Psycho Santa's Slaying Spree - The Catholic Connection

An eight-year-old girl answered the door this Christmas Eve. It was Santa Claus, holding a big, gift-wrapped package.

He shot her in the face.

She was one of the lucky ones.

So far, the body count is 9, including the ersatz Santa, with one missing. The 'Psycho Santa' story has been international news, ever since Covina, California, police had to keep the fire department away from a burning house. The police had good reason. Early reports said there were still shots coming from the place, and American police have a duty to protect people: including firefighters.

No 'Former Altar Boy' News Coverage This Time

A decade or so back, the phrase "former altar boy" showed up in the news about as often as "Vietnam veteran" had earlier. Whoever had robbed a liquor store or shot a convenience store clerk would be described as 'John Doe, former altar boy.'

There wasn't any connection between John Doe being Catholic, and a criminal: but that's not the impression left by all those 'criminal suspect, former altar boy' articles. After a few years of outfits like Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights pointing this out, The Associated Press and other news services stopped linking criminality and Catholicism.

It's been a long time since I've seen "former altar boy" as the description of a criminal, and that's fine by me.

Psycho Santa, Those Catholics, and the Blogosphere

I'm even more impressed at the lack of anti-Catholic rants (so far) about the Psycho Santa of Covina in the blogosphere.

I so impressed by one post, that I'm copying an excerpt from it:

"An article also noted that Pardo was a devout Catholic, btw. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything other than to point out he seems to have forgotten about 'thou shalt not kill,' or that the civil divorce (there's no report of an annulment, so by his own faith, he was still married in the eyes of the church) somehow sent him over the edge...."
("Pam's House Blend" (December 26, 2008))

Even a blog with posts like "THE CATHOLIC CONNECTION! WHAT DOES A NEW WORLD ORDER HAVE TO DO WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? What do Nazis and Communists Have to do With the Catholic Church?" limited its commentary on the Santa massacre to a factual repeat of what's in the news. (EndrTimes, December 25, 2008, listed below)

I'm not feeling the hate - and don't mind a bit.

Many of the holiest (by their standards) people where I grew up hated Catholicism with a passion. Their malignant virtue made quite an impression on me, and is one reason why I converted to Catholicism. It also, I think, helps explain why I'm a bit surprised at not finding a diatribe about Catholicism causing mass murder.

Maybe the sincere, earnest, people who warn us about the 'Queen of Whores' and the Black Pope will leave the Catholic connection to this horrible crime alone.

Psycho Santa: The Catholic Connection

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo had volunteered to be an usher at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church's Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. He didn't make it this year, since he was busy murdering his wife and in-laws, setting fire to their house, blowing up a rental car, and killing himself at the time.

I'm Not Allowed to Judge Pardo

I have no way of knowing what was going on inside Bruce Jeffrey Pardo's head this Christmas Eve. And I have no business passing judgment on him. That's God's job, not mine. As the Catechism¹ puts it, "although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God." (1861)

So, I am allowed to discuss Mr. Pardo's acts, and express opinions about whether they were naughty or nice.

Murder Isn't Nice, and You Shouldn't do it

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that human life is sacred (2258), and says: "Do not slay the innocent and the righteous." (2261) It follows that you're not supposed to kill your wife - or husband - even if you're in a bad mood.

Suicide is Naughty

The Catholic Church has a few words to say about suicide, including:

"Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of." (2280-2283)

Short version: I'm not supposed to kill myself. God gave me this life, and wouldn't take kindly to my cutting it short.

The Church's stand on suicide is one that I take rather personally, since I thought about killing myself, briefly, several decades ago. I wasn't Catholic at the time, and what stopped me was what I call Scandinavian thinking. My ancestors out-endured glaciers and dire wolves: therefore, I can outlast a foul mood and a few inconveniences. And, as it turned out, I did.

One more thing:

"We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives." (2283)

That's a relief, since a woman who meant a great deal to me killed herself about three decades back, now.

Divorce, Catholic Style

The Pam's House Blend post impressed me, in part because the author knew the difference between a civil divorce and an annulment. Not everybody, including quite a few Catholics, do.

An annulment isn't a "Catholic divorce," it's an official recognition that a sacramental marriage never existed in the first place (1629)

A Catholic marriage is a pretty big deal. It involves a man and a woman willingly giving themselves to each other in a "permanent, covenantal, exclusive, unconditional, life giving, commitment that unites the couple as a sign of Christ’s love" (An Analysis of Diocesan Marriage Preparation Policies," USCCB).

I've run into arguments that the difficulty that Catholics have, trading in their spouse on a newer model, leads to mental suffering and sometimes murder. Having standards of behavior can be stressful, but I don't see the Church's position as particularly oppressive. People can leave the Roman Catholic Church any time they want, and in America there are few legal restrictions on who lives with who: although not every hookup has the same legal standing as a traditional marriage, yet.

