Pope Francis Reportedly Set To Ask Bishop Strickland To Resign

Bishop Joseph Strickland

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis met with Vatican officials over the weekend to discuss asking Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, to resign, according to a report on Monday by The Pillar.

Pope Francis met on Saturday with Archbishop Robert Prevost, O.S.A., the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Pillar reported that several sources close to the dicastery told the website ahead of the meeting that the two prelates, both of whom Pope Francis named cardinals in July, would present the pope with the results of a recent apostolic visitation of the Diocese of Tyler in addition to “public actions” of Bishop Strickland following the visitation.

Pope Francis is expected to ask for Bishop Strickland’s resignation, according to one senior official close to the Dicastery for Bishops.

“The situation of Bishop Strickland is the agenda,” the official told The Pillar, “and the expectation is that the Holy Father will be requesting his resignation – that will certainly be the recommendation put to him.”

“The official predicted that the Pope was unlikely to decide to depose Strickland as bishop of his diocese, a canonically rare act, but told The Pillar that Pope Francis would be advised to encourage the bishop to resign,” the outlet reported.

“The consensus in the dicastery is that he will be asked to consider resigning,” the official said. “That has been the substance of discussion among the members.”

“Depending on how the bishop responds, the strength of that encouragement could be increased,” the official added.

The Pillar previously reported that sources familiar with Strickland’s visitation said that diocesan officials and clergy interviewed as part of the investigation were asked about him potentially resigning and possible successors. 

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Prevost is one of three American prelates who are members of the Dicastery for Bishops, along with Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, both notorious liberals.

The potential move by Francis comes against one of the most forthright and vocal bishops in the United States, who has drawn considerable support both from within and without his diocese for his promotion of traditional Catholic teaching.

Strickland and his diocese have been the subject of much scrutiny among the Catholic media ever since it was revealed that he was subject to an apostolic visitation in June 2023. His visitation was conducted by two retired bishops: Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey, and former Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona.

READ: Who is this bishop investigating Bishop Strickland on behalf of Pope Francis?

Kicanas was widely noted by Catholics concerned about the visitation due to his troublesome record on abortion and homosexuality. He defended Catholic Relief Services’s funding of pro-abortion groups in 2012 and, among other things, was endorsed by a homosexual group in the likelihood of his becoming president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, as LifeSite’s John-Henry Westen has reported.

No public announcement regarding the outcome of Strickland’s visitation had been issued to the public prior to The Pillar’s report. 

Last year, Pope Francis removed Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres, another outspoken advocate of Catholic teaching, from the Diocese of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, without explanation, reportedly due to his support for conscience objections to COVID jab mandates.

The pope, however, has not disciplined numerous bishops who have publicly contradicted Catholic doctrine on homosexual activity, gender, same-sex “blessings,” the ordination of women, and the reception of the Eucharist.

In March, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J., of Luxembourg a member of the Council of Cardinals after Hollerich said that he believes Church teaching on sodomy is “false.” Francis has also named Hollerich the relator general of his Synod on Synodality.

More recently, the pope appointed Argentine Cardinal-designate Victor Manuel Fernández the prefect of the Dicastery (formerly Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith, despite Fernández’ heterodoxy on various subjects.

READ: Pope Francis picks notorious pro-LGBT clerics to participate in October Synod on Synodality

Speaking on a July episode of The Bishop Strickland Hour, Strickland compared his apostolic visitation with “being called to the principal’s office.” But he suggested that it is a result of his vocal witness to Catholic doctrine:

No, it’s not something that I would volunteer for, to go through an apostolic visitation. Because it kind of puts a shadow over the diocese, [and] a lot of people are convinced that there’s something really wrong. But I think that I went through this because I’ve been bold enough and love the Lord enough and His Church to simply keep preaching the truth.

Bishop Strickland, 64, is well known among LifeSite readers for his unequivocal defense of Catholic teaching, teaching that is often cast in confusion by papal statements or messages.

Strickland’s more public positions on moral and doctrinal issues include urging Francis to deny Holy Communion to former U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over her support of legal abortion, accusing the pope of a “program of undermining the Deposit of Faith,” and condemning the prominent pro-LGBT “blasphemy” of Father James Martin, S.J. 

