The Catholic Blog of Shane Schaetzel
Some people call me “Dr. Doom.” This is probably because of my pessimistic outlook on some things. I understand. When the only nation you’ve ever known in life is destined to fail, and somebody tells you that, it can be a real drag. If I told you the Roman Empire was destined to fall, that […]
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The video above, from Church Militant, outlines the challenges facing Catholic schools today. It should be noted that Catholics schools have been in consistent decline for fifty years! The COVID-19 pandemic has only served to highlight and accelerate the problem. The chief causes of the decline in Catholic schools are listed as follows… Cost Basic […]
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The above painting serves as a reminder to the Christian reader. As bad as things are, we’ve seen worse. There was once upon a time, near the founding of our great religion, that the world’s greatest superpower turned against us, persecuted us, captured us, and executed us for entertainment. The early Christians were mauled by […]
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There is a saying that “all politics is local,” and it’s most commonly used in the United States. The saying is often ascribed to former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill (Democrat, Massachusetts). Whether or not he actually coined the phrase doesn’t matter. He was right, but not in the way he thought. O’Neill was […]
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America’s Founding Fathers declared their independence from the Protestant King of England, and fought a bloody eight-year war to make it happen. It was a war of secession and insurrection. Normally, I would have a problem with the treasonous acts of the Founding Fathers, but in their particular case (rare as it was), I think […]
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From the President of the United States, down to conservative pundits all over the Internet, there are rumors that a “false flag” insurrection event is about to happen. The theory is that Left-wing, agent provocateurs are attempting to incite “armed protests” by Trump supporters at the United States Capitol Building and at state capitol buildings […]
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The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, along with the Marxist-influenced Democratic Party, has announced they will impeach President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday (January 13, 2021). They have the votes. It will likely be done. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, no friend of President Trump or the “America First” MAGA-Patriot movement, has already called […]
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The disastrous results of the 2020 election have proved a few things. They’re lessons hard learned, but if we are to survive as a free people, we must learn them. The lessons are as follows… The Republican Party (GOP) is essentially dead. The “Republican In Name Only” (RINO) career-politicians have completely turned their backs on […]
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The 2020 election is finally over, and the winner is….. (drum roll)…. CHINA! That’s right, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the big, big winner of the 2020 presidential election. The Democrats, overwhelmingly beholden to the CCP, will soon control not only the Whitehouse, but also both houses of Congress, and if they capitalize on […]
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The above image will undoubtedly be disturbing to most Americans. Some will be inclined to laugh it off. Some will take it more seriously. If we look at maps of Latin-America (Central and South America) this is exactly what they look like. In short, Latin-America looks a lot like Europe with large land masses broken […]
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As a Catholic, writing something like this is sure to raise a few eyebrows, but I feel like it’s necessary. I may be Catholic, but I used to be an Evangelical, and I live in an area where I’m surrounding by Evangelicals of all stripes (Baptists, Pentecostals, Non-denominationals, etc.). I am a convert to the […]
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No matter how you look at it, and no matter how things play out in the months and years ahead, the storm we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Things are about to get very difficult for Faithful and Practicing Catholics in the days ahead. Whether it’s battening down the hatches, or boarding up the […]
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It now appears that Joe Biden is the presumptive winner of the 2020 presidential election. While Donald Trump vows to continue fighting election fraud, and I hope he does, for the good of the nation, it’s unlikely to salvage his presidency. Not only would he have to prove, in court, that enough ballot fraud happened […]
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I have been asked to share my thoughts on the “off the cuff” statements Pope Francis recently made on gay civil unions during a documentary film. Since the Leftist news-media has seized this opportunity to push the homosexual agenda even further, and some Evangelical Protestants are reacting with hysteria, this is probably a good time […]
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What do we call it when a pope doesn’t act like a pope? That’s something modern Catholics struggle with, because for over a century, we’ve had some pretty good popes, including a few Saints! Catholics haven’t had to deal with corrupt popes, or even heretical popes, in a very long time. It’s been centuries. So […]
