Satan is behind the media attacks on the Pope

From the Catholic News Agency.  This did not come from The Onion, National Lampoon, or some other parody site.  It came from the Catholic News Agency, in the year 2010, about 300 years after Isaac Newton came up with the Laws Of Motion and 40 years after we put a man on the moon.  We stopped treating people for demonic possession about 250 years ago, and I think we're better people for it. 

Rome, Italy, Mar 31, 2010 / 11:47 am (CNA).- Noted Italian exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, commented this week that the recent defamatory reporting on Pope Benedict XVI, especially by the New York Times, was “prompted by the devil.”

That would explain soooo many things about The New York Times, wouldn't it? 


Speaking to News Mediaset in Italy, the 85-year-old exorcist noted that the devil is behind “the recent attacks on Pope Benedict XVI regarding some pedophilia cases.”

The devil is not behind the attacks.  Priests got behind some 12-year-olds.  The Pope got behind the cover-up.  There's your problem, Gabriele. 

“There is no doubt about it. Because he is a marvelous Pope and worthy successor to John Paul II, it is clear that the devil wants to ‘grab hold’ of him.”

I'm not going to make any bad jokes about priests who "grab hold" hold of little boys.  But think of how many centuries this has been going on, and what happened when kids complained about things like this in the past.   

Father Amorth added that in instances of sexual abuse committed by some members of the clergy, the devil “uses” priests in order to cast blame upon the entire Church: “The devil wants the death of the Church because she is the mother of all the saints.”

Well, when an organization demands both celibacy and chastity from its all-male leadership, what do they expect?  Seriously, can there ever be good results from that policy (which, as far as I can tell, was a fairly late development in the Catholic Church)?  Has it ever been different than this?  Was there ever a Golden Age of priestly good conduct? 

“He combats the Church through the men of the Church, but he can do nothing to the Church.”

The exorcist went on to note that Satan tempts holy men, “and so we should not be surprised if priests too … fall into temptation. They also live in the world and can fall like men of the world.”

Ditto for Presidents, Popes, City Councilmen, and Prime Ministers.  Therefore, we should be wary of giving them any more power and control over our lives than absolutely necessary, right? 

Geaux ye therefore into all nations....

Photographed outside the Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans last Sunday. Lord have mercy, this is going to be a good game.

Forwarded to me by The Whited Mama, who is rooting for Indianapolis because Peyton's grandmother used to help do legal work for our farm. IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT WE'VE BEEN SAINTS FANS SINCE ARCHIE MANNING GOT DRAFTED BY THE SAINTS IN THE EARLY 1970's.

God's mad

I hope everyone is having a pleasant Sunday morning.
If you find yourself unable to attend formal worship services, how about this gem from Westboro Baptist Church, the group that pickets the funerals of American soldiers (They do this because God is punishing America for tolerating gays and lesbians - Get it? I don't either.)

God is mad, mad, mad.
As best I can tell, God is mad at gays, lesbians, Catholics, Jews, and everyone else who is different from the people Reverend Fred Phelps grew up with.

Hit this link to go to the Westboro Baptist website. They've added a few things since the last time I visited: There's a banner that says "Welcome, depraved sons and daughters of Adam", and a countdown ticker that tells you how many reprobates have entered hell since you entered their site.


That spinning sound you hear is Michael Jackson rolling over in his grave, begging for vengeance.

Catholic Relief Services in Haiti

If you've turned on a TV tonight, it's all about the natural disaster in Haiti and the Democrats' disaster in Massachusetts.

If you're interested in a good, established charity for Haiti, I'm going to keep plugging for Catholic Relief Services, AKA Catholic Charities. I have a lot of friends from the former Yugoslavia and Cambodia that CRS helped get re-established after disasters in their native countries. (We were the disaster.) At this point, CRS has a Haiti headquarters on a golf course someplace, and they have the U.S. military providing security and logistics.

Enhanced Interrogation Techniques

TV News is abuzz over something called "enhanced interrogation techniques".

Enhanced = to increase, to heighten
Interrogation = to ask a series of questions
Techniques = methods

In other words, Enhanced Interrogation Techniques = torture.

Why in the hell do broadcasters and journalists insist on using the government's Newspeak term for it? It's torture. Let's call it that.

Would we want to be waterboarded while someone asks us questions ? No. Why not? Because it's torture.

In darker times, when The Church wanted information or merely wanted to strike fear into the peasantry, those accused of heresy would be "submitted to the question". The idea was that if one was innocent, God would give you strength to withstand the pain. But if you ever, ever confessed to anything, no matter how ludicrous, your confession was binding. You then became a victim of The Inquisition for a long, long time.

I saw the movie "Goya's Ghosts" last night. Great, great movie. In this scene, a wealthy merchant whose daughter has stumbled into the clutches of The Inquisition turns the tables on a priest who defends the practice of torture.


Does anyone out there believe that those who approve of "enhanced interrogation techniques", but disapprove of "torture", might change their tune if they were the ones to be waterboarded subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques ?

I have no idea how I would respond in one of the ticking bomb scenarios. And if my daughter was kidnapped but I had custody of an accomplice to the crime, I wouldn't hesitate to bring out vice grips, cutting torches, needle-nose pliers, hammers, tongs, and perhaps dachshunds.

"Enhanced Interrogation Techniques". What a ridiculous euphemism for such a horrible practice in such an idiotic dispute.

Let's call it what it is.

John Hagee, The Roman Catholic Church, The Antichrist, Hitler, The Holocaust, (all on one convenient chart)

Here's John McCain's latest bear to cross, or cross to bear, depending on your theological perspective.
McCain fell all over himself accepting this guy's endorsement several weeks ago.
Here is Reverend John Hagee, explaining that the anti-christ (in the form of his spiritual ancestors in Rome) is the Catholic Church.

Hagee references "the cup", from The Book of Revelation, traditionally interpreted as a cup of suffering. Notice where his pointer is aimed when he first talks about The Cup. I'm no expert, put I think that's a Double-D cup.

I spewed Gatorade all over the table when he did that.


I think Hagee and Jeremiah Wright will soon put together a vaudeville-style tour, where they'll bring their theological wisdom to bear on the great issues of the day.


Hagee does make a somewhat valid point, if you're a scriptural literalist. Hitler was only continuing a persecution that the church started; after Hitler, God will continue to punish those who don't believe, and it will be for worse and for a much longer period of time than anything The Inquisition of The Nazis could accomplish.

Please discuss amongst yourselves....

If the John Hagee tempest in a teaCUP continues to gain traction, you'll soon see feature stories on the Protestant difficulties with Roman Catholic doctrine.
Among these will be the Catholic emphasis on Church Tradition.
The Protestants will say that Christianity should only focus on what is revealed in scripture, not tradition.
The Catholics will respond with "How do you know what is and isn't scripture?"
The Protestants will shuffle their feet, cough, and respond with "Unhhhh....Catholic Tradition?"

These arguments, charts, and doctrines about Saint John's Acid Trip In The Book Of Revelation will have an impact on our choice of Next Leader For The Free World.
And so it goes.
To read an update on the McCain/Hagee Strange Bedfellows situation, click here.