Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon : "Uncertain" About Promoting "Priests for Life", is PFL too Catholic?

Recently someone asked me about the scrutiny that Matt Cato, latest director of the Office of "Respect Life", Justice and Peace in the Archdiocese of Portland had stated regarding the uncertain status of Father Frank Pavone and Priests for Life.

Ihe emails to and from Matt below the history are, in my opinion, a beginning to the censorship of a wide Catholic political  and educational base to a very narrow view "allowed" and controlled by the Archdiocese of Portland and beyond.

HISTORY

In 2002 the Archdiocese hadn't even heard of Priests for Life, so Oregon Right to Life (ORTL) had me put together an eleven day Oregon tour from Grants Pass to Portland.  (I just retired from ORTL after thirteen years for health reasons.)

Priest for Life, Father Walter Quinn brought out the best and the worst in Oregon Catholics.  He was no nonsense with his Church teaching and strong Philadelphia delivery. Churches and schools gave him a standing ovation or were outraged at what he said. (They can't forget him). This was strange Catholic teaching many, mostly students, hadn't heard before.

I bring this up because Priests for Life was a conduit for the true teaching of the Church on political views through their brochures and handouts in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Remember well how Voter's Guides from PFL and ORTL were censored from the backs of churches in many cases?

Priests for Life - Accurate Election Information

The Archdiocese siding again with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and sponsoring their "Interfaith Advocacy Days" at the Capitol thus adding their names to EMO issues.

CALL TO FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND PARTICIPATION: ADVOCACY
Monday March 14: Interfaith Advocacy Day. 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. First Congregational Church UCC, at 700 Marion St. NE, Salem. Advocate for your community--Oregon--on Hunger, Homelessness, Ill and Disabled. Click here for flyer. Co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Portland.

Interestingly,there was no mention by the Catholic Church in western Oregon regarding the three pro-life bills introduced to the Legislature.. Not even a letter of support was written and put on record.  Roger Martin, our pro-abortion lobbyist, did nothing!

These questions regarding PFL have everything to do with the election of 2012 and keeping the progressive, liberal agenda alive and well-financed by Catholics.

For too long, Christ as the answer to life's problems is not promoted, taught or even mentioned.

______________________________________________

  "Is Priests for Life a Catholic Organization?"

The letters below were initiated by Mary Ann Kreitzer, president of Catholic Media Coalition. This is something questioned in case the Catholic hierarchy throughout the United States was collectively starting to censor Priests for Life because of the 2012 election and their handouts. 

____________________________________________________________

From: Mary Ann Kreitzer [mailto:kreitzr1@shentel.net]
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 1:54 PM
To: Bunce, Bud
Subject: Has the diocese banned Priests for life?

A friend in Oregon told me the diocese has banned Priests for Life from speaking in Oregon at any diocesan venue. Is this true? If so, can you please tell me the reason?

Mary Ann Kreitzer

From: Bunce, Bud
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 1:54 PM
To: Cato, Matt
Subject: FW: Has the diocese banned Priests for life?

Matt,

Would you please respond to this email.  Thanks

Bud Bunce

Director of Communications

Archdiocese of Portland

503-233-8373

http://www.archdpdx.org/

 ----- Original Message -----

From: Cato, Matt

To: kreitzr1@shentel.net

Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 5:44 PM

Subject: FW: Has the diocese banned Priests for life?

Hello Mary Ann,

Thank you for your e-mail and ascertaining the validity of the information that you had received. Rest assured that diocese has not banned Priests for Life from speaking in Oregon at any diocesan venue.

Let me explain: Priests for Life is not an officially recognized Catholic organization. As a result I cannot promote Priests for Life, specifically in the “Beginning of Life” brochure from my office, where I first understood the difference between a recognized Catholic organization and an organization led by Catholics.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you Mary Ann.

Peace,

Matt Cato
Office of Life, Justice and Peace
Campaign for Human Development
Archdiocese of Portland503.233.8361
mcato@archdpdx.org
http://www.archdpdx.org/jprespect/

____________________________________________________________

May 4, 2011 to Matt Cato, Archdiocese of Portland.

Priests for Life Questions

Matt,

Happy Easter.

Could you please let me know about the status of Priests for Life in the Archdiocese of Portland?

Are you going to allow Priests for Life information in your newsletter?  Can a representative of Priests for Life still be allowed in the Archdiocese?

Please clarify and thanks alot.

God Bless,
Carolyn Wendell
_____________

Hi Carolyn,

First, it was a pleasure meeting you and your husband at the conference.

Now, as far as I know, a representative of Priests for Life is allowed in the Archdiocese. No one has ever said anything to the contrary to me.

I need to get clarification on promoting P for L in my newsletter or brochures. There is some language and information with which I am unfamiliar and I am a bit unsure.

Feel free to call me if you'd like next week.

I hope this helps.

Thank you Carolyn.

Peace,

Matt Cato
Office of Life, Justice and Peace
Campaign for Human Development
Archdiocese of Portland
503.233.8361
mcato@archdpdx.org
http://www.archdpdx.org/jprespect/

____________________________________________________
What About?

• The articles Matt is constantly promoting that are non-Catholic and always "green" from EMO?
• Mother Teresa's attached letter highly praising Priests for Life to all priests
• Rachel's Vineyard is part of Priests for Life.  It is one of the small pro-life activities in the Archdiocese.  Or is this necessary for fundraising if no effort for pro-life political protection seems important on its own?

With the election coming up it seems that we're going to be censored again and have stress in churches where we got to meet Our Lord, the Source and Summit of our Faith, IF we don't speak up.

 

"Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter."

Isaiah 5:20            739 B.C. - Song of the Vineyard - Woe to the Wicked

Christ - We Owe Him Divine Justice

He Will Come Again hoping all mankind would believe in Him for His Great Sacrifice.

He Has Overcome Death to save us.

He took on our just punishment for disobedience from our First Parents

Adam and Eve Expelled from the Garden

Bishop Vasa, No Compromise on Heresy

Bishop Vasa is not only kind, approachable, wise and courageous, he lives to bring others to Christ.  Sometimes there's kicking and screaming from those where Truth is hard, but he's uncompromising.  Straight talk from our Church is usually lacking and his words bring healing, no matter how foreign.


"In our 'compromising age' we are loath to name something too strongly. If we do, we are accused of harshness, judgmentalism, perhaps arrogance, certainly intolerance and possibly pharisaism.

While it is always necessary to speak the truth with love, the Church also believes and teaches that it is also necessary to speak the truth with strength.

It is necessary to defend truth and not be too quick to rationalize, justify or excuse misleading teachings or teachers . There is a point at which passive "tolerance" allows misleading teachings to be spread and propagated, thus confusing or even misleading the faithful about the truths of the Church.

There is a very strong word, which still exists in our Church, which most of us are too "gentle" to use. The word is "heresy."

We perhaps think that heresy is a thing of the past . We think perhaps of the Arian heresy or the Pelagian heresy or the Manichean heresy. We might even maintain that there are no longer any heretics because that conjures up images of inquisitions and burnings at the stake.

 I do not , in any way, seek to validate or justify any kind of "vigilante" theology , but we do need strong words to combat erroneous and fallacious teaching.”

"Martyrdom is not an exception reserved to a few.....live the Gospel without compromise.” Pope Benedict XVI

"Capital Campaign" Confusion or Collusion?

With all due respect to the Archbishop, the "Sharing our Faith, Shaping Our Future" Capital Campaign regarding where the money goes is confusion or collusion.  Your guess is as good as mine.

When this Capital Campaign began in 2010, the Archbishop's Catholic Appeal which garners around $3.65 million was to happen at the same time.  Different "campaigns" at the same time.

There were two problems with this for Oregon Catholic priests and laity, some of the categories would be the same with monies combined, but we were told they would have oversight, so not to worry.

Well, worry they did and it was changed to cancelling the Archbishop's Annual Appeal, sort of.

• Archbishop Used First Funds from Capital Campaign to pay for Appeal He Cancelled from February 16, 2011 
  
  
  "We decided to eliminate the annual appeal this year and use the first dollars collected in the capital campaign to provide the funds that would ordinarily be collected in the annual appeal for our 2011-12 fiscal year." The annual appeal will be back next year.(VOCAL - What? We already paid $3.65 million for the appeal this year with Capital Campaign money.)
  
  "The other concern was protection of funds with the assurance that they would be distributed appropriately.  A separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit religious corporation has been established.  A board of lay leaders and clergy from the archdiocese is overseeing the collection and distribution of the funds, operating independently from archdiocesan office." (VOCAL this slight of hand with our money is confusion that shows their incompetence, or collusion to dupe us.)

Here is the latest.

• The Archbishop's new article in the Catholic Sentinel is entitled May 3, 2011 Article in Full  and is directly in opposition to the information the Archdiocese has sent previously.
  

• "Capital Campaign Postscript:.......

"The Capital Campaign chugs along building momentum throughout the spring. Now that you have a better picture of some of the challenges we face in providing for the education of our future priests, I hope you will make a pledge this month, if you have not done so already. In recent years we have funded priestly formation through the annual appeal and funds that were restricted for seminary education. Without an appeal this year and with only enough funds left in the restricted account for the education of four or five of our men, I am obviously counting on your willingness to pledge and make payments as soon as possible. We are all responsible for “sharing our faith and shaping our future.” But we truly need well trained priests to take the lead. Please help me send good pastors into the fertile fields of western Oregon!"

From the same article.....

• "Interestingly, I recently received word that one of our parishes reports a disinterest in supporting the goals of the campaign and as a result parish leadership is opposed to the idea of participating in the campaign.  Clearly there has been some misunderstanding and maybe some of you yourselves need an update about the challenge of providing priestly “gifts of the spirit” in the years to come."

No, I think they're using their discernment on this one, there's no misunderstanding.  Please don't update us anymore.  How courageous of them being good stewards of The Lord's finances.

With this under sight we need transparency before we give to campaigns conducted by staff that thinks we are a means to an end.  The Archdiocesan hierarchy does not mean spiritual anarchy.

"My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth."
1 John 3:18

Religion in the "Modern World" aka Archdiocese of Portland's Curriculum

 

This is an excellent article, It shows the progression from Neitzsche to Jung to Freud and to many more "modern" "teachers".  Zanzig Catholic Curriculum is part of this "thought".  We are teaching "the Earth Charter" in our Catholic schools and have for many years which is against our beliefs.

Nietzche went permanently insane and Freud's autobiography says he heard voices and had insane writings.

It is shows how this leads to mental confusion, breakdown and the use of our young to victims of sexual abuse and moral demise.

 Nietzsche and the Church Scandals click

   "The methods are based on "the group therapy technique" first developed in America in the 1970's by two psychologists, Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. They described how emotional conditioning should be carried out by a group "facilitator". The facilitator does not impart knowledge like the old fashioned teacher. Instead he/she initiates discussions encouraging children to reveal their personal views and feelings. The facilitator's approach is "value free". There is no right or wrong answer to any religious or moral question. Each person discloses what is right or wrong for them. All choices are equally valid even if they are opposites. Everything depends on feelings or emotions. Reason and conscience are discouraged. If anyone attempts objective evaluation, they are to be treated as an "outsider" and there will be a strong emotional reaction against such "judgemental intolerance"."