Now, the latest response of Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of the most influential see in America as well as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to the United States Government on the "contraception and abortifacient mandate" question, issued last Friday in a letter directed to his brother Bishops, was quite encouraging. But there is a curious point that, though correct as an assessment, leaves any attentive reader, particularly a non-Catholic one, puzzled:
"Instead, they ['the White House staff'] advised the bishops’ conference that we should listen to the 'enlightened' voices of accommodation, such as the recent, hardly surprising yet terribly unfortunate editorial in America. The White House seems to think we bishops simply do not know or understand Catholic teaching and so, taking a cue from its own definition of religious freedom, now has nominated its own handpicked official Catholic teachers."
Well, the wiliness of politicians is a fact of life - but should the White House really be blamed for choosing an institutional venue that is identifiably Catholic, in this case, the Jesuit weekly America, the self-described National Catholic Weekly?Last September, we mentioned the fact that, while "Progressives" rail constantly against the "Institutional Church", nothing is more institutional than these vipers's grasp of most institutions within the contemporary Church. At that time, we mentioned an outrageous "Pontifical" university in Brazil and Eureka Street, the unbelievably anti-Catholic Jesuit periodical and website in Australia.
Surely the Archbishop is right: the Catholic Church is a Church of Bishops. Its marks are unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolicity - not universities, journals, hospitals, and publishing houses. But outsiders, including the White House, are not to blame for the fact that almost all of these Catholic "institutions" are completely outside the control of the hierarchy - or, even worse, that a considerable proportion of bishops (in America and throughout the world) actively support or at least turn their eyes away from institutions undermining the Church, spreading heresy, and destroying the faith of millions. It is quite understandable that a politician would thus make use of the "hardly surprising" position of America and identify the dissenting views friendly to him as representing the Church at large. The fact that this public dissent is "hardly surprising" should be a breathtaking scandal for all the hierarchy, unacceptable and in need of immediate correction and suppression.
The schizophrenia of America is the fault of the Bishops of America. And that is the case for all other "institutional Catholic" venues. If the Bishops wish to be taken seriously by outsiders, then they had better fix their house first: as the Lord said (and a U.S. President famously repeated later), "a house divided against itself cannot stand" (cf. Mk iii, 25).
22 comments:
Indeed it is "hardly surprising" that America and other liberal voices feel free to dissent publicly when almost no bishops in the USA enforce Canon 915 or even issue verbal statements against dissenters. Nope, the good ol' USCCB crowd is too busy investigating Michael Voris's use of "Catholic" in his YouTube Channel and sanctioning the few priests who actually try to apply Canon Law correctly.
True, how can many in the USCCB be taken seriously by orthodox Catholics or Non-Catholics when they concentrate on issues like "global warming", "social justice" and religious relativism and issue vague and ambiguous statements instead of upholding and promoting de-fide Catholic dogma in a clear voice?! Not to mention the fact that many American bishops have allied themselves and have trusted leftist politicians and now are realizing that they aren't friends of Our Lord or of His Catholic Church but in most cases enemies. Maybe this contraception mandate is the way the Lord is trying to light a fire under his bishops to get them to clearly say what the teachings of His Church are. Let's hope so.
Some Jesuits are a disruptive force in America. Two Rorate Caeli readers recommended that to understand how they got to be that way one should read "The Jesuits" by Malachi Martin. I did follow their advice and recommend the book enthusiastically. The Jesuits not only rebelled against bishops but also Popes. Not surprised Jesuits are now useful to President Obama.
a considerable proportion of bishops (in America and throughout the world) actively support or at least turn their eyes away from institutions undermining the Church, spreading heresy, and destroying the faith of millions . . . The schizophrenia of America is the fault of the Bishops of America . . . If the Bishops wish to be taken seriously by outsiders, then they must fix their house first."
Thank you for stating the truth plainly. The Church, of course is hierarchical. Would this plain truth not also apply to the earthly Head of that hierarchy?
We must pray for the Holy Father. The Lord established the Church as she is - the Pope is the Vicar of the Omnipresent and Omniscient, but he is not omnipresent and omniscient himself. Local matters are to be handled first by each bishop.
I've been reading many back issues of 'America'. It was once a really fantastic journal; how sad that it has come to this...
I give it about another 10 years.
My elderly Jesuit ex-confessor counseled me that I needn't confess sins I knew needed confessing; I confessed them anyway, and he absolved them nonetheless (he was a very nice man, but doctrinally we disagreed across the board).
Amazing that that bastion of Tradition, Fr. Leonard Feeney was both a Jesuit, and Editor-in-Chief of America magazine.
