For everyone, even fetuses!
Posted on 05/05/2009 9:02:29 PM PDT by ReformationFan
Pope: "Non-Negotiable Human Rights" include "Right to Life and Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion"
VATICAN CITY, MAY 5, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI addressed members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences yesterday at their plenary session which is focused on the theme of Catholic social teaching and human rights, and called for the promotion of universal human rights based on both faith and reason, affirming the "right to life and the right to freedom of conscience and religion as being at the center of those rights that spring from human nature itself."
The Holy Father noted that though these human rights are not strictly "truths of faith, even though they are discoverable - and indeed come to full light - in the message of Christ who "reveals man to man himself," they do "receive further confirmation from faith."
Giving an historical perspective to human rights as "the reference point of a shared universal ethos - at least at the level of aspiration - for most of humankind," the Pope spoke of the "vast suffering caused by two terrible world wars and the unspeakable crimes perpetrated by totalitarian ideologies," as a consequence of which "the international community acquired a new system of international law based on human rights."
(Excerpt) Read more at lifesitenews.com ...
Good paragraph here:
'"Human rights, therefore, are ultimately rooted in a participation of God, who has created each human person with intelligence and freedom," Pope Benedict explained. "If this solid ethical and political basis is ignored, human rights remain fragile since they are deprived of their sound foundation."'
This makes me stand up and cheer, but shouldn’t this be obvious to everyone? When the elites in most Western nations object to such a simple statement, you know that we’re fighting a spiritual battle here, against “principalities and powers.”
Here’s the “money quote”, which could have been lifted directly from +John Chrysostomos’ “On Wealth and Poverty”.
“This perspective draws attention to some of the most critical social problems of recent decades, such as the growing awareness – which has in part arisen with globalisation and the present economic crisis – of a flagrant contrast between the equal attribution of rights and the unequal access to the means of attaining those rights. For Christians who regularly ask God to “give us this day our daily bread”, it is a shameful tragedy that one-fifth of humanity still goes hungry. Assuring an adequate food supply, like the protection of vital resources such as water and energy, requires all international leaders to collaborate in showing a readiness to work in good faith, respecting the natural law and promoting solidarity and subsidiarity with the weakest regions and peoples of the planet as the most effective strategy for eliminating social inequalities between countries and societies and for increasing global security.”
No support in this lecture for the recent heresy spread by some American Roman Catholic bishops that their imagined dogma of being anti-abortion supersedes all other dogmas of The Church. And one wonders how much support the Papal call to international social activism will find among the those who have bought into that peculiar American heresy because it furthers their anti-Obama political agenda.
April 11, 1963
Establishing Universal Peace In Truth, Justice, Charity, And Liberty, Pope John XXIII
“Man’s personal dignity requires besides that he enjoy freedom and be able to make up his own mind when he acts.
In his association with his fellows, therefore, there is every reason why his recognition of rights, observance of duties, and many-sided collaboration with other men, should be primarily a matter of his own personal decision.
Each man should act on his own initiative, conviction, and sense of responsibility, not under the constant pressure of external coercion or enticement.
There is nothing human about a society that is welded together by force.
Far from encouraging, as it should, the attainment of man’s progress and perfection, it is merely an obstacle to his freedom.”
“Hence, a regime which governs solely or mainly by means of threats and intimidation or promises of reward, provides men with no effective incentive to work for the common good.
And even if it did, it would certainly be offensive to the dignity of free and rational human beings.”
“Consequently, laws and decrees passed in contravention of the moral order, and hence of the divine will, can have no binding force in conscience, since ‘it is right to obey God rather than men.’”
Excerpts From Pacem In Terris: Peace on Earth - Encyclical of Pope John XXIII
More regarding rights of conscience, and other God-given rights:
The sort of socialism that conforms to the biblical worldview is the form that is commonly practiced on a small scale within families, within churches, and other organizations. It is always going to be a voluntary sharing of resources.
The Bible teaches that the church and the family should care for the poor rather than the state.
8th Commandment: You shall not steal. This is a guarantee of private property.
10th Commandment: You shall not covet. Again, a guarantee of private property.
Acts 5: Barnabas sellls a piece of property and brought the money to the Apostles.
Ananias and Saphira decided to do the same - except they sold a property - kept some of the money back - and lied about how much they had been paid.
Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own power?’ “
There you go! An apostolic confirmation of the right of private property. Not only the means of production, but also the results of that production were in Ananias’ and Saphira’s power, not in the power or hands of the state or the church.
Proudhon , the French socialist said, “Property is theft.”
But the commandment forbidding theft teaches the right of private property and is in complete contradiction to socialist concepts.
America’s Founding Principles
“...dedicated to teaching how history, law, logic, and mathematics prove that the ideas that create America’s freedom and prosperity - America’s Founding Principles - are God’s moral rules found in Judeo-Christian Scripture. A big job, to be sure, but to help you quickly see where we are coming from, we summarize these ideas in the blue boxes below. The white boxes give you examples of where these ideas appear in our founding documents, the writings of the Founding Fathers, and the scholarly writings that influenced our founding. We link you to resources where you can learn more, and invite you to explore our site, especially our Freedom 101 and Project Mainspring links ...” http://www.citizensoldier.org/foundation.html
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How to Talk to a Theological Liberal (If You Must) http://www.tektonics.org/guest/libspeak.html
Freepmail wagglebee or DirtyHarryY2K to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.
FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
Strikes me as support for a capitalist system.
No support in this lecture for the recent heresy spread by some American Roman Catholic bishops that their imagined dogma of being anti-abortion supersedes all other dogmas of The Church. And one wonders how much support the Papal call to international social activism will find among the those who have bought into that peculiar American heresy because it furthers their anti-Obama political agenda.Kolokotronis - please amplify, what is the 'heresy' you allege and why should anyone not be "anti-Obama", in your opinion?
Yep!
It doesn't supercede any other dogma, like like you and I discussed a few times now.
Ronald Reagan “Shining City” speech at the first CPAC conference in 1974.
“We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, ‘The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.’”
“We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth.”
*
Main excerpt(s):
“...[back] when societies were governed by the inhuman principle: “cuius regio eius religio”. By virtue of this principle, rulers forcibly imposed their own religious convictions on their subjects, violating the basic rights of conscience.
RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE MUST BE DEFENDED
Pope John Paul II
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2RTCON.HTM
Homily given on May 22, 1995
....in the difficult post-Reformation period, when societies were governed by the inhuman principle: “cuius regio eius religio”. By virtue of this principle, rulers forcibly imposed their own religious convictions on their subjects, violating the basic rights of conscience. .....
[..]
... One can feel either admiration or hatred for someone who prefers to give his life rather than betray the voice of his own conscience, but certainly one cannot remain indifferent. The martyrs have so many things to tell us; first and foremost, they challenge us about the state of our conscience, they challenge everyone about fidelity to their own conscience.
Our consciences must be based on truth. Conscience...[is called] “man’s most secret core, and his sanctuary” and explains: “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells him inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that” (Gaudium et spes, n. 16).
As we see from this quotation, conscience is a vitally important issue for every individual. It is our inner guide and also the judge of our actions. How important it is therefore for our conscience to be upright, to make judgements based on truth, to call good and evil, to know howin the Apostle’s wordsto “prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).
Today our homeland is facing many difficult social, economic and political problems. They must be solved with wisdom and perseverance. The most important of all, however, remains the problem of a just moral order. This order is the foundation of every individual’s life and of the life of every society. For this reason, today Poland urgently and primarily needs men and women of conscience!
To be a person of conscience means first of all, obeying one’s own conscience in every situation and not silencing its inner voice, even if it is sometimes severe and demanding. It means working for what is good and increasing it within and around oneself, and never giving into evil, in the spirit of St. Paul’s words: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21).
To be a person of conscience means being demanding with oneself, getting up again after falling, being ever converted anew.
To be a person of conscience means working to build up the kingdom of Godthe kingdom of truth and life, of justice, love and peacein our families, in the communities in which we live and throughout our homeland. It also means courageously assuming responsibility for public affairs; it means being concerned for the common good and not closing our eyes to the misery and needs of our neighbor, in a spirit of Gospel solidarity: “Bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2).
...Our 20th century has been a period in which human consciences have been particularly violated. In the name of totalitarian ideologies, millions of people were forced to act against their deepest convictions. Central and Eastern Europe has had unusually painful experiences in this respect. We recall this period when consciences were suppressed, when human dignity was despised, when so many innocent people suffered for deciding to remain faithful to their convictions. We recall the outstanding role taken in those difficult times by the Church in defending the rights of conscience, and not only for the benefit of believers.
