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Fr.
Rodriguez gives
true Catholic doctrine
to the City Council of El Paso, TX
Fourth Sunday of
June 2011:
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Fr.
Michael Rodriguez is the pastor at San Juan Bautista Church
in the El Paso, Texas archdiocese. While his daily Mass is
according to the traditional Roman Rite, he also says the
New Mass for the parish. So while he may not conform
completely with Catholic Tradition, nevertheless, his recent
courageous example as a Catholic pastor of souls [as seen in
the video below] is to be commended.
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It is
certain that Fr. Rodriguez is not afraid of proclaiming the
Catholic position, regardless of opposition. The City
Council is about to pass legislation which would recognize
“same-sex marriage” and is proud to assert that the decision
of the Council members will not be influenced by any creed
or faith. Here is the specter of separation of Church and
State at its worst! It sounds like the Declaration of
independence from God. What the civil authorities fail to
recognize is that legislation about marriage is not a matter
for council decisions; they are pushing God out of the
driver’s seat and re-defining what man is. The entire
situation is plainly ludicrous because, before the city
Council of El Paso or any city whatsoever existed, God, in
the beginning of the world, first created man male and
female and wished them to join in matrimony to propagate the
human race. This, in turn, gave rise to cities and society
at large.
Fr.
Rodriguez states clearly that the Catholic Church, more than
any other institution, as a true Mother and Teacher, has
more interest and respect for all men, including
homosexuals. But at the same time that she respects the
persons as created in the image of God, She cannot but blame
the actions of those who openly abuse the gift of sexuality.
Homosexuality, under no circumstance, is acceptable.
“Same-sex marriage” is an abomination: this is the
definitive teaching of the Church. Those who pretend that
the Catholic Church is discriminatory of gays, or denies
them equal rights, are at least irrational and dishonest,
and, at worst, deceivers.
Fr.
Rodriguez, to the facile objection of “diversity of
‘Catholic’ opinions”, cleverly adds that, regardless of
contradictory statements emanating from certain members of
the Church's hierarchy, the beauty of Catholic teaching is
that it is final since it comes from Christ’s representative
who speaks infallibly and definitively. And, to the
objections of the Church's pedophilia scandals, and the
so-called “poor example” of the Pope, who had condemned the
use of condoms in Africa, Fr. Rodriguez offered to have a
private discussion. Remaining on the high grounds of the
Church's perennial principles, he elegantly stated that,
wherever the Church teaching had been applied, society had
flourished. He was warmly applauded by the audience for his
boldness.
May this
magnificent example of Catholic clarity in the face of a
mounting homosexual lobby become contagious and lead true
Catholics to action!
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A
Cardinal remarks
on the shortage of vocations
Third Sunday of
June 2011:
Trinity Sunday
The
Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell said that when
there are no vocations of any type for decades we need to
examine the priorities of the Catholic community itself. In
his homily as five young men were ordained to the
priesthood, he explained:
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Some Catholic communities can be contraceptive, even while
Catholic life seems on the surface to continue vigorously.
This phenomenon of different growth rates deserves
examination and discussion, although focusing energies on
the promotion of faith, on encouraging the recognition and
love of Jesus as the son of God as well as the son of Mary,
on regular prayer, Catholic orthodoxy, and an explicit and
regular explanation to young people of the need of priests
and Catholic leadership and service in many areas is
essential; and sometimes missing or obscured.
Unless a goodly number of young men and women step forward
to lead and serve we will not be able to retain the
wonderful strengths we have, much less develop them further
for the glory of God. We thank God for the fact that these
five young men have answered the call and we pray that the
wonderful promise of this morning is translated into many
years of prayer, service and effective leadership.
Cardinal
Pell explained that these ordinations are
significant for the history of the archdiocese of Sydney,
because for the first time we have vocations from three
life-giving Catholic communities, very different one from
the other, but united in serious faith and Catholic loyalty.
I refer, of course, to the Sydney Catholic Korean community,
the Neo-Catechumenal Way and the Pared (Parents for
Education) Schools, inspired by the Opus Dei movement.1
It is
interesting that a cardinal would openly tackle the thorny
question of the loss of vocations in an ever dimmed and
diminishing Church. Cardinal Pell is honest and refers quite
naturally to the problem with Catholic communities who have
done away with the Church teaching on most basic marriage and
family duties. Another study from the United States explains
how, the intact married family excels other sexual partnering
structures, and hence, the economy rises with the former and
encounters more difficulties and inefficiencies as it diverges
from it.2 In other words, it does not pay off
naturally or supernaturally to mock God and His laws in that
basic divine institution which is marriage.
