"The Darkest Two Years of My Life" The Story of a Priest Falsely Accused

August 28, 2012 By TheMediaReport.com 

"Walking on air": Rev. Eugene Boland is thrilled after being exonerated

Very few priests speak publicly about their horrifying ordeals of being falsely accused of child sex abuse, but Rev. Eugene Boland is doing so after a jury in Derry, Ireland, unanimously found him not guilty in June of the flimsy claim that he had somehow "inappropriately touched" a girl over two decades earlier.

The verdict brought an end to what the priest now calls "the darkest two years of my life."
From "a priest's worst nightmare" to victory

On March 31, 2010, Fr. Boland received the phone call that every priest fears. His bishop was on the line, and he told him to contact the diocese's child safeguarding leader the next day.

"That was a bleak day," Boland told the Irish Independent. "It just came out of the blue … I was shell-shocked. I'm sitting in my home on my own. I didn't know what the allegation was, or who was making it."

"I didn't sleep that night," says the priest.

The popular priest was eventually ripped from the ministry he so loved and forced to withstand screaming front-page headlines about his case, aggressive police tactics, and a high-profile criminal trial.

Throughout the ordeal, however, Boland felt a sense of "relief" over the fact that he knew he was innocent and there would be an opportunity to publicly make his case.

When the jury returned the unanimous "not guilty" verdicts, the priest could not have been more ecstatic. "I could have skipped down the street outside the courthouse. There was an overwhelming feeling of relief – that I had been heard and I had been vindicated.

"I have been walking on air ever since," says Fr. Boland.

And even though the priest's parishioners have been "extremely angry" at the accuser for lodging her completely bogus allegation, Boland has told the Derry Journal that he has "forgiven that person because to hold bitterness or anger would weigh me down … I always believed the truth would come out in the end."

Issues still unresolved
Although this story has a happy ending, there are still some aspects are troublesome.
Even though Rev. Boland was exonerated two months ago, he has yet to return to his parish assignment, as he still awaits official word from Rome for permission to return to ministry. Why the long wait?

In addition, the media still have not addressed the patent unfairness of Catholic priests being forced into having to prove that they didn't do something decades earlier. Think about it. How does one go about this? As Joe Maher, president of Opus Bono Sacerdotii ("Work for the Good of the Priesthood"), once said, "If you think it's tough proving an allegation from 30 years back, try disproving it."

The platform for accused priests is literally "guilty until proven innocent," yet very few people seemed too worked up about this unjust predicament, especially those in the media. And if there any evidence of men from other professions having to endure these same ordeals of trying to disprove allegations from so long ago, we haven't seen it.

Our world's priests remain very vulnerable targets, as this case amply demonstrates.

A New Kind of "Confession"

“Here one does not confess but dialogues and listens." This is the sign found near the confessional at the Slavic Chapel at the Sanctuary of Loreto. The schedule for "listening" are posted at this most important Marian sanctuary in Italy, constructed next to the Holy House of Loreto where the Holy Family lived. The house was miraculously transported from the Holy Land to Italy in the 13th century so as not to fall into the hands of the Muslims (who obviously did not dialogue). Every morning and afternoon, there are priests who are available to "dialogue" and "listen" using two chairs facing each other.

Seattle Jesuit: Opposing Same-sex "Marriage" is ‘Denial of Civil Rights’

A Jesuit priest who serves as pastor of a parish in the Archdiocese of Seattle has told National Public Radio that opposition to same-sex marriage is a denial of civil rights. Will he be disciplined? No one is holding their breath...

Read more:
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=14556

The Catholic Sex Abuse Crisis in Ireland That Isn’t

June 5, 2012 By TheMediaReport.com 

If one were to believe the mainstream media, the Catholic Church in Ireland is reeling from a burgeoning and active network of pedophile priests relentlessly preying on innocent children.
However, the recent release of the annual report from the Catholic Church's National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC, Ireland) tells a radically different story.
While even a single abuse allegation is upsetting, from April 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012, of 237 total allegations of abuse against Catholic priests, only six accusations alleged abuse within the past dozen years, since 2000. This represents one allegation every other year in all of Ireland in recent memory.
In other words, as in the United States, the abuse of children by Catholic priests in Ireland is a tragic era from years past.
However, don't look for these facts to be reported the next time the New York Times reports about the Catholic Church and sex abuse in Ireland.

