Most of the news last week concerned the Holy Father's historic papal pilgrimage to Egypt. Let us rephrase that, most of the Catholic news covered it but the secular media barely gave it ink or soundbite time even though it was the first ever visit by a Roman Pontiff to this ancient land of the pharaohs. Yet they don't hesitate to plaster the frontpage headlines and evening news with the anti-Catholic bias trap that Governor George W. Bush fell into when he spoke last month at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. We all know who Bob Jones is, an extreme right bigot who hates Catholics with the fervor of Jack Chick and because he is such an extremist and abnormal radical, most Catholics dismiss him as toothless when it comes to any truths.

    So why did Bush get nailed for this when most other candidates during this campaign and the last two presidential campaigns spoke at this ignominous institution? Could it possibly be that the liberal media is afraid of the Texas governor and want to discredit him as much as possible? That's a very real possibility with their coronation of his opponent John McCain as the Republican "savior" and yet Republicans don't feel the same way and are showing it at the ballot box.

    It also points out a sad fact that many, many Catholics are not incensed at the media for carrying on such a double standard. Consider that they constantly promote anti-Catholic bias in their news, editorials and coverage and we have to ask, what's all the fuss? While we personally are voting for Alan Keyes in the California Primary because he represents the only honest, moral candidate out of the entire herd, common sense dictates that Bush needs the Catholic support in the face of the Clinton administration influenced media's campaign to malign him in favor of perpetuating the culture of death agenda with Al Gore. Realistically that is the scenario even though we would love to see Alan Keyes in that equation. But poor Alan hasn't got a prayer even though that is what he emphasizes all Americans need to do: pray. How many believe that were the conservative African American Alan Keyes not a loyal Roman Catholic that he would get the support of the media that is supposed to champion the underdog? How many believe black caucus groups wouldn't flock to this man were it not for his staunch Catholic views? Many have clamored for a black candidate for president and when one finally appears on the scene, one whose credentials and potential are impeccable, he is dismissed. Why? There can be no other reason than his Catholicity. Many thought when John F. Kennedy was elected that was the end of the bias against Catholic candidates. The campaign of Al Smith reached the height of anti-Catholi bias led by Bob Jones' father. Talk about the sins of the father! So here we are today with the Catholics in the eye of the storm once more.

    Rather than looking at this as a negative, why not capitalize on it and make the Catholic vote count. Too often in the recent past the Catholic vote has been so split that any kind of Catholic bloc has been meaningless. With the kind of numbers Catholics comprise, we can make a difference if we are united. To underscore this Russel Shaw, who covers Capitol Hill for the Knights of Columbus monthly magazine Columbia points out that in the 1994 presidential election, 57 percent of practicing Catholics voted Republican, while 49 percent voted Democrats, the majority of them not practicing Catholics - mere Catholic in name only. Doesn't that tell you which party true Catholics need to rally behind? This coming Tuesday is both Shrove Tuesday and Super Tuesday when three of the largest states hold their primaries - California, New York and Ohio. We not only look at it as a last chance for Keyes in his noble bid, but an opportunity for Catholics to swell the polls and vote for every pro-life candidate and inititiative possible. We strongly suspect that Keyes will bow out if he doesn't reach double figure percentage in any of the states and, while this is sad because he has stood as the collective conscience of America, never wavering, it will solidify the candidates where Catholics will know who to vote for in November. Outside of Keyes, there is only one man we can morally accept because of his consistent stance for pro-life and the sanctity of marriage. We know it is not Al Gore, Bill Bradley, or John McCain or any of the fractured other parties such as the Reform party or Libertarians' candidate. You make the deduction. At least we will have a clear-cut choice and we must make our voice heard for, as we have said many times in the past, the lives of countless unborn souls depend on it since the new president will have the power to select Supreme Court Justices and Bush has already gone on record as stating he would appoint pro-life judges. Al Gore would do the opposite, thus perpetuating Roe vs. Wade and the demise of millions of more souls. Whatever rhetoric we hear in the politically stained commercials which constantly hit below the belt, we must remember there is only one issue: Life!

    One man who was always a proponent of saving lives but has been badly besmirched over the last several years by radical factions was Pope Pius XII. That is why we once again ask if the secular media will give any play to the news we carried yesterday that the Israeli government has released the Diary of the infamous Minister of Death, the head of the S.S. for the Nazis - Adolph Eichmann. In it he writes, without a shadow of a doubt that one of the great enemies of the Third Reich was none other than Pius XII. These sentiments dated back to Pius XII's time as apostolic nuncio to Germany under Pope Pius XI. In fact, many historians corroborate that the latter geared his pontificate to the input passed on by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli who stood up strongly against the growing Nazi threat in the thirties. There are countless other testimonies to Pius XII's defense of the Jews, so evident in his October 29, 1939 encyclical Summi Pontificatus in which he condemned Adolf Hitler and National Socialism. Such publications as the New York Times spoke out strongly for the 260th successor of Peter in the forties. Today that same publication is quick to print defamations against this beleaguered Pontiff. It is nothing new. When Saint Maximillian Mary Kolbe's cause for canonization was being considered in the early eighties, radical Jewish factions condemned this beloved saint who gave his life for a young Jewish husband and father, as being anti-Semitic. If that were the case do you think he would have traded places with the young Semite, knowing he would be going to certain death in the bowels of the Auschwitz gas chamber? Of course not. And just as those charges against this great Polish saint were bogus, so also the charges against Pius XII are trumped up. Hopefully, this latest revelation which is huge in removing all roadblocks for Pacelli's swift approval for beatification, will pave the way for the process to be expedited now with no further interference from those living in the past with a chip on their shoulders. If only the secular media would be ethical enough to publish that on the front page for it is front page news!

    Also front page news, which will get even smaller play from many in the liberal Catholic press, were the Holy Father's comments at the close of the International Symposium on the Application of Vatican II in Rome last weekend. Returning from Egypt, the Pope spoke out strongly against the erroneous interpretations of Vatican II which we refer to as the 'spirit of Vatican II' for it is merely a ghost of what was intended through the Holy Spirit of Vatican II. The Holy Father reiterated strick adherance to the true tenets set down by the Council Fathers through the Conciliar and Post-Consiliar documents that have not only been misinterpreted by modernists, but largely ignored. That is about to change as the Bishop of Rome reaffirmed the authenticity of the Second Vatican Council and its intent to complement and strengthen traditions and everything that went before it in the Church. As the Pope said, "to read the Council assuming that it supposes a rupture with the past, when in reality it is aligned with the everlasting faith, is clearly erroneous." If you are like most American Catholics who see a growing protestant influence in our liturgy and a watering down of doctrine, you'll see the implementation in America, for the most part, has not followed Vatican II, contrary to what parish administrators would want you to believe as they forge through more travesties creating the "abomination of the desolation" (cf. Matthew 24: 15) of the temple.

    What does this all mean? Hopefully we see it as the beginning death knell for dissident factions like Call to Action, We are church, Catholics for a free choice, and that ilk for the Church is now putting tremendous, undeniable force into a program that will eventually eradicate the confusion and ambiguity of what it means to be a true, practicing Catholic and return reverence and truth to the teachings and liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church in America and throughout the world. Just as satan puts up strong resistance when his ramparts are threatened, so also the liberals will fight back. They will most probably resist by attacking and dealing the intolerance card, crying that "the Church is being too harsh and will turn more Catholics away." We're here to tell them that the only Catholics that will turn away are those who weren't truly Catholic in the first place for being Catholic consists of obedience to Rome and without that obedience, there is only one thing we can call those misguided citizens who comprise Call to Action and the other liberal, modernist groups: Protestant.

    In light of this latest symposium and the Pope's strong words along with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's follow-through enforcement as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in defense of the Faith, we suspect the United States Bishops Conference later this fall will have tremendous repercussions on the liberal movement and, with a quorum of orthodox, conservative bishops growing, we hope and pray they will fully endorse the tenets of Vatican II in returning the Novus Ordo to the reverence and authenticity necessary as well as returning the Tabernacle of the Holy of Holies to its rightful place in the sanctuary plus curtailing much of the progressive liturgical celebrations that are hardly recognizable as "traditions of the past." It's up to the bishops to implement this.

    Some bishops were surprised by John Paul II's appointment of Bishop Sean Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap. as the new Archbishop of New York, succeeding Cardinal John J. O'Connor who was forced to stay on for five years longer than he had wanted because of the tremendous positive impact he has had in New York City and on the Church in America. Like his appointment of fellow Capuchin Archbishop Charles J. Chaput in Denver and Cardinal Francis E. George, OMI for Chicago, the Holy Father continued his trend of pulling someone of impeccable character out of relative anonymity. It's worked great in the mile high city and the windy city where the conservative former bishop of Portland has ably replaced the more liberal late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. We are confident Bishop O'Malley will be a great fit in the big apple, carrying on the same philosophy of his predecessor and well equipped both in his relative youth at only 55 and his command of many languages, so important in this metropolitian area renowned for its ethnic backgrounds that are the backbone of this strong, proud city.

    While we would like to see all good news, the mounting problems in Africa, especially Nigeria, Sudan and poor Mozambique, and the insidious gay agenda in Britain prove that that utopian ideology doesn't work. But in balance the Holy Father's successful pilgrimage to Egypt to complete the Pentateuch path of his "Jubilee Journey" in retracing Salvation History and the ensuing events leading up to Lent have been encouraging. It all points to prayerful optimism in gaining momentum for Lent in hopes that, through our prayers, actions, and sacrifices we can help multiply the food of truth throughout the country and world and fulfill the hunger so many have for Christ and His Gospel - the Gospel of Life as He states in John 10: 10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly." Praise God and pass the loaves and fishes and let's make it a Mardi Gras to remember: Get out and vote for the Sanctity of Life!

Michael Cain, editor

For previous editorials this year, go to PAST CATHOLIC PewPOINTS           

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