Punditry

Elena at My Domestic Church reviews the confrontation between Sean Hannity and Father Thomas Euteneuer from Human Life International on the topic of Sean’s public dissent on contraception. This was in response to a column Father Euteneuer wrote taking Sean Hannity to task on this issue. Not surprisingly Elena notes the multiple logical fallacies that Sean Hannity made during the exchange such as Sean talking about his educational background and that contraception reduces abortion. And of course he trotted out the NFP equals contraception argument. The argument is always made as if this was a devastating critique that could not possible be answered by Church teaching. As if the first thing that pops into people’s mind on this subject could not possibly be answered by the Church who has thought long and hard on contraception.

I use to listen to Hannity’s show more frequently, but rarely listen to it now. For one he does not have much to offer in tehe area as a conservative philosopher and his reasoning to defend issues (that I usually agree with him on) are pretty much stock replies that he just uses over and over. His cafeteria Catholicism has repeatedly shown itself in the area of torture and contraception. Mostly his own defense of contraception in his own life was to put off children while he built his radio career. Because obviously children could get in the way of such a lofty goal. Darn those gifts of God for possibly getting in the way of a career. Gee you just might have to make sacrifices, and of course God would never want you to make sacrifices or to perhaps to pick up a cross. In fact it is really quite unfair of God to make us fertile so early and not have it timed to a perfect storm of optimum career path and are willingness of finding that it is time.

Gerald posted the transcript.

Update: Why Fret has some appropriate merchandise.

Via Roman Catholic Blog.

California Catholic Daily News writer “runs into” His Eminence at the March 1-3 Religious Education Congress. Their conversation follows.

Hi, Cardinal Mahony, I’m with California Catholic.

Mahony: Oh.

Yes, I just want to ask you, how is it that last year we had Father Timothy Radcliffe asking people to go see Brokeback Mountain and read gay novels and make gay friends, and you were sitting right there. Why would a priest be allowed to say that right on the stage here in the arena during his keynote speech?

Well, why are you asking me? Ask him.

Well, don’t you have anything to say about him telling Catholics to do those things?

Well, ask him.

Why don’t you ask him? You were right there on the stage with him. It’s terrible that he did that. It’s terrible that a priest would come into this religious education congress and tell people to go see a homosexual movie. Why would you invite somebody to speak that would say that to the faithful?

Do you know how many speakers we have here?

Yes, I’m aware of it.

There’s 198 speakers. There’s no way to know in advance what every single speaker is going to say in the talk or in a question-and-answer period.

Um-hmm.

There’s no way to know. I mean, you do your best…. [remainder unintelligible on the tape due to crosstalk]

Could you issue a statement afterward saying that you didn’t agree with what he said?

Everybody knows what the Church position on that movie was, and I think everybody knows what we thought about it.

Okay, and is that why a gay and lesbian ministry booth is allowed to be here in the exhibition hall?

Well go ask them, go ask the ministry.

A ministry with them or to them — to people who suffer from same-sex attraction?

Go ask them.

I’m asking you. You’re the cardinal archbishop of Los Angeles.

And I know … what all sides are knowing and doing every second.

Well, I would think that you would understand something about what’s going on in your archdiocese.

Well, we’ll look into it.

Thank you.

I had really hoped after reading this that it was cleverly crafted satire. Unfortunately it appears to be a real interview. It reminds me of the line from Captain Renault in Casa Blanca "I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! " Here is a shorter transcription I created.

Interviewer: Are you aware that their is a wolf among your sheep currently munching on one of your flock? Should a wolf be allowed to destroy sheep under your control?

Cardinal: Well, why are you asking me? Ask him.

Interviewer: Should wolves have been invited to come share the pasteur with your flock?

Cardinal: Do you know how many speakers we have here? There’s 198 speakers. There is just no way to tell in advance which ones are wolves and which ones are true shepherds faithful to the flock.

Interviewer: Could you issue a statement afterward saying that you don’t agree with wolves devouring your flock and killing their spiritual lives?

