ADDRESS OF POPE BENEDICT XVI AT WHITE HOUSE WELCOME CEREMONY

WELCOME CEREMONY

THE WHITE HOUSE, SOUTH LAWN

WASHINGTON

16 APRIL 2008

Mr. President,

Thank you for your gracious words of welcome on behalf of the people of the United States of America. I deeply appreciate your invitation to visit this great country. My visit coincides with an important moment in the life of the Catholic community in America: the celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the elevation of the country’s first Diocese – Baltimore – to a metropolitan Archdiocese, and the establishment of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville. Yet I am happy to be here as a guest of all Americans. I come as a friend, a preacher of the Gospel and one with great respect for this vast pluralistic society. America’s Catholics have made, and continue to make, an excellent contribution to the life of their country. As I begin my visit, I trust that my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the Church in the United States, and strengthen the resolve of Catholics to contribute ever more responsibly to the life of this nation, of which they are proud to be citizens.

From the dawn of the Republic, America’s quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator. The framers of this nation’s founding documents drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the “self-evident truth” that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights grounded in the laws of nature and of nature’s God. The course of American history demonstrates the difficulties, the struggles, and the great intellectual and moral resolve which were demanded to shape a society which faithfully embodied these noble principles. In that process, which forged the soul of the nation, religious beliefs were a constant inspiration and driving force, as for example in the struggle against slavery and in the civil rights movement. In our time too, particularly in moments of crisis, Americans continue to find their strength in a commitment to this patrimony of shared ideals and aspirations.

In the next few days, I look forward to meeting not only with America’s Catholic community, but with other Christian communities and representatives of the many religious traditions present in this country. Historically, not only Catholics, but all believers have found here the freedom to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, while at the same time being accepted as part of a commonwealth in which each individual and group can make its voice heard. As the nation faces the increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time, I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society.

Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience – almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24). Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that “in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation”, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul (cf. Centesimus Annus, 46). Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent “indispensable supports” of political prosperity.

The Church, for her part, wishes to contribute to building a world ever more worthy of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27). She is convinced that faith sheds new light on all things, and that the Gospel reveals the noble vocation and sublime destiny of every man and woman (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10). Faith also gives us the strength to respond to our high calling, and the hope that inspires us to work for an ever more just and fraternal society. Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized, when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth and bring the wisdom born of firm moral principle to decisions affecting the life and future of the nation.

For well over a century, the United States of America has played an important role in the international community. On Friday, God willing, I will have the honor of addressing the United Nations Organization, where I hope to encourage the efforts under way to make that institution an ever more effective voice for the legitimate aspirations of all the world’s peoples. On this, the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity – as brothers and sisters dwelling in the same house and around that table which God’s bounty has set for all his children. America has traditionally shown herself generous in meeting immediate human needs, fostering development and offering relief to the victims of natural catastrophes. I am confident that this concern for the greater human family will continue to find expression in support for the patient efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress. In this way, coming generations will be able to live in a world where truth, freedom and justice can flourish – a world where the God-given dignity and rights of every man, woman and child are cherished, protected and effectively advanced.

Mr. President, dear friends: as I begin my visit to the United States, I express once more my gratitude for your invitation, my joy to be in your midst, and my fervent prayers that Almighty God will confirm this nation and its people in the ways of justice, prosperity and peace. God bless America!

HELP A MAN PAY OFF HIS COLLEGE DEBT AND BECOME A PRIEST

The following post is from the excellent Catholic blog, Real Clear Religion. On this Good Shepherd Sunday, I hope this will touch your heart.

A reader of this blog has contacted me about his desire to become a priest with the Order of Basilian Salvatorian Fathers in Massachusetts a semi-contemplative Melkite Byzantine order. The Melkite Rite is Catholic and under Pope Benedict XVI--it is one of the several Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church whose Divine Liturgy is Byzantine.