Another Homosexual "Catholic" Accepted for Parish Council in Austria

Hilary White, Rome Correspondent
LifeSiteNews.com
Tue Apr 17, 2012

VIENNA – Immediately following the resignation of the parish priest in the town of Stützenhofen after he opposed the election of an active homosexual to his parish council, another homosexual has been confirmed to sit on a Catholic parish council in Austria according to the Standard newspaper. Forty-four year-old Mark Casna, who has lived openly with another man since he was 19, has been accepted for a third term with the approval of the parish priest, Fr. Michael Blassnigg, who told media that he has “no problem with it.”

Casna told the Standard that the Dean of the parish had encouraged him to join. “He knew then that I was in a homosexual relationship,” Casna said.

Casna also commented on his beliefs, saying, “Confession was invented in the Middle Ages, and celibacy is an invention also of the Roman Catholic Church.” He added that he approved of the Austrian Priests’ Initiative that has called for open disobedience on clerical celibacy and female ordination, saying that it is “on track” and that he is confident that the “breakthrough” will succeed.

Kaprun is a village of 3000 a hundred kilometers southwest of Salzburg.

How to Remove Objectionable Links From a Website

Written by John Horvat II

For some time, concerned Catholics have found objectionable live links on the websites of major Catholic universities all over the country. Among these links are pro-abortion and pro-homosexual sites that openly clash with Catholic teachings on these issues. Even more disconcerting is the fact that these links are presented in favorable contexts such as intern opportunities or student resources.

TFP Student Action has been very active in asking these institutions to take these links down since they send at best a confused message to Catholic students and Catholics in general. However, not all of these requests have been heeded.

More often than not, these Catholic universities tend to put off the requests as if it were a very complex and difficult operation that has been asked of them. At times, spokesmen will announce they are looking into the possibility of taking them down. When pressed to take action, protesters are often made to look impatient.

Perhaps these universities should be given the benefit of the doubt. Maybe these links really were put up inadvertently by students or faculty that did not realize what they were doing. Extending the doubt yet further, perhaps the personnel at these tech-savy institutions really do experience difficulty in taking the links down.

For the benefit of these institutions and their staff, we have put together step-by-step instructions on how to remove objectionable links from a website.

1. Identify the web page that has the objectionable link. This can be done by looking at the line at the top of the web browser or using the title of the page.

2. Enter into the backend of the website via the normal procedure (exactly in the same way in which the link was inserted) Put in user name and password. Press enter.

3. Find the article manager module of the web program and click on the icon that will allow you to view a listing of all articles or pages on the website.

4. Put the name of the article (see step 1) in the search filter. When the article pops up, click on the article and enter into the editable text.

5. Find the objectionable link. This can be done by going control-F and then type in Planned Parenthood, National Organization of Women or any of many such organizations that have been known to appear in these sections. Press enter.

6. The cursor should then be on the actual link. Highlight the entire text of the link with your mouse. Then look at the editing tools and find the icon of a broken chain link. Click on this icon. The link has been broken!

7. The process is not over. Next highlight the text again and push delete. With this step all reference to the objectionable organization will be wiped off the page forever. Please be sure that text is really off and does not appear on the page. Repeat process for other links if necessary.

8. Next go up to the exit icons. Find the save and exit button and click on it. By this action, the program now saves all changes and takes the links offline.

9. Go to the web page that HAD the objectionable link before and verify that the link is actually offline. If it has not, please repeat process. If another objectionable link is cited on the same page, please repeat process for that link.

10. Save instructions for other technicians who are not familiar with procedure so as to reduce future difficulties. Teach the process to other students and tech personnel.