Cardinal: Everybody knows what the Church’s position on wolves eating sheep is and I think everybody knows what we thought of it.

Since the Cardinal knows of no way to check their speakers ahead of time I wish I had his email so that I could send him to this site called Google.com.

Strangely using this amazing new technology I was able to pick at random one name from this years conference and do a quick check. Sister Fran Ferder FSPA who will be speaking on Sex and the City of God is part of the women’s ordination movement (written a book in support of it) and has also written countless books on sexuality that are totally at odds with Church teaching. She is also part of the Quixote Center a left leaning advocacy group that discounts Church teaching on abortion and homosexuality. She has also been involved with pro-homosexual groups like the Vatican suppressed New Ways Ministry and Dignity. So of course this dissenter against the Church’s teaching on sexuality is invited to teach two classes on it.

What is also amazing is that since he has no way to know ahead of time about the speakers is that the speakers chosen are largely dissenters to one degree or another. Quite amazing that this year and in years past they never have a Christopher West, Dr. Janet Smith or equivalent to teach on sexuality. With their amazing luck they could shoot an error into the air above a crowd and only hit dissidents.

Gerald posts part of the transcript for Cardinal Mahony online chat with Adults at this years R.E. Congress.

James: I’ve read that Pope Benedict is concerned about the liturgy and is about to issue a decree that encourages a more generous use of Latin in the liturgy including the use of the Tridentine rite. Do you support this and will you encourage the use of more traditional forms of worship in the archdiocese if he issues the decree?

CardinalMahony: James: of our 5 million Catholics, only a handful are interested in the Latin Mass. I must focus upon the 99% who need a vibrant Mass that includes them in its celebration.

So I guess he will soon cut his Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Catholic since they comprise such a small part of the population. Though there is some good news on this front. It looks like the rainbow fish logo that they had been using on the Archdiocese page is now gone. Amazing what happens when a little national scrutiny occurs.

I guess also some people will be sad to find out that Masses currently offered in Lithuanian, Samoan, Slavonic, Tongan, Ukranian, Armenian, Croation, Haitian, Igbo, and a array of other languages will no longer be offered. These cultural groups don’t fit into the "99% who need a vibrant Mass that includes them in its celebration." Oh wait these groups will continue to have Masses in their Language. You are in luck as long as you want a Mass in any language but Latin.

Notice also the seeming dodge of the Cardinal. No answer about whether he supports the Motu Proprio for the Tridentine Indult. Though considering the call for a "generous application" as specified in Ecclesia Dei he makes Scrooge seem like a spendthrift by comparison.

Moderator: From Fran at Congress: I’ve been asked this and I don’t know — Can Catholics’ burial ashes be scattered?

CardinalMahony: Fran: normally, we encourage that all of the ashes be in one place for the sake of the family and future generations, but if someone wants to spread their ashes over the sea or forest, well, they do return to their origins. Just don’t spread them over Disneyland.

"The practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains in the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the Church requires" (Order of Christian Funerals 416).

Arleen: My daughter asks, why do we need to go to church on Sunday? I attend faithfully, but my daughter is of this younger generation that doesn’t see the importance of going to church. She says it’s boring and all they do is ask for money. How can we make church and the mass more appealing to this younger generation? I try to set an example, but feel like I can’t persuade them. What can I do

CardinalMahony: Mass should involve the full, active, conscious participation of everyone. If we are involved, we love meeting God in this form. There are great Masses for teens, such as parishes with Life Teen. Find her a group of active Catholic teens who love Mass, and she will too.

What that can’t be. Cardinal Mahony says they already have a "vibrant Mass that includes them in its celebration." Maybe the guy’s daughter just happened to find the one non-vibrant Mass in L.A.

Leonel Martinez: Cardinal Mahony, thank you for providing this forum for discussion. Some have suggested that the American bishops have not followed the wishes of Pope Benedict XVI because they have opted not to uniformly deny communion to Catholic elected officials who support abortion rights. How would you answer them?