Unfortunately he has incurred $72,000 in school debt while attending the Franciscan University Of Steubenville over the last four years. This debt must be paid off before he can enter the order. To further this purpose he has put together a website and has recorded an album of Catholic music.

Won't you please help a man become a priest. He can be reached at:neven7@hotmail.com

He has provided me with his conversion story and his journey to becoming a priest. Here it is :

Singing Towards Seminary

I’m a son of Croatian Immigrants who first emigrated to Italy and subsequently to America in the 70’s.

Within two years of their marriage, my brother and I were both born.

My mother lovingly tells me that God willed very much that I come into this world because I came as a ‘happy surprise’ to both my parents, having been conceived only 4 months after my older brother had been born.

My parents gave me the name of “Neven,” which is a Christian name of some very early obscure saint, ‘Neven’ meaning “everlasting,” in Croatian.

I was raised in a typical Catholic household and am happy to say that I enjoyed a particularly joyful childhood.

My Dad, who I admire very much, had a noticeable handicap which was the result of an accident he had at the age of five. This left him with only one usable arm. His injured arm was permanently atrophied and was rendered almost useless. But this did not deter my father, nor did he allow anyone to pity him. Although limited to his job options, he always seemed to find work. My mother was employed evenings as a cleaning lady at a Manhattan office building. This arrangement allowed for at least one of my parents to always be home with my brother and I.

The first peek into God’s call on my life was when I was about 2 or 3 years old.

My mother had walked in on me once in prayer, and saw me standing in front of a high table that had a number of Holy cards neatly arranged and splayed out. My mother took note of this occurrence and brings up the memory of it since it had obviously left a significant impression on her.

But one of the major spiritual epiphanies of my life came when I was 15, while I was visiting the tiny hamlet of Medjugorje, a small Croatian village in present-day Bosnia & Hercegovina. I was there with my family on pilgrimage – after we had heard that six young villagers were receiving apparitions of Our Blessed Mother on a daily basis since 1981.

During our brief stay I was exposed to a number of signs and wonders from God’s hand. I witnessed the phenomenon of the sun dancing and spinning while I stared into it with a group of Italian pilgrims for almost an hour. Another personal miracle I witnessed was when I was at Mass in St. James Church in Medjugorje. There, whilst in attendance I heard the most beautiful angelic voices hover over the altar and reverberate toward the back of the Church during the Liturgy. I kept turning around trying to find the source of these heavenly voices but only saw the Choir loft empty. There was no choir at this Croatian Mass. The only people singing were old Croatian babushkas endearingly singing slightly off-key. Nobody else seemed to be hearing what I was hearing. This left me with such awe and wonderment that it defied words. But more than all of this, I was most impressed with Our Lord’s Eucharistic Presence which the He allowed me to feel tangibly. The only analogy I can think of would be the way a person feels standing before the penetrating rays of the sun after a long swim. It felt like a warm blanket was covering my shoulders whilst being filled with an all-pervading Peace. It was this all-encompassing Eucharistic Peace that struck me most of all. It not only pervaded the Church, but the people, the villagers and the surrounding region. You could not help but feel it. It was in the very air that we breathed.

As we were approaching our departure time at one point I blurted out, “Mom, Dad – I never want to leave here! I don’t care if I was to sweep St. James’ Church for the rest of my days, I would be content!”

Reality set in as we boarded the bus. I knew God didn’t want us staying ‘in the Glory’ but to bring it to others elsewhere - to spread the Messages of Our Lady Queen of Peace and bring a little piece of Medjugorje with us wherever we went. Upon our return to New York this ‘spiritual high’ lasted for the duration of months, after which I immersed myself completely into typical teenage High School life.

