Punditry

The Rev. Ned Reidy received a 30-page letter last week notifying him that a three-priest tribunal of the Diocese of San Bernardino had found him guilty of heresy and schism and that his authority to conduct priestly functions was revoked. The one-day trial was held on Dec. 13.

Reidy said he would not appeal the decision because he has not considered himself a member of the Roman Catholic church since 1999, when he resigned to join the Orange-based Ecumenical Catholic Communion.

He called the proceedings "medieval" and said they were a distraction from his current ministry.

"I’m a priest forever," he said.

"What appears to me is that whatever the Roman church cannot control, it will attempt to destroy," Reidy said. "It’s not working; the attempt is harsh and cold and the discourtesy is appalling."

Reidy was ordained in 1962 and for 19 years was pastor of Desert Roman Catholic Church in Palm Desert, near Palm Springs. He now is co-pastor, with a woman, of the Community of the Risen Christ church in Bermuda Dunes, a few miles from his old church. [Source]

Now of course you would be curious as to why the diocese went this course.

Rev. Reidy decided to formally leave, to resign from his religious order, but he never resigned from the Roman Catholic priesthood, and he could have done that, he could have instituted a process through Rome," Lincoln said. "So therefore, we had to go through this process to formally and officially recognize his removal from the clerical state in the Roman Catholic church."

In its verdict, the tribunal wrote that it was necessary "for the good of the faithful" to formally excommunicate Reidy because the rituals and liturgy of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion are so similar that they might lead some Roman Catholics astray.

Makes sense, but it does beg the question that are their other churches actually affiliated with the diocese that basically do the same thing? Being Southern California it wouldn’t be really surprising to find parishes that had Catholic rituals and liturgies but lead people astray on parts of the Catholic faith. Of course this is painting with a broad brush, but you do wonder how many Southern Californian clergy could perhaps be convicted of Orthodoxy?

Another pet peeve is I really dislike the term Roman Catholic used so often. Especially since the term was used first by Anglicans as part of their branch theory to refer to Catholics under the Pope. The term is so ubiquitous now and is confusing to what people are referring to. Most often the term is not used to specify just Catholics of the Roman Rite, but for Catholics in general.

I haven’t up to this point commented on the allegations that Fr. McBrien is guilty of plagiarism first reported by Domenico Bettinelli. The Boston Herald picked up the story and the Cardinal Newman Society has sent a letter to Notre Dame about it. I ran into a new site today called Copyscape.com which is a site used to detect plagiarism. I decided to test it out by entering in the url of Boston Globe columnist Eileen McNamara column and sure enough it listed Fr. McBrien’s article in The Tidings as a case of plagiarism. So that seems to me to be a pretty good unbiased opinion of whether plagiarism actually occurred.

Catholic Outsider reports on an editorial published by the official Jesuit Magazine in Spain, “Mensajero.”

“Mensajero” accuses Pope John Paul’s ministry of being “triumphalistic” and “more spectacular than deep,” thus failing in “shortening the deep gap between a technological society… and the dictates of Christian faith and morals.”

“The creative fidelity of the Jesuits toward the Church has not always been well understood or accepted,” the editorial complains. It continues by saying that “the Jesuits have taken a ‘time of silence’ in these last years,” implying that they are getting ready to start talking.

I wonder how many spouses would appreciate the term creative fidelity. I didn’t cheat on you I was just doing some creative fidelity. This comes down to the same thing. No surprise that the Old Testament constantly used adultery as an analogy for Israelites that abandoned God for idols and other practices. There truly is nothing new under the sun and the same habits continue. Lack of fidelity to the Holy father is faithlessness to both the Church and to Christ.

Read all of what Alejandro Bermudez’s has to say about this article and an upcoming coverage of it by the Catholic News Agency tomorrow.

Another priest announces he is “gay” this time it is Father Rich Danyluk of St. Joseph’s Basilica church in Alameda. This happened back in September though I couldn’t find any coverage of the original event in the news or by bloggers.

The topic of his homily that early fall day, as dictated by Catholic hierarchy, was accepting, not rejecting.

So the priest told a story. It went something like this.

About two years ago his aunt was dying. As a priest and as her nephew, he arrived at her deathbed.

