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Ought we to apply the theological "F Word" to Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI? Raymond Keating has an interesting take on the question here:
http://www.dakotavoice.com/200509/Opinion/Guest/20050930_Guest.asp
Whether or not the clash of opinions within the Catholic community in the U.S. has grown stronger or weakened over the last decade I couldn’t say; however, I do know that with some frequency we still find ourselves at odds over what we think and where we want to head.
With that in mind, I thought that I, now serving as pastor of the family of the Oakland Diocese, could profitably share these “Ten Rules” with all of you. So, here they are, along with my own brief commentary on each.
At least that's how I interpret this story coming out of the Diocese of Worcester in Massachusetts:
Some parishioners at St. Luke the Evangelist are angry their pastor was yanked from Mass and publicly scolded by the bishop of the Worcester diocese for opposing church efforts to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts.
"Bishop (Robert) McManus told us that Father George (Lange) 'made a mistake' and 'should not have done that,'" said parishioner Cindy Hodgdon. "Our church leaders' hands were slapped very publicly."
McManus took over two Masses after Lange and his associate pastor, the Rev. Stephen Labaire, printed a short item in a recent church bulletin snubbing the Massachusetts bishops for supporting an amendment to the state Constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman only.
"The priests of this parish do not feel that they can support this amendment. They do not see any value to it and they see it as an attack upon certain people in our parish, namely those who are gay," the item in the bulletin said.
At least one parishioner, Hodgdon, was upset that the bishop had the gall to tell priests and laity (gasp! the horror!) what the Church believes about marriage:
Hodgdon said the bishop's appearance at St. Luke was a surprise to many church-goers. She called it a "sneak attack."
"I feel like he was trying to leverage our faith to further his political agenda," said Hodgdon. "I think individual parishes and communities have their own cultural norms."
Say what?! Could it be that Hodgdon has been attending the wrong church, thinking that this man was her "bishop"?
From The Brussels Journal blog:
The Netherlands and Belgium were the first countries to give full marriage rights to homosexuals. In the United States some politicians propose “civil unions” that give homosexual couples the full benefits and responsibilities of marriage. These civil unions differ from marriage only in name.
Meanwhile in the Netherlands polygamy has been legalised in all but name. Last Friday the first civil union of three partners was registered. Victor de Bruijn (46) from Roosendaal “married” both Bianca (31) and Mirjam (35) in a ceremony before a notary who duly registered their civil union.
It's little surprise that polygamous "marriages" will be coming along shortly in many enlightened, progressive Western nations. After all, if marriage is merely a contracted relationship between consenting adults meant for their pleasure (as they see it) and convenience (as they define it), how could any reasonable person stop three (four, eight, twenty?) people from "marrying" one another? Of course, if marriage can be defined in any way by anybody for any reason, it means that marriage means nothing. However, Victor de Bruijn hasn't yet realized this (nor does he probably care), insisting that he and his "wives" want to take their marriage obligations seriously: “to be honest and open with each other and not philander.” Forgive us for not holding our breath or for sending a note of congratulations.
Understanding The Hierarchy of Truths | Douglas Bushman,
S.T.L.
Catechists, evangelists, apologists and others today sometimes encounter the term "hierarchy of truths." Sometimes the term is misused to imply that some truths of the faith are negotiable or that some truths are less true than others. In fact, the hierarchy of truths is merely the principle of ordering the mysteries of faith based on the varying ways they are related one another as elements of Christian revelation, as summarized in the Creed.
Because the hierarchy of truths is so often misunderstood, it is important to examine it. What follows is an examination of the principle itself, based on the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, as well as a discussion of some implications of the hierarchy of truths for evangelization and apologetics. Continue reading...
...that award-winning podcaster Kathleen Keating and I had is now available on her site as an mp3 file. Here are direct links to the 56K file and the 28K file.
Some are saying so. But is it true? Canon lawyer Dr. Ed Peters provides facts and answers over at his "In Light of the Law" blog.
Following up on Mark's post below, here is a link to the National "Catholic" Reporter's study on American Catholics and their beliefs, attitudes, and priorities. It begins with an intro by Dean Hoge, followed by links to various tables and graphs (all in PDF format). Hoge writes:
To explore this issue, we divided the sample of Catholic lay persons into three levels of church commitment -- high, medium and low. Three questions in the interview were combined to form the identifying criterion. First, “How important is the Catholic church to you personally?” Second, “Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you attend Mass?” The third asked the respondents to place themselves on a scale from one to seven, with one meaning that they would never leave the Catholic church, and seven that they might do so. To be considered a high-commitment Catholic, they had to say that the Catholic church is the most important part of their life or among the most important parts, that they attend Mass at least once a week, and that they would place themselves at one or two on the one-to-seven scale, indicating that they would not leave the Catholic church. Using this criterion, 21 percent of respondents scored high in 2005. Sixty-four percent scored medium and 15 percent scored low.
Fair enough. So what sets these "highly committed" Catholics apart? Some of the findings:
Continue reading "NCReporter on attitudes of "highly committed Catholics"" »
CHICAGO (Reuters) - More than two-thirds of U.S. Roman Catholics don't think it is very important to have an all-male, celibate clergy, a belief the Vatican continues to hold strongly, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
The same poll also found that less than half of those questioned placed a high importance on their church's opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion and the death penalty.
For the rest of the article, go here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1167083.
For a little perspective and common sense, you can stay here. This poll, taken under the auspices of the National Catholic Reporter, is presented to us by ABC/Reuters without telling us whether Catholics in question go to Mass every Sunday, a key factor. Of course, just attending Mass every Sunday doesn't make you a Catholic, anymore than sitting in your garage makes you a car. Catholicism is, after all is said and done, a matter of faith. But it is much more relevant to know what the 20-25 million Sunday-Mass-going Catholics think than it is to know what the merely self-identifying "Catholics" say.
But let's suppose the survey did poll Sunday-Mass-going Catholics and found, if not similar results, at least results that saw less support for Catholic teaching regarding the priesthood than we would think should be the case. What would that mean? It would mean that thirty years of mediocre, if not dissenting catechesis, wishy-washy pastoral leadership, and liturgical monkey-business has left people confused. And it would mean that we should stop pretending that all is well and get down to the business of straightening things out.
Interview with Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli, Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware | Valerie Schmalz | September 28, 2005
Bishop Michael Saltarelli is outspoken in witnessing to the Gospel of Life to his diocese and to the politicians in the Diocese of Wilmington–particularly those who call themselves pro-choice and Catholic. In Delaware, that includes two nationally prominent figures, U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, a Democrat, and U.S. Representative Michael Castle, a Republican.
Bishop Saltarelli believes in the power of prayer. During the month of October–which is Respect Life Month–he is asking Catholics in his diocese to pray for a conversion of all politicians, statesmen, and lawyers to an respect for life. He has composed a Litany to St. Thomas More, which will be distributed to all the churches in the Diocese of Wilmington for the first weekend in October. The Litany was first distributed to the diocese in October 2004. The diocese comprises 57 parishes, 19 missions, and 40 schools in the State of Delaware and the nine counties of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. There are over 220,000 Catholics in the diocese.
In June 2005, Bishop Saltarelli led several dozen Catholics in praying the Rosary outside the Delaware State House while state House lawmakers inside debated the merits of the Delaware Regenerative Medicine Act, SB 80, which had already passed the state Senate. The embryonic stem cell bill was postponed until January 2006.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1933, Bishop Saltarelli was ordained to the priesthood in 1960. He served as a pastor in New Jersey for many years, and was appointed auxiliary bishop to the Archbishop of Newark in 1992 and bishop of Wilmington in 1995. Continue reading...
