Thank you for telling us about your experience. It must be so difficult to persevere as a holy priest. I pray for them.
Ann Barnhadt had made the point several times on her blog that apparently 'traditional' priests are often part of the homosexual cliques that have established themselves in the Church and that we should all be aware of the fact. She told the story of a young traditional priest who was visiting Rome and was invited by a well known 'traditional' bishop based in the Vatican to a meeting. The young priest was very keen to meet the bishop and an appointment was made. The young priest said that, to his horror and great surprise, the bishop 'made a move' on him within minutes of the commencement of the meeting. We just don't know who is part of this infiltration but there must be many more wolves hiding among those who are least suspected. We are left not knowing who to trust.
Makes good sense when taking all the history here into consideration: The unfair, anti-Catholic conviction of Cardinal George Pell No one with a sense of justice can fail to be outraged when, in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a jury in Maycomb, Ala., bows to social pressure and convicts an innocent man of a crime he couldn’t have committed. Something similar took place last month in real-world Melbourne, Australia, where Cardinal George Pell was falsely and perversely convicted on charges of “historic sexual abuse” dating to the 1990s. The facts of the case have been hard to come by, owing to a media gag order issued by the trial judge. A journalistic feeding frenzy has long surrounded Pell, the former Catholic archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney and later the Vatican’s chief financial officer. The trial judge was rightly concerned that opening the proceedings would make it impossible for Pell to get a fair trial on charges he forcefully denies. That order has left Australians largely in the dark. But certain facts are known, and others can be reasonably inferred. The cardinal’s first trial ended in a hung jury, with 10 of 12 jurors in favor of acquittal. In the retrial, the defense again demonstrated that it was physically impossible for the alleged abuse of two choirboys (one now deceased) to have occurred, given the layout and security arrangements of Melbourne’s Catholic cathedral and the fact that the choir and Pell were in two different places when the abuse was alleged to have occurred. Pell, moreover, was always surrounded by others at the cathedral that day in 1996. Why the Melbourne police never took the trouble to investigate these exculpatory facts is one of several mysteries in this sordid affair. The retrial jury took days to reach a verdict, during which the jurors asked the trial judge for instructions on how evidence should be considered. That an overwhelming vote for acquittal at the first trial was then flipped to a unanimous verdict for conviction invites the inference that the jury chose to ignore evidence that the alleged crimes couldn’t have happened. Legal authorities can debate some of the curiosities of the criminal justice system in Melbourne. Why, for example, can’t a defendant request a bench trial by a judge alone, when a prejudicial public atmosphere makes the selection of an impartial jury virtually impossible? How can a crime alleged to have been committed 22 years ago be prosecuted without any corroborating evidence that it occurred? How can charges be brought when the public authorities could have easily determined that the alleged abuse couldn’t have happened, because the victims and the alleged perpetrator were never in close proximity, much less by themselves without witnesses? Any judgment on the Pell verdict must also take full account of the atmosphere in which the cardinal’s case was heard. Anti-Catholicism has been a staple of Australia’s culture for decades. Local media long misrepresented Pell, a Church reformer, as a power-hungry ecclesiastical politician, and that caricature made him a convenient scapegoat for the grave crimes of other priests and bishops. Yet as archbishop of Melbourne, Pell set up Australia’s first process for investigating and compensating claims of clerical sexual abuse. And as archbishop of Sydney, he applied strict protocols to himself, stepping aside until previous spurious abuse charges against him were thoroughly investigated — and dismissed — by a former Australian supreme court justice. For partisans of various sorts, however, none of George Pell’s effective work in cleansing the Church of the horror of sexual abuse counted. Aggressive secularists couldn’t forgive him for his robust Catholicism. Most Catholic progressives couldn’t abide his orthodoxy. Some of Pell’s enemies had the integrity to dismiss the charges against him as ludicrous, and a few said afterward that his conviction was a travesty. But the foul atmosphere in Melbourne was reminiscent of rural Alabama in the 1930s. One other facet of this miscarriage of justice deserves investigation by enterprising reporters. Pell was brought to Rome by Pope Francis to clean up Vatican finance, a Herculean task in which he was making progress. Then, just as he was getting down to the really serious corruption, which involves hundreds of millions of euros and the shadow worlds of global finance, these abuse charges were laid, and Pell had to return to Australia to defend himself. Was that timing sheer accident? Rome-based supporters of Pell’s reforming efforts with whom I’ve spoken think not. Just as in Harper Lee’s Maycomb, something is rotten in this business. And it isn’t the character of Cardinal George Pell. George Weigel, John Paul II’s biographer, holds the William Simon Chair in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. https://nypost.com/2018/12/31/the-u...lenews&utm_medium=inline&utm_source=applenews
This is the problem with these accusations and crimes. They are virtually impossible to prove one way or the other and convictions are many times based completely on victim testimony. People lie.
