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Witness God!
(c)Mary TV 2014
J.M.J
February 28, 2014
Dear Family of Mary!
“Dear children! You see, hear and feel that in the hearts of many people there is no God. They do not want Him, because they are far from prayer and do not have peace. You, little children, pray – live God’s commandments. You be prayer, you who from the very beginning said ‘yes’ to my call. Witness God and my presence and do not forget, little children: I am with you and I love you. From day to day I present you all to my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (February 25, 2014)
A dear friend, Sandy, told me about a prayer called “The Radiating Christ Prayer” which reflects Our Lady’s plea to us: “Witness God…” It is a remarkable prayer! This prayer was written by Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman and was recited daily after Communion by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her Sisters of Charity. This Prayer is also known as the Fragrance Prayer.
Thank you, Sandy, for sharing this incredible prayer with us, and may we all breath in the words of this prayer and let them form us:
The Prayer Radiating Christ by Blessed Card. John Henry Newman
Dear Jesus,
help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly
that all my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul
I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others;
the light, O Jesus, will be all from You;
none of it will be mine:
it will be You shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You in the way You love best:
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching,
not by words, but by my example,
by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.
Amen
Our witness can only be real when it is Jesus witnessing through us. Jesus is the light, we can only carry it. Jesus is the joy, we can only receive it. Jesus is the hope, we can only live it. May we all witness God!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2014
PS. Today the parish will climb Mt. Krizevac, praying the Stations of the Cross. We will stream it if the weather permits. 8:00 am EST (2:00 pm Medjugorje time).
Sunday, March 2, Mary TV will stream Mirjana’s monthly apparition live (circumstances permitting). Streaming will begin at 2:00 am EST (8:00 am Medjugorje time).
Sunday, March 2, 2014 the Parish will climb Mt Podrdo praying the Rosary at 8:00 am EST (2:00 pm Medjugorje time). Mary TV will stream it, live!
“Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!”
LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report
Thursday, February 27, 2014
For pro-life news updated throughout the day, visit LifeNews.com. |
Current Headlines
Top Stories
• British Student Hangs Herself After Terrible Grief Following Abortion
• Newborn Baby Wont Let Go of Mother After Birth, Keeps Hugging Her
• Planned Parenthood to Spend $15 Million in 2014 Keeping Senate in Democrat Hands
• Incredible Family Adopts Eight Children With Special Needs
More Pro-Life News
• Serial Child Rapist Arrested After Using Abortion to Cover His Crimes
• Planned Parenthood Video Promotes Bondage and Sadomasochism to Teens
• Mississippi Senate Committee OKs Ban on Abortions After 20 Weeks
• Pregnant Rape Victims Shouldnt be Shamed for Not Having an Abortion
• Black Pastors Demand Planned Parenthood be Held Accountable for Killing Woman in Abortion
• Two Women and Their Terrifying Encounters With Abortion Doctors
• New Prenatal Test a Search and Destroy Mission to Abort Babies With Down Syndrome
• Liberal Web Site Dreams of Abortion Clinics in Malls, High Schools
• A Place for Mom Blog, Featuring Joan Lunden, Pushes Assisted Suicide
• FDA Considers Allowing Genetically Modified Children
• Terri Schiavo Foundation to Honor Family of Jahi McMath for Fighting for Her Life
• Man Charged with Murder for Lacing Girlfriends Pancake with Abortion Drug
• Environment Over People: The Sierra Clubs War on Humans
• Canadian Medical Groups Condemn Ultrasound Use Leading to Sex-Selection Abortions
British Student Hangs Herself After Terrible Grief Following Abortion
News surfaced yesterday that a British student was found at her home dead after having hanged herself following terrible grief associated with an abortion.
Charlotte Coursier was found hanged at her home in Oxford in June. In March last year, Coursier had an abortion, telling her boyfriend Ben Fardell she had murdered her child. Fardell ended their relationship on June 10 last year. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/british-student-hangs-herself-after-terrible-grief-following-abortion/
Newborn Baby Wont Let Go of Mother After Birth, Keeps Hugging Her
A viral video that is making its way around the Internet will fill you with oohs and ahhs today. The video depicts a baby who just didnt want to let go of his mother shortly after birth.
The cute newborn keeps hugging and clinging to his mother even as medical personnel attempt to take him away for a washing, measurements and cutting the umbilical cord. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/newborn-baby-wont-let-go-of-mother-after-birth-keeps-hugging-her/
Planned Parenthood to Spend $15 Million in 2014 Keeping Senate in Democrat Hands
No pro-lifer doubts the political muscle of Planned Parenthoods political entities the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Votes. As a key component of the Democratic Partys left of center coalition, they have access to gazillions of dollars and a voicea large voiceat the table.
But besides the usual self-congratulation and soft-peddle treatment by the mainstream media, what else can we learn from Alexander Burns Planned Parenthood reveals big 2014 game plan, which ran in Wednesdays POLITICO? http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/planned-parenthood-to-spend-15-million-in-2014-elections-keeping-senate-in-democrat-hands/
Incredible Family Adopts Eight Children With Special Needs
Almost two years ago, Sean Martin, his wife Jill, and their eight children pulled up stakes in Simsbury, Conn., and settled in a small farm town on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas. The reason for this life-altering move?
Sean had accepted the job of Director of Partner Services at the pro-life organization Online for Life. Having served as a church pastor for more than 12 years, Sean immediately began using his ministry-honed skills by serving as the liaison with nearly 50 participating pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/incredible-family-adopts-eight-children-with-special-needs/
Serial Child Rapist Arrested After Using Abortion to Cover His Crimes
A sexual predator from Plymouth who contacted a 14-year-old just hours after being freed from prison has been jailed after he made her pregnant and bullied her into having an abortion.
Stephen Lobb seduced the victim despite having been jailed for making another under age girl pregnant. He contacted her on the day after he was let out. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/serial-child-rapist-arrested-after-using-abortion-to-cover-his-crimes/
Planned Parenthood Video Promotes Bondage and Sadomasochism to Teens
Planned Parenthood has a long sordid history of pushing inappropriate sexual relationships on teenagers, who should be focused on school and making friends. Instead, the abortion businesses promotes adult sexual relationships on children, knowing that will lead to pregnancy and potential abortions, which bring in big bucks for the nations number on abortion company.
Now, Planned Parenthood is at it again, according to CNS News, with a video promoting S&M relationships to teenagers. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/planned-parenthood-video-promotes-bondage-and-sadomasochism-to-teens/
Mississippi Senate Committee OKs Ban on Abortions After 20 Weeks
A Mississippi state Senate panel has approved a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Thee measure is similar to legislation pending in Congress and in other states that points to the pain babies feel in abortions as a reason to ban them.
Diane Derzis, who owns Mississippis only abortion clinic, promised someone would file a legal challenge to the bill if it becomes law. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/mississippi-senate-committee-oks-ban-on-abortions-after-20-weeks/
Pregnant Rape Victims Shouldnt be Shamed for Not Having an Abortion
Juda Myers, founder of Choices4Life, discovered as an adult that she was conceived during a gang rape. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/pregnant-rape-victims-shouldnt-be-shamed-for-not-having-an-abortion/
Black Pastors Demand Planned Parenthood be Held Accountable for Killing Woman in Abortion
Black leaders in Illinois have closed ranks, calling for increased accountability and safety regulations for abortion mills after the death of Tonya Reaves, who bled to death after a botched abortion in a Chicago Planned Parenthood. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/black-pastors-demand-planned-parenthood-be-held-accountable-for-killing-woman-in-abortion/
Two Women and Their Terrifying Encounters With Abortion Doctors
On February 21, 2014, Cosmo printed an article called, 6 Women on Their Terrifying, Infuriating Encounters With Abortion Protestors. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/two-women-and-their-terrifying-encounters-with-abortion-doctors/
New Prenatal Test a Search and Destroy Mission to Abort Babies With Down Syndrome
Currently about 90% of Down fetuses are aborted. Now, a new test makes the search part of the overarching search and destroy mission less invasive and more accurate. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/new-prenatal-test-a-search-and-destroy-mission-to-abort-babies-with-down-syndrome/
Liberal Web Site Dreams of Abortion Clinics in Malls, High Schools
Safe, legal and RARE everywhere is the new and improved abortion mantra or so suggests The Daily Beasts latest Women in the World blo. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/liberal-web-site-dreams-of-abortion-clinics-in-malls-high-schools/
