Pax Christi, which is now being introduced to parishes throughout the Worcester Diocese, has long been a vessel for promoting dissent from Church teaching and New Age occultism. As explained by the Wanderer Forum Foundation:
"Pax Christi has been a conduit for New Age for some time, featuring its messengers and filtering its message via its publications and annual meetings. In 1983, the year Mary Lou Kownacki, O.S.B., wrote about the meditation expert Eknath Easwaran (see above) she edited for Pax Christi a Reflection Guide on the U. S. Bishops ' Pastoral, The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response. Still available and quoted frequently in Pax Christi pamphlets, it is related to this evaluation on two points: 1) it offers as a source for "reflection" a poem The Hundredth Monkey about nuclear disarmament with a notation: "(Vision books) - no copyright. Author wants everyone to read and distribute freely." It is written by Ken Keyes, Jr., without further identification. But who is he? - briefly, Keyes is the founder of Ken Keyes College, Coos Bay, Ore., that specializes in New Age workshops on the "Science of Happiness." His "Living Love Books," and they are numerous and best-sellers in New Age bookstores, are based on transformation and higher consciousness. And, 2) it recommends Global Education Associates for anyone "working for a new world order."
In 1985, Global Education Associates' co-founder Patricia Mische delivered the keynote address, "Disarming the Heart/Disarming the Nations" at the Pax Christi national assembly. She and her husband, Gerald, are GEA cofounders and also co-authors of the book, Toward a Human World Order, Beyond the National Security' Straitjacket, which advances the whys and wherefores for a new world order. The Misches are endorsers of the Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose and their GEA is listed as a participatory organization.
Their book, endorsed by New Agers Robert Muller and the late Rene Dubos along with several other Planetary Citizens including Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, discloses the strategic role "consciousness raising" plays in developing a receptiveness to interdependence in contradistinction to national sovereignty. And, it discloses the role of Religious orders, especially of women in "catalyzing a consciousness of world-order priorities." These women, from many different congregations, "constitute a national network of networks as members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious." The LCWR "recognizing the planetary dimensions of today's world . . . established a Justice and Peace Commission as a step toward raising the consciousness of the 130,000 women thev represent ' ' (emphasis added). The LCWR officials." the Misches continue, "are active in many international programs, including Vatican-based operations - a strategic position from which to influence also the thinking of other Church networks around the world" (pp. 307-308).
The influence Pax Christi exercises in this consciousness raising network should not be underestimated. Its 1990 Annual Report lists 359 Religious communities as corporate sponsors. (Additional references are found in our documentation, "Consciousness Raising and the Erosion of Religious Life," $2.50 single copies.) In 1986 Patricia Mische's name appeared on the slate of candidates Pax Christi was recommending for a position on its National Council.
An interview with the New Ager Robert Muller on "Peace in Our Day" was a feature in the December, 1985 issue of Pax Christi magazine. And the 1988 spring issue carried an interview with New Ager Elise Boulding on "Imagining a World at Peace." She is an endorser of both Planetary Citizens and Planetary Initiative, and that same year was one of the keynoters at the Pax Christi national assembly devoted to "New Genesis: World Without Violence." New Genesis is the title of Robert Muller's book (see above). And in 1989s summer issue. Pax Christi included an interview with Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., on centering prayer titled, "Transforming Daily Life." Fr. Keating, as documented above was the president of "Temple of Understanding," a New Age project, in 1984.
The guidelines he offers are of the same pattern as the Eastern meditation techniques suggested by Dolores Leckey and Mary Lou Kownacki: In a straight chair with your back erect and supported, gently close your eyes and use a simple prayer, hymn or musical selection "to center yourself," then "turn your attention to the God present within." Choose a sacred word and repeat it a few times. This, he writes, is a "receptive method of prayer" that "refreshes even if it seems to be trying, or painful or boring." That is a strange admission. And his "God present within" is centered on self rather than "the love of God" which the Vatican letter to all the bishops instructs is the "sole object of Christian contemplation" (31).
Pax Christi, during its 1989 assembly on "Food for the Journey, Spiritually for the Long Haul," for the first time publicly introduced New Age spirituality practices. This assembly held at Jesuit Seattle University opened with a blessing of the four corners of the earth given by an American Indian shaman and followed by a "Sanctification of Our Space" ritual-style dance. The next day's sessions began with a "Sacred Circle Dance" in which all participated. This was presented as an ancient dance learned at a Dance Camp in Scotland "dedicated to enabling new creative patterns of evolution in consciousness." (Complete documentation is available in our report, Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.) Sr. Kathleen Pruitt, C.S.J.P. (Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace), from the Seattle Archdiocese and then chairman of Pax Christ's National Council, was the principal coordinator of this assembly In 1990 she was elected vice-president of Pax Christi International, which in 1983 was listed among the original endorsers of Planetary Initiative.
