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PEGGY ANN CARBONE, RIP

2/27/2025

 

Thursday, February 6, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: C. J. Doyle
[email protected]
www.fosbc.org

PEGGY ANN CARBONE, RIP
The Friends of Saint Benedict Center today are mourning the loss of Peggy Ann Carbone, of Richmond, New Hampshire, who died, surrounded by her loving family, on January 31st.
Peggy, who endured, with serenity and Christian fortitude, a protracted illness, was 77 years old.
A member of the Third Order of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Peggy chose, as her tertiary name, Sister Elisabeth of Hungary, after the saint to whom she was devoted.
Her husband of fifty-six years, Attorney Robert J. Carbone, whose tertiary name is Brother John Marie Vianney, MICM, is the Prefect of the Third Order.
A descendant of Scottish Highlanders, Peggy was born in Peekskill, New York. A registered nurse, who received her degree from Pace University, Mrs. Carbone was, for many years, a dedicated and widely respected member of the Medical/Surgical staff at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Nashua.
She, and her husband Bob, went on to raise four children. Her Catholic Faith, and her vocations as a nurse and a mother, impelled Peggy to defend the right to life of the innocent pre-born. Peggy and Bob served, with distinction and zeal, as the Pro-Life Co-Chairs for the New Hampshire State Council of the Knights of Columbus.
A faithful wife and a caring mother, and an exemplar of patience in suffering, Peggy Ann Carbone was a pious, traditional Catholic, devoted to Our Lord and Our Lady, who sought to conform her life to the Theological virtues. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.
Besides her husband, Bob, Peggy Carbone is survived by four children, twelve grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She is also survived by her sister, Cathy Friedman.
The Friends of Saint Benedict Center wish to extend their sincere sympathies and heartfelt condolences to Bob Carbone and his family on the occasion of their grievous loss.
Peggy Ann Carbone will be waked at the Cournoyer Funeral Home, at 33 River Street, in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, on Friday, February 7th, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. 
Her Requiem Mass will be celebrated at Saint Stanislaus Parish, at 80 Richmond Road (Rte. 119), in Winchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday, February 8th at 9:00 a.m.
A reception will follow at the Saint Benedict Center, at 95 Faye Martin Road, in Richmond, New Hampshire.
The burial will be in the Spring, in May.O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants and handmaids departed the full remission of their sins, that, through our devout prayers, they may obtain the pardon, which they have always desired, Who live and reign, world without end. Amen.  Collect of the the First Mass on All Souls Day, from the Roman Missal of Saint Pius V
Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Prayers for the Bystanders at the Grave, from the Roman Ritual of Saint Pius V
It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from sins. — 2 Maccabees 12:4

NH MEDIA SMEARS CATHOLIC SCHOOL IN PLOY TO SINK VOUCHER EXPANSION

6/13/2024

 
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: C. J. Doyle
[email protected]
www.fosbc.org

Three Granite State media entities---abetted by a Democrat State Senator---have combined to vilify a small Catholic school in a crude ploy to sabotage an upcoming vote on voucher expansion.

Tomorrow, the New Hampshire Legislature will vote on expanding its nationally acclaimed school choice initiative---the Educational Freedom Account program.

Proponents of parental rights and choice in education are seeking to raise the program eligibility for a family of four from 300% to 425% of the federal poverty level.

Last week, the left-wing, low circulation Keene Sentinel published a hatchet job on Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Richmond. 

The small school's offense? The traditional religious order which administers the school---the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary---has been arbitrarily designated a 'hate group' by the profiteering charlatans of America's thought police, the uber progressive and long discredited Southern Poverty Law Center.

So the Sentinel produced a screaming headline about public funds going to a hate group, while a longtime opponent of school choice, left-wing Democrat State Senator Donovan Fenton (that really is his name) tried to incite a moral panic:

"It’s really scary where this EFA money is going and who it’s going to...for people who, you know, are teaching these religious issues that a lot of people don’t agree with or are labeled a hate group."

The hit piece was then picked up by the Concord Monitor and by the paradigms of political correctness at state funded New Hampshire Public Radio. 

Meanwhile, the Keene Sentinel doubled down with an editorial and a letter to the editor recycling the same old smears.

Among the reckless, groundless and extravagant charges made by the media was that a religious order which believed in the traditional teachings of the Catholic Faith was, somehow, the moral equivalent of the American Nazi Party.

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center called the media campaign, launched eight days before the legislative vote, "a desperate, cynical, subtle-as-a-train-wreck bid to derail voucher expansion by inciting public hysteria over voucher recipients."

Friends of Saint Benedict Center Communications Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "The movement for school choice and parental rights is rising all across America, and New Hampshire is leading the way.

The powerful vested interests which control the public education monopoly are threatened by this movement, and will stop at nothing to undermine it.

