Popes John Paul II and John XXIII Canonized by Catholic Church

Pope John Paul II and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa Meet in Poland in 1981.

Two 20th Century popes were Canonized by the Vatican in a ceremony this Sunday that was presided over Pope Francis and had Pope Emeritus Benedict in attendance. Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in northern Italy in 1881, Pope John XXIII served as pontiff from 1958 until his death in 1963 and was a former cardinal of Venice, reportedly saving thousands of Jews from the nazis and their allies during WWII by issuing baptismal certificates.

One of Pope John XXIII's lasting legacies as pontiff was the opening up of Mass in languages besides Latin. He also strived for more openness between the faithful and the Vatican and establishing better relations with the Jewish community and other Christian denominations.

Pope John Paul II served as the Catholic Church's patriarch much more recently [for most of my life, basically- NANESB!] and was also canonized this weekend. Born Karol Józef Wojtyła in the southern Polish town of Wadowice in 1920, the future papal candidate was attending college in Krakow when the Germans invaded and occupied Poland in 1939. While attending an underground seminary in Krakow, Karol was struck and injured by a German truck, but by early 1945 he and other students moved back in to the remains of their seminary. By 1958, Wojtyła was selected to be the auxiliary Bishop of Krakow.

Within 20 years, Karol Józef Wojtyła would be elected by a papal conclave to become Pope John Paul II. Well versed in many languages, he would become the most well-travelled Pope in the church's history, visiting more than 120 nations and becoming the first pope to visit the White House in 1979.

Just months after being named Pope, John Paul II returned to his native Poland. Officials in Poland's communist controlled government were reportedly anticipating that the Papal visit might stoke an uprising and were preparing to blame him for any insurrection that would be put down. However, Pope John Paul II's visit instead stoked the fires of the burgeoning pro-democracy Solidarity movement- which engaged in a campaign of civil disobedience and anti-government protests that eventually forced Poland's communist government into negotiations with Solidarity.

However, Poland's Soviet benefactors (rightly) feared a ripple effect throughout eastern Europe and in 1981, while on his way to St Peter's Square Pope John Paul II was shot four times with a 9mm handgun fired by a Turkish convict thought to be working on behalf of Bulgaria's intelligence agency and the Kremlin [documents released from East Germany's Stasi and Poland's SB since the end of the Cold War seem to confirm the Kremlin sanctioning the attempt on the Pope's life- NANESB!].

This would not be the last time John Paul II was in the crosshairs of a murderous ideology- in January 1995, the Pope was scheduled to address a huge crowd in the Philippines for World Youth Day celebrations. Less than a week before the pontiff's scheduled arrival, firefighters in Manila were called to an apartment fire after neighbors reported smoke and a suspicious odor. Although the two middle-eastern occupants of the apartment said they had extinguished the fire, a suspicious policewoman obtained a search warrant and bomb-making components were discovered inside along with a laptop, crucifixes, rosaries and the Pope's schedule for the upcoming World Youth Day events. Local police in Manila had stumbled upon a plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II using a suicide bomber dressed as a priest- but even more alarming was that the Pope's assassination would be a distraction from an even more ambitious plot to simultaneously target nearly a dozen trans-Pacific commercial flights. About a month earlier, then-Al Qaeda bomb-maker Ramsi Yousef had managed to successfully smuggle a smaller bomb on board a Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to Japan. Yousef got off the plane when it make a scheduled stop in Cebu and the bomb detonated while the plane was flying over Okinawa. Although a Japanese businessman was killed by the blast, the pilots were able to successfully land the damaged aircraft at Naha airport in Okinawa.

Despite the complex terror plot that was supposed to be initiated with his assassination, Pope John Paul II's appearance at Youth Day not only went off without incident, but the closing mass at Luneta Park in the Manila drew 5 million- the largest Papal gathering in the Church's history. This also marked the last time John Paul II visited the Philippines; although he was scheduled to travel there in 2003, his deteriorating health prevented him from making the trip.

In 2000, John Paul II became the first Pope to visit the nation of Israel during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and in 2001 he met with Archbishop Christodoulos, the then-head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens. The two recited the Lord's Prayer on a spot where Saint Paul preached to Athens' early Christians, breaking an Orthodox taboo against praying with Catholics that had been in place since the Great Schism.

John Paul II's last trip out of Italy was to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Loudres in France in 2004. In April 2005, Pope John Paul II passed away at the age of 84 from heart failure and circulatory collapse

Holy Smoke! White Smoke Appears Over As the Vatican Chooses New Pope

Pope Francis adresses the faithful in St Peter's Square in the Vatican on Wednesday Night

After less than two days of deliberations, prayer and voting by the College of Cardinals in the Vatican's Papal Conclave, white smoke billowed from a chimney over the Sistine Chapel announcing to the world that a new Pope had been chosen after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down at the end of February.

Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina- reportedly the runner up when a conclave was convened in 2005 after Pope John Paul II's death- was announced as the new pope on Wednesday to a jubilant crowd gathered in St Peter's square.

The appearance of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney had earlier electrified Rome.

Within seconds, people were running up the avenue that leads from the River Tiber to St Peter’s Square.

“They’ve chosen, they’ve chosen,” a woman told her daughter as they hurried across rain-soaked cobbles, two small figures in a river of hundreds hurrying to the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.

Groups of young people sang and danced in front of television cameras and mobile phone networks crashed as tens of thousands of people called friends and relations.

They waved flags and shouted “Viva Il Papa” — without yet knowing who Il Papa was — as more people crammed into the square

There was then an agonising wait of more than an hour in the drizzle, as the crowd fizzed with speculation as to who the new pope might be.

He was picked after the cardinals cast just five votes in the conclave, held in the frescoed splendour of the Sistine Chapel.

Born in Argentina to Italian immigrants, the 76 year old Bergoglio had previously served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the nation's capital city. Bergoglio also represents a number of firsts for the Catholic Church- the first Jesuit to be named Pope, the first-ever pontiff from the Americas and the first Pope to take the name Francis. This has led to speculation whether Bergoglio selected the name in honor of St Francis Assisi or St Francis Xavier.

In Buenos Aires, Bergoglio also earned a reputation for eschewing his own personal driver and quarters, instead taking the bus, living in a modest apartment and cooking his own meals. In recent years, the archbishop has run afoul with Argentina's left-of-center husband and wife presidential team of Nestor and Christina Fernandez de Kirchner on issues such as same sex marriage and abortion while the De Kirchners accused Bergoglio of complicity during Argentina's 'Dirty War' [of which there is ZERO evidence- NANESB!] which saw dissidents and opponents of Argentina's ruling military junta 'disappear' by the thousands in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 2007, Bergoglio also discussed denying communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians.

Pope Benedict Makes it Official- Resigns Papacy

Pope Benedict XVI made it official on Thursday and became the first Pope to resign the papcy in more than 600 years, leaving the Swiss Guards with the extremely rare dilemma of having no sitting Pope to guard.

The audience inside the Apostolic Palace was as unique as Benedict's decision to quit, with the 85-year-old pope, wearing his crimson velvet cape and using a cane, bidding farewell to his closest advisers and the cardinals themselves bowing to kiss his fisherman's ring for the last time.

Some seemed to choke up at that moment, and a few lingered on to chat with the pope for as long as they could. But the scene seemed otherwise almost normal, with cardinals chatting on the sidelines waiting their turn to say goodbye.

Benedict said he would pray for the cardinals in coming days as they discuss the issues facing the church, the qualities needed in a new pope, and prepare to enter into the secret conclave to elect him.

"Among you is also the future pope, whom I today promise my unconditional reverence and obedience," Benedict told the cardinals.

Benedict's decision to live at the Vatican in retirement, be called "emeritus pope" and "Your Holiness" and wear the white cassock associated with the papacy has deepened concerns about the shadow he might cast over the next papacy.

But Benedict has tried to address those worries over the past two weeks, saying that once retired he would be "hidden from the world" and living a life of prayer.

In his final speech in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, he said he wasn't returning to private life exactly, but rather to a new form of service to the church through prayer.

And on Thursday he went even further with his own public pledge of obedience to the new pontiff.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope's pledge was in keeping with this effort to "explain how he intends to live this unprecedented situation of an emeritus pope."

"He has no intention of interfering in the position or the decisions or the activity of his successor," Lombardi said. "But as every member of the church, he says fully that he recognizes the authority of the supreme pastor of the church who will be elected to succeed him."

