INDIANAPOLIS –  A high-ranking Holy See official who tried to resolve tense relations between the Vatican and U.S nuns was transferred Thursday to a Midwestern archdiocese of fewer than 230,000 parishioners.

The newly appointed Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin said he didn’t know if the move was related to his efforts to reconcile the heads of the Roman Catholic Church with nuns who some theological conservatives complained had become too secular and political.

“No one told me it was tied to the investigation,” Tobin, a 60-year-old American Redemptorist priest, said at a news conference in Indianapolis. He succeeds Archbishop Daniel Buechlein who retired last year.

Yeah that really sounds like the motive that Pope Benedict XVI would have.  If you don’t toe the line exactly you will be made and Archbishop of  228,000 Catholics.  If he really wanted to punish him even more severely he might even make him a Cardinal.

The article goes on to quote two priests that have never been quoted in a news article —  Rev. Thomas Reese, Rev. James Martin S.J. Actually I mean pretty much quoted in any news article on the Church seeking negative spin.

Rev. Thomas Reese is quoted as saying  “He said part of his job was to explain Women Religious to the Vatican.”  When did he say this? Google seems to have amnesia on him ever being quoted of him saying anything so condescending. I call BS on this. To be fair though it is not beyond the pale  that he might have said it.  He certainly was somewhat critical of the investigation of the LCWR . I have to say if he was accurately quoted in context that “No one told me it was tied to the investigation” that this a rather odd reply.  Mainly though I call BS that this was some petty reprisal from the Pope.

Source

I was glad to see after the Vice Presidential debate last week that the USCCB had immediately come out with a statement on the total falsity of Joe Biden’s claims about the HHS mandate. Even if it didn’t even mention his name. It is not as if people reading the statement would not know the answer to that.

Still I would like to have seen another statement released regarding what was the “elephant in the room” or really the “infant in the womb.” Joe Biden pulled out the ole “personally opposed” Kennedy chestnut and added about not being able to impose his faith on others. This tortured reasoning has been pulled out again and again and it really should be answered by the USCCB when used in this circumstance before an audience of some fifty million people.

The bishops have spoken on this before both individually and via the USCCB such as in the document “Living the Gospel of Life”

Since the entry of Catholics into the U.S. political mainstream, believers have struggled to balance their faith with the perceived demands of democratic pluralism. As a result, some Catholic elected officials have adopted the argument that, while they personally oppose evils like abortion, they cannot force their religious views onto the wider society. This is seriously mistaken on several key counts. First, regarding abortion, the point when human life begins is not a religious belief but a scientific fact — a fact on which there is clear agreement even among leading abortion advocates. Second, the sanctity of human life is not merely Catholic doctrine but part of humanity’s global ethical heritage, and our nation’s founding principle. Finally, democracy is not served by silence. Most Americans would recognize the contradiction in the statement, “While I am personally opposed to slavery or racism or sexism I cannot force my personal view on the rest of society.” Real pluralism depends on people of conviction struggling vigorously to advance their beliefs by every ethical and legal means at their disposal.

Which is great for the 100 or so Catholics that might have actually seen this document.

Now fact-checking Catholic politicians who distort the Church’s teaching is not really their purview. Really you would need a full-time staff just for Rep. Nancy Pelosi. You also have to pick your battles. Issuing a statement every time some Catholic politician says something theologically stupid would be an easy way for the media to ignore you – or ignore you more than they already do. Still the USSCB statement after the debate certainly did get some coverage.

Archbishop Chaput did comment on this as the “latest outrageous example” of the phony divide between belief and action. At the same time he also said “I call you as a Catholic, to forget about the labels, be a liberal sometimes, a conservative sometimes, but a Catholic first.” This is of course exactly right. Really I think the USCCB should have corrected VP Joe Biden on the “impose my faith” aspect and corrected Rep. Paul Ryan on supporting the abortion exemptions.

Now if you were to try to take Biden’s argument seriously on not being able to impose one’s belief than his career has a legislature is rather odd. It is not as if he only voted on legislation that was supported by 100% of his constituents. Every act of the legislature imposes something on others that they don’t like. Plus you just can’t take the argument seriously at all while they are imposing the HHS mandate on Catholics and others and then bragging about it.

Possibly I am falling in the trap of wanting the USCCB to do things. Well actually I have fallen into that trap. When really what I should be wanting is individual bishops to be vocal when such outrageous statements are made. Some of them certainly have been vocal on this. Or really a both/and approach would be quite fine with me. The line that Biden used should be slapped down and as the media loves to say “slammed” so that the next pro-abortion politician might just think a little bit before using it.