Which is a whole different topic.

Back to Covina's Psycho Santa and the Christmas Eve Massacre

More details - and maybe another body - are being pulled out of the wreckage of the Christmas Eve killings. Bruce Pardo and a girlfriend had a baby around nine years ago. The kid fell in a pool, nearly drowned, and was physically handicapped as a result.

For whatever reason, Pardo bailed on that relationship, didn't support his son, but claimed the kid as a deduction on his income tax for seven years.

Also, Pardo didn't tell the woman he killed Christmas Eve about his son.

She found out, which probably had something to do with her going through with a civil divorce.

In a way, I feel almost sorry for Pardo. He lost a deduction, a wife, and his job - no wonder he was upset. About the job: to get a job as an engineer at Northrop Grumman, it helps to say you have a master's degree in the field. It's even better, if you really do have the degree.

Mr. Prado had been enrolled at USC, but hadn't earned a degree. The Los Angeles Times story doesn't say if that's the reason he lost his job, but it can't have helped.

What with one thing and another, Mr. Prado was under a lot of stress. But that's still not a good excuse for what he did.

A Little Good News

The eight-year old girl who was shot by Santa is "doing fine" - all things considered. She's got at least one parent left: her mother has visited her, the LA Times said.

I doubt that she'll ever think of Santa Claus the same way, though.

Views:

• "Psycho Santa opens fire at ex in-laws' home, killing 8"
  Pam Spaulding
  Pam's House Blend (December 26, 2008)
• "Six dead as gun-toting Santa opens fire, kills self"
  Arsenio A. Lembert Jr.
  EndrTimes (December 25, 2008)
• "Six bodies recovered in Covina 'Santa' rampage"
  LA Observed (December 25, 2008)

In the news:

• "Secret child had divided Covina gunman and his wife"
  Los Angeles Times (December 26, 2008)
• "Police Search Burned Killings House"
  American Chronicle (December 26, 2008)
• "Man in Santa suit kills at least eight at Covina party, police say"
  Newsday.com (December 26, 2008)
• "Police on 'Santa' gunman attack"
  BBC (December 26, 2008)
• "Quotations of the day"
  International Herald Tribune (December 26, 2008)
• "Pipebomb explodes in car of Christmas Eve attack suspect"
  CNN (December 26, 2008)
• " 'Santa' shooting rampage in LA "
  Al Jazeera (December 26, 2008)
• "Gunman Kills 8, Self in Los Angeles 'Santa' Massacre"
  FOXNews (December 26, 2008)
• "Death toll from Christmas shooting rises to six"
  Xinhua (December 26, 2008)
• "Suspected Santa gunman takes life; 8 others dead"
  CNN (December 25, 2008)
• "Gunman dressed as Santa Claus was familiar face on block where eight died"
  Los Angeles Times (December 25, 2008)

Background:

• "ANOTHER 'FORMER ALTAR BOY' STORY"
  Catalyst Online (November, 2008)

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¹ Those numbers in parentheses are references in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church."

The True Meaning of Christmas

My wife, and two of my daughters, are at choir practice. Our two other kids are with me, here at home, but they're occupied with their own interests. That leaves me with time to think: something which is not always safe, from some points of view.

Like most Americans, I watch quite a bit of television. Especially, or even, around Christmas. Which means that, several times each year, I hear this phrase:

"The true meaning of Christmas is...." The rest of the sentence is generally something like 'getting together with family,' 'appreciating the ones you love,' 'in your heart,' or something else warm and fuzzy.

Sometimes it's "The real meaning of Christmas..." but the rest's the same.



I've got nothing about feeling the warm fuzzies. I'm a warm, fuzzy kind of guy. Sometimes. My wife sometimes says I'm like a grizzly with a hangover, too, but that's a whole different topic.

Where was I? Oh, right: "The True Meaning of Christmas." The way actors often say it, you can hear the capital letters.

Christmas, in America at least, is a great time for getting together with the rest of the family. Many people have several days off from work and seasonal industries generally don't have much going on, and New Year's is close enough to let people merge the two holidays with personal vacation time for extended trips.

I missed this year's get-together, where my wife's brothers and sisters, their children, their children's spouses, and the generation after that, gather. It's not the big family reunion, which requires the rental of a park in a nearby town, but it's still fun.

I'm getting off-topic again.

I started getting annoyed with "The True Meaning of Christmas" somewhere in my teens. Not because I had a beef with the crass commercialism of the pre-Christmas shopping season: That's actually rather fun.

It was because I found thoughts like 'the true meaning of Christmas is being with friends' dripping through my mind like syrup through oatmeal.