The issue of papal obedience is important for Benedict. In his last legal document, he made new provisions for cardinals to make a formal, public pledge of obedience to the new pope at his installation Mass, in addition to the private one they traditionally make inside the Sistine Chapel immediately after he is elected.

After Benedict's Thursday Mass, he was whisked away by helicopter to the Castel Gandolfo, a summer residence for the Pope some 15km southeast of Rome. Benedict said he plans on living as a pilgrim and dedicating his life to prayer.

With Benedict out as Pope, the Vatican has begun the process whittling down the list of potential papal candidates. Also, with the benefit of hindsight, a number of news outlets calimed to have picked up on subtle hints that Benedict was considering retirement well before the Pope's surprise announcement last month.

Pope Benedict Announces His Resignation

Pope Benedict XVI seen wearing a sombrero given to him during last year's Papal visit to Mexico. AFP: Ronaldo Schemidt photo

In a surprise announcement from the Vatican on Monday, Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement effective the end of this month. Pope Benedict, who succeeded the late John Paul II in 2005. Born Josef Ratzinger in 1927, he was a former professor at the University of Bonn and served as Archbishop of Munich and Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacred Doctorine for the Congregation of the Faith for the Vatican. In April 2005, a Papal conclave elected Ratzinger as John Paul II's successor after two days of deliberations.
The 85-year old Pope was reportedly stepping down due to health reasons, according to the Vatican. The Pope's brother, George Ratzinger, told reporters that doctors had advised Benedict XVI from making any further trans-Atlantic journeys.

Benedict's statement reads in part:

After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

The conclave's 2005 decision to select Ratzinger was not without controversy. During WWII, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth and then the German Army in 1943. Towards the end of the war, he deserted his post [running the risk of getting shot by the SS as a deserter- NANESB!] to return to his family's home in Traunstein just as the US Army was turning it into a command post. After three months in an Allied POW camp, Ratzinger was released and hitched a ride home on a milk truck.

Within the last year, Benedict XVI has travelled to Mexico, Lebanon and Cuba.

Benedict XVI's resignation is a rare example of a Pope stepping down instead of remaining as pontiff until his death [as somebody on twitter put it "The last time a Pope resigned, a handful of Vikings were the only Europeans who knew about North America"- NANESB!]. The last pope to step down was Pope Gregory XII in 1415 during what Vatican scholars call the Great Western Schism when three different Papal candidates were selected by rival factions of the church. Gregory XII resigned a decade into his rule to allow a council to select a candidate that would be recognized by all factions.

Illinois Bishop- Obama "Intent on Following a Similar Path" As Hitler, Stalin

The Bishop for the Peoria, IL diocese delivered a homily that featured a stern rebuke of the Obama Administration and the recent Department of Health & Human Services mandate that Catholic institutions provide employees contraceptives and birth control as part of Obamacare.

According to Jenky, the new Health and Human Services (HHS) contraception mandate has put the country on a dangerous path for religious freedom.

“[N]o Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the intrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb,” he explained.

“No Catholic ministry — and yes, Mr. President, for Catholics our schools and hospitals are ministries — can remain faithful to the Lordship of the Risen Christ and to his glorious Gospel of Life if they are forced to pay for abortions,” Jenky went on to say.

“The church will survive the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the president of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS and of the current majority of the federal Senate,” he continued. “May God have mercy on the souls of those politicians who pretend to be Catholic in church, but in their public lives, rather like Judas Iscariot, betray Jesus Christ by how they vote and how they willingly cooperate with intrinsic evil.”

Jenkey recalled in detail other leaders that have “tried to force Christians to huddle and hide,” including Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

“Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services and health care,” he said. “In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama — with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda — now seems intent on following a similar path.”

Jenky's criticism of the Administration and HHS is the harshest yet from the Catholic Church. Earlier this month, Cardinal Timothy Dolan stated that the Obama Administration and HHS mandates were a radical intrusion into the lives of the faithful in an interview with CBS News' Face the Nation.

A Chicago native, Jenky was appointed as the 8th Bishop of Peoria in 2002. Jenky's homily appears over at the Catholic Post in its entirety [lest anyone think the Bishop is too quick to go Godwin, keep in mind that the Obama Administration is basically demanding that the Catholic Church no longer adhere to their beliefs in order to fall into compliance with the 0bamacare mandate- NANESB!].

