Voice of the Faithful Long Island continue to show their complete ignorance by inviting clueless speakers such as Paul Lakeland. Here is some of his "wisdom" he imparted to the foolish old folks of VOTF:

"Demand access to the Eucharist, for it is your right! Do not participate in para-liturgies in the absence of a priest."

"The single best thing that we could do for the Church would be to remove the Bishops and replace them with well trained Sisters. "

"He feels that VOTF’s aim to keep away from doctrinal issues is naïve. "

I have a better idea: VOTF should accept all the doctrines of the Catholic Church, the liberal bishops should be replaced by orthodox ones, and people should attend Masses on all Sundays and Holy Days, even it means traveling to overcrowded Churches. Here is another idea: Instead of spending $6,000 on a full page ad in Newsday, VOTF should donate all that money to the Sisters of Life, or the Franciscans Friars of the Renewal, or Aid to the Church in Need. But the most interesting part of Lakeland's talk had to be this statement:

"By way of introduction, he reviewed problems plaguing the Church: the sexual scandal, shortage of priests, financial problems and poor ecclesiastical leadership. Recent news from Rome such as more frequent celebration of the Latin Mass is hardly encouraging."

HUH?! Why is the celebration of the Latin Mass hardly encouraging with regard to the problems of the Church. More reverence in the Liturgies, more holiness in priests, and more of a traditional understanding of Catholicism is exactly what is needed. Lakeland, and VOTF just do not get it.

The Golden Compass

Apparently the author of the books that spawned the movie The Golden Compass is an anti-Catholic bigot and a subversive atheist. The movie reviewers at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gave the movie a positive review despite the author's publicly stated intention:

"He told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003, for example, that "my books are about killing God," and that he was amused that American Christians have been more critical of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books than His Dark Materials.
"I've been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything old Harry has said," Mr. Pullman said.
He has stated a number of times that he wrote His Dark Materials in part to counter the Christian themes and values woven into C.S. Lewis' literary children's classic, The Chronicles of Narnia."

American Papist has been following the story and reports that the USCCB has now withdrawn the movie review. This is yet another story that confirms that pressure from people (The Catholic League, bloggers, etc..) is still needed to get the Bishops to do the right things. Both Thomas Peters at American Papist and Amy Welborn at Charlotte Was Both have asked whether the USCCB needs to have a movie reviewer, and both have mentioned that Stephen Gredanus already does a better job than the people paid by the USCCB.