The single most beautiful book written on a Saint, in my opinion, is Fr. Feeney's Mother Seton: An American Woman. It's extremely well written, and a must read for anyone wanting to know the genesis of this incredible Saint. Feeney, of course, has been blacklisted by the Catholic left.
Literary Editor, that is; perhaps a higher distinction than Editor in Chief.
New Catholic:
re your original comment: AMEN! EXACTLY!! Grandiose!!
re your comment 18.40:
Yes, that is perhaps an (partial) excuse for/of the actual Pope (but also re him not a total excusation!)
---- but the last Popes must be blamed for the mess -- they allowed the bishops to act (or not-act!) that way, they brought forward that new, irenic (and/or indifferent) spirit of Vat.II of not condemning, of allowing all and of being overly optimisitic or really indifferent....! (Or even of really flirting with heresy or beeing directly heretic...!!)
And they appointed those bishops!!
O/T I would like to thank Knight of Malta for recommending the book "While the Eyes of the Great Were Elsewhere" by William Biersach.It is extremely readable and theologically sound and deserves a much wider audience.It also needs to be translated into various languages.
We must remember that in Tudor England only one bishop, Saint John Fisher, stood up among the episcopate of his country to protect the Faith. May this holy martyr pray with us that the current bishops of our country be endowed with his faith and courage!
JMR said...
O/T I would like to thank Knight of Malta for recommending the book "While the Eyes of the Great Were Elsewhere" by William Biersach.It is extremely readable and theologically sound and deserves a much wider audience.It also needs to be translated into various languages.
Thank you, JMR, I've never met Biersach, but I know brilliance when I see it, and While the Eyes of the Great Were Elsewhere is drop-out shear brilliance; it's amazing more Traditional Catholics haven't tuned into it.
I am very much disturbed that the US Conference of Communist Bishops is using "religious freedom", of all things, as their defence. This is, in fact, the weakest argument, since it is only a civil right and not a human right.
"Religious freedom", properly understood, can *only* mean the freedom to choose and practise the One, True, Catholic religion, not the freedom to choose and practise error. Moreover, "freedom of religion", as declared in the US Constitution, is fundamentally indifferentist and Freemasonic, and consequently heretical.
From an American standpoint, all one need do, in order to overcome the "religious freedom" argument, is either to revoke or ignore the First Amendment, or to assert a "compelling state interest" in overriding that so-called "freedom". So, by positioning themselves on this foundation of sand, the US Bishops have fatally undermined the Catholic Faith and the immunity of the Catholic Church---a process which began decades ago, when the US Bishops volunteered into the Social Security system because they were too cheap to provide pensions for their elderly priests.
While one may assert "religious freedom" as an ancillary argument, the matter needs to be based on the fundamental fact that abortion, contraception, infanticide (now promoted as no different than abortion in a leading journal of "medical ethics"), and euthanasia are *all* contrary to both Natural and Divine Law, and consequently cannot be engaged in for *any* reason. Period. One adds to this that, by Divine Law, the Catholic Church is immune from coercion by the secular State and cannot be forced to carry out immoral acts.
The Obama Administration is not backing down because they know that these same bishops have already compromised the True Faith on numerous occasions and do not have the courage to go to prison for their beliefs. If Cardinal Dolan and the others want to be successful, they need to start using the Catholic Faith as their starting point, not some spurious civil right from the US Constitution. "Better to trust in the Lord than to trust in princes."
The correct response to Obama the Usurper is: "We will not follow your evil and unjust commands. We will not close our hospitals and nursing homes. We will continue to provide Catholic health care as the Church has always done. And you will have to imprison us to stop us."
"Will the Son of Man, do you think, find faith upon the earth when He returns?"
Petrus Radii,
I appreciate your fervor, but the current administration will never capitulate, and I envision most "Catholic" institutions capitulating, with Rome being mostly silent on the issue (Rome, after all, is mostly funded by American institutions, which might account for why Pelosi and Biden are members in "good standing", whereas +Fellay is treated as a draconian persona non grata by the majority of catholics out their.
something is rotten in the state of Denmark...fair is foul and foul is fair...
Knight of Malta,
You are correct. The conciliar Church has only itself to blame. It's battle cry at the Council of Aggiornamento, and the Church's "opening itself to the world", its embrace of modernism, liberalism, relativism, syncretism and indifferentism at the expense of upholding de-fide Catholic dogma has lost its bishops and hierarchy respect of not only Catholics but non-Catholics as well. Before the Council,(and the Land O'Lakes conference in 1967) this would have never happened. Catholic and even many protestant politicians here in the USA feared the Catholic Church and her well catechised laity. The Vatican II Church is reaping what it sowed.