CardinalMahony: That is not what our Holy Father is asking. Rather, he is asking that everyone who approaches Holy Communion should make sure he/she is living a life worthy of Jesus in this Sacrament. The burden is on the recipient, not on the minister.

It is really hard to be charitable with that answer other than that he has actually never read what then-Cardinal Ratzinger said on the subject. In a letter by Cardinal Ratzinger given to Cardinal McCarrick that was suppose to be presented to the Bishop’s conference (but wasn’t and was unknown until later leaked) called Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion he said:

Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.

Funny it seems to me that the burden is on both the recipient and the pastor. The pastor must meet with him and warn him and if ignored be "denied the Eucharist." This is of course totally in accordance with Matthew 18:15-17 and of course Canon 915

Though one charitable explanation for this total lapse in understanding what was written would be that Cardinal Mahony had one of the former translators who use to work for ICEL translate the Cardinals letter from plain English to whatever dynamic language ICEL calls their translations. For example ICEL would translate the final passage to:

… and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist by himself.

The parts of the chat transcript I selected was cherry-picked and mostly the answers he gave were not problematic. Be sure to check out Gerald’s comments.

Update: Gerald posts on another part of the Cardinal’s chat.

Moderator: From Denny: Why can only men become priests, and not women?

CardinalMahony: The moderator has better answers than I do to that question!!!

CardinalMahony: Denny: we are following the tradition of the early Church and Jesus’ actions. That has become our Tradition for a long time.

Gerald notices that the moderator Ellie Hidalgo wrote an article for Busted Halo where she criticized the Vatican for the excommunication of women trying to be ordained and compared Sister Chittister with Moses.

From Scrappleface:

(2007-03-05) — Democrat presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton today decried the allegedly poor conditions, stifling bureaucracy and negligent care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and throughout the VA healthcare system, but added, “Just think how bad it would be if it weren’t a government run system.”

As military patients and their spouses testified before a Senate panel about vermin-infested, moldy rooms, neglect and miles of red tape, Sen. Clinton told reporters, “This crisis serves only to highlight our desperate need for a tax-funded, government-managed universal healthcare system for all Americans.”

“When I’m president,” she said, “I’ll give the average American the same excellent quality of care we now provide for our nation’s heroes…but without the rats, mold and bureaucracy. I’ll sign legislation outlawing that kind of inefficiency, mismanagement and public employee apathy.”

This was sort of my reaction to the scandalous conditions at Walter Reed and even more how we are treating our nations injured soldiers. I wish though that the story had been more shocking to me. Being retired military I have had lots of experiences with military hospitals and while most of the care I have received has been fairly good, I have also observed how treatment is suffering because of the lack of resources. I have seen the quality of care go down and I am sure that it is the result of limited resources and not the overall excellent quality of people working in military hospitals. The simple fact is that medical care is expensive and when you have a large population of active and retired military and their dependents ways must be found to cut costs.

I have quipped before that anybody who is for socialized medicine should join the military to see just what they would have in store for them. Though of course when you would apply the same system to the whole country it would greatly magnify the problems. Or they could move to a country with socialized medicine and learn all about medical tourism to India because of rationed care in England or those in Canada coming down to the States for care.

LINDEN, Calif. — A Stockton-area businessman is peddling blessed bottled water.

The half-liter bottles of Holy Drinking Water distributed by Wayne Enterprises Inc., of Linden, only carries the blessings of Catholic and Anglican priests, but company president Brian Germann said he plans to expand to other faiths.

He said he thought of the concept on June 6, 2006, or "666," and has sold about 3,000 bottles since January at a Linden market and on the Internet.

The bottles, filled with plain, purified water, carry a label that warns sinners who drink the water that they may experience burning, intense heat, sweating and skin irritations.

"This has some potential and is a lot of fun," said the Rev. Mark Smith, who blessed a batch in February. "Most people will pass it off. But some may have a moment."