For the full text of the Wanderer article, go here.
In this week's edition of The Catholic Free Press - page 7, Sue Malone and Charlotte Stanley (who serve as co-chairpersons of Pax Christi Central Mass), describe the dissenting organization - which has deep ties to Call To Action - as merely a "peace and justice" organization: "The nonviolent work of Pax Christi is done through a process of prayer, study and action at the personal, local, national and international levels with an emphasis on addressing the root causes of violence." Sounds innocuous enough. Until you dig a little deeper:
As explained here, Pax Christi is both a leftist organization and nationally-recognized dissent group. Pax Christi has strong ties to another well-recognized dissent group - Call to Action. As explained here, Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, has described the Call to Action movement [of which Pax Christi is part and parcel] as one which is, "..often disguised as a sincere effort to 'renew' the Catholic Church" but which masks "a hidden agenda and poison fruit which the noisier dissenters never tire of offering to their unsuspecting victims."
And as Elizabeth Drennan notes in her excellent article:"The CTA [Call to Action]/lesbian pro-abortion Feminist's Prayer to the Four Great Spirits is also part of RENEW 2000 materials (Called to Lead, book 2). In this prayer/exercise, participants stand in a circle, arms outstretched, and pray to the "Great Spirits of the Four Directions, North, South, East, and West" and "to the Great Spirit of All That Is Below" — which is actually in the text of RENEW 2000, along with its author's name: Diann Neu, the lesbian-feminist CTA speaker. Alarmingly, the idea of prayer to the "four directions" which Neu teaches RENEW 2000 participants is also an intrinsic part of WICCA (witchcraft) worship of the goddess, Gaia, according to WICCA web sites."
More than a hundred years ago, John Henry Cardinal Newman predicted the desolation of our time: "Surely there is at this day a confederacy of evil, marshalling its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself, taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ in a net, and preparing the way for a general apostasy from it. Whether this very apostasy is to give birth to Antichrist or whether he is still to be delayed we cannot know; but at any rate this evil apostasy and all its tokens and instruments are of the Evil One and savour of death." (John Henry Cardinal Newman, Discussions and Arguments on Various Subjects, London, Longmans, Green and Co., 1888, p. 60).
Richard Bennett has said that, "The goal of the New Age Movement has consistently been to bring in the Age of Aquarius when all will recognize 'the God within themselves'. A major step towards this in the words of the New Age prophetess Alice Bailey, is 'the regeneration of the churches.' Her vision was that… 'The Christian church in its many branches can serve as a St. John the Baptist, as a voice crying in the wilderness, and as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished.' In a word, she desired the time when the 'Christian churches' would embrace the New Age concepts of illumination and self-realization. The New Age plan to bring in world peace cannot fully establish the Golden Age of Aquarius until Biblical Christianity is outlawed or destroyed.
Why is it suddenly so important for Pax Christi, a dissent group which is immersed in New Age spirituality. to be introduced to parishes throughout the Worcester Diocese?
What do you think?
"Pax Christi has been a conduit for New Age for some time, featuring its messengers and filtering its message via its publications and annual meetings. In 1983, the year Mary Lou Kownacki, O.S.B., wrote about the meditation expert Eknath Easwaran (see above) she edited for Pax Christi a Reflection Guide on the U. S. Bishops ' Pastoral, The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response. Still available and quoted frequently in Pax Christi pamphlets, it is related to this evaluation on two points: 1) it offers as a source for "reflection" a poem The Hundredth Monkey about nuclear disarmament with a notation: "(Vision books) - no copyright. Author wants everyone to read and distribute freely." It is written by Ken Keyes, Jr., without further identification. But who is he? - briefly, Keyes is the founder of Ken Keyes College, Coos Bay, Ore., that specializes in New Age workshops on the "Science of Happiness." His "Living Love Books," and they are numerous and best-sellers in New Age bookstores, are based on transformation and higher consciousness. And, 2) it recommends Global Education Associates for anyone "working for a new world order."
In 1985, Global Education Associates' co-founder Patricia Mische delivered the keynote address, "Disarming the Heart/Disarming the Nations" at the Pax Christi national assembly. She and her husband, Gerald, are GEA cofounders and also co-authors of the book, Toward a Human World Order, Beyond the National Security' Straitjacket, which advances the whys and wherefores for a new world order. The Misches are endorsers of the Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose and their GEA is listed as a participatory organization.
Their book, endorsed by New Agers Robert Muller and the late Rene Dubos along with several other Planetary Citizens including Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, discloses the strategic role "consciousness raising" plays in developing a receptiveness to interdependence in contradistinction to national sovereignty. And, it discloses the role of Religious orders, especially of women in "catalyzing a consciousness of world-order priorities." These women, from many different congregations, "constitute a national network of networks as members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious." The LCWR "recognizing the planetary dimensions of today's world . . . established a Justice and Peace Commission as a step toward raising the consciousness of the 130,000 women thev represent ' ' (emphasis added). The LCWR officials." the Misches continue, "are active in many international programs, including Vatican-based operations - a strategic position from which to influence also the thinking of other Church networks around the world" (pp. 307-308).
The influence Pax Christi exercises in this consciousness raising network should not be underestimated. Its 1990 Annual Report lists 359 Religious communities as corporate sponsors. (Additional references are found in our documentation, "Consciousness Raising and the Erosion of Religious Life," $2.50 single copies.) In 1986 Patricia Mische's name appeared on the slate of candidates Pax Christi was recommending for a position on its National Council.
An interview with the New Ager Robert Muller on "Peace in Our Day" was a feature in the December, 1985 issue of Pax Christi magazine. And the 1988 spring issue carried an interview with New Ager Elise Boulding on "Imagining a World at Peace." She is an endorser of both Planetary Citizens and Planetary Initiative, and that same year was one of the keynoters at the Pax Christi national assembly devoted to "New Genesis: World Without Violence." New Genesis is the title of Robert Muller's book (see above). And in 1989s summer issue. Pax Christi included an interview with Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., on centering prayer titled, "Transforming Daily Life." Fr. Keating, as documented above was the president of "Temple of Understanding," a New Age project, in 1984.
The guidelines he offers are of the same pattern as the Eastern meditation techniques suggested by Dolores Leckey and Mary Lou Kownacki: In a straight chair with your back erect and supported, gently close your eyes and use a simple prayer, hymn or musical selection "to center yourself," then "turn your attention to the God present within." Choose a sacred word and repeat it a few times. This, he writes, is a "receptive method of prayer" that "refreshes even if it seems to be trying, or painful or boring." That is a strange admission. And his "God present within" is centered on self rather than "the love of God" which the Vatican letter to all the bishops instructs is the "sole object of Christian contemplation" (31).
Pax Christi, during its 1989 assembly on "Food for the Journey, Spiritually for the Long Haul," for the first time publicly introduced New Age spirituality practices. This assembly held at Jesuit Seattle University opened with a blessing of the four corners of the earth given by an American Indian shaman and followed by a "Sanctification of Our Space" ritual-style dance. The next day's sessions began with a "Sacred Circle Dance" in which all participated. This was presented as an ancient dance learned at a Dance Camp in Scotland "dedicated to enabling new creative patterns of evolution in consciousness." (Complete documentation is available in our report, Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi.) Sr. Kathleen Pruitt, C.S.J.P. (Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace), from the Seattle Archdiocese and then chairman of Pax Christ's National Council, was the principal coordinator of this assembly In 1990 she was elected vice-president of Pax Christi International, which in 1983 was listed among the original endorsers of Planetary Initiative.
For the full text of the Wanderer article, go here.
In this week's edition of The Catholic Free Press - page 7, Sue Malone and Charlotte Stanley (who serve as co-chairpersons of Pax Christi Central Mass), describe the dissenting organization - which has deep ties to Call To Action - as merely a "peace and justice" organization: "The nonviolent work of Pax Christi is done through a process of prayer, study and action at the personal, local, national and international levels with an emphasis on addressing the root causes of violence." Sounds innocuous enough. Until you dig a little deeper:
As explained here, Pax Christi is both a leftist organization and nationally-recognized dissent group. Pax Christi has strong ties to another well-recognized dissent group - Call to Action. As explained here, Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, has described the Call to Action movement [of which Pax Christi is part and parcel] as one which is, "..often disguised as a sincere effort to 'renew' the Catholic Church" but which masks "a hidden agenda and poison fruit which the noisier dissenters never tire of offering to their unsuspecting victims."