The whole process should take about three minutes the first time. After a bit of practice, it will take a maximum of 90 seconds.

How is It Possible? Cardinal Approves Homosexual Parish Council Member

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who leads the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, has apparently confirmed that an openly homosexual man may serve on the parish council at a church in Stutzenhofen – a town in the Weinviertel region. Florian Stangl was elected to the advisory post by members of the congregation, but apparently did not find approval on the part of his pastor, Rev. Gerhard Swierzek.

(Cardinal Christoph Schonborn)

Stangl and his companion resorted to asking for a personal interview with Cardinal Schonborn, who then spoke with the pair and dined with them. According to Austrian daily Die Presse, Cardinal Schonborn decided that Stangl should not be excluded from the position, but the decision was not made public until March 30.

Rev. Swierzek, who had opposed the homosexual Stangl, has since received death threats. Gasoline is said to have been poured through a window at his rectory, while a local newspaper reported that there was a rumour that the priest has left on vacation.

The priest arrived at the editorial offices of Bezirksblätter, the daily newspaper in Stuzenhofen, to demand a retraction of the false report of his absence from the town, while also threatening to file a lawsuit. Local reports says that the Vicar General, Rev. Nikolaus Krasa – who oversees the priests in the region – has advised the outraged priest to remain calm and refrain from any confrontations with the media.

From Spero news, click here for link

The Homosexual Movement Scores a Win in the Fr. Guarnizo Affair - Who Caused the Scandal and Why?

Written by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo

The news spread across the world, creating an international scandal around Fr. Marcel Guarnizo. On February 25, 2012, he denied communion to a lesbian, Ms. Barbara Johnson, at her mother’s funeral Mass. On the 28th, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., Most Rev, Barry Knestout, sent Ms. Johnson a letter of apology criticizing Fr. Guarnizo’s “lack of pastoral sensitivity.”¹

Priest Suspended for “Intimidating Behavior”
Even after receiving that letter, and in spite of having received communion at the Mass from the Eucharistic minister, in media interviews, Ms. Johnson said she would do all in her power to have Fr. Guarnizo removed from the parish. On March 9, the Vicar General sent a letter to the priests of the archdiocese saying that Fr. Guarnizo was “placed on administrative leave with his priestly faculties removed” because of his “intimidating behavior toward parish staff and others.”²

“Lesbian Asks and Archdiocese of Washington Heeds”
Again the news spread around the world, this time presenting the priest’s removal as a consequence of having denied communion to a lesbian. Some examples:

In the United States, among thousands of others, here is the headline in the liberal Huffington Post: “Rev. Marcel Guarnizo Suspended: Priest Who Denied Communion To Lesbian Barbara Johnson, Withdrawn For ‘Intimidating Behavior.’”³

In Brazil, a conservative site, Fratres in Unum, was categorical: “Lesbian Asks and Washington Archdiocese Accedes: Priest Who Denied Her Communion Is Punished.”⁴

In England, the MailOnline notes: “Priest who denied communion to lesbian at mother’s funeral suspended for ‘intimidating behaviour.’”⁵

In Italy, the site Virgilio.it announces: “USA—Priest Who Refused Communion to a Lesbian Suspended – Barbara Johnson, Offended at Her Mother’s Funeral, Celebrates.”⁶

The Homosexual Movement Claims Victory
The web site of Dignity, an organization that rejects Catholic doctrine on homosexual sin, but still calls itself Catholic, did not hide its joy:

“Gay Catholic Leaders Applaud Priest’s Removal from Ministry, Repeat Calls for Dialogue with Church Leaders” reads the headline. The news item continues:

“DignityUSA and Dignity/Washington, DC today applauded the Archdiocese of Washington, DC for suspending Father Marcel Guarnizo from all ministry within the Archdiocese.… “The Archdiocese has acted appropriately in removing Father Guarnizo from ministry,” said Allen Rose, President of Dignity/Washington… “We are encouraged by this action, which will do much to restore Catholics’ faith in our Church’s commitment to pastoral ministry.”⁷

Lesbian Activist and “Catholic” Buddhist
On March 14, Fr. Marcel Guarnizo issued a public statement explaining what occurred and justifying his position. He also asserted that the reason for his ministry removal was because he had denied communion to a lesbian.

