Doctrine and Dissent
Religious faith in America fading over the past generation
While the Catholic Church is losing members slower than Protestant churches, that’s only because so many immigrants are themselves Catholic already. That’s one of the conclusions of the “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, as reported in the New York Times.
What’s sad is that self-identified former Catholics make up one of the largest religious groups in the US.
According to their research, over the past generation, 44 percent of Americans have switched religious affiliations, either to another religion or denomination or to nothing at all. Of Catholics it says:
To no one’s surprise, “unaffiliated” was the biggest gainer. That the United States is becoming ever more secular and/or hostile to religious faith is fairly evident to anyone living in or near a big city or on the coasts. But it’s a spreading phenomenon.
Of course, the surveyors see it in the context of politics and similar matters. Plus, I’m not sure whether they even understand the categories they’re studying.
The rise of the unaffiliated does not mean that Americans are becoming less religious, however. Contrary to assumptions that most of the unaffiliated are atheists or agnostics, most described their religion “as nothing in particular.”
Which is, you know, what agnostic means. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, whose definition is as good as any, it means: “A person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.” That’s pretty much someone who believes in “nothing in particular.”
They also claim that people are abandoning large, impersonal churches for more personal, intimate venues. Supposedly, mega-churches succeed not because they are large but because “they have smaller ministries inside.” Or because they offer an experience that is not hostile to the experience that many people seek, which is a religion that doesn’t require too much counter-cultural changing of their lives.
Catholics coming in the front door and out the back
The Vatican’s awesome new reference web site
Check out this cool new web site from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy: Biblia Clerus. It looks to be an awesome resource for all Catholics.
There’s a searchable Biblical text with commentary from the early Church fathers, the Sunday lectionary readings cross-referenced to the homilies of the Church fathers, the principal texts of the Magisterium of the Church and Popes, and current and earlier versions of the Eastern and Latin Codes of Canon Law with commentary. Oh, and did I mention that you can download it all to your computer (if you’re running Windows, drat, but I do have the software to run Windows on my Mac).
And then it links to the rest of their web site at clerus.org with all kinds of other information, including their official mailing list for the Congregation’s documents.
Very cool!
Chicago archdiocese speaks out on Pfleger
The Archdiocese of Chicago has responded to the outrageous comments by Fr. Michael Plfeger in which he said a gun shop owner and some legislators should be “snuffed”. Now, we all know that the jargon of the street says that “snuffed” means killed, but the context of how he used is clear that he meant something like “removed from public influence” or “had their livelihood stripped away.” That doesn’t mitigate the senselessness and irresponsibility of the words, especially since they could be misconstrued by an unbalanced individual, nor does it mitigate Plfeger’s consorting with hatemongers and racists like Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan.
In any case here is the archdiocese’s relatively mild statement:
On Saturday, May 26, 2007, during an anti-gun rally at a Riverdale gun shop, Fr. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina parish, reportedly made aggressive and inappropriate statements threatening the store’s owner.
If the comments reported are accurate, and a threat was made, it is up to the civil authorities to investigate the matter and determine what if any action should be taken against Fr. Pfleger.
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, stated, “publicly delivering a threat against anyone’s life betrays the civil order and is morally outrageous, especially if this threat came from a priest. It is first of all up to the civil authorities to determine what threat might have been contained in the remarks attributed to Fr. Michael Pfleger. With that determination, the sponsors of the anti-gun rally and the Archdiocese can better decide how to respond.”
I’m not sure why the archdiocese needs to wait for the civil authorities to investigate before it can take action. Pfleger is a Catholic priest. His words are clearly documented. His previous heterodox and syncretist and publicly disobedient actions give clear cause for the cardinal to act. But as someone pointed out in an email to me, given the state the Church in Chicago is in—with the amount of heterodoxy among the clergy—that any kind of public statement from the archdiocese that is willing to acknowledge that a priest has crossed the line is a big step.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | Chicago | bishop | priest | Pfleger |
Dignity’s true colors
If anyone was still under the misapprehension that Dignity, the homosexual-activist Catholic group, was in fact Catholic, the fact that they have a pretend-ordained woman set to preside over their Gay Pride “Mass” should dispel that notion.
Dignity/NY, the LGBT Catholic group, will have a woman preside over its Gay Pride Mass for the first time on June 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square South. She is the Reverend Victoria Rue, a Roman Catholic womanpriest who was ordained by three Roman Catholic womenbishops in 2005.