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Ever since the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court, she has come under relentless attack from media personalities, and political pundits, for her alleged membership in the “dark and mysterious cult” called the ‘People of Praise’ (POP). So what are the ‘People of Praise?’ Are they a cult? I’ll address […]
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The only Good Catholic is a Lapsed Catholic. That’s what the Democrats believe. That’s what they preach. That’s what they demonstrate. And this has been going on for a very, very long time. It’s just now center stage for the first time in a heat of a presidential election. So many Catholics (otherwise clueless on […]
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Words matter, and I think we’ve reached a point in US Catholic history, perhaps long ago, where we really need to start thinking about our vocabulary. There are many different rites, forms, uses and jurisdictions in the Catholic Church. There are Roman Catholics, Byzantine Catholics, Maronite Catholics, Coptic Catholics, English Patrimony Catholics, Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, […]
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As of today, conventional wisdom is predicting more civil unrest in the days ahead, along with a spike in COVID-19 over the fall and winter, accompanied by the flu. In addition, conventional wisdom tells us the election may not be over on election night, due to the large number of mail-in ballots in many states, […]
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The separation of Church and State, as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica, takes on two main forms, classified as American and French. These two are similar, in appearance, but work toward opposite ends. The American form: “as implied in the Constitution of the United States, was supported by a tendency to leave to the church, […]
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As a practicing and faithful Catholic, I find the Democrats’ 2020 presidential ticket insulting. Here’s why. Joe Biden is what we call a heretical or cafeteria Catholic. He says he’s a Catholic, and brags about his Catholic heritage, but when it comes to what the Catholic Church actually teaches on moral issues, he picks and […]
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Secession of the states has been a recurring issue, not just in American politics, but in international politics as well. Recently, we witnessed the secession of the UK from the EU in what was called the #Brexit. Prior to that, there was a failed (but totally legal) secession attempt of Scotland from the UK. There […]
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This essay builds on the logical conclusion that naturally follows my two previous essays on the current state of affairs in American society and the abysmal state of affairs in the Catholic Church. It’s based on realism, not idealism, digesting the data as is, without relying on some pie-in-the-sky hope that God’s just gonna come […]
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Religion demographic polls treat Catholicism like a monolith, as if all Catholics are the same, while they break down Protestantism in detail based on beliefs and social positions. The truth, however, is that Catholicism in America is not nearly as unified as the typical demographers would have us believe. About a year ago, the Pew […]
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This is addressed to all of America’s Christian pastors, both Catholic and Evangelical; NOW is your moment to shine. Don’t miss it!!!!! Allow me to explain. Something very big is happening right now in the United States, and it’s the result of many different factors, but the big catalyst (and perhaps the final straw) is […]
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The first thing we need to understand about these #BlackLivesMatter protests and riots is that they were years in the making. The second thing we need to understand is that they’re not all about racial injustice and police brutality. There is something much deeper at work here. The third thing we need to understand is […]
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There are really only two paths in economics: Moral and Amoral. That’s it. Either economies are governed by a system of morals, or they’re not. That’s all there is to it. Basically, economics is just morality (or lack thereof) by another name. There’s really nothing all that complicated about it. Either we have a moral […]
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In recent weeks we’ve seen a remarkable Marxist coup unfold before our eyes. What began as a credible public-health threat from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Virus, has been hijacked into an attempt by Marxist leaders around the world to seize control of the people, business and economies for the purpose of “restructuring” according to […]
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Something very strange is happening in the world of traditional Catholicism, and I think I know where it’s coming from, but rather than point fingers, I’m just going to explain myself and my position for what it is. Let me finish, then call me what you like. Some very prominent traditional Catholics, who I deeply […]
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What is the real state of the US Catholic Church? Well, it’s not good, but at the same time, it might not be as bad as we think. I started to run some statistics based on the EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Poll of the state of the Catholic Church. I decided that the best way to […]
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