It is an unequal contest: ordinary parents, citizens and taxpayers against entrenched bureaucrats, teachers unions, media elites and much of the nation's political class.

A prairie fire of popular outrage however, is growing throughout the United States, over the extremism and dysfunction of public schools. 

Despite the odds, the parents are winning, and the legacy media, with all its mendacious tricks, no longer controls the public narrative."

For more detailed coverage of this media conspiracy to block voucher expansion, read the article at Catholicism.org by C. J. Doyle.

Jack McManus, RIP

3/11/2024

 
Thursday, March 14, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: C. J. Doyle
[email protected]
www.fosbc.org

JOHN F. MCMANUS, RIP
 
The Friends of Saint Benedict Center today are mourning the loss of one of the longtime Members of the Third Order of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, John F. McManus, of Reading, Massachusetts.

Jack died on March 4th. He was 89 years old, and had been in good health until December of 2023. His tertiary name was Brother John Berchmans, MICM, Tert.

He was a member and supporter of the Crusade for more than five decades.

Jack was an occasional speaker at the Saint Benedict Center Conference and contributed some notable articles to the Center's website, Catholicism.org, including one which he wrote about his Jesuit missionary-priest uncle, Father Edwin G. McManus, entitled My Only Uncle Was a Missionary Priest.

His memorable tribute to our founder and teacher, Brother Francis, which he delivered in a speech in December of 1981, at a surprise party for Brother, was and is a marvelous mixture of inspiration, wit and Catholicity.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Jack was educated by the Jesuits at Brooklyn Preparatory School. He continued that education when he first came to Worcester, Massachusetts, to enroll in the College of the Holy Cross.

While at the Cross, Jack was a midshipman in NROTC. Upon graduation, after receiving a Bachelor's degree in physics, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marines. Following a three year tour of active duty, Jack left the Corps to pursue a career as an electronics engineer.

Talented in his field, Jack received an award from the United States Air Force for his successful design of a component used in the production of third generation jet fighters.

As a loyal veteran, a patriotic American and a committed Catholic, Jack was attracted to the John Birch Society, because of that organization's dedicated opposition to atheistic Communism.

In 1966, Jack McManus commenced a fifty-eight year professional association with the Birch Society.

A close collaborator with Birch founder Robert Welch, Jack was a gifted and prolific writer, teacher, lecturer and media spokesman for the Society, who frequently appeared on national radio and television, including many programs hosted by Pat Buchanan.

Some of us also remember him as an articulate, highly informed and always compelling guest on Boston talk radio. Jack was the author of several books, and was the publisher of the Society's magazine, The New American.

Beginning as a New England Field Coordinator in 1966, Jack became the Society's Director of Public Affairs in 1973. From 1991 to 2015, Jack McManus served as President of the John Birch Society. From 2015 until his death, he held the title of President Emeritus.

Jack was a close friend of author and columnist Joe Sobran, whom he memorialized upon the latter's death in 2010.

Jack McManus was also a longtime friend and supporter of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts.

Jack McManus was happily married for 65 years to the late Mary O'Reilly McManus, who died in May of 2023.

John F. McManus was a pious, orthodox and traditional Catholic, and was a valiant defender of his country and its founding. He was also a Christian gentleman and an old friend, whom I have known for nearly fifty years. He will be sorely missed.

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center wish to extend their sincere and heartfelt condolences to the children and grandchildren of Jack McManus upon the occasion of their grievous loss.

Jack was waked at the McDonald Funeral Home in Wakefield, on Sunday, March 10th. 

A traditional Latin Requiem Mass was celebrated at Saint Adelaide Parish in Peabody, on Monday, March 11th.

Jack McManus was buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Wakefield, Massachusetts---a community that was his home for many years---on March 11, 2024.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants and handmaids departed the full remission of their sins, that, through our devout prayers, they may obtain the pardon, which they have always desired, Who live and reign, world without end. Amen.  Collect of the the First Mass on All Souls Day from the Roman Missal of Saint Pius V

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Prayers for the Bystanders at the Grave from the Roman Ritual of Saint Pius V

It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from sins. — 2 Maccabees 12:4

FBI Disavows Memo Targeting Catholics for Surveillance

2/24/2024

 

Friday, February 10, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

 

One day after it was leaked to the public, the Federal Bureau of Investigation retracted a memo by its Richmond, Virginia field office, which called for the surveillance of traditional Catholics as prospective allies of "white nationalists," and "violent extremists."

 

The memo, citing the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center, identified nine traditional Catholic organizations---including the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary---as hate groups which it recommended for "assessment," "threat mitigation," and "source recruitment."

 

The memo also attempted to link, without evidence, the orthodox Catholic news organization, Church Militant, with racial extremists.

