Italy: Authorities Try to Abolish Christmas, For Real

Edit: After hearing about how a man dressed as a Roman Centurion attacked and substantially damaged an ancient local church in Rome recently,  here's a more uplifting tale describing the constant war against the powers and principalities.  There was a viral meme a few years back that a Bradford City Council in England was abolishing Christmas to mollify Muslims, by referring to Christmas as "Midwinter Festival"?  Still, atheists in Santa Monica have the same idea.

Yes, it's happening again except this time it's Italy and Catholics aren't sitting back, letting it happen and then bemoaning that it happened with the usual resignation easily detectable in Catholic and conservative circles these days in Northern Europe and the United States.

In the province of Caraoso in Piacenza, Italy, a school Principal has overstepped his bounds and will now have to find himself a new job.

This just in from a correspondent about a really interesting situation in Italy where Cultural Marxism attempts to rear its ugly head and is stomped by an angry mob of ordinary Italians.  People in Europe don't appear to be quite as sanguine and passive about the authorities destroying their traditions as are alleged Catholics in the United States.  Nativity scenes are routinely attacked by the ACLU or local miscreants and Anarchists with impunity:

A principle of a public elementary school in the Province of Piacenza decided to ban any mention of Christmas (including the display of the traditional nativity scenes) in order not to "offend" north African students. At which point the parents exploded in protest. The mayor of the town promised to personally deliver 4 nativity scenes and will press to have the principle transferred out of the school. The protests have arrived at the ministry of public education in Rome. Can one imagine such a protest happening in the oh-so-Christian USA? No, one cannot.

Link to source...

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Insensitive "Ale Mary's" Bar Owner Continues the Hate

Edit:   Here is one of the bar owners, Tom Rivers, with a smug and irrepressible grin on his face in a recent article in a local Baltimore paper. As of yet he hasn't said he will open up a Simonbar Schul and call it Mad Dog 20/20.

It's been interesting that despite the prima faciae hate speech being directed against the Catholic Church that it continues

In a way it's not surprising, since the bar owner has proven to be vulgar and disrespectful in the extreme as when the concerned forum owner of Fisheaters approached him in a very friendly way. I don't think he'd tolerate anyone talking to his female relatives the way he wrote to her by completely unnecessary verbal putrescence.

It's also not surprising that the media, both local and national has been unsympathetic and even disrespectful in their own right.  Local Baltimore Fox affiliate lied when it said that it tried to contact leaders of the group opposed to "Ale Mary's" blasphemy initially.  They still haven't contacted anyone.  They also weren't interested in Tom River's threatening and offensive behavior either.

Despite attempting to justify this farce, they've appealed to the Archdiocese which gave far less than a resounding endorsement, and claimed to have a certificate that justifies the objects use.  We've tried to respectfully contact the Archdiocese, but no further clarification has been given.  

We'll assume that is a green light for more prayer and fasting.

There is going to be a rosary said before the bar on the Sunday after Corpus Christi at 230pm.  All Catholics and non-Catholics who find this sort of thing detestable are invited to attend and show solidarity.

Here are some of the other blogs:

Something Twisted Veneremur

The Sissyness of Catholic Bashers Fisheaters

Ale Mary's Sacrilege Storm

Women of Grace Joan Benkovic

Pink Plastic Statue

Here's the back story from a local blog:

My eyes scan the ecclesiastical accoutrements of the surroundings and fixate on the pink Jesus statue on the center of the bar that appears to be watching over the inhabitants of this small earthly kingdom. During the course of the afternoon, our good-natured host and owner of the establishment, Mary Rivers, relates a story about a time when this Fells Point flock was deprived of its rubicund protector. Apparently some pub crawling philistine had the audacity to pilfer the good shepherd. A thorough inquiry into the matter was conducted by Mary’s husband and co-owner, Tom Rivers. His investigation uncovered evidence that suggested the likely suspect had covered the expenses incurred that day with plastic. A careful audit of the receipts revealed the culprit, and an amount, proper and in keeping with the seriousness of the transgression was added to the offender’s credit card. Of course it wasn’t long before there was a call received at the bar questioning and protesting the apparent seizure of funds. But after a tactful interrogation a full confession was made, and a suitable penance was imposed. It was agreed that the attached monies would be returned if Jesus was restored to his rightful place, and that a public act of contrition be offered up to the local patrons. As to how this second coming played out, I can’t quite say. That part of the story got lost in the pleasant fog encountered after several pints of Brewer’s Art Resurrection Ale.

