Catholic bishops enabling an eventual Party of Death majority?
Did US Catholic leaders look the other way as to fatten their coffers and beef up sagging numbers?
And whatever Obama’s goals – there is this to consider from the Catholic perspective – bishop involvement in anything that advances the party of death ambitions to secure the
White House is extremely short-sighted.
No matter how humanitarian motivated, or selfish the goals – keeping a democrat in the White House insures an eventual Supreme Court dominated by liberals – and those liberals will be signing off of laws that will advance the persecution of the Church.
Remember, the Hobby Lobby HHS contraception case was decided on a 5-4 vote. The party of death would love nothing more than to secure the White House and have decades of control over that court.
To think that US bishops will have aided and abetted that is too sad to contemplate.
~ Michael Voris, analyzing the alleged cooperation of some US Catholic bishops and the Obama administration in enabling the wave of illegal immigration at the southern border, Church Militant.TV, July 14
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Michael, you better have some genuine evidence…or you’re going to look like a genuine fool.
I don’t know if he has gone over the edge into reckless conspiratorial speculation or not…but if this were true…well, a scandal of that magnitude would make the priest sex abuse scandal (which was horrible) look absolutely ordinary.
I’m not a great fan of Michael Voris but he’s right about this. Ninety-eight percent of the USCCB’s Office of Migration and Refugee Services budget of approximately 70 million dollars was government funded. Go to Refugee Resettlement Watch website, also, Laura Ingraham has done stories on it.
christine, do you happen to know the main source of USCCB’s Office of Migration and Refugee Services budget before 2008?
“Ninety-eight percent of the USCCB’s Office of Migration and Refugee Services budget of approximately 70 million dollars was government funded”
I’m not Catholic but I think the USCCB is amazing and does a lot of good for social justice (and pro-life). I really don’t get your criticism, they use the money they get to help people.
I didn’t write any criticism, I just stated a fact.
It seems like criticism because apparently you agree with Voris that bishops (including the USCCB?) are contributing to the problems he states? There is nothing inherently wrong with them taking government money if they are using it correctly (as in, not supporting anti-life activities and proselytizing, I don’t agree with using government money for either of those things). I think Catholic Charities also gets government funds and they also do a lot of good.
Leaving aside the theological aspects, from a tactical viewpoint, it’s tough when you are benefiting and benefiting yourself from those most likely to shut you down and criminalize your behavior. Unfortunately in a era of totalitarian schemes of government with laws that extend to even the most basic of behaviors, everything in life thus becomes a political tug-of-war.
DLPL, if you watch the video by Voris it might become clearer. He is basically saying the bishops are taking money from the government (or other favors) in exchange for their support and cover in intentionally arranging the border crisis we now have. A humanitarian crisis if there ever was one. According to Voris, Obamas alleged plan is to expand the Latino democrat voting bloc to parts of Texas beyond the Rio Grande Valley…by importing a hundred thousand fresh young dependents…ripe for government control.
The cartels want to hook young people on drugs and violence…the Obama administration wants to hook them on free stuff and voting democrat…and nobody needs free stuff more than the truly desperate.
If it turns out that some bishops were involved in creating the crisis…oh Lord. That is baaaad…not only because politicking, power brokering, bishops is like un-American but because a lot of good innocent people have died and worse.
Let us pray that all the new faces we will welcome among us learn to put God before mammon as they come of age to vote. That is something for which the USA could truly be grateful.
the Hobby Lobby HHS contraception case was decided on a 5-4 vote.
We’ve got Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote. Mandated-employer-provided contraception is one thing, and gay issues, for example, are another, where Kennedy has been out front in favor of gay rights.
Scalia, Thomas, and Alito are the hardcore conservatives on the Court. Roberts tends to vote that way, but is reluctant to overturn precedent.
I would not be surprised to see a “litmus test” in the future where if a judge has expressed anti-gay sentiment and/or ruled against gay rights in the past, then they would be very hard to confirm, and probably Presidents would be reluctant to nominate them.
