Bishops Worthy of Mention

Bishop John Nienstedt

Archbishop Raymond Burke, St. Louis- Archbishop Burke resigned as board chair of the Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center because of pro-abortion singer Sheryl Crow's appearance at an organizational fundraiser. "It's very painful for me," he said, "but I have to answer to God for the responsibility I have as Archbishop. A Catholic institution featuring a performer who promotes moral evil gives the impression that the Church is somehow inconsistent in its teaching."

Bishop John Nienstedt, New Ulm, Minn. - Long known for challenging Hollywood, stem-cell research and people who chat in church before liturgies, Bishop Nienstedt will succeed Harry Flynn as Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. As Bishop of New Ulm, Nienstedt condemned the heterodox theology of his predecessor Bishop Raymond Lucker, prohibited cohabitating couples from being married in Catholic churches and barred female pastoral administrators from leading prayers at a semiannual leadership event. He once disciplined a priest for holding joint ecumenical services with a Lutheran congregation. In his monthly diocesan column, Nienstedt wrote that people become gay or lesbian as a "result of psychological trauma" when a child is between the ages of 18 months and 3 years. Homosexuality, therefore, "must be understood in the context of other human disorders: envy, malice, greed, etc." He further advised parishioners to avoid the movies Brokeback Mountain - "a story of lust gone bad" - and The Da Vinci Code, based on a novel that is "pure evil in its intent."

Bishop Frank Dewane, Ft. Myers, Fla. - After a concerned parishioner brought Bishop Dewane photographic evidence of an occultic Yoga class being carried out around the altar in her parish chapel, Bishop Dewane immediately ordered the offensive classes discontinued.

Though we may not approve of some (uh, that is, much) of what our bishops say and do, those who truly stand up against heresy and false doctrine in the spirit and power of Elijah (who ordered the false prophets of Baal slain) deserve our commendation.