Posted on 09/09/2009 9:10:11 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
The Washington Post’s religion writer Anthony Stevens-Arroyo had a lot of praise for Teddy Kennedy’s funeral Mass but not because of its religious content. Stevens-Arroyo thought that the thing that made the Kennedy funeral “the most Catholic” was the constant allusions to things political.
Stevens-Arroyo began his piece asking, “So, did Kennedy's liberal politics interrupt a ritual meant to unite and not divide?” His answer seems to reveal his own liberal politics instead of any understanding of American Catholicism and he certainly comes down on the side of those that saw no reason not to impose political matters on a Mass.
After several paragraphs that celebrated the fact that Kennedy’s Mass featured “political persuasion in ritual,” Stevens-Arroyo goes on to excuse Kennedy for his support of abortion by removing any religious meaning to the issue and claiming it was only political. This in itself shows that Stevens-Arroyo, the religious reporter, doesn’t want to address the actual religious principle behind the issue.
But his view on what is and is not “Catholic” is what is most striking here.
Read the rest at Publiusforum.com...
They will use any stick they can find to push for socialism.
Hey...whatever sells it! The most “jewish”. The most “mormon”. The most “wicca”. Whatever.
CINO ping
Conservatives will empty their own wallets to help someone in need. Liberals want to empty everyone else's wallet to do so.
Note to self: Read WaPo for religious news and guidance.
In theory, nationalized healthcare could seem Catholic. But socialized medicine is GUARANTEED to fund abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. So, there’s the catch. Catholics can’t rightly be in favor of govt run health care.
One more thing... The Catholic Mass is not intended to UNITE people together, it’s intended to UNITE Catholics with Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is seen, by Catholics, as representing the real body and blood of Jesus of Nazareth. The Eucharist is not intended as a device to get people opposed to govt run health care to stop being against govt run health care.
>>In theory, nationalized healthcare could seem Catholic<<
No it doesn’t.
Show me any place in the Bible or Catechism that we are required to pick someone else’s pocket to help the poor.
‘I’ as a Catholic am required to give, not ‘I’ as a Catholic am required to tell you what to do with your money. That goes against Free Will.
That’s why I said “could seem”.
Sorry I missed that.
You are absolutely correct. “Could” especially to the more “Progressive” Catholics.
Does the Pope know this?
The Catholic Church loves the idea of freedom but has never understood what it takes to be a free people. The church is basically very anti capitalistic which is why they love the idea of Obama. True, they try to stand against abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research but they are reactive in these causes not proactive.
My family goes to mass every week and I continuously listen to the “special” prayer requests from the Bishop asking for just distrubution of wealth in the name of compassion. It is very frustrating.
Ten out of ten times, when people refer to Catholic Church documents asserting a right to healthcare, if you go back to the actual documents you will find a passage about the compassionate obligations of individuals, Christians, "the Church", or society. None of these equals, or is the equivalent of, "The State".
In fact, statism is the opposite of subsidiarity, a term you'll encounter in Chuch documents which emphasizes the obligation to locate power and responsibility at the lowest or most local level: first individuals, then families, parishes, private enterprises, fraternal and charitable associations, etc. The error of the statists is that they think "society = the state" and they ignore the vital responsibilities of the middle layers or strata, the thousands of voluntary and intermediate institutions.
Pope Benedict's latest encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate,” or “Charity in Truth,” has a very full and solid section on subsidiarity, which is the principle that social responsibilities are always to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Pope Benedict goes on to say this:
“Subsidiarity is the most effective antidote against any form of all encompassing welfare state…In order not to produce a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature, the governance of globalization must be marked by subsidiarity, articulated into several layers and involving different levels that can work together.
“Globalization certainly requires authority, insofar as it poses the problem of a global common good that needs to be pursued. This authority, however, must be organized in a subsidiary and stratified way, if it is not to infringe upon freedom and if it is to yield effective results in practice.”
Statism, the core of socialism, is the problem; and in Catholic doctrine, Subsidiarity is the solution.
I was in the sanctuary serving Mass the other week, and the visiting priest (the pastor was unavoidably delayed on a flight back from SF and had another step in) added a “prayer” for “a national health care bill” — I said the word “NO” outloud and I noticed only about half the people (the dumb half) of the people responded with a “Lord, hear our prayer.”
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