He sat next to her and she started to cry, finally telling the priest, her nephew, she was gay.

"I’m so afraid I’m going to hell," the priest remembered her saying.

"That’s not how God works," he replied.

Perhaps parishioners weren’t surprised by the priest’s story that day.

Homosexuality within the Catholic Church had been in the news lately. The Vatican was scheduled to release a letter within weeks stating its position on whether gay men should enter the seminary and become priests.

The pope’s position on homosexuality, however, had been defined within church teachings for some time.The condition is an anomaly, according to the Vatican. Furthermore, gay men and women are objectively disordered and homosexual acts are considered a serious depravity.

The priest continued with his homily.

He grasped a large book in his hands, raising the ornate Gospel over his head.

"This good news is for everybody or it is for nobody," he told his congregation.

The Gospel has to be for his aunt, too. For all lesbians and gays, the priest said with conviction.

How did he know?

The answer was simple.

"I’m one of you," Father Rich Danyluk said.

Once again of course it is all the hierarchy’s fault that your "objectively disordered" condition is not accepted. Beautiful words "This good news is for everybody or it is for nobody", but the Good News is that we can be saved despite our sinfulness, not because of it. To proclaim release to the captives – release from the stranglehold of sin.

At three separate Masses that September Sunday, Father Rich shared his sexual orientation with those who came to worship.

At the evening Mass, the small sentence fell on the congregation. There wasn’t the same hesitation as in the earlier Masses. Instead, the basilica erupted in applause, and pew by pew the parishioners stood.

Their priest was homosexual and they greeted the news with a standing ovation.

Instead of prayer – applause. Though this isn’t the first time he has received a standing ovation. Six years earlier he announced during Mass in a different church that he had been arrested for drunk driving and announced that he was an alcoholic. Though I guess at least the parishioners in this area are consistent in giving standing ovations to disordered conditions. Though I doubt that it would ever cross their minds to do the same thing during the consecration. Not that I would want them to, it at least would be somewhat fitting. Though I wonder if any priest in that area announced that he struggled with same-sex attraction and asked the parishioners to pray for him to help him fight these disordered temptations would also receive a standing ovation?

For Father Rich, the daily barrage of articles debating whether gay men could be priests got to be too much.

"One can only take so much of hearing how disordered you are," Father Rich said in an interview with the Herald several weeks after the September Mass in which he shared his secret. "I wasn’t baptized a disordered child of God. I was baptized like everyone else."

Once again "the document™" strikes – this case even before it was published. Though I can sympathize – nobody likes their sinful condition called out. Though this is exactly the problem with so many priests with same-sex attraction is that wrap themselves in a "gay identity." This is why the dissent concerning the document only proves its need. One of the reasons I became Catholic was that my sins were actually called sins by the Church. It is very easy to identify your sins or sinful inclinations with your very person instead of something that needed to be repented of and shed.

Sister Sandra Schneiders was at the 7 p.m. Mass in which Father Rich said he was gay. She was among those who stood to applaud him. It was courageous, she said; he didn’t say it with anger or as a way to bash the church.

Yes how brave and courageous in the middle of the Bay Area to announce that your "gay." Not exactly something that will lead to martyrdom.

Coming out of Mass today I heard the bells of another Church chiming. Now I happen to love the sounds of church bells, but I think I have been scarred for life. The bells were chiming Lord of the Dance. All I could think was:

Run then, wherever you may be
Through the parking lot, said he!
And get in the car, hurriedly that you may flee
And escape that insipid song, said he!

Update: Daniel Vitz commented on a comment he had recieved by Seekeroftheway on a Wikipedia entry for Syndey Carter the author of the lyrics for Lord of the Dance.

Partly inspired by Jesus, and partly by a statue of Shiva as Nataraja, Sydney wrote the lyrics "Lord Of The Dance" in 1963, as an adaptation of Joseph Brackett’s "Simple Gifts", and a tribute to Shaker music. He later stated, "I did not think the churches would like it at all. I thought many people would find it pretty far flown, probably heretical and anyway dubiously Christian. But in fact people did sing it and, unknown to me, it touched a chord… Anyway, it’s the sort of Christianity I believe in." [Source]

Why am I not surprised?

