EWTN Press Release: HHS Mandate Final Rule

EWTN’s Statement On The
Final Rule for the HHS Mandate

Irondale, AL – Today, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule for the contraception mandate portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).  EWTN and its attorneys are still assessing this final rule, but our initial analysis has been disappointing. 

“The final rule issued today is inadequate because it appears to have changed nothing,” said EWTN President & Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw.

Specifically, it imposes the same narrow definition of a church, does not expand the exemption beyond churches, and still provides a meaningless “accommodation.” In short, it appears to have ignored the unprecedented number of public comments made against this HHS Mandate.

The proposed rule released in February of 2013 separated organizations into churches, eligible organizations, and everyone else. Under that proposed rule, religious organizations were fully exempt, eligible organizations received an accommodation, and everyone else was mandated to pay for abortion-causing drugs, contraceptives, and voluntary sterilization procedures. EWTN filed public comments strongly arguing that these services and drugs are not health care, are validly objectionable on grounds other than religious beliefs, and that the rule was faulty for allowing only churches to be fully exempt while leaving organizations like EWTN on shaky ground, unable to reliably determine if it even qualifies as an eligible organization. The proposed rule also failed to show that the “accommodation” provided for eligible organizations did anything to actually accommodate reasonable objection to the mandated services.

Despite this news, we are encouraged by the recent court victories for Tyndale Publishers and Hobby Lobby because these cases demonstrate that the rule unfairly limits religious liberty and first amendment rights. EWTN and its attorneys at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty will continue to assess the options at this time.

Said Warsaw: “EWTN remains committed to fighting this senseless mandate.” 

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 32^nd year, is available in over 225
million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website www.ewtn.com, electronic and print news services, and publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.

Penance and the Rosary

Going to Confession you can never be sure just what penance a priest will give you.  Sometimes one priest will seem to always tell you the same thing and you might make the mistake of falling into the routine of committing the same sins week after week and then doing the same penance without even thinking about it.  If you keep committing the same sins and doing the same penance perhaps you might stop and contemplate that YOU aren't doing the penance correctly.

Do you run through ten Hail Mary's and five Our Father's to simply finish the penance given to you?  If so, you've lost much and probably haven't learned a thing.

Confession is for our healing, Penance is for our growth and strength against temptation.  The priest can heal our relationship with God if we confess our sins WHOLE heartedly and with sorrow for offending God - that's Absolution.  When we are absolved of our sins our relationship with God is healed.  The wounds that sin inflicted on our souls Confession heals.  Those healed wounds are made stronger with our Penance by the Grace of God. 
Embrace your Penance as a gift of love from God Himself.  It is love and strength given to you for your help.  Don't rush through it.  Take your time, talk with God and remember to SHUT UP so you can hear God speaking gently into your hearts.  Telling you how much He loves you and is pleased with you for participating in His Sacraments.  When we repent the very angels in heaven celebrate! [Luke 15:10]

I've never publically shared my personal experiences with Confession before, but today I am going to because I feel it may help other parents and perhaps inspire other priests to follow what a priest recently gave me for a Penance.  Generally speaking, near the end of my Confession, I conveyed to the priest a worry I have about raising Godly children in today's secular, sexual, drug addicted society.  'What's a parent to do?' I asked.

Father said to me (something that should be obvious but wasn't)... 'If you want Godly children, be a Godly woman in all things.  When you suffer, suffer with joy because Christ allows it for a reason that you don't have to know, only trust in Jesus to know.  Trust Him in good and bad because He loves you and died for you. Give Him praise always, during that suffering and in times of happiness, always praise Jesus.  Now go home and for your Penance you are to pray the rosary with your entire family."

:::blink*blink:::

The rosary?  With everyone?

I'd never been given a Penance that I had to involve others in to complete.  I was surprised, but very happy because I had just recently been thinking of the old saying "The family that prays together, stays together."  A saying that I had heard decades ago, and learned some years later is from a Catholic priest named Fr. Peyton.

Father Patrick Peyton - "The family that prays together, stays together."



Returning home from Confession that day, I gathered my family at our home altar (if you don't have one, I highly recommend them).  I lit all the candles on the altar along with the incense (which I love) and together with one of my children kneeling on our kneeler before the altar (the rest of us seated) we all prayed the rosary together for the first time outside of our parish as a family.  What joy!  It was wonderful and something I am intending to practice in my family more often.

Send this to Catholic Politicians everywhere!!

     Apparently many of our American Bishops either don't know this document or refuse to share it with Catholics and in particular Catholic politicians.  Because [some of ] our Bishops are such failures at educating and correcting wayward/clueless/unrepentant Catholics about what the Church actually teaches, it must fall to ALL OTHER Catholics to share Church teaching and educate other Catholics. 
   
   **Please share this article from the Vatican... put it on Facebook, tweet it on Twitter, email it to family and friends and don't forget to share it with the Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden's in our government.  God bless you all for sharing our wonderful Catholic faith... 

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PROPOSALS
TO GIVE LEGAL RECOGNITION
TO UNIONS
BETWEEN HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS

INTRODUCTION

1. In recent years, various questions relating to homosexuality have been addressed with some frequency by Pope John Paul II and by the relevant Dicasteries of the Holy See.(1) Homosexuality is a troubling moral and social phenomenon, even in those countries where it does not present significant legal issues. It gives rise to greater concern in those countries that have granted or intend to grant – legal recognition to homosexual unions, which may include the possibility of adopting children. The present Considerations do not contain new doctrinal elements; they seek rather to reiterate the essential points on this question and provide arguments drawn from reason which could be used by Bishops in preparing more specific interventions, appropriate to the different situations throughout the world, aimed at protecting and promoting the dignity of marriage, the foundation of the family, and the stability of society, of which this institution is a constitutive element. The present Considerations are also intended to give direction to Catholic politicians by indicating the approaches to proposed legislation in this area which would be consistent with Christian conscience.(2) Since this question relates to the natural moral law, the arguments that follow are addressed not only to those who believe in Christ, but to all persons committed to promoting and defending the common good of society.

I. THE NATURE OF MARRIAGE
AND ITS INALIENABLE CHARACTERISTICS

2. The Church's teaching on marriage and on the complementarity of the sexes reiterates a truth that is evident to right reason and recognized as such by all the major cultures of the world. Marriage is not just any relationship between human beings. It was established by the Creator with its own nature, essential properties and purpose.(3) No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman, who by mutual personal gift, proper and exclusive to themselves, tend toward the communion of their persons. In this way, they mutually perfect each other, in order to cooperate with God in the procreation and upbringing of new human lives.

3. The natural truth about marriage was confirmed by the Revelation contained in the biblical accounts of creation, an expression also of the original human wisdom, in which the voice of nature itself is heard. There are three fundamental elements of the Creator's plan for marriage, as narrated in the Book of Genesis.

In the first place, man, the image of God, was created “male and female” (Gen 1:27). Men and women are equal as persons and complementary as male and female. Sexuality is something that pertains to the physical-biological realm and has also been raised to a new level – the personal level – where nature and spirit are united.

Marriage is instituted by the Creator as a form of life in which a communion of persons is realized involving the use of the sexual faculty. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and they become one flesh” (Gen 2:24).

Third, God has willed to give the union of man and woman a special participation in his work of creation. Thus, he blessed the man and the woman with the words “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28). Therefore, in the Creator's plan, sexual complementarity and fruitfulness belong to the very nature of marriage.

Furthermore, the marital union of man and woman has been elevated by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament. The Church teaches that Christian marriage is an efficacious sign of the covenant between Christ and the Church (cf. Eph 5:32). This Christian meaning of marriage, far from diminishing the profoundly human value of the marital union between man and woman, confirms and strengthens it (cf. Mt 19:3-12; Mk 10:6-9).

4. There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law. Homosexual acts “close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved”.(4)

Sacred Scripture condemns homosexual acts “as a serious depravity... (cf. Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10). This judgment of Scripture does not of course permit us to conclude that all those who suffer from this anomaly are personally responsible for it, but it does attest to the fact that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered”.(5) This same moral judgment is found in many Christian writers of the first centuries(6) and is unanimously accepted by Catholic Tradition.

Nonetheless, according to the teaching of the Church, men and women with homosexual tendencies “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided”.(7) They are called, like other Christians, to live the virtue of chastity.(8) The homosexual inclination is however “objectively disordered”(9) and homosexual practices are “sins gravely contrary to chastity”.(10)

II. POSITIONS ON THE PROBLEM
OF HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS

5. Faced with the fact of homosexual unions, civil authorities adopt different positions. At times they simply tolerate the phenomenon; at other times they advocate legal recognition of such unions, under the pretext of avoiding, with regard to certain rights, discrimination against persons who live with someone of the same sex. In other cases, they favour giving homosexual unions legal equivalence to marriage properly so-called, along with the legal possibility of adopting children.

Where the government's policy is de facto tolerance and there is no explicit legal recognition of homosexual unions, it is necessary to distinguish carefully the various aspects of the problem. Moral conscience requires that, in every occasion, Christians give witness to the whole moral truth, which is contradicted both by approval of homosexual acts and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons. Therefore, discreet and prudent actions can be effective; these might involve: unmasking the way in which such tolerance might be exploited or used in the service of ideology; stating clearly the immoral nature of these unions; reminding the government of the need to contain the phenomenon within certain limits so as to safeguard public morality and, above all, to avoid exposing young people to erroneous ideas about sexuality and marriage that would deprive them of their necessary defences and contribute to the spread of the phenomenon. Those who would move from tolerance to the legitimization of specific rights for cohabiting homosexual persons need to be reminded that the approval or legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil.

In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection.

III. ARGUMENTS FROM REASON AGAINST LEGAL
RECOGNITION OF HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS

6. To understand why it is necessary to oppose legal recognition of homosexual unions, ethical considerations of different orders need to be taken into consideration.

