By Thomas Hegarty
Today, our Church leaders face a new child protection challenge. Liberalism.
Two events stand out for me this week, both involving liberalism. One event is in the other side of the world, the other is local to Ireland.
In the United States of America, we saw Archbishop Cordileone issue a statement saying that US Democratic Party politician and abortion activist, Nancy Pelosi is no longer allowed to receive Communion because she won't stop promoting abortion.
As you (Pelosi) have not publically repudiated your position on abortion, and continue to refer to your Catholic faith in justifying your position and to receive Holy Communion, that time has now come…. I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.
Archbishop Cordileone.
You can read the full statement here.
Protecting children has to be the highest priority for our Church and Archbishop Cordileone took a brave step in his public admonishment of an infamous politician especially as US Supreme court judges are receiving death threats from liberal abortion activists.
Then there is the more local Irish controversy. A rural parish newsletter distributed at Sunday Masses promoting a Liberal “Pride in the Park” festival for gay communities including bisexuals, lesbians, gay men, queers, drag queens, transgenders and other sexual orientations.
The Pride / Rainbow/ LGBT+ flag The Pride flag is no longer a symbol for sexual diversity and inclusivity. Having its origins in America, the flag is now used as a political symbol by liberal activists and politicians worldwide to push Liberal ideologies such as abortion to birth and the destruction of the family unit.
It’s is also being used as a means of intimidating and preventing people from questioning these radical liberal agendas. Any ideology that has the ability to intimidate people into not asking questions about it, is not an oppressed group. Just ask the author JK Rowlings about the levels of abuse and intimidation she experiences on a daily basis for standing up against liberals. She is just one of many.
The Pride event currently planned for the rural town of Dungarvan, Co. Waterford is sponsored by GSK, a multinational US based pharmaceutical company and Waterford County Council whose programme of events will appeal to children with activities such as face painting and balloons. There’s also an "opening ceremony” by a drag queen called Fi Fi Fondu who posts explicit and sexualised images on his Facebook page.
Facebook photos of Drag Queen Fi Fi Fondu (we added XXX to cover profanity) who is heading up the Pride event advertised by Abbeyside, Ballinroad and Garranbane parish.
Incredibly, the Dungarvan Pride poster has no age limits and does not require parental consent for children to attend despite the adult nature of the liberal ideologies being promoted and the use of an adult, sexualised drag queen to open this event,
The rural parish newsletter unashamedly advertises this Pride event that specifically targets children with promises of balloons, face painting and drag queens.
Extract from Irish Parish newsletter adverting PRIDE event targeting children in rural Irish town
It’s interesting that on the reverse side of the same parish newsletter, the parish highlights a support group for survivors of clerical abuse.
We also note the parish newsletter does not have anything to say about the anniversary of the abortion referendum which saw the Right to Life of Unborn children removed from the Irish constitution.
In Florida, Governor De Santis has recently spearheaded a child protection law banning sexual indoctrination and grooming to children under 8 years old’s in Florida schools.
We have to ask if the parish priest involved was aware of the Pride advertisement that appeared on his newsletter this week. If the parish priest was aware of this advertisement maybe he can make a statement on why he allowed this advertisement to be published and distributed in his Church and to his parishioners?
Has our Church not learned anything about child protection and their horrific mistakes of the past?
Has this parish gone rogue and gone against the teaching of our Catholic faith and that of Pope Francis?
Tread carefully. Being a social justice warrior comes at a price. Liberalism will not build up our Church, it will split it and tear it apart. It will not bring in more congregations, it will bring less. It will not bring sinners to repentance and joy.
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42
A message to the Parish:
To the parishioners of Abbeyside, Ballinroad and Garranbane, show your parish council and parish priest that you will always campaign for the protection of children and the protection of your Catholic values. Remaining silent is no longer an option. Liberalism will split the Catholic Church and the Faithful. Stand up and be counted.
German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, the body responsible for safeguarding the Church’s doctrine on faith and morals, has warned against the Church’s increasingly firm embrace of the Left’s secular progressivism and ‘wokism.’
The Cardinal explained that many high-ranking members of the clergy—as well as deacons, priests and bishops—who are pushing for liberal reforms within the Church, are “secularised people” themselves.
They (the liberal Catholic clergy) prefer to “keep the name ‘Catholic’ to stay in the institution and take the money” despite refusing to accept the “word of God.”
Cardinal Müller
“They relativize the Catholic faith, but remain with their titles: cardinals, bishops, theology professors—but in reality they don’t believe what the Church is saying” said the Cardinal in response to a Synodal Assembly, which concluded with votes favouring draft texts calling for same-sex blessings and pro-LGBT redefinition of homosexuality in teaching materials.
This article originally appeared on the Friends of the Parish Blog