A Place for Mom Blog, Featuring Joan Lunden, Pushes Assisted Suicide
We have all heard the advertisements of A Place for Mom, in which former news star Joan Lunden pitches the business that helps families find assisted living facilities and other senior services. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/a-place-for-mom-blog-featuring-joan-lunden-pushes-assisted-suicide/
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FDA Considers Allowing Genetically Modified Children
This week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) met to discuss allowing the creation of human beings with three genetic parents to proceed to clinical trials. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/fda-considers-allowing-genetically-modified-children/
Terri Schiavo Foundation to Honor Family of Jahi McMath for Fighting for Her Life
Since 2007, Terri Schiavos family has marked the anniversary of her death on March 31, 2005 by celebrating Terris Day. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/terri-schiavo-foundation-to-honor-family-of-jahi-mcmath-for-fighting-for-her-life/
Man Charged with Murder for Lacing Girlfriends Pancake with Abortion Drug
The Kansas Attorney Generals office has charged Scott Robert Bolling, 30, of first degree murder and three other counts after he laced his pregnant girlfriends pancake with a crushed abortion drug. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/man-charged-with-murder-for-lacing-girlfriends-pancake-with-abortion-drug/
Environment Over People: The Sierra Clubs War on Humans
As I point out in my new ebook, The War on Humans, the contemporary environmental movement is not only fast becoming explicitly anti-human in its rhetoric and advocacy memeshumans as a cancer on the earth, etc. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/27/environment-over-people-the-sierra-clubs-war-on-humans/
Canadian Medical Groups Condemn Ultrasound Use Leading to Sex-Selection Abortions
A new joint policy statement from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the Canadian Association of Radiologists calls for a halt on using ultrasound for the sole purpose of determining the sex of a fetus, according to Sharon Kirkey of Postmedia News. http://www.lifenews.com/2014/02/23/canadian-medical-groups-condemns-ultrasound-use-leading-to-sex-selection-abortions/
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- An Extra Dose of Love: A Brother’s Story of Trisomy 21
- Planned Parenthood pimps bondage, S&M to teens
- Arizona caves to gay pressure
- Euthanasia in Belgium: Its true name
- Mom, baby doing well after Manhattan crosswalk birth
- Polish baby born alive after failed abortion
- ‘Veil of Tears’ highlights sex-selective abortion in Asia
- Couple adopts triplets, gets pregnant with twins
- Obama commends his pro-abortion supporters for doing ‘God’s work’
- Court denies HHS mandate protection for Notre Dame
An Extra Dose of Love: A Brother’s Story of Trisomy 21
My youngest sister, Eva, just turned 12 this past December 31st. Each year, my parents invite friends and family over to celebrate the new year and the birth of our favorite family member at our New Years “Eva” party. Now I know, we aren’t supposed to have favorites, and our large family would seem to make unanimous consent impossible.
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Planned Parenthood pimps bondage, S&M to teens
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE)–which received more than $2.75 million in government funding in 2012–has produced and posted online a video specifically aimed at teenagers that promotes bondage and sadomasochism (BDSM) and proposes “rules” to follow when engaging in these activities.
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Arizona caves to gay pressure
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer silenced the vitriolic outcry over Senate Bill 1062 with a veto early Wednesday evening, eliciting relief from opponents who said it would lead to discrimination and hurt the state’s economy and reputation, and disappointment from supporters who maintained the bill’s intent had been distorted.
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Euthanasia in Belgium: Its true name
In the English language, the word “Spartan” has come to mean austere. The culture of ancient Sparta was so harsh that mothers would send their sons off to war with the warning, “Return with your shield or on it.” Spartan austerity began at birth. New-born infants were examined and if they were not fit, they were left to die.
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Mom, baby doing well after Manhattan crosswalk birth
A woman in labor stepped out of her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to get to the hospital but ended up giving birth right there on the street on Monday. Now she and her husband want to thank the stranger who helped her in her moment of need.
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Polish baby born alive after failed abortion
The baby, a girl weighing approximately 1.5 pounds, was born in the Provincial Specialist Hospital (Wojewódzki Szpital Specjalistyczny) in Wroc?aw. After the abortion failed, neonatologists were called to help the baby survive.