And, much as I enjoyed - and enjoy - the jingle of sleigh bells and cash registers, I was very well aware that "ever o'er its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing." All that glitz and kitsch is, at most, the wrapping and bow. It's not the present.

If all the lights, garlands, gift buying, traffic jams, jangling bells, ho-ho-hoing Santas, weird advertisements, and holiday specials seem hollow, there's a reason. In way too many places, all that hoopla is like a huge, ornate, glittering frame around a blank spot on the wall.

You probably know this already, but I'll say it anyway: Christmas is the holiday when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, often called Jesus Christ. We think it's a rather big deal, because He's the son of God, savior of humanity, and all in all a rather important person. Sort of like a king, the way a president is sort of like a shop foreman.

That's the true meaning of Christmas.



And it's not "...peace on earth" - it's "...peace on earth on those on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2:14) That's a whole new can of worms, though: and my wife's back with the four kids, #2 daughter's boyfriend is making pizza in the kitchen, and it'll be time to eat soon.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or whatever, and may the peace of God be with you.

Oasis Productions: The Future of Catholic Media

"Oasis Productions, Unveiling the Mission" (YouTube (April 16, 2008) video (9:36)), describes the media production company as "the future of Catholic media."

They could be right: I think this outfit will be a part of media over the next several years - and probably decades. Their mission is "to evangelize through television." Sounds like the sort of thing Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen did, years back.



Although "the future of Catholic media" may be overstating its position a bit, in a world where EWTN is a global Catholic network, I think Oasis Productions is going to be on the media map for quite a long time.

I hope so, anyway: we can use this sort of media.

Their website is oasisproductions.org.

Playboy Cover Didn't Play With Mary: Allegedly

My first reaction to seeing Playboy Mexico's December cover was a rude laugh. I might not have thought it was so funny, if I hadn't first learned that the publisher claimed that it wasn't meant to represent the Virgin Mary.

It's not just the cloth over the model's head, and the caption, "Te Adoramos María" ("We adore you, Mary."), that makes that claim a crude joke. Gimme a break: There's a stained glass window in the background.

Granted, the window's pattern isn't particularly Christian, but in most western cultures, stained glass in a Gothic arch says "church."

Mary, the Playboy Cover Girl

Sure, it's blasphemous. I'd say that Mexico's Playboy magazine had hit bottom, but the cover doesn't show her butt, just part of her left breast: and nobody's getting hit.

What's really interesting is the bald-faced, unbelievable, pathetic lie of an "apology" that the magazine made. Actually, both magazines. The Mexican Playboy magazine seems to be published independently of the American periodical. Here's what the magazines said, according to Reuters:

"...'While Playboy Mexico never meant for the cover or images to offend anyone, we recognize that it has created offense, and we as well as Playboy Mexico offer our sincerest apologies,' the statement said.

"Raul Sayrols, publisher of Playboy Mexico, said in a statement, 'The image is not and never was intended to portray the Virgin of Guadalupe or any other religious figure. The intent was to reflect a Renaissance-like mood on the cover.'..." [Emphasis mine]

The Virgin of Guadalupe, maybe not. The Virgin Mary: With "Te Adoramos María" printed right under her ribs and a stained glass window in the background, it's a little hard not to make the connection. Even after you find out that the model's name is Maria Florencia Onori. "Maria" - "We adore you, Maria" is about the model, not the Virgin Mary, get it? Get it?

Yeah, I got it.

Instead of letting myself fume about this, I'll recommend reading a post written by Fr. Jonathan Morris: "Playboy 'Apologizes' for Nude Virgin of Guadalupe Cover." I think he makes a good point or two about the Mexican Playboy cover; and a remarkably silly, and wildly inaccurate, story that Time published about the previous pope.

I suppose I should be more upset, but Playboy Mexico's doing cosplay with the Virgin Mary is just more of the same. I've gotten used to living in a society where the Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibited a portrait of the Virgin Mary, decorated with elephant dung. A "resin-covered lump of elephant dung," as Wikipedia and quite a few other sources put it.

At least in this case, Mexican Catholics didn't have their tax money used to insult their faith. As far as I know.

News and views:

• "Playboy Depicts Virgin Mary?"
  KNX10.70 (undated)
• "Priest: Playboy cover resembling Mary 'desperate,' 'blasphemous' "
  CNN (December 15, 2008)
• "Nude Virgin Mary cover prompts Playboy apology"
  Reuters (December 15, 2008)
• "Playboy 'Apologizes' for Nude Virgin of Guadalupe Cover"
  FOX News Blogs » FOX Forum » Fr. Jonathan Morris (December 15, 2008)
• "Mexican Playboy Publishes Nude Virgin Mary on Cover"
  FOXNews (December 12, 2008)