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Robert Sungenis Censored by Bishop
Catholic Apologetics International ^ | 8/1/07 | Robert Sungenis

Posted on 08/01/2007 8:47:44 PM PDT by Augustine22

Catholic Apologetics International and its Teachings on the Jews

...The issue of how CAI has been communicating its concerns about the Jews was recently brought to our attention by the bishop of the diocese in which CAI is located, the Very Reverend, Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg, PA. In a personal letter he wrote to me, and in a follow up meeting I recently had with his vicar general, the Very Reverend William J. King, JCD, along with the executive director for ecumenical and inter-religious affairs of the USCCB, the Reverend James Massa, the shepherds God has placed as overseers of my life and work have asked me to reconsider the tone and content with which I write about the Jewish people for CAI. They provided me examples in which I have crossed the line into inappropriate language and accusations, and I communicated to them my agreement with their overall assessment...

Accordingly, CAI is in the process of removing all the content on its website concerning the Jews in order to make the initial adjustments in complying with my bishop’s directive. If and when CAI edits the material to make it conform to our bishop’s guidelines, we will repost it, but since my time is very limited and I have many other projects that need my attention, I do not see a reposting of the material happening very quickly, if at all. If in the future we write any new material on the Jews, it will always be with the required due diligence, as if the bishop were present with us. Since he acts in God’s stead, we will do our utmost to please him so as to preserve the peace and tranquility he so desires to maintain in the body of Christ...

Robert A. Sungenis, Ph.D.

July 31, 2007

(Excerpt) Read more at catholicintl.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: bishop; catholic; holocaustdenial; jews; robertsungenis; sectarianturmoil; sungenis
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1 posted on 08/01/2007 8:47:46 PM PDT by Augustine22
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To: NYer; Salvation; Coleus

Ping

I must be way out of the loop, what happened?


2 posted on 08/01/2007 8:55:39 PM PDT by AliVeritas
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To: Augustine22

Sungenis is a geocentrist. In a certain sense, I have to admire a guy just because he’s willing to be that far out there.


3 posted on 08/01/2007 10:41:33 PM PDT by marsh_of_mists
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To: AliVeritas

Sungenis has published a handful of things that an increasingly vocal group of detractors have denounced as anti-semitic. Now, some of their complaints are nonsense, but others have merit. Sungenis has, for instance, made a habit of questioning these detractors as to whether or not they have Jewish ancestory. That just isn’t a good idea.

This has all significantly weakened Sungenis’ apostolate at a time when he should be riding high. He is dogged across the internet by people who pounce on his every statement looking for anything that can be construed as anti-semitic. And sadly, some of his statements certainly seem to fit the modern mold of what an anti-semitic statement is.

There’s an anti-Sungenis website all about this: http://sungenisandthejews.blogspot.com/

Sungenis should drop posting and speaking about anything related to modern Jews. And those watching his every move should just give the guy a break.

Sungenis is a great apologist. I would hate for him to be remembered for his mistakes or for what his detractors say about him.


4 posted on 08/01/2007 10:46:54 PM PDT by vladimir998 (Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome)
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To: vladimir998

I would look at http://wquercus.com/sungenis/ and http://www.sungenisandthejews.com, too.

I don’t know what things vlad is talking about that are ridiculous. But there’s more than a handful of things that are bad news from him when it comes to Jews.

The man wouldn’t back off and put up hundreds (literally) of articles and Q-As over the past couple of years attacking Jews for everything imaginable.


5 posted on 08/01/2007 10:58:26 PM PDT by Augustine22
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To: marsh_of_mists

Huh? A geocentrist isn’t “out there” at all, is he? He thinks it’s all about “in here”. LOL. Joshing. I get what you mean.


6 posted on 08/01/2007 11:01:04 PM PDT by Augustine22
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To: Augustine22; Lady In Blue; Salvation; narses; SMEDLEYBUTLER; redhead; Notwithstanding; ...
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list


7 posted on 08/02/2007 7:25:27 AM PDT by NYer ("Where the bishop is present, there is the Catholic Church" - Ignatius of Antioch)
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To: Augustine22
Sungenis is a great apologist.

I thought he was a Feeneyite. Weren't he and Karl Keating having a feud? Or maybe I'm confusing him with someone else.

8 posted on 08/02/2007 7:29:40 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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To: Augustine22
The Bishop has spoken and I very much admire this Bishop. It is time to move on.

Sungenis is bound by obedience to the Pastoral Vicar of his Diocese. I am happy he is complying. Becoming a schismatic is a bizarre option for an apologist.

F

9 posted on 08/02/2007 8:46:21 AM PDT by Frank Sheed (Fr. V. R. Capodanno, Lt, USN, Catholic Chaplain. 3rd/5th, 1st Marine Div., FMF. MOH, posthumously.)
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To: Aquinasfan

I don’t think that Sungenis is a feeneyite. He sells a DVD about “No Salvation Outside the Church” for $7.

According to the flier I got from him a few days ago: “Some interpret this rigorously that absolutely no one who is not a member of the Church can be saved.”