Like in the Kavanaugh hearings the blatant hatred for the individual goes without any questioning by the powers that be, if they are on the same side and have the same sinister goal. And when they fail at first they only reply with even more noticeably fraudulent material and cooperators. I had thought from the time Pell was appointed for that task of straightening out the finances which would expose the mountain of criminals and crimes in that "shelter" he would be attacked one way or the other.....after all, look at JPI after his declaration for same goal!
Spot on. This is why these allegations (and not just limited to Pell) are so incredibly dangerous. This type of accusation can be leveled at anyone and by very scant evidence a persons life can be literally decimated even if they are exonerated they carry a stigma forward from it. It seems also that once the mob has decided that the accusations are truth even in spite of virtually no evidence outside of witness testimony it is next to impossible to bring people back around to reason. Many things play into this such as anti Catholic bias being the most obvious. Now factor in that some of these cases have actually been proven and everyone assumes that anyone accused is automatically guilty in the court of public opinion. Going down a bit of a rabbit hole here but this reminds me a bit of the argument for baptism of desire and invincible ignorance. People automatically assume that either are a tangible and verified argument for those outside the Church gaining salvation. Yet, it is something which can not be proven or yet even known by others for it is presumably only known in the heart of the person claiming it. It is therefore between them and God who judges us all. Yet, many in the Church presume as if it is verifiable fact and interpret the dogma and canon laid down centuries before this idea came about based off this assumption. http://www.aboutcatholics.com/discuss/topic/website-says-feeneyism-is-heresy-instead-of-cushingism/
Yet, not everyone gets the same treatment from accusations. Look at the Clinton's. Bill got a pass for the most part from the majority of the media and voters. Hillary should be locked up in jail the rest of her life for her grave crimes and it appears she has gotten off again with a new congress who are full of crooks themselves. I think all good and faithful Catholics need to study Sir Thomas Moore's treatment, as we are all headed there to some capacity if you hold true to Christ's teachings.
One's treatment is dependent on the side one is on. I'd wager the most hostile accusers of Cardinal Pell were liberal or lapsed Catholics. These people hate those who remind them of the state of their souls (not saying that my own doesn't need plenty of reminders).
George Weigel's prognostications for 2019: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/01/a-tough-year-ahead
Yes. It sounds about right. Give or take some external elements and/or the Blessed Mother's miraculous intervention.
Just finished listening to an interview on you tube: caravan to midnight--john b. Wells--talking to Fr Kramer on a site called Mind to Mind "the Pope from Hell" If you can find it--anyone on MOG--and post the direct link I think it is well worth the time to listen. I have no tech skill to do that. But I would really like to hear discussion on this. It is from I believe 2015 but cant be sure.
Thank you Steve. I will watch it later at the weekend when I am off work and have enough time to pay proper attention. I am almost afraid to watch. All this is just breaking my heart. Our Poor Mother the Church.
Edited to add the following information from the comments of the above video: Check out the comments on the above video, specifically the following two but there are other commentators who were also kind enough to post the emails that they sent to request that Cardinal Wuerl not participate in the 2019 Youth Rally and Mass for Life in Washington D.C. on 1/18. I also sent an email requesting the same and I thought that others here may want to do this also. Eduardo Alvarez2 days ago (edited) Fr. Mark, I just sent five email to the addresses that you mentioned: Mary Forr, Edward McFadden, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Rev. Monsignor Charles Antonicelli and EWTN. Tomorrow, my wife will be calling them. The email message says the following: ...[view comments on the video for the rest of this comment] Maria Burmaster2 days ago Here are the contacts: mforr@adw.org communications@adw.org nuntiususa@nuntiususa.org viewer@ewtn.com Just send a group email to these expressing that you do not want Cardinal Wuerl to preside at the Youth Rally and Mass for Life in Washington DC at the Capital One Arena. United States Grace Force “Battle Plan” for 2019 – God Wants You! Father Richard Heilman | December 31, 2018 https://www.romancatholicman.com/un...AfBcO1hoLePi0LAjYjjXrIeuNs7jUCruQOp3Vnt_l4UQo PS - SUBSCRIBE - click link below to receive Fr. Mark's daily videos by email and other information also, http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.co...
Yes. It is disturbing but Fr Kramer is so reasoned and well sourced that in a way it is comforting. This interview is at least 3 years old I think.
What is SEEK 2019? I keep seeing tweets from Priests about it. ps. I enjoy following Priests on Twitter