From the order of right reason

The scope of the civil law is certainly more limited than that of the moral law,(11) but civil law cannot contradict right reason without losing its binding force on conscience.(12) Every humanly-created law is legitimate insofar as it is consistent with the natural moral law, recognized by right reason, and insofar as it respects the inalienable rights of every person.(13) Laws in favour of homosexual unions are contrary to right reason because they confer legal guarantees, analogous to those granted to marriage, to unions between persons of the same sex. Given the values at stake in this question, the State could not grant legal standing to such unions without failing in its duty to promote and defend marriage as an institution essential to the common good.

It might be asked how a law can be contrary to the common good if it does not impose any particular kind of behaviour, but simply gives legal recognition to a de facto reality which does not seem to cause injustice to anyone. In this area, one needs first to reflect on the difference between homosexual behaviour as a private phenomenon and the same behaviour as a relationship in society, foreseen and approved by the law, to the point where it becomes one of the institutions in the legal structure. This second phenomenon is not only more serious, but also assumes a more wide-reaching and profound influence, and would result in changes to the entire organization of society, contrary to the common good. Civil laws are structuring principles of man's life in society, for good or for ill. They “play a very important and sometimes decisive role in influencing patterns of thought and behaviour”.(14) Lifestyles and the underlying presuppositions these express not only externally shape the life of society, but also tend to modify the younger generation's perception and evaluation of forms of behaviour. Legal recognition of homosexual unions would obscure certain basic moral values and cause a devaluation of the institution of marriage.

From the biological and anthropological order

7. Homosexual unions are totally lacking in the biological and anthropological elements of marriage and family which would be the basis, on the level of reason, for granting them legal recognition. Such unions are not able to contribute in a proper way to the procreation and survival of the human race. The possibility of using recently discovered methods of artificial reproduction, beyond involv- ing a grave lack of respect for human dignity,(15) does nothing to alter this inadequacy.

Homosexual unions are also totally lacking in the conjugal dimension, which represents the human and ordered form of sexuality. Sexual relations are human when and insofar as they express and promote the mutual assistance of the sexes in marriage and are open to the transmission of new life.

As experience has shown, the absence of sexual complementarity in these unions creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons. They would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood. Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development. This is gravely immoral and in open contradiction to the principle, recognized also in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, that the best interests of the child, as the weaker and more vulnerable party, are to be the paramount consideration in every case.

From the social order

8. Society owes its continued survival to the family, founded on marriage. The inevitable consequence of legal recognition of homosexual unions would be the redefinition of marriage, which would become, in its legal status, an institution devoid of essential reference to factors linked to heterosexuality; for example, procreation and raising children. If, from the legal standpoint, marriage between a man and a woman were to be considered just one possible form of marriage, the concept of marriage would undergo a radical transformation, with grave detriment to the common good. By putting homosexual unions on a legal plane analogous to that of marriage and the family, the State acts arbitrarily and in contradiction with its duties.

The principles of respect and non-discrimination cannot be invoked to support legal recognition of homosexual unions. Differentiating between persons or refusing social recognition or benefits is unacceptable only when it is contrary to justice.(16) The denial of the social and legal status of marriage to forms of cohabitation that are not and cannot be marital is not opposed to justice; on the contrary, justice requires it.

Nor can the principle of the proper autonomy of the individual be reasonably invoked. It is one thing to maintain that individual citizens may freely engage in those activities that interest them and that this falls within the common civil right to freedom; it is something quite different to hold that activities which do not represent a significant or positive contribution to the development of the human person in society can receive specific and categorical legal recognition by the State. Not even in a remote analogous sense do homosexual unions fulfil the purpose for which marriage and family deserve specific categorical recognition. On the contrary, there are good reasons for holding that such unions are harmful to the proper development of human society, especially if their impact on society were to increase.

From the legal order

9. Because married couples ensure the succession of generations and are therefore eminently within the public interest, civil law grants them institutional recognition. Homosexual unions, on the other hand, do not need specific attention from the legal standpoint since they do not exercise this function for the common good.

Nor is the argument valid according to which legal recognition of homosexual unions is necessary to avoid situations in which cohabiting homosexual persons, simply because they live together, might be deprived of real recognition of their rights as persons and citizens. In reality, they can always make use of the provisions of law – like all citizens from the standpoint of their private autonomy – to protect their rights in matters of common interest. It would be gravely unjust to sacrifice the common good and just laws on the family in order to protect personal goods that can and must be guaranteed in ways that do not harm the body of society.(17)

IV. POSITIONS OF CATHOLIC POLITICIANS
WITH REGARD TO LEGISLATION IN FAVOUR
OF HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS

10. If it is true that all Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are obliged to do so in a particular way, in keeping with their responsibility as politicians. Faced with legislative proposals in favour of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are to take account of the following ethical indications.

When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic law-maker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favour of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral.

