Hundreds of people across Wisconsin turn out for David Bereit events, prayer vigils

David Bereit, the founder of 40 Days for Life, spoke at two Pro-Life Wisconsin events last week, along with leading prayer at two vigils. Image: David with the PLW staff.

On Thursday, April 26, David spoke to 250 people in Madison. Bishop Morlino said the opening prayer, and Dr. Nancy Fredericks was presented with an award for her courage in exposing the Madison Surgery Center's plans to perform late-term abortions.

On Friday, April 27, a prayer vigil was held at Affiliated Medical Services in Milwaukee, one of several 40 Days for Life sites across the state. Please pray for a young couple, 18 weeks pregnant, whom pro-lifers sidewalk counseled there.

Saturday, April 28 was draft day for the Packers in Green Bay.... But dozens of pro-lifers turned out to pray with David Bereit in Green Bay, another 40 Days for Life site (image, left). Sidewalk counselors were able to assist a pregnant woman in need of help as well!

That evening, at our Annual Spring Awards Dinner, Rep. Andre Jacque was presented with our "Legislator of the Year" award and Jim Ball, leader of 40 Days for Life in Green Bay, was presented with our "Activist of the Year" award.

Matt and his wife attended Saturday's dinner in Green Bay (rumor has it Matt was causing trouble in the Diocese on Sunday, so watch for photos in the days to come!). Many thanks to Matt and his wife for making the trip!

Thank you to all our supporters, steadfast prayer warriors, attendees, volunteers and all those who join us in advocating for the right to life for all.

P.S. Rumor has it there will be a Badger Catholic meet-up at a Brewer game this summer... watch for it!

More photos, below.

Bishop Morlino, David Bereit and PLW's Steve Karlen. 

PLW's Matt Sande and Rep. Evan Wynn, one of the co-sponsors of the Wisconsin Personhood Amendment.

PLW's Matt Sande and Rep. Andre Jacque (one of my UW-Madison cohorts!). Rep. Jacque is the author of the Wisconsin Personhood Amendment and received PLW's Legislator of the Year award.

PLW's Steve Karlen, Peggy Hamill and Jim Ball, recipient of the Activist of the Year award.

Photos from Cdl Dolan's Mass of Thanksgiving at Holy Hill

Thanks to Elizabeth Durack who blogs over at Laetificat Madison for sending these photos over.  Check out the rest of the photos over at her place.

There was explosive applause when Dolan mentioned Gov Walker's presence in his homily (this Mass involved a large amount of applause.....). The other note is that the image of the stained glass is a gorgeous first sample that was on display, of stained glass planned for the currently-homely Saint Therese Chapel downstairs at Holy Hill, depicting the life of St Therese, they are seeking donations to pay for new windows, terrific project.  Another note is that the inside the tent image is when we were waiting in a "sitting queue" in the tent to get a wristband to get in to Mass.

Paul Ryan

LOL, My Aunt Jeanne!!!(with Gov. Walker)  Some of you Madison pro-life folks know her.... okay you all know her. 

Abp. Listecki

Marquette's "Caring for Earth Prayer & Planting Service"

Marquette University Campus Ministry's Photos

What more could I possibly add.

WisSJ: Bishop Morlino warns dissenters to stop — or else

Madison Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino has moved to quell a backlash against a group of conservative priests in Platteville by warning parishioners they risk formal church censure unless they stop spreading "rumors and gossip."

The action by Morlino, which two Catholic scholars called highly unusual, appears to include the possibility of offenders being prohibited from taking part in church sacraments such as communion, confession and burial.

The warning came in a five-page letter Wednesday from Morlino to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Platteville. The congregation has been roiled by opposition to the traditionalist priests, who began serving the parish in June 2010.

Within months, church donations fell by more than half, and about 40 percent of the church’s 1,200 members signed a petition seeking the priests’ ouster. The church’s 77-year-old school is set to close June 1, a loss many parishioners tie directly to the collapse of donations.