True to his
apostolic duty, the Cardinal of Sydney refers to the need of
spiritual and doctrinal orthodoxy without which the seed of
vocation planted in the seminary—which loosely means “a plot
where seeds are planted” in Latin—will not come to fruition.
No doubt, Cardinal Pell has turned much of the tide for the
better in his archdiocese, although he is a child of his
liberal age and plays too much the “good guy” with his
ecumenical celebrations.
Another
rather interesting thing about this piece of Australian news
is that the scattered vocations are coming from two
seminaries, one Neo-Catechumenal3 and the other an
offshoot of the Opus Dei. The first has raised many an eyebrow
as to its orthodoxy, obedience to Church authorities and the
parish unity. But the latter, under conservative auspices,
is
also plagued with ecumenical and liberal doctrine.
It is also unprincipled and opportunist, elitist but also
touching on the sacred family nerve of parental authority.4
May God
bless Cardinal Pell’s wish to foment Catholic vocations and
Catholic families but he might do well to have a second look
at both seminaries which gave new priests to Sydney.
Footnotes
www.catholicweekly.com.au
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Archbishop
Fulton Sheen:
A Tale
of Before and After
Second Sunday of
June 2011:
Pentecost Sunday
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Recently CNA/ETWN published an article titled: “Advocates
press Archbishop Sheen sainthood cause at Vatican”
wherein it is stated that the first stage of preparation
for his beatification is steadily under way.
Americans have a great affinity for Fulton Sheen who during
the 1950’s brought the Catholic Faith into living rooms
across the country through the medium of television. His
natural charisma and style of speaking was loved and
admired by nearly all―even more so appreciated by
Catholics was the fact that his show, Life is Worth
Living, actually trumped the ratings of other
popular secular TV shows in a highly competitive evening
time slot. |
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Unfortunately, Bishop Sheen’s orthodox thought of that era
(1952-1957) was somehow warped during the Second
Vatican Council (1962-1965), causing him to accept
and endorse Modernist errors. How this successful
indoctrination of such an intellectual prelate
occurred is not precisely known, but we are aware of
its ending results: upon
returning from Rome to his Rochester, New York
diocese, Sheen sought to be the first and foremost
American prelate to implement the Council. |
Bishop
Sheen at Vatican II |
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Bishop Sheen at the Temple B`rith Kodesh in
Rochester |
Amongst his first ecumenical forays was speaking in
a Jewish synagogue, an event that occurred in 1967,
when such
an act was still
considered radical.
That year also witnessed Bishop Sheen informing an
audience of Protestant and Jewish leaders that “we
have the same God and we are His people” and
acting as the main speaker during Rochester’s
Ecumenical Day of Prayer for Christian Unity―essentially
an Assisi Meeting. |
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Future statements would include “we don’t bring
Christ to the pagans, we bring Christ out of the pagans”
(echoing Karl Rahner’s “anonymous Christian”
hypothesis), calling the Hindu Gandhi “a great
religious leader”, and supportive words for the
arch-Modernist Teilhard de Chardin.
Bishop Sheen’s attitude about the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass also underwent revision, and he became an ardent
supporter of the New Mass. Thus ignoring the conclusions
of the
Ottaviani Intervention,
he once said in defense of the revolutionary new rite: “The
changes made by Pope Paul VI were not doctrinal changes,
they merely changed from Latin to the vernacular.”
So what is the motivation behind this campaign for
sainthood―the example of heroic virtue, his personal
charism and talents, his popularity with Americans? Or
is it simply the desire to canonize another “poster boy”
for the Second Vatican Council? Within the article first
cited, the author calls Sheen “a
model of orthodoxy”
while recalling his “televangelist” successes
with American viewers―certainly that
was true before the Council, but what about
after when he made an about face? |
While we are required to question the beatification of
Archbishop Fulton Sheen for the reasons above,
nevertheless, we must continue to give him credit
where it is due, particularly on the following
points:
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He demonstrated to the public that it was possible to be
Catholic and intelligent at the same time―a useful
asset, particularly in the face of the rash
behavior of many Catholics.
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His influence undoubtedly contributed to the surge of
converts the Catholic Church in the United States
witnessed during the 1950s.
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He maintained a firm stand against Communism, even when
such a position made him unpopular with many,
including fellow bishops.
