Posted on 10/28/2015 5:08:46 AM PDT by marshmallow
This letter was drafted by Massimo Faggioli and John O’Malley, SJ, and is now being signed by a bunch of liberal Catholic academics. Here’s how it stands as I post this; names are being added to the signatory list constantly:
To the editor of the New York Times
On Sunday, October 18, the Times published Ross Douthat’s piece “The Plot to Change Catholicism.” Aside from the fact that Mr. Douthat has no professional qualifications for writing on the subject, the problem with his article and other recent statements is his view of Catholicism as unapologetically subject to a politically partisan narrative that has very little to do with what Catholicism really is. Moreover, accusing other members of the Catholic church of heresy, sometimes subtly, sometimes openly, is serious business that can have serious consequences for those so accused. This is not what we expect of the New York Times.
October 26, 2015
John O’Malley, SJ (Georgetown University)
Massimo Faggioli (University of St. Thomas, Minnesota)
Nicholas P. Cafardi (Duquesne University)
Gerard Mannion (Georgetown University)
Stephen Schloesser, SJ (Loyola University Chicago)
Katarina Schutch OSF (University of St. Thomas, Minnesota)
Leslie Tentler (Catholic University of America, emerita)
John Slattery (University of Notre Dame)
Andrew Staron (Wheeling Jesuit University)
Megan McCabe (Boston College)
Thomas M. Bolin (St. Norbert College)
Kevin Brown (Boston College)
Alan C. Mitchell (Georgetown University)
Elizabeth Antus (John Carroll University)
Kathleen Grimes (Villanova University)
Fran Rossi Szpylczyn
Christopher Bellitto (Kean University)
Katharine Mahon (University of Notre Dame)
Tobias Winright (Saint Louis University)
Corey Harris (Alvernia University)
(Excerpt) Read more at theamericanconservative.com ...
Want to enrage a liberal, like these signatories to this letter? Tell them the truth.
Note here that they aren’t so much attacking Douthat for what he says in his article, but challenging his credentials in a “shoot the messenger” fashion.
But more importantly they’re using the shaming tactic on the NY Times for even running the article.
I remember the Jesuits as being the types that loved good arguments that stuck strictly to substance. These sort of political attacks reveal this O’Malley person as waging a political war, and diminish the order that he’s a member of.
what I DON’T see are signatories from legitimately Catholic universities like Christendom, Fransciscan, University of Dallas, etc. — schools which are authentically Catholic.
I’m reminded of something Bishop Sheen said years ago—”I you want your son or daughter to lost the faith, send them to a Catholic university.”
Oh, for cryin’ out loud, “If, IF you want your son or daughter . . .”
They all want to get Douthat fired from the NYT. They have a chance, given that Douthat is the most conservative journalist writing for the Times, and cries of McCarthyism are probably easy for his employer to accept.
Two more columns on the same subject...
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/view-from-catholic-schools-jesuit-francis/
and...
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/thin-skinned-theologians-douthat/
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