And as Elizabeth Drennan notes in her excellent article:"The CTA [Call to Action]/lesbian pro-abortion Feminist's Prayer to the Four Great Spirits is also part of RENEW 2000 materials (Called to Lead, book 2). In this prayer/exercise, participants stand in a circle, arms outstretched, and pray to the "Great Spirits of the Four Directions, North, South, East, and West" and "to the Great Spirit of All That Is Below" — which is actually in the text of RENEW 2000, along with its author's name: Diann Neu, the lesbian-feminist CTA speaker. Alarmingly, the idea of prayer to the "four directions" which Neu teaches RENEW 2000 participants is also an intrinsic part of WICCA (witchcraft) worship of the goddess, Gaia, according to WICCA web sites."
More than a hundred years ago, John Henry Cardinal Newman predicted the desolation of our time: "Surely there is at this day a confederacy of evil, marshalling its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself, taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ in a net, and preparing the way for a general apostasy from it. Whether this very apostasy is to give birth to Antichrist or whether he is still to be delayed we cannot know; but at any rate this evil apostasy and all its tokens and instruments are of the Evil One and savour of death." (John Henry Cardinal Newman, Discussions and Arguments on Various Subjects, London, Longmans, Green and Co., 1888, p. 60).
Richard Bennett has said that, "The goal of the New Age Movement has consistently been to bring in the Age of Aquarius when all will recognize 'the God within themselves'. A major step towards this in the words of the New Age prophetess Alice Bailey, is 'the regeneration of the churches.' Her vision was that… 'The Christian church in its many branches can serve as a St. John the Baptist, as a voice crying in the wilderness, and as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished.' In a word, she desired the time when the 'Christian churches' would embrace the New Age concepts of illumination and self-realization. The New Age plan to bring in world peace cannot fully establish the Golden Age of Aquarius until Biblical Christianity is outlawed or destroyed.
Why is it suddenly so important for Pax Christi, a dissent group which is immersed in New Age spirituality. to be introduced to parishes throughout the Worcester Diocese?
What do you think?
Funny how the CFP couldn't list your Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle in its Diocesan Calendar but has absolutely no problem promoting Pax Christ with such a prominent article. I wonder what we can conclude by this? The MMP is faithful to the Magisterium and its teaching, counts thousands of priests, numerous Bishops and Cardinals among its membership, and members consecrate themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
ReplyDeleteSmall wonder that the Diocese allows the "Newman Center" at Fitchburg State College to promote "gay rights." As Wikipedia explains, "Bishop [Thomas] Gumbleton was the founding president of Pax Christi USA in 1972..and..remains one of the organization's 'Ambassadors for Peace'...Bishop Gumbleton has consistently been a supporter of New Ways Ministry and has also called for homosexual priests and bishops to 'come out' and be truthful to themselves and others. Gumbleton has also acted as a keynote speaker at Call to Action conferences." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gubleton).
ReplyDeleteBishop Gumbleton created much controversy when he celebrated a Mass for homosexuals wearing a pink triangle on his vestments.
Where is the Diocese of Worcester headed?
There are forces throughout the Church which are anything but holy. Isn't it remarkable that the same year Pope Paul VI spoke of the "smoke of Satan" entering the Church, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton was founding Pax Christi USA.
ReplyDeleteThe Antichrist will hate the Holy Name of Jesus and will ban it altogether. Knowing this, what do we make of this:
ReplyDeleteGeorgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
By Edwin Mora
(CNSNews.com) - Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the “IHS” monogram that had previously adorned the stage at Georgetown’s Gaston Hall was still covered up--when the pediment where it had appeared was photographed by CNSNews.com.
“In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage,” Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, told CNSNews.com.
“The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches,” she added. “Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”
On Wednesday, CNSNews.com inspected the pediment embedded in the wall at the back of the stage in Gaston Hall, where Obama delivered his speech. The letters “IHS” were not to be found. They appeared to be shrouded with a triangle of black-painted plywood.
Pictures of the wooden pediment prior to Obama’s speech show the letters “IHS" in gold. Many photos posted on the Internet of other events at Gaston Hall show the letters clearly.
The White House did not respond to a request from CNSNews.com to comment on the covering up of Jesus’ name at Gaston Hall.
Georgetown, which is run by the Jesuit order, is one of the most prestigious Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States.
Roman Catholics traditionally use “IHS” as an abbreviation for Jesus’ name. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Ignatius of Loyola adopted the monogram in his seal as general of the Society of Jesus (1541) and thus became the emblem of his institute.” The Society of Jesus is the formal name for the Jesuits.
Although the monogram was covered over on the wooden pediment at the back of the Gaston Hall stage where it would have been directly above and behind President Obama as he spoke, the letters “IHS” are posted elsewhere around the hall approximately 26 times on shields representing different parts of the United States and the world.
