Why Did Cardinal Donald Wuerl Lie?

Last summer, when Theodore McCarrick's dirty secret life was publicly revealed, Cardinal Donald Wuerl said that he had never been told that McCarrick was abusing seminarians or minors. 

From a July 29, 2018 article from WTOP:

Wuerl said he has never been approached with allegations of abuse by McCarrick and was unaware of the rumors that have been associated with his predecessor.

We know now that is not true. 

St. Catherine of Siena Warns Michael Voris and the Catholic Blogosphere

In January, Michael Voris did a Vortex episode entitled, "GET OUT!" in which he once again attacked the "homosexual and homosexual-friendly clergy" of the Catholic Church.  He, as is his usual custom, wasted no time in condemning those he accuses:

These weak men, these weak leaders have absolutely no right to work out their psychological illnesses and depravities through the priesthood and episcopate.

And yes, they are depravities. For a man who is a practicing homosexual, or struggling with trying to explore his identity, to do that on the Church’s watch is beyond horrible.

Voris played his usual deceptive games by talking about "gay priests" while showing films of gay pride parades which have nothing to do with any Catholic priests.  But it is a way of manipulating people into thinking that these priests he is accusing are right there in the parades.

And Voris makes his usual broad based judgments, condemning the majority of priests.  And he even tells us how we can make these same kind of prejudicial judgments:

A good deal of bishops and priests are gay or gay-friendly. Catholics need to know that.  If your priest or bishop exhibits an unusual amount of friendliness toward and/or acceptance of homosexuality—watch out!

Most of the time they won’t come right out and say it; they play it off as being compassionate and merciful. They want to slyly convince lay Catholics that there isn’t really anything that wrong.

But the truth is that large numbers of these priests have boyfriends or are sexually active —and it ain’t just priests.

To all of whom we say: have at least one bit of masculinity about yourselves and resign.

Go work out your errant psychology somewhere else. You should be working out your salvation, but since you choose to hide behind your collars and under your miters and work out your own pathologies, then get out.

Voris claims to get right inside the minds of these priests and bishops he is accusing and explains exactly what is wrong with them:

For the love of God, why do you stay in the clergy? But that question is somewhat rhetorical. We know the answer, don’t we? You don’t love God, and as a result, you want to corrupt and pervert.

You have a sick and demented vision of yourselves, and you want someone else to approve of your filth and sickness and spiritual depravity.

Michael Voris then goes on to quote from the writings of a doctor of of the Church - St. Catherine of Siena, from "The Dialogue" in which St. Catherine quotes from God the Father (Voris incorrectly says these are the words of Jesus Christ):

[T]his not only causes Me nausea, but displeases even the demons themselves, whom these miserable creatures [active homosexuals] have chosen as their lords.  For Me, this sin against nature is so abominable that, for it alone, five cities were submersed, by virtue of the judgment of My Divine Justice, which could no longer bear them. . . . It is disagreeable to the demons, not because evil displeases them and they find pleasure in good, but because their nature is angelic and thus is repulsed upon seeing such an enormous sin being committed. It is true that it is the demon who hits the sinner with the poisoned arrow of lust, but when a man carries out such a sinful act, the demon leaves.

This quote is taken from The Dialogue, Mystic Body of the Holy Church, section 124, page 237 in Noffke's translation from Classics of Western Spirituality.

Michael Voris Just Makes It Up

This is a quick post. I will be doing a more extensive post later. But I wanted to get this out as quickly as I can. Michael Voris did a Vortex episode on the Pre-Pride Mass at St. Francis of Assisi in Manhattan celebrated this past weekend. You can watch the video HERE.  I was at that Mass specifically because I wanted to see it for myself and not have it filtered through people like Michael Voris. And I am so glad that I was there.

The first false statement Voris makes is the following:

Now this parish [St. Francis] had put out flyers and pasted on to its website that the regular 5:15pm Saturday Vigil Mass would be a “Pre-Pride Parade” Mass.

Notice the words Voris uses:  "Pre-Pride Parade Mass."  As he says these words he shows this picture of the flyer:

Do you notice something missing there?  The word "parade" is nowhere to be seen.  Voris desperately wants you to think that this Mass was a celebration of the Gay Pride Parade to be held the following day, which is absolutely false.

He further pushes this lie by making the following statement:

The Mass began with an announcement that the Mass was for the homosexual Pride celebrations going on all over the city all weekend. It was being held in conjunction with that. Not surprising to hear that announced from the sanctuary since it was pasted all over the internet and billboards for weeks before.

As Voris makes this statement, he shows video behind him of the Gay Pride Parade to emphasize the connection between the Mass and the Parade.  The problem is, this is another complete falsehood.  I recorded the entire Mass, and this is what was said, word for word:

Know that everyone is welcome here at St. Francis, especially this evening as we celebrate this pre-pride liturgy. If you are here for the first time, we are delighted to have you and if you are always here with us, I don't know what we would do without you.

Not at any time was it said that the Mass "was for the homosexual Pride celebrations going on all over the city all weekend. It was being held in conjunction with that."  Voris made that statement up out of whole cloth.  Nothing coming close to those statements was ever said at any time.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I was also at the Mass immediately preceding the "pre-pride" Mass.  Except for the one statement about the "pre-pride liturgy", these two Masses were exactly the same.

At the beginning of his Vortex episode, Voris said the following:

And here's a noteworthy point, just moments before Mass began, as I walked up the front steps, a gentleman who was an usher, it appeared to be because he had a name tag on, stepped in front of me and said,”Michael Voris you're not welcome in here, we don't want you coming in here”. And I said to him,”You can't stop me coming in here, I'm a practicing Catholic and I can go to Mass.” Now, that has a special ring of irony to it because not moments later we all stood up and sang this song that they passed out in the flyer, our opening hymn, “All are Welcome”.

Considering how Voris blatantly lies about the St. Francis flyer and what was said at the beginning of the Mass, one does not know whether to believe the above statement or not.  The only thing I know to be true is that we sang the opening hymn, "All Are Welcome."