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‘Veil of Tears’ highlights sex-selective abortion in Asia
Gender-based abortion, infanticide, bride burning, sex trafficking, widow abandonment – these are just a few of the abuses aimed at women Gospel for Asia highlighted today as it promoted its new documentary “Veil of Tears” (www.veiloftearsmovie.com) at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention.
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Couple adopts triplets, gets pregnant with twins
When God blesses, sometimes He blesses abundantly — and that is certainly the case for a couple from Oklahoma. Sarah and Andy Justice of Tulsa, Oklahoma had just adopted triplets when she found out she was pregnant with twins.
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Obama commends his pro-abortion supporters for doing ‘God’s work’
At an event in Washington last night, President Barack Obama told his liberal, pro-abortion supporters who are member of his political group Organizing for Action that they are “Doing God’s Work.”
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Court denies HHS mandate protection for Notre Dame
A Chicago appellate court has upheld a previous ruling denying Notre Dame University legal protections while it moves forward in challenging the federal contraception mandate.
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Step Forward!
Columbus, OH – February 27, 2014 – Late in 2013 I was arrested for expressing my first amendment rights in Albuquerque, NM at a polling center (see video here). Recently anti-abortion displays have been subject to increased censorship at college and high school campuses across America including, of all places, the University of Alabama.
Students who work with us to use our resources are more often running up against draconian regulations and limitations to free speech on campus. Like social activists of the past, we face resistance in telling and showing the truth.
Almost always the common denominator is abortion victim photos. We asking our students to do hard things. Standing strong in a hostile culture, our anthem for this year’s Justice Rides is: STEP FORWARD.
Here is our Spring Justice Ride schedule:
Mar 10: University of North Florida (Jacksonville)
Mar 11-12: University of Florida (Gainesville)
Mar 13: Urban outreach (Ocala)
Mar 14: University of Central Florida (Orlando)
We still have a few seats left! Join the resistance! If you want to join the Ride, email me at Contact@CreatedEqual.net
Send your check to:
Created Equal
PO Box 360502
Columbus, OH 43230
Or give electronically HERE.
Please consider joining us on our next Justice Ride!
Long live the LIFE AND LIBERTY,
Mark
“Part II of Ryan MacDonald’s two-part post on These Stone Walls might fire you up with righteous Indignation. We hope so, because it is the truth. Please help us share that truth by sharing a link to ” The Prison of Father MacRae: A Conspiracy of Silence.”

The Prison of Father MacRae: A Conspiracy of Silence
The Diocese of Manchester demonstrates the difference between the stated rights of accused Catholic priests in Church law and actual observance of those rights. Editor’s Note: This is Part Two of a guest post by Ryan A. MacDonald. Part One was “The Trial of Father MacRae: A Conspiracy of Fraud.”
The above quote was the reply of a prominent American Catholic writer when I challenged him to take a closer look at the trial and imprisonment of Father Gordon MacRae. There is nothing to be gained by publishing the writer’s name. I still hope he might accept my challenge to study this matter with more depth than the New Hampshire news media and priests of the Diocese of Manchester have given it. I have asked the writer to show me the evidence he feels so certain must exist. He is wrong about this. There is simply no factual evidence to support this conviction. But for some, the absence of evidence is evidence of evidence. That Catholic writer’s presumption about evenhanded justice and due process reflects the naiveté of the innocent and just. I once shared such naiveté, but I have since learned that ignorance is not bliss. I know too much about this case to cling to any delusions that everyone in prison must be guilty, or that a Catholic priest, while actually innocent, could not be railroaded into prison based on false witness. So does The Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz, one of the most just and courageous journalists I know. She has a talent for enabling readers to place themselves in the shoes of the falsely accused, and it’s a terrifying place to be. A recent article, “On Woody Allen and Echoes of the Past” (WSJ.com, February 9, 2014), had that same effect. It isn’t long, but it’s compelling and powerful. Despite its title, the article’s great power is in its depiction of falsely accused men and women – such as Violet, Cheryl, and Gerald Amirault of Massachusetts and Kelly Michaels of New Jersey – who were ripped from ordinary lives to be tried and sent to prison because of trumped up charges, lots of media hype, and the ambitions of prosecutors.
