Mark at Minute Particulars objects to the use of the term “Catholic in name only” to describe certain politicians who were raised Catholic. He says that we can’t use political judgments to determine whether another’s conscience is properly formed.
To claim that a certain politician who is a professed Catholic is not Catholic is not only theologically unthinking and shallow, but—and this may sound strange—it poisons the water for any Catholics who are genuinely trying to evangelize in the modern world.
If that’s the case, then it seems Archbishop Charles Chapute is unthinking and shallow too.
I’ll grant that judging whether a politician has a well-formed conscience based on his support or opposition to farm subsidies is absurd, but I doubt that anyone use the CINO term is doing that. Even Mark says, “... we can judge with moral certainty whether a politician is following a well-formed conscience as long as we restrict such judgments to well-defined Church Teachings and a proper forum.” [emphasis in original] That’s certainly what I’m doing when I say that John Kerry and Ted Kennedy are CINO. Their rejection of the Church’s teachings on abortion, as well as other bedrock fundamentals of the faith are evidence of a malformed conscience. After all, a well-formed conscience is one that properly adheres to the law and will of God as expressed in the Church’s dogma.
Granted Archbishop Chaput doesn’t use the actual term CINO, but he comes close in his Fox/Duck analogy: “If it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. A fox can claim to be a duck all day long. But he’s still a fox.” He adds:
Candidates who claim to be “Catholic” but who publicly ignore Catholic teaching about the sanctity of human life are offering a dishonest public witness. They may try to look Catholic and sound Catholic, but unless they act Catholic in their public service and political choices, they’re really a very different kind of creature.
The crux of the question is what it means to be Catholic. Is it enough just to have received the sacraments of initiation? That will get you the name Catholic. But what if you are a public dissenter of great proportion who has made it known you reject the Church’s teachings on a wide range of fundamental matters. Does that make you Catholic?
The term CINO simply means someone who calls himself Catholic for having received the sacraments, but who doesn’t hold to the vital, bedrock, basic teachings of the Church, and in fact publicly rejects them. In the old days, we’d call them heretics. In the new politically correct days, we call them CINO.
ELC, I get your point, but CINO’s won’t. Their take is as long as they A. make it to Mass sometime during the year and B. They are good people, and MAYBe C. They believe SOME of the tenents of the Catholic faith, that makes them Catholic. Oh, and it helps if their parents were Catholic too, you know, it’s passed down like genes.
No, I’m with Jane. Let’s separate the chaff from the wheat. But more importantly, folks, if you don’t like what the Church teaches, you CAN leave! That’s the free will deal!!
“Now, I feel like I’m stating the obvious here, but partisan politics is not the appropriate forum for judging another’s conscience. More on this in a later post as well, but for now let me suggest that statements like “Catholics can’t be Democrats” or “Catholics can’t be Republicans” or groups like “Catholics for Kerry” or “Catholics for Bush” make about as much sense as statements like “Catholics can’t be good at math” or are as sensible as groups like “Catholics for Single-Malt Scotch.” The term “Catholic,” if used to signify one who is baptized and professes to be Catholic, is in a completely different category than most any political signification” -from Minute Particulars
For this blogger, Mark, it seems you can separate the two, and this is what has been most troubling. We used to call them “cafeteria Catholics”.
My take is that we are seeing a generational change. Most who are my age (30’s) and younger want to be faithful to Magisterial teachings but are sometimes taught by CINO’s. This next gereration has great promise, I believe, because more and more of the Catholic grassroots is FOR living the faith in it’s fullness, rather than picking and choosing.
Heck, just look at all the places you can go online for excellent Catholic lobbying-enough so that the Democratic party is getting nervous that they are “loosing” us!
Posted by JenB [ip: 68.188.149.186] on 04/22/04 at 01:28 PM
(Dom, I hope I quoted Minute Particulars correctly, my apologies if it was incorrect.)
Posted by JenB [ip: 68.188.149.186] on 04/22/04 at 01:31 PM
I prefer the terms “heretic” or “apostate” or “schismatic”.
These are, after all, terms used in the Catechism.
Posted by lrslattery [ip: 199.217.136.94] on 04/22/04 at 02:42 PM
Why not call a spade a spade? You cannot ‘be’ Catholic without believing in Catholicism (and Christianity). CINO is the right term to use.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) [ip: 67.83.96.124] on 04/22/04 at 05:16 PM
“but partisan politics is not the appropriate forum for judging another’s conscience”
But this isn’t partisan politics it is about the murder of babies.