Last month Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith wrote up a list of ten Church buzzwords he would like to eliminate.  An interesting list  and one I mostly agree with.  Some of the buzzwords listed were not ones I had thought much about, but can see that they are indeed buzzwords.

So this got me thinking about my own list of buzzwords and phrases I could do without.  Now I would admit that some of the ones I am going to list might just be perfectly acceptable and even be used correctly in faithful circles.  I am going by mostly my own reactions to them and the negative connotations they have for me.  So that should be enough of a disclaimer.

1. Presider.  The announcement at the start of so many Masses that Fr. so-and-so will be the presider. This has the Mass as meeting connotation where instead of a priest as In persona Christi  we have  heading this meeting is. Now the term “presides” and “presider” does show up in English translations of Vatican documents.  I just think the use of this just before Mass starts is not helpful.  Though really the Mass needs no introduction such as this. Heck if they are going to go ahead and do this I would almost prefer a Soap Opera substitution phrasing such as “The part of Jesus is now being played by Fr. so-and so” — well not really.  Celebrant doesn’t annoy me as much, but let’s just skip the introductions.
2. Worship Space. I like how the term shows a proper orientation towards  God.  But what is wrong with the world “church”? Why substitute “worship space” which seems much more abstract?  “Honey it is time to wake up the kids so we can go to worship space.”
3. Faith Community. Again a fairly accurate term, but I pretty much only find the word used in more liberal environs.  Welcome to our faith community is another part of the introduction I hear from time to time.  Just use “parish” instead of going with more wordy phrases.
4. Sending forth hymn.  This one grates on me whenever I hear it which just shows how irrational pet-peeves can be.  Maybe though it is because when at the end of Mass the Cantor announces a “Sending forth hymn” it is usually a hymn that really sends me forth to escape the sounds attacking my ear drums. It is rather amazing how many times a “Sending forth hymn” is accompanied with castanets. Now Peter was called to cast a net, but not the choir.  Besides “Recessional hymn” is good enough for me.  Though the whole 4-hymn or 5-hymn sandwich for Mass I could also easily rant on.
5. Prophetic voice. It is pretty much a certainty when somebody says they are speaking with a prophetic voice they are doing anything but that.  Just the problem with the pride of calling yourself a prophet or the group you associate with is enough to set off warning signals.  Those who proclaim a prophetic voice seem to know nothing about the prophets.  The prophets were persecuted and martyred because they called Israel back to the faith and proclaimed against their errors. The self-proclaimed prophets are more pathetic than prophetic.  They call people away from the faith and then proclaim errors as truth.  They say the Church will change her teachings — just add time.
6. Healing Mass. Technically there is no specific category of a Healing Mass, generally though all Masses involve healing.  What is usually meant by this term is Mass followed by some kind of healing prayer service.  Sometimes you even see the Sacrament of Anointing given out like a blessing where people just stand in line and receive the sacrament.  When I have encountered this there was no discernment regarding danger of death or any other caveats about when it is appropriate to receive this sacrament of healing.  When prayers for healing in a liturgical or non-liturgical occur in context of the norms of the Church I of course have no objection.  I just prefer accurate terms.
7. Progressive.  Chesterton said enough about this in Heretics that I will not attempt to improve on him.
8. Seamless Garment. I am not critiquing Cardinal Bernadin’s original use of this  which certainly reflects a truth.  Rather I critique what it has morphed into.  In the modern use I call it the “Shameless Garment” since it is used rather shamelessly to be an excuse to vote for pro-abortion politicians or be involved with pro-abortion groups just as long as they also do some objective good.  The hierarchy of truths which the Seamless Garment should reflect has been flattened down to make all issues equal.
9. Catholic Identity. Used mostly by those who should be sued for Catholic Identity Fraud.  Usually is a term used as a veneer to apply a Catholic patina to an institution that has mostly lost it’s Catholic faith.
10. Eucharistic Minister. Part of the flattening out of the clergy and the laity. It is not just for ease of use that the actual title “Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion” is replaced.  I don’t have to rant about how ordinary the extraordinary is at Masses since that has been well-covered in the Catholic blogosphere.  Really though this one was just easy pickings to round off my list to ten.

What are your least favorite Catholic buzzwords/phrases.