Friday, August 15, 2003
Appalling. I'll wait until I can speak in Christian charity before saying more.
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a statement on CBS's debunked "smoking gun" document. Even those who have made up their minds may be interested in these paragraphs:
The document says nothing about the responsibility that the Church may have within the civil jurisdictions in which it lives and works. Then, as now, the Church is not intending to be exempt from reporting civil crimes to civil authorities.
As a document of the universal Church, it applied in 1962 to a world of quite diverse civil jurisdictions--to a free and democrat North America and Western Europe, a South America dominated by authoritarian dictatorships, an eastern Europe under totalitarian communist rule, etc. To suggest that it was intended as a "ground plan" for handling these matters in the United States (or in any particular jurisdiction) is ludicrous. Also, the applicable civil laws in the United States in 1962 were very different from what they later became.
...but read the whole thing, if you are looking for the truth about Catholicism!
The document says nothing about the responsibility that the Church may have within the civil jurisdictions in which it lives and works. Then, as now, the Church is not intending to be exempt from reporting civil crimes to civil authorities.
As a document of the universal Church, it applied in 1962 to a world of quite diverse civil jurisdictions--to a free and democrat North America and Western Europe, a South America dominated by authoritarian dictatorships, an eastern Europe under totalitarian communist rule, etc. To suggest that it was intended as a "ground plan" for handling these matters in the United States (or in any particular jurisdiction) is ludicrous. Also, the applicable civil laws in the United States in 1962 were very different from what they later became.
...but read the whole thing, if you are looking for the truth about Catholicism!
Monday, August 11, 2003
There's a good piece written by Charles Colson of Breakpoint Online regarding the Bill Pryor story entitled No Catholics Need Apply
The strategy of calling the Democrats for what they are, namely, anti-Catholic, seems to have hit a nerve. Apparently Senate Democrats are riled over anti-Catholic accusation.
The strategy of calling the Democrats for what they are, namely, anti-Catholic, seems to have hit a nerve. Apparently Senate Democrats are riled over anti-Catholic accusation.
Domenico Bettinelli has more on how CBS came to have a copy of the 1962 Vatican instruction.
If you are not Catholic, then it is easy to be misled by what the popular press picks up as Catholicism. Nor is their reporting necessarily a matter of bias so much as of ignorance, at least at times. Zenit announced in July that the "Social Agenda: A Collection of Magisterial Texts,"published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is now available on-line. The Social Agenda contains the "principal texts of the magisterium on the Church's social doctrine, arranged systematically". The Social Agenda sets out the Church's position on abortion and euthanasia in four paragraphs, with references for additional reading if desired.
The state of any other person's soul or faith is not for us to judge, but the accuracy of their portrayal of Church teaching must be assessed - and now you too can do so from the comfort of your keyboard!
The state of any other person's soul or faith is not for us to judge, but the accuracy of their portrayal of Church teaching must be assessed - and now you too can do so from the comfort of your keyboard!
Hugh Hewitt likes Archbishop Chaput's piece too. Hewitt has an interesting, if succinct, theory on why the story isn't getting much play:
"Bigotry is unpleasant stuff"
Link via Mystique et Politique.
UPDATE: There is a meta-discussion of the Archbishop's article and claims of anti-Catholicism going on between Josh Marshall and Hugh Hewitt. Boiling in a great deal more heat than necessary for well done analysis are some insights (and loads o' links).
"Bigotry is unpleasant stuff"
Link via Mystique et Politique.
UPDATE: There is a meta-discussion of the Archbishop's article and claims of anti-Catholicism going on between Josh Marshall and Hugh Hewitt. Boiling in a great deal more heat than necessary for well done analysis are some insights (and loads o' links).
Saturday, August 09, 2003
The Archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, has written a very good piece about the discrimination of some "Catholic" Senators in the confirmation process of William H. Pryor. Click Me.
An interesting excerpt:
'But the committee debate on Pryor was ugly, and the vote to advance his nomination split exactly along party lines. Why? Because Mr. Pryor believes that Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life is true; that the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision was a poorly reasoned mistake; and that abortion is wrong in all cases, even rape and incest. As a result, Americans were treated to the bizarre spectacle of non-Catholic Senators Orrin Hatch and Jeff Sessions defending Mr. Pryor's constitutionally protected religious rights to Mr. Pryor's critics, including Senator Richard Durbin, an "abortion-rights" Catholic.
According to Senator Durbin (as reported by EWTN), "Many Catholics who oppose abortion personally do not believe the laws of the land should prohibit abortion for all others in extreme cases involving rape, incest and the life and the health of the mother." This kind of propaganda makes the abortion lobby proud, but it should humiliate any serious Catholic. At a minimum, Catholic members of Congress like Senator Durbin should actually read and pray over the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" and the encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" before they explain the Catholic faith to anyone.'
An interesting excerpt:
'But the committee debate on Pryor was ugly, and the vote to advance his nomination split exactly along party lines. Why? Because Mr. Pryor believes that Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life is true; that the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision was a poorly reasoned mistake; and that abortion is wrong in all cases, even rape and incest. As a result, Americans were treated to the bizarre spectacle of non-Catholic Senators Orrin Hatch and Jeff Sessions defending Mr. Pryor's constitutionally protected religious rights to Mr. Pryor's critics, including Senator Richard Durbin, an "abortion-rights" Catholic.
According to Senator Durbin (as reported by EWTN), "Many Catholics who oppose abortion personally do not believe the laws of the land should prohibit abortion for all others in extreme cases involving rape, incest and the life and the health of the mother." This kind of propaganda makes the abortion lobby proud, but it should humiliate any serious Catholic. At a minimum, Catholic members of Congress like Senator Durbin should actually read and pray over the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" and the encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" before they explain the Catholic faith to anyone.'
Friday, August 08, 2003
Apparently the recent reaction to the news story by Catholics is anger: Catholics react to Vatican edict
Just FYI, if anyone wishes to tell CBS how they feel about the distortions and sensationalism of their anti-Catholic piece, you can fill in their feedback form that is on their web site. I already gave them a piece of my mind!
Just FYI, if anyone wishes to tell CBS how they feel about the distortions and sensationalism of their anti-Catholic piece, you can fill in their feedback form that is on their web site. I already gave them a piece of my mind!
Here's the USCCB response to the news story USCCB says critics are 'distorting' 1962 Vatican document
<<<
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops' communications office has sharply repudiated claims that a 1962 Vatican instruction on church procedures to deal with priests accused of using the confessional for sexual solicitation provided a "ground plan" for a church cover-up of sexual abuse. "Those making this claim ... are taking the document entirely out of context and therefore distorting it completely," said the statement issued late Aug. 7 by the Department of Communications of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.>>>
<<<
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops' communications office has sharply repudiated claims that a 1962 Vatican instruction on church procedures to deal with priests accused of using the confessional for sexual solicitation provided a "ground plan" for a church cover-up of sexual abuse. "Those making this claim ... are taking the document entirely out of context and therefore distorting it completely," said the statement issued late Aug. 7 by the Department of Communications of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.>>>
Here's an interesting piece by the Catholic News Service Vatican official says 1962 norms on solicitation no longer apply
<<
Archbishop Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, told reporters Aug. 7, "When a matter is re-ordered, the previous procedures are suspended.">>>
<<
Archbishop Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, told reporters Aug. 7, "When a matter is re-ordered, the previous procedures are suspended.">>>
The CNN version isn't much better, unfortunately. Relapsed Catholic has been following the story, so scroll on down (Blogger permalinks being what they are). Domenico Bettinelli (whose feast day today isn't) also has good coverage, as one would expect from him.
