Author Archives: Doug Fuda

About Doug Fuda

Doug Fuda is a Catholic returnee. He lives in Roslindale, MA and he runs a Boston CAM Meetup.

The IRISHMAN

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“I caught him, with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world, and still to bring him back with a twitch upon the thread.“ — Father Brown in the The Queer Feet by G. K. Chesterton.

When I watched The IRISHMAN the first time I didn’t know what to expect. I thought it would be another fictional Mafia saga like The Godfather. But when I realized it was a factual account of real people and events I was hooked. I have always been an amateur history buff and I was fascinated by how the movie revealed new angles to approach many historical events that had occurred in my lifetime. Jimmy Hoffa’s rise and fall as president of the Teamsters, collaboration of the CIA and the Mob in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Bobby Kennedy vs. the Mob, Mob involvement in the JFK assassination, Hoffa’s release from prison and pardon by Nixon. The IRISHMAN saga weaves it all together in a fascinating and provocative manner alongside the recollections of Frank Sheeran, the main character in the story.

So I watched the movie twice and then I read the book it was based on, I Heard You Paint Houses, by Charles Brandt. I was most interested in how the war experience of Frank Sheeran might have affected him and also in the fact that Frank and many of the largely Italian mob figures in the story were baptized Catholics.

The WWII combat participation of Frank Sheeran was intense, violent and traumatic. It is dealt with superficially in the movie but in the book there is much more detail and the author makes it clear that Frank learned to kill in the Army and he learned to take orders without question. These “skills” served him well during his many years spent as a mob thug and hitman. Today we might say that his apparent lack of a conscience was a result of PTSD, but I won’t go there. He does seems throughout most of the book like something less than a man. There’s something missing.

Of great interest for Catholics, Charles Brandt presents evidence in the book that Frank may have repented of his many sins near the end of his life. In prison one day, Frank sees his former “commander-in-chief,” Russell Bufalino, the infamous and powerful mob boss, being pushed in a wheelchair to the prison chapel. Frank laughs and Russell tells him:

“Don’t laugh, my friend. When you get to be my age you’ll realize there’s something more than this.”

Frank acknowledges to the author that “Those words stayed with me all these years.”

Frank’s daughters were obviously concerned for his soul and that (according to Frank) “if I died I couldn’t be buried in a Catholic cemetery.” They arranged to get him to see a priest. I wanted to believe that this very dark and terrifying life story somehow could end as a story of redemption. I had a question so I emailed Charles Brandt to clarify one particular fact and he very graciously responded and gave me permission to post the email exchange. Here it is:

“Hello Mr. Brandt,

….I am most interested in how the war experience of Frank might have affected him and also in the Catholic angle which is very evident in the book but less so in the movie. You present evidence in the book that Frank may have repented of his many sins near the end of his life. ….

But I have a question. You wrote that Frank committed suicide because he stopped eating until he died. Do you think that it was actually a deliberate, conscious act on his part or were there mitigating circumstances such as mental confusion, physical suffering, ignorance of Church teaching, etc.”

__________________________

“Hi Doug,

Thank you for your interest and questions.

I don’t know but I doubt that Frank knew the Church’s position on suicide. We never discussed it. He did repent but he had a humorous way of expressing it. IF I DID ALL THE THINGS THEY ALLEGE THAT I DID AND I HAD TO DO THEM OVER I WOULDN’T DO THEM. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT THE WAR PREPARED HIM for crime. It was the hardest thing to get him to speak about. He sought Absolution from three priests and got it. The last thing he and I did on tape was a Hail Mary and Lord’s Prayer. At his suggestion. But he struggled with the words.

A few years ago the Pope publicly asked Mafia figures to repent. I wished I could have told him at the time of Frank’s having already done so.

Regards,

Charlie”

“Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let thy perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.”

The Catholic China Syndrome

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You probably have heard of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Well there is another syndrome out there.  It’s called China Derangement Syndrome and it is infecting many good faithful Catholics in a big way. It has reached new extremes since the pandemic began.

This syndrome is easy to find among the more conservative, traditionalist Catholic writers on the internet.

