Tag Archives: sacrament

I Say Potato

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You say potahto. Either way, it’s spin. I take back the nice things I said about the Bishops’ response to Communiongate. Like so many Church documents, it has too much wiggle room to have any real force or meaning (for any side).

Communion: more feedback

In a further indication that the leadership of the Church is endeavouring to take the heat out of communion being used as a political battering ram, the respected CNS news agency is reporting that the American Bishops are trying "to move abortion politics away from the Communion rail and into the hearts of individual Catholics".

Women in the Church

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I generally find that women don't appreciate being instructed about their proper roles from men. That's understandable. I'd imagine most men don't like being told their roles by women, either (though my gut tells me women hate hearing about womanhood from men more than the reverse). The author of the following defense of the all-male priesthood is a women. Even cooler, she's an ex-Lutheran minister (I'm an ex-Lutheran as well).

Former Lutheran Pastor Debunks Women's Ordination (Part 1)
Jennifer Ferrara Was Won Over by the Pope's Theology of the Body

SPRING CITY, Pennsylvania, JUNE 21, 2004 (Zenit.org).- When she was younger, Jennifer Ferrara never would have foreseen the day when she became a sort of apologist for the all-male Catholic priesthood.

Former Lutheran Pastor Defends All-Male Priesthood (Part 2)
Jennifer Ferrara on Proper Roles in the Church

SPRING CITY, Pennsylvania, JUNE 22, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Women can find innumerable opportunities for service in the Church if only they embrace their proper role, says a former Lutheran minister who now extols the all-male Catholic priesthood.

Also regarding women in the Church:

Scholars rethink image of biblical figure
By Mary Kaye Ritz, The Honolulu Advertiser

How did Mary Magdalene, who has inspired legions of the faithful, gnostics and scholars, and even affected pop culture, come to be so popular — and so misunderstood?

Dodging!

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The American Life League seems to not find the USCCB’s recent political statement
as tasteful as I did.

American Life League Response to USCCB Statement on ‘Catholics in Political Life:’ The American Bishops Have Failed
Mon Jun 21,10:46 AM ET
Contact: Joseph R. Giganti of the American Life League, 703-928-9695 or jgiganti@all.org,
Web site: http://www.all.org

WASHINGTON, June 21 /U.S. Newswire/ — “The American bishops have failed,” said American Life League president Judie Brown. “The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops had an opportunity to provide strong leadership on the question of Catholic public figures who favor legal abortion. However, their statement misses the mark on several points. As a result, election year politics has trumped the right to life of the innocent and the protection of Christ from sacrilege.”

Horror Knows No Bounds

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The sick and sinful behavior of non-Catholics does not give me joy (though I can't help but think "Whew. I'm glad the Church doesn't produce all the world's scandals."), but this story, seemingly ignored by most, shows that other venerable institutions have cracks in their armor. Sure, we knew that American public schools don't educate children as well as they should. Classrooms are overcrowded, money is distributed unfairly, and teachers are forced to teach to the "middle". I'd imagine, though, that few know about this hidden scandal.

Report: Up to 10 percent of students sexual targets
By Maggi Newhouse, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, June 14, 2004

"While the Catholic Church continues to wrestle with the ramifications of decades of sexual misconduct by some priests, another institution responsible for even more children has its own shameful record of protecting child molesters — public school systems."

Dodging?

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I’m not sure how I feel about the USCCB‘s official comment on the Communion controversy. It seems a bit wishy-washy at points, but it might be the right response. It sounds like a much softer version of what one of the bishops (can’t recall who) said on his own a while ago. Paraphrased, he said, “No Catholic would dare bring his/herself to communion while supporting abortion.” He sidestepped election-year issues by not singling out particular politicians, but he still made his point clear.

Pro-Abortion Politicians Can Be Denied Communion, Says Episcopate
U.S. Bishops Warns Catholics of “Cooperating in Evil”

WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The U.S. bishops’ conference issued a rebuke to Catholic politicians who support abortion, and said that the decision to deny them Communion is up to individual bishops.

Priests Thank U.S. Bishops for Statement
Sat Jun 19,12:27 PM ET
Contact: Jerry Horn of Priests for Life, 540-785-4733

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y., June 19 /U.S. Newswire/ — In a statement released on Saturday, June 19, Fr. Frank Pavone expressed the gratitude of the Priests for Life association, of which he serves as national director, for the June 18 statement of the U.S. Bishops, “Catholics in Political Life.”

On a related note:

U.S. Bishops’ Panel Urges New Kind of Politics
Calls for Focus on the Common Good, Not Demands of Special Interests

WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 18, 2004 (Zenit.org).- In testimony submitted to the Democratic and Republican party platform committees, U.S. bishops have called for “a new kind of politics — focused on moral principles not on the latest polls.”