He has also been notably forthright on moral controversies in U.S. politics and culture, including the Biden administration’s spying on Catholics and public displays by self-described “Satanic” groups. This summer, he spoke at a protest against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ hosting an anti-Catholic drag queen troupe called the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” who style themselves as grotesque nuns. 

But the apostolic visitation is believed to have been particularly prompted by a May 13 X/Twitter post in which he explicitly stated: “I reject his [Pope Francis’] program of undermining the Deposit of Faith.” 

Strickland’s statement came about due to doubling down on his prior rejection of a view held by Catholic podcaster Patrick Coffin – namely that Pope Francis is not the real pope. The bishop wrote: 

Please allow me to clarify regarding, ‘Patrick Coffin has challenged the authenticity of the Pope Francis.’ If this is accurate I disagree, I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.

Strickland’s original message had been to support the Magis Center, which had issued a public statement distancing itself from Coffin due to his views regarding the vacancy of the papal throne.

Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., president of the Center, had given an interview with Coffin before learning of Coffin’s position. Spitzer subsequently withdrew his connection from Coffin publicly. Bishop Strickland supported this action, saying that “I join Fr Spitzer and fully endorse his stance regarding any statements from Patrick Coffin regarding Pope Francis.”  

READ: Bishop Strickland: Catholics are not ‘schismatic’ for rejecting changes that contradict Church teaching

Shortly after, the Tyler-based prelate then issued a message warning about “conflicting voices” and urging instead that Catholics “always turn to Jesus.”

While speaking on his eponymous show in July, Strickland declared himself undeterred by any attempts to censor his proclamation of the truths of the Catholic faith, saying it is a “joy” to continue to “share the Good News of Jesus Christ.”  

“I know they won’t stop you and they won’t stop me. And we do it with love, and charity and clarity, and with humility, always ready to be corrected. But when we’re speaking of the truth of Jesus Christ, there is no correction. The world can try and shout us down, but it won’t work.” 

This story is developing….

We remember

 

Virginia mom sues district, lawyer

Virginia mother Michelle Blair is suing her local school district and a public defender for pushing her daughter into transgenderism, prostitution, and sex trafficking. Blair alleges that school district employees secretly “transitioned” her daughter, who was later placed by the public defender in an all-male juvenile facility, where the girl was sexually assaulted and then kidnapped, raped, and sex-trafficked after she ran away from the facility.  READ

California lawmakers pass ‘trans’ bill against parents

The California State Assembly passed a bill Friday that would require judges in child custody cases to consider whether a parent has affirmed a child’s “gender transition” by making “gender affirmation” an equal part of a child’s “health, safety, and welfare” under state law. Democratic lawmakers passed the bill by a vote of 57-16 along party lines. READ

Getting The Troops Ready For Battle

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – Any of you who have listened to my radio program on the Iowa Catholic Radio Network know that we always sign off with the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. We do that because we know the nature of our program, Faith On Trial, exposes listeners to the battle that is waging between the forces of Our Lord and those of, as C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape would say, Our Father Below.

I’ve mentioned this in a column before, but I think it is notable enough to repeat: The Prayer to St. Michael was an outgrowth of an interior locution that Pope Leo XIII had on the morning of October 13, 1884, which, incidentally, was 33 years to the date before the great Miracle of the Sun during Our Lady’s final appearance at Fatima.

As the story goes, the Pope had just concluded his daily Mass when he suffered what appeared to be a collapse and his aides feared for his life. He shortly awoke and told the most amazing story about hearing a conversation between God and Satan. According to reports, the conversation went something like this:

Satan: “I can destroy your Church.”

God: “Then go ahead and do so.”

Satan: “To do so, I need more time and more power.”

God: “How much time? How much power?”

Satan: “75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service.”

God: “You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will.”

And, as the story goes, the Pope was so shaken by this episode he composed the Prayer to St. Michael and later ordered it recited after every Low Mass throughout the world. That continued until shortly after Vatican II.