Coincidentally, the pivotal vote in 2010 for Obamacare came from supposedly pro-life Catholic Democrat Representative Bart Stupak. The Administration assured the Northern Michigan Democrat that federal money wouldn't be used to fund abortions or contraceptives at the time. Within weeks of 0bamacare passing, Stupak announced he wouldn't seek re-election as a number of potential challengers emerged from the woodwork. A surgeon from the upper peninsula named Dan Benishek eventually won Stupak's former seat.

Today's Train of Thought- The Great Train Raid, Feb 24th 2012

Today's train of thought brings us back to the historically significant West Virginia burgh of Harper's Ferry. Among other occurances, the town is perhaps best known for abolitionist John Brown's raid on the US Army's strategically pivotal armory two years before the Civil War.

The town itself changed hands between the Union and Confederacy a number of times due to the importance of both the arsenal and the Baltimore & Ohio line through town that linked Washington D.C. and Baltimore with Pittsburgh, which was already becoming a key industrial center. The Union, obviously, wanted to move materiel and troops along the Mason-Dixon line while the South wanted to sabotage and cut off those supply lines as often as possible.

While the B&O line through town would eventually continue all the way west to Chicago, another line interstected at the Potomac River bridge seperating West Virginia from Maryland and headed south to Winchester, VA. This line was built as the Winchester & Potomac in the late 1830s. During the Civil War, the Winchester & Potomac fell under Confederate control and was used to ferry rebel troops and supplies to try and retake Harper's Ferry and stage raids on the B&O line. In 1861, Confederate Col Stonewall Jackson used the W&PRR to stage the Great Train Raid, the largest seizure of intact equipment and rolling stock by the Confederacy during the war. The captured equipment was moved by Confederate forces to Winchester, VA over the Winchester & Potomac.

After the Civil War, the line changed owners a number of times before falling into the B&O fold. Today, the former Winchester & Potomac is now part of the CSX's Shenedoah subdivision linking Harper's Ferry and the CSX Cumberland Subdivision with Norfolk Southern's former Southern line at Strasburg.

While not as active as the Cumberland/Sand Patch line linking Baltimore and the Capital region with Pittsbugh and points west, the Shenedoah subdivision still sees some local traffic. Here, railpictures.net contributor trainmasterrob catches CSX GP40-2 #6295 trundling across the wooden trestle that traverses the heart of historic Harper's Ferry with CSX train Q751. The train, which also goes by the name 'Rock Runner' is the first train across the trestle since the snow has fallen on the final day of 2009 and is passing under the shadow of the steeple of St Peter's Catholic Church on the hill.

Pelosi Hails President Obama's "Courageous" Decision to Compel Catholic Institutions To Provide Birth Control

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lauded the Obama Administration's earlier decision not to exempt faith-based hospitals, universities and schools from a mandate in 0bamacare that would require them to provide free contraceptives and birth control for employees, despite such actions going directly against Catholic doctrine.

Pelosi's justification of the Administration and HHS ruling on January 20th seems to primarily consist of 'Well all the cool kids are doing it!'.

"I'm going to stand with my fellow Catholics in supporting the administration on this. I think it was a very courageous decision that they made and I support it."

[I swear, if this woman went out of her way to patronize and insult Muslims as much as she did Catholics, she would need round-the-clock protection and have to shack up with Salman Rushdie- NANESB!].

Instead of any sort of exemption for a religious institution, the Obama Administration and Department of Health and Human Services decided that they would simply get an additional year to fall into compliance with their mandate [which just happens to be AFTER an election year; President Obama would rather jab a stick in that hornet's nest after he's done running for re-election- NANESB!].

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius defended the administration's most beneficent decision, claiming that it "strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services."

While the decision didn't come as a surprise to organizations like the American Council of Bishops, they still expressed disappointment with the ruling.

The delay was no consolation to Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” he said. “The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand.”

However, Catholic and evangelical groups have stressed that their concern over the mandate isn't logistical, but rather philosophical.

The final regulation, however, keeps the conscience clause narrow: Only organizations that are faith-based and primarily employ those of the same faith are eligible for the exemption.

It does, however, give a nod to religious groups’ concerns, allowing faith-based nonprofits an extra year to begin covering contraceptives. White House officials explained the decision as regulatory in nature, rather than responding to the philosophical objections that religious organizations had raised.

“We know that a lot of these organizations may be large organizations, there are approval processes that require the approval of boards,” an administration official told reporters on a call this afternoon. “The transitional period responds to those concerns.”

Interesting how HHS granted a number of waivers to President Obama's allies in the labor union movement but there will be no exemption for Catholic or Evangelical institutions by this Administration.

Some Catholic Bishops have already stated that they will not comply with the contraceptive mandate in 0bamacare.

Bishop Olmstead is fighting the mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that forces charities, schools or hospitals with a religious affiliation to provide birth control coverage as part of its health plan -- even if birth control goes against their religious beliefs.

“This is contrary as to who we are as Americans. Liberty, freedom is very much as to why we began as a nation,” said Bishop Thomas Olmstead on News Talk 550 KFYI.

He and other catholic leaders across the country are fighting the Obama administration on the issue of birth control as a mandatory part of an employee health insurance. Churches would be exempt, but not other religious institutions.

He says the issue is being “forced down their throats.”

“The health department is trying to define who religious institutes. Catholic charities, hospitals, colleges are not religious institutions, but who gives the government the right to define religious institutions?”

Even if one is inclined to believe that birth control and contraceptives should be given out like little packs of M&Ms at Halloween, how exactly is the HHS's mandate not in direct violation of the 1st amendment?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Or does the first amendment no longer apply because the Catholic Church and other faiths' stance on birth control and contraception is outdated and no longer 'cool'?

Sanctuary? Beseiged Iraqi Christians May Find New Home in Kurdistan

Overlooked by many in the news leading up to the 2010 mid-term elections was the terrorist massacre of at least 50 worshippers and clergy in Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Church on November 1st. Terrorists thought to be with al-Qaeda in Iraq initially targeted the Baghdad stock exchange before moving to the church across the street. Iraqi security forces quickly cordoned off the area surrounding Our Lady of Salvation and attempted to negotiate, but the attackers threw grenades and detonated explosive vests when the Iraqi forces stormed the church, killing 49 parishioners and 9 policemen.

In the days following the church attack, more Iraqi christian were targeted by car bombs and mortar attacks, killing at least five more. Some of the survivors of the terrorist attacks were given asylum by France and flown to Paris for medical treatment.

Many of Iraq's remaining Christians are concerned for their own safety after the latest attacks and want to leave Iraq. However, leaders in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq have invited Iraqi Christians to relocate to Kurdistan from elsewhere within Iraq. Kurdistan's autonomy during the final decade of Saddam Hussein's regime and after Operation Iraqi Freedom has meant that for the most part the economic and security situation is far more stable than elsewhere in Iraq.

Iraq's president Jalal Talibani (a Kurd himself) has even raised the possibility of establishing Christian-majority provinces within Iraq in an interview with France 24 television.

Hmm....wait a second. The sanctimonious self-appointed righteous indignation brigades that were out in force preaching tolerance when that douchebag Florida pastor promised to burn a bunch of Korans on September 11 have been pretty quiet since the Our Lady of Salvation massacre.

This would mean Iraqi and Kurdish Muslims have shown more concern over the plight of Iraq's Christians than the professional whiners and victims in their perpetual seethe-apalooza trying to hold up even token opposition to the 9/11 mosque in Manhattan as bigotry and Islamophobia.

Even if the Our Lady of Salvation massacre never took place, there's still the matter of Egyptian Muslims torching the homes of Coptic Christians over rumors a Coptic man was in a relationship with a Muslim woman. Or the Pakistani Christian mother of two who was reportedly sentenced to death for 'blasphemy' after she rebuffed efforts by Muslim co-workers to convert her.

Just some food for though the next time the head of an Islamic organization says that pointing out what's taking place in the Islamic world is akin to '1930s Germany'.

[Hat Tip: Eat it or Wear It; Weasel Zippers]

UK Police Detain Six in Possible Pope Benedict London Attack Plot.

Six North African Men (I'll let you guess their religous affiliation) working for a Paddington contract cleaning company were detained by Scotland Yard after recieving a tip that the men were planning a direct attack against the Pope or a terrorist attack to concide with his visit.

No names were released, and five of the suspects ranged in age from 26 to 40 while the sixth was arrested by counterterrorism investigators for behaving 'oddly' upon hearing of the arrest of his co-workers.

By late yesterday afternoon police had not discovered any bombs, devices, weapons or hazardous items and speculation was mounting that the suspects could be released without charge after the Pope leaves England tomorrow.

The Metropolitan Police said: ‘Today’s arrests were made after police received information following initial inquiries by detectives.

Following today’s arrests policing arrangements for the papal visit were reviewed and we are satisfied our current plan remains appropriate. The itinerary has not changed.’

The current official threat level in the UK remains at ‘severe’ which means that security chiefs believe a terror attack is ‘highly likely’.
It is understood the information acted on by the police was received by Scotland Yard and did not involve intelligence gathered by MI5, the domestic security service.

One source said: ‘Because of time constraints, it was difficult to assess the quality of this information. It came in from off the radar, but there were sufficient concerns for these men to be arrested.

Speaker Pelosi Finds Religion

The year was 2008. An obscure Presidential candidate named Barack Hussein Obama was on the campaign trail obfuscating his 20-year association with a bigoted hate-preacher and explaining the joys of wealth redistribution to an Ohio plumber. Elsewhere that summer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- San FranFreakshow) appeared on NBC's Meet the Press in an attempt to singlehandedly rewrite Catholic Doctorine in order to mitigate her pro-abortion stance.

“… I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition … St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose,”

This did not go over well with the cardinals, bishops and numerous practicing Catholics at the time. Look- it's one thing to claim to be both Catholic and pro-abortion, but it's another to flat out lie and tell everybody that most other Catholics and the church itself are 100% down with abortion just like you are. Or that the Church hasn't made up its mind yet. Or whatever.

In advance of the 2008 Democrat Party convention in the Mile High city, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, issued a scathing rebuttal to Pelosi's opportunistic and selective amnesia on Church doctrine.

Abortion kills an unborn, developing human life. It is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it. Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith.

Why are you bringing this up now? you might be asking (and for good reason). I'm not here to singlehandedly fight the abortion debate [although I do find it amusing that the same women's groups who would shout "Keep your laws off of my body!" at pro-abortion rallies apparently have absolutely NO problem with 0bamacare- NANESB!] but it should probably be revisited now that Pelosi's trying to curry favor with the Church once more.

Lately, it seems the human lamprey known as Nancy Pelosi has decided to opportunistically attach herself to the Catholic Church once again, this time weighing in on immigration 'reform'.

"The cardinals, the archbishops, the bishops that come to me and say, 'We want you to pass immigration reform,' and I said, 'I want you to speak about it from the pulpit. I want you to instruct your' -- whatever the communication is," [emphasis mine- NANESB!] said Pelosi, who is Catholic, speaking at the Nation's Catholic Community conference sponsored by Trinity Washington University and the National Catholic Reporter.

And how would the human lamprey with the 28% Approval rating feel about those same Catholic leaders speaking out in opposition to same-sex marriage or abortion from that same pulpit? Or would the Speaker magically rediscover the separation of Church and State once the Catholic Church's opposition to those particular issues were clarified from the pulpit.

Can anybody else believe the unmitigated chutzpah of this caricature of a woman? Not even two years ago, she was on national TV telling the nation the Catholic Church's stance on abortion was uncertain and ambiguous, so her pro-abortion legislative views weren't in violation of the Church's teachings. Now we're supposed to believe that the same church she gave the middle finger to has come crawling to her to beg for her assistance on amnesty immigration reform.

Actually, that could be partially true. Why do I get the feeling that the church officials who visited Pelosi begging for some kind of amnesty immigration reform to pass would be considered 'Liberation Theologians'? For those of you who don't know what Liberation Theology is, think along the lines of Rev. Wright's Trinity Church of Christ or Jim Jones' People's Temple, but under the guise of Catholicism.

Lord knows I'm a far from ideal Catholic. Hell, the only thing that gets me showing up at Mass in the warmer months is the chance to ogle some of the sundress-clad female parishioners. But I'm not going to take the Nancy Pelosi way out and misrepresent my flaws and shortcomings as a Catholic as being representative of the Church and other parishioners in general.

Since you've suddenly and conveniently decided to find religion, Nancy, here's a little Matthew 22:21 for you.

Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's

Catholics are supposed to be a forgiving lot. But Pelosi's cynical and one-sided use of the Church to try and further her own anti-Church legislative agenda is testing the patience of Catholics far more forgiving than myself.