BOYS, 7 - 12

This ad appeared today in the left-column sidebar of the California Catholic Daily.

St. Michael's Summer Camp, a day and night resident camp for boys ages 7-12, located in south central Orange County (5 or 405 Freeway to El Toro Rd., seven miles east). Come join the fun! Hiking, swimming lessons, campfires, sports and much more! And learn more about the Catholic faith! Download flyer: www.abbeynews.com/summercamp or call 949-858-0222, ext.226.

The middle column contains short blurbs for current news with links to the full stories. Directly opposite the summer camp ad was this blurb:

New challenge for the cardinal

Court says alleged victims of molestation may seek punitive damages from the Los Angeles archdiocese. [full story]

A few salient quotes:

Four alleged victims of defrocked priest, Lynn Caffoe, may seek punitive damages from the Los Angeles archdiocese, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz ruled Wednesday.

“Evidence from plaintiffs’ lawyers presented so far, said Fromholz, "establishes a substantial probability that plaintiffs will prevail on the punitive damages claim."

Punitive damages are awarded to plaintiffs over and above compensatory damages to punish the convicted party for actions done out of malice or fraud. In the case of Lynn Caffoe, accused of molesting several youths between 1975 and 1994, four alleged victims have accused the archdiocese of “oppression, fraud and malice” by disregarding abuse allegations against the priest, said the May 24 Los Angeles
Times.

One of the effects of foot-dragging from the likes of Cardinal Mahoney is to lend credibility to any and all accusations of priestly childhood sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, in Spokane, the bishop has instituted a molester tax, to pass some the financial burden of a recent $48 million settlement directly to parishioners. According to the AP story, parishioners must kick in $10 million, which is roughly equivalent to collection plate donations for an entire year.

Not mentioned are Bishop Skylstad’s plans to finance the future sex acts of his clergy.

Deep into the story is this disturbing passage:

… Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, a large church and one of four Spokane-area parishes being used as collateral to secure loans for the diocese.

It is also the former home of ex-priest Patrick O’Donnell, who admitted to molesting dozens of young boys. Skylstad shared a parish residence in the early 1970s with O’Donnell.

Victims groups accused Skylstad of covering up knowledge of O’Donnell’s misdeeds.

So the Bishop who is imposing the sex tax was once a roommate of one of the worst offending priests. Of course, not being very bright or observant, Bishop Skylstad saw nothing amiss.

More details of this story can be found on Bishop-Accountability.org’s website, including a spooky photo of the house Bishop Skylstad shared with the priest who admits to molesting “dozens of boys.”

Spokane Catholics will have to add a sex-payout line to their household budgets. In one parish the assessment is $1,000 per household.

Can you imagine some sincere convert, just baptized in Spokane, getting an invoice from the diocese for $1,000? Weird initiation fee!

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POPE ENDORSES CONQUEST OF AMERICAS

In an Al Jezeera article, Tribal Indians Condemn Pope, Pope Ratzinger endorsed the European conquest, enslavement, mass murder and forced conversions of the indigenous peoples of the New World as a good thing.

Indian leaders in Brazil have reacted angrily to comments by Pope Benedict that they had been purified by the Roman Catholic church since Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492.

The pope had said the peoples of the Americas had a "silent longing" for Christianity and welcomed European priests' arrival.

He said the church had not imposed itself on the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

The Pope’s statements are like those of holocaust denyers.

Does Mr Ratzinger think the natives had a “silent longing" for smallpox?

"We repudiate the [pope's] comments," said Sandro Tuxa, leader of the movement of northeastern tribes.

"To say the cultural decimation of our people represents a purification is offensive, and frankly, frightening.

"I think [the pope] has been poorly advised."

The Roman Catholic church's own Indian advocacy group in Brazil also criticised Benedict's speech.

Paulo Suess, the advocacy group's adviser, said: "The pope doesn't understand the reality of the Indians here, his statement was wrong and indefensible."

But, heck, let’s focus on the evils of homosexuality—something important.

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WE APPLAUD RATZINGER

The Pope visits our hemisphere and things start popping. This is great!

Finally, we might get some resolution.