In those years we often asked ourselves: Can history swim against the tide of conscience? At what price can it do so? I ask again: at what price?... This price is unfortunately the deep wounds in the nation’s moral fiber, open wounds which still need a long time to heal.
Those times, times of great trial for conscience must be remembered, since for us they are an ever timely warning and exhortation to vigilance: that Polish consciences may not yield to demoralization, that they may not surrender to the trends of moral permissiveness, that they may discover the liberating nature of the teaching of the Gospel and the commandments of God, that in making decisions they may be mindful of Christ’s warning: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?” (Mk 8:36-37).
Despite appearances, the rights of conscience must be defended today as well. In the name of tolerance, a powerful intolerance, perhaps an ever more powerful intolerance, is actually spreading in public life and in the mass media. Believers are painfully aware of it. They notice the increasing tendency to marginalize them from the life of society: what is most sacred to them is sometimes mocked and ridiculed. These forms of recurring discrimination arouse great concern and should be a cause for much reflection.
Brothers and sisters! .... do not forget that this life depends first of all on how man will be, on how his conscience will be. Therefore we cry out in prayer:
“Come, Holy Spirit...
Come, Light of men’s hearts.
Wash clean the sinful soul, rain down your grace on the parched soul...
Warm the ice-cold heart, and give direction to the wayward”. Come, Light of consciences!
Christ’s Cross is the sign of our salvation
“Stat crux dum volvitur orbis”. On the paths of the human conscience, which are sometimes so difficult and complicated, God has put up a great “road sign” giving definitive meaning and direction to human life. It is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. ..
Hail, O Cross of Christ! The Cross of Christ is the sign of our salvation, the sign of our faith and the sign of our hope. St. Paul writes: “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called... the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24).
The Cross reminds us of the price of our salvation. It speaks of what great value man has in God’s eyesevery man!if God loved him even unto the Cross: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1). How much this “to the end” says to us. God so loves, he loves man “to the end”. The Cross of Christ is precisely the proof of this. Can we remain indifferent to such a proof of love?
Dear brothers and sisters! In our Polish land the Cross has had its own history now for over 1,000 years. It is the history of salvation which has been written into the history of the great human community that is our nation. Down the centuries, in periods of very harsh trial, the nation has sought and found the strength to survive and to rise from its historical defeats precisely in the Cross of Christ! It has never been disappointed! The strength and wisdom of the Cross has been strong! Can that be forgotten?
“...Can one reject Christ and all that he has brought to human history? .. Certainly one can. Man is free. Man can say ‘no’ to Christ. But the basic question remains: is it licit to do this? In whose name is this licit? By virtue of what rational argument, what value close to one’s will and heart would it be possible to stand before oneself, one’s neighbor, one’s fellow citizens, one’s country, in order to cast off, to say ‘no’ to all that we have seen for 1,000 years? To all that has created and always constituted the basis of our identity?
Today, as Poland lays the foundations for its free and sovereign existence, after experiencing so many years of totalitarianism, these words must be recalled. In their light, 16 years later, a profound examination of conscience must be made: Where are we going? In what direction are consciences heading? What answer will Poland give to Christ?
Dear brothers and sisters, dear compatriots! At this great turning-point in our country’s history, as the future shape of our Republic is being decided, the Pope, your compatriot, tirelessly asks you to welcome anew, with faith and love, this legacy of Christ’s Cross. Once again, in a free and mature way, choose the Cross of Christ.... Accept responsibility for the presence of the Cross in the life of each and every one of you, in the life of your families and in the life of this great community which is Poland. Defend it! For the Apostle says: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor 4:7). ....
...And here, in our presence, at the end of this meditation, is the Christ of St. John’s Revelation, Christ the Good Shepherd and Christ the Lamb of God, who gave his life for his flock (cf. Rv 7:9-14). ...Amen.
***No support in this lecture for the recent heresy spread by some American Roman Catholic bishops that their imagined dogma of being anti-abortion supersedes all other dogmas of The Church.***
The general air of being anti abortion is a recent discovery of the USCCB.
