Bishop of San Jose Denies Historicity of Gospels in Response to "Passion" Film

Lifesite ^ | Monday February 23, 2004

[nickcarraway]

McGrath criticized by local Catholics for supporting pro-homosexual organizations

SAN JOSE February 23, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Roman Catholic bishop of San Jose California has written an editorial for the local paper in which he denies the historical truth of the Gospels. In response to the accusations of anti-semitism which have been made against the film, "The Passion of the Christ," Bishop Patrick J. McGrath wrote in The Mercury News on February 18, that the charge of anti-Semitism cannot be leveled against Catholicism since Catholics do not adhere to the literal, historical truth of Scripture.

Without commenting directly on the film, which he says he has not seen, the bishop wrote, "While the primary source material of the film is attributed to the four gospels, these sacred books are not historical accounts of the historical events that they narrate. They are theological reflections upon the events that form the core of Christian faith and belief."

However Bishop McGrath's statement that the Gospel accounts of the Passion of Christ are mere "theological reflections" contradicts Church teaching.

For example, the Second Vatican Council document Dei Verbum states, "Holy Mother Church has firmly and with absolute constancy held, and continues to hold, that the four Gospels…whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly asserts, faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and taught…"

Bishop McGrath has been criticized by local Catholic groups for his support of pro-homosexual organizations and his exclusion of the Christian group Courage, a support group for homosexuals who try to live according to Christian morality.

Bishop McGrath's editorial: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryne ws/entertainment/special_packages/passio n_of_christ/7985930.htm

[Petronski]

Apostasy is abandonment of one's faith, often by converting to a different faith.

Yep, that's what I meant. This bishop (and others of his ilk in the American Catholic Church) is abandoning Roman Catholicism for something of his own making.

[ultima ratio]

Yes, the bishop is in error--but his error is pervasive in the postconciliar Church; it is affirmed by a great many Catholic scholars on the left; it is routinely taught in Catholic seminaries; it is pushed by some of the Church's most influential Vatican movers-and-shakers who seek to accommodate the secular world. Gibson's film challenges this lie; outside the Church it is a hydrogen bomb dropped in the midst of the culture war. The shock-waves will be felt for years.

[ninenot]

Some Archdiocesan staffer in Milwaukee printed an article with similar claims.

Had they been intelligent enough to state that the mystic (Emmerich)'s observations were NOT historically accurate, their complaints would be unexceptionable.

But NOOOOOOO....they had to ignore Emmerich and disavow the Gospel. Stupid, heretical, and worthy of immediate dismissal.

Another TTGC visiting spot.

[ninenot]

Many wrongly assume that Mel Gibson is Roman Catholic. He is not. He is Old Catholic

I don't think your statement is true. Please provide evidence.

[IrishCatholic]

And what, you two knuckle deep nose picker, do you know about either? It's one thing to be ignorant on the topic. It's another to boast about it.

[ZULU]

"The Roman Catholic bishop of San Jose California has written an editorial for the local paper in which he denies the historical truth of the Gospels. In response to the accusations of anti-semitism which have been made against the film, "The Passion of the Christ," Bishop Patrick J. McGrath wrote in The Mercury News on February 18, that the charge of anti-Semitism cannot be leveled against Catholicism since Catholics do not adhere to the literal, historical truth of Scripture."

This lying ass should be defrocked and ridden out of town backwards on a mule. What an ass.

[eastsider]

Bishop McGrath has been criticized by local Catholic groups for his ... exclusion of the Christian group Courage ...

When you come right down to it, the good men and women of Courage don't need the bishop's permission to practice virtue.

[Protagoras]

Excommunication

[ninenot]

I dunno, Q.

You've done pretty good work here on 'splaining the position(s) occupied by various folks, but...

You don't give a lot of credence to the very real possibility that the Noah story was a story that is literally true--and a MIRACLE.

That position basically covers the literalist AND semi-literalist spots quite well, and allows that God may have done a few things which seem to be counter to nature. (Like a Resurrection, e.g.)

[Unam Sanctam]

I hadn't heard the Vatican had contradicted the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I grant you some of your other statements.

[utahagen]

90% of the current Jesuits should be kicked to the curb. The Jesuits were originally formed to be "men for the Pope"; these days, many of them are "men for The New York Times".

[ultima ratio]

It's nice the Vatican published a Catechism. Now all it has to do is put its money where its mouth is: reform the corrupt and radicalized seminaries, fire the apostate prelates and theologians, stop awarding red hats to openly-declared heretics, and get behind the traditional faith.

[Preachin']

I don't even need the New Testament to be a Christian.

Sure you do. If the old covenant were so easy to understand, Christ would've been accepted. Also, never forget that Christ told us that it was expedient that He die, so that He could send His helper, the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament writing tell us a lot about the Holy Spirit, and His work in the church.

[mel]

I thought he was going to be Episcopalian.

[Paulus Invictus]

OK, but which English version of the Bible is inerrant? I could never get that straight. The earliest translations in English differ considerably from the KJV. My Spanish and Portuguese versions are also very different in how they explain doctrinal issues. This is not a question to bring on flames, merely a question.

[demnomo]

From my brief impression, your post seems right on the mark. That priest was a disgrace.

[NYer]

Just when you think it can't get any worse, along comes Bishop McGrath.

The timing on the release of The Passion of the Christ could not have been better. Thank you, Mel Gibson!

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[B Knotts]

and also rejects the ecumenism of the modern Papacies(but not the Papacy itself).

According to Tim Staples on Catholic Answers yesterday, a friend of his talked directly to Mel Gibson, and he said that Mr. Gibson is definitely a sedevacantist.

So, he may not reject the papacy as an institution, but he rejects the current Pope.

[Campion]

To the Catholics, I ask: Who would be one step higher than this Bishop in the Church hierarchy? An Archbishop? If so, which one?

Qwinn, a Bishop technically answers only to the Pope. In reality, if Bp. McGrath were to be reigned in, the letter would come from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Cdl. Ratzinger's congregation).

[Jaded]

Isaiah 29
13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. [1]