On the other hand, with additional data provided by the media and Catholic websites, one now can assemble a pretty reliable analysis of what happened.

For 25 years now, Ms. Jonhson has openly declared herself to be a lesbian and made that clear in a job interview for a position in a Catholic school, in which she called herself a “lesbian and a Buddhist.”⁸ News accounts state that she has been living for 19 years with a partner,⁹ so family members and friends at the Mass could hardly have been ignorant of this, all the more so since she was accompanied by her companion.

It Was Ms. Johnson’s Duty to Avoid the Possibility of Scandal
In the circumstances involving a funeral Mass, and above all for her own mother, it was first and foremost up to Ms. Jonhson to try and avoid any possibility of scandal. This is why it is hard to understand why, a few minutes before Mass started, she went to the sacristy with her partner and introduced her to the priest as “her lover.” The priest tried to speak with her but she left the sacristy and her partner stood in the priest’s way to prevent him from reaching her for further conversation.¹⁰

Was this Scandal Intentional?
During the Mass Father Guarnizo denied her communion because of a problem of conscience that he would fail in performing his duty were he to do so; but he did this so discreetly that it wasn’t noticed even by the Eucharistic minister next to him. This enabled Ms. Johnson to enter into the other line and receive communion.

Therefore, Father Guarnizo gave no scandal whatsoever and the episode became public only thanks to Ms. Johnson, who gave a number of interviews to newspapers and TV networks, presenting herself as the victim of a priest’s fanaticism and “lack of pastoral sensitivity,” in the words of the Vicar General.

Several analysts raised the hypothesis that Ms. Johnson sought to provoke this incident for ideological reasons. For example, in his well-read blog, Father John Zuhlsdorf noted, “a lesbian Buddhist instrumentalized her own mother’s funeral Mass so as to set a trap for a priest whom she wanted to provoke into refusing her Holy Communion.”¹¹

Are there grounds for this hypothesis? It seems so. Ms. Johnson is a homosexual activist,¹² Father Guarnizo did not know her beforehand, and had never asked her anything about her irregular situation. Moreover, it was Ms. Johnson’s sole initiative to make him aware of her situation shortly before Mass started. Accordingly, it does seem plausible that her intent all along was to create an incident in order to advance the homosexual agenda.

Situations when Communion Must be Denied
As Father Marcel Guarnizo recalled in his statement, in addition to the cases when Communion must be denied, listed in Canon 915, there are countless situations in which the priest has to decide on the spot what attitude to take, always seeking to avoid scandal, as much as possible; for example, in the case of non-Catholics, drunkards or drug-addicts, divorcees in new partnerships, who approach to receive communion.

In a July 2004 note to the USCCB, the then Cardinal Ratzinger recalled that denying communion where appropriate “is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of Holy Communion passing judgment on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.”¹³

Giving Holy Communion Inappropriately Can Scandalize
There can be scandal both in denying communion to someone in a public and visible way when his sin is not public, or in giving communion to someone who is in a public situation of sin or notorious dissent with the Church’s doctrine, and this is well known to the faithful present in the church. A typical example of the latter was the scandal given by Archbishop Niederauer of San Francisco, when he gave communion to two homosexual males associated with the notorious group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who presented themselves before him dressed up shamelessly as nuns.¹⁴

An Organized Homosexual Movement
Given the existence of an organized homosexual movement that seeks to impose its ideology by all means and takes advantage of every circumstance to advance its agenda, ecclesiastical authorities and members of the clergy must act with great prudence. It is always important to make it clear that homosexual sexual relationships (as any other sexual relationship outside of marriage) are intrinsically evil and sinful, so that a person publicly living in such a relationship is objectively not in conditions to receive the Holy Eucharist.