Here are some examples:

Blogger John Zmirak:

“If we can verify that China protected its own citizens from this virus, while sending those likely infected all around the world like human bioweapons … that’s an act of war.
And a much more infamous one than Pearl Harbor, in fact. At least that sneak attack targeted soldiers, not old people in nursing homes.”

Michael Brendan Dougherty at National Review Online:

“Incorporating China into the global order was supposed to bring about an internal reform of the Chinese Communist Party and the liberalization of the Chinese state and society. Instead, China has used its access to international institutions to whitewash its behavior, spread propaganda about the competence of its state, corrupt business, and make something as simple as cellphone towers a national-security threat. The Chinese Communist Party has infected global institutions and markets with its amorality and lawlessness. The cure will be tough and costly, but the disease is worse.”

At Church Militant, where they always refer to the virus as the “Wuhan virus:”

“In either case, this nightmare scenario was brought to you by the Chinese Communist Party — emphasis on communists — either engineering a killer virus to control populations, or creating an environment where people are so deprived that eating raw, sometimes live animals, is a necessity.”

At Lifesite News, from a report on a Chinese dissident:

“During last week’s interview Chen issued a stark warning to leaders throughout the world, saying: ‘If free nations do not face the difficult task of deciding how to eradicate communist authoritarianism – a cancer on humanity – they will become its victims.’”

Patrick Coffin interviews retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding:

“A war against the United States and the West has been raging under our noses for decades. This war is by definition covert and has many fronts: military, technological, political, and social.
The problem is so few people know it is being waged. Until now. Retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding, a China expert and former Defense Attache to China in Bejing, China, has written a jaw-dropping book that every American should read. It’s called Stealth War: How China Took Over While America’s Elites Slept.”

Steve Bannon, the brilliant Catholic political strategist, and Steve Mosher, a prominent pro-life Catholic activist, have teamed up with a rogues gallery of anti-China militants to throw down the gauntlet against the CCP at the Committee on the Present Danger: CHINA

The Committee states in its “guiding principles” that:

“The United States is likely to face in the foreseeable future a determined and aggressive superpower adversary, prepared and willing to use force, as well as non-military forms of warfare, to defeat this country decisively. The PRC’s aggressive actions are increasingly putting at risk its own people and environment and that of the rest of the world.”

Bannon himself has said (in March 2016) that

“We’re going to war [with China] in the South China Sea in five to 10 years.”

With all due respect, before these American Catholics devote themselves to “liberating” the Chinese people, they should consider devoting themselves to liberating America and Americans from slavish devotion to violence and militarism, not to mention abortion, divorce, contraception, pornography, same sex “marriage,” man-hating feminism, and now the insane gender ideology. And in doing so perhaps they can stop America from exporting these evils to the rest of the world.

For Catholics, of course, forced abortions in China are a monstrous evil. The China “one child policy” was demonic and the Chinese leaders who imposed it on an unwilling populace will have to answer to God for that. But, God help us, here in America abortion is a “civil right” and people clamor for it and celebrate it. Many Americans, including Catholics, voluntarily collaborate with the abortion regime in numerous ways. What is desperately required here is conversion and repentance. How do the anti-China militants propose to convert Americans from their self-imposed slavery by getting into a war with a nuclear power on the other side of the world?

These folks are doing a great disservice to unborn babies and the pro-life movement in general by associating it with American militarist paranoia and agitating for a potential WWIII with a country which does not threaten us militarily. Communist authoritarianism, although it sure ain’t what it used to be, may be a “cancer on humanity,” but so is a violent, declining and decadent American Empire and it is our cancer and we are responsible for preventing its spread and eliminating it.

End the Spiritual Quarantine by Easter

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The following is a copy of an email I have sent to many Catholics in the Boston area who are on my contact list.

____________________________

Dear fellow Catholics,

Governor Baker’s latest order has closed all non-essential places of business. But the long list of exempt essential services includes grocery stores, pharmacies and even hardware stores and liquor stores. Cardinal Raymond Burke has written an excellent article about the crisis we face. It’s a long article, but if you read it, I hope you will be convinced that we need to open the Churches and restore the Mass in the Boston Archdiocese. April 7 would be a good target date, in time for Holy Week and Easter.

I have clipped a few of the most important passages from Cardinal Burke’s article and pasted them below in bold.