But if Voris was confronted when he went in, can anyone really wonder why?  He wasn't there just to report on the Mass.  He was there to push his own agenda, which is that the "Church of Nice" is thoroughly corrupt and we should all reject it.  And as can be seen here, he will just make up his own version which has nothing to do with reality to try to destroy the "Church of Nice" as he calls it.

I did not see Voris at the Mass, and I am glad I didn't because he may have brought out a very un-Christian side of me.  I would have had to stop one of the many friars present to hear my confession right then and there.  

I will be doing a more extensive post on this about the remainder of his Vortex episode, including posting a transcript of the entire sermon given that day at St. Francis so you can see for yourself exactly what was said.  

Michael Voris opens every Vortex episode by saying, "welcome to The Vortex where lies and falsehoods are trapped and exposed."  It would be much more truthful to say, "Welcome to the Vortex, where lies and falsehoods are served up on a silver platter."

How anyone can defend this man is beyond me.

More to come.

The United Nations to the Catholic Church: DROP DEAD

Credit:  www.cafepress.ca

If there is anyone out there who has any doubts about the worldwide persecution of the Catholic Church and the very real attempts to destroy her, the report just released by the UN should dispel all those doubts and more. Drudge Report linked to the story on this report with the title, "UN tells Catholic Church to change its teachings on abortion." The story was on breitbart.com and entitled, "UN Committee Blasts Vatican on Sex Abuse, Abortion." You can read it HERE.

The story starts out with the following:

The Vatican "systematically" adopted policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children over decades, a U.N. human rights committee said Wednesday, urging the Holy See to open its files on pedophiles and bishops who concealed their crimes.

The UN totally disregards the fact that all those involved in the actual scandal and those who tried to cover it up were all doing so in complete disobedience to the laws and canons of the Church. If the "policies" of the Church had been followed, there never would have been a pedophile scandal.

The UN also completely disregards the governmental structure of the Church in that the Holy See, i.e., the Pope, does not have jurisdiction over individual dioceses in the Church, but that the bishop of each diocese is the person responsible for what happens in his jurisdiction.   In fact, a United States Federal Court made this ruling in August, 2012.  From the New York Times in an article dated August 20, 2012:

The Vatican won a major victory on Monday in federal court, as a judge ruled that the Holy See is not the employer of molester priests. The decision by Judge Michael Mosman of United States District Court ends a six-year question in the decade-old case and could shield the Vatican from possible monetary damages. The lawsuit was filed in 2002 by a Seattle-area man who said the Rev. Andrew Ronan repeatedly molested him in the 1960s. The plaintiffs claimed that Father Ronan and all priests are employees of the Vatican, which is therefore liable for their actions. Judge Mosman made a previous decision strictly on legal theory and determined that, if all the facts in the case were true, then the Vatican would indeed employ Father Ronan. But on Monday, the judge said he looked at the facts and did not find an employer-employee relationship.

The second paragraph of the Breitbart article gives the real reason for this ruling by the United Nations:

In a devastating report hailed by abuse victims, the U.N. committee severely criticized the Holy See for its attitudes toward homosexuality, contraception and abortion and said it should change its own canon law to ensure children's rights and their access to health care are guaranteed. 

Further:

While most attention has focused on child sex abuse, the committee's recommendations extended far beyond, into issues about discrimination against children and their rights to adequate health care, matters that touch on core church teaching about life and sexual morals.

The committee, for example, urged the Vatican to amend its canon law to identify circumstances where access to abortion can be permitted for children, such as to save the life of a young mother. It urged the Holy See to ensure that sex education, including access to information about contraception and preventing HIV, is mandatory in Catholic schools. It called for the Holy See to use its moral authority to condemn discrimination against homosexual children, or children raised by same-sex couples.

Why is the UN going after the Catholic Church and for all intents and purposes, trying to destroy her by forcing her to change her 2000 year old teachings?  Are we truly to believe that the United Nations, which wholeheartedly and unreservedly supports abortion - the intentional killing of innocent children in the womb - really cares what happens to these children when they do  manage to be born despite all efforts to kill them?   It is so obvious that their goal is to destroy the Catholic Church because Holy Mother Church will never accept their immoral agenda against life.

The Breitbart article states the following:

No Catholic bishop has ever been sanctioned by the Vatican for sheltering an abusive priest, and only in 2010 did the Holy See direct bishops to report abusers to police where law enforcement requires it. Vatican officials have acknowledged that bishop accountability remains a major problem and have suggested that under Francis, things might begin to change.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a news story came out that Pope Benedict XVI "defrocked" over 400 priests in a little over two years for molesting children. You can read this story HERE.  Why isn't this fact mentioned in the UN report? Pope Benedict usurped the authority of the bishops and without any fanfare, took matters into his own hands. And this is all that we know about. How much more went on behind the scenes that we will never know?

The pedophile scandal is obviously just an easy way for the UN to condemn the Catholic Church. They act as if the Catholic Church was the only organization in which this happens. Pedophilia is a world wide epidemic. The internet is most responsible for the spread of this evil. Why doesn't the UN say something about that?

This United Nations report shows that the Catholic Church is more and more standing alone in a world that is intent on destroying itself. Every major sin has now received worldwide approval, and is not only accepted but applauded. If anyone dares to disagree, he must be destroyed, and that is most particularly true for the Catholic Church. Less than two percent of all Catholic priests were involved in the pedophilia scandal. The percentage of Protestant ministers involved in pedophilia is around ten percent. Why isn't the UN concerned about this? Simple. Protestants for the most part (Evangelicals being the exception) are not threatening the culture of death that is promoted by the United Nations.

This UN report came out of an interrogation held by the UN on January 16. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who headed the Vatican delegation, felt completely blindsided by this report and stated, "It seems as if the document was prepared before the committee meeting, where the Vatican gave detailed responses on various points that weren't reported in this concluding document or seem to not have been taken into consideration." Your Eminence, I think you hit the nail smack on the head.