After High School, I spent a number of years not really knowing what to do with my life. And I had also temporarily put my faith on the back-burner. I was employed doing various though short-lived odd jobs from Sales to Promotions to the Hospitality industry and even attended a local Community College. I was searching. At the time I was also in a serious relationship. My girlfriend, although Catholic, wasn’t practicing - and at the time - neither was I. My faith went from simmer – to lukewarm- to cold. I had walked into a dark period of my life – yet not so dark that it was without intermittent flashes of light and love from God, who kept reminding me in little unmistakable ways that I could run but I couldn’t hide from Him forever. And neither did God’s whisper let up but continued to persist and echo deep within the ‘deepest-deep’ of my soul.

Throughout this period the faint whisper of God’s call kept up until I had to come to a point of decision.

I knew something had to give. As far as my relationship with my girlfriend was concerned, the more I started to immerse myself back into my faith – the more we drew apart. So within a very short period of time my girlfriend and I had broken up, I quit my job (where we were both were employed) and I started going to daily Mass again.

I immersed myself anew in daily Mass, prayer and sought spiritual direction.

But at the time my life had accumulated so much noise, worldly baggage and toxicity that I needed spiritual rehabilitation.

It was suggested to that I take a silent retreat. A few years prior my brother had given me a book that had mentioned a specific religious order that was located in Vermont that was very austere and lived in prayerful silence. I wasn’t sure as to whether I wanted to join this specific order but I definitely needed time to pray where there was little to distract me. So, after a short correspondence with them, I found myself on retreat within the confines of the strictest order of the Catholic Church, the Carthusian Order - specifically, within the thick granite walls of the Monastery of the Transfiguration, located near Arlington, Vermont.

Normally the Carthusians never allow people to take ‘retreats’ at their monastery. And even if a would-be aspirant to the Carthusians was allowed to visit, it would only be for a short period. Well, by the graciousness of the Novice-Master at the time, I was allowed to stay for a little over a month. There I also met a holy monk named Fr. Raphael Diamond, one of the spiritual heroes of my life.

During my stay, which was saturated with silence and prayer - and in the midst of my praying about pursuing a religious vocation, I felt strongly prompted by the Spirit to record a Christian album. This came to me as a strange surprise since I had not written any songs at the time. I had always fiddled with the guitar but it was never anything serious. But this prompting persisted and continued to well up in my soul. It communicated to me that before I “took the plunge” into religious life, I first had to complete this ‘project.’ None of this made much sense to me until a few years later. I just had to trust for the time being. I shared these inspirations with my spiritual director and he believed that this word was coming from God. Little did I know that this same prompting would eventually become instrumental in helping me become debt-free in order to freely pursue my vocation towards the priesthood.

After a series of ups and downs and a particularly powerful retreat with the Intercessors of the Lamb in Omaha, I knew that if I was to eventually enter religious life, I needed to make a serious step towards it.

Whilst staying with the Intercessors and whilst in Adoration and silent prayer about what I was to do next, I felt a feminine caress on my soul – I can’t really put it into words, but it was akin to a wonderful perfume or incense hitting your nostrils out of nowhere. At the same time I heard the words inaudibly but interiorly, “You will be going to my school.”

It was a gentle word, slight but unmistakable - as powerful as a mother’s loving glance.

I didn’t know what this word meant until a few months later.

I eventually found out that any would-be candidate to the religious life needed to first complete a number of credits in Philosophy. I was warned away from going to attend a local secular college that was going to teach me a twisted relativistic philosophy, but I needed to attend a college that taught philosophy imbued with a Catholic world-view, recognizing Philosophy as the handmaid of Theology – not the other way around. My spiritual director as well as my circle of Catholic friends acted as signposts that unanimously pointed me in the direction of Franciscan University of Steubenville, which then Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) reportedly called “A Pillar of the Church.”

At Franciscan, I was not only to earn my required philosophy credits but also complete the “Pre-Theologate Program,” which, under the authority of the Bishop of Steubenville, (then Bishop Conlon) is the equivalent of attending the first year of major seminary.

Pre-Theologate students lived on a separate part of campus and would recite the Daily Office together, attend Mass together and be formed under the watchful eyes of Our Lady - Star of Evangelization, the program’s Patroness.