Of course, devotion to St. Michael did not start with Leo XIII. Devotion to the angels went as far back as Genesis. In Exodus, God tells Moses, “Behold I will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared” (23:20). In Daniel, Michael is identified as a “major prince” among the angels and he fights on Israel’s behalf as its protector, and in the Book of Revelation he is described as doing battle against the enemies of God.

Thus, by Leo’s time it would not be surprising that he would immediately turn to the one who does battle for the Lord as “prince of the heavenly hosts” to do battle against Satan’s plan to destroy the Church. So, he composed the short prayer to the prince of angels:

“St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who roam about the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”

And Pope St. John Paul the Great, said of the prayer: “The prayer can fortify us for that spiritual battle about which the Letter to the Ephesians speaks: Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from His mighty power (6:10)….Even if today this prayer is no longer recited at the end of the Eucharistic Celebration, I invite all to not forget it, but to recite it in order to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and the spirit of this world.”

Now consider what is happening currently: “Our great nation is ruled today by an anti-Catholic elitist class who not only tolerate anti-Christi bigotry, like we saw on display at Dodger Stadium this year but they also encourage and celebrate it,” said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, “That bigotry has given thugs silent permission to carry out actual violence against Catholic churches and symbols,” he added.

To counteract this, CatholicVote is conducting its Second Annual St. Michael Novena to combat the works of the Devil. And the attacks by the Devil are too numerous to mention, but CatholicVote notes just a few: “The United States has seen a dramatic increase in attacks against Catholic churches, especially since the controversial leak of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. To date, there have been over 350 attacks on Catholic properties since May 2020,” CatholicVote said in announcing the novena.

“Most disturbing is the fact that while violence against pregnancy care centers has slowed, attacks on Catholic churches and sacramentals have only increased in frequency,” said CatholicVote Field Director Tommy Valentine.

In a press release announcing the novena CatholicVote said, “Catholics have always gone to St. Michael, the prince of the archangels, to help them in battle.

“We know that the anger and violence we see against our faith comes from the prevailing influence of the lies of the evil one. Abortion and the blasphemies of hate groups like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence open human beings up to the influence of the fallen angels, so we’re asking the prince of angels to fight for us.”

The novena will begin on September 20 and end on the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel, September 29. The intent of the novena is to draw Catholics from across the country together to pray for an end to the violence. “We know that the anger and violence we see against our faith comes from the prevailing influence of the lies of the evil one. Abortion and the blasphemies of hate groups like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence open human beings up to the influence of the fallen angels, so we’re asking the prince of angels to fight for us,” CatholicVote said.

“Each day of the novena promotes a special intention, and there will be days dedicated to specific parishes that have suffered vandalism, to Catholics who work in the trenches to support women and families, and to leaders in politics and in the Church,” said CatholicVote in its announcement.

“Everything we do must begin with prayer. This is the entire message of the Gospel: the battle belongs to the Lord. The battle for America’s soul is no different,” said Burch.

This week when we tape our program, we will have as our guest Erika Ahern, associate editor and co-host of CatholicVote’s LOOPcast. That program will air before this is printed, but if you are interested you can follow the link below to Episode 379 and listen to the podcast.

Remember, join us September 20 to 29. We’ve all been enlisted in this fight so let’s make the most of it.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)

Leaked Biden Admin Memo Shows VA Promoting Abortion as Birth Control to Veterans

A leaked internal memo obtained by CatholicVote from the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has exposed the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) for promoting extensive abortion propaganda to veterans and staff.

In addition to the memo, CatholicVote acquired a staff training video describing abortions as “opportunities for growth” and instructing employees that both men and women can become pregnant.

Read more: https://www.lifenews.com/2023/09/08/leaked-biden-admin-memo-shows-va-promoting-abortion-as-birth-control-to-veterans/

This week on Faith On Trial: Novena to St. Michael for religious freedom; Child mutilation by gender affirming care

This week on Faith On Trial, Iowa Catholic Radio Network

Listen now: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/  Episode 379

Canadian “Mass Grave” Story A Hoax?