The United Nations is a very evil organization whose main goal seems to be to stamp out Christianity and, specifically, the Catholic Church. But this evil organization is not alone. We are surrounded by evil on every side. It is in our news media, our entertainment, our government, our arts and literature, our music. Sometimes I think the only place to find peace, safety and goodness is in a Catholic Church next to the tabernacle where Our Lord and Savior resides.

But the world is trying very hard to take that away from us, and just as the Church was forced to go underground when she was born in the first century, so we may have to go underground again. There is no longer any doubt that same sex marriage will be legalized throughout the United States. It will more than likely happen before Obama leaves office in 2017. When that happens, you will hear loud and persistent calls to criminalize anyone who disagrees with it. I fully expect the Catholic Church to be outlawed in my own country, just as it was in England in the times of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia just recently made a statement that he would not be surprised if unlawful internment camps, such as those that held Japanese citizens during WWII, will once again be used in the United States.  Do you really think this is far fetched? Ask the Japanese who were interred during WWII. 

Who would be put into such camps? Those who are enemies of the state. And who are the enemies of the State? Look at the signs, my friend. My own governor, Andrew Cuomo, just recently made a comment that those who hold Christian, pro life, pro marriage positions are not welcome in New York. From Foxnews.com:

"Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves," he said. "Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are."

Credit:  a12iggymom.wordpress.com 

Cuomo tried to walk it back, but everyone knows he meant exactly what he said.  And the very fact that he thought there would be no consequences to such a hateful statement shows just how far into the depths of depravity our culture has descended.

Christendom - the reign of Christianity in the world - is dead. The devil has taken over and his agenda is to wipe out Christians and all they believe in, just as he tried to wipe out the Christ Child 2000 years ago. He didn't succeed then, and he won't succeed now. But he will inflict major damage, and unless you are ready, unless you are grounded in your faith and your Christian beliefs and are literally willing to die for what you believe in, the devil may win the battle over you personally.

I Peter 5:6-9

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Credit: voiceofwarning.blogspot.com

Keep Your Eyes On The Lord

Lately I have been finding it very depressing going onto Catholic websites and blogs.  It all seems to be just bad news and doom and gloom.  Many seem to think that the Catholic Church is on the brink of implosion and self destruction.  Many moan and carry on about our wayward bishops, priests and religious.  It seems everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else.  The authors of the blogs and websites think they are just fine and everyone else is on the path to hell.

And there certainly are tremendous problems within and outside of the Church.  But this is hardly new.  The Church and the world are populated by sinners, and we tend to have a lot of problems.  It's like looking at a hospital and saying, "Look at all those sick people."

I agree that times are much worse than they have been for several generations.  It wasn't that long ago when it was fairly easy to be a Christian in our society because, at least on the surface, our culture was based on Christian morality.  But that is no longer true for myriad reasons, and the immorality and the loss of the sense of right and wrong has invaded large swaths of the Church.  Just as has happened many times in our 2000 year history, we are at a crisis point for many in the Church, and it is important that we pray and offer up reparations for this situation.

But should we be focusing all our energy and time on looking at all the problems in the Church and in each other?  We are most definitely in the midst of a storm.  But should our focus be on the storm, or should we be looking elsewhere?

One of the greatest Catholics of the 20th Century, and maybe any century, was Venerable Fulton Sheen. He was truly the greatest evangelist of our time, much beloved by Catholics and non-Catholics alike. His talks and writings are widely available all over the Internet, and I would highly suggest that you avail yourself of these materials.

Screen shot of the Fulton Sheen app

One of these Fulton Sheen resources that I would recommend without hesitation is  an absolutely wonderful app that is available on the Iphone/Ipod/Ipad and also on Android devices. It is called the Fulton Sheen Audio Library. Click here to view information about this app. Click here for the link to their website.  From their own description:

Almost 300 audio talks from the great 20th Century Catholic preacher and writer, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Includes many of his retreat talks to priests and laymen, his St. T  herese of Lisieux series, and his incredible 50-part catechism series that outlines all the basic teachings of the Catholic Church, as well as many individual talks on so many important topics relevant today. Grow in your own spiritual life and get to know the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from the man loved and admired by people of all Christian and non-Christian religions for his commanding and sincere preaching via radio and television. He died in 1979, and he is in the process of becoming a canonized saint of the Catholic Church. This is an amazing collection you don't want to be without.

This is not hyperbole. This truly is an amazing collection of talks by Venerable Fulton Sheen that, if listened to in a right and prayerful attitude, is guaranteed to strengthen your faith and bring you closer to your Creator. You can download the app for free which gives you a few sample talks, and for about $8 more you can get all of the almost 300 talks. One is better than the other. I cannot recommend this app highly enough. This developer also has several other apps with some great Catholic speakers on them that you can check out as well. Forget the game apps and get this one.

I recently listened to one of the series of talks from this App which was a retreat given by Bishop Sheen. The last talk in this series is entitled, "Peter's Fall & Rise." Bishop Sheen explains how we are all just like St. Peter, our first Pope, in his foibles and weaknesses and that there is much to learn from Peter. At one point Bishop Sheen talks about the time that Christ came out to the disciples on the water. The apostles were in a boat and Our Lord walked across the water towards them. Impetuous Peter got out of the boat and started, amazingly, to walk on the water towards our Lord. From Bishop Sheen:

[Our Lord, to escape the crowds who wanted to make Him king, had gone up to the mountain top to pray. Our Lord did not want the apostles contaminated by those who wanted to make Christ a political king, so he sent the apostles across the lake]. A storm came up. He sees them from the mountain top and the storm is so great . . . that even these fisherman were frightened. And they see someone coming to them on the water. And they think it is a ghost. Despite all the time they have been with our Lord, they still do not know him. They were not absolutely convinced that He was God and they had not given themselves totally to him. Finally, the Lord said, "It is I." . . . Here we get the impulsiveness of Peter. Is it impulsiveness really? He said, "Lord, bid me come to you upon the waters." He so loved the Lord and he had gone through this storm that he wanted to be with Him immediately. So, "Bid me come to you." . . . The Lord said, "Come." Let us not forget that. The Lord said, "Come." . . . And he walked on the water. Then he began to sink. Why did Peter sink? He began to drown, and Peter could swim because we know that he swam 400 yards on the Sunday after Easter. But he began to drown. Why? Have you ever read the gospels closely enough to know the answer? He took his eyes off Jesus. He took account of the winds. In other words, he began to say, "Oh, have you read that latest survey about the priests? Oh, did you see that article about the Church? Oh, did you hear what is happening to the nuns? Oh, did you read those statistics?" He took account of all the currents of popular opinion and he began to sink. He took his eyes off the Lord.