Here’s hoping that the “menbishops” of the Church in the US once and for all order all of their diocesan ministries to homosexuals to sever all ties with Dignity, because it is a heretical group.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | Dignity | homosexuality | heterodox | dissent | women's ordination |
The real face of VOTF
A reader sent me a copy of the ballot for Voice of the Faithful’s elections for the national representative council from their Region XI, which includes California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
There are three candidates. The first is Jim Jenkins of Berkeley, California, the current officeholder. Jim says that his agenda includes “Church governance where all the people of God participate fully and have the determinative voice” and “Promotion of national (and international) convocation(s) - sometimes called ‘lay synods’ - to chart the pastoral direction of the church in North America.” Note to Jim: The Church is not a democracy. I’d rather the Catholic Church in America not end up in the same splintering mess that the Episcopal Church has because we know exactly what kind of changes the people who advocate such “lay synods” and lay governance are looking for.
The next candidate is James P. Keating. James has an impressive resume including a “Catholic Father of the Year” award. Oh, and he “perform(s) civil marriages (as allowed for by the State of California) [but not the Catholic Church] for those that can’t, or don’t want to get married in the church.” You’d think that might be a disqualification for a Catholic position, but James assures us that “My good friend, Bishop Frank Quinn, says this is a growing number!”
James is also an honorary member of NOVA, an association of married priests and, he so helpfully tells us, “kissed the Blarney stone.” Indeed.
Our final candidate is perhaps the most impressive. He is a Hugh ORegan, “a former Roman Catholic priest (Benedictine)” who is also an active member of Most Holy Redeemer Parish in San Francisco. Click the link to see why that is significant, if you don’t recall.
And that’s Voice of the Faithful in a nutshell. They claim to be “centrist”, if such a thing is even possible for a Catholic, but every prominent player in the organization seems to come from the heterodox side of the balance sheet.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | Voice of the Faithful |
Aussie pol says hell preferable to changing vote
After Cardinal George Pell warned Australian Catholic lawmakers that they risked eternal consequences if they voted to approve embryonic stem-cell research and funding, at least one told the cardinal he would rather go to Hell than change his vote. That was Tony Stewart, evidently not the NASCAR driver, but a parliamentary backbencher in the New South Wales parliament.
Maybe I’ll go to Hell, but if I go to Hell I’m going to do so by saving a lot of lives, [except the lives of the unborn children killed and dismembered for their cells] because that’s what this bill is about,” said Tony Stewart. “We don’t need a religious leader telling members of parliament what should be done.”
After Pell warned Premier Morris Iemma that he may deny him Communioin, Iemma and the other Catholic pols erupted in anager and, predictably, accused him of mixing religion and politics. They must be getting their talking points from the US Democratic Party.
As for the bill itself, why I don’t see what the problem is:
The bill would permit “human-animal hybrids”, “fertilizing immature eggs from aborted girls with adult male sperm” to form new embryos, and “mixing the genetic material of more than two persons” and destroying them at 14 days for their stem-cells.
What could possibly go wrong with that? “Yes, you can make human-animal hybrids and chimeras and other children as long you make sure they’re dead within 14 days.” Apart from the murder of the children, note that they’re planning to implant these hybrid cells into human beings. Where are the moonbats who are usually protesting genetically modified feed-corn? This is worlds worse.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | Australia | stem cells | Pell |
Catholics Against Rudy
Update: If you want to see video Steve’s appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Mathews” there are two links: 1 and 2.
Stephen Dillard of the sadly now defunct blog Southern Appeal is one of the names behind a new site called Catholics Against Rudy. Their aim is to oppose Rudy Giuliani’s bid for Republican presidential nomination because of his appalling record on issues related to the Cultures of Life and Death.
While there are other candidates with equally bad records, as a Catholic, Giuliani is of particular concern to us, even if essentially he has publicly repudiated his faith. As Catholics, it’s our duty to police our own house.
If some Republicans thought that Catholic opposition to John Kerry was based on partisan politics they were wrong, and if they try to advance Giuliani’s nomination, they’ll see how wrong.
There are other candidates who are much more suitable, Republican and otherwise. Giuliani is not. Simple as that.
I hope Steve’s site becomes a strong resource for those seeking to advance candidates who support a culture of life. It’s scheduled to go live on July 4.
