Posted on 02/01/2007 9:51:23 PM PST by Coleus
Bishop Coakley used to be our pastor, at the Church of the Resurrection in Wichita. We miss him a lot
And a fine bishop he is, too.
There is a concerted effort to clean out these whited sepulchres, and it's been ongoing for about ten years now. Our archdiocese dropped the hammer on these guys back in the late 80s/early 90s. Both the archbishop and his vicar-general (who is now our rector) recognized immediately the serious and long-term consequences for the Church if they didn't act immediately, and they did. They were drastic -- laicizing, exiling to remote monasteries, and turning one priest directly over to the law (I think he's still in prison). And highly effective.
Unfortunately, a gay subculture got a foothold in some dioceses, and it will take time to clean them and all their buddies out. It goes hand in hand with the liberal "protestant" Catholics and all their works.
Pope Benedict has made some momentous changes -- an A to Z inspection of all seminaries, just for starters.
But at some point, people have to stop using this as a stick to beat the Church with. At least the hierarchy is dealing with the problem and has been for some time -- unlike other churches and the public schools, which actually have a much higher rate of sex offenders. But you never hear about that from the mainstream media -- too busy beating up on the Catholics. Of course they have an ulterior motive, which should be obvious.
"refusing them Communion would be, not the first, but more than likely, the last stage in a serious of steps"
I am somewhat at a loss of words. Just how many steps are there? For 43 years Ted Kennedy has been pushing abortion legislation in the Senate. For 43 years the Catholic Church has rebuked his point of view. He has gotten divorced (I know annulled - but I think it's more of a payoff) and remarried - with little rebuke. He pushes embryonic stem cell research and receives little rebuke. Will anything ever be done?
Looking at the Catholic politicians of Fame (yes there are some really good ones that follow their faith, but they are generally ignored or their faith not normally mentioned) we have Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and Arnold Schwartzeneger (sorry about what must be a spelling error in his name). And the only reason we even know Arnold's religion is that he married into the Kennedy clan (religion based on marriage not faith probably). So I'll exclude him from the example (although including him wouldn't change it at all).
Catholics are taught to emulate the lives of the Saints, hence they even take the name of a Saint during Confirmation/Chrismation. This is all well and good, but in reality most of us look to current real world examples of how to live our lives. Outside of Pope Benedict and the late Pope JPII, how many famous Catholics do most people know besides Kennedy and Pelosi (we can thank the media for that)?
In looking at the Catholic Church's response to Kennedy and Pelosi (henceforth K&P) we see little to no action (if there has been any it's been kept a pretty good secret). It feels (yes I know feelings) as if most of the Catholic Episcopate must support their views even though teaching states otherwise. How could they continue if they didn't have supported views? It's begun to feel like the prohibitions against the abhorrant actions are only just on the books and can't be remove because of tradition, but no longer because of practice.
For the sake of the faithful, for the unborn innocents, for those seeking the truth, it is time that the Catholic Church publically excommunicate K&P (and maybe others). Fair enough, they should be given a three day notice to publicly recant their views before such an action is taken.
To keep this in context, I must state that I am not Catholic, but have never enjoyed bashing the RCC, except for serious matters of doctrinal disagreement (done respectfully) and purely humorously (where that should be evident). This however seems to weigh heavily even on the Pontiff in Rome. Is this not a matter of Faith and Morals? Does he not have a true obligation to keep his flock together (if his bishops won't - with some exception as noted in the article). This lack of action makes the RCC look like a closet supporter of evil.
Wish I had seen your reply before I type my screed :)
Sounds like a very good start, but with all the harm that has been done (and much of it is the media, but the episcopate can't shirk their responsibility), this should be done in an atmosphere that the public will see. Crimes against the faith (and other crimes) that have a public effect should be cleaned out in a manner that the public can see.
How else can anyone trust their spiritual leaders?
I don't know how many lives this will save...but if just one soul is saved, then it is worth it.
Here's the problem: the Church does press releases, has the information up on websites, but NOBODY in the mainstream media reports on it. In fact, they actively suppress it, because whenever they mention anything to do with the church, they mention "the pedophilia scandal" but never mention all the work the Church is doing to stop it ever happening again. (Of course, it isn't pedophilia, the victims were overwhelmingly adolescent boys. But THAT of course would conflict with another agenda the media has . . . )
It's a problem. The media shapes opinion not just by what they report, but by what they refuse to report. Kinda makes you wonder why, doesn't it?
I don't recall the details, but I seem to remember there being some issue between the Bishop of Erie, PA and former pro-choice RINO Governor Ridge.
This is the orthodox response. The real question is whether or not the bishop means it. It seems clear that some bishops never intend to go through these steps, while others have shown their readiness to do so.
The Bible as well as canon law and the Pope's letter to the American bishops when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger all say the same thing. Counsel a sinner privately to start with, and then if necessary work all the way up to a public confrontation. There are several ends to be kept in view: trying to save the guilty politician's soul, avoiding public scandal, and avoiding a watering down and compromising of the Church's teachings. If the politician refuses private counseling, then at some prudent stage it's the bishop's duty to make the matter public. Especially when, as in the case of Kennedy or Pelosi, the politician has already made the issue public.
So, nothing wrong with what this bishop says, if he really means it, as he seems to do.
About as many as resisted Henry VIII, and with far less at stake. Sad, isn't it?
Very good to hear of the progress being made. And you're right, it is the media keeping all the good news in a vacuum. Perhaps the priests need to mention what is happening at the end of the service (if the homily does not provide an appropriate timing).
As I mentioned I'm not Catholic so I don't go picking up newsletters at the back of RCC churches regularly, or spend much time on their websites. However several of my friends are RCC priests and yet they fail to mention things like this (they are definitely not liberal priests), hence I was unaware. If the media will not carry the RCC's message then maybe the RCC should do more to get it's message out (from the pulpit).
Most Catholics that I know (most of the people I know are Catholic) are unfortunately ignorant of their faith, how can we ever expect them to know what the church is doing if it doesn't directly tell them?
My comments were not directed at the bishop in this article, but rather the episcopate as a whole. There are many good bishops, but I fear maybe more bad :(
No, I understand that.
We do need to keep an eye on them. For instance, you might say that Archbishop Wuerl and Nancy Pelosi just met each other last month. So you couldn't necessarily fault Wuerl for not confronting her publicly at once. But it was troubling that he gave no indication that he would ever do so in the future. He deserves a little time to show what sort of bishop he intends to be, but he shouldn't just get a free pass. Some of his quoted comments, if accurate, were disturbing.
Embezzling has been with us for a very long time and with every other church and with most places where money is handled. What does that have to do with this thread?
Most of the pedophiles seem to have been identified and removed. Not perfectly and not without exception. This is an ongoing task. No one has a magic wand and no one can impose a permanent solution other than God Almighty triggering the end of time. Only Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother are without sin. That does not make sin acceptable but merely inevitable in some fashion or other.
Those bishops taking a stand have my respect.
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