Peter and the apostles were in the midst of a very real and dangerous storm that was threatening to drown them all.  When Peter got out of the boat and started walking on water towards Jesus, he was doing something that is normally physically impossible.  But if Peter and the other Apostles had kept their eyes, mind and heart on the Lord, the storm would have had no effect on them whatsoever.  Peter would have walked on the water as if he was walking on solid granite.  They were walking by sight, not by faith, and the result was they were fearful and in danger of drowning.

We know that we live in a post-Christian society.  But do we have to focus in on every degenerate, despicable and evil thing that is happening both in and out of the church?  Far too often it isn't even the inherently evil and sinful events around us but just things that we don't personally like that consume people's attention.  Recently a lot of people got themselves all riled up over the bishops doing a dance at World Youth Day in Rio.  Here are some comments from the forum at fisheaters.com, a traditional Catholic forum:

The most nauseating spectacle so far out of WYD 2013. All of the "excellencies" dancing around like pre-schoolers... there are no words 

All the WYD nonsense I am seeing in the news has been really getting to me! 

I wonder if Cardinal Dolan was the lead dancer. Laughing, as he does, and getting into the "spirit of Vatican 2" for the whole world to see. Hey we can be just like the Pentecostals. 

The CHURCH of Vac II not only helps you lose your faith and also entertains..the dumb down catholic who think this is what going to church is entertainment. Because their n.o .mass is boring. They the Bishops can not help themself to make themself look foolish.

There actually was one poster who felt this was much ado about nothing, but still doesn't quite get it:

I saw this as well, and while I do find it annoying and frustrating, I am not going to get all up in arms about it either. It didn't happen in the context of the Mass to my knowledge, or the Divine Office, so there are no teachings or rubrics governing such things. We might argue about its prudence, but outside of Liturgical Prayer, its hard to argue much more than that. There are plenty of things to get up in arms about that are much bigger deals than this from my perspective. Others are, of course, free to disagree.

Even Michael Voris, who never misses a chance to bash bishops and priests, said there was nothing sinful or even wrong about what the bishops did.  He, like many others, thought it looked foolish and sent a wrong message to the world.  So why are we dwelling on it?  Why don't we hear about the good things that happened at Worth Youth Day?  What about the millions who had a truly spiritual experience and developed a greater love for God and the Church?

Like Peter and the other apostles, we focus on the storm, and like Peter, we find ourselves drowning. What did Jesus say to Peter when he started to fall into the water? "You of little faith. Why did you doubt?" We, as Catholics, are given an ironclad promise by our Lord that He will never leave us. We know that He is with us always in the Blessed Sacrament. We know that our Blessed Mother, Mary, is constantly before her Son's throne pleading and interceding on our part. We have communion with the angels and saints who pray for us constantly, and even the poor souls in Purgatory. We know that Satan will have his hour, but that his time is limited and it will come to an end. We have the Sacraments of the church so that we always have access to the Grace of God and His great mercy and forgiveness. The Lord is as much with us as He was with the apostles during the storm on the Sea of Galilee.  

In another message entitled "Hour of Testing" from the same retreat, Bishop Sheen talked about the troubling times that we live in and the fact that our world has become so anti-Christian.  He says that the time we live in (and this was in the 1970's) the majority opinion, even in the Church, is often wrong and like Gideon in the Bible, God's army on this earth is very small.  From Bishop Sheen:

These days, therefore, our ranks are being thinned. God does not expressly say to the Church tell your cowards to leave. They just leave. God doesn't make some kind of papal decision to say that well, the majority opinion is wrong, those that get the ear of the press. No, but he allows things to work out this particular way. And then will come, not in our time but not far after our time and perhaps in the time of some, then will come the battles and the testing. Our Lord said Satan would sift you as wheat, and we're being sifted as wheat. So we can all thank God that we live in these days. Really, it's beautiful. Now we can say aye or nay. And we can bear up under assaults and criticisms and ridicule because this is the lot of the Christian in the days of the spirit of the world.

How are we bearing up under the assaults of the spirit of the world? Are we just moaning and complaining and saying how terrible it all is? Or are we, as Bishop Sheen said, thanking God for allowing us to live in this time when we can truly shine as servants of God? Are we keeping our eyes on the Lord, or are we concentrating on the storms around us?

Read some of the messages given to us in Holy Scripture:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:28-31)

God has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.  (Heb. 13:5)

For those of us who are concentrating on the storm and not on the Lord, remember, we are to walk by faith, not by sight.  

Psalm 3:

O Lord, look how my enemies have increased!

    Many are attacking me.

 

Many are saying about me,

    “Even with God on his side,

        he won’t be victorious.” Selah

But you, O Lord, are a shield that surrounds me.

    You are my glory.

    You hold my head high.

I call aloud to the Lord,

    and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah

 

I lie down and sleep.

    I wake up again because the Lord continues to support me.

 

I am not afraid of the tens of thousands

    who have taken positions against me on all sides.

Arise, O Lord!

    Save me, O my God!

    You have slapped all my enemies in the face.

    You have smashed the teeth of wicked people.

 

        May your blessing rest on your people. Selah

Credit:  thedanceoflifewithjenna.blogspot.com 

Michael Voris Declares War On Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Joseph Biden receiving communion at St. Patrick's Cathedral,
New York City

A few weeks ago, on Palm Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden attended Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Cardinal Dolan was the celebrant. It is reported that Biden, an ardent abortion and same sex marriage supporter, received communion at this Mass and then had "coffee" afterwards with Cardinal Dolan.