 

Yesterday, the FBI disavowed the memo, saying that it did "not meet the exacting standards of the FBI," adding that "Upon learning of the document, FBI Headquarters quickly began taking action to remove the document from FBI systems and conduct a review of the basis for the document."

 

The Bureau went on to say that it "will never conduct investigative activities or open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity."

 

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center hailed the decision as a "victory for the Bill of Rights, the liberty of the Church and the rule of law."

 

Friends of Saint Benedict Center Communications Director C. J. Doyle stated: "While the leadership of the FBI did the right thing by quickly withdrawing this un-American document, it remains troubling that some individuals working for the nation's top law enforcement agency would have such an attenuated commitment to our constitutional freedoms."

 

"The pernicious influence of left-wing woke culture is achieving dangerous levels of penetration in mainstream American institutions, and faithful Catholics, committed to Scriptural and natural law morality, will always be among its first objects of persecution."

 

"As the courageous Anglican champion of Catholic Emancipation, John Philpot Curran, once warned, 'The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance'."

Feds Target Traditional Catholics

2/24/2024

 

Thursday, February 9, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

fosbc.org

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center today are criticizing the Virginia office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a leaked memo which alleges that some traditional Catholic organizations contain "violent extremists," are promoting "Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology," and are somehow linked to "white nationalists."

 

Some sections of the memo appear to be an almost verbatim recycling of the now discredited talking points of the anti-Christian Southern Poverty Law Center.

 

An appendix attached to the memo, citing the SPLC, identifies nine Catholic organizations as hate groups which ought to be subject to "assessment" (surveillance), "threat mitigation" (countermeasures), and "source recruitment" (acquisition of confidential informants).

 

The nine groups listed included three publications---Catholic Family News, The Remnant and Culture Wars; four websites---Tradition in Action, In the Spirit of Chartres, Christ or Chaos, and Catholic Apologetics International; one Marian apostolate---The Fatima Center; and one religious community---the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Richmond, New Hampshire.

 

The memo also attempts, without foundation or evidence, to link the conservative Catholic news organization, Church Militant, to extremist groups espousing racialist ideologies.

 

The January 23rd memo, issued by the FBI's Richmond, Virginia office, is titled Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.

 

It was leaked on February 8th by former FBI agent turned whistleblower Kyle Seraphin.

 

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center are characterizing the memo as "a chilling assault on religious freedom and an egregious example of the dangers of politicized law enforcement."

 

Friends of Saint Benedict Center Communications Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "The free exercise of religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and by the Declarations of Rights in all fifty state constitutions. It is the foundational American liberty."

 

"Federal law enforcement is prohibited from opening investigations into American citizens predicated upon constitutionally protected expressive activity."

 

"None of these groups have ever committed, incited, advocated or apologized for acts of violence. They are being targeted, clearly and impermissibly, for their traditional moral and religious beliefs, which make them, presumptively, adversaries of the woke revolution being promoted by the current Administration."

 

"The memo even cites their 'hostility to abortion rights' and opposition to 'LGBTQ protections."

 

"The Virginia office violated FBI protocols by referencing, as its source, the anti-Catholic bigots of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC is a lucrative bunco scheme which monetizes left wing paranoia by inciting fear of conservative Christians."

 

"The SPLC began a campaign of demonization against traditional Catholics some years ago, defaming them as hate groups. Among the manifest absurdities peddled by the SPLC was the ludicrous claim that traditional Catholic nuns engage in martial arts training, and that traditional Catholic monasteries contain automatic weapons."

 

"The Virginia FBI memo targeted the very same groups slandered by the SPLC. The SPLC has no credibility and no one in the FBI has any business treating it as a stakeholder in this matter."

 

"Investigating Americans for their religious affiliation represents a revolutionary departure from our constitutional republic, in the direction of a totalitarian future. The ten groups targeted by the Virginia FBI office ought to consider judicial remedies, including injunctive relief, to protect their constitutional rights as American citizens."

BRIAN D. KELLY, RIP

2/24/2024

 

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center today are mourning the loss of one of the longtime Members of the Third Order of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Brian D. Kelly of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire.

 

Brian died at home on November 9th, after a protracted period of declining health. He was 70 years old. His tertiary name was Brother Michael, MICM, Tert.

 

Brian practiced the First Saturdays Devotion to the Immaculate Heart, and had received all the sacraments just four days prior to his death.

 

The Irish American son of pious Catholic parents, Brian was born and raised in West Orange, New Jersey, where he attended parochial school. He graduated from Essex Catholic High School in Newark, which was administered by the Christian Brothers of Ireland.

 

After attending junior college in California, Brian, impelled by the influence of his devout mother, traveled to New England to seek out the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the Saint Benedict Center. He would spend the remaining 49 years of life at the Saint Benedict Center, first as a student, and later as a teacher, catechist, writer, editor and lecturer.