The letter, in which Morlino raises the prospect of invoking the church’s Code of Canon Law against dissenters, has stunned many parishioners.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/bishop-morlino-warns-dissenters-to-stop-or-else/article_7b4c5820-9187-11e1-bd38-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz1tU0PVpO9

HT MKEJS FaithWatch

Bishop Morlino accepted the recommendation of the Platteville finance committee to close the school.

What the good Bishop actually wrote to the parishioners

I've been out of town all weekend so I haven't had a chance to dig into this more.   It is strange to me that we don't hear about this more often.  It reminds me of Scott Walker actually fixing what is broken instead of passing on the problem to someone else. 

Weigel: The gentleman from Wisconsin teaches a lesson in Catholic social doctrine

There is snobbery, and then there is academic snobbery.

Snobbery is often instinctual and inadvertent, and if it’s cruel, it’s the cruelty of the unthinking. Academic snobbery is deliberately cutting, snarky, intended to wound, and usually clumsy in asserting its own superiority.

Snobbery was the immediate reaction of English historian Christopher Dawson’s mother to the news of her son’s impending conversion to Catholicism: Mrs. Dawson wasn’t bothered so much by questions of doctrine, she told her son, but by the sad fact that he’d “now be going to church with the [Irish] help.” Academic snobbery is the letter from more than 80 Georgetown faculty members delivered to Representative Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), prior to his delivering the university’s annual Whittington Lecture on April 26. In that letter, the Hoya pedagogues not-so-subtly suggested that Ryan was a Catholic ignoramus, presumed to instruct the congressman on the meaning of the Catholic social ethical principle of subsidiarity, and concluded on an arch note, redolent of tenured arrogance: “Along with this letter, we have included a copy of the Vatican’s Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, commissioned by John Paul II, to help deepen your understanding of Catholic social teaching.”

continue at  National Review

Brookfield company takes second place in Monoco Cathedral gothic chasuble competition

It took 10 yards of Scarlet Dupioni silk, 19,000 sequins, more than 1 million stitches and four months to design and create a gothic chasuble worthy of the scrutiny of a princess.

For Jason Gaspard of the Brookfield-based religious vestment company, Gaspard Inc., the hard work and attention to detail was worth it, as his chasuble won second place in the international contest to design the centennial chasuble under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline of Hanover last year.

In January 2010, Gaspard, along with others in the industry, received the invitation from the Embassy of Monaco in Washington, D.C., to design the chasuble in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Cathedral of Monaco.

“This was the first chasuble contest that Gaspard has entered,” said Jason, whose company has been serving the church internationally since 1954. The three finalists were chosen by a jury presided over by Princess Caroline of Hanover. “There were 18 designers from around the world competing for this award, and we were pleasantly surprised to win second place.”

Gaspard often designs custom pieces among their wide variety of religious vestments, paraments, custom banners and other religious garments, including a wide variety of embroidered symbolism to enhance their customers’ worship needs. This design tapped into the talents of Jason and the six-person design team to create a chasuble worthy of royalty.

continue at MilCatHerald

So maybe there is some confusion by the writer on what a chasuble is, namely a vestment worn by priests during the Mass.  Indeed, the royalty here is Christ the King.  Very cool to see a local firm starting to get involved with sacred vestments, it appears that their current work is mostly modern designs. 

In 1969, Vatican Proves No Match for Rebellious Milwaukee Sisters

School Sisters of St. Francis in 1947

Vatican Proves No Match for Rebellious Sisters

The ink on Ecclesiae Sanctae had not yet dried when Paul VI received alarming news from Ildebrando Cardinal Antoniutti, Prefect for the CFR, and Egidio Cardinal Vagnozzi, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was spinning out of control and some teaching Congregations were already in advanced states of disintegration.

In 1968, the CFR sent an Apostolic Visitation team to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, to mediate the war between James Cardinal McIntyre and Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. [23] In 1969, another Apostolic Visitation team was sent to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to quell the rebellion of the School Sisters of St. Francis against the supine Archbishop William E. Cousins. [24] In both cases the rebels emerged victorious.

