Month: December 2011

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Cardinal Francis George Fears Gay Pride Parade ‘Could Morph Into Klu Klux Klan’

This man has lost his mind!

Cardinal Francis George, the head of the Catholic Conference of Illinois and the Archbishop of Chicago, has said he fears a new Gay Pride parade route in Chicago because it would pass in front of a Roman Catholic church.

George told Fox Chicago that he agreed with Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s concerns about the parade route. The church has asked the city to force organizers to alter their plans.

“I go with the pastor,” George said. “He’s telling us that he won’t be able to have services on Sunday if that’s the case. You don’t want the gay liberation movement morph into something like the Klu Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”

George defended his stance when the host called it “a little strong.”
“It is, but you take a look at the rhetoric. The rhetoric of the Klu Klux Klan, the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people. Who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)

Last year, George opposed Illinois’ civil unions law, which is now in effect.
“Marriage is what it is and always has been, no matter what a legislature decides to do; however, the public understanding of marriage will be negatively affected by passage of a bill that ignores the natural fact that sexual complementarity is at the core of marriage,” he wrote.

Complete Article HERE!

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Excommunication lifted on nun who approved an abortion

After being excommunicated, the sister who said “yes” to a therapeutic abortion in Phoenix, Arizona was “pardoned.” Sister Margaret McBride was forgiven and brought back into the Sisters of Mercy, despite the fact that three years ago, as member of the ethics committee at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, she had authorized a voluntary termination of pregnancy for a woman in her eleventh week of pregnancy who suffered from pulmonary hypertension.

In 2009, with the consent of Sister Margaret McBride (who was one of the hospital’s Church administrators), a woman was given an abortion at the hospital, after doctors said she risked dying if her pregnancy was not terminated. The Bishop of Phoenix excommunicated McBride and, as a direct result of the abortion, withdrew the Catholic Church’s patronage from the clinic. After being ousted from the Church for an act that the bishop judged “unacceptable,” the nun has now been returned to her position.

The St. Joseph’s patient suffered from pulmonary hypertension, a rare and potentially lethal disease which is often aggravated by pregnancy. Along with Sister McBride, the doctors involved in the abortion, as well as the mother herself, were also excommunicated.

Complete Article HERE!

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Canadian bishop in child porn case apologizes

A Canadian Roman Catholic bishop charged with importing child pornography apologized in court Tuesday to the church and to victims of child pornography.

Speaking for the first time since he was charged in 2009 with possessing and importing child pornography, Bishop Raymond Lahey told the court that his addiction to Internet porn went against his moral principles.

“I am truly sorry for what I have done,” said a frail and gaunt Lahey on the second day of his sentencing hearing. “I know that I’ve done wrong.”

In a rare case of a high-ranking Canadian Catholic Church official charged with sexual misconduct, Lahey was arrested in 2009 after border agents examined his laptop computer at an Ontario airport on his return home from London.

Police found close to 600 photos on Lahey’s laptop and hand-held device depicting mostly young teen boys.

The court has heard that Lahey’s collection included photos of young boys wearing crucifixes and rosary beads, as well as images of bondage and torture.
“They are graphic (images) in the extreme,” said prosecution lawyer David Elhadad.
Lahey sat with his arms crossed as the judge and the lawyers looked at photos from his collection.

Later, he offered some insight into his actions.
“Deep down, I desired to be found out,” Lahey told the court. “Being discovered coming through customs was a blessing in disguise.”

He pleaded guilty to the charges in May and voluntarily went to jail to begin serving time before his formal sentencing.

The former Nova Scotia bishop will be sentenced Jan. 4 on one count of importing child pornography, with a second charge of simple possession expected to be dropped as part of a plea deal.

After he pleaded guilty, the Vatican said the church would impose its own disciplinary measures against him but did not elaborate.

Prelates who sexually abuse minors can be defrocked; lesser punishments include being forbidden from celebrating Mass publicly.

Lahey resigned as head of the Catholic diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia just before the charges became public.

The case was especially shocking to Canadians because Lahey had overseen a multimillion dollar settlement for clerical sexual abuse victims in his diocese before he was charged.

Last year, in the midst of the clerical abuse scandal, the Vatican made acquiring, possessing or distributing child pornography one of the most serious canonical crimes that are handled by the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Complete Article HERE!