Michael Voris, who has appointed himself the bulldog of the Catholic Church, did a "special report" concerning this incident on his website. He titled this report, "Dolan and the Dolanites," and basically declared war on Cardinal Dolan. You can watch this report here.

Voris described the incident in a very condemning tone:

What a fantastic way for a Prince of the Church to begin Holy Week .. to deliver Jesus into the hands of Judas.

That is exactly what happened in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Palm Sunday as anti-Catholic pro-abortion pro same-sex marriage US Vice President Joe Biden strolled up the aisle and received the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ right under the nose and with full knowledge of Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Strip away all the harsh rhetoric and these statements do represent the facts. I do agree, of course, that pro-abortion, pro-same sex marriage and in essence, anti-Catholic Catholic politicians like Joe Biden should not be receiving communion. However, that is where my agreement with Michael Voris ends. At the risk of being labeled a Dolanite by Voris and all who support him (are they "Vorisites"?), I believe Voris has gone way over the line in this video in attacking Timothy Cardinal Dolan and basically telling any Catholic who will listen that we need to jettison Cardinal Dolan out of the Church, along with anyone who dares to support him.

Pope Francis greeting US Vice President
Joseph Biden

I think it is well to remember that just one week prior to the incident at St. Patrick's Cathedral, both Joseph Biden and Nancy Pelosi received communion at the Mass Installation of Pope Francis in Rome. Neither Pope Francis nor any other cardinal, bishop or priest came flying off the altar to try to stop this. Yet Michael Voris never mentions this incident at all. Why go after Cardinal Dolan but not Pope Francis, or any one of the many other princes of the Church who were present at the Mass installation?

We don't know what Vice President Biden and Cardinal Dolan talked about after the Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, but it could have very well been Cardinal Dolan's displeasure with Biden for presenting himself for communion both at the Mass at St. Patrick's and the Installation Mass, and Cardinal Dolan could have given him a very strong rebuke. We don't know and we won't know. Neither Cardinal Dolan nor Biden are talking. But a statement Cardinal Dolan once made to a reporter in which he said that he prefers to try to persuade rather than impose sanctions by withholding communion from a pro-abortion politician, could give us a hint about the conversation he had with Mr. Biden.

After describing the incident in his own terms, Voris then made an ad hominem attack on Cardinal Dolan, one of many in this "special report":

Cardinal Dolan who apparently never misses the opportunity to publicly associate himself with the rich and powerful of the world .. gave Biden a big shout out from the altar.

So much for following Pope Francis’s example of detaching from the rich and powerful and associating with the poor. There was no shout out for the homeless guy in the back bench.

Cardinal Dolan distributing meals to the homeless

I live in New York City and I have personally seen Cardinal Dolan in action. I have certainly had my problems with his approach to certain things in the past, but to accuse him of snubbing the "poor" is truly disingenuous. Just this past Ash Wednesday the Cardinal was distributing meals at a breadline. He is very down to earth and easily approachable. He regularly says the 7:00 a.m. Mass every morning at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Yes, as bishop of New York and as head of the US Bishops Conference, he does often associate with the "rich and powerful", but he is just as comfortable with the average guy in the pew as well. To accuse him of snobbery and not "associating with the poor" is unfair and false.

Cardinal Dolan has also not hesitated to speak out in defense of the unborn and in the presence of pro abortion politicians. Here is an excerpt of a description of Cardinal Dolan's homily at his installation Mass in St. Patrick's as reported by Fr. Joseph F. Lorenzo, O.F.M., of the Church of St. Anthony of Padua in New York:

Later on in his homily there was an exhilarating and somewhat embarrassing moment. Archbishop Dolan reiterated the church’s traditional stand concerning human life by quoting Cardinal Terrance Cooke, who said: "Human life is no less sacred or worthy of respect because it is tiny, pre-born, poor, sick, fragile, or handicapped."

Archbishop Dolan went on to say, “Yes, the Church is a loving mother who has a zest for life and serves life everywhere, but she can become a protective "mamma bear" when the life of her innocent, helpless cubs is threatened.” The congregation erupted, first in applause and cheers, and then standing. I think every eye in the Cathedral was on the pro-abortion politicians in the front pew, who, at first, sat there, kind of stunned, and then eventually stood up without applauding. It was truly something everyone will remember for a long time.

You can read Father Joe's entire report here. One other comment Father Joe made was: "Archbishop Dolan again greeted people outside of the Cathedral, and stopped to talk to people on the street before heading back to the residence." So much for associating only with the "rich and powerful."

Back to Voris. He then coined a term, "Dolanism", to describe Cardinal Dolan and those who support him, a term which I hope will not catch on anywhere, as Voris basically accused Cardinal Dolan of apostasy:

And it’s good in one way that this happened. The lines are finally being drawn publicly and the quiet battle going on between bishops about giving Jesus Christ to murderous politicians is finally at last on show for the world to see.

What Cardinal Dolan did is a disgrace. Call this constant pandering Dolanism. There is no other way to say it. Dolanism .. the subordination of the Catholic faith to the prevailing cultural mores.

And whatever the Dolan loving quasi-conservative establishment crowd in the Church wants to say simply cannot erase this. Call them the Dolanites.

Later on in the video, Michael even uses the words "beyond disgusting and reprehensible" to describe Cardinal Dolan's actions. Voris goes on to tell those who support Cardinal Dolan:

You breathe one word in defense of his actions and you sacrifice ANYTHING you ever say about the pro-life cause again! Don’t show up at pro-life functions. Don’t write articles, give guest appearances .. appear on stage .. jump on the radio or television airwaves. Nothing.

How does Michael Voris know what was going on behind the scenes? As I stated, just one week prior to this Biden had received communion at the Installation Mass for Pope Francis. No one from the Vatican or anywhere else tried to stop Biden at that time. Does anyone wonder why?