On June 29, 1971, Paul VI set his seal on the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelica Testificatio On the Renewal of the Religious Life According to the Teaching of the Second Vatican Council. [25] But no amount of sweet talk from the Vatican was going to lure the rebels away from their new-found freedom and the spoils of war they had come to enjoy under the Montini papacy.

Pope John Paul II did not fare much better. Unwilling to confront the LCWR and its feminist cohorts with a healthy dose of punishment politics, he decided on an alternative strategy — the formation of a Commission to study and make recommendations on the reasons for the decline in women religious life in America.

Read the whole thing at Renew America 

This is a fantastic overview, and I was shocked to see what Pope Pius XII did in his modernization of religious life. 

MacIver Institute obliterates claim of Walker's "war on women"

MKETOT, Social, Platteville, Silver and more

If you have emailed me and I haven't replied, I'll get to you soon.  Too many side projects, and not able to pull a Fr. Hardon and sleep for like 2 hours a night(his superior eventually ordered him to get more sleep).  

The schedule for Theology on Tap in Milwaukee is now available.  I assume the topics will be announced later.  They will be partnering with parishes this year. 

The Diocese of Green Bay hosted a Social Media conference this week.  Great idea, sounds like many resources for parishes to reach out to parishioners. 

Father Z talk about the situation in Platteville where the parishioners are trying to shut down the school to get Bp. Morlino to "fire" the traditional priests that are assigned there.

Bp. Ricken will give the commencement address at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family in Manitowoc.   Ricken will speak on "The Importance of Liberal Arts Education in Today's World."  I've never heard of the college before, are they any good?

A really interesting article on an Elma, Iowa Catholic Church titled "People won't let rural church die."

Did you see the pastor of St. Agnes in St Paul (does both Ordinary and Extraordinary forms in Latin with proper chants)  was appointed rector of the Cathedral of the archdiocese?  Awesome!!  Don't mind Terry though, I think high pollen counts have had an effect on him.  

There is a concert at St. James the Less in La Crosse for the dedication of their new organ Sunday April 29th at noon.  St James has added newly appointed music director Patrick Burkhart to its staff who recently lead his former Stevens Point choir in Rome.   It will feature organists Patrick Burkhart, James Smyth and Randy Lyden. The St. Michael Schola Cantorum will also be singing with St. James the Less Choir and The Guadalupe Shrine Choir.

Wisconsin Family Action is leading the charge in Wisconsin for defense of religious freedom.  Please sign their petition  for Wisconsin here! Be sure to forward it to friends and families via email, Facebook and Twitter.

"....We must take steps immediately to improve the constitutional protections we have so that policy makers and judges do not create law or rule on laws in such a way that our religious freedoms are further eroded. Wisconsin Family Action is working with state legislators to introduce a resolution that will amend our state constitution to give Wisconsin the best religious freedom language available.  By signing the petition, you will be sending a strong and clear message to our state legislators that you want your religious freedom given the best protection possible."

.... and yes, it is very awkward that Wisconsin Catholic Conference is completely silent on the matter, not to mention the fact they are not completely championing the effort.  

Chancellor of St. Mary's Univ. Winona, MN advocates for women "priests" on FoxNews

The byline is: "Louis DeThomasis says the death of the institutional church would be a good thing"

Liberal Cliché Warning! 

ROFL! Listen to him define "Tradition."  If I had more time I would transcribe it all.  The interviewer does a great job. 

What is interesting is that Winona, MN has a well known "wimenpriests" movement which it would now apparently seem was influenced by the Christian Brothers' heterodoxy.  Christian Brothers also run a publishing house out of the St. Mary's campus.  When I was teaching Confirmation I would order the Catholic Youth Bibles for students.  Don't. Do. It.  The commentary is terrible.  If I still have one around I'll post what the comments were on the Exodus.  Basically they took out all real meaning and talked about how slavery is a bad thing, and why slavery is immoral.  So basically they made the Bible as shallow as possible.  Nothing about slavery to sin, Moses as a type of Christ, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with mentioning the morality of slavery, but the attitude of - if we dumb this down enough kids will finally get it - doesn't work. 