***And one wonders how much support the Papal call to international social activism will find among the those who have bought into that peculiar American heresy because it furthers their anti-Obama political agenda.***
The misapplication of international social activism has gotten us into much of the mess that we find ourselves in.
***For Christians who regularly ask God to “give us this day our daily bread”, it is a shameful tragedy that one-fifth of humanity still goes hungry. Assuring an adequate food supply, like the protection of vital resources such as water and energy, requires all international leaders to collaborate in showing a readiness to work in good faith, respecting the natural law and promoting solidarity and subsidiarity with the weakest regions and peoples of the planet as the most effective strategy for eliminating social inequalities between countries and societies and for increasing global security.”***
The world overproduces food. The problem in the last two centuries have all been either directly manmade such as the mass starvation in Ukraine, or enhanced by the authorities such as the mass starvation in Biafra. The mistakes made in the past century have often centered on revolutionary theology where the clergy took on the role of Che Guevara. Either that, or we have gone in with guns to overthrow the current dictator and replace him with a worse one.
BXVI is right; we have the entire doctrine of the Church to obey, and not just the current headlines.
Great post!
If you work hard and are smart with your money you will please the Lord. You will not be in need from anyone and will have a profit you can share, if you choose to.
I seem to remember the Lord only asks for 10%!
Many unbalanced “omnipotent busibodies” who are busily engaged in what they call, “saving the planet” , also want us to pervert justice by favoring the poor. Leviticus 19:15 “is a helpful correction” to that notion.
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“..But the “theologies of liberation”...go on to a disastrous confusion between the poor of the Scripture and the proletariat of Marx.
“In this way they pervert the Christian meaning of the poor, and they transform the fight for the rights of the poor into a class fight within the ideological perspective of the class struggle. For them the Church of the poor signifies the Church of the class ..” - Pope Benedict XVI - Theologies of Liberation http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_df84lt.htm
“..an authentic...theology: [is] one that puts:
[1] God and the life of the spirit first,
[2] DIRECT charitable care of others second,
[3] and only then draws consequences for a just social order.”
- Pope Benedict XVI http://ncrcafe.org/node/1091
Just to clarify, there is no primacy given among Church dogma to that dogma which seeks to end genocide? Hardly believable, especially inasmuch as the Pope again has enumerated this, as well as the freedom of conscience, among the “Non-Negotiable Human Rights.”
-—”For Christians who regularly ask God to “give us this day our daily bread”, it is a shameful tragedy that one-fifth of humanity still goes hungry.”-—
To the extent that Christians are permitted to help, yes this would be a shame. Just as it would be a shameful tragedy for Christians who regularly ask God to “help the most vulnerable and least fortunate among us,” that millions upon millions of the most vulnerable would face slaughter in the womb, the genocide itself often enumerated as a basic human right. If it is a shame that nearly 20% of humanity goes hungry - oftentimes because their countries/leaders prevent assistance that would otherwise help - it is not more shameful that so many children should face outright slaughter, a fate even worse than hunger, especially in a world which condemns hunger and seeks mercy for the hungry, yet sees fit to put its blessing on the holocaust of the unborn?
Where do we need to win hearts and minds more - convincing the rest of the world to feed the hungry, or convincing them to stop the slaughter of the unborn? Which moral lesson needs to be taught more in this day and age? Which lesson demands the stand of a martyr, and which will face no worldly rebuke?
Your is a mistaken sentiment, seeking to relegate to less significance a dogma specifically enumerated among the absolutely non-negotiatable rights recognized by the Church. Your compartmentalizing reveals much as well (-—”And one wonders how much support the Papal call to international social activism will find among the those who have bought into that peculiar American heresy because it furthers their anti-Obama political agenda”-—), for what Catholic could separate the Right to Life and protection of the unborn from the category of international social activism? It is one in the same.
-—”...respecting the natural law...”-— Again, one cannot compartmentalize so-called “natural law” from God's law(s). If one is to state that environmentalism and eliminating social inequalities is compelled of the believers by the Church, one needs to make a better case than creating a fictional, worldly term in the hopes of diverting people from the fact that one is claiming it as God's law (”natural law”). The Church has no problem asserting Truths with the Authority of the Spirit, so one needs to claim the same Authority when trying to assert a new, or perhaps inadequately recognized, moral law. Is it the claim here that God cedes nature laws independent of His own? Or is the claim that God requires environmental activism and the active elimination of social inequalities among nations as part of our Communion with Him?
