Fonticulus Fides

Monday, April 03, 2006

Some woman?

There’s some scuttle in various points on St. Blog’s about Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of the Diocese of Lincoln referring to Patricia O’Donnell Ewers, appointed chairperson of the USCCB’s National Review Board as “some woman.”

Generally, folks seem to agree that the Bishop was trying to make a statement. There’s some disagreement as to the degree of his censure of Ms. Ewers.

Maybe we should take a moment to look at who this woman is, who appointed her, and what her role is.

Patricia O’Donnell Ewers is an educational consultant whose clients include DePaul University and the Poetry Foundation.

DePaul University, by the way, is one of those “progressive” private institutions that now downplays its affiliation with the Catholic Church in preference to it’s open support of organizations like Feminist Majority Foundation, which coordinates internships for DePaul students at NARAL Pro-Choice America, Catholics for a Free Choice, the National Abortion Federation, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. DePaul’s College of Law web site also direct links to Planned Parenthood.

Now, I can’t say whether or not Ms. Ewer’s “consultation” tasks included strengthening the relationship between DePaul U and these groups who are in direct opposition to the Catholic Church, but it’s interesting nonetheless. And, by the way, she is also the former Academic Vice President and a former Professor of English at DePaul University.

Ms. Ewer’s resume also cites that she was trustee of Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, from 1985 to 1990 – that’s a grad school for theologians, including one Delle Chatman who consistently writes “provocative” theatrical pieces that challenge Catholic teaching. Some of the staff plays pretty fast and loose with the teachings of the Catholic Church, such as Fr. Richard Fragomeni, associate prof., who is known as the Tarot Card priest for his workshop on the occult, into séances and the New Age. Was Ms. Ewer in favor of all this? Hard to say.

She’s also been invited to speak for at least one Voice of the Faithful event (tomorrow in SW Florida, her topic is: “KEEP THE FAITH, CHANGE THE CHURCH”).

Obviously, she’s not an Orthodox Catholic. She has an agenda to CHANGE the teachings of the Church, not uphold them. If you doubt she has an agenda, look at what she said upon her appointment:

On abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research, cloning and homosexual “marriage,” Ewers said: “One of the questions asked me at my interview (for the board) was where I took public stances in relation to the Church, and I think one of the wisest things for me to do is not to take public stances on issues outside of those with which I will be concerned as a member of the board.

Quote from The National Catholic Register, btw.

Uh, sorry, but she’s on the review board regarding the clergy abuse scandal. What does THAT have to do with abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research and cloning? Unless you are somebody who seeks to “Keep the Faith, Change the Church,” that is. And doesn't she sound just like a judicial appointee? Has she appointed herself judge over the bishops?

Here’s the ACTUAL role of the review board:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops established the National Review Board during their meeting in June, 2002.

The functions of the National Review Board are to:

* Provide advice and guidance to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

* Approve the report on the implementation of the Charter in each diocese and eparchy

* Formulate recommendations that emerge from this report

* Commission a descriptive study on the "Nature and Scope" of the problem of sexual abuse of children and young people in the Catholic Church

* Commission a study on the "causes and context" of the crisis of sexual abuse of children and young people in the Catholic Church

* monitor the work of the Office of Child and Youth Protection


Again, please, where is abortion, cloning, euthanasia, etc. on this list of responsibilities? Methinks Ms. Ewers is overstepping her bounds, and gladly so. She just can’t wait to bring forth changes in the Catholic Church, and now she’s got the entire USCCB at her disposal.

Oh, sorry. Not the ENTIRE USCCB. Not Bishop Bruskewitz. Not the Diocese of Lincoln. Doesn’t she have some actual CRIMINALS who are actually ABUSING CHILDREN to sniff out? But no, she’d rather go after the one guy who’s handled abuse cases correctly all along (according to both civil and Canon law) in the one Diocese that has always had a reputation for being very, very hostile toward priests who wish to sin against children.

So who appointed her? The Bishops! Or a committee of bishops within the USCCB. Or maybe it was just the president, Bishop Wilton Gregory. Did he know who she is and what she stands for at the time? Who recommended her? I don’t know – presumably one of the Bishops.

WHY? Why would anybody who loves the Church put such a person in a position to publicly undermine the teachings of the Church? Who would so such a thing?

Oh, right. The same kind of guys who knew priests were abusing minors and just moved them from parish to parish and told them to “be good.”

Now then, when it comes to Bishop Bruskewitz calling Ms. Ewers, “some woman…”

I’m starting to think he was more than charitable. More pointed descriptions come to mind.

--Sparki

3 Comments:

  • Amen Sparki! The "Keep The Faith, Change The Church" slogan is a huge red flag. Agenda-driven harpy (sorry, I'm not being too charitable these days). :)

    Great research job!

    By Blogger Jeff, at 11:11 PM  

  • Welcome to blogdom! Thank God we live in the diocese of Lincoln, free of scandal and heterodoxy since its establishment.
    Does Mrs Ewers want to see what works to keep children safe from clerical perverts? Let her come to Lincoln and learn.

    -Rankinstein's foreign brother-in-law.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:22 PM  

  • Thanks, fellas.

    I've kept the blog quiet, I guess.

    And now I must await being smote by Rankinstein's Foreign Brother-in-Law (or his lovely sister) for getting the Latin wrong on my blog title. I know, I know -- it's supposed to be Fonticulus Fidei or something like that. I'm a lousy student of foreign languages. I apologize. I freely admit I went to one of those free on-line translators and used whatever they gave me without verifying it with a Real Human Being. It was brought to my attention a couple years ago, and I thought I'd correct it if ever I should have occasion to change the site to a different provider, but alas, Blogger has been pretty good to me.

    <<<< blushing >>>>

    By Blogger Sparki, at 5:23 PM  

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