DeThomasis also talks about his book titled (I kid you not) "Flying in the Face of Tradition."

He also writes for Huffington Post.  Check out "The Subversion of Vatican II."

If the embed doesn't work you can watch the whole thing at FoxNews.

David Bereit to lead prayer at 40 Days for Life sites in Milwaukee and Green Bay

Image: From a 40 Days for Life mid-point rally in Stevens Point this spring.

Due to 40 Days for Life founder David Bereit being in Wisconsin for two Pro-LifeWisconsin events this week, we have arranged for him to lead prayer at 40 DFL sites in Milwaukee and Green Bay. These two sites are significant – Milwaukee recorded the second highest number of saved babies during the spring 40 DFL campaign, and Green Bay was the first city out of Texas to undertake the 40 day prayer campaign.

Join us in praying for an end to abortion.

Milwaukee

·         Friday, April 27 from noon-1pm

·         Affiliated Medical Services, 1428 N. Farwell Ave, Milwaukee

Green Bay

·         Saturday, April 28 from noon-1pm

·         OB-GYN Associates of Green Bay, Medical Arts Building & Bellin Hospital, 704 S. Webster Ave., Green Bay

We look forward to seeing you there!

Paul Ryan NCReg op-ed: Applying Our Enduring Truths to Our Defining Challenge

The Catholic Church offers a rich overview of its thought, summarized in the Compendium of Social Doctrine, to guide Catholics in bringing truth to society’s problems. In his introduction, Cardinal Renato Martino, then president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, wrote, “This area belongs in a particular way” to those lay faithful who are active “in the social sector.”

As a congressman and Catholic layman, I am persuaded that Catholic social truths are in accord with the “self-evident truths” our Founders bequeathed to us in the founding ideas of America: independence, limited government and the dignity and freedom of every human person. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, I am tasked with applying these enduring principles to the urgent social problems of our time: an economy that is not providing enough opportunities for our citizens, a safety net that is failing our most vulnerable populations, and a crushing burden of debt that is threatening our children and grandchildren with a diminished future.

These problems are related: The debt is weighing on job creation today, closing off the most promising avenues for the poor to rise. As a result, more and more of society’s most vulnerable remain mired in public-assistance programs whose outdated structures often act as a trap that hinders upward mobility. And this economic stagnation and growing dependence fuels the growing national debt — a vicious cycle that calls for bold reforms equal to the challenge.

We cannot continue to ignore this problem. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has rightly termed this attitude “living in untruth … at the expense of future generations.” In approaching this problem as a lay Catholic in public life, I have found it useful to apply the twin principles of solidarity (recognition of the common ties that unite all human beings in equal dignity) and subsidiarity (respect for the relationships between individuals and intermediate social groups such as families, businesses, schools, local communities and state governments).

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/applying-our-enduring-truths-to-our-defining-challenge/#ixzz1t5Dogvjz

And now this:

Nearly 90 faculty members and priests at Georgetown University have signed a letter criticizing Rep. Paul Ryan’s visit to the campus tomorrow. They say his budget plan represents a “continuing misuse of Catholic teaching” because it allegedly hurts the poor.  [it would seem Dorothy just noticed the man behind the curtain controlling the Spirit of Vatican II  "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"]

details at Catholic League

Paul Ryan is as close to the ideal Catholic candidate for president that we have seen.  He has hit home run after home run. 

Mark Neumann receives pro-life endoresement in Wisconsin senate race

Also Wednesday, the Republican National Coalition for Life PAC endorsed former congressman Mark Neumann for the U.S. Senate. The group “supports Republican congressional candidates who are unconditionally pro-life.”

