in the Atlanta area:  Archbishop Wilton Gregory has taken a bequest from the estate of a wealthy parishioner and has bought a $2.2 million, 6,196 square foot mansion.  The archdiocese also purchased another $2.2 million estate (that was Gregory's home in the past) for a rectory.  Parishioners are unhappy that the needs of the poor were not the Archbishop's top priority.  Indeed.

It's baffling why these eminences of the Church haven't heeded Pope Francis' decree that they live simpler, less extravagant lives.  Perhaps instead of loading up on bling and big houses, they need to turn their attention not only to their leader's directions, but to Matthew 19:24:

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 

Crime Blotter, Red Beanie Edition

Hardly a day passes when a new scandal breaks in the Catholic Church hierarchy. Now, the senior Catholic Cardinal in the U.K., Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of Edinburgh and St. Andrews, has resigned amid allegations of 30 years of sexual misconduct by several priests. The 75 year old U.K. prelate was scheduled to retire in March, but Pope Benedict XVI speeded up O'Brien's departure, sparing the Pontiff from further embarrassment as his successor is about to be chosen as a result of his own resignation.

With Los Angeles' Cardinal Roger Mahony heading to Rome while facing serious charges that he covered up abuse by priests in his archdiocese and Boston's former Archbishop, pedophile protector Cardinal Bernard Law, firmly ensconced at the Vatican, the "princes of the Church" will certainly have a lot to reflect on.

Hypocrite Alert:  Of course, the carnal Cardinal O'Brien

"has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights, condemning homosexuality as immoral, opposing gay adoption, and most recently arguing that same-sex marriages would be 'harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved'. Last year he was named 'bigot of the year' by the gay rights charity Stonewall."

Let Us Stray

Young men may proceed to the rectory.....

Ryan's Rethug Budget Spanked By Catholics (Again)

Yep, Rethug Rep. Paul Ryan's going to Hell. Following Catholic bishops' denunciation of Ryan's Rethuglican "budget," we have more evidence that all is not lost in the Catholic Church:

“Our problem with Representative Ryan is that he claims his budget is based on Catholic social teaching,” said Jesuit Father Thomas J. Reese, one of the organizers of the letter. “This is nonsense. As scholars, we want to join the Catholic bishops in pointing out that his budget has a devastating impact on programs for the poor.” [...]

“I am afraid that Chairman Ryan’s budget reflects the values of his favorite philosopher Ayn Rand rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Father Reese. “Survival of the fittest may be okay for Social Darwinists but not for followers of the gospel of compassion and love.” (emphasis added)

Ninety Georgetown faculty and administrators signed the letter. Good for them and for the Church.

(Photo: "Rep. Ryan, report to Sister Mary Celeste for your punishment!")

"Machiavellian Maneuvering and Machinations"

No, not Congress. No, not Wall Street. No, not Fox "News." No, not the Rethuglican establishment, although you're getting warm. Guess again.

Contraception As A Wedge Issue: Catholic Church FAIL

Writes Andrew Sullivan in Newsweek:

"Most Catholics will be fine with this compromise, as are the Catholic Health Association and Planned Parenthood. But the bishops? They’ve gone out on a very long limb. This could be the moment when the culture-war tide finally turns and the social wedge issues long deployed so effectively by the Republican right begin to come back and bite them. [snip]

"...Contraception is popular. Even in conservative Mississippi, a recent ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to ban the morning-after pill failed badly at the polls. If this issue won’t work for the GOP in Mississippi, they’ll have a hard time winning a general election over it. And if the bishops think opposing Obama’s compromise will rally Catholics to their cause, they are even more out of touch than they realize. This will indeed become a wedge issue—between the bishops and their flocks. Yes, finally a social wedge issue that helps Democrats, not Republicans."

When I, a 63-year-old former Catholic, hear someone in the Catholic Church male hierarchy speak of "moral authority" or "religious freedom," I consider whether the Catholic Church was the "moral authority" or defended "religious freedom" in these cases:

-- the Crusades, Church-led murderous forays to recapture the Holy Lands from the Muslims;

-- the Inquisitions, wherein the most ghastly torture methods and murder were used for well over 6 centuries to "cleanse" Europe of non-Catholic believers, including Jews, Protestants and Muslims;

-- the Thirty Years' War, wherein the Church instigated the most horrific destruction and warfare not seen in Europe until that time, again to "cleanse" the continent of the new reformist movement, Protestantism;

-- its institutional anti-Semitism (i.e., the "Blood libel") up until recent decades;

-- its opposition to women's suffrage;

-- its tacit accommodation with the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe in the 1920's and 1930's;

-- its policy against the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS in Africa;

-- its policy opposing gay and lesbian marriage;

-- its opposition to the health care reform act; and

-- its repeated efforts to protect pedophile priests, cover up their illegal activity, and deny the victims the dignity of timely restitution.

"Moral authority?" "Religious freedom?" Who are they kidding?

Extremist Catholic Bishops Balk at Compromise

For your consideration:

"Yesterday, the USCCB offered two press releases on the announcement. The first was a cautious one, saying in essence 'we appreciate the first step, but we need time to look at the details.' The second and longer statement was much more blunt and disdainful. For instance, with regard to the changes announced yesterday, they say this (emphasis in the original):
'. . . in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer’s plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer.'" (Firedoglake)

And the kicker:

"Although Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York has been leading the national fight against requiring Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and charities to cover birth control in their health insurance plans for employees and students, some Catholic institutions in his own diocese and others throughout New York State have for 10 years been complying with state law mandating precisely that coverage.

"The state began requiring contraception coverage in 2002, and Catholic institutions, after losing a court battle over the issue, have followed the law. Historically Catholic institutions like Fordham University, which is run by a lay board of trustees in the tradition of the Jesuit religious order, provide contraception coverage for employees and students." (NY Times, via Hullabaloo)

Time to stop haggling with these pedophile-pampering extremists. These anachronisms have had more say about the health and well-being of women than they ought to have had in the first place.

Cartoon of the Day, Part Deux

(Click to enlarge)


(Mike Luckovich, via gocomics.com)

Holy Money Laundering!

While we were raised Catholics, I think I can safely speak for my brother Hackwhacker and myself in saying that we have... significant reservations about the conservative hierarchy of the Church, dating back, oh, at least a millennium -- the brief, shining moment that was the Papacy of John XXIII notwithstanding. Perhaps some of this has to do with its history (the Inquisition, alleged collusion with Fascists and Nazis, pedophilia, etc.) and some with its orthodoxy (birth control, a woman's right to choose, gay rights, AIDs in the developing world, etc.). In recent years, the American Catholic Church has often worked hand-in-glove with the Rethuglican Party, as the Tweedledee and Tweedledumb of reactionary policies. This has often happened through the auspices of the "Catholic League," a barely disguised front group for the Rethuglicans.

You must permit us a little sigh of satisfaction, then, with the news that the Italian financial police have seized $30 million in assets from the Vatican's bank account and is investigating several top bank officials in connection with a money-laundering probe. We wonder what the penance is for that? Three Hail Marys, two Our Fathers, and 10 years in prison?

(Photo: "Ciao, baby!")