When legislation in favour of the recognition of homosexual unions is already in force, the Catholic politician must oppose it in the ways that are possible for him and make his opposition known; it is his duty to witness to the truth. If it is not possible to repeal such a law completely, the Catholic politician, recalling the indications contained in the Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, “could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and public morality”, on condition that his “absolute personal opposition” to such laws was clear and well known and that the danger of scandal was avoided.(18) This does not mean that a more restrictive law in this area could be considered just or even acceptable; rather, it is a question of the legitimate and dutiful attempt to obtain at least the partial repeal of an unjust law when its total abrogation is not possible at the moment.

CONCLUSION

11. The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions. The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society. Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behaviour, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself.

The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, in the Audience of March 28, 2003, approved the present Considerations, adopted in the Ordinary Session of this Congregation, and ordered their publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 3, 2003, Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and his Companions, Martyrs.

Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Prefect

Angelo Amato, S.D.B.
Titular Archbishop of Sila
Secretary

---

NOTES

(1) Cf. John Paul II, Angelus Messages of February 20, 1994, and of June 19, 1994; Address to the Plenary Meeting of the Pontifical Council for the Family (March 24, 1999); Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nos. 2357-2359, 2396; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Persona humana (December 29, 1975), 8; Letter on the pastoral care of homosexual persons (October 1, 1986); Some considerations concerning the response to legislative proposals on the non-discrimination of homosexual persons (July 24, 1992); Pontifical Council for the Family, Letter to the Presidents of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe on the resolution of the European Parliament regarding homosexual couples (March 25, 1994); Family, marriage and “de facto” unions (July 26, 2000), 23.

(2) Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding the participation of Catholics in political life (November 24, 2002), 4.

(3) Cf. Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 48.

(4) Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2357.

(5) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Persona humana (December 29, 1975), 8.

(6) Cf., for example, St. Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians, V, 3; St. Justin Martyr, First Apology, 27, 1-4; Athenagoras, Supplication for the Christians, 34.

(7) Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2358; cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter on the pastoral care of homosexual persons (October 1, 1986), 10.

(8) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2359; cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter on the pastoral care of homosexual persons (October 1, 1986), 12.

(9) Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2358.

(10) Ibid., No. 2396.

(11) Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae (March 25, 1995), 71.

(12) Cf. ibid., 72.

(13) Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 95, a. 2.

(14) John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae (March 25, 1995), 90.

(15) Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction Donum vitae (February 22, 1987), II. A. 1-3.

(16) Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 63, a.1, c.

(17) It should not be forgotten that there is always “a danger that legislation which would make homosexuality a basis for entitlements could actually encourage a person with a homosexual orientation to declare his homosexuality or even to seek a partner in order to exploit the provisions of the law” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Some considerations concerning the response to legislative proposals on the non-discrimination of homosexual persons [July 24, 1992], 14).

(18) John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae (March 25, 1995), 73.

 

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html

EWTN Press Release: Interview with "Exorcist" Author and more...

EWTN: How Welsh Catholics Kept the Faith Despite Centuries of Persecution

Plus a Roundtable on Same-Sex Marriage,
Interview with “Exorcist” Author, & More

Irondale, AL – Faith saves Wales! The first in a three-part miniseries covers centuries of Welsh history, when Wales was alternately persecuted for and prospered because of its Catholic faith. Discover the rich tapestry of Europe’s Catholic History in “Wales—the Golden Thread of Faith!” Airs 6:30 p.m. ET, Monday, June 10—only on EWTN! 

 

Stop the presses! Editor-in-Chief Jeanette DeMelo of “The National Catholic Register” delivers exclusive insight on what it’s like to manage a Catholic newspaper in an extremely secular field. Get the inside scoop when Fr. Mitch Pacwa hosts “EWTN Live” at 8 p.m. ET, Wednesday, June 5—only on EWTN!

 

Don’t let missing this EWTN exclusive interview haunt you!  Lead Anchor Raymond Arroyo interviews legendary screenwriter and author of “The Exorcist” William P. Blatty on why he submitted a cannon law petition questioning the Catholic identity of his alma mater, Georgetown University. Tune in to “The World Over” when it airs LIVE at 8 p.m. E.T. Thursday, June 6 – exclusively on EWTN.

 

Another little birdie just might be helping you discern your vocation! The Holy Spirit gets a helping hand from Fr. Jeffrey Kirby as he explains to “Life on the Rock” Co-hosts Fr. Mark and Doug Barry how he uses Social Media sites like Twitter and Facebook to reach out to those considering the priesthood! You’re sure to “like” this episode of “Life on the Rock,” LIVE at 10 p.m. ET, Thursday June 6—exclusively on EWTN!

 

It’s never too late to answer God’s call! Author Rhonda Chervin presents the unique stories of 14 men who became priests much later in their lives. Join Host Doug Keck for “EWTN Bookmark” at 9:30 a.m. ET, Sunday, June 9—and be sure to pick up “Last Call: Fourteen Men who Dared to Answer” from EWTN Religious Catalogue! (http://bit.ly/12r1Iz4)

 

Spend your “knight” with the roundtable! Host Colin Donovan gathers the EWTN theology team for a discussion concerning the Church’s position on same-sex marriage. Don’t miss your chance to sit with the “Theology Roundtable” at 10 p.m. ET, Sunday, June 09—only on EWTN! 