Thompson and Neumann, as well as businessman Eric Hovde and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon), are running for the Republican nomination for Senate. The winner will face U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the lone Democrat in the race.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) is retiring.

MKE JS

The Miraculous Lactation of St. Bernard - oh those crazy Catholics

"Show Thyself as a Mother!":
The Miraculous Lactation of St. Bernard,
by Alonso Cano, 1650, in the Prado, Madrid

"I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

"I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"

--Canticle of Canticles v, 1-5

via Holy Whapping

This painting depicts the spiritual nourishing of St. Bernard by the milk of Our Lady, based on this legendary mystical experience: Bernard prayed before a statue of the Madonna, asking her, "Show yourself a mother" ("Monstra te esse Matrem"). The statue came to life and and squirted milk from the breast onto the Saint's lips.

more at FishEaters

New Catholic Tom Barrett TV ad targets Walker for 'war on women'

A new television ad from gubernatorial candidate and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett takes aim at Gov. Scott Walker for what he calls an "ideological war" that has targeted women.

The 30-second ad starts with Barrett delivering a speech while the screen displays a headline detailing the enactment of the Equal Pay Enforcement Act. The next screen displays a DailyKos headline from April 2012 saying "Walker's war on women escalates."

"Legislation that was on the books dealing with equal pay for equal work, to ensure that women would be treated fairly in the state," Barrett says. "Pow. He went after that."

The screen then displays another headline detailing an "all-out attack" on women, while Barrett describes the passage of a law regulating abortions that he claims would "make it more difficult for women to have the most intimate conversations with their health care providers."

"All part of this ideological war, a war against women, a war against working people, a war against Wisconsin values," he concludes as the screen displays Barrett's name with the slogan "A Governor who will fight for what's right."

WisPolitics






Photo

St. Mark, Evangelist & Martyr, ora pro nobis!

via Canterbury Tales: Who is the Naked Man in St Mark's Gospel?

St. Mark's Basilica, Venice

a mosaic of the resurrection at San Marco, Venice

The St. Louis Cardinal

Sam Lucero blogs about the upcoming Cardinal Dolan Mass of Thanksgiving this Saturday at Holy Hill near Milwaukee.  ArchMil has some more details.  I think it is fascinating how different Cdls Dolan and Burke are yet they have a very close friendship.  Also +Dolan will also celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Louis the following Sunday, May 8th at the basilica.  

Wausau Herald profiled a local priest of St. Anne in Wausau who is being reassigned.

There is free beer at The Argument of the Month club in the Twin Cities May 8th.  I'm hoping to make it up there one of these months.  It turns out I like beer too.

Via The Provincial Emails: The Altar as the Center of the Church: by Duncan Stroik, Part I: Principles of Design, and Part II: Conclusion

Was having a discussion about the top three dioceses in the United States.  Even with the departure of the Cardinal and Abp. Carlson doing some funny business down there, I have to think that St. Louis is tops.  If I understand correctly, the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales is the largest Latin Mass community in the US.  Tulsa, OK is up there.  Maybe, Lincoln, NE.  I suppose I could just recklessly put a list together like I know what I'm talking about.

Bishop Callahan has a new radio show online and on a few of the Relevant Radio affiliates.   Speaking of, did you see Relevant Radio's new website?  Great work!  Now if we could just get Catholic Answers and Dr. Ray back on the air..... 

"Petition supports clown priest"

So to follow up on Virginia's Clown Mass post from yesterday, Steve Kuhl sends me an email with this follow up article and says only "It was pretty bad back then." I can't even imagine.

Petition supports clown priests

A petition is being circulated in support of a Roman Catholic priest who conducted a controversial clown mass for children at a church.

Parish member Mary Ellen Nelson said she started circulating the petition in support of the Rev. Edward Hussli in response to a petition started by another parish member, Pat Lindmark, critical of the clown mass at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church.

Literature was distributed prior to the Feb. 2 mass during Catholic Education Week telling children at the parish school and their parents that, although the clown may appear foolish, his foolishness was an attempt to direct people to higher truths.

Huselli has declined comment, but he said in a letter to one of his critics, "We are trying to save this generation of kids for the church and anything we can do with the liturgy to make it more meaningful and understandable for our kids we will do!"

 God save us all!!

Catholic Tom Barrett: Embryonic stem cell research is "the Lord's work"

Below is a debate between Scott Walker and Tom Barrett from October 15, 2010, during the 2010 race for governor. The debate was held at Marquette University and moderated by Mike Gousha, a Milwaukee-area news anchor.

It's interesting to re-watch; you can see how some of the issues played out -- stabilizing property taxes, education funding as a sacred cow, cutting taxes for small business owners to encourage growth, government employees contributing to their pensions, and so on. It's a civil debate, but gosh, I hate politics like this. And Barrett is annoying as all get-out.

Below the debate is queued to 59:50 for the question about funding/encouraging stem cell research at UW-Madison. In response to the question, Barrett states:

I support stem cell research. I support embryonic stem cell research. That's where the difference lies [you got that right!] I believe that this research is breathtaking in its potential. I was in Madison recently, and I was at the Weisman Center, and I met a woman who's doing research on chromosomal damage to infants, maybe it's before they're even born. And the impact it has on learning, particularly for the boys. And I listened to this woman, and I thought two things. I thought, This woman is a lot smarter than I am; and second, I thought, this woman is doing the Lord's work. She's using these embryonic stem cells and she's gonna improve the quality of life for these kids. 

He continues but you get the point. [And the audience looks really angry at this point, LOL!]

Barrett, a practicing Catholic, refers to embryonic stem cell research as "the Lord's work."

From the archives, round two

Yesterday I posted a rather startling photo from 1984 of a Milwaukee priest celebrating Mass, dressed as a clown.

The photo above is from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel archives, this time from 1982, involving the same Milwaukee priest, Fr. Edward Hussli. The topic, again, concerns female altar servers.

Some choice clips from the article: 

- Parishes that have altar girls, he said, want to keep a low profile because they don't want to stir up ultra-conservative Catholics, who don't approve of women taking any part in the liturgy.
- Although the chancery is aware that several parishes have altar girls, the archdiocese has not addressed the question.
- Father Edward J. Hussli, associate pastor of St. Agnes, said it was an injustice to girls to deny them the opportunity to serve at Mass. "We're trying to eliminate all the masculinity from Scripture and the service, and here in one area, we're denying girls the opportunity to serve on the altar," he said.
- "We thought it would be really good for the girls learn at an early age that they can be accepted in different lay roles of the church," said Carol Richards, coordinator of the program [at St. Alphonsus]. Remembering her feelings as a girl attending Mass, Richards said, "I always wondered how come the boys could cross the altar rail and we never could. It was OK for me to clean the altar afterwards, but I wasn't good enough to be up there for the liturgy." 

Read the whole article here.

I could write for days about the various issues in this article. This article is 30 years old. Are we really better off?

HT my anonymous friend.

Gov. Walker's wife was raised Catholic

from a reader:

Tonette Walker was raised Roman Catholic and apparently graduated from a Roman Catholic all girls high school in Milwaukee which has since merged with another Roman Catholic high school. The Walkers go to an non denominational church in Wauwautosa.   However, Mrs. Walker's father was abusive and an alcoholic so I am givng Tonette Walker credit for having faith to overcome this. 

It's pretty clear that the Walker's are more "Catholic" than any of the professed Catholics politicians in this state in either party.  Doyle, Thompson, and Barrett are all cut from the same seamless garment. 

WisSJ: Catholic in good standing Tom Barrett says he would seek to overturn new abortion law

Planned Parenthood's decision to stop providing nonsurgical abortions in Wisconsin drew sharply different reactions Friday.

Democratic candidate for governor and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he would work to overturn the law that imposes criminal penalties on doctors who do not follow new requirements for provision of medication-induced abortions.

Barrett is one of four Democrats running against Gov. Scott Walker in the June 5 recall election. A fifth candidate is running as an acknowledged fake Democrat in the May 8 primary.

Wisconsin Right to Life, a major backer of the bill, called the decision to stop offering so-called pill abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics in Appleton, Madison and Milwaukee "a true victory for Wisconsin women."

Act 217, also known as the Coercive and Web Cam Abortion Protection Act, requires doctors to determine through a private consultation whether a woman is being coerced into having an abortion. State law already requires written consent before an abortion is performed.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/barrett-says-he-would-overturn-new-abortion-law/article_b40e5612-8b0c-11e1-824b-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz1srqg50aN

As far as the public knows, Barrett is a Catholic in good standing and receives communion regularly. 

UW Badger Catholic hosts Baylor philosophy and church-state studies professor

A student organization welcomed a philosopher of religion to campus who applied ethics and politics to address the question: “Can you be moral without religion?”

Baylor University professor of philosophy and church-state studies Francis Beckwith spoke to Badger Catholic Thursday night on his view of morality and said it is founded upon a “divine source, which is God.” Beckwith described the Natural Moral Law with five key attributes of what morality seems to be.

He said these are defined by becoming non-physical through non-inferential acts of understanding, forms of communications and forces people can feel prior to any behavior or compulsion. He added that violating moral rules makes people feel guilty, and morals are unable to be explained by something else. Beckwith also said there are three main options of where morality is founded.

The first, he said, includes the idea that some view morality as “an illusion.” He said morals may not be obeyed if there is no jurisdiction provided.

He said the second option includes how morality is founded by possibly the naturalist evolution. He said in this view, moral meaning comes from “past traits of our ancestors.”

The third option, which he said includes his own view, is that morality is created by God or divine inspiration. From a meta-ethical standpoint, Beckwith also said morality makes most sense when viewed through a religious perspective. “Without religion or a divine source, there is no meaning,” he said

continue at The Badger Herald

University of Wisconsin; the one legitimate place to send your Catholic children to college.... that just sounds weird, but it is true.

From the archives: Milwaukee priest celebrated Mass, dressed as a clown

Article is from the archives of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Essentially, the associate pastor dressed as a clown for a Mass for St. Agnes Catholic Church, which is located in Butler, Wis.. Thirteen girls, also dressed as clowns, can be seen in the photo and acted as servers. The incident took place in 1984 [Orwell, anyone?!]. You can view what remains of the article here.

I should note I have never been to this parish, nor can I offer any comment as to how the parish is today.

HT an anonymous friend!

StlR: Cardinal Burke's first book connects everyday life with the Eucharist

A new booked penned by Cardinal Raymond Burke, expected to be available in the United States by late May, will shed light on a practical understanding of the core of the Catholic faith -- the Eucharist.

Drawing on the timeless teachings of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, "Divine Love Made Flesh: The Holy Eucharist as the Sacrament of Charity," (Catholic Action, $21.95) blends theological, devotional and practical approaches to examine the beauty and power of the Eucharist as it relates to different facets of Catholic life.

The book is being published with the help of Cardinal Burke's longtime friend, Thomas McKenna, founder of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, a San Diego-based association of Catholics that strives to uphold and defend Christian values inspired by teachings of the Church. McKenna also is founder of the St. Gianna Physician's Guild, which supports Catholic physicians and health care workers in their work.

This is the first time Cardinal Burke has written a full-length book, said McKenna, adding that the idea stemmed from the thousands of articles Cardinal Burke has written over the years. Since 2008, he has served as prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura in Rome, and is archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Continue at St. Louis Review

Happy Birthday Mother Angelica!

Belated, that is.... well I scheduled this post for yesterday afternoon... Blogger does not like me this week.

89 years old!

