November 2023
HEROES
Mark Houck, Pro-Life Activist
Mark Houck, the Pennsylvania father and pro-life activist who was acquitted of violating the FACE Act in January, announced this month that he is suing the Biden administration’s Department of Justice. His goal? To “put an end” to the Biden administration’s “unjust persecutions” of pro-lifers.
“I think if the DOJ gets hit hard enough and there’s a big enough black eye against them, then they’re going to cease and desist from coming after pro-life people and people of faith,” he said.
Prior to his acquittal, Houck faced a possible sentence of up to 11 years in federal prison. A jury found him not guilty after only an hour of deliberation.
>> WATCH CV’S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH HOUCK HERE <<
Bishop Robert Barron, Diocese of Winona-Rochester
Bishop Robert Barron spoke out on his experience at the Synod on Synodality in Rome, sharing grave concerns about the final document’s interpretation of love and truth, the Catholic Church’s mission, and sexuality. Barron criticized the final document for implying that scientific development “will require a rethinking of our sexual teaching, whose categories are, apparently, inadequate to describe the complexities of human sexuality.”
Barron’s entire essay bears careful reading and is a profile in courage, coming at a time when voicing such concerns seems to draw unwanted attention from Rome. If the people celebrating synodality are to be taken seriously, then they should welcome this important perspective. Of note, Barron has suffered unfair and harsh criticism for his remarks. One is tempted to ask his detractors: “Are you truly open to the synodal way, or is it merely a strategy to impose your own vision of transforming the Church?”
Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend
Bishop Rhoades was not afraid to stand with women this month! St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, an all-women’s college, changed its admission policy. Men “who consistently live and identify as women” were to be welcomed, despite the fact that St. Mary’s is a self-proclaimed Catholic college and should live up to the Catholic belief that only women… are women!
Rhoades, the bishop of the diocese in which the college is located, was “disappointed” that St. Mary’s did not consult him before adopting the radical new policy. He also firmly pointed out that in order for the College to call itself Catholic, it needs to act like it. Rhoades defended the identity of women, stating that “the new admissions policy at Saint Mary’s College erroneously suggests that ‘woman’ is a purely social category that anyone, regardless of sex, can inhabit.” He urged the school board to rescind their decision, and proved himself a hero for women and the integrity of Catholic universities everywhere!
ZEROES
Senator Dan Sullivan, R-AK
This “pro-life Catholic” senator wants to surrender to President Joe Biden on abortion in the military. While CatholicVote legend Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, holds his ground for the unborn, Sullivan is proving himself to be pro-life in name only.
Sullivan argues that the convenience of living members of the military is more important than the lives of unborn children. He claims that Tuberville’s stance is “not helping with morale and retention at all” – as if the retention rate was the real issue at stake here! So that officers can get promoted in the present, Sullivan is willing to have the American military fund the destruction of American children’s futures. Sullivan’s apathetic Catholicism-of-convenience makes him a zero in our book!
Stephen Colbert, One-Time Comedian
Okay Colbert, we are no longer laughing. In an attempt to be funny, Colbert has turned from clever commentary to an outright attack on new House Speaker Mike Johnson. Just because your show is late at night doesn’t mean that CatholicVote hasn’t been taking note! Since October, Colbert has been out to slander a man who actually lives his Christian faith!
The attacks are not limited to Johnson himself. Colbert has gone after the entire Johnson family. Worst of all, Colbert crassly and obscenely joked about Johnson molesting his seventeen-year-old son Jack. Falsely accusing a man of sexually abusing a minor? For laughs? That ranks you as a zero for us, Colbert. (Is there a negative number category?)
Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN
The liberalism that has been slowly infecting the town that bears Our Lady’s name in Indiana has gone too far. Again, the all-women’s Saint Mary’s College will now admit men. No, they are not becoming a co-ed college – that would be too normal! No, they are allowing men who claim to be women to join the college.
Alumni are heartbroken, current students are furious, and all agree that not only has the college abandoned its Catholic principles – it has also abandoned women in a world that’s increasingly devaluing the dignity of womanhood. Mother Mary, the college’s namesake and the paragon of womanhood, is certainly disappointed. Definitely a zero from CatholicVote!