Posted by ThomasCoolberth [ip: 64.136.27.14] on 04/24/04 at 05:18 AM
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Can we call them CINO?
Mark at Minute Particulars objects to the use of the term “Catholic in name only” to describe certain politicians who were raised Catholic. He says that we can’t use political judgments to determine whether another’s conscience is properly formed.
If that’s the case, then it seems Archbishop Charles Chapute is unthinking and shallow too.
I’ll grant that judging whether a politician has a well-formed conscience based on his support or opposition to farm subsidies is absurd, but I doubt that anyone use the CINO term is doing that. Even Mark says, “... we can judge with moral certainty whether a politician is following a well-formed conscience as long as we restrict such judgments to well-defined Church Teachings and a proper forum.” [emphasis in original] That’s certainly what I’m doing when I say that John Kerry and Ted Kennedy are CINO. Their rejection of the Church’s teachings on abortion, as well as other bedrock fundamentals of the faith are evidence of a malformed conscience. After all, a well-formed conscience is one that properly adheres to the law and will of God as expressed in the Church’s dogma.
Granted Archbishop Chaput doesn’t use the actual term CINO, but he comes close in his Fox/Duck analogy: “If it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. A fox can claim to be a duck all day long. But he’s still a fox.” He adds:
The crux of the question is what it means to be Catholic. Is it enough just to have received the sacraments of initiation? That will get you the name Catholic. But what if you are a public dissenter of great proportion who has made it known you reject the Church’s teachings on a wide range of fundamental matters. Does that make you Catholic?
The term CINO simply means someone who calls himself Catholic for having received the sacraments, but who doesn’t hold to the vital, bedrock, basic teachings of the Church, and in fact publicly rejects them. In the old days, we’d call them heretics. In the new politically correct days, we call them CINO.
COMMENTS
ELC, I get your point, but CINO’s won’t. Their take is as long as they A. make it to Mass sometime during the year and B. They are good people, and MAYBe C. They believe SOME of the tenents of the Catholic faith, that makes them Catholic. Oh, and it helps if their parents were Catholic too, you know, it’s passed down like genes.
No, I’m with Jane. Let’s separate the chaff from the wheat. But more importantly, folks, if you don’t like what the Church teaches, you CAN leave! That’s the free will deal!!
“Now, I feel like I’m stating the obvious here, but partisan politics is not the appropriate forum for judging another’s conscience. More on this in a later post as well, but for now let me suggest that statements like “Catholics can’t be Democrats” or “Catholics can’t be Republicans” or groups like “Catholics for Kerry” or “Catholics for Bush” make about as much sense as statements like “Catholics can’t be good at math” or are as sensible as groups like “Catholics for Single-Malt Scotch.” The term “Catholic,” if used to signify one who is baptized and professes to be Catholic, is in a completely different category than most any political signification” -from Minute Particulars
For this blogger, Mark, it seems you can separate the two, and this is what has been most troubling. We used to call them “cafeteria Catholics”.
My take is that we are seeing a generational change. Most who are my age (30’s) and younger want to be faithful to Magisterial teachings but are sometimes taught by CINO’s. This next gereration has great promise, I believe, because more and more of the Catholic grassroots is FOR living the faith in it’s fullness, rather than picking and choosing.
Heck, just look at all the places you can go online for excellent Catholic lobbying-enough so that the Democratic party is getting nervous that they are “loosing” us!
Posted by JenB [ip: 68.188.149.186] on 04/22/04 at 01:28 PM
Hey, has anybody seen this: The Heinz company is giving cash to Bush and not to what’s her faces husband.
[url=http://www.gopusa.com]http://www.gopusa.com[/url]
(Dom, I hope I quoted Minute Particulars correctly, my apologies if it was incorrect.)
Posted by JenB [ip: 68.188.149.186] on 04/22/04 at 01:31 PM
I prefer the terms “heretic” or “apostate” or “schismatic”.
These are, after all, terms used in the Catechism.
Posted by lrslattery [ip: 199.217.136.94] on 04/22/04 at 02:42 PM
Why not call a spade a spade? You cannot ‘be’ Catholic without believing in Catholicism (and Christianity). CINO is the right term to use.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) [ip: 67.83.96.124] on 04/22/04 at 05:16 PM
“but partisan politics is not the appropriate forum for judging another’s conscience”
But this isn’t partisan politics it is about the murder of babies.
Posted by ThomasCoolberth [ip: 64.136.27.14] on 04/24/04 at 05:18 AM
Comments are being moderated. After you submit your comment it could take up to a couple hours, but usually only a few minutes, before it will appear. Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, you may contact Domenico Bettinelli.