And if you have a blog or web site and want to show your agreement, put this graphic on your site and link to Catholics Against Rudy.
Cardinal Pell’s mandate for Catholic school principals
How’s this for a bizarre headline: “Sydney principals forced to uphold Catholic values.” In other news, lawyers have been forced to uphold the law, doctors have been forced to treat disease, and baseball players have been forced to win games.
This is the headline on the transcript of a news report from the Australian ABC TV network. Here’s how the story begins:
TONY JONES: Back to Australia, and Catholic school principals in the Archdiocese of Sydney will soon have to swear on the Bible to uphold Catholic principles.
Cardinal George Pell is imposing the oaths to ensure senior teachers toe the church line on contentious issues like women’s ordination, birth control and homosexuality.
Philippa McDonald reports.
PHILIPPA MCDONALD: As Cardinal, George Pell is the chief teacher of the Catholic faith in Sydney, and now he says it’s not enough for those who run his schools to say they believe, they’ll have to swear two oaths as well.
The oaths are merely a Profession of Faith and the Oath of Fidelity. If you’re going to teach in a Catholic school, should you have any problem assuring the parents of these students that you will indeed provide the Catholic education they expect you’re giving. If my physician refused to take the Hippocratic Oath, but asked me to take his word that he would act ethically anyway, I’d be looking for a new doctor.
But these principals are calling the decision “heavy-handed” and complain that it came with no consultation. Why should there be consultation? They’re Catholic teachers in Catholic schools. Do we need to negotiate with them on how much of God’s revealed truth they should abide by?
I applaud Cardinal Pell for taking seriously his duty and obligation to safeguard the faith and the methods by which it is passed on.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | Sydney | Australia | schools | fidelity | dissent | doctrine | Pell |
God warns Giuliani
Lightning struck the building where the Republic presidential primary debate was being held last night and messed with the sound system, just as Rudy Giuliani was explaining whhy he dissents from Catholic belief on abortion. They all had a chuckle, the other candidates backing away and Giuliani making a joke.
“Look, for someone who went to parochial schools all his life, this is a very frightening thing that’s happening right now,” Giuliani chuckled.
For those who refuse to see, even a burning bush would not convince. I might have told the story before on the blog about the Unitarian-Universalist minister in my hometown of Canton, Mass., when I was a kid. I remember reading in the newspaper how the atheist minister (those wacky UUs!) laughed off the incident in which a lightning bolt struck his office, hit his bookshelf, burned through the books until it reached the Bible and burned through until reaching the page on which the verse about misleading shepherds and millstones. And he laughed about the coincidence. What else could he do?
Thomas has the video of the moment.
Rejecting what you know not
In the midst of pointing out yet another anti-Catholic editorial cartoon, Diogenes reminds us that those who so arduously reject orthodox Catholic belief often do so without knowing a single bit of it.
The British critic Bernard Levin used to say that many people pass their entire lives under the false impression that they have read Das Kapital. In same way, many Catholics congratulate themselves as “Thinking Catholics” under the false impression that they have devoted actual thought to the Church’s theology. The vast majority have simply followed the line of least cultural resistance by adapting themselves to the fashion that disdains Catholic orthodoxy as a kind of boot camp of working class muscular moralism. Since it’s so terribly un-chic, you never have to get around to showing that it’s false. And because style-setters like Bertrand Russell and Susan Sontag were intellectuals, today’s heterodox trendies reflexively award themselves the same dignity — whether or not they’ve read three words from Denzinger.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say that while there are many who hate what they think the Catholic Church is, there isn’t a handful that hate what the Church actually is. While he was speaking of anti-Catholic fundamentalists at the time, unfortunately this has come to describe more and more actual Catholics.
Of course, it’s not just Catholicism that is subject to this phenomenon. The trend in public discourse these days is to shoot from the hip and to attack that which you have knowledge of based on what you’ve read at Wikipedia.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | doctrine | dissent | dogma | theology |
VOTF’s hubris and infighting
I don’t mean to continually harp on Voice of the Faithful’s ongoing financial and membership problems, but they keep giving interviews and illustrating why they are so problematic.
The latest is in the UK’s The Guardian newspaper, which brings out not just VOTF’s money woes, but also the infighting plaguing it and the arrogant attitude.
Mary Pat Fox, the elected president of the group, tells the newspaper why Voice of the Faithful must succeed.