 

Under the tutelage of Brother Francis Maluf, MICM, Brian studied philosophy, theology and New Testament Greek and Latin. He would go on to spend a year studying at the Angelicum in Rome.

 

For many years, Brian served the Center's apostolate as Editor of their magazine, From The Housetops, their newsletter, Mancipia, and their website, Catholicism.org. He was also a contributing columnist to all three.

 

From 1999 to 2005, Brian was was editor-in-chief of Loreto Publications. He was a regular speaker at the Saint Joseph Forum in Indiana, and also lectured at the Saint Benedict Center Conferences in New Hampshire.

 

Brian Kelly was an old and dear friend, a fervent and apostolic Catholic, an erudite scholar, a gifted writer, a devoted husband to his wife Gwendolyn, and a humble and forbearing Christian gentleman. He will be sorely missed.

 

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center wish to extend our heartfelt condolences, on the occasion of their grievous loss, to Gwen Kelly, to Brian's sister, Mary Sue, and to the rest of Brian's family.

 

Brian will be waked on Monday, November 14th, at the Cournoyer Funeral Home at 33 River Street, in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, from 2pm to 6pm.

 

A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at Saint Stanislaus Parish in Winchester, New Hampshire, at 10am on Tuesday, November 15th.

 

Burial will be at the Saint Benedict Center in Richmond.

 

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants and handmaids departed the full remission of their sins, that, through our devout prayers, they may obtain the pardon, which they have always desired, Who live and reign, world without end. Amen.Collect of the the First Mass on All Souls Day from the Roman Missal of Saint Pius V

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Prayers for the Bystanders at the Grave from the Roman Ritual of Saint Pius V

 

It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from sins. — 2 Maccabees 12:4

ROBERT W. BOEHM, RIP

2/24/2024

 

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

The Friends of Saint Benedict are mourning the loss of Robert W. Boehm, a longtime Member of the Third Order of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who died on January 17th, after a brief illness. Bob, who received the Last Rites just before his death, was 78 years old. He had been, for many years, a resident of Bedford, New Hampshire.

Born in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1943, Bob graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1966. He went on to serve his country as an aviator in the United States Marine Corps during the war in Vietnam.

In the struggle to save that nation from the murderous tyranny of Communism, Bob flew an extraordinary 99 missions as a Forward Air Controller, in an unarmed, low flying, single engined aircraft. (In World War, in the Eighth Army Air Force, the individual limit for airmen was 25 combat missions.)

After the war, Bob served thirty years as a commercial pilot with Delta Airlines. A pious, traditional Catholic with an intense devotion to Our Blessed Lady, Bob, whose tertiary name was Brother Robert Alphonsus, had been a Third Order Member since 2004. He was responsible for the recitation of the Third Sorrowful Mystery---The Crowning with Thorns---for Saint Benedict Center's Saint Philomena Rosary Apostolate.

Brother Andre Marie, the Prior of Saint Benedict Center, said Bob was "a good man, a staunch Catholic, an exemplary Slave of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a good friend."

Bob is survived by his wife of 54 years, Michaele, and two daughters and four grandchildren. A Requiem Mass will be celebrated for Bob Boehm on Friday, February 4th at 10 am at Saint Stanislaus Church, at 5 Green Street, in Nashua. Bob will be waked at the Lambert Funeral Home, at 1799 Elm Street, in Manchester, on Thursday, February 3rd, from 4 pm to 7 pm.

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center wish to extend our sincere condolences to Michaele and to her entire family on this sad occasion of their grievous loss.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from sins. — 2 Maccabees 12:4

Gerald Mazzarella, RIP

2/24/2024

 

Updated: Jan 31, 2022

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center today are mourning the loss of a long serving member of the Third Order of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Gerald Mazzarella, a lifelong resident of East Boston, died on January 1st, after a long illness. He was 77 years old.

 

During an academic career of forty-one years, Jerry Mazzarella, a gifted and dedicated high school teacher, educated and motivated thousands of students in the Boston Public Schools. A pious traditional Catholic, Jerry was committed to the practice of his Faith, the pursuit of wisdom, and the defense of eternal truths. Impelled by an apostolic zeal for souls, and animated by a fervent desire to impart the good, the true and the beautiful to others, Jerry created and designed a wondrous and edifying Catholic website, the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity Through Jesus and Mary, also known as the Home Monastery. A loving and devoted husband and father, Jerry leaves behind his wife of 42 years, Colbe Corcoran Mazzarella. Many in the pro-life movement know Colbe as the organizer of the Stations of the Cross for Life in Boston, and as the recurring guest host on the program Life Matters, on the Boston Neighborhood Network. Jerry is also survived by eight children and their spouses, and by seventeen grandchildren. The Mazzarella family requests prayers for the repose of his soul. The Friends of Saint Benedict Center wishes to extend our sincere condolences to Colbe and to her entire family on this sad occasion of their grievous loss. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Jerry on Thursday, January 6th, at St. Joseph-St. Lazarus Church, on 59 Ashley Street in East Boston. Jerry Mazzarella will be laid to rest in Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden. Mourners will be able to pay their respects at the Ruggiero Memorial Home, at 971 Saratoga Street in East Boston, on the morning of the Funeral Mass, at 8:30 AM.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead,

that they might be loosed from sins.