 

Forgiveness for murderers? After being stabbed multiple times, St. Maria Goretti prayed for the soul of her attempted rapist and murderer while on her deathbed.  See a true example of “Love’s Bravest Choice” at 3 a.m. ET, Friday, June 07—exclusively on EWTN.   

 

Trust in His Most Sacred Heart! Celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word, LIVE at 8 a.m. ET, Friday, June 07—only on EWTN!

 

On your mark! Get set! Pray! Take part in an all-day special event in which 60 different shrines from around the world pray a different mystery of the rosary every half hour. Join the Franciscan Friars of the Eternal World as they pray their mystery as part of the “Global Rosary Relay.” Airs 9:30 a.m. ET,  Friday, June 7—only on EWTN!

 

Are new immigration laws right around the corner? EWTN Lead Anchor Raymond Arroyo finds out when Florida Sen. Marco Rubio joins the show to discuss the status of the new immigration reform bill. Don’t miss “The World Over” LIVE at 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, June 6—exclusively on EWTN!

Long Island Medium (Theresa Caputo) works for Satan

She’s charming, she’s whacky, and she’s got funny hair and crazy fingernails- she’s also working for the devil.

Sound harsh?  Good.

Theresa Caputo

Theresa Caputo, AKA “The Long Island Medium” seen weekly on the TLC cable channel, is the devil’s own Pied Piper leading people along the devil’s path.  Does she know it?  Probably not, but she should. 

Caputo is a psychic- yes they do exist.  I am not talking about the “Miss Cleo” types who randomly make up anything to make a billion (yes, that’s right) dollars.  I am talking about the psychics who actually do see and hear things.  They exist.  The trouble is not that they see and hear things per se (many Saints had that gift), it’s who is behind what they see and hear and the fact that Caputo does not have the discernment to know its evil.

What do I mean by ‘evil’?  I mean anything that is against God’s Will is evil.  You might be a fan of Caputo’s who watches the shows and say to me: “She helps people by making them feel better!”   I bet a lot of pot smokers out there would tell you the same thing about pot – yet it would remain damaging to your lungs no matter how good it might make a person feel.

Associating with psychics is damaging to a person’s soul.   It jeopardizes a person’s salvation.  How?

First of all, what Caputo is teaching from her television show is heretical to Catholic teaching- to ALL Christian teaching. 

Reincarnation.

Sunday, May 26^th, the “Long Island Medium” told her audience that she had lived past lives when she went into a ‘past life regression’ session to find out why she was ‘chosen’ to be a psychic.  Any Christian worth their salt will tell you the bible flat out refutes ‘reincarnation’ completely…

Hebrews 9:27  “And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment"

In another episode, Caputo told a woman her dead daughter’s soul was now “reborn” into the body of her newest grandchild.  Poppycock!

Reincarnation comes from Eastern religions like Buddhism- it is a heresy to ALL Christian groups, Catholic and Protestant alike.  A person is ONE soul and ONE body together.  A person dies when the soul separates from the body.  The Resurrection is about the soul reuniting with the body for eternity- in Heaven or Hell, at Judgment Day.

That is the basis of Christian belief in the Resurrection (yes, some Christians believe in ‘soul sleep’ but that is for another discussion).  The “Resurrection of the Body” is not about an animated corpse because the soul has now been placed into yet another body and another and another.  There is ONE soul for ONE body.  That’s it.  Period.

So what about Caputo’s “gift”?  Is she making it all up?  Is it a hoax?  Why is it wrong to hear what a psychic has to say if it makes you feel better?

It’s the devil’s path.  The spirit world exists; there is no doubt about it.  Christians know there is life after death- heaven or hell, are our final destinations, its one or the other for eternity (Matt. 25:46).  We know there are angels and demons.  We know there are people in Purgatory.  Some people can see them – numerous Saints have seen them and wrote about them – they are often called ‘ghosts’. 

St. Bernard, in his life of St. Malachy shares this case…

     “This saint relates that one day he saw his sister, who had been dead for some time.  She was doing her purgatory in a cemetery.  On account of her vanity and the attention she had devoted to her hair and body, she had been sentenced to live in the very grave where she had been buried, and to witness the dissolution of her body.  The saint offered the Sacrifice of the Mass for her for thirty days; at the end of this period he saw his sister again.  This time she had been sentenced to complete her purgatory at the gate of the church, doubtless because of her irreverent demeanor in the holy place; perhaps she had distracted the faithful from the Sacred Mysteries in order to draw eyes and appreciation to herself.  She was exceedingly sad, wearing a mourning veil, and was in extreme anguish.  The saint offered the Sacrifice once more for thirty days, and she appeared to him for the last time in the sanctuary, with unruffled countenance, radiant in a white robe.  The Bishop knew by this sign that his sister had gained her deliverance.”  [Source:  “The End of the Present World”, written by Father Charles Arminjon.  Page 153]

Even Jesus Christ was mistaken for a ghost, not once but twice in scripture.

Matt. 14:26 “When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.”

Luke 24:39 “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

Here in Luke 24, Jesus clarifies that ghosts do not have bodies, they are spirit only.  He tells them He still has his body.  The body and soul are RESURRECTED together.  This is as it will be for all of us.  ONE body and ONE soul.

What psychics are doing is allowing (encouraging) their “spirit guides” (as Caputo and others call them) to show them things and let them hear things.  These “spirit guides” are demonic.  Guardian Angels from God would NOT direct people to believe in heresy, nor would they direct people to go against the Word of God in Scripture or against Church teaching.  The “angels” who do this are FALLEN angels- demons.  They WANT people to be deceived and to believe in the devils powers, this is how they win souls for hell.

The devil has power – for now.  And he uses it to deceive, trick and lead people away from God and the Truth of Christianity.  This is where Caputo is leading people astray.  She’s been deceived by the devil and her “spirit guide” to go AGAINST the Word of God.  She’s been deceived into believing she’s lived passed lives. 

The demons (AKA "spirit guides") are showing her these things and she’s fallen for their deception hook, line and sinker.  She actually thinks what the demons show her, are lives her soul has lived in the past- no such thing!  She’s been deceived and she is spreading that deception to others.  A quick look at her "Long Island Medium" Facebook page shows the horrid ripple effect of her deception spreading worldwide to ignorant people.  People pleading with her to please contact the dead for them.  It's retched.

I don’t doubt that Caputo and others like her actually believe what they are doing is ‘good’ and even helpful to people, but it’s not.  Her "well intentions" aren't really helping anyone, it's harming people.  It is jeopardizing the souls of thousands of people.  It is deceiving people from the Truth, into heresy and perhaps even into occult and demonic practices. How?  This stuff is addicting.  It’s like a drug. People go to one psychic then another, then another.  They begin to want to see what they can do, so they play with Tarot Cards or Spirit boards (Ouija board) and CALL “spirits” to them.  The spirits who answer are demonic.

The devil doesn’t show himself as gruesome with horns, hooves and forked tail – who would listen to or follow that?!  The devil appears as “an angel of light” according to the Bible.  This is how he tricks people.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

     
 ^13 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”

Now who does that sound like to you? 

In the book “An Exorcist Tells His Story”, Father Gabriele Amorth, an exorcist priest in the Catholic Church tells about the power of the devil and exorcism’s he performed to release people from the power of the devil.  On pages 40 and 41, Father Amorth shares a story of a witness who calls himself “Erasmus of Bari” (as published in the magazine “Rinnovamento dello Spirito” in September 1987).  Erasmus of Bari tells how he was given gifts that he at first thought were from God- amazing gifts.  

The gift of [page 40 – direct quote] “clairvoyance, mind reading, medical diagnosing, reading of hearts and lives of people both living and dead, and other powers.  A few months later I received another faculty; the ability to take away pain merely by the imposition of hands.  I could eliminate or alleviate any sort of suffering…”  

He goes on to say that he knew it was off because it wasn’t from God.  He wasn’t living a changed life for God.  He was “quick to anger, slow in pardoning, easily resentful, and given to take offense at nothing.”  Realizing he wasn’t being gifted by God with abilities, he knew the only other source was the devil himself.  His “gifts” were not divine from God to do ‘good’ but rather diabolical and from Satan!  He'd been deceived!  As soon as he was prayed over and asked God for help the “gifts” disappeared.

Now how many people would think the devil would “do good” by giving gifts to take away people’s suffering?  This is the deception!  This is what the Bible means when it says the devil APPEARS as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).  It’s a deception and people need to be ALERT all the time.

Caputo probably honestly believes she is doing good (see her Facebook page) and that God gave her this “gift” – she is wrong just as “Erasmus of Bari” was wrong.

Don’t be deceived by psychics who themselves are deceived.  Some psychics are in it for the money (Miss Cleo), some for the fame (Sylvia Browne) and others like Caputo who seem to believe they are helping people, but what they are all doing is spreading deception and doing the devil's work.

Don’t be led down the devils path by anyone.  Trust in God.  Don’t go looking for answers from anywhere else.  God loves you, all of you, even the psychics and He wants you to reject the temptations of the devil and put all our trust in Him.  You don’t need to contact anyone dead.  You’re alive, live that life for God so that one day you will be resurrected, body and soul together for eternity in heaven.

Pray for Theresa Caputo, others like her and all who've fallen for the devil's trap.  Most of these people are GOOD people who have been deceived, don't hate on them, just love them, pray for them and TEACH them the Truth before it's too late.  And please, please, please DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS WATCH THIS STUFF!


God bless.

Julie

Catholic Catechism: #2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the 305 future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

Catholic Catechism: #2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future.[48] Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

Catholic Catechism: #2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.