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He showed a unique grasp of the Catholic Faith based on the
principles of St. Thomas Aquinas, and likewise
exercised a special talent in explaining the faith
to the “man in the pew”.
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He gave us memorable quotes which are still applicable
today, such as: “There are not one hundred
people in the United States who hate the Catholic
Church, but there are millions who hate what they
mistakenly believe to be the Catholic Church.”
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His pre-conciliar works resonate with traditional thinking
and serve as an effective remedy against the
novelties of Vatican II as well as the errors of
the modern mind.
Click here for books available from Angelus
Press >
So we don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Thus we can proudly be Catholic with the pre-conciliar
Bishop Sheen, who gives us the very reasons why we
must refuse the novelties expressed by the later
Bishop Sheen. |
Some titles available
from Angelus Press
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Biographical sources:
Treasure in Clay,
[Autobiography] (Ignatius Press, 1993)
America's Bishop: The Life and Times of Bishop Sheen, Thomas C. Reeve’s (Encounter Books, 2001) |
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Logo of
John Jay College
of Criminal Justice |
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Cover
of the report |
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The Origins
of the
Sexual Abuse Crisis
First Sunday of
June 2011:
Sunday after the Ascension
Why
did the Roman Catholic Church experience a sexual abuse
crisis? There are no simple answers, according to a
five-year study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice,
which studied thousands of cases, including a 1970's-era
study on the psychology of priests.1
Karen
Terry explained: "We did the writing. None of the bishops
had any influence on the findings.” Only a tiny
percentage of the accused priests―less than 5 percent―could
be technically defined as pedophiles, meaning adults with a
primary, intense attraction to children who have not yet
gone through puberty.
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Seminaries could not have done a better job
screening for likely offenders because abusive
priests had no common profile. No evidence was found
that celibacy contributed to sexual abuse, but
neither was homosexuality to blame. While more boys
than girls have been abused, the argument is that
priests had greater access to boys. In fact, it
said, the incidence of sexual abuse in the
priesthood began declining not long after a
noticeable rise in the number of gays entering
Catholic seminaries in the 1970s. |
Dominican Hippies of the 1960s |
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A
major reason for the rise in abuse was the spirit of the
1960s. "There's a sexual revolution, there's an
increased amount of drug use, there's an increase in
crime, there's an increase in things like premarital
sex, in divorce… there's change. And the men who are in
the priesthood are affected by these social factors."
Once the Church unearthed the problem, it was addressed.
Beginning in the early 1990's, bishops set up systems to
prevent abuse and to screen problem clerics more
thoroughly. “The peak of this abuse crisis is
historical. That peak is over.” But the response to
the abuse continues, and there must continue to be
accountability and transparency from the bishops to
address this problem. Some dioceses are better than
others, but overall, they have made great progress—a
claim that even some critics agree with. |
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Liberal priest, Fr. McSorley |
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In these fatal years of the 60’s, the Church
underwent its peaceful revolution.
For what motive? For ecumenism. At what price? At
any price. The Church wanted at any cost to
establish peace with the world under the standard of
ecumenism. Such an illusory ideal would break the
backs of many well-intentioned priests reaching out
to the world of the 60’s and its new gospel: peace
at any price, economic liberalization, freedom from
taboos, and the hippie movement, culminating in
student protests. |
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The sexual
problems among priests are the result of the
disintegration of the spiritual culture of the
Church that was buttressed by ascetical discipline.
Without a vigorous spiritual culture, the psychology
of the priest wanders from the path of holiness and
is held hostage by social forces… overwhelmingly
sexual.2
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Celibacy demands a great sacrifice that lacks meaning
when it is no longer understood that the Catholic
Church is the only Church of Jesus Christ. Since other
churches seem to be on about the same level as the
Catholic Church, why is only the Catholic clergy
celibate? This sacrifice truly requires an absolute
cause. Ecumenism does away with the Catholic
supremacy, but the Church does not do away with the
sacrifice of its ministers. Under such conditions it
is very difficult for celibacy to be respected and
maintained. Destruction of the objective faith
regarding the doctrine takes away subjective faith in
commitment.
Hence, this report, which is quite fair for the most
part, makes one slight mistake: it “forgets” to mention
the impact of Vatican II on
the question of the priestly crisis.
Footnotes
1. Cf. /www.npr.org/2011/05/18/136436728/catholic-bishops-release-sex-abuse-report.
2. After Asceticism,
The Linacre Institute, Bloomington IN, 2006, p. 170. |
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