Catholic Physician: Disinvite Vigneron from 2019 Thirst Conference

Monday, January 14, 2019

Catholic Physician: Disinvite Vigneron from 2019 Thirst Conference

ChurchMilitant.com • January 14, 2019

Litany of Detroit archbishop's troubling and controversial acts

This letter was sent by Dr. Timothy Nagel, a Catholic physician, to the diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, which is hosting the 2019 Thirst Conference featuring Detroit's Abp. Allen Vigneron as speaker. The author granted us permission to republish it.

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The year 2018 has been labeled the "Summer of Shame," unfortunately, due to the homoclerical scandal, abuse and the cover-up perpetrated by the Catholic hierarchy in America (and elsewhere). Many would like us to believe that these are all problems of decades ago and not some type of "massive, massive crisis," but we know both those statements are untrue.
With that said, please reconsider having Detroit Abp. Allen Vigneron as a guest speaker for the 2019 Thirst Conference.
Archbishop Vigneron has done absolutely nothing to stop the prescribing of contraception and abortifacient drugs, the performing of sterilizations and the staffing of abortionists in almost every Catholic hospital in the Detroit archdiocese.
Archbishop Allen Vigneron continues to allow public dissenters to come into his archdiocese and give talks and presentations, such as Sr. Margaret Farley, whose books have been publicly condemned by the Vatican, and Sr. Jane Dissent, whose writings have been condemned by the Church. He allows a dissident group of clergy that calls itself Elephants in the Living Room to operate freely within the archdiocese — who openly challenge Church teaching regarding such things as pushing for an end to clerical celibacy, a male-only priesthood and condemnation of same-sex-acts, among other things.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron continues to permit the world's longest-running diocesan-approved weekly Dignity gay Mass in the nation, being said by diocesan priests over which he has control saying the Mass.
Archbishop Allen Vigneron has gone back on his words in 2013, when he went on record saying that advocates of same-sex unions are to refrain from receiving the Eucharist to, in 2015, saying that anyone who supports someone in such unions should seek out his pastor for individual guidance.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron, despite having had a theological critique commissioned by a significant local theologian, a critique that ran out to 38 pages in length and concluded that Alpha presents an Evangelical Protestant perspective, especially in its ecclesiology, has officially promoted a Protestant-inspired catechism program called Alpha, or more specifically "Alpha From a Catholic Perspective," sometimes called "Alpha in a Catholic Context." The lectures and videos that are read or presented to Catholics are written by an Evangelical Protestant. The archbishop has pressured every pastor to install this program in every parish.
Archbishop Allen Vigneron has done nothing to address the scandal caused by an official presence of a dissident group called Fortunate Families at parishes in the archdiocese of Detroit. Fortunate Families is a dissident organization that functions as a support group for people with LGBT family members. The pro-LGBT group believes that the Church needs to change its teachings on homosexuality.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron, throughout his tenure as archbishop, has not uttered or written one public word about the radical pro-gay group Dignity/Detroit. Dignity/Detroit, founded in 1974 only a few blocks from the archdiocese of Detroit chancery, is opposed to Catholic teaching on sexual morals but nevertheless has always had broad support among clergy and bishops in the archdiocese, which continues to this day. The archdiocese of Detroit is the only diocese in the United States that has publicly supported a Dignity chapter.
Archbishop Allen Vigneron has a very questionable past regarding the many years he spent as a professor (1985), dean (1988–1991) and president-rector (1994–2003) at his alma mater, Sacred Heart Seminary (SHS). The whole time Vigneron was in leadership roles at SHS, American conservatives complained that most seminaries in the U.S. were intentionally preventing admission of tradition-minded and faithful men and instead favored liberals and homosexuals.
This was especially true in the archdiocese. As seminary rector, Vigneron encouraged the ordination of homosexuals while at the same time advancing the persona of being a "conservative." This would explain why, almost a decade after becoming archbishop, Vigneron continues to allow pro-gay Dignity Masses at Detroit's Marygrove College. It would explain why archdiocesan priest Fr. Randy Phillips — a Dignity priest — feels free to hang the rainbow flag at his parish. It would also explain why Msgr. Michael Bugarin, the archbishop's episcopal vicar and delegate for matters of clergy misconduct, refused to acknowledge homosexuality's role in clerical sex abuse.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron informed his priests in their May 2018 Presbyteral Council meeting that he was transferring all Church property in the archdiocese into a holding company that was created two months earlier called Mooney Real Estate Holdings. The reason such a move would be taken is singular: to insulate the archdiocese and its property, to shield them from any liability in the event of, for example, big jury awards resulting from homosexual predatory clergy abuse cases.
Mooney Holdings is totally controlled by the archbishop. He and his successors appoint the board of Mooney Holdings and remove from the board at will — whoever they want — essentially a rubber stamp committee. What this transfer of property does is effectively remove it from any source of payback for victims. The archdiocese will no longer legally own it — any of it — so if the archdiocese is sued, it can legally claim, "We can't pay because we don't have any more assets."
Read it for yourself from the Detroit Free Press.
Various bishops may not be able to agree on how or what to do with regard to homosexuality among their own ranks, the McCarrick investigation or the Viganò testimony, but they sure know what to do when it comes to covering their own assets.
Here are a few suggestions for alternative speakers:

