What's Wrong and Right with the Catholic Church, by George A. Sprecace M.D., J.D.:

Since March 18, 2006, I have been involved in an effort, posted below and entitled POINT AND COUNTERPOINT, to discuss vital issues of abortion, morality and ethics which are intrinsic to our Judeo-Christian Faith and also involve the Faith of Islam.  This has been an effort to fill a palpable gap in the dialogue between the Catholic Church hierarchy and its Laity, the Body of the Church.  A production of 40 offerings, it was originally graciously embraced by our local Pastor.  It was then deferred to the Diocese of Norwich, where it was soon rebuffed and then totally ignored since last Winter, despite multiple efforts to engage the Bishop in personal dialogue.  My efforts to engage the other Bishops of Connecticut and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have also failed.  Only the Secretary to the Papal Nuncio sent a reply expressing concern.  This is a source of deep disappointment for me, but especially for my Church. 

Therefore, the POINT AND COUNTERPOINT series is hereby suspended.  I will personally continue to offer my help to an organization in great need of help.  But one of Murphy's Law's states: "In an organization, deal only with the person at the lowest rung or the highest rung of the ladder".  Thus, henceforth I will work only with the good parish priests...and with my Lord Jesus.  But I have offered the Church hierarchy my best effort, which follows immediately below, at the diagnosis and a treatment program for their current ills.

GS

Rapid Response for SUNDAY,  February 24, 2019

GS

Sistine Chapel site  - 

Pretty neat -  it will get you dizzy if you are not careful.
Use your Mouse to slide and roll for a very interesting full tour of the Sistine Chapel. 

Hold your curser down on right side of screen and slowly move pictures around. Amazing sight.

TO VIEW EVERY PART OF THE MICHAEL ANGELO'S MASTERPIECE JUST CLICK AND DRAG YOUR ARROW IN THE DIRECTION YOU WISH TO SEE. 

MOVE THE CURSOR SLOWLY!!!

In the lower left corner, click on the plus to move closer, on the minus to move away.

This virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel is incredible. Apparently done by Villanova at the request of the Vatican ...

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Report: Hitler Had Given Order to Kidnap Pope Pius XII - NewsMax.Com

Rapid Response for FRIDAY, March 4, 2016

Reconciliation, Not War, In The Name Of God.
True people of God must work for reconciliation among Christians, Jews, and Muslims - not for "Holy Wars" that rarely are if ever  holy or "in the name of God".  Three readings are offered in this context:

"Catholics, Jews and the Work of Reconciliation",  New York Times -  Ideas and Trends, Sunday, September 15, 2002, wk p 3;

Isaiah 5:1-7;

Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians,  Philippians 4:6-9

GS

The sexual scandals surrounding the Catholic Church, recently, represent a serious disease which requires an accurate diagnosis before any treatment can be expected to be effective.  Offered below are articles and commentaries which go a long way toward
clarifying the diagnosis, as distinguished from the miriad, knee-jerk reactions of some of the media and of some special interest
groups.  Personally, I have no problem with married priests or with ordination of women, regardless of whether or not those issues
have anything to do with the disease in question - so long as such "treatments" are embraced by the Universal Church and not by an
"American National Church".  And while we are casting stones, let us remember that Jesus Christ Himself not only forgave Peter his
three denials, but built that Universal Church on his faith, and on his strengths and weaknesses.

GS

As the symptoms and signs of this disease have become more clear, so has the treatment.  And it turns out that  the proper treatment has existed for generations as applied to another profession / vocation  that has a fiduciary relationship with the public:  the Medical Profession.  Any physician who engages in an intentional  act  of moral turpitude with a patient  will be investigated and, if found guilty, punished under Criminal Law.  He will also be vulnerable under Civil Law.  In addition and independently, he will simultaneously face investigation and penalties under the rules and statutes of his hospital and of the State licensing authorities.   And fellow physicians who are aware of such actions  have an ethical obligation - and in the case of minors a legal obligation - to report such information.  This should be especially unambiguous with regard to the employer of such a person, who has a relationship of Agency, or at least of "Ostensible Agency" with the perpetrator so  far as the public is concerned.  Any different assertion will be laughed out of court.  The exact same rules should apply no less to the Catholic Church, its priests, its other employees and its administrators.  It is sincerely to be  hoped that this will be the position of the American  bishops when they meet in June.  Otherwise, they will very soon see draconian  legislation being demanded by their flock and enacted by their legislators.  They already are seeing efforts to apply the RICO racketeering statutes to some of these cases.  Furthermore, whatever mechanisms are developed to deal internally with the perpetrators, in addition to the application of Criminal and Civil Law, they must henceforth include the active involvement of lay members of the Church - the Body of the Church - in a position to "advise and consent".  Meanwhile, the laity has shown that it correctly differentiates between its Faith, on the one hand, and the administration of its Church, on the other.  It is perfectly willing to take its dissembling Church administrators to task, including to use its "power of the purse", while defending the vast majority of its good priests and while reaffirming its Faith.  Perhaps  some of its Church administrators should take a refresher course in that Faith.   Now would be a good time.

GS
 

"Pope Offers Joy of Heaven", ZENIT News Agency

"US Bishops Clarify Abortion for Mother's Health", ZENIT News Agency

"Be Proud to Be a Jew!" Pius XII Told Visitor in '41", ZENIT News Agency

"Pius XII's Massive Crusade", ZENIT News Agency

"Guidelines Aim to Help Those Homosexually Inclined", ZENIT News Agency

Regarding the Pope's Comments on Islam, ZENIT News Agency

"Gospel-Culture Rift Needs Mending", ZENIT News Agency

"Evolution and Creation Are Not Foes...", ZENIT News Agency

"Foundation Hails Myth-Debunking Book on Pius XII", ZENIT News Agency

"Conspiracy Theory and 'The DaVinci Code'", by Ray G. Jones

"Da Vinci Code's" Devilish Gaffes: Interview With Father Manfred Hauke", ZENIT News Agency

Catholic Church Needs to Play Hardball

"Dominus Iesus: Christ, the Church, and Salvation," by Dominican Father J. Augustine Di Noia, Columbia Magazine (Knights of Columbus),  Sept. 2001, pp 4-6

"Catholics, Jews, and the Work of Reconciliation," the New York Times, September 15, 2002

"For the Church, Open Dialogue Offers Salvation," by Maura Casey

"The Church and its Critics," WSJ Review and Outlook, April 26, 2002, p A10

"Shameful Conduct in Rome," The Day Opinion, April 26, 2002, p A6

"Lies of the Cardinals," by Gary Wills

"The Pope Steps In," by Peggy Noonan

"U.S.Catholics, Sad and Angry, Still Keeping Faith," By Dan Barry and Robin Toner

"The Catholic Church's Culture Clash", the Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2002, p. A22

"Many Catholics Are Finding Ways To Keep The Faith," by Michael Costanza

"How Hitler's Forces Planned To Destroy German Christianity," by Joe Sharkey

"The Popes and the Jews," by Ronald J. Rychlak

"New Books Attack Catholicism," as reported by The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

"Preach to the Choir," by William McGurn

2000 Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism, as reported by The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

A Commentary about the Catholic Church During World War II, by Edward Girotti

"Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust" as Reported by The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights