Thursday 28th March 2024

Home » Frontpage » Currently Reading:

Catholics Must Mount The Counteroffensive

January 9, 2021 Frontpage No Comments

By CHRISTOPHER MANION

What a week.
Many faithful Catholics were praying that Our Lady would choose the Feast of the Epiphany to bestow upon our beloved country special graces that might deliver us from the impending doom of an all-abortion-all-the-time takeover in Washington.
Our Lady certainly responded with graces, as she always does, but perhaps not with the results that many had prayed for.
Instead, we saw the hammer come down hard. With the slimmest of margins, both of Georgia’s Senate seats were awarded to radical pro-abortion Democrats, giving the U.S. Senate a slim but solid left-wing majority. A million Trump supporters in Washington saw the last vestige of deliverance from the stolen elections dissolve with Vice President Pence’s announcement that he saw no constitutional role for himself beyond that of a vote-counting clerk, routinely affirming the electoral votes submitted from several disputed states.
Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi, barely re-elected as House Speaker, came down hard on Republicans, making it clear that Democrats intended to rule the national government with an iron hand (forget the velvet glove).
The arrival this week of a million Trump supporters for the “Stop the Steal” rally received zip, zero, nada, attention on any media outlets — until several hundred (fewer than one percent) of the crowd attempted to breach security barriers at the Capitol. Whether outside agitators or merely agitated (and disappointed) MAGA advocates, their incursion gave members a close-up-and-personal view of what dozens of cities across the country have been witnessing for the better part of a year.
That’s right — Democrats had branded the widespread, violent Antifa demonstrations as a “myth” since June, but they were suddenly faced with reality as demonstrators entered the Capitol. None of the Antifa-style weapons — debilitating lasers, ball-bearing slingshots, and Molotov cocktails — were in evidence, but the “People’s House” was soon locked down with members and staff quickly escorted to safe havens.
We note that national Democrats and bishops have routinely ignored or even celebrated the “mostly peaceful” Black Lives Matter/Antifa riots that wracked cities countrywide all year. They have now joined Republicans who are demanding that the Capitol malefactors be arrested and charged. Apparently that somehow makes up for their months of insouciance.
Query: The massive Washington rally — which got no attention — and the incursion into the Capitol — which was a media sensation — are over. Will January 6 mark the death knell of the Deplorables, or their first foray into a sustained movement of opposition to the left’s power grab?

Beware Biden’s Bulldozers

The incoming administration is planning to pick up where Obama left off. Its focus on abortion will dominate: The war on life lies at the black heart of its full-scale offensive against spirit and truth in every sphere of national life.
Legislatively, one prime mandate will be the resuscitation of Obamacare and its expansion into a full-blown “national health care” system. In this, “Catholic Joe” will have the full-throated support of Catholic bishops, who frequently remind us that they have supported that goal since 1919.
But wouldn’t that mean the expansion of abortion-on-demand nationwide, free and unimpeded?
Well, yes. Undoubtedly our shepherds will ruminate profoundly on that meddlesome matter. Pursuant to protocols, policies, programs, and procedures, they will likely refer that question to the Bishops’ Committee on the Perpetual Pondering of Catholic Joe’s Complex Catholicism that they created late last year. Quickly the committee’s agenda will overflow, drowning in memoranda and suffocating the vital principles of Humanae Vitae, as well as their stated “preeminent issue of abortion,” which preeminence was Dead on Arrival as soon as it was announced 14 months ago.
When Biden reverses Trump’s affirmation and expansion of Reagan’s Mexico City Policy (prohibiting the international funding of abortion), here and there a bishop will scratch his head. When Obama’s HHS Mandate is renewed with a vengeance, a USCCB staffer will write a memo for the file. When Biden advocates overturning the wave of state pro-life laws by “nationalizing Roe v. Wade,” he will placate perturbed prelates by legalizing tens of millions of illegal aliens, adding icing on the cake by opening the borders to millions more.
And don’t forget, Catholic Joe will control the China Virus! And to remove the public danger of those pesky types who might interfere with his mandates, he will of course seize their guns.
With Catholic Joe, Social Justice will finally triumph. For our bishops, what’s not to like?

The Rot And The Rubble

During the past year, the American left has become more radical, more exposed, and, alas, more successful than ever before. Their wrecking ball has shut down the Mass for months, ruined millions of businesses, jobs, and lives, and mounted a campaign of public intimidation and ruin that bodes ill for our freedom and our lives. However, in their elation of having succeeded so widely and so easily, they have carelessly let fall the curtain that has camouflaged their perversion of our core institutions.
The media will never recover their credibility. “Experts” are now a joke, and so is “science.” The rot in the federal and many state bureaucracies has proven its staying power, but we know it by its proper name: the Deep State. The same goes for the Deep Church.
As the virus has vastly empowered government, our trust in politicians and politics itself has plummeted. Normally, a civic-minded public would draw the obvious conclusion: radically reduce the scope of government, and put strict limits on those powers that legitimately remain.
But these are not normal times. And the petty tyrants whom we wish to bind with the chains of the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God have defied those laws, and us, and the possibility of “normal times” itself. They have mounted a search-and-destroy mission targeting everything we hold dear.
Where can we fight back? One key terrain worth fighting for in the coming chaos is education — and there the camouflage curtain has been drawn back big time. Every family can now clearly perceive the rot.
School unions, whose ignorance and incompetence are now laid bare, have reacted by mounting a full-scale war on parents and their children. Consider the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). Their leaders are simply illiterate. The protests of parents who demand that teachers do their jobs are “rooted in sexism, racism, and misogyny,” they claim.
These are the union’s best. Imagine — with a shudder — the palaver their members pass out in the classroom.
Speaking of class, CTU official Sarah Chambers insists that it is “unsafe” for school workers to return to work — as she vacations in the Caribbean.
Beyond the malignant hypocrisy of the country’s most Marxist union conglomerate lies an opportunity. Parents now know what drivel their children are being taught — as well as the crucial basics that government schools ignore, even defile. And while the Bidenizers bulldoze Washington, parents have unique opportunities on the local level to unite and expand the alternatives to the yellow school bus jungle that public “education” has become.
President Trump championed parental choice in education. Biden has declared war on the family. “Children belong to the state,” said California Superintendent of Education John Swett 155 years ago. California’s largest school union still names its highest award after him. Here is a battle we can fight close to home.
“Know the enemy,” said Sun Tzu. Now we do.
“The best defense is a good offense,” said Knute Rockne.
What are we waiting for?

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)