2 Maccabees 12:4

State Approval for Hospital Merger Postponed Again

2/24/2024

 

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

Today, for the third time in two months, the Charitable Trusts Unit of the New Hampshire Department of Justice has postponed its report on the proposed acquisition of Granite One Health---which includes Catholic Medical Center of Manchester---by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, New Hampshire's biggest health care conglomerate and the state's largest private sector employer.

 

Approval for the acquisition must come from both the Federal Trade Commission and New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella.

 

The Attorney General's decision will be based on the findings of the Charitable Trusts Unit, which will determine whether the acquisition is consistent with the foundational charitable purpose of Catholic Medical Center and its antecedent institutions.

 

Catholic groups and pro-life advocates have raised concerns about the continuing Catholic mission and identity of CMC, if it falls under the control of Dartmouth-Hitchcock, one of the state's major facilities for surgical and medical abortions.

 

Dartmouth-Hitchcock not only performs elective and therapeutic abortions but trains physicians in abortion procedures. It also performs sterilizations, distributes contraceptives, and refers residents for training with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

 

The new date, announced this afternoon, by the Charitable Trusts Unit for its report, will be January 17, 2022.

 

Friends of Saint Benedict Center Communications Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "These repeated postponements indicate that there remain difficult, unresolved issues regarding this transaction, or the parties have not been forthcoming in providing the agency with necessary information, or both."

 

"No amount of tinkering can repair a scheme, which from its very inception, was intrinsically unworkable. The Charitable Trusts Unit must reject this flawed, problematic proposal."

FoSBC Opposition to Merger of Catholic Medical Center & Dartmouth-Hitchcock

2/24/2024

 

Public Hearing Testimony

 

TO THE CHARITABLE TRUSTS UNIT, NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

 

October 12, 2021

 

My name is C. J. Doyle, and I am the Director of Communications for the Friends of Saint Benedict Center. The Friends of Saint Benedict Center wish to be recorded in opposition to the proposed combination of Granite One Health and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health.

 

The broad disparity in revenue and resources between the the two entities, the reserved powers of the proposed combination board---including control of budgets, debt, assets, programs and planning---and the authority of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock dominated joint board to veto the appointment of trustees to subsidiary boards, all suggest that this is not a merger between two equal partners, but the acquisition of a smaller corporation by a larger one.

 

The existential and unbridgeable divide between secular and Catholic medical ethics, Dartmouth-Hitchcock's aggressive promotion of practices---such as the training of physicians to perform abortions---irreconcilable with Catholic morality, its pre-existing relationships with such opponents of Catholic teaching as Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and its failure to respect the conscience rights of its Catholic employees, all render the implementation of formal guarantees for the preservation of Catholic Medical Center's religious identity profoundly problematic.

 

The combination will present the employees of Catholic Medical Center with an unavoidable and permanent conflict of interest. Given the moral culture of the corporate parent, career advancement in the combined entity will be contingent upon the willingness of individuals to abandon compliance with Catholic medical ethics.

 

In any dispute involving Catholic teaching, vigorous advocacy of the Catholic position might be judged to be professionally imprudent. There will be no incentive, career wise, to report violations of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which are supposed to be maintained following the acquisition of Catholic Medical Center by Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

 

This proposed combination will, by any reasonable standard, gravely imperil the foundational charitable purpose of Granite One Health and Catholic Medical Center, and ought therefore, to be rejected by the Charitable Trusts Unit and the Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire.

 

Thank you.

Attack on the SBC Unjust, Inaccurate and Uncalled For

2/24/2024

 

The following is a letter to the editor from the Friends of Saint Benedict Center to the New Hampshire Union Leader. It was sent in response to a letter which was published today, September 8th, in which a supporter of the controversial canonist, Reverend Georges de Laire, called the Saint Benedict Center a "destructive, off the wall, distorted sect."

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 

September 8, 2021

New Hampshire Union Leader

Attention: Letters Editor

P.O. Box 9555 Manchester, NH 03108-9555

[email protected]

To the Editor:

The vituperative language directed against the Saint Benedict Center by Peg Donahue-Turner, in her letter on the Father Georges de Laire controversy, was unjust, inaccurate and uncalled for, (Letter: Priest's fight with sect should be kept private, 9/8/2021).