Cardinal Dolan is the top bishop in the United States. He is the archbishop of the largest archdiocese in the United States and the head of the US Bishops Conference. Could it be that he may have been instructed by someone in the Vatican to do exactly as he did, to invite Biden to Mass at St. Patrick's, not make a scene if Biden presented himself for communion, and then give him a strong rebuke afterwards? We know for a fact that Cardinal Dolan is very pro life and against same sex marriage. Do we really believe, as Voris says, that he would sacrifice his beliefs just to hobnob with the rich and famous?

Voris then goes on to present a litany of what he perceives to be Cardinal Dolan's faults and failings, starting with a Re-dedication Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church in New York in 2010. St. Francis Xavier Church admittedly is very friendly and welcoming to homosexuals, and I would even say that they are "too welcoming" of homosexuals. This is what Michael Voris says about that Mass:

In the summer of 2010 .. he sent shock waves around the United States and beyond by openly cheering a gay club that was introduced to him during Mass at the notorious St. Francis Xavier parish in New York .. a parish widely known for its no holds barred gay liturgies and functions.

Below is a Youtube video of a report on this Mass, excerpts of which ran without the audio behind Michael Voris as he spoke in this "special report". At 5:30 to 6:00 in the video, you will see the "Catholic Lesbian Group" and "Gay Catholics Men Group" being introduced. The camera is focused on Cardinal Dolan who looks very serious. His face lightens up considerably when the speaker says, "These groups helped LGBT Catholics return to the sacraments and find an adult place in the Church of their youth." That is what Cardinal Dolan was "cheering", the fact that these men and women had returned to the sacraments, which would imply that they have left their sinful lifestyle. Right after this we see Cardinal Edward Egan, former archbishop of New York, praising St. Francis Xavier Church. Why doesn't Voris attack Cardinal Egan as well?

Michael Voris also doesn't tell us that just one week after Cardinal Dolan was "cheering a gay club" as Voris describes it, His Eminence disciplined this same church when he became the first New York prelate in 12 years to forbid them to carry the banner of the church in the notorious New York City Gay Pride Parade. You can read that story here. So please, Michael, stop with the implication that Cardinal Dolan supports sexually active homosexuals in the Church, because it just ain't so.

Voris then brings up Cardinal Dolan's reaction to same sex marriage being made law here in New York. From Voris:

Then a short while later .. he barely lifted a finger to fight .. or even speak out about gay marriage becoming law in New York.

After it passed he conveniently blamed the church’s advisors who he claimed had given him and his fellow NY bishops “bad advice”. Meanwhile .. somehow .. the entire rest of the country knew same-sex marriage was going to become law in New York.

Immediately following the midnight passage of same-sex marriage by the New York state legislature .. Dolan was mute from the pulpit the following Sunday .. saying nothing at all about it .. but did find time with the New York press crops after Mass to apologize to gays and lesbians whose feelings might have been hurt by the Church

"He barely lifted a finger to fight or even speak about gay marriage becoming law in New York," No, Michael, this is not true. Shortly before the bill was passed in New York, then Archbishop Dolan called into a local radio show to say that the "proposed legislation posed an 'ominous threat' to society" according to an article on a New York Times blog which you can read here. According to this article:

Archbishop Dolan, speaking on Fredric U. Dicker’s radio program on WGDJ-AM (1300), repeatedly made it clear that he strongly opposed gay marriage, which he called “unjust and immoral,” “detrimental for the common good” and “a violation of what we consider the natural law that’s embedded in every man and woman.”

Acknowledging that supporters of same-sex marriage need just one more vote to prevail in the Senate, Archbishop Dolan said that “we are still working for the defeat of this bill,” but that “we’re realistic to know the forces pushing this are very strong, they’re well oiled, they’re well financed.” However, he said: “It’s not a done deal. There is a good chance that this is not going to pass this year.”

Archbishop Dolan argued that the passage of same-sex marriage in other states and countries had at times led to problems for clergy and religious organizations who remained in opposition. “You’ve got couples now in England who are now told they can’t adopt children because they’re not open to same-sex marriage,” he said.

Archbishop Dolan also rued what he called “the presumptive omnipotence of the state” in considering allowing gays to marry, and decried a “new religion of secularism that feels it’s going to come to a theocracy and impose its values on society.”

As can be seen from this article, although Cardinal Dolan was his usual optimistic self that the bill could be defeated, he was also very realistic in saying that there were "strong forces" pushing for passage of the bill. Also, according to this article, His Eminence was not able to be in Albany at that time because he was in Seattle for a bishops conference, but he sent Brooklyn's Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio to Albany to fight the bill that was being voted on at that time.

I have written about this myself, very upset with Cardinal Dolan's seeming lack of resistance to this legislation. However, as shown here, Cardinal Dolan was strongly opposed to this bill and did not hesitate to voice his opinions in the media. But Michael Voris either is not aware of this fact or conveniently leaves it out of his "special report."

Voris may not feel that Cardinal Dolan is vehement enough in his opposition to homosexuality and same sex marriage, but the homosexual community does not share that opinion. Here are excerpts from a post from thenewcivilrightsmovement.com in regard to Cardinal Dolan's closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. The article is entitled, "Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s Ugly Assault On Gay Marriage In Prayer While Guest Of DNC":

Archbishop Timothy Dolan last night launched an attack on same-sex marriage equality and abortion in his closing prayer while an “invited” guest in the Democrats’ home, the Democratic National Convention. Yes, Dolan, who initially had offered himself to deliver the opening prayer to both the Republican and the Democrats, but was gently rebuffed by the DNC, settled for delivering the closing benediction at last night’s ceremonies.

. . .

Dolan’s “happiness is found only in respecting the laws of nature and of nature’s God,” is his way of calling gay people “unnatural” and in violation of “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” Then, to pound his point home, Dolan adds “resist the temptation,” (which is always code for “pray away the gay,”) “to remake those institutions you have given us for the nurturing of life and community,” which is code for “no gay marriage!”

Democrats had just spent the better part of a week approving language supporting same-sex marriage equality in their platform, along with supporting a woman’s right to choose, but Dolan saw fit to be not only a bad guest, but a forced guest in what was home to a celebration of women, the LGBT community, and minorities the likes of which America has never before seen on a national stage.