Holy Drinking Water has led to positive conversations about religion and what it means to be a sinner, but it should not be used as a substitute for attending church, Germann said.

As a pure publicity stunt to sell water this is kind of funny. Though of course selling blessed water is simony. They claim they have Catholic and Anglican priests involved in this and if it is true that is rather sad. First off Holy Water requires salt as part of the blessing, and since this is pure water this isn’t happening. So at the least you would have only blessed water. Of course when you sell a blessed item which is basically a sacramental it loses its blessing.

The water you would receive would be the type a Demon-possessed person could chug-a-lug with no problem.

Dawn Eden sent me this editorial from Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine on the excommunications issued in 1996 by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska.

When Bishop Bruskewitz first issued his statement in 1996, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago and other bishops questioned the move. And no other U.S. bishops have issued similar declarations regarding membership in these 12 organizations.

That is not exactly an indictment of Bishop Bruskewitz. It is like complaining about the hero that steps forward and acts when everyone else looks on.

As can be expected, the news 10 years ago and this past November were met with press releases and statements galore. But what was missing and continues to be missing is dialogue.

And threatening those who do want to engage in dialogue is hardly the way to start the conversation. Bishop Bruskewitz’s actions come off as the equivalent of a parental “Because I said so” to the “why’s?” and “why not’s?” of an adult laity.

Condemning organizations that support abortion, euthanasia, active homosexuality, that deny that God has revealed himself or established a Church is not exactly a parental "because I say so." It is simply what the Church teaches.

We have just begun to emerge from a very painful time in our Church with the clergy sex-abuse crisis. Polls are showing that confidence in our bishops is growing and so are numbers for Mass attendance. This raises the question: Is this really the best time to be showing people the door? Maybe first we should seriously talk about areas of disagreement.

First off the excommunications were issued 11 years ago so the timing argument is rather silly. The other point is that excommunication as an ecclesial penalty is not showing people the door, it is calling them to repentance and entering that door that is Christ. To enter the narrow way that leads to salvation.

What we need is a greater spirit of dialogue in our Church. And that means some real, honest, open-minded and open-hearted dialogue—on all sides. No more threats, no more name-calling, no pushing our agendas. Let’s just talk and listen. In the process we might learn something or see things from a different perspective. It can’t hurt to talk. We are, after all, members of one Church.

The Church has talked and dialoged, but most of all taught through her teaching authority. Killing children in the womb is not a different perspective, killing the elderly or the severely ill in a false sense of compassion is not a different perspective. Outright disobedience and denial of the Church’s authority again is not just a different perspective. Perspectives can be quite mistaken no mater how sincerely believed and when this happens informing those of the truth is the "greater sprit of dialogue." Excommunication is an act of dialogue when dialogue has broken down and by its very communication is a call to conversion and repentance.

If the Bishop had only excommunicated members of the Society of St. Pius the X we wouldn’t hear this endless mumbling from progressives on this issue. I bet they were not upset when the Archbishop of New Orleans excommunicated several people because they fought against segregation. Racism is certainly a great moral evil and shouldn’t the deliberate killing through abortion and euthanasia received the same treatment?

A reader sent me this story from the Washington Post on confession that like most media coverage of religion manages to mix in a lot of nonsense. Though there are certainly some good aspects in the article. The title is "A Call to Confession, for It Is Fading" is rather dumb since if anything the sacrament is making a comeback from a lower ebb in years past.

Priests and sociologists of Catholicism have theorized about the drop for years. Is it because of a culture that tells us we aren’t responsible for what we do wrong? Or could it be something less dark: that the traditional Saturday confession time has simply been gobbled up by youth soccer leagues and errand-mania? Or maybe something more dark: that we don’t even know what sin is anymore?

Surely it is all the above and more. The lack of the sense of sin is a large contributor, but the fact the confession has been put on the back burner and relegated to a short block of time on Saturdays certainly doesn’t help to offset this.

