In a wide-ranging, two-hour interview in which he discussed his vision and dreams for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as well as his decisions to reorganize some agencies within the chancery, Bishop Finn said he hopes to build on the diocese’s legacy of lay empowerment to energize Catholics in their love of Jesus Christ to live their faith fully in the broader community.
"Jesus Christ is going to save us," he said. "Bishop Finn isn’t going to save us. Salvation is going to be worked out in the context of the church. Jesus Christ established the church for us to know and love him, and ultimately to get to heaven."
Echoing a theme he delivered last year at a Mass for Catholic school principals and teachers at the opening of the 2004-05 school year, Bishop Finn said it is the vocation of every member of Christ’s church to become saints themselves "and to bring as many people with them as possible."
"You can’t say it more simply or profoundly than that," he said. "Our goal is to get ourselves and everyone else to heaven."
Bishop Finn said that ordained ministers alone can’t transform American culture.
"We are in a culture of death. Who is going to change that?" he said.
"I can stand up and preach about it, but that’s only going to go so far," Bishop Finn said.
"We have to understand where the power of the laity is," he said. "It’s in the family, the workplace, the marketplace. That’s where it has to happen.
"We need lay people in church leadership. But only a very small percentage of lay people will be involved in that," he said. "Sometimes, we tend to focus on that very small percentage and forget about the rest of the flock.
"But if we are not serious about those laity who do not work in the church, then we are missing the whole thing. We have to keep broadening our vision." [Source][Via Dappled Things]
The article continues with this:
Bishop Finn said he wants The Catholic Key to be an important component of ongoing diocesan catechesis and evangelization, and an instrument of reconciliation.
For that reason, he said, he directed The Key to discontinue Father Richard McBrien’s often controversial syndicated column.
"Father McBrien likes to stir the pot," Bishop Finn said. "He approaches things with a certain skepticism and cynicism. You can get that in a lot of places, so go get it somewhere else.
"We need clear expressions of the meaning of faith, why we believe and how we can inspire each other," he said. "We’ve got to give people hope and direction, and we don’t have a lot of time and space (in the newspaper) to do that. I think we can do a whole lot better."
It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. You can almost hear the whispering of progressives about the silencing and the coming inquisition. The cries about open dialogue and the restrictive narrow view being imposed. Though I am sure Father McBrien will continue to have an outlet for his columns in the LA diocese magazine The Tidings for years to come.
22 comments
The article also has a quote from Bishop Finn about the Seamless Garment.
A few things about the McBrien column in the Key …
– Controversy always generates attention, and in the case of print media, sales. In the case of blogs, higher hit rates.
– Diocesan and parish publications often have a well-deserved reputation for being bland. Less “stirring the pot” might result in lower subscription rates. (After all, one can go elsewhere for Catholic teaching, too.)
– The Key has been propped up by “required” support from parishes for at least the past few years. Our parish sends it free to a third of our parishioners; we’re required to buy over 700 subscriptions a year. The sad truth of it is that even with the McBrien column, the periodical is pretty tame (some might say lame). Now if the bishop or another writer wanted to publish a point-by-point refutation of McBrien’s column, that might do the job a bit better.
It’s the sounds of a man who has pulled himself up on a Rock, in the midst of a raging river, and proclaimed there can be salvation by clinging to the Rock, only to have another guy who has wrapped himself onto a dead branch, and staying dry from the ravages of the river show him no interest. After a while the man on the Rock gets no help from the guy on the dead branch, and he is then swallowed and taked away by the raging river. I don’t like the ending.
Huh?
ohmigawd … a reactionary crackdown against free thought led by the nazi-inquisitor pope …
Head for the hills!!!
Great stuff.
So go get it somewhere else……….I love this guy!!
Very impressive!!
I totally agree with Bishop Finn. Todd, in opposition to your opinion, I cancelled my subscription to my Superior Diocese paper because of McBrien. They published my letter re McBrien and my reason for canellation. I received a lot of support from others in my parish who felt the same way — people I didn’t even know. Some didn’t even recognize his dissident writings, but felt he was too negative and thought he didn’t like the church. They didn’t want to read someone who hatred for the church came out in his writings.
So La Diocese, Tidings and Superior Diocese continue to carry him — some day I hope we drop him. I’ll be happy to support the paper then.
There is only so much time in life. Had we but world enough, then floating a liberal neanderthal like McBrien might have some small justification. As it is, putting McBrien in a Catholic paper is like publishing the great thoughts of Gloria Steinham. What could McBrien possibly have to say that he hasn’t already said till the needle worn a hole in the groove? A bit like Todd.
God Bless Bishop Finn!!
huh? It means the guy is bust’in his hump in his diocese. He’s doing his job in this world of priests and bishops that don’t do their job. He’s making a difference, and in a place where, I would think, watered down Catholicism has reigned surpreme for years. I guess I was focused on the good guy and not the pin head with the magazine column. May God Bless Bishop Finn and those who hear him.
Maybe not a bit like me after all.
I actually think Bishop Finn is on to something if he intends to remake a newspaper into something different, something catechetical. It might be an improvement over the tired news format one sees in many dioceses.
I actually don’t think much of any diocesan newspaper I’ve ever seen. In journalism, it is considered professional to print a wide range of opinion. And despite what other commenters here say, McBrien is well within the bounds of Catholic orthodoxy. Finn himself acknowledges him as a “pot-stirrer,” not a heretic.
On the other hand, if diocesan publications were remade into organs for catechesis–that notion has quite a bit of promise.