Doesn’t sound like a feeneyite to me.

The video is also apparently online at youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXvn0Sqam7I

I don’t have highspeed access. Maybe you do.


10 posted on 08/02/2007 10:56:51 AM PDT by vladimir998 (Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome)
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To: Aquinasfan
Dear Aquinasfan,

Read the article at the link. I just don’t know enough to agree or disagree with some of his theological conclusions, but I was struck by his willingness to submit to his local ordinary. Lotsa points for that.

As well, regarding whether he’s a feeneyite, it seems clear to me that he’s not, in that he talks about those who are saved without formal membership in the Catholic Church.

My view of Dr. Sungenis had fallen with his preoccupation with geocentrism and the apparent anti-semitic nature of some of his stuff. For what it's worth (not much, I know), with this article, my esteem for him has risen considerably.


sitetest

11 posted on 08/02/2007 11:15:22 AM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: sitetest

I don’t think he’s a Feeneyite, either. I’m glad he listened to his bishop’s directive. But I’m not sure how much that tells us about him. If he didn’t listen to his bishop, he might not be able to call it Catholic Apologetics International anymore and he’s not been able to get imprimaturs on his books because of his Jewish problems.

http://sungenisandthejews.blogspot.com/2007/06/sungenis-casb-apocalypse-of-st-john-and.html

http://sungenisandthejews.blogspot.com/2007/07/sungenis-smears-bishop-continues-to.html

I noticed he still has up some articles and Q and A’s that have to do with Jews. I hope he listens to the bishop and takes them all down if they have to do with Jews.

I hope the obedience was for good reasons.


12 posted on 08/02/2007 11:54:37 AM PDT by Augustine22
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To: sitetest
I did some googling, and Bob seems to be a loose, ultra-pious cannon. You don't find too many errors on that side of things, these days.
In June 2006, Galileo Was Wrong, which also lacks an imprimatur, was released in which Sungenis describes his reasons for believing geocentrism using his interpretations of various secular sources. A second volume outlining his biblical and theological hypotheses is purportedly forthcoming.
He's also gone after Scott Hahn and Karl Keating, for Scott's alleged belief in the female nature of the Holy Spirit.
13 posted on 08/02/2007 11:56:34 AM PDT by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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To: vladimir998
I'm very glad to see him respond this way to this bishop. I had been hoping for this, and his humility here is to his credit. Some of his work has been very good, and I hope that he can continue to serve the Church as he has been doing. These two issues (alleged anti-Semitism and geocentrism) have made me hesitant to recommend to others his better works, and that's a shame. But this is an excellent sign.

-A8

14 posted on 08/02/2007 1:28:02 PM PDT by adiaireton8 ("There is no greater evil one can suffer than to hate reasonable discourse." - Plato, Phaedo 89d)
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To: adiaireton8

Humility? I don’t know about that. Maybe. You’d hope so. But he admitted he couldn’t get any imprimaturs on his books because of his Jewish views. And when a bishop gives you a directive to cease something that’s serious business. Could you imagine if they told him he couldn’t use the name “Catholic” on his apostolate anymore?

How many people told him to do the same thing for years? But it took an order from the bishop before he finally did it.

I found it disturbing how he used the name of the Catholic Church to spread his anti-Semitism. I don’t call it alleged anti-Semitism. It was pretty blatant, imo.


15 posted on 08/02/2007 3:57:55 PM PDT by Augustine22
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To: adiaireton8; Augustine22

I think this is an excellent development too. Perhaps his new books will get those imprimaturs (although I don’t know if it was unfair to deny them in the past considering that none of his books had anything to do with the controversy surrounding him).

I have five of his books. They are all excellent.


16 posted on 08/02/2007 4:24:44 PM PDT by vladimir998 (Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome)
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To: Augustine22
Dear Augustine22,

“If he didn’t listen to his bishop, he might not be able to call it Catholic Apologetics International...”

Actually, if he weren’t willing to listen to his bishop, there is nothing that his bishop could do to stop him from calling it Catholic Apologetics International. The bishop can only impose ecclesiastical discipline. If he refuses that, then that’s the whole game.


sitetest

17 posted on 08/02/2007 4:32:40 PM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Augustine22

Good for Mr. Sungenis for having the humility to follow the reasonable requests of his bishop.


18 posted on 08/02/2007 5:18:13 PM PDT by Unam Sanctam
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To: sitetest

Partly true. But how many people would buy his books and tapes if the bishop came out and said his website didn’t have permission to use the Catholic name and Sungenis kept it up anyway?

But regardless of the reason, thank God Sungenis finally did the right thing.


19 posted on 08/02/2007 7:47:43 PM PDT by Augustine22
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To: vladimir998

Sungenis said that he was turned down because of what he wrote in his study Bible about Jews. It doesn’t sound like it was about the other things.

But maybe he’ll take whatever was wrong out and try again. Who knows?


20 posted on 08/02/2007 7:49:58 PM PDT by Augustine22
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