Any stick will do
The commotion over the lifting of the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops goes on and on. It seems that no one is able to make distinctions anymore or make any investigation more than reading a headline or the top lines of a story. Once again any stick will do when it comes to beating the Catholic Church and of course some within the Church are also willing to also pick up that stick and join in.
The lifting of the excommunications does not regularize the SSPX and there are quite a few hurdles to overcome before they can be brought back into the fullness of the Church. A roadblock has been lifted to show good will in the dialog that will occur.
Yet here we are being lectured by the same people that often say "Jesus ate with sinners" or "don't judge." The same people that are always talking about inclusion in this case don't want nothing of the kind when it comes to the SSPX. That because of the nutty and actually offensive beliefs of some of the members of the SSPX, prominently Bishop Williamson, that the whole reconciliation effort must be scrubbed. Commonweal decries the lifting of the excommunications while at the same time crying over Fr. Haight who denies the divinity of Jesus.
From calls for the Pope to step down to a letter from Catholic Congressman it all seems to come down to the same bit of convenient fiction. To believe this you have to accept that the Pope lifted the excommunications because he accepted holocaust denying idiots like Bishop Wiliamson. They have to totally ignore everything he has written and spoke in regards to the Jewish people both as a Cardinal and Pope. Their arguments are so faulty that it is hard to ascribe anything but ill will to those who make them. They at least have not done any due diligence in doing any basic research (hello Google) before opening their mouths or putting pen to paper.
It seems like so often that somebody sees a story and then they figure out how they can use it to advance their own agenda. The service of the truth is not a requirement. Women priests are whining that the SSPX's excommunications were lifted and theirs were not. Their arguments which include the priest-pedophile argument is a red herring. Many members of the SSPX really do want to end the schism and move into full unity. The women priest movement will not give up their heresy. Reconciliation requires repentance. I want both the members of the SSPX and the women priest movement back fully in communion with the Church, but they both make the same error of holding themselves above the Church by thinking they know better. They both think they are saving the Church.
The letter from the 50 Catholic Democratic Congressmen starts out with the same error mentioned above.
'we are writing to express our deep concerns with your decision to reinstate Bishop Richard Williamson to communion with the Catholic Church
Obviously there are no IQ tests for congressmen. The first thing you might want to do before signing a letter addressed to the Holy Father is to make sure you are factually correct or perhaps even in the ballpark. I guess I must have missed the announcement that Bishop Williamson was reinstated - what diocese was he assigned? It is also of course true that the majority of these same Catholic Congressman have 100 percent NARAL records. I guess they are also all holocaust deniers. They deny the holocaust of abortion that has killed 50 million children while at the same time voting to support abortion. There have more than a log in their eye when condemning the Pope, I think the Amazon was deforested to provide enough logs for their eyes.
The ignorance or dishonesty of the media is nothing new, just too bad that Catholics join into this.
Known as 
"50 Catholic Democratic Congressmen..."
Now where are all their cries of "separation of church and state!!"?
Re the letter from the members of Congress: Check the list of signers. We've seen most of these characters before, back in 2007 when they complained about the possibility of sanctions against pro-abortion Catholic politicians, and a year earlier, when they released their "historic Catholic statement of principles". More of the same play-to-the-crowd drivel being passed off as principled discussion.
More to the point: where are all the detractors of anti-Semitism when, say, Iran's Ahmadinejad or some member of Hamas starts in on an anti-Semitic rant?
Oh, wait, that's "multicultural." They have the whole SSXP affair totally wrong. We're not supposed to discipline or excommunicate people who ordain women as priests, who deny the teachings of the church (especially things like Christ's divinity), or politicians who support abortion. We're always supposed to "dialogue" with them and come to an understanding (which usually means someone's hoping the Church will cave and compromise her Truths).
But we can't dialogue with the SSXP; even after several - including Williamson himself, from what I understand - have apologized or corrected the SSXP's stance. And the fact that we are called to reconciliation and forgiveness.
This isn't about Williamson. It's about the in-the-pew SSXPers who we want to unite with the Church on the path to salvation (or at least that's how I understand the lifting of the excommunications). Which is what the Pope is supposed to do. He's supposed to be the leader of the united, one Catholic Church.
"Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in Heaven."
Consider the Source of those words.
Prostitutes, druggies, thieves, schismatics, people who make felt banners -- yes, even I can hope for salvation. But maybe we should draw the line at Congressmen.
"The ignorance or dishonesty of the media is nothing new, just too bad that Catholics join into this."
Calling them Catholics is pretty generous.
Celebrate DIVERSITY!
Celebrate INCLUSIVENESS!
...Oh wait...
Catholics need not apply...
The pen moves mighty faster than the mind.
The Catholic Church deserves every ounce of bad press. How about this, wanna do something Jesus-like? How about the Church sell EVERYTHING it has and give it to the poor.
Hmm. That "camel through the eye of a needle" thing is a real pain isn't it?
The Catholic Church deserves every ounce of bad press. How about this, wanna do something Jesus-like? How about the Church sell EVERYTHING it has and give it to the poor.
Hmm. That "camel through the eye of a needle" thing is a real pain isn't it?
I suppose the Catholic Church COULD liquidate all its assets...
It would equal what the USA spends on its military in a single WEEKEND.
You choose...
Um, I would be really ticked if "the Church" sold off my parish. I know many artlovers who would also be upset if the Vatican collection were sold, because most of it would NOT be available to the public anymore. I can't imagine any public museum sending their priceless works to other countries without guaranteeing a massive cash profit for themselves (see "Angels from the Vatican" in the '90s, for example).
Thank you for providing some much needed perspective on this issue! This is why I read you so consistently.
Scy, is that the best you have? Really?
Why don't you go and actually do some research about how much support the Church provides throughout the world and then revisit your statement.
Scy, is that the best you can do? Really?
Why don't you go and actually do some research about how much support the Church provides throughout the world and then revisit your statement.
"Many members of the SSPX really do want to end the irregular status and move into full unity"
Fixed that for you.
Excellent post Jeff!
Excellent post Jeff!
Some years ago someone said, "Any stigma will do to beat a dogma."