What Catholic Priests Are Reading
You may (or may not) be shocked

Interesting story from the Duke University Divinity School’s "Pulpit & Pew Project". A few years old, but still relevant. They polled over 2,500 Catholic and Protestant ministers. Here are the Top Twelve authors that Catholic priests are reading. I've included a sentence or two on the not so famous authors listed.

1. Father Henri J. M. Nouwen - He preached Universal Salvation; "Every one will be saved" and "Anyone can find his own way to God". In his final book Sabbatical Journey : The Diary of His Final Year there is an ostensible endorsement of "gay" marriage. He was also a avid reader of Matthew Fox, the renegade Dominican. Why doesn't that suprise me?

2. Pope John Paul II - I think we all know who he is.

3. Father Raymond Brown - Brown received 24 honorary degrees, many from Protestant institutions. He openly argued against Jesus' physical Resurrection; the Transfiguration; the fact that Jesus founded the one, true Catholic Church and instituted the priesthood and the episcopacy. He has also called into question into the virginal conception of Jesus and the accounts of our Lord's birth and childhood. Cardinal Mahony hailed him as "the most distinguished and renowned Catholic biblical scholar to emerge in this country ever" and his death, the cardinal said, was "a great loss to the Church". 'Nuff said.

4. Father William J. Bausch - Leading proponent of Women's Ordination (Chicks with Pyx), optional celibacy for priests, and Sex Ed in Catholic schools all the way down to the Kindergarten level; "finally, the nation's Catholic schools have inaugurated sex abuse prevention lessons for children as early as age five..."

5. Father Walter J. Burghardt - A modern day Jesuit. Need I say more? Hell... why not. Here's Monsignor Philip J. Murnion, director of National Pastoral Life Center, glowing review of Burghardt's book "Long Have I Loved You"; "the memoir is required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the theology lying behind Vatican II and carrying its vision forward". I guess that 2,000 years of Catholicism prior to V2 is just a figment of my imagination?

6. Scott Hahn - Darling of the Neo-Cons in the Church. Compared to the rest of these guys, Hahn looks like St. Augustine.

7. Father Anthony de Mello - Another Jesuit. Proponent of a melding of Catholicism, Zen Buddhism, modern psychology, and yoga. Big shock, huh?

8. Dr. William Barclay - A so-called "great Bible Teacher". For starters, he openly denied the Dogma of the Virgin Birth; "The Jews had a saying that in the birth of every child there are three partners--the father, the mother, and the Spirit of God. They believed that no child could ever be born without the Spirit. And it may well be that the New Testament stories of the birth of Jesus are lovely, poetical ways of saying that, even if He had a human father, the Holy Spirit of God was operative in His birth in a unique way. In this matter we may make our own decision".

9. Father Richard P. McBrien - Head Honcho at the Theology Department at the University of Notre Dame. Openly challenges the Dogmas of Papal Infallibility, the Blessed Mother's Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, Confession, The Real Presence (he describes the Catholic belief in transubstantiation as "medieval").

10. Father Karl Rahner - Yet another Jesuit. As one writer put it, "Without Rahner... the Second Vatican Council's liberalization of dogma and ecclesiastical structure would have been almost unthinkable without him". Rahner is the veritable Big Daddy of the "Cosmic Jesus" heresy so prevalent in The Church. According to him, what is there in the afterlife? Precisely nothing—for there is no afterlife, just an "all-cosmic body" in death. Rahner himself made a similar point when claiming that Vatican II marked the emergence of a 'World Church'. Thanks to Rahner, Protestants were no longer simply benighted heretics, pagans no longer simply in error. Rather, if the Churches ever are reunited, the non-Catholic Christians will bring something positive; and even the institutional forms of paganism can be of salvific significance.

11. C. S. Lewis - Hope springs eternal. At least they're reading him.

12. Father Mark Link - *sigh* ANOTHER Jesuit. And silly me, I've been wondering so long why we have so many shitty priests in the Church. Anyhow, Father Feelgood here is the Joe Dirt of Catholicism (life's a garden, dig it). Father Link has such deep sayings as "The Church is like a net that fisherman cast into the sea. The Church can't discriminate either". Wow... the Summa Theological for the Vatican II Church if I ever saw it.

Sheesh, and we wonder why things are so screwed up. But look what didn't quite make the Top Twelve. And keep in mind, this stuff is being read by our priests...

Sister Joan Chittister - One of the featured writers at the Jesuit run America magazine. Need I say more?

Dianne Bergant - Penned such phallo-phobic page turners as But She Said: Feminist Practices of Biblical Interpretation; An Ecological Vision of the World: Toward a Christian Ecological Theology for Our Age; The Earth Is the Lord's: The Bible, Ecology, and Worship; and The Strange Woman: Power and Sex in the Bible.

Joyce Rupp - Another Cosmic Jesus freak. From her book The Cosmic Dance An Invitation to Experience Our Oneness (I'm serious, that's what it's really called) "I am made up of stardust, that every part and parcel of who I am materially was once a piece of a star shining in the heavens". Ok.... and by the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong. So what's your point, Joyce?

Rosemary Radford Ruether - A gyno-centric writer who spoke at the first meeting of the Women's Ordination Conference, and since 1985 has been a member of the board of directors of the pro-abortion feminist organization Catholics for A Free Choice. Ruether believes the Word of God is a lie-a collection of myths-and that "the Bible has to be demythologized"-that is, rewritten from the feminist perspective. Ruether was a founder of Women-Church and in 1983 helped unite many of the feminist groups into [a coalition called] Women-Church Convergence.

Whew! I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm about ready to book passage on a cruise to the Isle of Lesbos.

The Overrun Priesthood, A Corrupted Faith
Yeah... I'll come out and say it

I've heard that we live in the so-called "Age of the Laity". If that's the case, this member of the laity has something to say. Namely, that the Catholic priesthood in the United States of America has been overrun by pro-abortionists, sodomite-friendly, New-Age hippie burn-outs, and when you get right down to it... flat-out heretics.

As I read a com-box posting last night from the enigmatic John, and he said something that many of us have known for quite some time, but I guess with the literal landslide of ecclesiastical crap I've witnessed in the past few months, what John said struck me with greater emphasis - as John so eloquently stated; "Once upon a time, you could count on your pastor to be orthodox. Now you literally have to quiz him to find out if he is even Catholic."

Know what? HE'S RIGHT! I even did a WWII-style GI Quiz a ways back concerning the piss-poor state of our priesthood.

But anyhow, here's a few points I submit for your consideration --

From the study "Homosexual orientation among Catholic seminarian students";

As noted in an essay on priests with a homosexual orientation in the Roman Catholic priesthood, estimates range from "perhaps more than 10%" to 58%. It is generally recognized that a larger percentage of seminary students than priests have a homosexual orientation.

At this time, the Roman Catholic Church does not normally exclude male candidates for seminary because they have a homosexual orientation. The one exception is believed to be St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.One down, seventy six to go.

The constant sodomization of our priesthood aside, here's some of a posting I did a couple of years ago entitled "What Catholic Priests Are Reading". This explains much.

From the Duke University Divinity School’s "Pulpit & Pew Project". They polled over 2,500 Catholic and Protestant ministers. Here are the Top Twelve authors that Catholic priests are reading. I've included a sentence or two on the not so famous authors listed.

Father Henri J. M. Nouwen - He preached Universal Salvation; "Every one will be saved" and "Anyone can find his own way to God". In his final book Sabbatical Journey : The Diary of His Final Year there is an ostensible endorsement of "gay" marriage. He was also a avid reader of Matthew Fox, the renegade Dominican. Why doesn't that surprise me?

Father Raymond Brown - Brown received 24 honorary degrees, many from Protestant institutions. He openly argued against Jesus' physical Resurrection; the Transfiguration; the fact that Jesus founded the one, true Catholic Church and instituted the priesthood and the episcopacy. He has also called into question into the virginal conception of Jesus and the accounts of our Lord's birth and childhood. Cardinal Mahony hailed him as "the most distinguished and renowned Catholic biblical scholar to emerge in this country ever" and his death, the cardinal said, was "a great loss to the Church". 'Nuff said.

Father William J. Bausch - Leading proponent of Women's Ordination (Chicks with Pyx), optional celibacy for priests, and Sex Ed in Catholic schools all the way down to the Kindergarten level; "finally, the nation's Catholic schools have inaugurated sex abuse prevention lessons for children as early as age five..."

Father Anthony de Mello - Another Jesuit. Proponent of a melding of Catholicism, Zen Buddhism, modern psychology, and yoga. Big shock, huh?

Dr. William Barclay - A so-called "great Bible Teacher". For starters, he openly denied the Dogma of the Virgin Birth; "The Jews had a saying that in the birth of every child there are three partners--the father, the mother, and the Spirit of God. They believed that no child could ever be born without the Spirit. And it may well be that the New Testament stories of the birth of Jesus are lovely, poetical ways of saying that, even if He had a human father, the Holy Spirit of God was operative in His birth in a unique way. In this matter we may make our own decision".

Father Richard P. McBrien - Head Honcho at the Theology Department at the University of Notre Dame. Openly challenges the Dogmas of Papal Infallibility, the Blessed Mother's Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, Confession, The Real Presence (he describes the Catholic belief in transubstantiation as "medieval").

Father Karl Rahner - Yet another Jesuit. As one writer put it, "Without Rahner... the Second Vatican Council's liberalization of dogma and ecclesiastical structure would have been almost unthinkable without him". Rahner is the veritable Big Daddy of the "Cosmic Jesus" heresy so prevalent in The Church. According to him, what is there in the afterlife? Precisely nothing—for there is no afterlife, just an "all-cosmic body" in death. Rahner himself made a similar point when claiming that Vatican II marked the emergence of a 'World Church'. Thanks to Rahner, Protestants were no longer simply benighted heretics, pagans no longer simply in error. Rather, if the Churches ever are reunited, the non-Catholic Christians will bring something positive; and even the institutional forms of paganism can be of salvific significance.

C. S. Lewis - Hope springs eternal. At least they're reading him.

Father Mark Link - *sigh* ANOTHER Jesuit. And silly me, I've been wondering so long why we have so many shitty priests in the Church. Anyhow, Father Feelgood here is the Joe Dirt of Catholicism (life's a garden, dig it). Father Link has such deep sayings as "The Church is like a net that fisherman cast into the sea. The Church can't discriminate either". Wow... the Summa Theological for the Vatican II Church if I ever saw it.

Sheesh, and we wonder why things are so screwed up. But look what didn't quite make the Top Twelve. And keep in mind, this stuff is being read by our priests...

Sister Joan Chittister - One of the featured writers at the Jesuit run America magazine. Need I say more?

Dianne Bergant - Penned such phallo-phobic page turners as But She Said: Feminist Practices of Biblical Interpretation; An Ecological Vision of the World: Toward a Christian Ecological Theology for Our Age; The Earth Is the Lord's: The Bible, Ecology, and Worship; and The Strange Woman: Power and Sex in the Bible.

Joyce Rupp - Another Cosmic Jesus freak. From her book The Cosmic Dance An Invitation to Experience Our Oneness (I'm serious, that's what it's really called) "I am made up of stardust, that every part and parcel of who I am materially was once a piece of a star shining in the heavens". Ok.... and by the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong. So what's your point, Joyce?

Rosemary Radford Ruether - A gyno-centric writer who spoke at the first meeting of the Women's Ordination Conference, and since 1985 has been a member of the board of directors of the pro-abortion feminist organization Catholics for A Free Choice. Ruether believes the Word of God is a lie-a collection of myths-and that "the Bible has to be demythologized"-that is, rewritten from the feminist perspective. Ruether was a founder of Women-Church and in 1983 helped unite many of the feminist groups into [a coalition called] Women-Church Convergence.How about politically? You might enjoy this from the Ignatius Press - Homiletic & Pastoral Review entitled "Party Politics and the Priesthood";

Whatever the genesis or motivation, there is now substantial evidence that the clergy of at least one archdiocese (Chicago) have demonstrated voting patterns indicating a preference for a Democrat party affiliation.

The Illinois Leader,a conservative news source, has recently published on their web page the results of a survey of voting patterns of Chicago priests covering four primary elections from 1996 through 2002. This study demonstrates a consistent voting pattern of approximately 4 to 1 in favor of the Democrat party among Catholic priests in Chicago. Actual results were as follows
Year of Primary % Republican % Democrat
1996 -------------- 19.8% --------------80.2%
1998 ---------------16.5% --------------83.5%
2000--------------- 23.0% --------------77.0%
2002 ---------------24.5% --------------75.5%
Average ----------21.3% --------------78.7%Few will argue that the Democratic Party is the party of the abortionist, the militant homosexual, the stem-cell advocates, euthansasia proponents, etc.

Something else to consider... to date, you can count on two fingers the amount of predominantly Novus Ordo seminaries that are making a slow but sure turn to traditional, orthodox Catholicism... St Vincent's in Latrobe (PA), and St Charles Borromeo in Philadelphia will start to teach students the Traditional Latin Mass.

Diocesan workshops teaching the Latin Mass are a good thing... no, I take that back... they're a GREAT thing. But when only 2 out of 77 seminaries even offer to teach the TLM, you know that something is undeniably lacking in our esteemed bishops in regard to their loyalty to the intent of The Holy Father's recent motu proprio.

Not many will come out and say it, but I will. Most American bishops have essentially told Pope Benedict to go to hell.

Let's put aside The Latin Mass and Traditional Catholicism for a second... we all know how the Modernists look upon them. What about the priests that celebrate The New Mass but actually still believe in The Real Presence, Sacramental Confession, a minor sticking point called "sin"?

Let's be honest, that handful of good priests are looked upon with sneers at every turn. As a friend once put it, they're suffering a silent martyrdom. As an even closer friend stated; "The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres (other priests)."

To the wolves in sheep's clothing, know this --- I'm making it my life's mission to expose you. I'm damn fed-up. I'm not going to take it anymore. I will not sit idly by while Holy Mother The Church raped on a daily basis.

Who'll join me?

Still Plenty Of Tickets Available!!
Don't pay any attention to the small amount of water damage

All I can do is shake my head in amazement. Here's some of the article from Zenit; (Emphasis mine) Bishop: Vatican II Was Spirit's Dramatic Action
Recognizes Spiritual Giants Who Have Walked Among Us

LANCASTER, England, JAN. 26, 2009 (Zenit.org).- If we lived by the principles of the Second Vatican Council, we would know how to balance continuity and change, among other things, affirmed the bishop of Lancaster.

Jan. 25, 1959, was the day Blessed Pope John XXIII opened the council, and the conclusions of this event are still relevant today, affirmed the prelate. ("Relevant"? How about "destructive"?)

The bishop added: "However, the reality of the Council was very different … (Noooo.... *Sarcasm off*)

"This willingness not to be constrained by the pre-prepared schema set the precedent for a far-reaching and creative debate among the Council Fathers, lasting three years and producing a body of documents that are a Magna Carta of the Holy Spirit for the modern Church. (There's that "Super Dogma" nonsense, yet again, rearing it's ugly head.)

"If we truly lived by the decisions of Vatican II we would know how to balance continuity and change." (What decisions? Very little in V2 is binding upon pain of sin.)

Bishop O'Donoghue noted the "sheer energy and hope of the 60s," which has been overlooked or forgotten, "a decade that saw the rise of the modern world from the wreckage of the Second World War." (Wow... the rise of the modern world. What was it again that Christ said about "the world"?)

"The council fathers judged rightly," he noted, "that it was time for the Church to find a new language to speak the eternal truths of faith to modern men and women." The prelate recalled: "I remember the excitement when people heard the Church speaking in a way that was straightforward, biblical, personal, and pastoral. (Yeah, Catholicism had it wrong to 2,000 years. Silly Catholic Church.)

He added: "It is time for us to wake up to the fact that during and after the Council, giants have walked among us: Blessed John XXIII, Blessed Mother Teresa, Servant of God Pope John Paul II, Servant of God Pope Paul VI, Cardinal Henri de Lubac*, Father Karl Rahner SJ**, Father Hans Urs von Balthasar***, Brother Roger of Taizé, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Chiara Lubich, Dietrich Von Hildebrand, Pope Benedict XVI, and many more.

