Judie Brown is a founder of the American Life League, the largest prolife organization in the United States.  Judie has spent her life on the prolife front, writing books and gathering awards along the way.  Her brand new book, The Broken Path, How Catholic Bishops Got Lost in the Weeds of American Politics, is chock-full of data about how the Church in the United States went astray and she does not hesitate to name names  and quote quotes.

To Judie, it is obvious that American Catholics are not much swayed by the Pope.  One thing  wrong with our country is “Americanism.”

No one tells us no. When the Russian president has to comment on the lack of American morals, we know we have reached a special moment in history.  But we don’t care what the Russian says.  We don’t care what the Holy Father says.   We are free. We are not encumbered by anything.

So the morality of American Catholics is no different from that of the rest of the country.

Early on in the book she takes on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, “the best representative of left-wing radicalization in the Church.”  And, according to her,  the US Council of Catholic Bishops is a beaurocratic administrative structure that has no Church authority and is no substitute for a bishop.

When it comes to colleges, Judie feels the Cardinal Newman Society is the most trustworthy source of information about the catholicity of Catholic colleges.  They reported on more than 150 connections between Catholic colleges and Planned Parenthood.    Why do Catholic colleges invite known pro-abortion folks to speak to their students?  She goes into detail about the invitation by Notre Dame to Barack Obama in 2009 to give a commencement address and receive a honorary degree.  I followed this case closely at the time because I know some of the pro-lifers who protested and were arrested for praying on campus.   Father Weslin, who once celebrated mass in my home, was carried off singing Ave, Ave, Ave Maria, questioning  the police as why he was being arrested for protesting abortion on a Catholic campus.  It took two years in court before charges against the 88 arrestees were finally dropped. Judie covers this in some detail.

Canon 915 “mandates that those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin are not to receive  the holy Eucharist.”    When  public figures publicly support abortion, euthanasia, homosexual actions – things considered gravely evil by the Church –  what is a priest to do when they present for Holy Communion?  Judie writes “There is not enough space in this book to mention all of the shepherds who have set forth equally balanced and inspiring teachings in their role as shepherds of souls. ”  In her list of such shepherds she mentions  on page 120 sixteen bishops who have said they would publicly enforce Canon 915.    Others give their reasons why they would not.

Chapter Nine is titled “Obama Plays Catholics for Fools.”    54% of Catholic voters supported Obama for president.  George Neumayr wrote:  “Obama, in his effortless Alinskyite style has exploited this phenomenon to the hilt, seeking out Catholics such as Joe Biden and Kathleen Sebelius to serve as his agents of destruction.”    After discussing “Contraceptive Cowardice,”  “Perverse Health Care Ethics,”  and “Why Do Bishops Reject Personhood?”  Judie Brown concludes in her final chapter, that “Holy Priests are the Cure. ”

There are many quotes, many references, and a fine index.   Judie Brown likes to document her work.   This is a highly  recommended inside look at the Catholic Church today, by a courageous and well-informed truly Catholic woman.