That last sentence right there is exactly the problem with VOTF: the arrogance. As if, before VOTF came along, the only voice we ever heard about the Church, from within the Church, was that of bishops. Nevermind the long list of laymen, saints among them, who have contributed to the Church. Go to any parish and tell me where most of the initiative is coming from. Father is one man; he relies on the laity. And what’s wrong with hearing from the hierarchy? Our priests and bishops are our spiritual fathers. We need them to speak out on the matters important to our faith. That some bishops and priests have failed in their important duties in the past is no reason to set yourself up as if your were the opposition party in a newly parliamentary government. We are a family, not a series of factions in a democracy. Unfortunately too many of VOTF’s founding fathers and mothers don’t know that. That is perhaps the other reason the group is struggling so much, according VOTF’s board chairman William Casey.The group is poised to rebound, Fox said, but it needs to see some success in its initiatives, and it also needs to continually show Catholics why Voice of the Faithful is important.
“If the only voice that you heard on the Catholic church was from the hierarchy, that would be a problem,” she said.
The group is also facing what Casey called a “crisis in leadership” due to infighting, difficulty respecting each other’s positions and trouble reaching consensus on decisions, according to the notes of his remarks at a leadership conference in April.
Can’t say I’m surprised, given what I recall of their turbulent beginnings in 2002 when people walked out of their inaugural national convention after they were confronted with heterodoxy on a large scale and other well-meaning orthodox Catholics were effectively hounded from group chapters and online bulletin boards for daring to stand up for Church teaching.
Technorati Tags: Voice of the Faithful | Catholic |
Catholic clergy respond to 18 Catholic Democrats
The Confraternity for Catholic Clergy, ably led by Fr. John Trigilio, has responded to an open letter by 18 Catholic Democrats— who took issue with the Pope saying that Catholics have to acts like Catholics—with a response of their own.
Your letter of May 10th is self-incriminating. While criticizing the Pope for doing his job as supreme pastor, you yourselves betray your own duplicity as Catholic lawmakers. The supreme pastor of the universal church has jurisdiction over every Catholic Christian in the world. Canon Law makes it clear that every baptized Catholic is under the authority of the Church in matters of faith and morals. Hence, when the Roman Pontiff upholds and enforces the Divine Positive and the Natural Moral Laws, he is not interfering with man-made civil law, rather, he is reminding you of its subservience to the higher laws to which it must conform for the common good of all.
They then quote Canon 1398—“a person who actually procures an abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication.”—and then quotes Pope Benedict when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger in 2004 as telling US bishops “a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia.” While the cardinal didn’t specifically extend the excommunication to the politicians, he did say they should not present themselves for Communion. And rightly so, says canonist Ed Peters, since he says no interpretation of the Code of Canon Law and specifically Canon 1398 would extend that law to pro-abortion politicians.
Regardless of the application of that canon, the Confraternity scoffs at the Democrats’ claim that the Pope is interfering in US politics.
Pope Benedict is merely reminding Catholic Americans that their first and foremost loyalty is to God and the common good. Any and all civil laws which contradict the Divine and/or the Natural Law are invalid and have no obligation upon anyone. If that were not the case, then slavery, segregation and anti-Semitism would have to be tolerated if some legislature or court upheld laws supporting these atrocities.
These Catholic Democrats—and all Catholic Americans—have to come to a greater understanding of the relative priority of their personal obligations. First and foremost, a Catholic’s duty is toward God and by extension to the Truths given by God for our salvation as safeguarded and transmitted by the Church.
Technorati Tags: Catholic | Democrats | dissent | Pope | Vatican | excommunication | abortion |
Chicago priest: “Snuff” gun shop owner
A couple of days ago, I noted that a a Chicago Catholic church had hosted an appearance by hatemonger Louis Farrakhan, including some laudatory words by the pastor, Fr. Michael Pfleger.
Now Pfleger finds himself in the news again with his public comments advocating that a gun shop owner and some legislators be “snuffed” out.
During a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition protest at Chuck’s Gun Shop & Range on Saturday, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina’s Church, threatened to “snuff” shop owner John Riggio.