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League President    

In 2014, I wrote a monograph, Ireland’s “Mass Grave” Hysteria, on claims that 800 bodies of children were found in a mass grave outside a former home run by nuns in Tuam, near Galway. It was all a hoax, just as I had suspected. There was no mass grave. The result: It made the anti-Catholic activists and journalists look like fools. 

Two years ago, the Canadian government claimed that Indian children were buried in “mass graves” at residential schools established by the government and run, in part, by the Catholic Church. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sounded the alarms and ordered the nation’s flags to be flown at half mast; he pledged to spend $40 billion to settle with those associated with the alleged victims. 

Looks like Trudeau, and all the critics of the Catholic Church, were fooled. It is becoming increasingly apparent that this story is also a hoax. After 14 sites were excavated recently, not one mass grave has been found. Indeed, the body count is zero. 

This story began in 2021 after claims about unmarked graves emerged. Immediately, pundits and activists speculated that the Catholic Church (which did not run the majority of the schools) was to blame for the deaths of thousands of indigenous children. Murray Sinclair, who was chosen to chair the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, opined that the number of corpses was in the range of 15,000-25,000. Now the attorney and member of the Peguis First Nation can’t find even one. 

When the Report was issued last year, it did not make claims about mass graves. Instead, it focused on the “cultural genocide” that the indigenous children experienced. After reading the report, on August 2, 2022, I titled my assessment, “The Genocide That Wasn’t.” 

No sooner had the charge of “cultural genocide” been bandied about when it was shortened by Catholic critics to “genocide.” On p. 6 of the Report, it noted that “Despite the coercive measures that the government adopted, it failed to achieve its policy goals. Although Aboriginal peoples and cultures have been damaged, they continue to exist.” So much for the “cultural genocide” thesis—never mind the more serious charge of genocide. 

Was there no violence at these residential schools? 

In the 535-page Report, there were exactly two testimonials about killing. One was made by an indigenous woman who said she witnessed her older brother kill one of her other brothers when she was nine. The other was in reference to a killing that took place between 1980 and 2012. The residential schools were closed in 1969. 

If the residential schools were guilty of genocide, surely the Report would have found instances of torture, if not whipping. I looked in vain to find such incidents. Oh, yes, there was one instance of whipping: it was committed by a government teacher in 1895. 

Were the Catholic-run schools free of wrongdoing? Pretty much. 

On p. 68 of the Report it says the missionaries opposed integrating the indigenous children into the public schools, but not for nefarious reasons. They did so because “1) teachers in public schools were not prepared to deal with Aboriginal students; 2) students in the public schools often expressed racist attitudes towards Aboriginal students; and 3) Aboriginal students felt acute embarrassment over their impoverished conditions, particularly in terms of the quality of the clothing they wore and the food they ate.” 

None of this was highlighted by the media, nor by Trudeau’s government. 

Mass graves. Genocide. We saw those words thrown about with alacrity in Ireland a decade ago, and more recently in Canada. These false charges have stoked anti-Catholic sentiment in Ireland and have led to the burning of scores of Catholic churches in Canada. The consequences of bigotry can be severe, especially when promoted by the secular-minded members of the ruling class.

CatholicVote Launches 2nd Annual St. Michael Novena

CatholicVote is launching its 2nd annual nationwide St. Michael Novena to protect Catholics in America.

“Our great nation is ruled today by an an anti-Catholic elitist class who not only tolerate anti-Christi bigotry, like we saw on display at Dodger Stadium this year,” noted CatholicVote President Brian Burch, “but they also encourage and celebrate it.”

“That bigotry has given thugs silent permission to carry out actual violence against Catholic churches and symbols,” he added.

The United States has seen a dramatic increase in attacks against Catholic churches, especially since the controversial leak of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. To date, there have been over 350 attacks on Catholic properties since May 2020. 

“Most disturbing is the fact that while violence against pregnancy care centers has slowed, attacks on Catholic churches and sacramentals have only increased in frequency,” reported CatholicVote Field Director Tommy Valentine.

The novena will begin on September 20 and end on the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel. The novena intends to draw Catholics from across the country together to pray for an end to the violence. 