In a time of severe crisis, and faced with widespread illness and so much talk of death, it is likely that many fallen-away Catholics will be thinking about returning and many non-Catholics or even atheists will consider that they should turn to God, but they have nowhere to go if practicing Catholics are isolated with no possibility to publicly demonstrate their Faith and the need for spiritual as well as secular efforts to combat the virus.

I suggest that as many people as possible circulate the link to the article widely. Send it to family, friends, fellow parishioners, your pastor, Archdiocesan officials, even Cardinal O’Malley if you can figure out how to do that. Or if you prefer, just forward this email, perhaps including a personal message as well.

https://www.cardinalburke.com/presentations/combat-against-coronavirus

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“In combatting the evil of the coronavirus, our most effective weapon is, therefore, our relationship with Christ through prayer and penance, and devotions and sacred worship. We turn to Christ to deliver us from pestilence and from all harm, and He never fails to respond with pure and selfless love. That is why it is essential for us, at all times and above all in times of crisis, to have access to our churches and chapels, to the Sacraments, and to public devotions and prayers.

Just as we are able to purchase food and medicine, while taking care not to spread the coronavirus in the process, so also we must be able to pray in our churches and chapels, receive the Sacraments, and engage in acts of public prayer and devotion, so that we know God’s closeness to us and remain close to Him, fittingly calling upon His help. Without the help of God, we are indeed lost. Historically, in times of pestilence, the faithful gathered in fervent prayer and took part in processions.”

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“Many with whom I am in communication, reflecting upon the present worldwide health crisis with all of its attendant effects, have expressed to me the hope that it will lead us – as individuals and families, and as a society – to reform our lives, to turn to God Who is surely near to us and Who is immeasurable and unceasing in His mercy and love towards us. There is no question that great evils like pestilence are an effect of original sin and of our actual sins. God, in His justice, must repair the disorder which sin introduces into our lives and into our world. In fact, He fulfills the demands of justice by His superabundant mercy.”

********************

“In our totally secularized culture, there is a tendency to view prayer, devotions and worship like any other activity, for example, going to the cinema or to a football game, which is not essential and therefore can be cancelled for the sake of taking every precaution to curb the spread of a deadly contagion. But prayer, devotions and worship, above all, Confession and the Holy Mass, are essential for us to remain healthy and strong spiritually, and for us to seek God’s help in a time of great danger for all. Therefore, we cannot simply accept the determinations of secular governments, which would treat the worship of God in the same manner as going to a restaurant or to an athletic contest. Otherwise, the people who already suffer so much from the results of the pestilence are deprived of those objective encounters with God Who is in our midst to restore health and peace.

We bishops and priests need to explain publicly the necessity of Catholics to pray and worship in their churches and chapels, and to go in procession through the streets and ways, asking God’s blessing upon His people who suffer so intensely. We need to insist that the regulations of the State, also for the good of the State, recognize the distinct importance of places of worship, especially in time of national and international crisis. In the past, in fact, governments have understood, above all, the importance of the faith, prayer and worship of the people to overcome a pestilence.

Even as we have found a way to provide for food and medicine and other necessities of life during a time of contagion, without irresponsibly risking the spread of the contagion, so, in a similar way, we can find a way to provide for the necessities of our spiritual life. We can provide more opportunities for the Holy Mass and devotions at which a number of faithful can participate without violating necessary precautions against the spread of contagion. Many of our churches and chapels are very large. They permit a group of the faithful to gather for prayer and worship without violating the requirements of ‘social distance.’ …If a church or chapel does not have a sufficiently large staff to be able to disinfect regularly the pews and other surfaces, I have no doubt that the faithful, in gratitude for the gifts of the Holy Eucharist, Confession, and of public devotion, will gladly assist.”

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In Christ,

Doug Fuda
Boston MA

Peter Jackson’s Masterpiece is Here.

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But we’re not talking about the Lord of the Rings! They Shall Not Grow Old is a magnificent, haunting film by Mr. Jackson. Highly recommended for history buffs, movie lovers, audio/video tech enthusiasts, progressives, libertarians, liberals, conservatives, especially Catholic conservatives. In fact, just about everybody should see this movie. It’s rated R (for scenes of war violence and gore) but parents should give serious consideration to watching it with their older children. Part of being a mature adult is to have some grasp of the realities of war portrayed here. This documentary is a powerful antidote to the usual cinematic and cultural glorification of violence that Americans are exposed to everyday.