The campaign, the first big public endeavor by the new archbishop, Donald Wuerl, is timed to start with Lent, the 40-day period of reflection and penitence that started yesterday, Ash Wednesday. The 100,000 brochures that parishes are distributing lay out rules for the rusty, complete with a pop-out, wallet-size card ("Step 3: Confess all of your sins to the priest. If you are unsure or uneasy, tell him and ask for help."). Starting Wednesday, all 140 churches in the archdiocese will be open for confession from 7 to 8:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Lent.

Bravo Archbishop Wuerl.

Parishes have been cutting back the time they set aside for confessions for years; many now allot only 30- or 45-minute blocks or ask for appointments. Years ago, lines at confessionals were long and priests listened for hours.

My parish still has long lines and confession before every Mass and as I have said before – if you offer it conveniently they will come.

Also known as the sacrament of reconciliation, confession involves several mandatory steps: being sincerely contrite, articulating to a priest (who stands in the place of Jesus) what was done wrong, apologizing, receiving an assigned penance and being forgiven.

Not bad for an MSM piece.

But the biggest changes, church historians say, came in the 1960s, when clergy began preaching more about the sins of racism, militarism and environmental degradation. The ’60s also brought the Second Vatican Council, which said — among many other things — that eating meat on Friday was no longer a sin.

I wonder if a political reporter said that in 1960 that some such law was passed and it never happened would he get to keep his job? What if he made these same types of mistakes repeatedly? Though if your are a religion reporter you can consistently make all kinds of blunders. The truth is Vatican II did no such thing. What actually happened was that 1983 Code of Canon Law said:

Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.

Thus in those diocese where the bishop’s conference has mandated a Friday penance such as abstinence then eating meat on Friday would still be sinful. In the United States where the Bishop’s conference has not mandated a penance for Friday’s during the year, during Lent on Ash Wednesday and Friday’s eating meat is still sinful for those that are to required to abstain.

Vatican II also made a slight change in the confession rite that emphasized a moment at the start of Mass in which parishioners, together, take a moment of penance.

Which is another bit of conscience. The Confiteor is not exactly a new addition to the Mass. "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" anyone?

Matthew Gallaugher, a government technology worker who lives in Foggy Bottom, said he experiences a "lighter, supernatural feeling" after confession, which he attends at least once a month "to clean out the gunk" of regular life: the bickering with his wife over who would make the bed, the little snip to someone at work.

"I want to become holy, I want to be transformed, to be Christlike," the slim 30-year-old said yesterday outside the downtown church St. Stephen Martyr, where forehead-smeared parishioners poured in at noon for Ash Wednesday Mass.

Beautifully said Matthew.

Clergy say the rise in therapy and self-help may be a contributing factor in the decline in Catholics’ going to confession. And though they praise the advancement of mental health care, they also worry that people are forgetting that confession involves more than, well, confessing.

You do wonder about the connection between Catholics not going to confession and more and more people needing psychiatric help is. Maybe if priests started charging $100 an hour more people would go. Proof though that some of the best things in life are free. As much help as some psychiatrists might give you just won’t hear "I absolve you in the…" at the end of the session and you will still be in your sin.

According to Gibbs, the archdiocese spokeswoman, watching Internet pornography is the most commonly unloaded baggage to priests, who have been protected under civil law from having to reveal confessions.

How exactly would the archdiocese spokeswoman know this? Are they filling in surveys of "commonly unloaded baggage" now after hearing confessions? Though while this is something that can be easily extrapolated from the culture, it is not something the spokeswoman should have any first-hand knowledge of. As you would expect the article ends on a down note.

Damiana Astudillo, 33, a researcher who lives in Mount Pleasant, said she hasn’t been to confession in a decade because she is turned off by what she sees as paternalism among church leaders.

"The Catholic Church is unwilling to adapt to the modern world. They’re still hung up on the dogma of ancient times, and life is very complex today," she said yesterday on L Street NW. "I’ve grown to believe a priest is a man, and he doesn’t have the power to forgive. Confession and a prayer? That doesn’t work for me anymore."