Saint Louis Diocese Backs its School Administration Firing Homosexual Teacher

Edit: This is an interesting contrast to what Cardinal Wuerl is doing in Washington D.C.. A Saint Louis School is firing its music teacher, since the administration became aware of his intention to "marry". You might as what Al Fisher is doing in the school in the first place, but at least they're getting rid of him. More should follow and once the canons are faced, more in positions of responsibility will be courageous enough to resist this perpetual media assault on the Church and Her institutions.

Some may point out that both Diocese are following protocol agreed upon by both parties, but actually, only one of the parties is concerned about defending Catholic moral teaching against its enemies and seems largely unmoved by media pressure.

Archbishop Carlson of St. Louis once threatened to close down Catholic social services when he was Bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He will not be moved by the distortions such as are frequently available at Huffington Post.

This school teacher signed a document agreeing he wouldn't publicly challenge the Church's teachings. He's done.

[stltoday.com] The Rev. Bill Kempf, St. Ann's pastor, said in an emailed statement that the parish was "recently informed by one of its teachers of his plan to unite in marriage with an individual of the same sex. With full respect of this individual's basic human dignity, this same-sex union opposes Roman Catholic teaching as it cannot realize the full potential a marital relationship is meant to express. As a violation of the Christian Witness Statement that all Catholic educators in the Archdiocese of St. Louis are obliged to uphold, we relieved this teacher of his duties."

The Christian Witness Statement, which educators sign when applying for Archdiocese work, says all who serve in Catholic education should, among other requirements, "not take a public position contrary to the Catholic Church" and "demonstrate a public life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church."

The Roman Catholic Church does not condemn homosexuals who remain "chaste," but it takes a strong stance against same-sex marriage and homosexual acts.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/catholic-school-fires-gay-teacher-planning-wedding/article_c65612c2-c939-55e2-b379-acfffcd594ed.html#ixzz1ns43t7Ye

Liberal Irish Archbishop Continues His Quest for Church "Reform"

Edit: When he's not campaigning for  global warming hysteria, he's campaigning for moral panic, and the severing of the Irish Church from Rome.

He still doesn't have a Cardinal's hat, either.

After going to Wiki, there were all kinds of questionable statements from this man.   One of the more indicative points of view he suffers, is that he ignores that eighty percent of the cases of clerical abuse in the Catholic Church were homosexual in nature. The Archbishop basically covers his politically correct bases, from the delusional:

In 2005 Archbishop Martin, said that being gay should not prevent a man becoming a Catholic priest. "You don't write off a candidate for the priesthood simply because he is a gay man,

And the patently false:

But, he noted, "you cannot identify homosexuality with paedophilia". He said that paedophilia is "not the result of homosexuality, nor is it a result of celibacy"^[2][Source] 

On Civil  Unions:

" He also said that while the Catholic Church favoured marriage, "it is not against other forms of intimacy" [Source]"^.

He is basically in the same boat as Cardinal Schönborn, "helping" with the priest shortage by promoting lay involvement, soft-peddling homosexuality if not pedaling for it.

But we warned two years ago that this Archbishop's crocodile tears were about another agenda.  Actually, we're pretty certain it has to do with an eventual Schism of the Irish Church, abetted by Enda Kenny and an assault on the Altar.

We won't deny that there's a cabal in the Vatican and other parts of the Church as he suggests, but it is more than obvious that Archbishop Kenny has more interest in forming a more independent, lay run, state sponsored establishment than he has in representing the truths of the Catholic Faith itself.  He'll continue to pretend to be the good guy, and the anti-Catholic press will continue to support him.

By RONALD QUINLAN and MAEVE SHEEHAN

Sunday September 04 2011

The Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin has admitted that "a cabal" protecting clerical sex abusers may be operating at the highest levels in the Catholic Church.
Dr Martin said: "There may be a cabal in Cloyne. They may have friends in other parts of the Irish Church. They may have friends in Irish society. There may be friends in the Vatican."
Asked yesterday who was preventing the protection of children, he said: "The numbers that are involved in this are few. The damage that these people cause is horrendous. It's for all of us to see where they are, but in the long term I have to take the responsibility that in Dublin there are not cabals who reject our child protection

Link to article, here...

