Walt is shaking his head [so hard his little brain is rattling. Ed.] at a statement reportedly made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the apostolic nuncio to the United States. Speaking at the Pontifical College Joesphinum, in Ohio, on April 27th, Abp. Vigano called on American Catholics to "lead the entire Church in the world" to revitalize the Faith. And, he said, his call was "the vision of the Holy Father".
Which leads me to wonder, has Abp. Vigano taken leave of his senses, or is it the Pope himself who needs to have his vision corrected. Granted, the Faith in Europe is in a sad state of decline, and badly needs an example. But looking to the liberalism and unorthodoxy of the mainstream Catholic Church in America as a source of leadership and inspiration... that really is a very bad joke. Walt will tell you why.
Item: According to a recent opinion poll, "Catholic" voters in the US still (narrowly) favour the re-election of Barack Hussein Obama -- the president who has virtually declared war on the Church by mandating that Catholic institutions provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs to their employees.
Item: In April, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria was widely criticized by other Catholic bishops and priests for having the temerity to denounce the Obama régime and remind Catholics that it is their duty to vote their consciences.
Item: Bishop Jenky came under "friendly fire" from the faculty of Notre Dame University, but that's nothing. Now the IRS is said to be considering an investigation of his remarks. There (potentially) goes the Church’s tax-exempt status!
Item: Many so-called "Catholic" colleges and universities in the USA will feature pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage commencement speakers in the coming weeks. Among those providing a bully pulpit for anti-Catholicism is Georgetown University (visited by Walt in person just two weeks ago) which will host "Health and Human Services" Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Obama's point person on the pro-choice file.
CatholicCulture reminds us that in 2008, Archbishop Joseph Naumann revealed that he had asked Sebelius not to receive Holy Communion because of her support for legalized abortion. Four years earlier, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that "the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."
The Cardinal Newman Society has collected well over 12,000 signatures on an e-petition opposing the appearance of Ms Sebelius. (Click here to add your signature!) And yet the Catholic "leaders" Abp. Vigano is counting on -- his office, by the way, is not all that far from GU -- remain unmoved.
Item: Speaking of "unmoved", a "Catholic" wimmin's group calling itself the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the U.S., recently rebuked by a Vatican report for its departure from Catholic teaching in several areas, is far from bowing its head. The LCWR has enlisted the support of the lamestream media, which is accusing the hierarchy of trying to suppress progressive opinion in the Church. The real story is quite different. The Vatican's problems with the LCWR are doctrinal, not political. Period.
One last item: A survey of America’s youngest voters has found that many young people are drifting away from the religion in which they were raised. The study by Georgetown University’s Berkley Center found that Catholics and mainline Protestants were most likely to change their religious affiliations, with Catholic students rejecting their Faith at higher rates than non-Catholics. Hardly surprising, at Georgetown.
So... who is misinformed about the state of the Church in the USA? Is it Archbishop Vigano or Pope Benedict himself? Could it be that the situation in Europe is so dire that Catholicism in America looks healthy by comparison?
Another question. Whence cometh the optimism of the Holy Father (or Abp. Vigano) that the worldwide loss of the Faith can be halted (let alone reversed) by the leadership and example of the American Church?
Could it be that the Pope and his minion have forgotten about... or simply do not believe in... the prophecy and request of Our Lady of Fatima? The Fatima Prophecy makes no mention of the United States. The Blessed Virgin names Russia as the key to world peace... or the agent of world chastisement.
It is Russia, She tells us, not the United States, that will revitalize the Faith, but only after Russia is converted to Catholicism. And that will happen only after the Pope, acting in union with the bishops (including Abp. Vigano), consecrates Russia to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart.
It is to Our Lady, not the American Church, that the Holy Father must look for the means to revitalize the True Faith. Let us pray he heeds Her requests... soon!
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