Certainly, Catholics can disagree in good faith, without resorting to such rancor and name calling. One hopes that Donahue-Turner's antagonistic posture does not reflect the attitude of her friend, Father de Laire.

Donahue-Turner's criticism of the Mark Hayward article on Father de Laire was unwarranted. Any objective reader ought to perceive that Hayward's article was fair to all parties. No one was spared criticism and everyone was given the opportunity to present their own views.

Sincerely,

C. Joseph Doyle

Director of Communications

Friends of Saint Benedict Center

P. O. Box 6551 Manchester, NH 03108

[email protected]

(617) 524-6309

More Abortion Advocacy from Dartmouth-Hitchcock

2/24/2024

 

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle [email protected]

 

MORE ABORTION ADVOCACY FROM DARTMOUTH-HITCHCOCK

For the second time in less than three months, officials from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center---one of New Hampshire's major abortion facilities---have been engaged in public advocacy for the continued killing of pre-born children in the Granite State.

 

Doctor Ilana Cass, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Doctor Maria de Gracia Padin, chief medical officer of Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s southern New Hampshire practices, are among the signatories of a statement by a reported 200 health care industry professionals urging Governor Chris Sununu to veto the state budget passed by the Legislature because it contains a provision banning late term abortions.

 

The lobbying campaign was organized by Doctor Oge Young, who teaches at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. Dartmouth Medical School is affiliated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

 

On March 30th, Cass testified, along with a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, against 'Born Alive' legislation during a hearing before the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee.

 

The campaign against the late term abortion ban comes amid the continuing controversy over the proposed acquisition of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, a merger which has received the approval of Manchester Bishop Peter Libasci.

 

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center called the pro-abortion campaign "one more persuasive example of why no rational person could reasonably believe that the religious character of Catholic Medical Center will be preserved under the management of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health."

 

Friends of Saint Benedict Center Communications Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "The Diocese of Manchester, and others, have argued, repeatedly, that the Catholic identity of CMC will be protected and maintained following its acquisition by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. It is becoming increasingly difficult to take such assertions seriously."

 

"Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center not only performs abortions, buttrains physicians in abortion procedures. It has become, in recent years, along with the Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund, one of the major institutional proponents of legal abortion in the Granite State."

 

"On May 18th, opening day ceremonies were held for the new Dartmouth-Hitchcock Ambulatory Surgery Center in Manchester. Among the procedures to be performed at the Surgery Center will be vasectomies, which are incompatible with Catholic medical ethics. That did not stop Alex Walker, however, the President of Catholic Medical Center, from participating in the ribbon cutting."

 

"If the current leadership of Catholic Medical Center is unwilling to uphold Catholic pro-life principles, why would anyone imagine that the management of Dartmouth-Hitchcock will? Supporters of the right to life must oppose this toxic merger."

Message to the New Hampshire Department of Justice from the Friends of Saint Benedict Center

2/24/2024

 

May 20, 2021

Mr. Thomas J. Donovan, Director Charitable Trusts Unit New Hampshire Department of Justice 33 Capitol Street Concord, NH 03301 [email protected] Dear Director Donovan, I would respectfully call your attention to an article in the May 19th New Hampshire Union Leader, which mentioned the participation of Alex Walker, the President of Catholic Medical Center, in the opening ceremonies for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock ambulatory surgery facility in Manchester. One might infer, not unreasonably, from the presence of Mr. Walker at the event, that the leadership of Catholic Medical Center is already treating the proposed acquisition of CMC by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health as a forgone conclusion. This however, is not the case. It is within the discretion of your office, the Charitable Trusts Unit of the New Hampshire Department of Justice, and that of the Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire, to approve or disallow this proposed transaction. Moreover, the public hearings on the merger, scheduled prior to the pandemic shutdown, have yet to be held. I hope you would remind all parties in this transaction of the need to respect the public review process, and to avoid any inappropriate conduct which gives the appearance of anticipating the outcome. Mr. Walker must not be permitted, by the use of optics, to reduce, in the mind of the public, the decision of your office to mere formality. Thank you. Sincerely, C. J. Doyle, Director of Communications Friends of Saint Benedict Center PO Box 6551 Manchester, NH 03108 [email protected]

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advocates for Abortion, Again

2/24/2024

 

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

 

An official of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center---one of New Hampshire's major abortion facilities---has testified, along with a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union, against 'Born Alive' legislation during a March 30th hearing before the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee.

 

“To add legislation that would potentially result in felony convictions for providers … in my opinion, it could further exacerbate the health care crisis that we face in this state,” said Ilana Cass, chairman of the OB/GYN program at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

 

He spoke in opposition to House-passed HB 233, which requires health care providers to take “all medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve the life and health” of a newborn.

 

Yesterday's testimony underscores the continuing controversy over the proposed acquisition of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, a merger which has received the approval of Manchester Bishop Peter Libasci.