My theory is that in a part of Minneapolis there is a disconuity in the local fabric of space time
or some effect like in the movie Groundhog’s Day and that the sixties are endlessly repeated. Now why would I say that? Perhaps because Julie at AdoroTeDevote sent me a link to
the infamous St. Joan of Arc parish that recently had a retreat with a speaker whose theme was “God Almighty is Dead and Good Riddance: Reassessing God’s Power (and Our Own) As We Challenge a Destructive U.S. Empire.”

Nelson-Pallmeyer argues that Christianity has twisted Jesus’ God of Compassion into a God of Violence. Christianity is radically disconnected from the Jesus of history, says Nelson-Pallmeyer. His writings and talks are an attempt to recover Jesus at the heart of Christianity and to reinvent our response to the misrepresented Jesus.

Oh yeah when I read the Gospels all I think about is how violent Jesus is. Now you might thing this is wacky, but wait they have proof.

For example, Matthew’s Jesus shows wrathful images of God: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (7:19). “You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?” (23:33). And what about that gospel reading we heard just before Christmas? The one about the maidens and the lamps? The foolish ones had the door slammed shut on them and the Lord said, “Stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.” And, consider the incredible despair of the apocalypse in the book of Revelations:

Door slamming Jesus? Now I checked several different Bible translations of Matt 25:10 and pretty much they all said "The door was shut." I wonder what the Greek word for slammed was? Though maybe they used the RSV (Really Super Violent) translation and that would explain their view of a violent Jesus. Or maybe they just don’t like Jesus ‘language on judgment I mean the final judgment is just so judgmental you know. Not warning us about the possibility of an eternity being able to roast marshmallows on our fingers would have been so much better.

Isn’t our hope in Jesus then? Nelson-Pallmeyer asserts that the New Testament writers, coming out of the Old Testament tradition, sometimes misrepresented Jesus to support their own agendas. The Gospel writers both distort and reveal Jesus. Because of this, the task is to discern the texts that offer a glimpse of the historic Jesus, the man who was different from his contemporaries.

Yes let’s assert that the Holy Spirit is not the author of Scripture.

Those divinely revealed realities which are contained and presented in Sacred Scripture have been committed to writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For holy mother Church, relying on the belief of the Apostles (see John 20:31; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-20, 3:15-16), holds that the books of both the Old and New Testaments in their entirety, with all their parts, are sacred and canonical because written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself. In composing the sacred books, God chose men and while employed by Him they made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through them, they, as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only those things which He wanted.

Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation. Therefore "all Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good work of every kind" (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Greek text).

Now where did I pull up such a statement? Why Vatican II ‘s Dei Verbum of course. I know unfair to use the actual teachings of Vatican II.

Nelson-Pallmeyer has been inspired by the Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who teaches that inner peace provides our capacity to make outer peace. Nelson-Pallmeyer has collaborated with musician, Bret Hesla, to put together some ideas of how to re-ritualize a liturgy (Worship in the Spirit of Jesus) and we ended our retreat with such a liturgy, sharing songs, poems and bread and water.

This re-reitualization with bread and water is just so much better than say the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

I have decided to add a new feature to my blog. The prayer indicator. Punditry without prayer is pointless, so please send out some prayers to these probably very nice but misguided people.

I do a lot of punditry of the silliness that goes on in what goes for Catholic higher education where higher is not mean pointing towards God so it is nice to have some praise for a change. Via Diogenes comes this statement of Father Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President of Providence College on The Vagina Monologues.

…I have come to the conclusion that a V-Day presentation of The Vagina Monologues is not appropriate for a school with our mission. Let me explain why.

The back cover of my paperback edition of The Vagina Monologues asserts (1) that its principal aim is to be “a celebration of female sexuality in all its complexity and mystery” and (2) that it has been “hailed as a bible for a new generation of women.” I would argue that both of these claims are false. First, far from celebrating the complexity and mystery of female sexuality, The Vagina Monologues simplifies and demystifies it by reducing it to the vagina. In contrast, Roman Catholic teaching sees female sexuality as ordered toward a loving giving of self to another in a union of body, mind, and soul that is ordered to the procreation of new life. The deeper complexity and mystery lies in the capacity of human sexuality, both male and female, to sacramentalize the love of God in marriage. Any depiction of female sexuality that neglects its unitive and procreative dimensions diminishes its complexity, its mystery, and its dignity. Moreover, to explore fully the dignity of woman requires not only a consideration of female sexuality, but also of the capacity of women for intellectual, artistic, moral, and spiritual activity; none of these dimensions are featured in The Vagina Monologues.