As can be seen above in the reaction of homosexuals to Cardinal Dolan's prayer at the DNC, Cardinal Dolan is not only unafraid to defend the Church's teachings, he goes right into the belly of the beast, as he did at the Democratic National Convention. Here is my post praising Cardinal Dolan for the prayers he gave at the Republican and Democratic conventions.

The next point in Voris' litany:

He sat on a network news show on Thanksgiving two years ago and .. in reference to God and giving him thanks he said .. “he .. or she or whatever your belief is.”

I saw this program, and was upset by it also. It was not the best choice of words by His Eminence, but let's face it, we live in a pluralistic society that sees God in many different ways. That is what Cardinal Dolan was speaking to. Even Michael Voris cannot honestly think or imply that Cardinal Dolan sees God as anything less than the Holy Trinity. What was the purpose of bringing this up? It only proves that Cardinal Dolan makes mistakes in his choice of words. It does not prove that he is not a strong defender of the faith.

Next from Voris:

In April .. he told the Wall Street Journal that he and his fellow bishops did not preach what they should have preached about the Church’s sexual teachings because they were – his words now – gun shy. Based on the deafening lack of NOW issuing those teachings – apparently he still is.

I wrote about this article last April, applauding the Cardinal for making this heartfelt admission. You can read my post here. Michael Voris is being totally disingenuous with his statement, "Based on the deafening lack of NOW issuing those teachings - apparently he still is." Cardinal Dolan has been up front and center in defending the teachings of the Church. Voris is twisting facts to suit his own arguments, and doing a great disservice to Cardinal Dolan and more importantly, to Voris' own listeners, many of whom hang on his every word and take it as gospel truth.

The next charge by Voris:

Two years ago .. he stood in front of annual Knights of Columbus dinner in Denver and openly mocked the idea that there was a crisis in the Church. He was cheered loudly by the Dolanites.

I have looked this up, and although I find references to Cardinal Dolan's speech, I cannot find the speech itself, so I can't answer this charge. But since it has been shown that Voris tends to skew his facts, I have to wonder about the truthfulness of this statement and the context in which it was made. I guarantee you that Michael Voris will never tell us.

Of course, no criticism of Cardinal Dolan would be complete without reference to the Al Smith dinner in which he invited President Obama.

Then there was the beyond the pale invitation of child-killer in chief Obama to the Al Smith dinner a couple of weeks before the presidential election where tens of thousands of Catholics all over America begged and pleaded with him to rescind the invitation and where he offered in his defense a comparison of his actions to Our Blessed Lord.

I was definitely among those voices calling for Cardinal Dolan to withdraw his invitation to President Obama. I admit that I still think it was a mistake. As I posted shortly before the dinner, it was reported that even Cardinal Dolan was having second thoughts about this decision. You can read this here. But do we follow the lead of Michael Voris and just throw Cardinal Dolan over and claim he is not fit for the job, or do we pray that His Eminence will learn from this mistake and realize that there are enemies of the Church who must be recognized and treated as such. Personally, I think Cardinal Dolan did learn from this mistake, and I don't think it will be repeated.

The next in Voris' litany:

Then there is the history before his time in New York .. where he slapped on a cheesehead .. yep .. an NFL Green Bay Packer cheesehead at his installation Mass as archbishop of Milwaukee.

None other than Father John Zuhlsdorf has defended Cardinal Dolan in this action. Yes, the same Father Z who was all set to go with Michael Voris on a Lenten cruise until the papal conclave got in the way. From Father Z in a post entitled, "I want to put a stop to something":

Back in 2002, right after he arrived in Milwaukee, the new Archbishop, very aware of the relationship people in Wisconsin have with the Green Bay Packers, momentarily put on a ‘cheesehead’ hat at the beginning of his sermon time.

He did not say Mass wearing a ‘cheesehead’ hat.

Should he have done that? I wouldn’t have. To my mind it was infra dignitatem, both for the moment, the congregation and his person.

But I am not the brand new Archbishop of Milwaukee, just arrived after years and years of mismanagement under Weakland and the scandal at the end. Facing these circumstances, he made a decision at the moment to brighten the atmosphere in a time of pain and uncertainty. It is hard to fault his reasoning.

One lives and one learns.

Even bishops have to have some on the job training. They must learn from reactions to their decisions. They make mistakes and hopefully, with grace, grow in their ministry.

So if you are really upset about the ‘cheesehead’ hat thing, I suggest that you cast your first rock at yourself.

Unless of course you have never made a mistake you eventually learned from.

Good luck to Archbishop Dolan! He’ll need both luck and prayers.

Thank you, Father Z. 'Nuff said on this one.

Voris then complains about Cardinal Dolan's "incessant carrying on about joy and laughter."

And then there is the incessant carrying on about joy and laughter .. well do forgive some of us Your Eminence if we find it hard to extricate the joy out of a situation where you are aiding in a sacrilege in your own cathedral.

And for the record .. there are many of who believe that Jesus Christ is not amused as you participate in the profaning of the body and blood of Our Lord.

Joy and laughter? Voris is actually criticizing and condemning a prelate of the Church for "too much joy and laughter"? Did I miss something or is there a canon law against laughing? I agree that there is nothing funny about profaning our Lord, but again, I must repeat that we don't know what is going on behind the scenes, and why no one tried to stopped Biden at the Pope's installation Mass, either. We also know that Cardinal Dolan is not afraid to step up to the plate to defend church teachings, despite Voris' accusations. We have to stop being so quick to sit in as judge and juror.

Then Voris gets into matters which are nothing more than hearsay. If Voris was trying to admit these facts into court, they would immediately be thrown out.

From Voris:

It is a well known issue in the Archdiocese of New York that Cardinal Dolan has no qualms whatsoever about flexing his mighty ecclesiastical muscle in private against his priests who want to say the Traditional Latin Mass.