On March 25th, the New Hampshire Executive Council confirmed the appointment, by Governor Chris Sununu, of John Formella as the Granite State's Attorney General. It will be up to Formella, on the recommendation of the Charitable Trusts Unit of the New Hampshire Department of Justice, to approve or disallow the proposed take over of the state's Catholic hospital system by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health.

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center characterized the testimony as "further compelling evidence of the irreconcilable differences in medical ethics and moral values separating Catholic Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health."

Friends of Saint Benedict Center Communications Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "Dartmouth-Hitchcock has a long history of not only performing abortions, but of training physicians in abortion procedures, and of advocating for abortion as a matter of law and public policy. Yesterday's testimony is but one more example of a corporate culture at Dartmouth-Hitchcock which is so hostile to the right to life that it even opposes medical treatment to preserve the life of an infant who survives an abortion."

 

"Supporters of the right to life must urge Attorney General Formella to disallow this toxic merger, which would subordinate Catholic health care in New Hampshire to a corporate entity which not only rejects Catholic moral principles, and refuses to respect the consciences of Catholic and pro-life employees, but has demonstrated a moral callousness that is shocking even by modern standards."

Diocese of Manchester Changes Its Tune

2/24/2024

 

Thursday, February 4, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

 

The scandal plagued Diocese of Manchester is singing a new tune about the traditional Catholic religious order---the Richmond based Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary---which it has spent the last two years trying to suppress.

 

In January of 2019, the diocese, without warning, issued draconian Precepts of Prohibition against the Slaves, aimed at their complete dissolution as a religious ministry. The diocese not only deprived them of the services of a priest and forbade them from writing, teaching, or publicly speaking, but actually ordered them to contact the IRS and disavow that they were a Catholic organization.

Since that time, the diocese's controversial canonist, the Rev. Georges de Laire, has repeatedly castigated the Slaves in the pages of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Now, in a February 2nd Union Leader story, de Laire claims that “The bishop [Peter Libasci] is committed to the Slaves and their supporters, as they are members of the church and he owes them ministry.” He went on to say that the diocese is ".... now engaged in an effort to dialogue...." with the Slaves. How that dialogue is advanced by yet another planted media story critical of the Slaves, de Laire did not explain.

 

TheFriends of Saint Benedict Center are calling de Laire's claims of solicitude towards the Slaves "cynical, self serving and patently insincere."

 

Friends of Saint Benedict Center Communications Director C. J. Doyle made the following comment: "de Laire's hypocrisy is staggering. For years, the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have patiently engaged in an unrequited endeavor to achieve reconciliation with the Diocese of Manchester."

 

"Their good faith efforts have been repaid with relentless hostility, petty insults, pettifogging restrictions, punitive measures, reprisals against clerics who support them, attempts to deprive them of their canonical rights (including the right to counsel) and a deliberate campaign of demonization in the secular media apparently originating with and apparently orchestrated by Georges de Laire."

 

"No ecumenical encounter between a Catholic diocese and a non-Catholic religious group would ever be characterized by the high handed arrogance, manifest contempt and sheer mean spiritedness shown by the Diocese of Manchester towards the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

"Georges de Laire's ally in this campaign to discredit the Slaves has been Union Leader stringer Damien Fisher, who has produced eight tendentiously hostile stories on the Slaves since 2019. What Fisher has concealed from his readers is that his wife is an employee of the Diocese of Manchester."

"Simcha Fisher is a columnist for the diocesan magazine, The Parable. If a public employee had such a substantive conflict of interest as Damien Fisher, that individual would be facing ethics charges."

"The cause for the change in tone remains to be seen. It could be that the failed attempt to crush the Slaves has become a public embarrassment for Bishop Libasci, or that de Laire is engaged in calculated misdirection, trying to soften the image of the diocese as a prelude to harsher measures. Whatever the reason, no traditional Catholic should trust the goodwill or good intentions of the bureaucrats of the Diocese of Manchester."

Damien Fisher's latest pettifogging cheap shot at SBC

2/24/2024

 

December 4, 2020

New Hampshire Union Leader

Attention: Letters Editor,

P.O. Box 9555,

Manchester, NH 03108-9555

[email protected]

 

To the Editor:

In his seventh article since 2019 on the Saint Benedict Center in Richmond, Damien Fisher takes the rather curious position that there is something unusual or even newsworthy about a private school asking for donations on Facebook, (Religious community raises money despite restrictions, 12/1/2020).

Parents who send their children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Richmond love the staff, treasure the institution, and are grateful for the traditional Catholic education which it offers. It seems somewhat petty and mean spirited to suggest that there is something wrong with asking people to give on, what was after all, Giving Tuesday.

 

Happily, the families in the school community do not seem to share Fisher's concerns.

