The Pope, unhappy with the composition of the panel chosen by their colleagues to write the Post-Synod report, made an unprecedented decision to pack that panel with such disciplinary stalwarts as Donald Wuerl.
So, they came up with this. Veteran Vatican watcher John Thavis calls it an "earthquake," and well it is. After all, an earthquake is a disaster that destroys countless lives and leaves people homeless and disoriented.
So, yeah--apt!
So, they came up with this. Veteran Vatican watcher John Thavis calls it an "earthquake," and well it is. After all, an earthquake is a disaster that destroys countless lives and leaves people homeless and disoriented.
So, yeah--apt!
It's the leaked majority report of the Birth Control Commission, all over again. This time as farce, but with a twist--now the hierarchy is on board with the New.
The bottom line is that the Franciscan iteration of the Gospel, following a supposedly-unique odor of modern man, has elided matters of personal sexual morality in favor of a dialogic graduality that will supposedly lead to full communion with the Church. Never mind that modern man's proclivities wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in first century Rome, but no matter.
Nope. Now we're going to gradually bring people to the truth. This time for sure!
In exactly the same way that three generations of ecumenical dialogue have lead to greater Christian unity.
The bright side is that it will lighten the load of the bishops, allowing them to tackle such intractable matters as youth unemployment.
Athanasius of Alexandria, white courtesy phone...Athanasius of Alexandria, white courtesy phone...
It does all seem very familiar to this Anglican. Sorry about that. :(
ReplyDeleteAgain, bad politics.
ReplyDeleteMaking sure all of your friends get on the panel because you didn't like the democratic choice... how do you spin that? Why go all in when you're also saying this is "just a dialogue."
Also, got to love the "Yes, the Church is dying in the West, but we're just so cool while we do it!" rhetoric.
My response to "Are our communities capable of providing that [a 'welcoming home' to homosexuals], accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?"- and to the rest of the rot - is to quote Romans 6:1-2: "What shall we say, then? shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. For we that are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer therein?"
ReplyDeleteWe went from a Church that had but one Judas Iscariot in an influential seat to one that seems to have thousands upon thousands of him. We went from a Church where Mindszenty, von Galen and Wyszynski stood up to totalitarianism to a Church that hastens toward it. Miserere nobis.
The title to your blogpost is priceless (no pun intended).
ReplyDeleteHey, at least all the cards are on the table now and we can proceed calmly in full knowledge of the crisis. As game theory models show, having the right information changes everything, and now we know--the "types" have been revealed. The masks are gone.
"Making sure all of your friends get on the panel because you didn't like the democratic choice... how do you spin that?"
ReplyDeleteIt simply means that all that yammering about collegiality and being just a bishop among bishops applies only when you agree with him.
Well posted, Dale. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean that Catholic dating services will now accept the divorced but not annulled? After a period of reflection and penance?
ReplyDeleteHot dog! Line up those hotties for me. Its been a quarter of a century since I bedded me a babe! Wait, let me put my teeth in, neaten my toupe, put on that new girdle and splash on some wrinkle away skin lotion, if I can find my reading glasses to differentiate it from that Preparation H or the Capsaisin Arthritis Cream. Ok. I am ready to take my avatar picture now. WOW!
Thank you, Pope Francis!
Karl
Man, that's true. Anyone who claims to be so excited about having a dialogue with differing points of view obviously hasn't actually done it. And I'm thinking more about Americans when I write this.
ReplyDeletePeople forget that we have manners for when we disagree, not when we agree. It's so that there's a safety value of civilization when otherwise the swords would come out.
And I won't even get into trying to argue people out of the sins they clutch closest to their hearts.
Dale. M.J. was born in Vermont and so he is used to seeing manure spreaders but he never expected to see his Pope and His Cross driving it and spreading his B.S. all over us.
ReplyDeleteThen again, he did want his Bishops to smell like us sheep but he never actually told us how that was gonna happen; who knew he was gonna use the manure spreader on us.
Sorry; this is as much my Church as it is his (probably more so as I accept the entirety of the Catholic Faith, but does he?) and he ain;t gonna run me oft.
This IS war.
On a brighter note, Rorate has a piece by Dr John Rao in which he quotes the Cromwell speech you linked to the other day.
GMTA:)
Mustnt get our sheep skins dirty or soiled. So let's lay them down. Ooops, now we can see who are the wolves. This is real good.
DeleteCalling Athanasius of Kazakhstan . . .
ReplyDeleteSo...what do we do now? As usual, the forces of the left in the Church and the media had complete control months before this Synod. Maradiaga's New Evangelization talk was forewarning. The Pope's odd utterances and name-calling and humiliation of several "conservative" priests and bishops all made this predictable. The member list of the "gang" speaks for itself. Wuerl put Bergoglio on the Chair of Peter and everywhere we turn we see Wuerl getting his reward. OK, so what, that makes for very enticing blogs. But how do we get our Church back? Prayer is not enough. The schools, the media, the chanceries, and now the Vatican are controlled by ... ? ... not sure what to even call them!?! Why are not thousands of Catholics emailing the Pope right now? Why did not hundreds of American Catholics write the Pope the day Crdl. Burke was axed? Why? Why? Why? We "true" Catholics sure talk a good talk. But when will we walk the walk?
ReplyDeleteKathy. It is every bit as much our church as it is theirs and we are called to contend for the Faith.
DeleteAnd as nothing succeeds like failure, let's keep doing what we are doing.
We know who wins in the end but M.J. does not want to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to answer for what he did not do during this time of testing.
We have zero control/authority in the Church but it is ours nevertheless so don't let yourself be run oft by the shadow church.
M.J. has been writing to his local rag and he will be contacting his Pastor and Bishop to let them know where he stands and, for a lay-about like me (retired) daily Mass with all of the apt intentions; same for the rosary, novenas, etc
M.J. is Irish-Algonquin and during a time of war we take no prisoners.
Zach's right. If you've been an Episcopalian for any length of time, the tone of this document scares you way more than the words do.
ReplyDeleteCalls to mind-- as so much of this whole thing does-- a scene in *Fellowship of the Ring* when Strider tells a Hobbit (who as I recall has just answered in the affirmative to a question about whether he is frightened), "Not frightened enough. For I know what it is that follows you." I so want to say a version of this to some of those who previously ridiculed the concerned but are now beginning to feel at least somewhat concerned themselves. But they don't much listen to the likes of me anyway. So I will mostly just pray. A lot. Sybil Marshall here (The Systems Analyst is away and I don't know how to select profiles and so on.)
DeleteGreat title and dead on analysis.
ReplyDeleteFrMichael
Dale,
ReplyDeleteAre you the canary in the mine or chicken little? I honestly don't know the answer to that question.
Dale (great name, by the way!):
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew the answer to that myself...
Peter: "Quo Vadis, Lord"
ReplyDeleteOur Lord: "I'm going to the Synod to be crucified"
Pope Benedict XVI come back.
St. Nicholas, pray for us.
ReplyDeleteAn an Episcopalian, I am disappointed. Can one still say, "At least the Church of Rome has the moral confidence to hold to scripture and tradition when the culture has gone its own way"? At best the Synod's report is confusing and muddies the waters.
ReplyDelete"Athanasius here."
ReplyDelete"Thank you St. Athanasius for picking up. We desperately need you at the Synod. By the way, bring St. Nicholas with you."