August 2024
HEROES
Governor Ron DeSantis, R-FL
Amendment 4 is on the ballot in Florida. The bill would allow abortions at nearly every stage of pregnancy. It would undo the six-week ban, and allow underage girls to receive abortion without their parent’s consent. This month Governor Ron DeSantis has been championing the rights of the unborn and exposing the evils of Amendment 4.
“If you look at the state of Florida, we do not have a pro-life majority,” DeSantis said. “We’ve got a big chunk, but we don’t have a majority. If only people that are pro-life oppose it, it very well might pass.” The stakes are high, but the Florida governor has not lost hope, doing his best to educate Florida voters on the true nature of the amendment.
“They didn’t have to write Amendment 4 this way. But they did. Why?” a voice-over told the crowd as the video played. “Because they want to deceive you — to make their extreme amendment seem reasonable.”
Forever a man of the people and a pro-life champion, DeSantis is one of August’s heroes.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archdiocese of San Francisco
Catholics in America are no strangers to discrimination. We are also no strangers to the desecration of our churches and statues. After the statue of St. Junipero Serra was defaced in San Francisco, Archbishop Cordileone attempted to seek restorative justice with the perpetrators, hoping to spare them the felony charge. However, the Archbishop decided to withdraw from the restorative justice process until after the trial, as he “could not trust that it would be an honest process.” The District Attorney (DA) proved to be biased in favor of the perpetrators, clearly seeing them as the victims.
Because he withdrew, he was “shocked and appalled” when he heard the DA’s office charged the vandals with a misdemeanor instead of a possible felony or hate crime “without the consent of the victims of the crime,” the Archbishop clarified, or even a letter of apology to either the Archbishop or the diocese.
In a perverse rewriting of history, the DA said the vandals had participated in “restorative justice” when they took down the statue, because it represented imperialism.
“This is not how restorative justice is supposed to work; indeed, it is the direct opposite of it,” the Archbishop stated. “The promise of our country, pronounced every time we recite the pledge of allegiance, is a land of ‘liberty and justice for all.’ Apparently that means for all except Catholics.”
Archbishop Cordileone’s virtue, transparency, and unflinching courage throughout the situation makes him one of this month’s heroes.
Mother Wilhelmina
The church is forever adding to her numbers, both in the church militant and the church triumphant! Soon and very soon Mother Wilhelmina may be added to the official number! Sister Wilhelmina, born in 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri, established the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
She passed away on May 29, 2019, and was buried in the abbey’s graveyard. On May 23, 2023, her body was exhumed for the first time, and Mother Wilhelmina was found seemingly incorrupt.
This month, Most Reverend Bishop James V. Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, released a summary of the findings from a recent examination of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster’s remains.
Mother Wilhelmina was found to be officially incorrupt and this hero is on her way to canonization!
ZEROES
Salve Regina University
Earlier this month, Tim Walz was attempting to find a place to host a fundraising event. While the first venue canceled for undisclosed reasons, a Catholic school, Salve Regina University offered to host the event. There was pushback from the students and the general public, but the school would not budge.
Despite the fact that their own policy declares that “all private events, including fundraisers, receptions and concerts are expected to complement the character and mission of Salve Regina University,” the school facilitated a fundraiser for one of the most radical pro-choice politicians in American history.
The Director of Communications and Public Relations for the Diocese of Providence stated: “We were surprised and disappointed by the decision of Salve Regina University to rent space to a partisan political event and fundraiser and we’ve received a number of messages from Catholics across Rhode Island expressing the same surprise and disappointment.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA
Nancy Pelosi recently came out with a new book entitled: “The Art of Power: My Story As America’s First Woman Speaker Of The House.” In an interview with an NPR reporter, Pelosi declared that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which would provide federal funding for abortions did not contradict her Catholic faith.
“My faith isn’t about bishops. My faith is about God,” Pelosi stated.
Pelosi went even further saying: “…they’re [the Bishops and the Pope] opposed to LGBTQ. They’re opposed to in vitro fertilization. You know, they’re opposed to a lot of things. That’s really their problem, not mine. My faith is very deep. Again, I grew up in it, but I love it.” Once again, Pelosi proves herself a cafeteria Catholic, but even worse than that, a poor example for both the Catholic and non-Catholic citizens of this country.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director DignityUSA
A North Carolina Catholic School fired a teacher when he declared on social media that he would marry his same-sex “partner” in direct violation of Church teaching. After a long battle in the courts, the Diocese of Charlotte won this month. Some Catholics, however, did not celebrate the upholding of freedom.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA, was offended and took to social media and news to say so: “People understand that this is a violation of human rights, and that it should be seen as a violation of our laws. It’s certainly a violation of the principles of our faith.”
Why? Religious freedom, she says, is being weaponized by the Church to persecute actively gay employees.
It seemed that the court understood the faith better than she did: “…Catholic or not, [the diocese] requires its employees to conform to Catholic teachings: CCHS prohibits employees from engaging in or advocating for conduct contrary to the moral tenets of the Catholic faith, including the Catholic Church’s rejection of same-sex marriage.”
Duddy-Burke’s reckless rants divide Catholics from their own Church and perpetuate the cruel stereotype that Christian sexual morality is somehow “hateful.” She also completely misses the point: as an activist herself, she should be thrilled that one court at least has preserved the First Amendment.
