On April 15, just hours before they pope landed in Washington, we issued a news release addressing dissident Catholic groups. We pointed out that these groups are Catholic in name only and that when they speak it only represents the smallest minority of Catholics.
Here is how they were planning to welcome the Holy Father:
· The National Coalition of American Nuns, a pro-abortion group, said the pope was not welcome in the United States.
· The Women’s Ordination Conference played a game of make-believe by having women dress up like priests to say Mass.
· Dignity, a group that once appointed gay rapist Paul Shanley its chaplain, staged a protest of Benedict XVI’s visit.
· New Ways Ministry, a pro-sodomy group, held a press conference on gay sex that no one attended.
· Catholics for a Free Choice, an anti-Catholic front group, hawked condoms: they’d like no one left home without one.
· The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a gang of professional victims greased by lawyers who have exploited the Church, wanted the United Nations to investigate the Vatican.
· Voice of the Faithful, which flirts with bankruptcy, lectured the pope about Church finances.
· Rainbow Sash, a gay happy group, said it would throw ashes at the pope rather than confetti.
Before he landed in the U.S., Pope Benedict XVI said he was “deeply ashamed” of predatory priests, and added that pedophiles would be rooted out of the Church. Although the pope addressed this issue head-on, SNAP held a press conference in Washington and criticized the pope for not doing enough. SNAP has been aided and abetted by angry Catholics and ex-Catholics for years that will never be satisfied until their voice is the only one heard in the Church. SNAP refused to recognize the incredible progress that has been made— in 2007, exactly five priests out of more than 40,000 had accusations made against them for abusing a minor—yet that was not enough for SNAP.
We issued a news release on April 16, which called SNAP exactly what they are: a group of malcontents that derive their funding from steeple-chasing lawyers who have fleeced the “deep pocket” Catholic Church. Their goal is to vilify and discredit the Church.
Our news releases announced that these groups are dying out fast. Most of these groups are staffed by senior citizens who are angry that Catholicism isn’t far enough to the left. We noted that these dissident Catholics would be joined by the hardcore enemies of the Church, notably American Atheists and the Westboro Baptist Church. American Atheists protested the pope’s visit by calling it the “Vatican/Ratzinger agenda,” while Westboro Baptist protested by calling the Church the “Great Whore.
There once was a time when these groups were taken seriously. Thankfully those days are gone with the wind. We know that most Catholics are on our side and not with these unhappy campers.