I knew I was under her watchful eyes and was the happiest I had ever been. After 4 years of study, formation and spiritual direction I had come out confirmed to pursue God’s call towards the priesthood within a religious order. Which order? I did not know. But through a little bit of searching and looking at different communities all over the United States

I finally found a community after my own heart. Namely, the Basilian Salvatorians located in Methuen, Massachusetts. This order of priests had the perfect blend of activity and solitude and after a few visits I knew I had to continue discerning with them.

I am happy to say that I was recently accepted as an aspirant for the Basilian Salvatorian Fathers, and am to begin my Novitiate this September 2008. But I was accepted on the grounds that before stepping into the Novitiate I first needed to alleviate the large student-loan debt I’ve accrued from going to Franciscan.

Ouch!

A seemingly impossible task--But this didn’t deter me. So instead of throwing in the towel, in prayer I was reminded of the original inspiration I had received at the Carthusian Monastery.

It was the answer to my dilemma. So, in God’s providential, all-knowing vision, I was given the solution long before the problem was yet on the horizon!

Our God is certainly an awesome God!

I recently did finish recording an album’s worth of original Christian songs and with the help of my sister Marina, I created a website featuring some of my story and where I also provide a means for people to purchase my CD as a “donation” toward my vocation, so that God’s call on my life may eventually be fully realized. But there is a time limit. I only have a few months to meet my goal of alleviating $72,000 dollars in student loans.

Please find it in your heart to help make this happen. May God Bless You all!

Eucharistically Yours,

Neven Pesa

My website: www.helpmebecomeapriest.com

Libera's New Album - "New Dawn"

Libera will be performing at the Riverside Church in New York on April 17, 2008. Tickets can be purchased through TicketWeb at the following:

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/event/EventListings?orgId=23121

Parish Contributions: The Dancing Queen Project

Over the course of about forty years of liturgical abuse, with all of its narcissism and ancient heresies packaged up in hip, "new age" clothes, I have often thought it would be helpful if Catholic laymen had some easy to use calculator that would help them determine how much or little they would contribute to their local parish, based on the quality of services offered.

Such a calculator would take into consideration the quality of liturgical celebrations and their faithfulness to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. The calculator might permit one to base contributions on a fixed percentage of family income and then calculate how much of that to give when one considers the quality of preaching and sacred music, the availability of the sacraments and devotions, the beauty of sacred objects and vessels, and the solemnity and reverence with which the sacraments are administered.

Other considerations in determining one's support might include the accessibility of the pastor and other clergy, their responsiveness when questions or concerns are raised, the quality of youth and adult cathechesis, and the spiritual and community life of the parish. Those parishes planting the seeds of faith through high quality religious education programs, and particularly those operating quality schools with a strong Catholic identity, should receive more compensation than those that do not.

Another idea might be to print promissory notes with messages about the liturgical or doctrinal abuses being experienced. These promissory notes could be redeemed for real cash if and when the pastor decides to return to orthodoxy. Such tools would let the pastor know exactly where he stands and what he might do to improve the parish.

When Catholic churches and schools are to be closed, we never hear that the closing is due to a failure to successfully transmit the Gospel message and build up the Kingdom of God. The explanation for a closing is usually focussed on what motivates too many of our bishops, the almighty dollar. With that understanding, the introduction of financial incentives and market forces would empower the person in the pews and allow them to vote, with their dollars, on what is good and what is not.

If the Diocese of Portland, Maine can assess The Latin Mass Community $72,000 for Sunday Mass, Catholics in the pews need tools to better empower them in the contractual arrangement. It is, after all, their contributions that house, clothe and feed the bishop and priests and provide their salaries and those of the chancery staff.

When the contributions of Catholic laymen are thoughtfully and strategically directed, much of the nonsense will fall by the wayside.

I hope these ideas might spark a discussion about how to use market forces to correct what many of the bishops will not address. Please let me know your ideas. With your permission, I will post them and perhaps we could promote the project through the many hundreds of other Catholic blogs.