How that would relate to future decisions affecting abortion, I’m not sure, but I think some inferences can be made.
I watched it, Tommy. It just seems like typical Voris doom-saying and conspiracy theory. I’m interested in his “evidence” but I really doubt it exists.
And I think the border crisis was a long, long time coming and I really don’t think the current administration bears all the blame. Cartels, for sure. They’ve made their countries all but unlivable.
Fr. Z reported the same thing several days before: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/07/hhs-money-to-church-entities-long-before-waves-of-illegal-immigrants/
http://www.cacatholic.org/index.php/blogs/885-migrant-children
Has it never entered Mr. Voris’ head that the bishops might be aiding these refugees (it’s gone way past an illegal immigration situation) not for political purposes, or to get more Catholics in the pews but because of the command of Jesus: “When you do this to these things for the least of my brothers and sisters you are doing them for me”?
Especially tacky of him after Pope Francis has urged in the strongest terms that these children must be helped.
This is what happens when you let your politics — any politics — trump your faith.
It’s curious to note, by the way, that just three years ago, the Obama Administration denied government funding to the USCCB’s migration and refugee services because they wouldn’t provide or refer for abortions and contraceptives.
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/obama-administration-defunds-bishops-migration-and-refugee-services-work/
Apparently that’s all forgotten now. If so, I think it’s the first time Obama has voluntarily backed down in this area. There may be hope for him yet.
In the meantime, I would suggest not posting any more of Michael Voris’ ill-thought out screeds here. It should be noted that his bishop has denied the name “Catholic” to his organization. He does indeed have a conspiracy-laden mindset, and has slandered some innocent Catholics, including the great Fr. Robert Barron, and he has partnered with some real extremists, even anti-Semites. I don’t think any Catholic should encourage him. And it is irritating that any other Christian group supports him.
Thanks, Praxedes, for linking to that wonderful editorial.
Here are some statistics, offered by Most. Rev. Mark Seitz, bishop of El Paso, Texas, in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in June of this year.
“Since 2011, the United States has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of unaccompanied migrating children arriving at the US/Mexico border.9 These children come from all over the world but predominately from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. Whereas in fiscal years (FY) 2004-2011, the number of unaccompanied children apprehended by the US government averaged around 6,000-8,000 year, the total jumped to over 13,000 in FY 2012 and over 24,000 in FY 2013. ORR initially estimated that about 60,000 unaccompanied minors would enter the United States during FY 2014. Recent government estimates have been revised, projecting 90,000 child arrivals in FY 2014 and 130,000 in FY 2015.”
This is not a recent problem. It wasn’t planned to begin now at a politically strategic point. It’s been an ongoing problem for some time, even if it hasn’t leaked into public consciousnes. The numbers have been increasing exponentially since 2011-12. Conspiracy theories are useless. You can read the whole of Bishop Seitz’s harrowing testimony here (pdf).
http://www.usccb.org/about/migration-policy/upload/BSeitzfinaltest.pdf
It tells of the horrendous violence and abuse these children have suffered.
The U.S. bishops also had a special report in 2013 talking about the growing problem of unaccompanied child migrants, which I am trying to find.
Tommy R. , Tommy, no I do not. But I think it would be nice if the USCCB would let the faithful know how much money they are receiving from the taxpayers.
Lori Peiper sez: “This is what happens when you let your politics — any politics — trump your faith.”
WRONG. CCC 2241 clearly states that immigrants (illegal or otherwise) or to abide by the laws of their host country. Try again, Lori.
Lori Peipet sez: ” He does indeed have a conspiracy-laden mindset, and has slandered some innocent Catholics, including the great Fr. Robert Barron, and he has partnered with some real extremists, even anti-Semites.”
WRONG again. He didn’t slander Fr. Barren, but rightly pointed out that his beliefs on how many are saved were misleading at best. It’s you who are attempting to slander Mr. Voris in order to weaken his argument. Try again, Lori.