Yes, there is primacy given to enumerated Human Rights of the Church; and one needs to speak with Godly Authority when suggesting that the dogma of stopping genocide be relegated to equal-to or less-than-equal-to other considerations - and back it up with the Word.
***I seem to remember the Lord only asks for 10%!***
The OT Lord or Jesus?
The only NT references to supporting the Church come from Paul. Plus, we have more support for Sunday as the Lord’s day rather than Saturday, for our Judaizing friends. :)
1 Cor 16:
1
1 2 Now in regard to the collection for the holy ones, you also should do as I ordered the churches of Galatia.
2
On the first day of the week each of you should set aside and save whatever one can afford, so that collections will not be going on when I come.
2 Cor 9:
5
So I thought it necessary to encourage the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for your promised gift, so that in this way it might be ready as a bountiful gift and not as an exaction.
6
Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7
Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Nothing about 10%. Just give what you can.
Dogma's don't supersede,dear brother.Dogma's come directly from Christ and are perfect teaching
Obama's political agenda's are anti Christ just the same as those who say america is great because we have a freedom to do whatever we please and choose evil because of political power
Obama is evil based on abortion alone and having political power to want it
“Are you saying that the bishops shouldn’t oppose abortion until they rectify their collective dereliction of duty in catechizing their flock?”
No, I am saying that a number of them are heretics. And heretics, as +John Chrysostomos reminds us, P, as well as those who are in communion with them, are enemies of God.
“Kolokotronis - please amplify, what is the ‘heresy’ you allege and why should anyone not be “anti-Obama”, in your opinion?”
Several of these heresiarchs, that theological clown from Pennsylvania springs immediately to mind, have stated, publicly, that the imagined anti-abortion “dogma” of the The Church is the most important of all dogmas; that it trumps all other theological considerations. That’s heresy. Their meddling in another bishop’s diocese, even if he approves, is a violation of the canons, though that’s not heresy, just proper grounds for being removed from their sees.
“why should anyone not be “anti-Obama”, in your opinion?”
There are multiple reasons, which apparently the majority of Roman Catholics and indeed American citizens seem to share. These bishops, instead of preaching heresy, violating the canons and essentially having their heads explode over what is going to happen in another diocese, ought to read the Fathers, learn the canons and then preach the Truth as The Church has preserved it, not play silly, and frankly embarrassing political games.
“It doesn’t supercede any other dogma, like like you and I discussed a few times now.”
Alex, I know that. That’s why I say they are heretics when they proclaim it.
“BXVI is right; we have the entire doctrine of the Church to obey, and not just the current headlines.”
Exactly!
[...]
"..Let us recall the fact that atheism and the denial of the human person, his liberty and rights, are at the core of the Marxist theory. This theory, then, contains errors which directly threaten the truths of the faith regarding the eternal destiny of individual persons. Moreover, to attempt to integrate into theology an analysis whose criterion of interpretation depends on this atheistic conception is to involve oneself in terrible contradictions. What is more, this misunderstanding of the spiritual nature of the person leads to a total subordination of the person to the collectivity, and thus to the denial of the principles of a social and political life which is in keeping with human dignity. ...
[...]
"..We are facing, therefore, a real system, even if some hesitate to follow the logic to its conclusion. As such, this system is a perversion of the Christian message as God entrusted it to His Church. This message in its entirety finds itself then called into question by the "theologies of liberation."
[...]
"...As a result, participation in the class struggle is presented as a requirement of charity itself. The desire to love everyone here and now, despite his class, and to go out to meet him with the non-violent means of dialogue and persuasion, is denounced as counterproductive and opposed to love.
If one holds that a person should not be the object of hate, it is claimed nevertheless that, if he belongs to the objective class of the rich, he is primarily a class enemy to be fought. Thus the universality of love of neighbor and brotherhood become an eschatological principle, which will only have meaning for the "new man", who arises out of the victorious revolution. ...
[...]
"..But the "theologies of liberation", which reserve credit for restoring to a place of honor the great texts of the prophets and of the Gospel in defense of the poor, go on to a disastrous confusion between the poor of the Scripture and the proletariat of Marx.