[…]
Pfleger then turns his attention to Riggio. “He’s the owner of Chuck’s. John Riggio. R-i-g-g-i-o. We’re going to find you and snuff you out … you know you’re going to hide like a rat. You’re going to hide but like a rat we’re going to catch you and pull you out. We are not going to allow you to continue to hide when we’re here …”
“We’re going to keep coming back, and like Reverend Jackson says, it takes civil disobedience, if it takes whatever it takes … we’re going to snuff out John Riggio, we’re going to snuff out legislators that are voting … and we are coming for you because we are not going to sit idly. Keep on fighting, people. Keep on fighting, keep on fighting.”
On the face of it, the bald meaning of the word “snuff” is to kill. Was Pfleger calling for the murder of Riggio or state legislators? Probably not. But would every person at the rally, including every potentially unstable person, know that? Al Sharpton and the victims of the Freddy’s Fashion Mart killings know how inflammatory (no pun intended) language can have unintended consequences.
So assuming that Plfeger used some inadvisable speech, he’s still guilty of imprudence and of inciting others to acts of violence. The fact that he’s associating with known race-baiters, hoaxers, extortionists, and hatemongers should be a red flag. That he’s a Catholic priest and pastor in apparent good standing in Chicago is a scandal to all the faithful. I hope Cardinal George takes this seriously.
Biased media attack on Abp Burke
Very often, it seems that courageous bishops stand alone against the onslaught of a culture that doesn’t appreciate their “meddling” influence. Of course, they don’t stand alone because—even if sometimes it seems there aren’t enough of them—there are bishops who will stand up and do what’s right.
Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis is one of those bishops who has been a courageous witness to the Gospel and the obligations of Catholics in the public square. For that he has earned a biased attack in the Washington Post that has now spread through syndication.
NewsBusters blogger Michael Chapman points out that reporter Peter Slevin’s report offers ignorance right from the lede when he says: “When it comes to expressing his views of church values, Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke has a habit of making headlines, not always to the satisfaction of his flock.” Of course, they are not just the archbishop’s views, but the Church’s teachings. That his stance might be unpopular with the flock is of little consequence because his job is not to be popular, but to offer the truth. As a father, I’m not worried about being popular with my daughter if what I’m saying or doing is meant to protect and guide her. Chapman writes:
Abp. Burke has spoken out against abortion; against politicians who support abortion; against entertainers who support anti-Catholic teachings but also want to perform at Catholic functions; against using embryonic stem cells for research; and so on. And this is what apparently ticks Slevin and his editors off: A Catholic Bishop who actually tells his flock the Truth about Catholic teaching and how Catholics must strive to seek holiness and save their souls.
Critics and “some supporter”
Technorati Tags: Catholic | bishop | media | bias | Burke | St. Louis | dissent | heterodoxy |
San Fran Catholic Charities supporting moral violence to children
Last year, when the Vatican issued a definitive statement that Catholic agencies were not to facilitate adoption by same-sex couples, Catholic Charities of San Francisco crafted a “compromise” that only served to compromise Catholic values and ignore the substance of the Vatican directive.
What they did was put their adoption staff and money spent on them under the umbrella of a group called Family Builders that not only facilitates adoptions by same-sex couples, but aggressively seeks them out for adoptions.
This is direct material cooperation with evil. Of course, this is not a surprise since the SF Catholic Charities executive director has been an apologist for such homosexual arrangements and is apparently dissenting from the Church’s teachings on the subject.
Now we’re getting a clearer understanding of just what kind of organization the Archdiocese of San Francisco is working with in Family Builders.
Local adoption and foster care agency Family Builders by Adoption unveiled an edgy new marketing campaign targeting LGBT people Monday, May 21 that puts a new twist on language often used by conservatives
The ads feature same-sex couples and their adopted children standing behind the slogans, “Family Planning” and “Intelligent Design.” Underneath the slogans are the phrases, “Our family was no accident – we planned for it,” and “Before we started our family we considered all the options.” The city of San Francisco paid for a portion of the ad campaign, as part of a $100,000 contract.
[…]
Supervisor Bevan Dufty spoke in support of the campaign at a news conference held Monday at the LGBT Community Center. The new interpretation of traditional right-wing phrases is expected to draw heat from conservative groups. “The religious right … only seems to care about how a child gets here, and once they’re here, they’re somebody else’s problem,” Dufty said.
Mutual love: Family Builders and CC
Technorati Tags: Catholic Charities | homosexuality | same-sex adoption | adoption | San Francisco | Vatican |