The following video inspired this post. Perhaps if it inspires you, we could call this our "Dancing Queen Project." Please let me hear from you.

Reasserting Authentic Conservative Principles

The First Congress at Prayer.

Those feeling demoralized by the political choices confronting the American electorate would be well-served to read President Eisenhower's Farewell Address and the following article by John Laughland, recently published by The Brussels Journal.

Even as conservatives survey the rubble and wreckage that the Bush Administration has made of the once-dominant conservative movement in the United States, we are being urged farther down a desolate road of accommodation and compromise. We are told to accept what we are offered because the alternative candidate will be so much worse. But the lesser of two evils is still evil, and compromise with evil is both morally wrong and will only further diminish "the shining city upon a hill."

It will be a long and difficult struggle to rebuild a political movement founded on belief in God-given "unalienable rights," liberty, limited government, and constitutionalism. However, when a wrong turn has been taken we do not get to our destination by continuing down the same road, but by turning back and correcting our mistake.

What Henry Kissinger calls the "new international architecture" is under construction. Conservatives may feel overwhelmed and tired, our tools are worn out, but we must resist it, knowing that we have what the totalitarians and secular internationalists do not, the power of Truth and a vision of a truly Christian civilization.

What I Believe: Washington as Dangerous as Brussels

By John Laughland

Ten years ago, I was vehemently pro-American. Like many British Conservatives (I use the capital ‘C’ deliberately, to denote supporters of The Conservative Party), I regarded the United States as almost the ideal society. More importantly, and also like many Conservatives, I regarded any questioning of the Anglo-American alliance as a taboo which was broken only by those whose views were dangerously and irredeemably left-wing. I believed that the main threat to my values came from the quasi-socialist political tradition of the European continent (a subject on which I wrote a book) and that the “Atlantic community” was the right response to, and defence from, that threat.

Now, ten years on, I have become completely the opposite. I am a consistent critic of American (and British) foreign policy and I have long since despaired of the Eurosceptic movement in Britain, especially on the Right, which excoriates France for an allegedly servile attitude towards Germany while at the same time demanding that Britain behave with the same servility towards Washington. British Tories say they defend British sovereignty against Brussels but they see nothing wrong in having Britain’s foreign and defence policy subjected entirely to America’s. Indeed, any suggestion that Britain should have an independent military policy, for instance by not belonging to NATO, is regarded as the wildest heresy.

The change, for me, began with the bombing of Iraq in December 1998 and was completed by the Kosovo war in 1999. I opposed both operations, partly out of a revulsion for militarism but mainly because the latter war was patently incompatible with the doctrine of national sovereignty. (Indeed, it was deliberately intended to be so.) I quickly came to the conclusion that Washington wanted to create a supra-national New World Order as dangerous for the freedom of nations as the equally supra-national super-structure being set up in Brussels.

I also had the opportunity, through my membership of the British Helsinki Human Rights Group (now defunct), to observe political developments throughout the post-Communist world from 1998 onwards. I saw how American political operatives, from the Left and the Right, worked to ensure the victory at elections of their favoured politicians, often at the expense of the popular will and often thereby bringing back to power old Communists or people involved in organised crime. Whether these operations were conducted by the left-wing National Democratic Institute or the right-wing International Republican Institute, they pursued the same policy of doing down patriotic politicians keen to protect their countries’ interests and instead brought to power those who were only too ready to sell them out, usually to American corporate interests. That they pursued the same policies is no surprise: both NDI and IRI and funded by the same government body, the National Endowment for Democracy, which must now count as one of the most professional “regime change” agencies in the history of the world.

It was of course Bill Clinton who fought the Kosovo war. But the same policy of aggressive foreign policy has been continued, and massively amplified, by George W. Bush. Where Clinton invoked the (bogus) claims of universal human rights for his wars, Bush invoked U.N. Security Council Resolutions (as his father had done in 1990) to justify his drive for absolute American hegemony in the name of an international system based on a complete confusion between international relations and policing – the “war on terror”. These plans have been amply laid out by politicians on the Left and Right in America, from Zbigniew Brzezinski to Paul Wolfowitz. But, just as each French president is worse than his predecessor, so the Clinton years now seen like a golden age.

Have I changed or has the world? To be sure, I have partly changed. Many of my political friends now are on the Left. My book on the Milosevic trial was published by a very left-wing publisher (Pluto Press, the former publishing house of the Socialist Workers’ Party) and the preface was written by the notoriously left-wing former US Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, who has embraced every anti-American cause from the Sandinistas to Saddam Hussein. Ten years ago, this would not have happened.

But the change in me is not that I have become left-wing. It is that I have ceased to think (I hope) in terms of taboos. Much of what passes for thought on the Right in Britain is in fact nothing other than the searching out of intellectual tram-lines on which to base one’s views. Opinions are severely hedged around with taboos. If someone is critical of America, for instance, he must be a Marxist. Having defended a number of deeply unpopular causes (especially that of the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic) I believe that I can say that my thinking is taboo-free and that I instead analyse matters not tribally but instead on the basis of the facts.

The facts, as I see them, is that the cause of conservatism has been decisively abandoned by the Right in Britain, America and elsewhere. The Right in those countries is simply in favour of big business and turbo-capitalism which, as Chesterton said, is simply a way of centralising power (and capital) on a par with Communism. In America, the link to the arms industry is particularly worrying, since of course the arms industry entertains a particularly close relationship with the state. The Right in America under George Bush has become statist both in the sense that it believes in ever greater defence spending, and also in the fact that it bases American national identity on the country’s military in a way reminiscent of Germany-Prussia in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Even more profoundly, I am convinced that the neo-conservatism which unites both Bush and Clinton (including Hillary) is a revolutionary creed which has nothing whatever to do with conservatism. I have argued this view at length in The Spectator and The American Conservative. To put it briefly, neo-conservatism is a profoundly revolutionary ideology which betrays all the characteristics I, as a Catholic and a conservative, hate most. It is militaristic and millenarian; it is moralistic and Manichean; it is revolutionary and ruthless. Not only does it have its roots in Trostkyism (Irving Kristol boasted in 1983 that he was still proud of having joined the Fourth International, two years after Trotsky founded it); it remains an overtly revolutionary force with all the potential for wreaking havoc which many other revolutionary movements in history have displayed. Until that ideology is destroyed, until the stranglehold which the military-industrial complex has over the political class in America, and until a counter-weight to American hegemony emerges which permits the re-emergence of a multi-polar world order and the balance of power, the world will never be at peace.

My 'mild' Opposition to Condi Rice for VP

Secretary Rice administered the oath of office for the global AIDS coordinator, homosexual activist Mark Dybul, while Dybul's domestic partner held the Bible.

From WorldNetDaily

By Janet Folger

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making the rounds vying for vice president. Last week, she paid a visit to Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform coalition meeting. I quit going to that meeting about a decade ago when Ann Stone of "Republican's for Choice" sat three seats away from me straining to hear our pro-life activities so she could try and stop them. Some tents are just too big.

By the way, Norquist, who often describes his position as "guns good, taxes bad" (something upon which most conservatives agree), after speaking for the Dallas Log Cabin Republicans, might want to update his introduction: "Homosexuality good, Marriage bad," since his event was the biggest fundraiser of the year for the group that fought against marriage while it was on the Texas ballot in 2005. I like to strategize with people who want the same things – the very reason I don't attend meetings at Obama headquarters. But I can certainly understand why Condoleezza stopped by.

