Your opinions are totally at odds
Dear Professor Maguire,
As the bishop of the archdiocese where you reside, I am obliged to reply to your circular form-letter, sent to the bishops of the country on June 19, 2006.
The opinions expressed in the two pamphlets enclosed in that correspondence are totally at odds with clear Church teaching. Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium, and Natural Law are consistent in opposition to abortion and so-called same-sex marriage.
You speak of your duty to dissent. Well, at least call it such. To claim that support for abortion and same-sex "marriage" is consonant with Catholic moral teaching is preposterous and disingenuous.
I, too, have a duty: to teach what the Church clearly believes. Your opinion on these two matters is contrary to the faith and morals of the Church.
Faithfully in Christ,
(Signed)
Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of Milwaukee
This was in response to the letters posted here. Professor Maquire response to Archbishop Dolan in part says.
Dear Archbishop,
I have received your letter of July 13. I was pleased that you replied even though your message was not as gracious or as pastoral as that of the one other bishop who replied. Terms like "preposterous" and "disingenuous" (the usual code for mendacious) are not the words of a pastor so much as those of a scold. Some of my colleagues-too cynically I believe-said I should take no offense because the letter was obviously written not so much for me as for those with whom you shared it here and abroad. I don't believe that...not for a minute. I think that, in your fashion, your intentions were to help me in matters where you feel I am mistaken and that you wanted to do this for the good of the Church. Therefore, I will continue in the hope that even from such a caustic opener, some fruitful dialogue might commence.
It seems the word Pastoral has taken on a meaning that only invokes wimpiness. This view of pastoral is when you see a wolf among the flock to politely say "excuse me that is one of my sheep you are eating." Sometimes a scold is the most pastoral thing to be done. I do wonder who the other bishop who wrote him back in a "pastoral" manner?
He then spouts some gook crouched in ten-dollar words, yet the meaning is not worth a cent and ends with this.
Also, on debated moral issues, such as the two you chose to focus on, how do you value the views of Protestant Christians? Recognizing that Protestant Christians differ with many Catholics on dogmatic issues, the Second Vatican Council said that "ecumenical dialogue could start with discussions concerning the application of the gospel to moral questions." What weight do you give to Protestant views on these two issues? If you are, as you seem, dogmatically certain on these two issues, could you enter into "ecumenical dialogue" on those issues? Would you encourage Catholic theologians to do so or simply to announce to these Protestants they are "totally at odds with clear Church teaching, Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium, and Natural Law," to quote you? That would not be a basis for dialogue.
This is quite a silly argument. You don't have a dialogue with Protestants the same way you would with Catholics especially one that is a theologian in the Church. You don't fault a Protestant for not following the Magisterium of a Church they don't accept as authoritative. It is quite another matter in the case of a Catholic who should not only believe in the Magisterium but to obediently follow it. Though maybe the Professor brings up the Protestant example because in fact he has become a virtual Protestant.
Professor Maguire is of course the same theologian who was on Michael Schiavo's side and recently tried to pervert St. Antoninus view on abortion.
Bravo to Archbishop Dolan!
[Article via Dad 29]
Known as 
The Bishop's correspondence was straight forward and to the point. The professor's response you not nice. This guy is a snake.
I suppose it's also time to stop baptizing infants and cease Holy Communion until all of Christendom is united in believing exactly the same things about them.
Also, until everyone can agree on exactly what is sin, there will be no more sins committed, no matter what you do, because someone somewhere might think it was an okay thing to do. Isn't that wonderful! Ecumenical dialogue = automatic sainthood for everyone!
Good for the Bishop!
Maguire seems to think that "dialogue" means giving up your beliefs. Not at all! Ecumenical dialogue can only be fruitful when the participants are faithful to their beliefs. Also, as Catholics we have been blessed with the fullness of the truth, and so it is not accurate to say that all beliefs are just as good.
Love the shepherds staff with the backbone!!!
Jeff - fix the link in your post for "letters posted here". I don't know if anyone else is having problems, but it's not working for me.
The truth is pastoral. The bishop's JOB is to "pastor" souls to the gates of Heaven. People do not need surprises on their Judgement Day. What better antidote to this cr*p than to give him the straight shot. Go Bishop!
I, personally, think "preposterous" and "disingenuous" are the Bishop's attempt to let the guy save some face.
I'm not impressed. Where's the disciplinary action that's clearly called for here? If/when our civil authorities act this lenient, like judges who give light or no sentences to child-molesters, we get furious, and rightfully so. To how much higher a standard should we hold our clergy, in their dealings with those who spiritually sodomize the Church and her children?!
Dang it Dolan; can't you do anything right?!
Cool down. 1) Fortunately, every literate Catholic has known for decades that Maguire's a flake. 2) He's also a publicity hound, so an excommunication would only help him get extra attention, and maybe even some pity from clueless seculars and Protestants. 3) the real need is to pull his tenure, but just being excommunicated isn't a grounds for that that'll stand up in court; got to catch him in "moral turpitude" to pull that one off, and he's too savvy for that, most unfortunately.
Even back in the 70s, he was known to be tenured bad news; I studied theology at Marquette for six years and never had to sit a class with him.
The Council of Nicaea and Athanasius used far worse terms than "prepsoterous" and "disingenuous" in referring to Arius. Where they failures at being "pastoral?"
In that regard, the only things missing are action to remove Maguire's license to teach Catholic theology and hearings to consider excommunication - regardless of whether that would get him extra attention.
Maguire does not have a licence. He nade a big public scene about refusing to seek one before the archbishop had a chance to refuse him one --- and he already had tenure, pre-ExCorde. :-[
How can this guy dialog with anyone when he first can't even get the facts about his own faith straight? And as he bends over trying to find them, I've got just the right spot for that bishop's staff to "pastoralize"!
You do Maguire too much honor when you call him "a virtual Protestant". If he were, he would still be
a Christian. He is something far, far worse than
a Protestant. A sophist, perhaps: subtle, specious and utterly self-serving. He chose his path decades ago, and it has wound downward all the way.
What he craves most, professionally, is recognition as a credible and respected theologian. He probably welcomes dialogue with archbishops as evidence that they see him as a peer.