Protestant Media Expert Criticizes Ecclesiastical Conformity to the Modern

Media Theoretician: Editorial journalism supports "radical anti-Clericalism"

Bonn (kath.net/idea) Prof. Norbert Bolz (Berlin) has leveled sharp criticisms of an ecclesiastical "superconformity to the modern". This is the case especially for the Protestant Church. "That is the accomodation, which is merciless and knows no boundaries -- which kills the Church", said the Protestant to a colloquium about the Christian media presene in Germany on the 1st of May in Bonn. The Catholic Institute for Social Science in Walberg was invited.

As an example of ecclesiastical accomodation Bolz described the straining after "political correctness". As the Professor continued, there is in the place of the impenetrability of living conditions in the globalized world, an "ever greater necessity for absoluteness." There is an opportunity for Christianity in that. A problem therefore, that one can only get the complexity of the Christian belief through the media with great difficulty. In television programs or in newspapers, "in which dependent clauses are almost never used", it is difficult for the Church to be done justice by the media.

Christianity with its good news is "principally uninteresting" for the media, since they are interested in bad news. For that reason Christianity is said to have "nothing new to say". Bolz also criticized even a "pronounced editorial jounralism" in Germany, which supports a "radical anti-Clericalism" and prescribe for the Church how it should proceed in the modern world.

Read original...at Kath.net...

Two Protected Classes Go to War

We're rooting for the Jews in this struggle and we think they'll win, much to the simmering and infeffectual hatred of their homosexual opponents.

“Tolerance” Panel Causes Uproar at Orthodox Jewish University

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski


NEW YORK, January 12, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Canadian homosexual student at New York’s Yeshiva University has caused an uproar and precipitated a fierce backlash from students and school administration after he organized a panel discussion defending "tolerance" of homosexuals within the school and the wider Orthodox Jewish community.

According to the Yeshiva University student newspaper, The Commentator, the event was organized by the YU Tolerance Club, which was founded last year by Avi Kopstick of Toronto.

The panel discussion, titled “Being Gay in the Modern Orthodox World,” attracted about 700 supporters, many of whom, The Commentator reported, were from other universities, including NYU, Columbia, Queens College, and the University of Pennsylvania.

read further...

"Goldblog" Tells it Like it is

Jewish blogger, Jeff Goldberg at "Goldblog" expresses frustration with the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Who can blame him? Simon Wiesenthal was a huge charlatan and a fraud. There are all kinds of Nazis in the Vienna phonebook, but Simon never went after them.

One wonders if all of the whining won't, as Jeff observes, undermine the cause of Jewish security rather than help in the long run?

We'd like to thank Jeff for his sanity and good will, finally, someone gets it. Jews have no more business harping about Vatican Canonizations than Catholics have lecturing Jewish leaders about how they run their internal affairs.

He writes:

Put me down as both unshocked and uninterested. I don't particularly care who the Catholic church elevates to sainthood, because I'm not Catholic. It's not my business who the Catholics decide to call saint. The Catholic Church today is respectful of Jews and Israel; it also adores its former Popes. I don't see a contradiction. I'm not sure why I'm so unmoved by these Jewish protests -- maybe because I think Jews should keep their powder dry for actual problems. Or maybe because excessive whining is just so damn annoying.

Wiesenthal Center "Shocked" by Vatican; Goldblog Unshocked

Wiesenthal Center "Shocked" by Vatican; Goldblog Unshocked: "From the AFP:The founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center voiced dismay and disappointment Monday at weekend Vatican moves to raise controversial wartime pope Pius XII to sainthood.The Vatican sparked anger in Jewish communities worldwide with moves to nudge Pius --..."

Speaking of professional whiners... another Liberal blog attacks Bill Donahue who engages the media on behalf of the Catholic Church, not only winning scattered approval from elderly Catholics who send him money, enough to fund a $15 Million dollar a year non-profit, but allows him a broad platform to potentially discredit and undermine the thing he claims to be saving. In our opinion, he shouldn't be allowed to talk about rancorous sexual topics on television. He seems to us no more credible than Simon Wiesenthal or the 700 Club, but because he gets face time and fits a certain image, he'll continue speaking for the Church though he has no official position and receives hearty endorsements from Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles.