Syte Reitz

To Catholic Priests, from every Catholic who was ever baptized, married, received First Communion, Reconciliation, attended Mass or a funeral, used a Catholic hospital or sent their kids to a Catholic School….

At the conclusion of National vocation awareness week 2012, a word of thanks to all Diocese of Madison, WI, priests, seminarians, religious, to the Vocations office and to the Madison Serra Club, for their sacrificial service which makes it possible for the Catholic Church to carry on it’s mission in our diocese. (Click image to enlarge)

Thanks to the Madison Catholic Herald and to Chris Reitz for the article.

Encourage a young person to consider a religious vocation today. Just say “You would make a wonderful priest/sister; have you ever thought about it?”  Join the Serra Club, a group which supports vocations, yourself.  Any Catholic can join. I’m a new member, very much enjoying the opportunity to be a part of supporting our Church and meeting other people who feel the same way.

(Reposted from November 22, 2010, for the benefit of a misguided commentator at Isthmus)

So many common false urban myths about Catholicism seem to surface in online discussions every time Catholicism is discussed, and this week is no exception:

1. The suggestion that the Catholic Church is synonymous with pedophilia is completely false—in fact, the Catholic Church is the LEAST offender in this area —  .

2. Most people misunderstand the Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality. They presume wrongly that the Church’s opposition to promiscuity implies the hate of homosexuals. The Catholic Church opposes promiscuity in any situation, heterosexual or homosexual – promiscuity results in STD’s, as well as emotional and psychological damage to individuals, to the family, and to society . Homosexual promiscuity is equally as damaging as is heterosexual promiscuity.

3. Additional Catholic-bashing references to false urban myths include obtuse incorrect references to the Inquisition, claims that the Catholic Church is losing membership, and insulting references to liturgical vestments.

• “ the kinds and degrees of punishments inflicted by the Spanish Inquisition were similar to (actually, even lighter than) those meted out by secular courts. It is equally true that, despite what we consider the Spanish Inquisition’s lamentable procedures, many people preferred to have their cases tried by ecclesiastical courts because the secular courts had even fewer safeguards. In fact, historians have found records of people blaspheming in secular courts of the period so they could have their case transferred to an ecclesiastical court, where they would get a better hearing.” – Catholic Answers.
• Catholic Church membership is actually INCREASING, at a rate slightly higher than the rate of population increase –Wikipedia.
• References to Catholic vestments can be compared with the British Monarchy — and with our modern customary wedding garb . Is God worthy of fewer honors than human monarchs, or our own wedding ceremonies?

US Military, Joint Colors

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The Huffington Post recently published an article on “religious boundary violation” in the U.S. Military – criticizing the obligatory “spiritual fitness test” given by the U.S. Military, on which

Pansy, symbol of freethought

“freethinkers” got points docked for their lack of religion.  Those who were religiously unaffiliated were then offered optional information on the benefits of developing their spirituality.

.But here are some more facts:

Death of Socrates

• • Religion and spirituality are associated with decreased rates of mental illness and have a protective effect against suicide.  Religious practice has also been shown to promote greater levels of cohesion in groups (presumably relevant to performance in the military).

Balance

• Those practicing atheism and pagan religions have higher rates of mental illness and higher suicide rates.  Self-esteem, self-control, and coping skills are also reduced in religiously unaffiliated people.

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Commendations

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Why wouldn’t the military be commended for surveying these topics among military personnel and offering religiously unaffiliated soldiers opportunities to learn about spirituality and its benefits for the individual and for the army?

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Nobody’s telling the soldiers which religion to choose, nobody’s even forcing them to choose a religion at all.  The alternative, however (eradicating all mention of religion from the military), would constitute religious coercion– forcing all soldiers into the practice of atheism.

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Religion; a parachute

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If the U.S. military has determined that particular lifestyle changes make for better soldiers – changes in diet, weight, length of hair, or supplemental education (including spirituality education) – the military would be negligent in withholding this information from soldiers, whose lives are so dependent on each other and are so often on the line.

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Incidentally, religious practice has been shown to benefit ALL aspects of life substantially:

• Strength of marriages and family relationships
• Reduction of violence, infidelity and out-of-wedlock births
• Increased educational achievement
• Improved overall health, including mental health
• Lower levels of infectious disease, depression and suicide
• Greater levels of cohesion in groups, higher levels of charitable giving, and less violent crime

God the Father (Sistine Chapel)

Who believes in God?

8 out of 10 Americans believe in a God who is responsible for creating human life.

The results of a new Gallup Poll ( Dec 17, 2010) indicate:

• 40% of Americans believe in straight creationism
• 38% of Americans believe in evolution guided by God
• 16% of Americans believe in evolution without involvement of God.

Add the first 2 numbers:  78% of Americans believe that God is responsible for creating human beings.

There is little correlation with degree of education; 71% of Americans with postgraduate education believe that God is responsible for creating human beings (see original Gallup Poll).

Who would have guessed this?

According to the mainstream media, only the uneducated and unenlightened believe in God, and Evolution is an absolute religion.  In actual fact, seems that most Americans, including most highly educated Americans, see evolution as one of the tools used by God in creation, or do not believe evolutionary theory at all.   I’m in the “evolution occasionally used by God” camp.  God, in His wisdom, uses many tools, and to an honest and discerning scientist, evidence of evolution, although clearly present, is neither ubiquitous nor absolute.

Nativity, Charles Poerson

The next step in logic:  if God is responsible for the creation of human life, and we are not just highly evolved mammals, do we have the right to do with human life as we please, without regard for God’s law?  There are some things on which all religions agree, and that includes the sacredness of human life.

The Christ Child is born!  Alleluia!

He came to be one of us — an embryo, a fetus, a tiny vulnerable child.

“Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.” – Luke 2:14

Rosary for the Bishop is one of my favorite cultural war weapons !

-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Prefect of the Congregationfor the Doctrine of the Faith, in the Message of Fatima

Learn more about Rosary for the Bishop in Tom Reitz’s interview with Relevant Radio:

Tom Reitz

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The Cap Times reported today that a “Doctor key to UW abortion plans is leaving for Harvard.” Cap Times article

14 wk preborn baby

Very cool, except that the report continues, “ UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette says Dutton’s departure will mean a change in who provides the service, but won’t affect the plans otherwise.”

According to one reader’s comments in online discussion, 90% of the Madison Surgery Center’s staff opposed participating in second trimester abortions.

IN ADDITION to that important observation:

• 68% of all Americans oppose second trimester abortions. (Gallup 2003)

• 51% of Americans oppose abortion at any stage of pregnancy at all. (Gallup 2010)

• Wisconsin State law prohibits the use of state funds for abortion. (WI State Legislature ; No UW Abortions )

• The Hippocratic Oath, used by humanity to define the ethics of medicine, included (for over 2 thousand years) the now-abandoned statement: “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy.” (Hippocratic Oath)

• Abortion has numerous harmful effects on the mother, including physical risk, psychological damage, and increased breast cancer risk. Abortion also has effects on a woman’s ability to have successful future pregnancies, and on the psychological well-being of other children born to that mother. (AbortionFacts.com)

So HOW is it that the University of Wisconsin continues to show an interest in providing second trimester abortions?

Does UW Madison defy democracy?

Does UW Madison defy the majority’s accepted standards of ethics and morality?

Does UW Madison defy Wisconsin law?

Does UW Madison fail to distinguish between health CARE and killing?

We people of Wisconsin need to make some phone calls and send some emails!

Find out how to take action right now– NO UW ABORTIONS .com

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Here goes TIME Magazine again, dissing my Church………

June 7, 2010 TIME Magazine cover:

Why would the June 7, 2010 TIME Magazine cover lie so blatantly about Pope Benedict?

• Pope Benedict HAS apologized about the scandals ( what a saint! — he is innocent of all the charges that were thrown at him starting during Holy Week).
• The terrible problem of sexual abuse of children is rampant in all sectors of our society, but the Catholic Church has the lowest incidence of offense of all groups. Children are (and have always been) safer in the hands of the Catholic Church than they are at government schools or in their own homes.

• Finally, Pope Benedict has been at the forefront of developing procedures for the safety of children, which now make the Catholic Church a model for all other institutions on how to deal with child abuse prevention.

So WHY is TIME Magazine (and the NYTimes, as well as other extreme liberal media) attacking the Pope so blatantly, with old charges which have already been disproved?

They do this because the Church is the single largest, most centralized and most powerful voice threatening to undermining their extreme liberal agenda in the world today. The Church does this by proclaiming the truth courageously, and by standing up for the innocent and downtrodden. Most recently, the courageous actions of the US Bishops in opposing abortion in health care have irritated the extreme left.

Since the extreme left has no valid ammunition, they attack the Church with lies. And so the persecution of the Church continues…. ironically, the last round started up during Holy Week, with attacks peaking on Good Friday. Why TIME Magazine is trying to resurrect these now outdated issues on their June 7 cover is a good question.

More information:

Setting the Record Straight-Zenit

George Wiegel

Syte Reitz, April 28 ’10

Revealing Statistics – National Catholic Register

12 Things You Should Know About the U.S. Scandals – NCR

Thanks to Tomas Reitz, ReitzInternet

[pro-player width=’600′ height=’380′ type=’video’ image=’https://sytereitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/bishop-morlino-still-300×168.jpg’]https://sytereitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/391858417935_15688.mp4[/pro-player]

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“Jesus Christ…. is pre-Vatican II.”

— Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, WI

“Faith and prayer are forces which can influence history and in the end prayer is more powerful than bullets and faith more powerful than armies.”

– Vatican website,

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html