I am a Republican because of the principles in the party spelled out in the platform. I will remain one until the Republican Party ceases to stand for my beliefs, including the basic principles of life, marriage, less government and a strong defense. And when candidates violate these basic principles, I simply will not vote for them – even for vice president.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described herself as "mildly pro-choice." Let me first say, there is nothing "mild" about having your arms and legs ripped off your body in that "choice" we call abortion. Use any rhetoric you'd like, if you favor abortion, you still have a dead kid – 4,000 of them a day, actually, killed in the most non-mild ways imaginable.

Nothing particularly "mild" about Stephen Douglas being "pro-choice" when it came to slavery, either. No, the Republican Party was the one to stand against slavery even when candidates tried to hide behind the "pro-choice" (for the slave-owner) rhetoric.

Washington Times White House correspondent Bill Sammon pressed Rice, "But it sounds like you do not wish to change the laws that now allow (abortion). ..."

Rice responded, "Well, I don't spend my entire life thinking about these issues. … What I do think is that we should not have the federal government in a position where it is forcing its views on one side or the other."

If Lincoln held that position on slavery, we'd probably still have slave states today. We certainly wouldn't have an African-American secretary of state, that's for sure.

Beyond being wrong on the prerequisite issue of life, you won't believe what else she's wrong on. Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, summarized Rice's activities as head of the State Department with a Dec. 28, 2006, letter protesting the U.S. vote to give three radical homosexual groups official U.N. status.

Among the homosexual groups who were granted official "NGO (non-governmental organization) U.N. status was the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians, which supports homosexual "marriage," forced homosexual adoption and laws that would force churches to "bless" homosexual unions. Under Rice's direction, the U.S. also voted to recognize the International Lesbian and Gay Federation, which was linked to the North American Man/Boy Love Association and has refused to condemn adult-child sex.

Nothing "mild" about pedophilia, either. Forget going after child molesters; let's give them official status at the U.N.! Good one, Condi.

Then, on Oct. 10, 2006, Secretary Rice administered the oath of office for the global AIDS coordinator, homosexual activist Mark Dybul, while Dybul's domestic partner held the Bible. Ironic, isn't it? Too bad they never opened it. Dybul will oversee how $15 billion of our hard-earned tax dollars gets spent. Think of how you could further your agenda if your budget was $15 billion. I'd include the link to the homosexual publication that documents this, but it's laden with porn. What a shock.

Rice then introduced first lady Laura Bush to Dybul's domestic partner's mother as Dybul's "mother in law." This is only "mildly" at odds with the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (which even President Clinton signed) declaring that the federal government shall not recognize "marriage" between two men. Obviously, Secretary Rice doesn't "spend her entire life thinking about federal law" on that issue, either – "mildly speaking."

Seems Rice is so anxious to recognize homosexual "marriages" that she can't even wait for her radical homosexual U.N. efforts to take effect. Maybe she'd do better at Obama headquarters.

Not to mention her "road map for peace," which has "mildly" negative consequences for the survival of Israel, forcing the Jewish state to give up even more strategically significant land for promises of "peace" from "mild-mannered" terrorists and their mildly fanatical pursuit of world domination and the eradication of Israel from existence.

On my radio program yesterday, I was questioned about exposing the secretary of state's position without first going to her directly. Oh, I've already done that. I asked her to re-examine her radical abortion-on-demand position when I saw her at the inaugural ball back in 2001. I didn't have time to get to the rest.

Let me just summarize it for you: I am categorically, vehemently, emphatically and intensely opposed to Condoleezza Rice for vice president … to put it "mildly."

Latin Mass Community To Be Charged $72,000 for Mass

Holy Father, your Apostolic Journey to the United States is warmly and gratefully welcomed and comes not a moment too soon. Following is another example of the abuse to which the faithful are subjected by those who attempt to subvert your salvific mission. In too many cases wolves, not shepherds, are tending your flock. We pray that you will clean out the rot in the American Episcopacy, and among the staff in their state and national conferences. We offer you our prayers, our love and our support.