Footnotes

1. “Full text: letter of apology to lesbian” at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2012/02/full-text-letter-of-apology-to-lesbian/. [back]
2. “Priest who refused communion to lesbian placed on leave, faculties removed — UPDATED” at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2012/03/priest-who-gave-communion-to-lesbian-placed-on-leave-faculties-removed/. [back]
3. 03/11/2012 10:03 pm. In the updated next day 03/12/2012 5:33 pm the title was changed: “Rev. Marcel Guarnizo, Priest Who Denied Communion To Lesbian, Put On Leave” at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/11/rev-marcel-guarnizo-pries_n_1338120.html.[back]
4. http://fratresinunum.com/2012/03/12/lesbica-pede-e-arquidiocese-de-washington-atende-padre-que-lhe-negou-a-comunhao-e-punido/.[back]
5. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113731/Father-Marcel-Guarnizo-denied-communion-lesbian-mothers-funeral-suspended-intimidating-behaviour.html#ixzz1owcqKa38.[back]
6. http://notizie.virgilio.it/notizie/esteri/2012/03_marzo/12/usa_sospeso_il_reverendo
_che_rifiuto_comunione_a_una_lesbica,34001961.html?pmk=rss.[back]
7. https://www.dignityusa.org/content/gay-catholic-leaders-applaud-priest%E2%80%99s-removal-ministry-repeat-calls-dialogue-with-church-lea.[back]
8. Thomas Peters, “News Outlets Failed to Reveal Lesbian Denied Communion at Mother’s Funeral … is a Buddhist and Gay Rights Activist” at http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=27899.[back]
9. Cf. Gail Huff, “Barbara Johnson denied communion at mother’s funeral due to sexual orientation” at http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/02/barbara-johnson-denied-communion-at-mother-s-funeral-due-to-sexual-orientation-73210.html.[back]
10. “Priest: removal from ministry was tied to communion incident” - Fr. Marcel Guarnizo’s Response to the Eucharistic Incident, http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/priest-removal-from-ministry-was-tied-to-communion-incident/.[back]
11. “Prof. Peters examines development in the case of denial of Communion to aggressive lesbian” at http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/03/prof-peters-examines-development-in-the-case-of-denial-of-communion-to-aggressive-lesbian/.[back]
12. For example, we read in an article The Baltimore Sun of March 14, 2012:
“Gov. Martin O’Malley, who continues to campaign for same-sex marriage in advance of a likely referendum aimed at overturning the law he signed this month, will speak Friday at a conference in Baltimore for gay and lesbian Catholics.
“Also scheduled to appear at the conference …[is] Barbara Johnson, who was denied Communion at her mother’s funeral Mass in Gaithersburg last month because she is a lesbian.” (Matthew Hay Brown, “O’Malley to speak at conference for gay and lesbian Catholics - Cardinal warns that ministry ‘in no manner’ speaks for church” at http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-03-14/news/bs-md-new-ways-20120314_1_new-ways-ministry-catholic-bishop-lesbian.[back]
13. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, “Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion - General Principles” at http://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bishops/04-07ratzingerommunion.htm.[back]
14. Cf. Luiz Sérgio Solimeo, “Sacrilege, Scandal and Homosexual Ideology in San Francisco” at http://www.tfp.org/tfp-home/news-commentary/sacrilege-scandal-and-homosexual-ideology-in-san-francisco.html.[back]

Confronting Religious Persecution in America: Neither Apostasy nor Dhimmitude!

Written by The American TFP

At least 142 U.S. Catholic bishops, representing almost 80% of America’s dioceses, have strongly denounced the religious persecution expressed in the rules promulgated January 20, 2012 by Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), in connection with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly dubbed “Obamacare.” Other major religious figures like Dr. Albert Mohler quickly followed suit.[1]

Christians Should Fight Back, Not Apostatize

Indeed, according to these rules, health plans are obliged to provide “all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods [and] sterilization procedures,”[2] some of which are de facto abortifacients.