Sincerely,

C. J. Doyle

Director of Communications

Friends of Saint Benedict Center

P. O. Box 6551

Manchester, NH 03108

[email protected]

(617) 524-6309

Friends of Saint Benedict Center in Laconia Sun

2/24/2024

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: C. J. Doyle

[email protected]

 

The letter to the editor from theFriends of Saint Benedict Center, opposing the demolition of the century old, Gothic Revival, Saint Joseph's Church in Laconia, New Hampshire, was published on August 24th in the Laconia Daily Sun.

 

FOSBC Communications Director C. J. Doyle commended theSaint Joseph Church Preservation Society for itsrecent letter calling upon the Diocese of Manchester to revoke its application for a demolition permit, and urged the diocese to end the suffering of parishioners by acceding to their request.

 

The improvident decision by the troubled, scandal plagued Diocese of Manchester to raze the venerable edifice provoked intense opposition, not only from parishioners, but fromLaconia residents, elected officials andhistoric preservationists. The Diocese's application for the demolition permit has now stalled before the city's Heritage Commission.

Saint Joseph's Demolition Controversy/Letter to the Editor of the Laconia Daily Sun

2/24/2024

 

Updated: Aug 26, 2020

August 21, 2020 The Laconia Daily Sun 1127 Union Avenue Laconia, NH 03246 To the Editor: The Saint Joseph Church Preservation Society should be commended for their valiant efforts to save their church from demolition by the Diocese of Manchester, (Group sends Father Drouin letter urging lifting of church demolition permit, 8/20/2020).It was poignant to read their invocation of "the legacy of those departed who sacrificed for the construction and upkeep of the church..."

 

Catholics have a right to defend the patrimony of their Faith and the heritage of their community, memorialized, in this case, in the stone, stained glass and sacred memories of Saint Joseph's. The Canon Law of the Catholic Church specifically recognizes the right of the faithful to make known their needs and manifest their opinions to their pastors.The Diocese of Manchester can relieve the suffering of these parishioners by responding promptly, explicitly and affirmatively to their just call for the revocation of the demolition permit.Sincerely, C. J. Doyle Director of CommunicationsFriends of Saint Benedict Center P. O. Box 6551 Manchester, NH 03108 [email protected] (617) 524-6309

“Cheap Shot at Diocese’s Decision to Open Schools a Teachable Moment for Nonhaters”

2/24/2024

 

July 26, 2020

The Rochester Voice

 

To the Editor:

The tediously woke Jonna Carter would have us believe that she is opposed to in-classroom instruction by Catholic schools in New Hampshire this fall, (Jonna Carter: School dazed, 7/14/2020).

She cites no data however, nor does she make any reasoned argument. Instead, in a tone of derision, Carter unburdens herself with a series of snide, mocking and gratuitous references to everything from Catholic teaching on birth control to clerical sexual abuse.

Observing Carter's fusillade of cheap shots, a reasonable person might reasonably conclude that she is less interested in the health of Catholic school students than she is in ventilating her undisguised contempt for the Catholic religion.

It is disappointing that the Union Leader would publish such sophomoric drivel from a facile bigot pretending to be clever.

C. J. Doyle

Director of Communications

Friends of Saint Benedict Center

PO Box 6551

Manchester, NH 03108

[email protected]

Update Concerning NH Catholic Hospital Merger

2/24/2024

 

MEDIA UPDATE

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: C. J. DOYLE

[email protected]

 

FRIENDS OF SAINT BENEDICT CENTER IN THE NEWS

The Friends of Saint Benedict Center was in both the Catholic and secular news media this week, warning of an imminent threat to the pro-life integrity of Catholic health care, and exposing episcopal collaboration with an organization which promotes abortion, contraception and sodomy.

 

On June 23, ChurchMilitant.com published "A Catholic Colony for the Culture of Death," a comprehensive, in depth look by FOSBC Communications Director C. J. Doyle at the impending take over of Catholic health care in New Hampshire by the Granite State's largest and most notorious perpetrator of abortions, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. As Doyle pointed out, this secularist acquisition of a Catholic hospital is being implemented with the personal approval of Manchester Bishop Peter Libasci.

 

Also on June 23rd, a news release issued by the Friends of Saint Benedict Center, criticizing Bishop Libasci for committing diocesan funds to the pro-abortion United Way of Greater Nashua, was published, in its entirety, by The Rochester Voice, under the title "Friends of Saint Benedict decry church funding of abortion enabling groups." The FOSBC was the only Catholic voice in New Hampshire to expose the scandal of using money collected from the faithful to subsidize an organization which funds abortion advocacy.

The FOSBC wishes to extend its thanks to ChurchMilitant.com and to The Rochester Voice for their timely coverage of these latest episodes in a long succession of disturbing scandals in the troubled Diocese of Manchester under the problematic leadership of Bishop Peter Libasci.

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