WW1 has been called “the greatest cataclysm in human history,” leading inexorably to the destruction of Christian civilization. It’s important to know something about it because when we survey the societal wreckage around us, it’s a good starting point for those who want to think about “where things went wrong.” This film is a wonderful technical and humanitarian achievement, but it is limited in that it is strictly about the British experience, it has no discernible political viewpoint and, somewhat strangely, contains practically no references to spiritual values among the millions-strong army of Christians. It’s now out on DVD, but seeing it on the big screen with a large audience is highly recommended, so if you get a chance to do that, jump at it.

Here are excerpts from three thoughtful and provocative reviews/commentaries by Catholic writers.

From “The Veneer of Civilization Slipped Away” by Jeffrey A. Tucker:

“The narrative is genius storytelling, somehow taking this ghastly, complex, ignored series of events with strange beginnings and turning it into a deeply engaging human drama about the mystically evil event we call war which baptizes mass murder and death in the cleansing waters of patriotic fervor.”

From “‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ is a Powerful, Beautiful Picture of the Ugliness of War” by John Zmirak:

“Instead of gray ghosts, the soldiers shine forth luminously as men like you and me. The decades melt away, and we can see ourselves in these men in the trenches…

These British men give us a glimpse of the Christian civilization which existed before the Great War, which that savage strife did so much to hollow out and destroy.”

From “CHRIST or DEATH: The Choice of 1914” by Hilary White:

“The result of this rejection of Christ the King has been a descent into chaos that can now only be answered by the rise of the all-powerful State, backed up by the death-machines.”

Don’t miss this movie and please tell others about it.

Are Drone Strikes Cowardly?

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To ask the question is to know the answer.

From William J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF):

“America likes to fancy itself the ‘home of the brave,’ a land of ‘heroes’ and ‘warriors.’ But how heroic is it to launch a Hellfire missile from a drone, without any risk to yourself?  Aren’t warriors supposed to be on the receiving end of elemental violence as well as being the inflictors of it?”

Christians and the Temptations of Nationalism

“When in the 1950s I asked my (then orthodox and rigidly catechized) American Catholic students: ‘Are you an American who happens to be a Catholic, or are you a Catholic who happens to be an American?’ all of them chose the former.”

“When Germany invaded Russia, Hitler ex­pected Catholics to support his ‘crusade’ against atheistic Bolshevism. No matter how wrong the ideas and the practices of Commu­nism, Jaegerstaetter said, this was but another invasion wrought upon innocent people. There was nothing in the practices and doctrines of Nazism that was preferable to those of Communism.”

The following article is very relevant to our times even though it was written in 1992. It is reposted with the kind permission of the folks at the New Oxford Review — D.F.

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The “God and Country” Trap

Christians and the Temptations of Nationalism

By John Lukacs
November 1992

John Lukacs is Professor of History at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and a Contributing Editor of the NOR. His latest book is The Duel, 10 May-31 July 1940: The Eighty-Day Struggle Between Churchill and Hitler.

This article is adapted with permission of Ticknor & Fields from his book The End of the Twentieth Century, forthcoming in early 1993.

The decline of religion, and of the influ­ence of the churches, became more and more evident during the 18th century, at the end of which it seemed as if that decline were irre­versible. (In 2,000 years of history, the prestige of the papacy was never as low as in 1799.) Then there came an unexpected Catholic and ultramontane revival; but the decline, by and large, went on during the 19th century, and continued during the 20th. Even some atheists and agnostics regretted this on occasion: Orwell once wrote that the greatest loss for Western civilization was the vanishing of the belief in the immortality of the soul. That is a difficult subject, because it is not as ascertain­able how men and women (how, rather than how much) believed in the immortality of the soul 250 years ago. But Orwell was right when he wrote that faith and credulity are different things.