Catholic Catechism: #1013    Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When “the single course of our earthly life” is completed,⁵⁸⁶ we shall not return to other earthly lives: “It is appointed for men to die once.”⁵⁸⁷ There is no “reincarnation” after death.

***Theresa Caputo photo found on Google Images from: http://www.theresacaputo.com/about-me/

EWTN Press Release: Honoring Our Military

EWTN: Honoring Our Military

Sisters With A Record Topping Music CD, Catholic Summer Reading Picks, The Saint Who Sheltered Persecuted Priests & More

Irondale, AL – Music like “nun” other! Host Fr. Mitch Pacwa chats with Guests Kevin and Monica Fitzgibbons, who are presenting the latest CD “Angels and Saints at Ephesus,” from the chart topping Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles.  Keep your eyes (and  ears) open for  “EWTN Live!” Airs 8 p.m. ET, Wednesday, May 22. If you like what you hear, you can purchase the Sisters’ CD from EWTN Religious Catalogue here: http://bit.ly/14OltwS.

 

Be sure to salute our guest, Fr. Brian Kane! Fr. Kane joins “Life on the Rock” Co-hosts Fr. Mark and Doug Barry to talk about his vocation as a U.S. Military Chaplain.   Don’t miss “Life on the Rock” LIVE at 10 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 23—only on EWTN! Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder

 

The story of a courageous mother turned martyr! Former Protestant Margaret Clitherow harbored Catholic priests in her home in England during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I—on offense that was punishable by death at the time!  Watch as  this convert’s courage in the face of persecution comes to light when “St. Margaret Clitherow” airs at 2 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 23—only on EWTN! Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder

 

In need of some summer reading ideas? Get fired up for “EWTN Bookmark” Host Doug Keck’s interview with Publisher Claire Cannon as she discusses the latest additions to her book company, “Portico Books.” Hear about the latest Catholic Books before they’re hot off the presses on  “EWTN Bookmark!” Airs 9 a.m. ET, Sunday, May 26—only on EWTN! Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder

 

Can our canines teach us about Fur-giveness? Fr. James Mallon  thinks so! He and his furry friend Monsi have dug up a new inspiring lesson on accepting God’s mercy when we’ve “been in the doghouse!” You won’t want to miss a lick of “Dogmatic Theology” when it airs at 10 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 26—exclusively on EWTN! Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder

 

In times of war, they bring hope: Follow in the footsteps of these soldiers of Christ as they devote their lives to administering the Sacraments to soldiers serving their country. Find out how these military chaplains remind us that we’re “Never Far From Home,” even overseas. Airs 6:30 p.m. ET, Monday, May 27—only on EWTN! Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder

 

He served God and his country: Discover the inspiring Faith of Fr. Al Schmitt, the first Catholic Chaplain casualty in World War II. Watch this documentary and see how Fr. Schmitt lived and died “For God and Country;” Airs 6:30 ET, Tuesday, May 28—only on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder

 

Pray for our Troops! Archbishop Timothy P. Brogilo of the Archdiocese of the Military Services celebrates Memorial Day Mass in honor of the men and women who are now or have been in the armed forces. Join in celebrating their courage at 12 p.m. ET, Monday, May 27—only on EWTN! Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder

 

EWTN Press Release: "Joan of Arc: Maid for God"

Don’t Miss This EWTN Exclusive:
‘Joan of Arc: Maid for God’

Irondale, AL – Recent movies have depicted St. Joan of Arc as her enemies once branded her – as a heretic and a witch. But in a new EWTN Original Docudrama, “Joan of Arc: Maid for God,” EWTN Producer Daniel Rabourdin says St. Joan is a woman for our times. (In the U.S., ‘Joan of Arc’ airs 6 a.m. ET and 6 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 30, her feast day in the Catholic Church.)

“The life of Joan is such a lesson in the social teachings of the Church,” says Rabourdin, who also wrote and directed the piece, which was filmed on location in France. “As the patron saint of militants and people ridiculed for their faith, she is a saint for these times of Catholics being active politically. It’s not unchristian to be firm and to stand up – until martyrdom.” (See the trailer here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nXF_LKqOFo.)

 

Many people know that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, but they probably don’t know why. “We love her, but we know almost nothing about her,” said Rabourdin, who spent four years bringing this piece to life.

Joan of Arc fought for a free France against the English, who were invading her country. It was the English King at the time who called Joan a witch and a heretic. Why?

“To be a King at that time was a Christian happening,” Rabourdin explains. “Since Joan was the major actor in the making of the French King, if he could brand her as a heretic and a witch, then he could say that the French King could not be legitimate.”

 

But wasn’t Joan burned at the stake by a bishop of the Catholic Church? “Yes,” says Rabourdin. “He had been nominated a year earlier as bishop by the occupying force – the English, who were taking over France at the time, and was promised a promotion. He would not even allow Joan to appeal her case to the Pope. Joan was only 17-years-old at the time, but she refused to deny the Divine origin of her mission even though the Bishop repeatedly told her, ‘Do you know you could be burned at the stake?’”