Second, the description of the play as a “new bible” is an indication that its depiction of female sexuality is meant to displace the traditional Biblical view that inspires the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The two positions are deeply and diametrically opposed. Nowhere is this clearer than in a monologue wherein the alcohol-fueled seduction of a sixteen-year-old girl by a twenty-four-year-old woman is described as resulting in “salvation” and “a kind of heaven.” What is thus characterized in traditional religious language is instead abusive, demeaning, exploitative, and morally wrong according to the true Bible. Precisely because its depiction of female sexuality is so deeply at odds with the true meaning and morality that the Catholic Church’s teaching celebrates, The Vagina Monologues is not an appropriate play to be performed on our campus. Therefore the college will prohibit the production of The Vagina Monologues.

Doubtless some will reply that this is a violation of artistic freedom. But artistic freedom on a Catholic campus cannot mean the complete license to perform or display any work of art regardless of its intellectual or moral content. Any institution which sanctioned works of art that undermined its deepest values would be inauthentic, irresponsible, and ultimately self-destructive. At Providence College artistic freedom is governed by the values embodied in our mission statement. A Catholic college cannot sanction the performance of works of art that are inimical to the teaching of the Church in an area as important as female sexuality and the dignity of women.

This policy will inevitably raise questions regarding academic freedom. The true meaning of academic freedom is often misunderstood; it is not the license to hold any view that one chooses. Academic freedom is instead always governed by truth. It is the freedom to pursue the truth in a discipline in accord with the accepted canons of inquiry without any impediment by extraneous considerations. Prohibiting a theatrical production of The Vagina Monologues does not prohibit free inquiry about the play. All members of the campus are free to read, study, and discuss the play in various settings, especially the classroom. It is perfectly appropriate that we study texts that have diverse views in order both to broaden our understanding of others and to bring our own views into sharper focus. I fully expect that one result of this communication will be some controversy. As a long-time student of St. Thomas Aquinas, I think disputes are an important part of education, so long as they are conducted with charity. While arguments about intellectual positions help us to learn from each other, attacks on persons do not.

Instead of producing The Vagina Monologues, the best way for Providence College to work together to combat violence against women is to strengthen its commitment to support Project S.A.V.E. (Sexual Assault and Violence Education). Project S.A.V.E is a collaborative effort of many student groups to educate the campus about how to prevent violence against women and help survivors heal. The week-long effort will begin with a Mass on April 23rd to pray for victims and survivors of sexual and domestic violence. It will continue with educational presentations, displays, and performances, and culminate with the annual Take Back The Night vigil and walk. The college’s administration will work directly with student leaders to make this week the centerpiece of our efforts to educate everyone about violence against women. I shall personally take part in events that week, and I encourage everyone in the community to play a role in making the week a success.

It is my hope and prayer that we can move beyond disagreement on the merits of a particular text and work together on a cause that unites us all. Let us strive for a deeper appreciation of God’s gift of human sexuality in all its complexity and mystery. Let us endeavor to educate the community about the peculiar threat to human dignity that is violence against women. Let us work together for the healing of all who have survived such violence. If our efforts are grounded in truth and animated by love, then by the grace of God at work within us, our efforts will bear much fruit.

That is a great statement especially since it touches on a true understanding of both artistic and academic freedom and then goes on with a truly Catholic reply to violence against women instead of the fraud that the VM perpetuates.

This now means that the number of Catholic campuses that will have this play will drop to 21 with Providence falling from the list. Slowly with efforts by groups such as The Cardinal Newman Society the presentations have had an effect.

The number of schools hosting performances has been inching downward for the past 4 years; in 2003 there were performances at 32 American Catholic institutions, and in 2004, at 29.

This article also has a list of the Catholic campuses showing it along with email addresses for the school’s presidents.

An reader sent me an article on a policeman who is a "priest" in the Ecumenical Catholic Church USA.

The church’s belief statements are similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church, with a few differences: celibacy for priests is a personal decision; all holy orders are open to men and women; those who have been divorced and/or remarried are entitled to the sacraments; and contraception is not a sin but a personal decision of a married couple.