No person, including any politician, can support legal abortions and also be a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Politicians who support abortion are excommunicated

The Vatican is clarifying, saying that a politician who votes for a woman’s right to choose is not the subject of a formal Church proceeding that results in an official declaration of excommunication. Rather, they are saying that such a politician “excommunicates him or her self.”

I applaud the Pope’s public assertion of this rule.

By exposing his views, the Pope will draw the worldwide reaction that he and his dogma deserve.

There are millions of people who think of themselves as Catholics who support a woman’s right to choose abortion.

By kicking them out, the Roman Catholic Church will further diminish its ranks, and it’s influence.

The heat is on (U.S. presidential candidate Rudolph) Giuliani. Soon the spotlight will be turned on (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi. Remember:

In order to be a Catholic, one must oppose all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest.

The Roman Catholic Church was created in the fourth century A.D. by the Roman Emperor Constantine. Before the founding of the Roman Catholic Church there were many Christians who were born, lived, and died, and went to heaven.

This will be true, also, after the fall of the Roman Catholic Church, an earthly institution with only one consistent policy—it has always exercised the preferential option for its own power, or as Pud would say, “for its own fat ass.”

The Christian leaders who decided to cast their lot with the power and might of the Roman Empire made a terrible mistake.

As the pre-Constantine believers demonstrate, one can be a good Christian and go to heaven without being a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

The world doesn’t need a Roman Church. The world doesn’t need a Catholic (hegemonic, imperialistic) Church. It would be interesting to see if the world could benefit from a truly Christian Church.

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AN APSE WITH A VIEW

As I recall, the Baltimore Catechism doesn’t mention lawsuits by the faithful against the Church hierarchy

According to this Sun-Herald story a group parishioners in Katrina-ravaged Biloxi, MS, want to rebuild their church on its same beach-front site. The bishop thinks otherwise.

So they’re going to civil court. At dispute is the ownership of the land the church was built on. The suit, filed by 156 plaintiffs, including Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott, is against the diocese, Bishop Thomas J. Rodi and the Rev. Dennis Carver, pastor of the parish.

"We want to know what our rights are as members of St. Paul's," said Dr. Frank Schmidt, a member of the group Save St. Paul's and one of the plaintiffs of the lawsuit.

"This land (on the beach) was originally deeded and trusted to the Catholic congregation, and we want to know the bishop's obligation toward us so that the land is used for our benefit."

In the pedo-bankruptcy cases, as in San Diego, the diocese claims that the parishes own the real estate. There’s a hint that the Biloxi bishop might see things differently.

Anyway, it’s amusing that these Catholics are willing to trust the Church with their immortal souls, but not with their beachfront property.

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JESUIT BALL

Math is math. Whether you’re counting holocaust victims or angels on the head of a pin, you don’t need a holy person, or even a good person to teach how, just a competent one.

Hiring someone to teach math is a routine task that can be delegated to the lay people who supposedly run St. Louis University.

But when it comes to hiring a basketball coach you need the services of a Catholic priest, someone trained in reading human character. Why?

According to this story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The bottom line, Biondi said, is that "college athletics today is a business" and Soderberg didn't deliver enough postseason appearances in five seasons.

"When you have a university with over 100,000 alumni, you have to be concerned with what people think and say…

The story details all the work that went into making the hire.

“Biondi” is Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., president of St. Louis University, a Jesuit-founded institution that recently asserted successfully that it is not a Catholic university. That court case involved the receipt of public financing to build a sports arena on the SLU campus.

The newly hired coach, Rick Majerus, oversaw “dozens” of NCAA violations when he coached at University of Utah, earning that school’s basketball program a three year probation.

Just to be clear, we are talking about blatant cheating in a college sport.

If you read Majerus’ pathetic rationalizations in this Deseret News story, you’ll see why Majerus needs the Jesuits.

The Jesuits need a coach with a proven track record of cheating, because, as Biondi says, it’s a business.

And, presumably, everyone cheats at business—only a fool wouldn’t. The Jesuits are known for their “worldliness.”

BTW: My local Jesuit college, University of San Francisco, eliminated it’s men’s basketball program for three years as the result of being caught cheating. The coach at the time was Dante Belluomini, who taught at St Ignatius High when I was there. Dan turns up as a broadcaster these days.

[Judging from the two photos, running a Division I basketball program has taken its toll on Rev. Biondi.]

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