In “Judge Arthur Brennan Sentenced Fr Gordon MacRae to Die in Prison,” I wrote that plea deals work well for the guilty but not for the innocent. The guilty come before the justice system prepared to limit punishment by accepting any reasonable plea deal offered. The innocent cannot fathom such twisted justice, and therefore often spend far more time in prison than the guilty. For preserving his right to a presumption of innocence and a fair trial – though he got neither, as you will see, from either Church or State – Father Gordon MacRae was sentenced by Judge Arthur Brennan to more than 30 times the sentence offered by prosecutors in the plea deal he refused. As I wrote in part one of this article last week, it is a perversion of justice that, had he been actually guilty, this priest would have been released from prison 17 years ago. THE LIE DETECTOR DISASTER In the above article, Dorothy Rabinowitz cited that some of the innocent accused were anxious to take lie detector tests (aka polygraphs). Those who passed them, however, did so to no avail as prosecutors refused to consider, or even hear, the results. Father MacRae also voluntarily submitted to two lie detector tests conducted by an expert who reviewed the claims of Thomas Grover and his brothers, Jonathan and David Grover, who also accused the priest for settlement money from his diocese. I have repeatedly called upon MacRae’s accusers to agree to lie detector tests, a challenge met only with silence. Had Father MacRae failed the polygraphs administered before his trial, you can be certain that fact would have found its way into court, or at least into the newspapers. He passed them conclusively, but the results were ignored, and not only by state prosecutors. The most difficult act of suppression to comprehend came from his bishop and diocese. Defense attorney Ron Koch (pronounced “Coke”) often appeared to be as naive and trusting as his client. He seemed to believe that the Diocese of Manchester might be more inclined to defend its priest if clarity about his innocence could be established. However passing pre-trial lie detector tests, and making that fact known, actually proved disastrous for the defense of Father MacRae. Within weeks of the defense lawyer’s effort to have polygraph results reviewed by Church lawyers, the Diocese of Manchester issued a press release that inflicted a mortal wound to MacRae’s civil and canonical rights. Plastered in the news media throughout New England before jury selection in his trial, this press release destroyed his defense in the court of public opinion, and influenced jurors in the court of law:
Canonical Advocate, Father David Deibel, J.C.L., J.D., protested this gross violation of Church law and civil liberties. He was reportedly told that the press release “was a carefully crafted statement meant to respond to media concerns” about the MacRae case. When defense attorney Ron Koch called to protest, he was told that Father MacRae was the sole priest to have been so accused in the Diocese of Manchester. Nine years later, officials for the Manchester Diocese worked out a plea deal of their own to avoid a misdemeanor charge based on a theory of law the state’s Attorney General admitted was “novel.” The published files as a result of that deal revealed that 62 New Hampshire priests had been accused, and some $23 million changed hands in mediated settlements. For his first six years in prison, 17 miles from the Chancery Office of the Diocese of Manchester, Father MacRae was summarily abandoned. The company line was that it was MacRae himself who refused to be visited in prison by any priest. The bitter refusal was reportedly issued through unnamed third parties who have never been identified. However, the prison’s Catholic chaplain during Father MacRae’s first years in prison saw this differently:
BISHOP’S DELEGATE MONSIGNOR EDWARD ARSENAULT Two years ago, I wrote an article for Spero News entitled “To Azazel: Father Gordon MacRae and the Gospel of Mercy.” It was about some shockingly uncharitable conduct toward this imprisoned priest, but the offenders were not other prisoners trying to make names for themselves in the brutal prison culture. They were priests of the Diocese of Manchester. In the year 2000, however, Diocesan interest in Father MacRae was radically altered when it became known that two media giants, Dorothy Rabinowitz at The Wall Street Journal, and PBS Frontline, expressed interest in the facts of this case. You may read for yourselves the manipulation aimed at this imprisoned priest, and the devastation of his rights in my article, “Bishop Takes Pawn: Plundering the Rights of a Prisoner Priest.”