We must pray for the Holy Father.
Yes, absolutely These are troubled times. Our Holy Father needs our prayers; as do our Bishops.
I am not so sure that one would have to be omniscient to see that a considerable proportion of bishops (in America and throughout the world) actively support or at least turn their eyes away from institutions undermining the Church, spreading heresy, and destroying the faith of millions.
Is such widespread failure strictly a local matter?
I know that the Vicar of Christ is not omnipotent; and that he is fighting battles that I cannot begin to understand.
With the faith of millions being destroyed, I pray that God will strengthen him to right the ship before the millions drown.
Unfortunately, President Obama, long before the Notre Dame appearance, knew the divisive nature of Catholicism in America. Catholic unity is asunder. In addition, from Rep Pelosi to many Catholic ecclesiastics, Obama and HHS Secretary were advised that this venture for the female vote would be successful for his re-election. Obama could have waited till after the election to drop this on us.
It is obvious that the White House cadre are well prepared to twist and repel the bishops attempt to keep the focus on religious liberty.
Frankly, related to clever lies, the protectors of religious liberty were devastated in the Senate verbal debate last Thursday. Obama's cadre know the buttons to push.
March 23rd will show how many Christians are willing to stand up in front of Federal buildings throughout the country. Depending on the Supreme Court is risky.
Michael F Brennan
St Petersburg, Fl
To fix the Progressive institutions of the Church will take many decades. And not only here, for example the Pontifical University in Peru is one of the worse ones, spreading the venom of Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez who started Liberation Theology.
What we must ask ourselves at present is why President Obama finds attacking the Church politically opportune in an election year. The Bishops Conference must be weakened and is not feared. Cardinal Dolan's letter mentioned efforts at reaching an agreement. His letter was supposed to reach the parishes but that did not happen on this second Sunday of Lent in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Not a peep. Evidently Obama does not fear losing votes with this weak Conference of Bishops. It would be much better if individual bishops defended the Catholic Church and taught that this is all about an inalienable right to Abortion. The obligatory surgical sterilization, contraception and abortifacients are just stepping stones towards federally-funded abortion and euthanasia.
By going wobbly on other issues such as "gay" marriage and ObamaCare the Conference of bishops showed Obama they would not cost him votes. We need bishops that have what an offense this is to God preached from every pulpit. Perhaps the President thinks he will agitate the female vote if the Supreme Court touches their precious ObamaCare. To their shame, the Bishops and other Catholic Institutions supported the passage of ObamaCare. The matter now is whether the bishops will fight or temporize.
I need to add that when one thinks of the enormity of what is at stake: Catholic Hospitals and perhaps Parish schools closing and quickly taken over by the government, Emily's List, Planned Parenthood and the Gay Agenda would be ecstatic.
We truly have to stop the 'I told you so rhetoric'.
The USCCB has dramatically improved while the 'weaklands' are shunted out. We need to encourage our bishops to get behind their leadership. KOC, AOH, and the pro-life activists need active encouragement. Yes, pray for the Holy Father's struggle against secular relativism, and pray we are not smothered in 2013. This could be a moment of triumph if we cooperate with God's Will.
St Petersburg, Fl
I found it astonishing that so many Catholics are so ignorant of the history of the episcopacy. It is one of continuing corruption, with a few exceptions. All the bishops in England - ALL - except one bowed to Henry VIII. Bishops in Louis XIV's France were ministers of the state, not of the Church.
Like our own bishops, they were "also" bishops. Consider that we do not hear from a bishop in the USCCB but from a PR person, as often as not a woman. So also in the matter of the Washington priest who refused to give Communion to an admitted sinner. It was not the bishop who reproved him but an official of the chancery. Bureaucracy reigns.
Bishop Lori’s excellent response to the “America” editorial will be published by the Jesuits themselves, as follows:
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=4970
Cardinal Dolan's comment that the Jesuit editorial is "hardly surprising" cannot but make a decent Catholic blush with embarrasment at the level of cowardice the crisis of bishops, of our leaders, has reached. It's as if they have just thrown in the towel. "Oh, gosh, it's just darn inevitable that these Jesuits would make such a comment. It's so unfortunate, you know?" Yes, we know! But don't stop there, Your Eminence! Do something about it! No, we should not just take it for granted that so-called Catholic institutions would conduct themselves in so uncatholic terms. Indeed, if truth be told, these incidents are more than just embarassing. They pose a source of scandal for the unsuspecting Catholic.
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