"We’re similar to other Christian churches that say we’re not here to judge. Let God be the judge, not us," Swaringim said. "We’re basically here to facilitate the individual person’s relationship with God through word and sacrament in the Catholic faith tradition."

If there is one thing that drives me crazy it is how the understanding of judgment is so misused. As if judgment is always suppose to be suspended and mischaracterized the understanding of God being our judge. Now obviously judgment of others is fraught with danger by being uncharitable in others motives or making statements about their final end. But we very well have to judge actions and whether something is a sin or not. Otherwise what Jesus says in Matthew 18 about rebuking your brother would make no sense at all You just can’t suspend judgment and tell your brother his faults.

Now of course when they talk about judgment they are only using it as covering words to allow what they want to allow. Obviously this man has made a judgment that remarriage and contraception is not a sin and that women can be priests. His judgment is that a list of specific sins are not sins and perfectly acceptable in his congregation which is basically Protestant with some Catholic trappings. Another attempt at Anglicanism, but like copy error there is always degradation and in this case it is with the truth.

And as an example of what they mean about judgment.

To detractors who say Sts. Peter and Paul is not a "real" church and Catlett is not a "real" priest, he would invite them to visit "and see what we’re all about before they make that judgment."

Sorry I can’t judge whether your a real priest or if this is a real church – only God judges by your own statement.

Here is an interview with Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein that contains clear and precise answers – that is if you think that mud is translucent.

Q: Some critics of the church say bishops and other leaders might look at this issue differently if they had more interaction with people who are gay. Do you have the opportunity to do that?
A: "I don’t. I mean, obviously, I probably do and don’t even know it. But I’m not going to go there."

Q: Right now, there is a lot of talk about the use of torture. Do you think there is ever a time when that is justified?
A: "I don’t know enough to know what is true and what is false (about the current practice by American forces). I don’t think it is clear whether there is or there isn’t torture. But no. There is no justification for torture. At least I can’t understand why (it would be needed) in this day and age in a civilized society."

Well how about the fact that you can never do evil to achieve good regardless of the day and age?

Q: "The DaVinci Code" continues to remain on The New York Times best- seller list more than two years after it was published. What do you make of that book’s popularity?
A: "I think people like intrigue. I think they like to see a major institution such as the church being tweaked a little bit. I read the book. What bothers me about the book is that it is footloose and fancy-free with history and fact. And I am not so sure that a lot of people are alert to that."
Q: What were your qualms with it?
A: "Some of the interpretations of Da Vinci’s paintings. Some of the insinuations about Opus Dei. Some of the insinuations about how the Vatican functions. Just enough kernels of truth, but a great deal of poetic license."

So the assertion that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that Christianity is totally false are less important insinuations? Now the Archbishop did try to provide good answers in accordance with the Church in this interview it is just that they were not put very well and the arguments used were less than satisfying. Though of course not everybody is blessed with the intellectual heft of Pope Benedict XVI.

Q: What are the chances the Colts will have a perfect season?
A: "We’ve got a really good shot at it, but I don’t want to put a jinx on it."

At least he makes no claim to being a prophet.

OTTAWA — A new study for the federal Justice Department says Canada should get rid of its law banning polygamy, and change other legislation to help women and children living in such multiple-spouse relationships.

“Criminalization does not address the harms associated with valid foreign polygamous marriages and plural unions, in particular the harms to women,” says the report, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

“The report therefore recommends that this provision be repealed.” [Source]

I only wish looking at Canada was like a fun house mirror reflection of the U.S. instead of it being a look into the future. Though as a read in another article this is inevitable once same-sex marriage is allowed since the "needs" of bi-sexual’s will be the next step forward. They just can’t fit in with traditional or same-sex marriage so the whole being open minded about loving relationship will march us along.

Though of course the culture has been working on this for a while – they just couldn’t get society to bite just yet. I remember in grade school going to an assembly where they had a show on Alvin Toffler’s future shock where part of the movie talked about "non-traditional families" of three people. Then of course they was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with their song Triad signing "But I don’t really see, Why can’t we go on as three." Though of course David Crosby could hardly see anything through his drug induced haze.