Bishop Seitz: Whereas in fiscal years (FY) 2004-2011, the number of unaccompanied children apprehended by the US government averaged around 6,000-8,000 year, the total jumped to over 13,000 in FY 2012 and over 24,000 in FY 2013.
Yes, I’m sure that has nothing to do with Obama and the Catholics bishops continued push for amnesty. What a sham. Report: Unaccompanied Minors Coming to U.S. For Amnesty, Not Fleeing Violence:
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/07/16/report-unaccompanied-minors-coming-to-us-for-amnesty-not-fleeing-violence-n1862799
This is an insane, completely un-Catholic smear piece. You should be ashamed, Jill.
“WRONG. CCC 2241 clearly states that immigrants (illegal or otherwise) or to abide by the laws of their host country.”
What are our laws regarding immigrant children? I seriously don’t know and see all kinds of mixed messages on the internet. Some sites say children can stay until they find family and adults are immediately shipped back. Do the immigrants carry ID? I was a bartender for years and couldn’t at times tell the difference between a 17 year old and a 25 year old.
I agree this is a mess but we don’t take out our frustrations on people who are here because of our mess.
I’m not sure how anyone can predict how these folks will vote in the future either. Or know that the bishops just want to beef up church numbers. If folks in our country quit aborting and pushing abortion, the numbers would be up. And the Catholic Church has always opposed contraception and abortion so her leaders can hardly be blamed for that either.
Your welcome, Lori. Our Pope is not there by mistake.
Praxedes sez: “And the Catholic Church has always opposed contraception and abortion so her leaders can hardly be blamed for that either.”
Are you kidding me?? When is the last time you heard your pastor or local bishop preach against the evils of contraception? I live in a city with the largest abortuary in the Western Hemisphere, and not ONCE has our Archbishop spoken out against it. No, he’s been too busy organizing meetings with other nonCatholic religious leaders trying to push for amnesty and open borders. I’m not sure what you mean that illegals are here because of our mess? If you mean a president who has continuously ignored federal law regarding immigration, even persecuting states who try to enforce it, and bishops who have performed cheap political stunts such as celebrating Mass on the border, then you may have a point.
“I’m not sure what you mean that illegals are here because of our mess?”
It’s not like the US has devastated Latin America or anything over the years, or anything like that.
“At every turn in American politics since [The New Deal], you will find the hierarchy assisting the Democratic Party and promoting the growth of the administrative entitlements state. At no point have its members evidenced any concern for sustaining limited government and protecting the rights of individuals. It did not cross the minds of these prelates that the liberty of conscience which they had grown to cherish is part of a larger package – that the paternalistic state, which recognizes no legitimate limits on its power and scope, that they had embraced would someday turn on the Church and seek to dictate whom it chose to teach its doctrines and how, more generally, it would conduct its affairs. I would submit that the bishops, nuns, and priests now screaming bloody murder have gotten what they asked for. The weapon that Barack Obama has directed at the Church was fashioned to a considerable degree by Catholic churchmen. They welcomed Obamacare. They encouraged Senators and Congressmen who professed to be Catholics to vote for it.” – Hillsdale College Prof. Paul Rahe, “American Catholicism’s Pact With the Devil”, http://with-friends-like-these-who-needs-enemies.org/documents/American_Catholicism%60s_Pact_With_The_Devil.pdf
As a Catholic I would say that this is NOT an anti-Catholic tread. Pointing out that people, even priests, Bishops, etc. can be swayed by extreme amounts of money is quite possible. Not every Pope, much least priest, is made a saint. We are all sinners. One’s sin may be different then another’ sins.
The difference between temptation and test is where it is from and where it leads one. See the article below. Sounds like the BCFS got over $62M while one Diocese ‘only’ got over $15M.
http://www.libertynews.com/2014/07/exclusive-hhs-bankrolled-catholic-and-baptist-church-from-2010-to-2013-to-prepare-for-obamas-2014-invasion/
HHS Bankrolled Catholic and Baptist Church from 2010 to 2013 to Prepare for Obama’s 2014 Invasion!