“Catholics have always gone to St. Michael, the prince of the archangels, to help them in battle,” commented Joshua Mercer, editor of the LOOP:

We know that the anger and violence we see against our faith comes from the prevailing influence of the lies of the evil one. Abortion and the blasphemies of hate groups like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence open human beings up to the influence of the fallen angels, so we’re asking the prince of angels to fight for us.

Each day of the novena promotes a special intention, and there will be days dedicated to specific parishes that have suffered vandalism, to Catholics who work in the trenches to support women and families, and to leaders in politics and in the Church.

Catholics can sign up to receive special access to the entire set of prayers. They will also get a daily email throughout the novena to remind them to pray. 

>> JOIN CATHOLICVOTE IN PRAYER TODAY! <<

EXCLUSIVE: Women Speak Out Against YMCA ‘Transgender’ Bathroom Policies – The Daily Signal

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: Small-town YMCAs in suburban Ohio have launched themselves headfirst into the transgender debate by allowing men who “identify” as women to access women’s locker rooms. And women who have belonged to these supposedly family-friendly YMCAs for years are discovering, to their shock, that management considers their safety and privacy inferior to the feelings of men.

Local media broke the news earlier this year that an obese man who allegedly identifies as a woman would not be guilty of indecent exposure since, when he was naked in the women’s locker room, his stomach fat supposedly concealed his genitalia.

Now, for the first time, some of the women whose privacy he invaded are speaking out in interviews with The Daily Signal.

One Ohio mother, who asks not to be identified to protect the privacy of her two daughters, says that she saw the man, who goes by the name Rachel Glines, fully naked and “leering” when she and her daughters were showering and changing in November 2022.

Another local woman, Janell Holloway, shares that she was shocked and startled to find a naked man in her locker room when she went to change in September 2022. She says she unsuccessfully sought help and comfort from the Xenia, Ohio, YMCA’s leadership, only to find that this man had been given permission to use the women’s facilities.

Kateisha Young, an employee of the neighboring Fairborn YMCA, shares with The Daily Signal that this same man, also known as Darren Glines, allegedly assaulted her by groping her genitals in December 2022 as she sought to offer emotional support for his struggles living as a transgender-identifying woman.

And Kyle Kettering, a minister at the Church of the Messiah in Xenia, Ohio, shares with The Daily Signal that his 10-year-old and 5-year-old daughters had seen the allegedly naked Glines from the back while they were in the locker room in September 2022, though it appeared that he was covering his genitals with a towel.

“I was sending my girls in by themselves!” the father said in a phone interview. “That was pretty naive on my part, I guess.”

The Daily Signal learned of these stories through the Independent Women’s Forum. The organization’s storytelling coordinator, Andrea Mew, slams the YMCA’s actions as “disappointing” but “unsurprising” in a statement to The Daily Signal, saying that “the YMCA has once again let down its female members, ultimately stripping them of any commonsense protections.”

“Just like when 16-year-old Abbigail Wheeler spoke out about a biological male in her Illinois YMCA locker room, these women’s dignity and their right to privacy is once again on the chopping block,” she adds. “Thankfully, Janell Holloway came to Independent Women’s Forum with her story because we are determined to prevent woke ideology from silencing and canceling women’s voices.”

Glines has not responded to requests for comment from The Daily Signal. Neither the Fairborn nor the Xenia YMCA has responded to requests for comment.

Dale Brunner, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Dayton, refused to address The Daily Signal’s specific questions about protecting women’s spaces and privacy.

Study: Children regularly mutilated in ‘trans’ industry

“Transgender advocates repeatedly claim that minors only take ‘puberty-blocking’ drugs or cross-sex hormones, but never undergo surgeries in an attempt to force their male or female bodies to resemble the opposite sex,” writes Tyler O’Neil. But “a new study estimates that more than 3,000 minors underwent transgender surgeries in a five-year period, and more than 400 of them had their genitals removed.”  READ

Over 100 incidents of Chinese security probes

The FBI and Department of Defense have reportedly tracked more than 100 incidents of Chinese nationals posing as tourists to attempt to breach U.S. military bases and other federal sites. The growing trend represents a potential espionage threat, as authorities believe the Chinese government is compelling nationals to test out and report back on U.S. security practices.  READ

Parents Beware: California Is Out To Marginalize You!