Obama did not mention the name of Jesus during his address. However, he did mention Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.
“There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells a story of two men…‘the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock,’” Obama said.
“We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand,” he added. “We must build our house upon a rock.”
Sr. Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, was honored by Pax Christi USA as its 2006 "Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace."
ReplyDeleteThis dissident religious also signed a petition sponsored by the Women's Ordination Conference on behalf of Sister Louise Lears, a Sister of Charity who was disciplined by Archbishop Raymond Burke for her support of women's ordination. See this link:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/10/Take-Action-for-Sister-Louise?page=23
Sister Kownacki was formerly the head of Pax Christi USA. The organization is rotten to the core.
Rome should be made aware of all of this. It is all sickening.
ReplyDeletePax Christi is also at Holy Cross College in Worcester--as part of the Chaplains' Office, with the head "chaplain" as its contact person, and having its own website.
ReplyDeleteFrom Worcester Activist wiki:
Pax Christi (Holy Cross)
Contact: Kim McElaney
Phone: (508) 793-2349
Holy Cross Pax Christi, a chapter of Pax Christi International, meets weekly in Campion House. The group has a threefold focus: to educate its members on issues of justice, war and peace; to foster a strong sense of community among it members through prayer, reflection and discussion; and to decide on specific actions to promote justice.
Web: http://college.holycross.edu/studentorgs/paxchristi/
[Good news:] Women religious leadership conference faces investigation for continued ‘problems’
ReplyDeleteToledo, Ohio, Apr 18, 2009 / (CNA) http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15715 - The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is being investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith because of the “tenor and doctrinal content” of various addresses at the organization’s annual assemblies since 2001. One such address described “moving beyond the Church, even beyond Jesus” as “the dynamic option” for religious life.
According to its web site, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) has more than 1,500 members representing about 95 percent of the 59,000 women religious in the U.S.
Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), announced the doctrinal review in a letter, the National Catholic Reporter says.
He noted that officials from the LCWR had met with the CDF in 2001. The officials were invited to report on LCWR members’ reception of Church teaching on the sacramental priesthood, the CDF document Dominus Iesus and “the problem of homosexuality.”
Dominus Iesus, published by the CDF in 2000 under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, emphasized the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and established the differences between the Catholic Church and other religions. The document stated that only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the Christian faith.
“Given both the tenor and the doctrinal content of various addresses given at the annual assemblies of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the intervening years, this Dicastery can only conclude that the problems which had motivated its request in 2001 continue to be present,” Cardinal Levada said in his letter.
The Catholic Key reported that the keynote address at the LCWR 2007 annual assembly has aroused “particular concern and discussion.”
In that keynote, titled “A Marginal Life: Pursuing Holiness in the 21st Century,” Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Laurie Brink commented on the decline of many religious orders. She characterized some successful new orders as being “acquiescent” to others’ expectations and also discussed the possible future of women religious.
She described a “sojourning congregation” as “the dynamic option for Religious Life.”
In Sister Laurie’s words, such a congregation involves “moving beyond the Church, even beyond Jesus.”
“A sojourning congregation is no longer ecclesiastical. It has grown beyond the bounds of institutional religion. Its search for the Holy may have begun rooted in Jesus as the Christ, but deep reflection, study and prayer have opened it up to the spirit of the Holy in all of creation. Religious titles, institutional limitations, ecclesiastical authorities no longer fit this congregation, which in most respects is Post-Christian.”
She described the Benedictine Women of Madison as having a commitment to “ecumenism” which led them “beyond the exclusivity of the Catholic Church into a new inclusivity, where all manner of seeking God is welcomed. They are certainly religious women, but they are no longer women religious as it is defined by the Roman Catholic Church. They choose as a congregation to step outside the Church in order to step into a greater sense of holiness. Theirs was a choice of integrity, insight and courage.”
Cardinal Levada said that the assessment of the LCWR will be conducted by Bishop of Toledo, Ohio Leonard P. Blair. Bishop Blair is a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.
Cardinal Levada said Bishop Blair’s principal purpose would be to “review the work of the LCWR in supporting its membership as communities of faith and witness to Christ in today’s church, and to offer any useful assistance.”
CNA contacted Sally Oberski, Director of Communications at the Diocese of Toledo, for further comment on the investigation.
Reiterating Cardinal Levada’s description of Bishop Blair’s work, she said in a Friday e-mail:
“Bishop Blair has been in contact with the leadership of the LCWR, and has nothing further to add at this time."