The rules provide for a religious exemption which is so narrow that it excludes, for example, most Catholic health institutions. As a result, the ruling puts at risk the quality of healthcare in America since, according to the 2009 American Hospital Association Annual Survey, Catholic institutions comprise some 12.7 percent of the nation’s hospitals. Every year, some 5.6 million people are admitted to these medical facilities.

However, not only Catholic organizations, schools and hospitals are affected by this HHS ruling but all Catholic employers. With such very limited exemptions—the survival of which is uncertain given the growing judicial activism—it is fair to say that the HHS edict affects all God-fearing Americans.

The bishops highlight that the new HHS rules place Catholics in a dilemma: either violate their consciences and the divine mandate to preach the Gospel to all peoples (Mark 16:15), or stop providing healthcare coverage thereby incurring heavy penalties. As for the first option, the bishops state: “We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law.”[3] However, the second option is unacceptable since penalties may prove to be “so large they could drive some Catholic employers out of business.”[4] These fines imposed on those refusing to violate their consciences are tantamount to reducing God-fearing Americans to a state of dhimmitude.

**********************************************************

Dhimmitude

In this statement, we use the term “dhimmitude” analogously.

Dhimmitude is the status of subjection applied to Christians and Jews in the countries conquered by Islam. “Adult male dhimmis were required to pay a tax on their income and sometimes on their land. Restrictions and regulations in dress, occupation, and residence were often applied.” [John L. Esposito, s.v. “Dhimmi,” in The Oxford Dictionary of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) pp. 67-68.] Although in general, at present, the taxes have been abolished, Christians in Muslim countries continue to live in a state of constant restriction and persecution. [Cf. Robert Spencer, ed., The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2005).]

**********************************************************

Rejecting these two unacceptable alternatives, the protesting American bishops are proposing a third one. They are calling upon all Catholics and men of good will to vigorously engage in the political process to reverse this unjust government diktat that subverts the First Amendment rights of all. They ask Americans to put their muscle behind the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act bill introduced in Congress (H.R. 1179, S. 1467).

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) takes the issue further and urges all Americans to address the root problem and abolish socialist “Obamacare” altogether.

Secularism and Socialism

As many bishops have noted, the ideology that lurks behind this measure is secularism. It is hostile to religion and denies the spiritual life and the supernatural.

This secularism, which hails from the Enlightenment philosophies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, naturally develops into socialism, which is presented as man’s complete liberation from all submission to divine authority.

In fact, socialism not only rejects God but replaces Him with the State. For socialists, the State is almighty, all-knowing and absolute. Unlike Divine Providence, which governs men lovingly, respecting their true freedom as children of God, the socialist State is dictatorial and totalitarian. It is a police state.

The new anti-religious rules implementing “Obamacare” are a natural consequence of this law’s socialistic and statist inspiration. In face of the almighty State, neither individuals nor institutions, whether civil or religious, have true freedom.

Since the State is considered to be the source of everything, human liberties are seen as mere “concessions” that the State can take away as it pleases.

Broaden the Fight: Abolish “Obamacare”

For this reason, in spite of the abject failure of socialism wherever it was tried, “Obamacare” entrusts the State with healthcare in America.

Accordingly, while we ardently support our bishops’ struggle for the sacred freedom to practice God’s Commandments and the various well-meaning legislative bills introduced, we insist on the only true and enduring solution: eliminate socialist State control over healthcare.

We Must Fight in a Spirit of Faith

Our models are Our Lord Jesus Christ, resolutely carrying His Cross to Calvary; and Mary Most Holy who followed her Divine Son in that culminating struggle that purchased our redemption.

Marked with the sign of the Cross, all Catholics must devote their lives to bearing witness to Truth and strive without compromise to uphold the faith in the public square. This is the meaning of the commitment assumed by all at baptism and a consequence of the honor of being Christian.

