Today, I want everyone to do something for me. We just recently had the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, so this should be easy. I want you to try to remember what you felt like on 9/11. Remember the fear, the panic, the betrayal. Remember how perfectly commonplace landmarks that had always been there became images of horror. Or if you can’t remember because you were too young, try to imagine how it would feel. I talked a little… Read more
September 14, 2019
Father Leo Patalinghug’s Unchaste Aerobics
September 14, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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I don’t usually pay much mind to Father Leo Patalinghug. He’s just one of those celebrity priests who posts things on Twitter. But today, he grabbed my attention and that of quite a few people in a worrying way. Today, Father Leo shared a short video taken of some kind of aerobics class, which involved a group of women in hot pants vibrating their butts. I’m not going to link to that because, while I think the women were just… Read more
September 14, 2019
Bransfield, West Virginia, and the Tragedy of Greed
September 14, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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I am grateful to the Washington Post for keeping up their excellent reporting on the sickening case of ex-Bishop Bransfield’s sinful excesses. I commented on their last piece earlier this summer, and now they’ve released another. This one goes into more detail about how Bransfield lived during the thirteen years he was the shepherd of the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia, one of the poorest states in America. We get to hear about how, when the Catholics of West… Read more
September 12, 2019
“Stay With Us” Says the USCCB, But Can They Hear Themselves?
September 12, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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In case you haven’t noticed, the Church is a ghastly mess. I almost said “an ungodly mess,” but that’s not the case at all. God is here, suffering with us. But the hierarchy’s sins are being laid bare and we see that the Bride of Christ was abused by the people who were supposed to be her caretakers, and she is a mess. At the moment we are all watching the Diocese of Buffalo fall apart in real time,… Read more
September 11, 2019
To the Generation that has Grown Up Since 9/11
September 11, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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As I write this, it is a few minutes after midnight on September 11, 2019. A moment ago, people born on September 11, 2001, turned eighteen years old. A moment ago, there were still a few people who were minors before or during the 9/11 attacks on America. Now there aren’t. Today, everyone born before or during the 9/11 attacks is a grown-up. Everyone born after them is still a child. I once saw a meme on Facebook, a… Read more
September 10, 2019
To The Survivor Who Might Be Considering Suicide
September 10, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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A friend shared a long public facebook status from somebody else this morning, and the status puzzled me, and then it made me sad. It was one of those messages people write for any person who sees it and who happens to be contemplating suicide. It began “if you commit suicide today,” and it led the reader through a series of speculations on what the people around you would do. “The person you love most will find your body. She’ll… Read more
September 7, 2019
What is Spiritual Abuse?
September 7, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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It’s now September. the time of year when I’ll start re-sharing my posts on the Satanic Panic and Halloween. And in the news we have the story of Father Reehill, the eccentric priest who banned Harry Potter because he thought the spells were real– and, of course, the news is now coming out that this is not the first time Father Reehill has acted irrationally. Concerned parents have met with the diocese about him on three separate occasions because… Read more
September 4, 2019
Fear is Not a Virtue, and Fairy Tales are Harmless
September 4, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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As predicted, I’ve gotten quite a bit of feedback on my post from yesterday about how the Harry Potter novels aren’t real. And most of it has been positive, but I’ve also gotten some feedback from people telling me I’m mistaken. The arguments for Harry Potter actually being demonic seem to go like this: “the novel portrays the practice of magic as if it’s morally neutral. In real life, if you actually attempted to say a magic word to cause… Read more
September 3, 2019
Dear Father Reehill: Harry Potter Isn’t Real
September 3, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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I don’t want to talk about Harry Potter. I don’t like the Harry Potter series very much. It’s not terrible, it’s just predictable and not my cup of tea. Maybe the problem is that I didn’t read the books until I was in my twenties, but they just don’t send me. I prefer Madeline L’engle, or Diana Wynne Jones, or Neil Gaiman. But for some reason, undead remnants of the Satanic Panic never rise up and attach themselves to… Read more
September 2, 2019
Pretending Not to Look
September 2, 2019 By Mary Pezzulo
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Michael was still in the shower when our ride pulled up to take us to Mass. I was cross. I am picky about being late, especially for Mass. I called to him to hurry up and went out, grumbling. The lady who gives us rides was patiently waiting behind the wheel, but she wasn’t watching us. She was watching the police cars down the street; there were three of them, and one ambulance. Another ambulance rolled up beside us… Read more
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