Gee, I Sure Want To Send My Kids To "Catholic" School In California!
But let's be honest, many "Catholic" schools are just for rich Protestant kids
From The California Catholic Daily. Here's some of the article;
Priest has pro-life parishioner arrested
Dispute over graphic abortion pictures ends in trespass charges at San Mateo parish
A pro-life activist banned from stepping on the grounds of St. Matthew’s Church in San Mateo after a controversy over his display of signs showing graphic pictures of aborted babies was arrested on Tuesday, Nov. 13, for trespassing on church grounds.
St. Matthew’s pastor, the Rev. Anthony McGuire, placed Ross Foti, 72, under citizen’s arrest when he came for the 8:15 a.m. Mass on Tuesday, the Nov. 14 Oakland Tribune reported. San Mateo police arrived and cited Foti for misdemeanor trespassing and released him. Foti has been ordered to appear in San Mateo County Superior Court on Dec. 27.
Foti, a well-known pro-life activist, has long been controversial at St. Matthew’s. Parents of children at the parish school began complaining last year of Foti’s truck, displaying the graphic signs, which he parked on a public street adjacent to the school. Parents, who dropped their children off on the street for school, complained that their children had to view the graphic pictures.
OK, "parked on a public street..." I don't see this standing up in court for one second. Personally, I'd love to see Ross Foti sue the living shit outta "Father" McGuire and the Diocese of Oakland. That's the only thing these wolves in sheep's clothing understand; a hit right in the bank book. They've abandoned Catholicism long ago.
BTW, those parents who pissed and moaned about the "graphic signs" that were so upsetting, reminds me of the newsreels at the end of WWII that showed the heaps of humanity that the Nazis butchered. I guess we shouldn't show those anymore, huh?
Well, I'm sure not going to show pictures of victims of abortion, or the Nazis, to my kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for displaying pictures like that where people need to see them: such as in the halls of Congress or the Legislature, outside polling places, and especially outside abortion mills.
But outside a Catholic school?
I think we have two people in the wrong here.
I can understand your apprehension, but with that said, personally knowing how un-Catholic many of the Catholic schools are back in my home state, I'd be willing to wager a small amount that kids at this school aren't even taught that abortion is a mortal sin in any and all circumstances.
ReplyDeleteSo my point being is this; someone's gotta teach 'em. The parents won't. The school won't. The parish priest won't.
And from a legalistic POV, his vehicle (and signs) were on a public street, not school property.
It appears from the story Mr. Foti was arrested for trespassing when he entered church grounds to attend Mass. This may be correct as a matter of civil law, if he was asked to leave and did not.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of canon law, I don't think a priest can bar someone from Mass unless they are causing a disturbance or otherwise under some kind of church discipline. There is no mention of such things in the story. Of course priests can and should refuse communion for, say, politicians who persist in supporting abortion laws. That is different from denying someone admission to Mass at all.
Mr. Foti needs to complain to the bishop, and then to Rome if necessary.
The way I read the article, the trespass charges weren't for parking on the public street with the graphic pictures; that was why he was banned from the parish grounds. The trespass charges stemmed from him showing up to Mass after having been banned.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the laws in California, but it sounds like that could hold up in court. The parish grounds are private property, after all.
It still smacks of something not being quite right, arresting a 72-year-old man for going to Mass, but overall I'm with the Regular Guy on this one. Sounds like we had two people in the wrong.
Patrick and Kasia,
ReplyDeleteYou cought it... I missed it. You're both right. It was for going to Mass.
Hmmm... a Catholic was arrested for going to Mass. Sheesh, we don't need the militant atheists and secularists. We have the "Fruits of Vatican II" priests to call the cops on our own people.
The pictures are inappropriate for a grade school.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I find it highly ironic that a 72-year-old pro-life man is arrested for going to Mass, but a slew of supposedly "Catholic" politicians who support abortion could show up at a parish and receive Communion and praise for who they are.
I agree that there are two people in the wrong here, but I'm with the Caveman in that many Catholic schools do not teach Catholic values anymore.
Does anyone know how to contact this priests bishop? Or should we go ahead and write to the Nuncio?
ReplyDeleteVir--can you maybe put the contacts up? If we scream loudly enough, even the Pope will hear!
I'm so sick of this crap! If it wasn't for Rome, I'd so bolt to the Orthodox!
Obviously, I don't know anything about the school or what it teaches.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly strange in the extreme that someone might be arrested solely for attending mass, even if he'd been told not to show at that parish.
But IR, from what I'm reading, if you bolt to the Orthodox, you'll shortly be back anyway.
The Catholic schools are deficient, no argument there. But having some guy display pictures of aborted babies to grade school kids isn't right either.
ReplyDeleteTwo wrongs never make a right.
And that priest needs his ass kicked for barring a parishoner from going to Mass! I hereby volunteer.
The funny thing is that this was my parents' parish while they lived outside San Francisco -- it's in the Archdiocese of San Francisco; what more do you need to say?
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with the general gist here that it is inexcusable to arrest a faithful parishioner attending Mass. Though I must in fairness agree that, were I to have children, I'd want to explain to them myself why abortion was wrong - preferably without graphic illustration.