The struggle is all the more imperative because the very freedom of the Catholic Church in our country is at stake, along with all the other legitimate freedoms that socialism destroys.

We must legally and peacefully fight for our rights everywhere. We must participate in rallies and demand that our elected political leaders respect our religious rights. We must fight with a supernatural conviction and courage that comes from grace obtained through prayer, the sacraments and sacrifice.

Under the patronage of St. Michael the Archangel

Most Rev. Daniel Jenky, bishop of Peoria, Ill., took the excellent initiative of ordering the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel composed by Pope Leo XIII to be recited during all Sunday Masses celebrated in his diocese. He has asked all his priests to announce as the prayer intention “for the freedom of the Catholic Church in America.”

*******************************************

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
***********************************************

“It is God’s invincible Archangel who commands the heavenly host, and it is the enemies of God who will ultimately be defeated,” the bishop said in a January 24 letter to the Catholics of his diocese.[5]

Bishop Jenky’s request inspires us to place this campaign to abolish “Obamacare” under the patronage of the glorious Archangel and we encourage all Americans to recite the prayer daily.

We also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception and Patroness of the United States, to intercede for us in this great struggle.

February 2, 2012

The American TFP

---

[1]Ben Johnson, “Southern Baptist leader: Obama Contraception mandate ‘is not only a Catholic issue’,” LifeSiteNews.com, Feb. 2, 2012, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/southern-baptist-leader-obama-contraception-mandate-is-not-only-a-catholic, accessed Feb. 2, 2012. Dr. Albert Mohler is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

[2]“Affordable Care Act Rules on Expanding Access to Preventive Services for Women,” Aug. 1, 2011, http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2011/08/womensprevention08012011a.html, accessed Feb. 2, 2012.

[3]Most Rev. Dennis M. Schnurr, Jan. 25, 2012 letter to the faithful of the Cincinnati archdiocese, at http://www.cincinnativocations.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/hhs-response.pdf, accessed Feb. 2, 2012.

[4]Archbishop José H. Gomez, “A Time for Catholic Action and Catholic Voices,” Jan. 25, 2012, First Things, http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2012/01/a-time-for-catholic-action-and-catholic-voices, accessed Feb. 2, 2012.

[5]Kevin J. Jones, “Contraception mandate prompts Peoria bishop to instate St. Michael Prayer,” Jan. 27, 2012, EWTN News, http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=4749, accessed Feb. 2, 2012.

Priest Presents Transgender Calendar in Italy

ANSA news agency reports: - A priest presented a calendar dedicated to the transgender community of Genoa in Italy.

At a launch, Father Andrea Gallo was with 12 transgender models, each representing a different month of the year. "Defending one's rights against hypocrisy" and "giving a voice to the voiceless" was the reason for supporting the calendar, said Gallo. It is the second time in a week that an Italian clergy member has taken an openly progressive stance on sexual identity. Breaking with the Vatican line, Ragusa bishop Paolo Urso said Thursday that the state should recognise gay couples.

How is it Possible? Only 13 of Spaniards Practice Faith

Madrid, Spain, Jan 13, 2012 / 06:05 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- New data shows that despite over 70 percent of Spaniards identifying themselves as Catholic, only 13.6 percent say they practice their faith and attend services on Sunday and holy days.

Read more:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/only-13-percent-of-spains-catholics-say-they-practice-faith/

Flood of ‘De-baptisms’ Worries European Church Leaders

PARIS (Washington Post)— Last October, a court in Normandy ruled in favor of a lawsuit by Rene Lebouvier to have his name permanently removed from church records — making him the first Frenchman to be officially “de-baptized.”

The Washington Post reports: "Lebouvier’s case is among a growing wave of de-baptisms in Europe, one of the most visible manifestations of the continent’s secular drift. Websites offering informal de-baptism certificates have mushroomed. Other Christians are formally breaking from the church by opting out of state church taxes.

"While there are no official statistics, experts and secular activists count the numbers of de-baptisms in the tens of thousands."

Read more by clicking here