In this way they pervert the Christian meaning of the poor, and they transform the fight for the rights of the poor into a class fight within the ideological perspective of the class struggle. For them the Church of the poor signifies the Church of the class which has become aware of the requirements of the revolutionary struggle as a step toward liberation and which celebrates this liberation in its liturgy. ...
[...]
"..The new hermeneutic inherent in the "theologies of liberation" leads to an essentially political re-reading of the Scriptures. Thus, a major importance is given to the Exodus event inasmuch as it is a liberation from political servitude. Likewise, a political reading of the "Magnificat" is proposed. The mistake here is not in bringing attention to a political dimension of the readings of Scripture, but in making of this one dimension the principal or exclusive component. This leads to a reductionist reading of the Bible.
Likewise, one places oneself within the perspective of a temporal messianism, which is one of the most radical of the expressions of secularization of the Kingdom of God and of its absorption into the immanence of human history.
In giving such priority to the political dimension, one is led to deny the radical newness of the New Testament and above all to misunderstand the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, and thus the specific character of the salvation he gave us, that is above all liberation from sin, which is the source of all evils. ..
[...]
"...Faith in the Incarnate Word, dead and risen for all men, and whom "God made Lord and Christ" is denied. In its place is substituted a figure of Jesus who is a kind of symbol who sums up in Himself the requirements of the struggle of the oppressed.
An exclusively political interpretation is thus given to the death of Christ. In this way, its value for salvation and the whole economy of redemption is denied. ...
[...]
"..For them, the struggle of the classes is the way to unity.
The Eucharist thus becomes the Eucharist of the class. At the same time, they deny the triumphant force of the love of God which has been given to us.
[...]
"...the source of injustice is in the hearts of men. Therefore it is only by making an appeal to the moral potential of the person and to the constant need for interior conversion, that social change will be brought about which will be truly in the service of man.
For it will only be in the measure that they collaborate freely in these necessary changes through their own initiative and in solidarity, that people, awakened to a sense of their responsibility, will grow in humanity.
The inversion of morality and structures is steeped in a materialist anthropology which is incompatible with the dignity of mankind.
[...]
".. the overthrow by means of revolutionary violence of structures which generate violence is not ipso facto the beginning of a just regime. A major fact of our time ought to evoke the reflection of all those who would sincerely work for the true liberation of their brothers: millions of our own contemporaries legitimately yearn to recover those basic freedoms of which they were deprived by totalitarian and atheistic regimes which came to power by violent and revolutionary means, precisely in the name of the liberation of the people.
This shame of our time cannot be ignored: while claiming to bring them freedom, these regimes keep whole nations in conditions of servitude which are unworthy of mankind. Those who, perhaps inadvertently, make themselves accomplices of similar enslavements betray the very poor they mean to help.
The class struggle as a road toward a classless society is a myth which slows reform and aggravates poverty and injustice.
Those who allow themselves to be caught up in fascination with this myth should reflect on the bitter examples history has to offer about where it leads.
They would then understand that we are not talking here about abandoning an effective means of struggle on behalf of the poor for an ideal which has no practical effects. On the contrary, we are talking about freeing oneself from a delusion in order to base oneself squarely on the Gospel and its power of realization. ...
[...]
~ Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (nka Pope Benedict XVI) August 6, 1984
“Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes, not divine, but demonic.” ~ Pope Benedict XVI
“...After all, every normal person wants to help the poor and needy, but helping them at the end of a gun, as the left always want us to do, renders any spiritual benefit inoperative for both parties. .... What we hear from Obama is the eternal mantra of the socialists; America is broken, millions have no health care, families cannot afford necessities, the rich are evil, we are selfish, we are unhappy, unfulfilled, without hope, desperate, poverty stricken, morally desolate, corrupt and racist. This nihilism is the lifeblood of all the democrat candidates, even ‘hope you can believe in’ performers like Obama. When Michelle Obama claims she is only newly proud of her country, she does not exaggerate. In her world as in Obama’s, they believe we are a mess, a land filled with the ignorant and unenlightened, filled with despair” ..." (Fairchok).
“Obama is evil based on abortion alone and having political power to want it.”
Obama is an agnostic who may or may not know better. Your American heresiarchs are committing wilfull and knowing heresy or they are so theologically ingnorant that they should be removed as presenting a present danger to the souls of the laity. Frankly, as an Orthodox Christian I am far more concerned about shrieking heretics in the Latin Church than an agnostic secularist acting like an agnostic secularist on the question of abortion.