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – By now most have heard about California’s lawsuit against a local school district that refuses to keep parents in the dark about the sexual proclivities of their children. Under state law school officials are prohibited from telling parents that their child might be living a “double life,” a boy at home and a girl in school.

It’s called transgenderism and it’s becoming very popular in some circles. It is where a child — yes, child is the correct word — has occasion to believe that he or she was born in the wrong body and is confused about which sex he or she is. And for some kids they claim they are neither, the term is gender nonconforming.

Now that used to cause a red flag to pop up saying, “This kid needs help.” Of course, that’s not the case now. This, according to experts in the field (oxymoron?), is a perfectly normal condition for which society should make allowances. It is not a disease or mental health, they say.

Of course, they are wrong. This is what happens when personal and political ideology rules rather than common sense, as we see far too often in these blue states.

This is a social contagion whose fires are being fanned by a collection of leftist activists, woke academics, anti-family Marxists, and an assortment of other wing-nuts from across the political spectrum whose voices are louder than their collective intelligence.

In the case at hand, California’s chief legal wing-nut, Rob Bonta — and a host of others in his employ having the same level of intelligence — has filed a lawsuit against the Chino Valley School District that had the courage to stand up against the state and declared that when it comes to their children, parents should know about such things.

You see, to the nimrods running the California schools, Chino Valley’s unwise defense of parents’ right to know is outweighed by the collective intelligence of those who celebrate gender as a spectrum.

“[The Chino policy] unlawfully discriminates against transgender and nonconforming students, subjecting them to disparate treatment, harassment, abuse, mental, emotional, and physical. This is by design: The Board’s plain motivations in adopting [the policy] were to create and harbor animosity, discrimination, and prejudice towards those transgender and gender nonconforming students, without any compelling reason to do so,” says the all-knowing and all-powerful banana republic of California.

According to W-N Bonta, “For far too many transgender children and gender nonconforming youth, school serves as their only safe haven — a place away from home where they can find validation, safety, privacy. We have to protect that.” Of course, that is woke speech for “parents can’t be trusted to do that job that is why the atheists running the state must step in.”

The suit alleges in one section that “transgender and gender nonconforming students in unsupportive environments experience high degrees of discrimination and harassment.” I would think that that would be true. But where are these “unsupportive environments” that the state must assume dot the landscape? According to the suit, the unwelcome places are homes in which these children reside with their parents.

“Gender identity is not a choice, and it is not a mental illness. It is an essential part of one’s identity and being, and cannot be voluntarily changed. Transgender students in unsupportive or unsafe environments suffer significant levels of discrimination, abuse, and harassment, both physical and mental, well above their non-transgender peers,” it says.

Of course, schools are the ideal place for such students. They are safe from prying parents. Perhaps the teachers’ union loves the kids more than the parents do. Think that answers it?

Then the state reports on a study from the state’s public schools which found that 40 percent of the transgender students reported bulling against only 7.3 percent of the non-transgender students that reported bulling.

Okay, but this is a sad fact: Kids will be kids and they can be mean to those they see as “different.” So, the answer is to treat them in such a manner that they find solace only with other transgender and transgender allied students? Who’s treating whom differently?

But it can’t be just other kids that are bullying these students. It’s not. According to the suit the bullies are (drum roll) the parents. And here is the evidence as presented to the court:

“In the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 10 percent of respondents said that an immediate family member had been violent toward them because they were transgender, and 15 percent ran away from home or were kicked out from their homes because they were transgender. Of those who transitioned in the year preceding the survey, eight percent reported violence from an immediate family member because they were transgender, seven percent ran away from home, and eight percent had been kicked out of their home.”

Okay, look at the percentages. Harassment at home: 10 percent; 8 percent. That means that 90 percent and 92 percent of the homes were not abusive just because their kids found some difficulty with their sexual identities. But the state sees a problem that can only be rectified by a complete ban on parental notification. Typical authoritative governmental overreach and assertion of power by one who knows best.