“Between Dec 2010 and Nov 2013, the Catholic Charities Diocese of Galveston received $15,549,078 in federal grants from Health & Human Services for “Unaccompanied Alien Children Project” with a program description of “Refugee and Entry Assistance….
“From Dec 2012 to January 2014, Baptist Child & Family Services received $62,111,126 in federal grants from Health & Human Services for “Unaccompanied Alien Children Program.”
What you and Fr. Z and Mr. Voris miss is this. The bishops are not on board with illegal immigration simply because they’re being paid to do it (which they are) or they see more people in the pews. That’s just a bonus. They are on board because they are liberal socialists themselves and WANT the democrat party in charge. They are being useful dupes.
And they can do it all under the cover of “helping the poor.” Hirelings all.
We simply cannot take all of the “poor” from Mexico, Central America… “But we don’t have to take them all, just the ones that show up!!!”
What about the old and infirm who can’t make the trip so are stuck back in Honduras or wherever? Where are the bishops on that? What about the corrupt governments in these countries that make living conditions there unbearable in the first place? Where are the bishops on that?
Instead of railing on against capitalism (a system that all these “poor” can’t wait to be a part of), perhaps the Holy Father should implore these governments to embrace market economies under the rule of law, which is PROVEN to lift people out of poverty and help these people stay in their native land. Not to mention help all the others who cannot make the trip. Perhaps the bishops should do a little more talking about the ROOT CAUSE in Mexico, Honduras, etc.
Advocates of the poor? Hardly. They are hireling leftist opportunists.
Praxedes: What are our laws regarding immigrant children? I seriously don’t know and see all kinds of mixed messages on the internet. Some sites say children can stay until they find family and adults are immediately shipped back. Do the immigrants carry ID? I was a bartender for years and couldn’t at times tell the difference between a 17 year old and a 25 year old.
Uh… Make mine a double.
For unaccompanied illegal immigrant children, about half eventually are allowed to stay.
One possibility is “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.” If it can be shown that the parents “abused, abandoned, or neglected” the kids, they can go to an immigration judge to be given Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. I’m wondering if just sending the kids on such a perilous journey could be considered abandonment, etc.
There are other possibilities, but it literally is the start of Happy Hour at a bar/steakhouse near here, and we’re off.
Steve D:
The impression that children coming to the U.S. unaccompanied will be allowed to stay shouldn’t be traced to Obama-try President Bush. He signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act in December 2008, which stipulated that unaccompanied children at our borders who are victims or potential victims of human trafficking should be treated as refugees, not illegal immigrants. This bill, which passed the House and Senate unanimously, was a revision of similar previous federal laws. The connection is being widely recognized in Washington.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html
So really it isn’t Obama’s alien invasion, but Bush’s. Another conspiracy theory shot down!
And it seems that these kids ARE obeying the laws of our country.
P.S. Michael Voris didn’t just say Fr. Barron’s statements on who is saved were “misleading.” He as good as called him a heretic. Voris himself would have condemned “misleading” as a weasel word. He said that Fr. Baron is “wrong” and in error and that his opinion was against the teaching of Jesus and the Church.
Except that all of that is not true. Fr. Barron was in fact following Hans Urs von Balthasar, a favorite theologian of that flaming liberal and heretic Benedict XVI. Nothing he said has been condemned by the Church. Fr. Barron was perfectly in line with acceptable theological opinion in the Church.
It’s odd how this site never breathes a word about Michael Voris’s thoughts on the root of abortion, contraception, and all other problems in the modern US–Protestantism.
So when all else fails, Lori plays the “it’s all Bush’s fault!” card. Hey, you’ll get no argument from me that Bush failed to secure the border, mainly because of opposition from libruls. But he wasn’t trying to orchestrate an invasion of our country, like the Obammunist has been planning for years. From my understanding, that bill expired in 2011 anyway. But hey anything the New York Slime and Dick Durbin can use to distract from the criminal in chief. As far as Balthasar goes, LOL, seriously? Hans von Balthasar? You’ll going to have to do better than that, but it sure was nice of you to drag Benedict’s name through the mud to score some cheap points.
JTLiuzza sez: “They are on board because they are liberal socialists themselves and WANT the democrat party in charge. They are being useful dupes.”
Amen to that, they and their families have been that way since FDR.
“I live in a city with the largest abortuary in the Western Hemisphere, and not ONCE has our Archbishop spoken out against it.”
Is he stopping you from volunteering to teach religious education to Catholics? Would he oppose your working at a crisis pregnancy center? How about taking poor, single moms into your home? Do you think your Archbishop supports abortion?
“As far as Balthasar goes, LOL, seriously? Hans von Balthasar? You’ll going to have to do better than that, but it sure was nice of you to drag Benedict’s name through the mud to score some cheap points.”
I’m dragging Benedict’s name through the mud? Now you are slandering ME, sir. I would defend the Pope Emeritus’ honor to the death.
How do you imagine I’m defaming Benedict in anything I’ve said? By stating that von Balthasar is a respected Catholic theologian whom the former Pope admires? All that is true (I hope you realize my calling Benedict a flaming liberal and heretic was ironic).
Your remarks are so senseless I’m not going to pay any attention to them any more.
Rats, my time for editing ran out. Now I have to re-type.
Steve D: I was not assigning “blame” to anyone. I was just stating that the causes of this situation are multiple, and not due to any political ideology per se. That was the point of my saying that the bill passed with the support of both parties. Nothing I said was intended to be political in any way. Not that it would matter to you, since you make everything political, even humanitarian aid.
The U.S. Bishops have a Facebook and website for those who want to learn more.
Check out:
Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty
Lori, I suggest doing some research on Balthasar, for one thing his “hope” for universal salvation rested logically on a theory of Christ’s ignorance and fallibility, which had been often and variously condemned (Fr. Scanlon). I do not mean you any ill will, just frustrated that there are Catholics still in denial This is why a majority of Catholics voted twice for the boy king. Peace to you.
Steve D. You can type in ‘abortion’ in the search engine on the USCCB website and find out all kinds of information.
Share the site with all of your Catholic friends and parish members so less Catholics are in denial.
Steve D: What in the world do supporting von Balthasar’s theology and voting for Obama have to do with each other? I most certainly did NOT vote for Obama; are you assuming I did?
Thanks for not bearing me any ill-will. If you want to do even better in the future, don’t make rash assumptions about people.
Lori: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/immigrant-surge-rooted-in-law-to-curb-child-trafficking.html
So really it isn’t Obama’s alien invasion, but Bush’s. Another conspiracy theory shot down!
And it seems that these kids ARE obeying the laws of our country.
I’m not sure if they really are “obeying the law,” when some (most) of them are entering the country illegally, in the first place.
It’s not really “Bush’s fault” any more than “all these kids” are Obama’s fault. The Bush-era law wasn’t aimed at such border-crossings as we now have.
Beyond “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status,” there are agreements and laws going back to the 1950s and 1960s that deal with refugees and international protection obligations. They basically say that we won’t send somebody back to their home country if the gov’t there, or if groups that the gov’t does not control there, persecute them due to their nationality, creed, race, political affiliation, etc. Some of the kids currently coming into the US would qualify here, though the odds are stacked against them – their best chance would be with legal representation they often don’t have.
We’re also a signatory to a treaty known as the Convention against Torture, which says that if we have substantial grounds to think that somebody is gonna get tortured back in their home country, then we don’t send them back. Obviously, some of the current wave of kids qualify here, but again it’s a matter of court proceedings here in the US.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees says that 50 to 60% of the current wave of kids coming from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala qualify for protection under the above. I don’t know how that filters down through other US regulations and the actual proceedings that take place, but in the end about 50% of unaccompanied kids that come in get sent back.