Most people (including intellectuals, theo­logians, ecclesiastical historians) think that the decline of religious belief has been due to the rise of the belief in science. That may have been true in the 19th century, but even then the evidence is not clear. The decline of re­ligious belief did not necessarily correspond to the rise of belief in science. Samuel Butler’s vehement rejection of Darwin did not lead to the recovery of his religion. Henry Adams’s discovery of the Virgin did not lead to his re­jection of his own mechanistic-deterministic view of history. Now, at the end of the 20th century, many people respect religion as well as science, together; but respect for the former is faint. This has something to do with the fact that we have declined to a stage lower than hypocrisy, the problem being no longer the difference between what people say and what they believe; now the difference seems to be between what people think they believe and what they really believe.

Actually, the great threat to religious faith in our time — more precisely, to the quality and meaning of faith — is nationalism. The democratization of the churches has led to that; but that is only secondary to the demo­cratization of entire societies. The primary element is that the religion of the nation, the sentimental symbols of the nation, are more powerful than religious faith, especially when they are commingled. Nationalism, I repeat, is the only popular religio (religion: binding be­lief) in our times. That won’t last forever; but there it is. Continue reading →

Get out of Yemen!

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Dear CAM Friends,

Below is a copy of a message that I have sent to my U.S. Senators urging them to support S.J. Res. 54. I urge you to look into this matter and consider contacting your Senators also. In most cases you can’t email them directly but you can fill out a form on their website to send them a message. This is a remarkable bipartisan effort and has support from both left and right on the internet which is amazing in this time of a sharply divided America. Just having this debate would be beneficial in my opinion. Here are some links that provide background information.

Win Without War

Stop the War

from The American Conservative

from Breitbart.com

Thanks,

Doug Fuda

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Dear Senator _________

I strongly urge you to support S.J.Res. 54, introduced by Senators Lee (R-UT) and Sanders (I-VT), along with Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). This important legislation invokes section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to require a debate and vote on ending unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen’s civil war. U.S. participation in the Saudi and United Arab Emirates (UAE)-led coalition’s military operations in Yemen has not been authorized by either a congressional declaration of war nor a specific statute. Further, by providing technical, logistical and other military support for the Saudi and UAE-led coalition in Yemen, the U.S. has facilitated numerous violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen and the creation of the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. It is imperative that the Senate reasserts Congress’ constitutional authority as the sole body that can declare war by passing S.J.Res. 54. I urge you to take the first step in reasserting Congress’ authority by co-sponsoring the resolution and voting for it when it comes to the Senate floor.

Sincerely,

Doug Fuda

Beware the “Jealous State”

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Have Yourself a Very Subversive Christmas

by Mike Pakaluk

“But it might do us good to amplify the crèche scene, to include the whole Christmas reality – not (foolishly) buff naked men with washboard abs – but, in the background and among the shadows, a tall, wraith-like, and sinister figure, brandishing a sword. More than the greed of a Scrooge threatens the spirit of Christmas. He stands for the jealous State, and he threatens anyone who would dare honor this newborn child as ‘my liege and sovereign Lord.’”

Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!

 

100 years after Fatima

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See the video below of the magnificent Mass and ceremony that took place in San Francisco on October 7. Witness the consecration of the Archdiocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

Archbishop Cordileone tells us in his homily that the “century through which we have just passed was nothing other than an experience of hell.” 100 years of wars, genocides, moral depravity and blasphemy.

And then he tells us what we must do in order to have hope that the next century might be “radically different,” so that the twin goals of Fatima might be realized, the goals of world peace and saving souls. He issues a “call to spiritual arms” as an antidote to the mocking of God which only leads to self-destruction.

Archbishop Cordileone asks Catholics to honor Our Lady’s Fatima requests by praying the Rosary, and practicing penance and adoration. Please help spread the word to every diocese in the U.S.

And please remember how this evil century (“a living reflection of hell”) began. In 1917, the ongoing slaughter of WWI provoked communist revolution in Russia, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies, and U.S. Catholic leaders tragically engineered the widespread capitulation of American Catholicism to the false god of American militarism. Can the next 100 years be different?

 

The Merchants of Death

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Remarkably and unexpectedly American Catholics have been thrust onto the world stage by the election of Donald Trump. Trump made many promises to Catholics. He was and still is surrounded by Catholic advisors, and the Catholic vote was critical to his election. With great power comes great responsibility. President Trump’s increased military spending and in particular the disgusting arms deal with Saudi Arabia directly contradicts Catholic values and we need to let him know it. Loud and clear.