While negotiating settlements in the MacRae case and hundreds of others on behalf of the Diocese of Manchester, Arsenault was also Chairman of the Board of the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, an organization underwriting insurers of Catholic institutions and dioceses across the U.S. It is unclear which of these hats Monsignor Arsenault was wearing when he negotiated this typical round of mediated settlements described in David F. Pierre’s 2012 book, Catholic Priests Falsely Accused:
In 2001, Monsignor Edward Arsenault developed a policy statement for the Diocese of Manchester. As Bishop John McCormack’s Delegate, Monsignor Arsenault published the “Diocese of Manchester Statement of Rights and Obligations of Persons Accused of Sexual Misconduct.” The document was straightforward, and listed, in accord with Canon law and Diocesan policy, the rights of the accused and the obligations of the Diocese:
Over the next three years as the Diocese of Manchester submitted individual cases to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, every tenet of the above statement of rights was silently ignored or outright violated by Monsignor Arsenault and officials of the Diocese of Manchester in regard to the case of Father MacRae. No investigations took place. No interviews took place. The imprisoned priest’s repeated requests for details of what has been represented in Rome in regard to this case have been ignored, and no right of defense has been honored. The promised assistance of legal counsel was never acted upon. Repeated and documented requests from Father MacRae that Bishop John McCormack and Monsignor Arsenault agree to confer with his Canonical Advocate to assure his rights under Church law were refused. In the ultimate insult, when Monsignor Arsenault finally did agree to consult Father Deibel, the canonical advocate, he reportedly told the priest that, should Father MacRae be involuntarily laicized, “I’m sure Bishop McCormack will still send him $100 a month” to survive in prison. The suggestion that this was MacRae’s sole concern for the future of his priesthood left him feeling humiliated and violated. A promise by Bishop McCormack to set aside $40,000 for Father MacRae’s appellate defense – on the condition that he set aside contacts with Dorothy Rabinowitz and The Wall Street Journal – was instead used to hire counsel to bypass MacRae’s lawyers and investigators, and to conduct a secret review of his trial and any chance of overturning the convictions. To this day, Monsignor Arsenault and the Bishop of Manchester have ignored requests to share that review with the wrongly imprisoned priest’s defense team struggling to afford his day in court. REMEMBER THOSE IN PRISON AS THOUGH IN PRISON WITH THEM (Heb. 13:3) In 2009, Monsignor Edward Arsenault was appointed Executive Director of Saint Luke Institute, a nationally known facility in Maryland for the psychological treatment of priests. Bishop John McCormack was the sole U.S. bishop on the Saint Luke Institute Board of Directors at the time Monsignor Arsenault took leave from the diocese to assume the post with an annual salary of $170,000. Earlier this month, on February 4, 2014, the news media announced that Monsignor Edward Arsenault has accepted a plea deal to plead guilty to three felony charges. He was indicted on multiple counts, and has agreed to plead guilty to the theft of thousands of dollars from the Diocese of Manchester while serving as Chancellor and Bishop’s Delegate, from Catholic Medical Center Hospital where he served on its Board of Directors, and from the estate of a deceased priest of the Manchester Diocese for which he served as Executor. According to news reports, the theft of funds from the Diocese of Manchester continued until 2013, four years after Monsignor Arsenault began his $170,000 a year post at Saint Luke Institute. The plea deal Monsignor Arsenault has entered into forgoes trial and any testimony under oath. The exact number of felony charges and the exact amounts of stolen funds involved have not been made public, and possibly never will be. The New Hampshire Attorney General stated that the plea deal, and the minimum four year prison sentence Monsignor Arsenault has agreed to, are in “recognition of the extensive cooperation of the defendant,” and in anticipation of his continued cooperation in the ongoing investigation of “improper financial transactions.” The investigation into financial wrongdoing was launched, according to news sources, when the Diocese began investigating a “potentially inappropriate adult relationship.” For at least the next four years, Monsignor Edward Arsenault will share the same prison as Father Gordon MacRae, a priest who – armed only with the truth and his faith – refused plea bargains to face the cruelest of tyrannies, wrongful imprisonment. This is the priest against whom Monsignor Edward Arsenault and his prosecutorial friends have worked so arduously, and in secret, to undo and discard. There is more to come in the twists and turns of this story. Meanwhile, please continue to respond to, and share with others, my recent post, “News Alert: Federal Appeal Filed in Fr Gordon MacRae Case.” It falls to us to mend this gaping wound in the side of our Church.
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