By John Grasmeier

Angelqueen.org

April, 2008

Since the release of Summorum Pontificum - Pope Benedict's Motu Proprio removing restrictions on celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass - many local prelates and their diocesan hirelings have gone to great lengths to make life as difficult as possible for Catholics seeking to take advantage of it. From requiring priests to sit for formal Latin language examinations before offering the TLM, to suffering difficult (and even unlawful) permission schemes, traditionalist priests and lay persons have had to suffer all types of dubiously devised obstacles laid out for them by hostile ecclesiastical chains of command.

Some who follow such matters may tend to think they've heard everything regarding these shenanigans. Others, who know better, realize that when it comes to suppressing of the immemorial rite, never think you've heard everything.

In a first (a first not only in anti-TLM hubris, but quite possibly a first in the history of Holy Church) the TLM community in the diocese of Portland Maine billed for their Mass. They are to be charged $72,000 per year, with an initial $18,000 down payment being due on or before July 1st, only a little over 2 1/2 months from the time this is being written.

The 72-grand will go toward the priest's salary and benefits, office supplies and, astoundingly, rental of the church. Should anyone think this a joke or simply too outrageous to be believed, the following is presented:

3 April 2008

Dear Members of the Latin Mass Community:

Christ is Risen & Lives Forever!

As Msgr. Marc Caron, the chancellor of the Diocese, announced to you some weeks past, Bishop Richard Malone has honored me with the newly created position of Chaplain to the Latin Mass Community in south-central Maine effective 1 July 2008. I look forward to serving and working with the faithful who are attached to the extraordinary form of the Roman liturgy. Initially, I will be celebrating Holy Mass in the extraordinary form every Sunday at 8:00 AM at the Basilica of Ss Peter & Paul in Lewiston and at noon at the Cathedral Chapel in Portland. Once the Chaplaincy is underway, additional Masses will be scheduled at other locations as the need increases and other priests are available. I also will be available to you for the celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals, including funerals, as needed.

I am happy to announce that the Bishop has accepted a request for a patron for the Latin Mass Chaplaincy. We will now be known as the:
:
St. Gregory the Great Latin Mass Chaplaincy

As Bishop Malone announced, the Chaplaincy will be funded by those benefiting from this ministry, and the Chaplaincy will continue only if there is sufficient funding to meet its expenses. The initial annual budget has been prepared, which I have approved and accepted. The budget for the first year is $72,000.00 and includes salary, room & board, health insurance and pension, travel expenses, church rental, office expenses, and other ministy (sic) expenses.

Prior to 1 July, and before the Chaplaincy will begin, we are required to raise from contributions one-quarter of our annual budget, or $18,000.00. This initial funding is necessary to ensure that we will be financially independent and able to meet our weekly ongoing expenses as the Chaplaincy begins and grows. We must begin our fundraising efforts immediately to raise this initial amount. We have established an account at TD Banknorth in Lewiston that will be used exclusively for the Chaplaincy. Contributions to the Chaplaincy should be made by check payable to "St Gregory (the Great) Latin Mass Chaplaincy" and sent to the following address: Latin Mass Chaplaincy, Department of Ministerial Services, P.O. Box 11559, Portland, Maine 04104. Please be as generous as your means allow.

After 1 July collections taken up at all the Masses of the Chaplaincy will go totally to the support of the Chaplaincy. Also the faithful will be able to register with the Chaplaincy and will have their own envelopes come the New Year. I will also be making regular financial reports to the community.

I will be able to join you and address you after Mass on Sunday 20 April 2008 at the Cathedral to enlist your support for the many important tasks we must undertake in order to build the Chaplaincy so that it will be a vital, growing, and long-lasting ministry in the Diocese. I also hope to answer any questions you may have. Unfortunately I may arrive during the Mass as I must complete my duties in Sabattus first. I hope you will be able to stay for a short reception after Mass so that we may become personally acquainted.

I thank all the priests who have served and who will continue to serve you. They have been a blessing from God. I look forward to meeting and serving you. May God prosper the work of our hands.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Rev. Robert A. Parent