Oh yes "the dogma of ancient times." Why hold to to a authoritative doctrine that is old? Doctrines are only cool if they are fresh. All doctrines come with a shelf life – an expiration date stamped right on them. "Best if believed by …" Though once again the master Chester ton already spoke to this conscience in Orthodoxy. "You might as well say that a certain philosophy can be believed on Mondays, but cannot be believed on Tuesdays."

1. What is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday is the day Lent begins in the Catholic faith. It occurs 40 days after Good Friday.

From the Montgomery Advertiser’s Q&A as noted by Get Religion.

Even stranger is that they list at the bottom of the article.

Source: James Azrin of the Nazareth Resource Library

No not James Azrin, who they are referring to is Jimmy Akin’s old site the Nazareth Resource Library and his page on Ash Wednesday. Though on his page it says. "It occurs forty days before Good Friday." It is quite obvious they lifted their whole FAQ From Jimmy’s site, though they paraphrased from much if it. As Get Religion also noticed they framed frame Ash Wednesday as pertaining to Roman Catholics only. In recent years though it has been much more common for Protestant churches to have Ash Wednesday services.

Gerald reports:

A reliable source with the Lincoln Diocese just emailed me to tell me that the Call to Action appeal to the Vatican of their excommunication by Bishop Bruskewitz has failed. Of course, one wonders why, other than to use the infrastructure, they’d want to be Catholic in the first place. After all, as one can read on their website:

Truth is not absolute. We all have insights and we are all related. The new cosmology shows us how interrelated we are.

Catholics are from Earth, CTA is from Venus.

Well I wouldn’t say they are from Venus, I am pretty sure truth is absolute on Venus also. But maybe I have not kept up on the "new cosmology." Though I am pretty sure that cosmetologists have not kept up on the so-called new cosmology either. Relativists strike me as funny creatures who tie logic into pretzels and want you to believe that the statement that truth is not absolute is an absolute. Statements surely to make robots in Star Trek blow up in paradox loops. The idea that we all have insights is surely true, but they never get around to explaining what to do when insights collide and oppose each other. They certainly take on an Eastern flavor in not seeing the necessity of non-contradiction. Though often they do find the necessity of non-contradiction when you contradict them.

The new cosmology to the uninitiated has nothing to do with the science involved in cosmology but is one of the nutty ideas spearheaded by Fr Thomas Berry, Matthew Fox, and way too many retreat centers. This idea is just pantheism. Or considering the number of Dominican nuns advocating this system, it might be called pantsuitheism. "It is a way of thinking of the universe as a cosmic person" as Fr. Berry says. Berry insists that we quit our "obsessive concern" with Jesus Christ. Well I guess the positive thing about worshipping the Cosmos is that you can never be late to church.

Homoerotic art featured at auction held Saturday at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral to benefit AIDS clinics in Mexico

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation held an art exhibition and auction last night at the conference center of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles to raise money for clinics it sponsors in Tijuana and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

A California Catholic Daily reader who saw a preview of the event on a Los Angeles television program alerted the newspaper via email regarding the event. "They showed some of the items, and it was really gross — men hugging, tops bared, nude males back scenes," said the reader in the email.

The title for the event was “Amigos y Amantes” (Friends and Lovers).
[Via Roman Catholic Blog]

If only a story like this would be hard to believe. Unfortunately with the Archdiocese of L.A. with their rainbow fishes and ordinations of an openly homosexual deacon it has come to be what you would expect. A diocese where culture of death politicians are welcomed with open arms without a mention of any caveat. For example Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez who has been at events in the past with Cardinal Mahony is one of supporters of California’s latest euthanasia bill. He recently said.

Nuñez said he would call Mahony today. But he added: "I think the toughest conversation I’m going to have is with my Catholic mother, who wanted me to be a priest."

Any wonder that the Archdiocese with the largest population is towards the bottom of the list when it comes to most indicators?

I do admit Cardinal Mahony drives me crazy, which is why I pray for him daily both for his sake and my own.