Which heresy(ies) are they guilty of?
So, opposing Notre Dame's invitation to a man who supports the wholesale murder of millions of children and even opposing the murder itself is a "silly, and frankly embarrassing political game"?
When Pope Pius XII worked to save Jews from the Nazi Holocaust was that also a "silly, and frankly embarrassing political game"?
“Just to clarify, there is no primacy given among Church dogma to that dogma which seeks to end genocide? Hardly believable, especially inasmuch as the Pope again has enumerated this, as well as the freedom of conscience, among the “Non-Negotiable Human Rights.””
That’s right. It is heresy to say that any one dogma, and by the way, no council ever declared that anti-abortionism was a dogmatic position binding on all members of The Church, is more important than another.
“Yes, there is primacy given to enumerated Human Rights of the Church; and one needs to speak with Godly Authority when suggesting that the dogma of stopping genocide be relegated to equal-to or less-than-equal-to other considerations - and back it up with the Word.”
That’s heresy.
You've got to be kidding!
“So, opposing Notre Dame’s invitation to a man who supports the wholesale murder of millions of children and even opposing the murder itself is a “silly, and frankly embarrassing political game”?”
Interfering in another bishop’s diocese violates the canons. That it is being done for cheap politcal gain makes it silly...and given the response its getting, rather pathetic.
“When Pope Pius XII worked to save Jews from the Nazi Holocaust was that also a “silly, and frankly embarrassing political game”?”
I must have missed +Pius XII’s head exploding in public during a rant against Hitler....
“You’ve got to be kidding!”
No. I’m quite serious. Do you claim he is better catechised by the Latin Church than a majority of your own laity?
Bishop D'Arcy certainly seems to welcome the support, this is hardly "interference".
Obama is an agnostic who may or may not know better.He claims to be a baptized Christian. Why do you make the claim he is an agnostic?
So, you believe that you can credibly claim that Obama is unaware of the Church's position on abortion?
“So, you believe that you can credibly claim that Obama is unaware of the Church’s position on abortion?”
I assume he is likely almost as aware of the Latin Church’s position on abortion as the average American Catholic is. Obama isn’t a Roman Catholic. He isn’t a Catholic of any sort. Aside from political considerations, which frankly seem to militate towards him and not towards the American heresiarchs, why would he care, from a religious pov, what some apparently failed bishops are saying? He may well be laughing at them the same way some of their fellow bishops are.
***These bishops, instead of preaching heresy, violating the canons and essentially having their heads explode over what is going to happen in another diocese, ought to read the Fathers, learn the canons and then preach the Truth as The Church has preserved it, not play silly, and frankly embarrassing political games.
So, opposing Notre Dame’s invitation to a man who supports the wholesale murder of millions of children and even opposing the murder itself is a “silly, and frankly embarrassing political game”?***
Why didn’t we oppose all those other pro abortion politicians throughout the years? Where is the outrage at Obama at the voting booth? Where is the outrage against Pelosi? Mikulski? Daschle? Sibelius? Etc. and etc.
The Latin Church is damnably hypocritical in voting for all of these obaminations. The Bishops wallowed in political stardom in hobnobbing with these murderers whilst ignoring catechisis of its next generation. Save the outrage for the bishops. They screwed up big time. The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops and of this generation, we will expect a complete layer. This does not let the current Church laity off the hook either. Shame on us.
Don’t attack the ones who convey the message - the correct one. Let us look at our own house. We have an entire theology to work on; let us not pay too much attention to the headlines.
Except for ND. That in my opinion will remove the school from the Catholic registry. Who in this Catholic hierarchy has a theological backbone instead of passing the buck. Kolo is correct. WTF is the USCCB doing? Have they forgotten all their vows and their instructions? But ND is a symptom and NOT a cause. Why are we not picketing our bishops until they do the right thing? Why are we not physically accosting them? Are we all cowards?
“He claims to be a baptized Christian. Why do you make the claim he is an agnostic?”
Because I doubt the efficacy and licitness of any baptism performed by the likes of Wright or his fellow travelers and lickspittles. .
"If you choose to." Exactly.