“In journalism, it is considered professional to print a wide range of opinion.” –Todd
Please do alert the NYT, WaPo, the National Catholic Reporter, et al, on this matter, Todd. They have need of this information. They are listing badly to the left and taking in water.
Aside from that, I agree that diocesan papers can be rather boring and sugary. In Chicgo, our “Chicago New World” is worth reading mostly because of the regular fine columns by Cardinal George and George Weigel, along with some fesity letters to the editors. But there is the ususal overabundance of feel-good homilies and liberal anondynes, along with the world view of its general editor worthy of a college freshman survey course.
I wouldn’t mind reading the repetitive columns by progressives (for the millionth time) if they were equally balanced by a view from the orthodox.
For those who are not aware. His Excellency, Bishop Finn, had been editor of the St. Louis Review during the episcopal tenure of Abp.(now Cardinal) Rigali. I speak for myself when I say that I am very pleased with our new ordinary. At the same time I have heard many faithful Catholics (Catholics who have suffered for years in this diocese) express similar sentiments. Nevertheless, his vision for the laity – transforming the culture (in the world, not in the sanctuary) – is utterly refreshing!
“Please do alert the NYT, WaPo, the National Catholic Reporter, et al, on this matter, Todd. They have need of this information. They are listing badly to the left and taking in water.”
Perhaps they would be more representative of “good” journalism if they did so. However, I recall George Weigel writing a piece for NCR not too far back. So are you arguing for the least common deniminator just because everyone else aims for it?
“Nevertheless, his vision for the laity – transforming the culture (in the world, not in the sanctuary) – is utterly refreshing!”
Especially if the sentiment moves beyond the tired old, “pray, pay, and obey.” I agree there is much to laud in the new bishop’s sentiments. Let’s see how it plays out in the years to come.
Richard McBrien (I refuse to call him Fr.) should have turned in his collar a long time ago. He’s a disgrace to the priesthood. I’ve never heard him agree or say anything positive about the Church.
It’s about time Bishop Finn said that we can do a lot better and go elsewhere to read the dissenting comments so often heard from McBrien.
Saying we should hear from both sides is like saying we ought to listen to both good bands and ones which are out of tune. Or engineers ought to use both accurate results as well as inaccurate ones.
Yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion.
But everyone is obliged to seek the truth.
And now, for my obligatory GKC quote:
[After GKC’s lecture] A rather conceited young man made quite a speech of patronizing approval, saying that he had really quite liked the lecture but ending up, “I feel, Mr. Chesterton, that there is one important matter you have not quite covered: in the event of your having to change your original position, what tactics do you adopt?” G.K. answered, “On such occasions I invariably commit suicide.”
[Ward, Return To Chesterton 152]
Chesterton was never at a loss for just the right retort.
**You can almost hear the whispering of progressives about the silencing and the coming inquisition. The cries about open dialogue and the restrictive narrow view being imposed.**
It’s already started. The immediately prior issue ran a page of letters denouncing the bishop’s decision to pull McBrien’s column. Letters are not archived online, but if I remember correctly, three were from the same parish. I was frankly shocked at the offensive tone of many writers, and the derision heaped on the bishop. (No letters published in this issue, I noticed.)
I will try to post excerpts when I find my copy of the last issue.
Found it. The June 24 issue was a tribute to the outgoing Bishop Boland. It ran 10 letters, 9 of which lamented the loss of Fr. McBrien’s column. The letter subheads (written by editors, I suppose) are: McBrien decision erodes trust, Lack of column is a great loss, Is there no place for conscience?, Please reconsider McBrien decision, Will opinions now be restricted?, McBrien’s columns are relevant, Censorship is demeaning, and Why no weekly McBrien column?.
As I said before, some of the comments were borderline hysterical/offensive. Memorable quotes: “This type of censorship is demeaning to thinking Catholics” and “One might get the impression that traits such as a personal conscience and an inquiring mind were no longer acceptable in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese.”
It’s the end of the world!
Well who would ever have dreamed that an American diocese would end up with the Spanish Inquisition?
[The door flies open and Cardinal Ximinez of Spain [Palin] enters, flanked by two junior cardinals. Cardinal Biggles [Jones] has goggles pushed over his forehead. Cardinal Fang [Gilliam] is just Cardinal Fang]
Ximinez: NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise…surprise and fear…fear and surprise…. Our two weapons are fear and surprise…and ruthless efficiency…. Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency…and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…. Our *four*…no… *Amongst* our weapons…. Amongst our weaponry…are such elements as fear, surprise…. I’ll come in again.
[The Inquisition exits]
God bless Bishop Finn. In my opinion, Fr. McBrien will not survive the comfy chair.
Chris,
The Key first published the ten letters of those disaffected by the Bishop’s decision. (no letters of support were published at that time) The following issue (two weeks later) an equal amount of pro and con letters were published. The tone was still very nasty in some (mostly those opposed to the Bishop’s decision to teach Catholic belief through his diocesan organ) One letter was particularly interesting as the writer asserted that McBrien was a priest in good standing with his archdiocese of Hartford and(somewhat misinformedly) holding the requisite mandatum to teach Catholic Theology in a Catholic University. IN fact, McBrien never sought a mandatum, and even wrote a piece (I think it was in America) about “why I will not seek a mandatum” Of course the answer is that such would limit “my academic freedom” What a bunch of bunk! Anyhow, we are happy to be rid of him from the diocesan paper (though his columns still appear in that National “Catholic” Rag which is published two blocks from our chancery!
Better to read Chesterton,von Hilderbrad,Bullloc,Ratzinger,N.O.R.-better then Mc Brien
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