"I suspect that future generations will look back and say: 'Oh, to have lived in times so blessed by the Holy Spirit!'" (And there are still tickets available on the RMS Titanic.)*"Pope Pius XII condemned de Lubac's theology in Humani Generis,(#'s 29,30,32,34), de Lubac simply stated that this was "highly one-sided ... it doesn't concern me."

** Proposes a "transfinalization" or "transignification" which claims the "meaning" of the bread changes after Consecration - a symbol - rather than the Bread really and truly changing into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. According to him, what is there in the afterlife? Precisely nothing—for there is no afterlife, just an "all-cosmic body" in death. Rahner himself made a similar point when claiming that Vatican II marked the emergence of a 'World Church'. Thanks to Rahner, Protestants were no longer simply benighted heretics, pagans no longer simply in error. Rather, if the Churches ever are reunited, the non-Catholic Christians will bring something positive; and even the institutional forms of paganism can be of salvific significance.

*** "Claimed there was no certainty that anyone is in Hell or ever will be in Hell. He stated that "the Church ... has never said anything about the damnation of any individual. Not even about that of Judas."

Heretical Gound Zero -
More than a few chanceries, rectories and seminaries

Yeah, we're all shocked, saddened and angered by the news stories hitting the Catholic Blogosphere concerning The Eucharist being stolen by some college punk, and now we hear of some "learned professor" (insert sarcasm here) who has defended said punk, and referred to the Eucharist as nothing more than " a frackin' cracker".

In fact, here's what this idiot specifically stated; “Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers?” Myers continued by saying, “if any of you would be willing to do what it takes to get me some, or even one, and mail it to me, I’ll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare.

"I won’t be tempted to hold it hostage (no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching Bill Donohue kick the pope in the balls, which would apparently be a more humane act than desecrating a ********* cracker) [censorship mine], but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web.”What a guy. A perfect example of your tax dollars at work.

Anyhow, ever since 33 AD, we've had those who deny The Real Presence of Christ in The Eucharist (John 6:61-67).

But right when we collectively shake our heads in disgust over actions like the above mentioned, we need a reminder (and a swift kick in the ass type of reminder) as to who exactly have been some of the biggest proponents against The Real Presence.

Yep, more often than not, they wear a Roman Collar.

Case in point, from the ever-so-Politically Correct and Modernist Claretians; (Emphasis mine) Some 63 percent of Catholic respondents chose option 2, calling the Eucharist "symbolic reminders," while a mere 34 percent chose "changed into the Body and Blood." For those between 18 and 29 years of age the disparity was even greater, with 70 percent preferring "symbolic reminders."

"We believe that a commitment to social justice is as much a part of being Catholic as the Eucharist is, and we think it’s time to bring involvement in social justice back to the center of parish life."

"On Youth Sunday," he says, "we might have 70 or 80 up around the altar—there’s the youth choir and the junior ushers and the ministers of hospitality and the readers and the dancers (we call them the movement team), and maybe eight or more servers." When the young participate, he believes, they’re inclined to take more seriously what the church is all about, and so are their parents and other relatives."The movement team"? Yeah... I'm ready to have a movement all of my own after reading that. And that ain't all, fellow Bloglodytes...

Certain media darlings are often trotted out by the liberals whenever they so desire to take a swipe at Catholicism, such as Fr. Richard McBrein of the Notre Dame Theology Department, who has, among other cheap shots at Catholicism (and a generous dose of outright heresy), described Transubstantiation as "medieval". Discredited, but oft quoted Hans Kung, denies that the Mass is the re-presentation of Calvary, thus denying The Real Presence.

And that ain't all.

Fr. Karl Rahner - Proposes a "transfinalization" or "transignification" which claims the "meaning" of the bread changes after Consecration - a symbol - rather than the Bread really and truly changing into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. This heresy is specifically condemned in the Pope Paul VI Eucharistic Encyclical Mysterium Fidei.

Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx - Proposes a "transignification" whereby the "sign" of the bread and wine are changed into the "sign" of Jesus Christ. This heresy is specifically condemned in the Pope Paul VI Eucharistic Encyclical Mysterium Fidei.

But we don't have to go to the latest edition of the National Catholic Distorter to get our recommended daily allowance of apostasy. There's a pretty good chance you'll find it within your own Deanery. As I've posted in the past, check out what many of Catholic priests are reading.