Many young people in America and the world are taking Joan of Arc as their model. Rabourdin’s job was made easier when professional actors in that country, out of love for this saint, volunteered to be in the film. He also mentions that he was inspired by the fact that more than 1 million of the French people recently took to the streets to protest the legalization of gay marriage. “They are the same as pro-lifers here,” Rabourdin said, “and Joan is a perfect role model for them.”

“Joan of Arc: Maid for God” will be aired worldwide as well as online,  (http://www.ewtn.com/multimedia/live.asp), at the following times: U.K./Ireland will air at 17:00 Wednesday, May 29 and 11:00, Thursday, May 30; Continental Europe will air at 18:00, Wednesday, May 29, and 12:00, Thursday, May 30; Asia Pacific will air 12:00 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday, May 30 (Sydney Time), and 10 p.m., Wednesday, May 29, and 12:00 a.m., Thursday, May 30 (Manila Time); Africa/South Asia will air 2:30, Wednesday, May 29 and 14:00, Thursday, May 30 (IST Time) and 21:00, Wednesday, May 29 and 8:30, Thursday, May 30 (GMT Time).

 

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 32^nd year, is available in over 225 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website www.ewtn.com, electronic and print news services, and publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.

EWTN Press Release

EWTN: Senator Discusses the Kermit Gosnell Trial; A Father Whose Child Was Born With A Serious Birth Defect; Hope for Sri Lanka; Remembering the Messages of Fatima -- and More!

Irondale, AL – Louisiana Sen. David Vitter visits “The World Over” with Host Raymond Arroyo to discuss controversies surrounding the Kermit Gosnell trial and access to the Plan-B abortifacient by minors, immigration reform and gun-control, and his important bill on water development. Airs 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 16 – exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

What would you do if you discovered your child was born with a serious birth defect? Author and Father Chad Justice talks to Host Raymond Arroyo about his new book, “Waiting for Eli: A Father’s Journey from Fear to Faith.” His is an inspiring story of faith, hope and the power of prayer! Airs 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 16 – exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

 

Do you remember the messages of Fatima? Are you heeding Our Lady’s warnings? Are you helping others to do the same? Remind yourself of the spiritual significance of what some call the most important Marian apparition of our time. “Fatima: our Hope” is a one-hour documentary filmed in Portugal. Airs 5 a.m. ET, Saturday, May 18 – exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

 

Sri Lanka has become known for its serious human rights abuses and war crimes. But there is a ray of light. Follow a Catholic missionary team as they visit, for the first time, those areas most punishesd by the 1985 civil war, and efforts of the local Church to rebuild not only structures, but lives. Watch “Sri Lanka” at 3 a.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, May 21 on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

They’ve appeared on “Oprah Winfrey” and “The Great American Bible Challenge.” This is obviously not your ordinary order of Dominican sisters! Find out what they’re all about in “Greatest Love Story.” Airs 3 a.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. ET, Thursday, May 23 on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

 

Celebrate Pentecost with Pope Francis in Vatican City! Solemn Mass of Pentecost airs live at 4 a.m. ET, Sunday, May 19, with an encore at 11 a.m. ET on EWTN. Mass will be followed by the Regina Caeli. Find EWTN as www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

 

France was once as much a center of Catholicism as Rome. Explore the stories of some of France’s greatest saints, including St. Therese, St. Joan of Arc, and St. Dionysius when EWTN airs Part 3 of “Eldest Daughter of the Church.” This 90-minute episode airs 2 a.m. ET, Sunday, May 19, and 5 p.m. ET, Saturday, May 27 -- exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

 

See the Ascension through the eyes of a  fictitious soldier! “The Acension” airs 10 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 19 and 5 a.m. ET, Thursday, May 23 – exclusively on EWTN. Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.

 

Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three children in Portugal in 1917. She came there to warn us of the harm we would inflict upon ourselves as a result of our sins: wars, famines, plagues, persecution of the Church and the loss of many souls in Hell. God, in His great mercy, wished to save us from these miseries through the Immaculate Heart of His Mother. Our Heavenly Mother revealed at Fatima a plan of hope for this world which continues to plunge headlong toward its own destruction. Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/O/ourladyoffatima.asp#ixzz2THKFOwZ0

EWTN is on now on Pinterest! Follow us at www.pinterest.com/ewtnnetworks!

EWTN is hosting a Family Celebration in Birmingham and you are invited! Hear talks by EWTN Hosts like Marcus Grodi, Bob and Penny Lord, and  Fr .Mitch Pacwa; be part of a special “Women of Grace” Live Show with Johnnette Benkovic,; get the scoop at a special Religious Liberty All-Star Roundtable Discussion with Birmingham Bishop Robert Baker, EWTN President & CEO Michael P. Warsaw, and more! You’ll also have the opportunity to go to Mass and Confession, and spend time in Adoration – and there’s plenty for the kids to do as well. Save the dates – Aug. 17 and 18. Get the details – www.ewtn.com/familycelebration.