Cardinal Raymond Burke
Cardinal Gerhard Müller
Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard
Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas
Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, Washington
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois
Bishop Andrew Cozzens of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota
Bishop Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri

Sincerely,
Dr. Timothy Nagel

No comments:

We will recognize them by their fruits.

Prayer to St. Michael

Please protect us, St. Michael the Archangel, against violence, murder, and robbery. In your goodness preserve us today from all the malice of sinful and wicked persons. In your sleepless vigilance watch over the safety and welfare of our homes, and keep guard over our possessions. Ever hold in your special care, most triumphant St. Michael, the forces of public order against the crimes of evil people, and defend all honest citizens in time of peril. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Novena Prayer to St. Michael

(Pray for nine consecutive days)
Saint Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and His Catholic people, I turn to thee with confidence and seek thy powerful intercession. For the love of God, Who hast made thee so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my prayer.
Thou knowest the value of my soul in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigure its beauty. Help me to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me. I desire to imitate thy loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and thy great love for God and men. And since thou art God’s messenger for the care of His people, I entrust to thee this special request: (here mention your request).
Saint Michael, since thou art, by the will of the Creator, the powerful intercessor of Christians, I have great confidence in thy prayers. I earnestly trust that if it is God’s holy will, my petition will be granted.
Pray for me, Saint Michael, and also for those I love. Protect us in all dangers of body and soul. Help us in our daily needs. Through thy powerful intercession, may we live a holy life, die a happy death and reach Heaven where we may praise and love God with thee forever. Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.
St. Michael, Guardian of souls, Vanquisher of rebel spirits, Pray for us.

St John Chrysostom

Our Lord having reproached the Jews with blindness, they might have said, We are not blind, but we avoid you as a deceiver. Our Lord therefore gives the marks which distinguish a robber and deceiver from a true shepherd. First come those of the deceiver and robber: Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. There is an allusion here to Antichrist, and to certain false Christs who had been, and were to be. The Scriptures He calls the door. They admit us to the knowledge of God, they protect the sheep, they shut out the wolves, they bar the entrance to heretics. He that uses not the Scriptures, but climbs up some other way, i.e. some self-chosen, some unlawful way, is a thief. Climbs up, He says, not, enters, as if it were a thief getting over a wall, and running all risks. Some other way, may refer too to the commandments and traditions of men which the Scribes taught, to the neglect of the Law. When our Lord further on calls Himself the Door, we need not be surprised. According to the office which He bears, He is in one place the Shepherd, in another the Sheep. In that He introduces us to the Father, He is the Door, in that He takes care of us, He is the Shepherd. (Catena Aurea)

LIBERTAS ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN LIBERTY
35. And as to tolerance, it is surprising how far removed from the equity and prudence of the Church are those who profess what is called liberalism. For, in allowing that boundless license of which We have spoken, they exceed all limits, and end at last by making no apparent distinction between truth and error, honesty and dishonesty. And because the Church, the pillar and ground of truth, and the unerring teacher of morals, is forced utterly to reprobate and condemn tolerance of such an abandoned and criminal character, they calumniate her as being wanting in patience and gentleness, and thus fail to see that, in so doing, they impute to her as a fault what is in reality a matter for commendation. But, in spite of all this show of tolerance, it very often happens that, while they profess themselves ready to lavish liberty on all in the greatest profusion, they are utterly intolerant toward the Catholic Church, by refusing to allow her the liberty of being herself free.

“If you want to be certain of being in the number of the Elect, strive to be one of the few, not one of the many. And if you would be quite sure of your salvation, strive to be among the fewest of the few; that is to say, do not follow the great majority of mankind, but follow those who enter upon the narrow way, who renounce the world, who give themselves to prayer, and who never relax their efforts by day or night, so that they may attain everlasting blessedness.” -Saint Anselm, Father and Doctor of the Church

PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH, THE PROTECTOR OF CHRISTIAN FAMILIES Great Saint Joseph, who wast chosen of God to be the head of the holiest and most august of families, deign to cast thy eyes upon us, and take us this day under thy special protection. Holy Patriarch, model of the holiest faith, and of the most perfect virtues, obtain for all the members of this family grace to withstand the dangers and seductions of the world, and to remain stedfastly attached to the LORD. Obtain for us that, always united by the bonds of the most tender charity, and encouraging one another mutually in good works, we may taste under thy auspices the sweetness of that peace which JESUS has promised to His true disciples. But above all, when our last hour shall come, obtain for us that we may find grace before the Sovereign Judge, so that, reunited in heaven at the foot of Thy Throne, we may celebrate everlastingly the glory of GOD and thy praise. Amen.

St. Vincent Ferrer -- Sermon on the Last Judgment: In the same way, in the time of Antichrist, the Sun of justice will be obscured by the interposition of temporal goods and the wealth which Antichrist will bestow on the world, inasmuch as the brightness of faith in Jesus Christ and the glow of good lives will no longer shine among Christians. For, lest they should lose their dominion, temporal rulers, kings and princes will range themselves on the side of Antichrist. In like manner, prelates for fear of losing their dignities, and religious and priests to gain honors and riches, will forsake the Faith of Christ and adhere to Antichrist.

Neither living nor lifeless faith remains in a heretic who disbelieves one article of faith. The reason of this is that the species of every habit depends on the formal aspect of the object, without which the species of the habit cannot remain. Now the formal object of faith is the First Truth, as manifested in Holy Writ and the teaching of the Church, which proceeds from the First Truth. Consequently whoever does not adhere, as to an infallible and Divine rule, to the teaching of the Church, which proceeds from the First Truth manifested in Holy Writ, has not the habit of faith, but holds that which is of faith otherwise than by faith. Even so, it is evident that a man whose mind holds a conclusion without knowing how it is proved, has not scientific knowledge, but merely an opinion about it. Now it is manifest that he who adheres to the teaching of the Church, as to an infallible rule, assents to whatever the Church teaches; otherwise, if, of the things taught by the Church, he holds what he chooses to hold, and rejects what he chooses to reject, he no longer adheres to the teaching of the Church as to an infallible rule, but to his own will. Hence it is evident that a heretic who obstinately disbelieves one article of faith, is not prepared to follow the teaching of the Church in all things; but if he is not obstinate, he is no longer in heresy but only in error. Therefore it is clear that such a heretic with regard to one article has no faith in the other articles, but only a kind of opinion in accordance with his own will. (Saint Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 5, a. 3)

Monday, January 14, 2019