Faith Selling

We were recently looking for a new bookkeeper and one of our applicants seemed like he would be a good fit for the business, until I gave him a background check request. He said that he had provided references and would be happy to provide more but didn’t see why a background check was necessary. I told him that when it came to handling the financial data of our company and of our customers, prudence would demand that I do a background check on someone who was a complete stranger. Following that answer he withdrew his offer.

Have you ever done a Google search on a name? It’s amazing what is in newspaper archives.

Apart from the prudence of doing background checks, Visa and Mastercard require that in order to process their cards, business must follow PCI DSS requirements. (Details here) Vendors who don’t follow these requirements, apart from being careless with their customers’ information, are risking having their merchant accounts revoked. Part of the standard requires that anyone who handles credit card data be subjected to a background check.

We recently noticed that our church goods section had grown large enough to justify having its own site. We are now announcing the launch of the best church supply site on the Web: Catholic Church Supply. This site has everything from clergy shirts to tabernacles as well as vestments and chalices. If it’s for liturgical use, you can bet we have it.

It must be because of China’s history of religious freedom. Or not.

No, it must be because China has decided to recognize Taiwan’s independence. Or not.

Yep, just when you thought the Chinese government was just a bunch of corrupt murderers, they have taken on a kinder, gentler face. Now they are concerned with social justice. How exactly? By fining rich people more than they fine regular people for violating the one-child policy.

I’m sure that this won’t lead to more abortions and sterilizations.

It appears that we aren’t the only ones who were subject to banking fraud by Catholic Online. The district attorney of Kern County in California has subpoenaed the president of Catholic Online, Michael Galloway, to answer for numerous complaints filed by non-profits and at least one diocese.

If you are owed money by Catholic Financial Services, you can file a complaint with the DA here.

You might also want to contact webBASIS, the web services company that hosts Catholic Financial Services and is, surprise, surprise, run by Michael Galloway, to ask them why their CEO is defrauding Catholic Organizations.

Well, it is official as of Saturday. The 1962 Missal promulgated by Blessed Pope John XXIII will again be allowed as a valid option throughout the world. If you are in need of supplies for this liturgy, including Tridentine missals, music, Latin resources or Tridentine vestments, we’ve got the goods.

So, just how dangerous was that new letter to China that the Pope issued last week? Dangerous enough to get it banned from Chinese websites.

But, as some Catholic gift suppliers have told us, the factories there are run humanely and follow proper safety procedures, so it’s all good. Unless you are making bricks. Or fireworks. Or fur coats. Or toothpaste. Or cough medicine. Or pet food. Or processing fish. But apart from that, everything is fine. Unless you have a problem with China threatening military action against Taiwan.

But apart from child slavery, cruelty to animals, toxins in your medicine and food, the destruction of Marian shrines, threats of military force against Taiwan, the imprisonment of Catholic bishops, the burning of churches, forced organ harvesting, forced sterilization and abortion and the persecution of Christians in general, everything is fine in China.

I can’t understand why anyone would have a problem buying products from there.

After last week’s news that the Catholic Press Association had given a first place award to the website of the U.S. Anti-Catholic, comes another example of how the CPA is actually a dissident organization that likes to give awards to other dissidents.

Dick (don’t call me Father) Vosko received a first place award for his latest church destruction manual.

Here are some choice quotes from the review:

Rather than highly formal and rigid styles of traditional church architecture, such as spires, bell towers and stained-glass windows, Vosko prefers a simpler, familial style.

For anyone who has ever seen his work, you will realize that to him “simpler, familial style” has an uncanny similarity to East German apartment buildings.

His concepts favor semicircle seating with sloped floors. The overall effect is a more interactive space for congregants. His designs are also light and airy and make use of wood and other materials that create a warm, inviting space.

Yep, this design (among many others) just screams hospitality. If you think nuclear silos and auditoriums are warm and inviting.

“I want to be practical and modern in addressing a changing church, but nothing in my design is theologically unorthodox,” Vosko said. “If churches aren’t modern, they aren’t reflecting today’s worshipers very well.”

Uh, sure. For a lengthy look at Dick (don’t call me Father) Vosko’s theology, read the St. Catherine Review. A choice quote that he has used in multiple projects:

“One reason why our churches are so susceptible to crime is because they are empty during the week. Maybe people who have organized vigils before the sacrament—that’s a wonderful practice to keep vigil—to take turns keeping vigil over the Blessed Sacrament that is primarily saved to take to the sick and dying—that is what the Church teaches us. I think that’s a wonderful practice, to take turns keeping watch, just in case your mother or father needs Holy Communion on their death bed. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you can go to the tabernacle and find the Body of Christ in it?”

Yes, this is the man to whom the Catholic Press Association gives accolades. It’s really just a self-perpetuating heresy machine.

Some more on all you stupid people who like your quaint traditions and can’t handle a new Mass translation.

• was holding several thousand dollars of your money.
• hadn’t released the money to you even though you had requested its dispersement three months earlier.
• doesn’t ever answer the phone.
• doesn’t ever respond to voice mail.
• doesn’t ever respond to email unless you make threats.
• lies about receiving documentation you sent.
• does not follow its own dispute resolution policy.

I think that would be called theft and fraud and such a company should be shut down and exposed publicly for stealing peoples’ money.

But then again, this is Catholic land so organizations such as Catholic Financial Services and its parent company Catholic Online will most likely never be exposed for criminal behavior outside of this blog.

That frequently the parish / school which without fail asks you for donations for some raffle every year is the same one that has never returned one phone call when your store has tried to work with them as a supplier for materials?