Oh really? Is that why the Traditional Latin Mass is so easily accessible in the New York Archdiocese? "Una Voce Westchester" is a traditional group devoted to the Latin Mass. Una Voce has groups throughout the United States. On their website they have posted the following, which you can see here:

The traditional Latin Mass is offered every Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church in Sleepy Hollow. Una Voce Westchester offers its thanks to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, the Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and Monsignor Louis Mazza, Pastor.

Doesn't sound like Cardinal Dolan is fighting them on the Latin Mass.

Voris' next statement is completely out of bounds:

His well known and much feared .. but little talked-about-openly angry temper is vented with all its fury on such priests. They are threatened and brow beaten by him personally .. made to feel the lowest of the low .. all for offering the ancient Mass .. again in disobedience to the wishes of Pope Benedict.

His Eminence might be well served to vent that temper which is well known to New York Archdiocese insiders against fake Catholic politicians.

Voris gives nothing to back up this libelous statement. He is smearing the character of a prelate of the Catholic Church with no evidence whatsoever. Voris not only needs to apologize for this outrageous statement, but he needs to take it into the confessional as well. This is gossip, pure and simple, and this is what our Holy Father, Pope Francis, recently said in regard to gossip:

“When we prefer to gossip, gossip about others, criticize others- these are everyday things that happen to everyone, including me – these are the temptations of the evil one who does not want the Spirit to come to us and bring about peace and meekness in the Christian community."

Who is Michael Voris really serving when he makes such slanderous statements? I'm sure he thinks he is serving God, but maybe he needs to think about it a little more.

Voris sums up this "special report" with these harshly critical statements which skirt the truth at best:

Who could seriously look at Cardinal Dolan and even entertain the thought that this man is serious about the Faith. He puts on a cheesehead during Mass. He defies canon law along with many of his brother bishops .. a majority of whom elected him to the head of their bishops’ conference.

He scandalizes the faithful by continued association with murderous politicians who in addition to spilling the blood of innocents have aimed their guns at the Church herself.

He further scandalizes the faithful by aiding and abetting in sacrilege. What exactly does he not understand? How is any of this defensible by anyone in the Church?

Cardinal Dolan is quickly becoming the poster boy for all that is wrong with Church leadership these days – an almost wistful disregard for the solemnity of the Mass .. a refusal to buck the trends of a secularist culture not by filing lawsuits claiming infringement on legal rights .. but by announcing the EVIL of the object of the law itself.

Dolanism .. the subordination of the Catholic faith to the prevailing cultural mores.

Why does Michael Voris think he has a right to sit in judgment of arguably the most preeminent bishop of the United States? I think Michael Voris is stating exactly how he feels, but he is not serving the Church by putting out such scandalous statements. And yes, I do label them as scandalous because they cause division both inside and outside the Church.

If you do a web search, you will find many Catholics who are cheering Michael Voris and his slander of Cardinal Dolan. Here are just a couple of reactions:

"Thank God for the courageous and honest analysis of Michael Voris and ChurchMilitant.TV"  http://philotheaonphire.blogspot.com

"This report is not "bishop-bashing"; it is an act of charity."  freerepublic.com

"I have been saying many of these things about Cardinal Dolan for quite some time now. He is not the answer." http://makingthingsvisible.blogspot.com

"The Cardinal Dolan cheerleaders and fan club need to re-think everything."  http://johnlaws.wordpress.com

And how is this being perceived outside of the Church? This is from an Anglican blog called Reformed Anglicanism which shows the dangerous consequences from Catholics attacking Catholics, especially the leaders of the Church:

If you are a Roman Catholic who disagrees with Voris, you are a "Dolanite." Ironically, Voris' own bishop has forbidden him from using the term "Catholic" to describe his own activities.

Voris tries to appeal to Pope Francis' supposedly hard line against pro-abortion politicians, but Biden was also given communion at Pope Francis' inaugural mass together with Nancy Pelosi.

And the folks at "Called to Communion" want me to join this communion with the supposed benefit being visible unity? No thanks.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan is not perfect. He makes mistakes. But so do all of us, even Michael Voris, although he never seems to admit to any. When I was still a "Vorisite", I had the same kind of judgmental attitude displayed in this "special report", and this judgmental attitude unfortunately shows in many of my past posts, especially those concerning Cardinal Dolan. Michael Voris and I and all other Catholics need to heed the words of St. Paul from Galatians 5:15: "But if you bite and devour one another; take heed you be not consumed one of another."

Michael Voris' main shtick is attacking the Church. What? Michael Voris, self proclaimed loyal Catholic to the death, attacks the Catholic Church? He most definitely has some very good Catholic teaching on his website, and says beautiful things about the Catholic Church. But what good is that when he, in effect, sets about to destroy loyalty and unity in the Church by presenting slanted, one-side "special reports" as we see here. He seems to feel no qualms whatsoever about attacking the ordained leaders of the church and calling them out as apostates and heretics. And as can be seen from this post, he tells the truth very selectively. He is excellent at what he does, unfortunately, and has seduced many good Catholics (including yours truly) into following his lead, which is basically pitting the laity against the authority of the Church.

These are undoubtedly some of the main reasons why the bishop of Detroit, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, forced Voris to remove the word "Catholic" from his organization. At the time, I thought this was nothing more than persecution. I sadly realize now that Archbishop Vigneron was absolutely correct in his decision.

As I have stated before, we live in very evil times, and the Catholic Church is under major assault. Cardinal Dolan and the other prelates of the Catholic Church are not just another guy in the pew. They have been specially ordained to lead the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. They deserve respect, and even more importantly, they deserve and need our prayer. They are on the front lines of the church and are being constantly attacked, both by the physical world and the spiritual world. We need to prayerfully support and stand behind them, and unless it's a matter of blatant and unequivocal apostasy, we shouldn't be going on the worldwide internet to denounce them and stand as their judge and juror. I am saying this to myself as much as to anyone else because I have most definitely been guilty of this. We should certainly not be listening to and supporting spurious attacks such as this one by Michael Voris.

Always look at the entire picture, and don't let others tell you what to think. "Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves." People have a way of painting the truth to fit their point of view, and it can be very misleading.