Catholic Church

By Joseph M. Hanneman, Church Militant - By Fr. Shaughnessy's definition, the Bp. Ryan situation and the hierarchy's response are classic examples of episcopal corruption. "I define as corrupt, in a sociological sense, any institution that has lost the capacity to mend itself on its own initiative and by its own resources — an institution that is unable to uncover and expel its own miscreants," Shaughnessy wrote. "As an agency, the episcopacy has lost the capacity to do its own housecleaning, especially, but not exclusively, in the arena of sexual turpitude."

By Anthony Esolen, Crisis Magazine - The sexual revolution was a calamity—and the calamity continues. It is based upon a deliberate ignoring of what is real… People talk as if sexual congress properly speaking were not essentially the child-making act. Indeed that is its sole biological purpose. The child is not an accident. It is what you get when everything is working as it should. Contraception is not medical, because it does not remediate. It shields against no communicable disease. It cures no disease already caught. It heals no limb. It restores no function to an organ. The problem is not that the organs are not working, but that they are, all too well.

By Most Rev. Joseph Strickland, The Wanderer - In order to help the faithful to understand the effects of the sacraments, the Church, as Mother and Teacher, places the seven sacraments into three groups. The three Sacraments of Christian Initiation are linked together, Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist… We have examined all three in our past columns. Now we will consider the Sacraments of Healing and Forgiveness. There are two, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick. These two sacraments are also linked together.

By Janet E. Smith, National Catholic Register - Early on I was persuaded of the malignity of Father Maciel when nine men who as boys had been abused by him came forward with credible accusations. As I became more familiar with the Legion, the cultish atmosphere around Father Maciel and the “cookie cutter” appearance and somewhat robotic behavior of the seminarians and priests made me uneasy… When the terrible truth about Maciel was acknowledged, many insisted that the order needed to be disbanded. They argued that orders need a charism given by the founder, and since the Legion’s founder has been thoroughly discredited, the Legion has no charism and no reason for existence.