HT NCReg

I just found out I'm a "providentialist"

From a comment from BigTex over at AmericanCatholic

Lastly, I think you (and Ike) have an incomplete understanding of NFP and the Church’s teaching here. It sounds as if you believe we are supposed to be providentialists (think Duggars) when it comes to our family sizes and situations. Rather, NFP when taught with the mind and heart of the Church emphasizes prayerful discernment. The language used in the CCL course is specific: postpone/achieve pregnancy, as opposed to (what seems to be your main thrust in this discussion) prevent pregnancy.

The AC article is a good read, it has to do with a WaPo piece on rebranding NFP for Catholics so its... I don't know, cooler.  Definitely worth a read, and already like 150 comments.  I think a good discussion though. 

HT Brian H

Wisconsin nuns signed, circulated Walker recall petitions

Image: From iverifytherecall.com, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, based in Elm Grove, Wis., also signed the petition. View this particular recall form here.

From Breitbart.com:

As the Catholic Church takes action to counter the left-wing drift of American nuns, Breitbart.com has learned that hundreds of nuns are involved in the left's campaign to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R)--in favor of pro-choice Democratic challengers.

The nuns who have circulated and signed petitions include sisters from convents and other Catholic institutions across the state.

Over 100 signatures, for example, all of female voters, as verified through iverifytherecall.com, list the same address as a Dominican institution in Sinsinawa, WI, in the southwestern portion of the state. Representatives of that organization could not be reached for comment.

One Catholic official at a school with a large number of signatories stressed that Catholic organizations advocate for the poor and downtrodden, but do not take political positions, and that what their individual members do is up to them alone.

Though many Catholic voters support Walker, and roughly 40% of Wisconsin Republican primary voters are Catholic, there is some Catholic opposition to Walker's collective bargaining reforms among those partial to the "social justice" movement within the Catholic Church. Democrats are hoping to tap into that opposition.

Walker is Catholic, as is his most likely Democratic challenger, former congressman and former Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, who has been criticized for opposing the ban on federal funding for abortion. Other Democratic candidates--Kathleen Falk, Doug LaFollette, and Kathleen Vinehout--appear to be pro-choice.

Read the rest here.

Couple items of comment... Breitbart linked to the Badger Catholic (the Barrett pro-choice item)! And Walker isn't Catholic -- he is the son of a Baptist preacher and attends a Protestant church. Also, Archbishop Weakland signed the recall petition, so it's not too much of a surprise to learn that Wisconsin nuns did so as well. As Matt pointed out earlier this week, the Catholic country club has been open for quite a while.

My home parish

Yes, a pole shed.

 

This is alot better than it used to be.  They used to have the fake wood paneling on the back wall

When they need more room, the cafeteria is opened to the church

The guitars.....

St. Mary's Church, Houston, MN. There is a very small Carmelite monastery down the road. I've always wondered who it was that prayed for my conversion, maybe one of the Carmelites.  I will find out in heaven. Where I'm sitting in this last picture is where I was sitting one fateful Sunday morning.  I was extremely hung over but like a "good" German-Irish Catholic I didn't let a little thing like that from stopping me from going to Mass.  The DRE was up after Communion asking .... no literally begging ... for teachers.  He was a man that had a significant speech impediment and I was amazed that he was driven enough to serve the church to be up in front of all these people.  He also had lead the choir for a while(before the guitars), not because he wanted to, but because there was no one else willing and he wasn't going to let a little thing like his own limitations get in the way.  Anyway, I was convinced, or rather totally guilted into it, and I went over after Mass.  I taught the Confirmation class there for 5 or 6 years, and was DRE myself for half that time.  When I decided to teach, I realized I had to actually learn what the Church taught, and then the terrible reality of having to practice what I preach.  It was definitely a gradual process, but eventually seemed to do some good.

Once I told a friend this story and she laughed and said, I'm glad to see that catechesis has gotten to the point where we are getting the drunks in the back of church to teach our children.  LOL