It's like they read from the same script, huh?

LANSING -- Two months into his new position, Bishop Earl Boyea is confident the 10-county Lansing Catholic Diocese, which includes Jackson, will emerge stronger, more vibrant and holier from a three-year period of self-examination.

The product of that study -- a report that is a composite of information and feedback gathered from parishes, schools and other entities -- reached Boyea's desk Tuesday.

Boyea has the power to make changes in the diocese based on the report, but in an interview Wednesday he said he wasn't ready to say what moves he will make. Some changes will be immediate, he said, others will take several years to implement.

At issue is whether any parishes or schools will close because of a shortage of priests and a shifting Catholic population in the diocese.

The commission that prepared the report has met monthly for 39 months.

"It would be foolish for me not to accept their judgment," he said. "I think they have done more than a thorough job. I couldn't believe when I read that 94 out of 97 parishes contributed to it."

Besides parish or school closures, consolidation options will be considered, he said.

The article goes on. Believe me, I know nothing about Lansing and I've never been there, but it sounds pretty darn fishy to me. Why? Because clearly there is just one playbook and the liberal bishops share it. The thing is, though, that even when you're plagiarizing somebody else's work, you should at least look for other words to use. You know, make it look creative and different and unique, not like you're just copying somebody else's work. These guys can't even find new words to use to attempt to dupe the general public.

For example,

"Blah blah blah more vibrant, blah blah blah more vital churches. And therefore blah blah blah listening session so we can hear the voice of the people. We of course want their feedback and participation (except when it isn't what we want to hear). Blah blah blah we know the laity, in their wisdom, will of course tell us to close (ahem "merge and consolodate") their churches and schools. And why will we do this? Blah blah blah priest shortage (insert fake numbers from rigged studies here, don't mention money) and blah blah blah population shifts demographics blah blah blah other big, four-syllable words and corporate-speak. But the blah blah process was a process and of course there was no preordained end result even though the other bishops are all doing the same things and saying the same things. And did we mention there's a priest shortage? (Of course, we have to make sure to get rid of as many good priests as possible to ensure a priest shortage, but keep it on the down-low so it doesn't look like we have an agenda or anything.) But keep in mind it's not because there's a priest shortage we're doing this because this article is coming out on a Wednesday and Wednesday is a "shifting demographics" day, not "priest shortage" day. (Tomorrow is chow mein day.) Blah blah blah young people. Blah blah blah lay participation blah blah blah VATICAN II !

The bishop up in Lansing says this. (He must've been paraphrasing either Joseph Galante [bishop], Roger McGrath [official string-puller], Marilyn vollmer ["the other bishop"], or Walton [diocesan spokesperson who must be very busy these days with spin].)

Boyea, 57, said "not everyone will be happy with changes but because this was such a great process, they will accept it."

Uh-huh, I suspect that's wishful thinking. I doubt a big love fest is what you'll be facing up there, Bishop Boyea. And of course, we must replace the priests with lay ministers:

Meanwhile, he said he sees many positives in the diocese, including the "excellent" lay minister preparation...

And finally he drops the V-Bomb:

...even if we had a hundred more priests, we would still need lay ministers," Boyea said. "They are part of the blessing of the post-Vatican II Council."

Nevermind almost two thousand years of Church teaching. What counts are the abuses of the last 40 or so done falsely and for self-serving purposes in the name of Vatican II. So predictable, isn't it?

In the end it's not about a lack of priests. God knows, there are plenty of them in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, but the liberal bishops won't allow these orthodox young priests into their diocese. That's because there's an agenda; a liberal agenda. The poor faithful in the Diocese of Lansing are about to have their churches ripped away from them and the bishop's liberal agenda foisted upon them. Yuck. I pray they fight for the Faith. It's the only thing a person can do when insidious plans begin to infultrate Holy Mother Church. Sometimes the battle to do what's right is not easy. In England only one bishop stood up to Henry VIII. Only one!* Take courage and stand up! Times aren't so tough as then, but God still requires acts of martyrdom on a daily basis, however small in comparison.

Whatever happens, we know they can never win because that is what God has promised us. He will preserve His Church until the end of time.
 
Click here to read the article.


* In case you're interested in St. John Fisher, I thought this was a very useful quote from the brave and saintly Bishop John Fisher:

Reply to Bishops Stokesley, Gardiner and Tunstal, sent to the Tower by Thomas Cromwell to persuade Fisher to submit to the king:

Methinks it had been rather our parts to stick together in repressing these violent and unlawful intrusions and injuries dayly offered to our common mother, the holy Church of Christ, than by any manner of persuasions to help or set forward the same.

And we ought rather to seek by all means the temporal destruction of the so ravenous wolves, that daily go about worrying and devouring everlastingly, the flock that Christ committed to our charge, and the flock that Himself died for, than to suffer them thus to range abroad.

But (alas) seeing we do it not, you see in what peril the Christian state now standeth: We are besieged on all sides, and can hardly escape the danger of our enemy. And seeing that judgment is begone at the house of God, what hope is there left (if we fall) that the rest shall stand!

The fort is betrayed even of them that should have defended it. And therefore seeing the matter is thus begun, and so faintly resisted on our parts, I fear that we be not the men that shall see the end of the misery.