Sister Korn and diocesan activism

TC posted a comment at this post that is so on-the-mark that it needed a blog of its own. The Catholic Ministries TAX Appeal is in full swing. The diocese is feverishly engaged in raising funds for Catholic Charities. Sister Janet Korn from the diocese was down at St. Vincent's on Sunday. Here is TC's take on it:

Sister Janet Korn, (Catholic Ministries Appeal, Rochester Diocese) spoke at St Vincent’s church on Sunday. My blood was boiling. I almost walked out of mass. She stated that there is a need to support migrant farm workers in NY and cited the “failed immigration reform” as the root cause for their plight. Sr Korn failed to explain how her ministry provides assistance to immigrant workers or what their needs were. I have several questions for the Corning Catholic Community to ponder:

1. What are the needs of the migrant workers? Food? Clothing? Spiritual?
2. How did the failure of immigration reform contribute to their hardships?
3. What about assistance for farmers and families who don’t rely on migrant workers?
4. Are these migrant workers exposed to the teaching of the Catholic Church?
5. How many migrant workers actually work/reside within the Rochester Diocese?
6. How does Sr Korn’s mission provide assistance to these migrant workers? Clothes? Food? Church services? Medical care? Child Care? Money? …..
7. Has anyone addressed the “plight” of migrant workers with local farm owners? NY State legislators?
8. Why isn’t Sister Korn wearing a habit?

Her specific mention of the “failed immigration reform” is another way that the liberal agenda is seeping into our Catholic Church. It is the proverbial “Wolf in sheep’s clothing.” She is nothing more than an activist operating under the umbrella of the Rochester Diocese.

Here are the links that TC referenced in his comment (plus a couple more):

• American Harvest (An immigration film by Angelo Mancuso, with the plot summary written by Sister Korn!)
• A history of Catholic Charities in the United States, written by Jack Balinsky. (He is also referenced in this article.)
• A Catholic online article about the DOR's La Casa (apartment/home for migrant workers in the Rochester area).
• Migrant Housing in Sodus (an article about the same house in the Catholic Courier, 2009)
• La Casa's official website

 If you haven't been keeping up with the state of our diocese, you may not immediately understand TC's pointed comments and questions. For a quick and devastating primer on why these questions have merit, here's some stats from a Cleansing Fire blog posted yesterday:

The results of Bishop Clark’s 33 year experiment with progressive Catholicism are in – and they are not pretty:
» 93 out of 200 (47%) Catholic parishes, missions, stations and chapels closed;
» 53 out of 78 (68%) Catholic elementary schools closed;
» 4 out of 9 (44%) Catholic high schools closed;
» 220 out of 238 (92%) teaching sisters gone;
» 18 out of 20 (90%) teaching priests gone;
» 33 out of 33 (100%) teaching brothers gone;
» 16,130 out of 21,006 (77%) Catholic elementary school students gone;
» 4,355 out of 7,488 (58%) Catholic high school students gone;
» 28,323 out of 39,402 (72%) Catholic elementary school religious education students gone;
» 7,165 out of 8,767 (82%) Catholic high school religious education students gone;
» Catholic marriages down by 67% (from 2,076 to 689) ;
» Interfaith (or “mixed”) marriages down by 76% (from 1,321 to 320);
» Infant baptisms down by 61% (from 6,742 to 2,646);
» Weekend Mass attendance in free fall (down by over a third in a mere 10 years);
» 251 out of 341 (74%) active diocesan priests gone (with most of the remainder rapidly approaching retirement age);
» Vocations to the priesthood down to a barely discernible trickle; and
» All of this in a diocese that saw its number of registered Catholics drop by 16% while its total population grew by 3% during those same 33 years.

The connection between the political/ideological activism of the DOR and the devastation of Catholic faith and identity is not coincidental.
So, is it wrong to aid migrant workers? Of course not. The question that must be asked is: Why have these ministries thrived while churches are being sold, parishes clustered, and Catholics have left the Faith in droves?

The Faith is being systematically deconstructed and something different is being put in place. Why did Sister Korn reference the so-called failed immigration reform? That's leftist political speak. So, in the name of progressive politics Catholics are supposed to give to Catholic Charities? The whole social justice meme has evolved away from Christ's simple (and non-political) command to feed the hungry and take care of widows and orphans, to an agenda that takes sides in the political arena, that distorts Jesus's admonitions to Christians, and that results in the destruction of our Catholic Faith and identity.

This agenda relies heavily on taxpayer subsidizing. Diocesan ministries are subsidized by federal, state, and local taxpayer dollars to the tune of about two-thirds' funding. So yes, Catholics are giving twice--all the while their churches are being sold and their parishes diminished.

Are diocesan leaders so wedded to a political ideology that they would allow the current situation in our diocese in order to implement their political worldview?

And let us not forget the voiceless cry of the unborn, those who are most vulnerable in our society. Yes, even more vulnerable than migrant workers. Are these little ones given a prominent voice when Catholic Charities comes calling? What about the issue of euthanasia and death panels for our elderly? Apparently the 'seamless garment' meme isn't so seamless after all.