And think about this a little harder. Some children are reluctant to talk with parents about many sensitive (to them) matters; afraid of disapproval, punishment, loss of parental love. These are all things that children of all ages wonder about; now combine that with some teachers’ union representative who tells them you can’t trust your parents with this information.

One of the saner voices in this argument came from Republican State Rep. Bill Essayli: “There’s a lot of systems in place to deal with physical abuse of any minor, and I think it’s wrong for the state to presume that parents are a danger and therefore take a blanket policy where they’re going to withhold information from all parents under the auspice that some parents might be harmful to their kids.”

His bill to do just that was never given a hearing.

There is a disconnect here and it is one that the wing-nuts running the state are encouraging. If these self-aggrandizing nitwits really wanted to support children they would be doing all they could to strengthen the bonds and developing trust between parents and their children. Parental involvement in the lives of their children makes for better kids and better schools.

But that apparently doesn’t count in California. Remember this is the state that legalized abduction of children from other states who were unable to transition there to find appropriate state-approved guardians with nary a word to the parents who would be left wondering whatever happened to the pretty little girl who helped them with their farm chores.

Sorry, she ran off to California where she could become a boy.
Of course, we’re not winning this war. In just the past two weeks courts in Maryland and New Jersey, apparently populated with the same dimwitted nimrods as in California, sided against parents on this issue.

And keep this in mind: from its inception, Communists’ dogma has always promoted the disruption of the nuclear family. Just sayin’.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)

Beverly Hills Officials Harass Small Jewish Prayer Meetings

Beverly Hills, CA—First Liberty Institute and the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP today sent a letter to Beverly Hills, CA city officials urging them to withdraw their “Notice of Violation” against Rabbi Levi Illulian, which threatens the Rabbi with civil and criminal proceedings for hosting religious gatherings in his home to meet the religious needs of his family, neighbors, and friends.  

To read the letter, click here. 

“Rabbi Illulian has a constitutional right to engage in religious exercise at his home with family or friends, free from government burden and interference,” said Ryan Gardner, Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “Beverly Hills is a diverse city that should welcome this Rabbi and protect his freedom to live out his faith.  The city should stop its harassment of Rabbi Illulian immediately.” 

Elizabeth Kiernan of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher added, “It is chilling that Beverly Hills officials have resorted to surveilling a small group of Jewish residents who meet together for worship.  The law and constitution protect his right to host gatherings of family and friends to meet their spiritual needs.”  

Rabbi Illulian’s gatherings, which began as a means of supporting an aging, home-ridden Holocaust survivor, include Shabbat prayers and dinner, and religious holiday celebrations and are open only to those who are invited and not the general public.  During Shabbat, adherents traditionally join their family and friends to recite Jewish prayers and for meals prepared in accordance with the Jewish beliefs and must “make the Shabbat a delight,” and thus cannot work or drive.  Many of the individuals present at his Shabbat gatherings and holiday celebrations are blood relations, as his father and several of his uncles, siblings, nieces, and nephews live within walking distance.  City officials have been investigating Rabbi Illulian’s religious exercise since March using increasingly invasive means, including surveilling individuals and cars coming and going from the home and flying a drone over the home.  They issued a “Notice of Violation” prohibiting all religious activity at the home with non-residents in June. 

According to the letter, “The City’s Notice of Violation threatens Rabbi Illulian with civil and criminal proceedings for his ‘religious activity’ at his home with ‘non-residents,’” despite allowing social gatherings of similar size and character to occur in the same neighborhood unmolested.   When Rabbi Illulian’s neighbors can invite friends and family into their homes for a card game or dinner party but the City notices Rabbi Illulian for inviting his friends and family to pray or celebrate Shabbat, neither the First Amendment nor RLUIPA tolerates this kind of unequal treatment.”

18 states stand with Tennessee effort to protect kids

Eighteen states filed a brief petitioning a federal court to rule in favor of a Tennessee law protecting kids from being exposed to lewd “drag” performances. A federal judge blocked the law in June. The law banned performances depicting “nudity, sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence or sadomasochistic abuse” on public property.  READ