Bar kicks out Catholic group for being "too controversial"

I've just learned that Denver's version of "Theology on Tap" has been banned from a bar not far from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception downtown for being "too controversial."

Bishop James Conley, a friend of mine, spoke to about 300 people in a closed-off room at Stoney’s Bar and Grill on the topic “Atheocracy and the Battle for Religious Liberty in America.” I'm sure it addressed the Obama administration's attempts to force Catholic businesses to pay for insurance coverage of contraception and sterilization - both of which the Catholic Church has long opposed.

Apparently, at least one patron shouted profanities at Conley and the group, even though he was not in the group listening to Conley's presentation ---- and likely never heard a word of it from where he was sitting.

It strikes me as a reflection of the rising hostility the Church faces for standing behind long-held beliefs.

"BC" on EWTN's "Life on the Rock"

Bishop James Conley of Denver (whom countless friends refer to as "BC") is featured in this episode of EWTN's "Life on the Rock."

Conley is the auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Denver. I've known him for 20 years or so, when he was a priest in the Wichita diocese.



You'll find Bishop Conley at the 18th minute. I was blessed to go on a pilgrimage with then-Fr. Conley to Rome in 1994 - the year after World Youth Day was held in Denver. Conley invited me to go along because it was a large group of mostly women who had no experience of traveling in Europe. I had been to Europe before, and he knew that.

Everything fell quickly into place for me to be able to go, so I did. It was a marvelous experience. I'll share more from that trip in future blog posts. But it sounds like Bishop Conley celebrated daily "pilgrimage Masses" in Spain --- just as he did each morning of our pilgrimage in Rome. It added such depth and meaning to our journey, our experiences....