"I seem to remember the Lord only asks for 10%!"
We're not under the Old Testament Law now where God _commanded_ his people to "PAY" a tithe. Today, we're under New Testament Grace, where God tells us that he loves a "cheerful GIVER".
He even gives us the example of "The Good Samaritan" and all the lessons that entails.
“Bishop D’Arcy certainly seems to welcome the support, this is hardly “interference”.”
Bishop D’Arcy has no authority whatsoever to extend economia for a canonical violation by a fellow hierarch, no matter what he feels about the violation. The canons don’t work that way, W. No bishop gets to just make it up as he goes along, although given what the Latin bishops not only tolerate but actually encourage in this country, its no surprise that some bishops, quite aside from lay people, might think canonical violations can be dealt with other than as called for in the canons. In this case its deposition.
>>I must have missed +Pius XII’s head exploding in public during a rant against Hitler....<<
That is a nutty statement. If he had come out forcefully against the Nazis, the Nazis would have come down forcefully on Catholic Priests, Nuns and laity that work working to save thousands of Jews.
Here, read this
“Pope Pius XII and the Jews
New York Rabbi David Dalin has proposed that Pope Pius XII be proclaimed “Righteous Among the Nations,” the highest award given by the state of Israel to persons who were outstanding in assisting persecuted Jews during World War II. An article published in the latest issue of The Weekly Standard, a conservative U.S. magazine, states: “The Talmud teaches that ‘whosoever preserves one life, it is accounted to him by Scripture as if he had preserved the whole world.’ More than any other 20th century leader, Pius XII fulfilled this Talmudic dictum, when the fate of European Jewry was at stake. No other Pope had been so widely praised by Jews, and they were not mistaken. Their gratitude, as well as that of the entire generation of Holocaust survivors, testifies that Pius XII was, genuinely and profoundly, a righteous gentile.”
Rabbi Dalin maintains that many recently published books have not understood the way in which Pius XII opposed Nazism and all that he did to save Jews from the Holocaust. In this connection, the rabbi refers to a great number of events, documents, declarations and books. “Any fair and thorough reading of the evidence demonstrates that Pius XII was a persistent critic of Nazism. Consider just a few highlights of his opposition before the war. Of the 44 speeches Pacelli gave in Germany as Papal Nuncio between 1917 and 1929, 40 denounced some aspect of the emerging Nazi ideology. In March 1935, he wrote an open letter to the Bishop of Cologne, calling the Nazis ‘false prophets with the pride of Lucifer.’ That same year, he assailed ideologies ‘possessed by the superstition of race and blood’ to an enormous crowd of pilgrims at Lourdes.”
One of Rabbi Dalin’s books, “Religion and State in the American Jewish Experience,” was singled out as one of the best academic works of 1997. Ordained in New York, Rabbi Dalin has given several conferences on relations between Christians and Jews in Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut; George Washington University; and Queens College, New York. He serves on the CCJU’s Board of Directors.
Rabbi Dalin concludes his article affirming that “Pius XII was not Hitler’s Pope, but the closest Jews had come to having a papal supporter, and at the moment when it mattered most.”
Your statement is ignorant of the times and circumstances.
“Bishop D’Arcy has no authority whatsoever to extend economia for a canonical violation by a fellow hierarch, ...”
What authority does Kolokotronis claim over Latin Rite clerics?
“Obama isn’t a Roman Catholic. He isn’t a Catholic of any sort.”
Are you?
“Your statement is ignorant of the times and circumstances.”
Oh, I beg to differ. I know that period of history and the Pope’s role in it very well. The fact is that what the pope did, he did in secret at least to an extent because of course much of the Vatican diplomatic corps was in on his plans. +John XXIII’s actions in Turkey are a good example. But +PXII wasn’t telling anyone, publicly or privately, that what he was doing was in fulfillment of the ultimate trump all “dogma” like at least some of these heresiarchs have. Beyond that, if in fact he was interfering in a local diocese, under Latin canon law he, and he alone, had that authority.
Learn your own theology and ecclesiology, n. Its important.
“What authority does Kolokotronis claim over Latin Rite clerics?”
None at all, of course. And your point is? :)
“Obama isn’t a Roman Catholic. He isn’t a Catholic of any sort.”
“Are you?”
Indeed I am, the original sort, narses.
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