There is separate status for being a victim of human trafficking. It’s supposed to work like this: all unaccompanied kids get screened for being trafficking victims. If yes, then they get, at the least, protection from summary deportation while other proceedings take place.
If no, and they are from Mexico or Canada, then they get sent back – we have negotiated repatriation agreements.
If no, and they are from other countries, then they get put into formal immigration court removal proceedings.
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act originated in 2000 (Clinton), and was reauthorized several times, in 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2013, so Bush Jr. and Obama too.
So there are many ways that the kids can stay.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, asylum, refugee, victim of torture, victim of trafficking. There is also a “T visa” for victims of severe trafficking – usually sex slave stuff – where they help in the prosecution of the traffickers. A “U visa” is for people helping with the prosecution of other crimes.
Doug, I already linked to the same article above!
But thanks for the other info: you seem well-informed.
Lori, yes, the same article because I was quoting you. :P
Lori: “So really it isn’t Obama’s alien invasion, but Bush’s. Another conspiracy theory shot down!”
This is the point that you and Doug unfortunately are missing — that this admin. is exploiting the orig. intent of the bill by putting forth the message that anyone crossing the border can essentially stay. Are you aware that ICE can not detain any of the juveniles that are members of the notoriously violent and brutal gang, MS13?
The bishops are naive and uninformed. They are most definitely appearing to be “useful idiots”. The USCCB is staffed by former comm organizers who channel the church monies. It is time that the Church stopped feeding at the gov trough and start directly helping the poor and needy. They did it for hundreds of years w/o gov help — they can do it again.
“The USCCB is staffed by former comm organizers who channel the church monies”
Proof please.
Praxedes,
The CCHD is a part of the USCCB.
Below is an excerpt but the link follows, along with some other related links.
(It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to discern that the USCCB has been infiltrated by people who are not motivated by the Truth but by the Marxist philosophy which is the foundation of community organizing.)
“WASHINGTON (CNS) — Joan Rosenhauer, associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, received the Harry A. Fagan Award Feb. 21 from the Roundtable Association of Diocesan Social Action Directors…..
Rosenhauer is on her third tour of duty for the bishops’ conference.
The first time she was hired — after eight years of community organizing work — she worked for what is now the Catholic Campaign for Human Development as a field representative for dioceses in the mid-Atlantic for a couple of years in the late 1980s.”
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0900850.htm
http://www.crisismagazine.com/2011/the-catholic-campaign-for-human-development-reform-or-bust
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=91401
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/missouri-diocese-axe-all-community-organizing-groups-from-cchd
Thanks for the links, Eileen.
I glanced through them and will read through them more carefully.
I remember hearing things about the CCHD over the years but did not take the time to educate myself like I should have. But I will do so. Thanks again.
Your welcome, Praxedes.
I probably shouldn’t have been so harsh about our bishops. But I really think they should stop associating with these politicians who exploit them for their own evil agenda. They should be the voice of Truth in the public square and serve the poor and vulnerable without aligning themselves with the gov by accepting gov money.
Eileen: This is the point that you and Doug unfortunately are missing — that this admin. is exploiting the orig. intent of the bill by putting forth the message that anyone crossing the border can essentially stay. Are you aware that ICE can not detain any of the juveniles that are members of the notoriously violent and brutal gang, MS13?
Eileen, I had heard nothing about MS13. Personally, I would not let any such gang members in, period. What would I do with them? Hard question, and I don’t know right now.
It is not the case “that anyone crossing the border can essentially stay.” About half the kids crossing the border get sent back.
Now, as far as kids from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, I don’t think Obama is saying, “You can stay.” I think they are being given time to get their situations sorted out. Some will be allowed to stay, some will get sent back.
Doug, since some of these gang members are underage, the authorities are not allowed to send them back. You should be able to google a search and find this info. So far I have not found that approx half of these children are being sent back in anything that I have read or heard. Just so there is no mistake, I believe that there should be immig. reform so that families seeking a better life can come to the U.S. My issue is that the admin essentially exploits laws for their political purposes.