Posted on 04/08/2014 8:38:10 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
I have written about the incident at the High School in Charlotte, where Dominican Sister Jane Laurel gave a talk on human sexuality that produced sparked a mob reaction. Spittle-flecked nutty, bullying, intimidation ensue.
From LifeNews:
Charlotte diocese backs nun who gave school talk promoting Church teaching on homosexuality
CHARLOTTE, NC, April 7, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The bishop of Charlotte is backing a Dominican nun who has been at the center of a fiery controversy since last month when she gave a speech promoting Catholic teaching on sexuality to students at Charlotte Catholic High School.
After a public meeting with diocesan and school officials turned ugly, with parents and students alike shouting at administrators over what they perceived as “hateful” remarks criticizing homosexual behavior, divorce and extra-marital sex, [To think... that's how conditioned people are now by the MSM and the "new normal".] a spokesman for the diocese told LifeSiteNews that the nun in question, Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, did nothing wrong and will be welcome to speak on the issue again if she chooses.
“Nothing in Sister’s talk opposed Church teaching,” Diocese of Charlotte Communications Director David Hains told LifeSiteNews in an email. “Sister would be welcomed to speak in the diocese in the future.”
Hains said Bishop Peter Jugis is expected to make further public comment on the situation soon.
Sr. Laurel’s critics have complained about a section of her talk in which she discussed scientific findings related to the causes of homosexuality. [And here I thought the Church embraced science.] According to the Charlotte Observer, she was accused of using “suspect anecdotes, antiquated data and broad generalizations to demonize gays and lesbians as well as divorced and single parents.” [That's right... if you state what the Church teaches, that homosexual acts are disordered, that's "demonizing".]
But one Catholic scientist says he recently heard the sister give the exact same speech she delivered to the students, and in his opinion, there is nothing in it to which a practicing Catholic could possibly object.
“I was in attendance at the same presentation when given on Long Island, NY a few months ago,” Dr. Gerard Nadal told LifeSiteNews. “In that meeting, Sister Jane gave medical and scientific data that came from reputable sources and were presented as examples of the consequences for human behavior that contravenes the moral magisterium of the Church. As a Ph.D. in medical science, and as a Catholic schooled extensively in my faith, I saw no contradictions, but rather a seamless presentation.”
Still, in light of all the controversy, Aquinas College announced in a press release Friday that Sr. Laurel has asked to take a sabbatical from her teaching and speaking duties for an indefinite amount of time.
After the sister’s speech at a school assembly last month, students at the school launched an internet petition drive demanding an apology from everyone involved with arranging the speech, which quickly garnered thousands of signatures. Some parents also initiated a letter-writing campaign to the school’s chaplain, the bishop and even the Vatican, to complain. [Complete with pitchforks and torches.]
Last week, school and diocesan officials held a public meeting to address the issue. The meeting attracted nearly 1,000 people, most of them offended by the nun’s remarks.
The Diocese of Charlotte’s newspaper, the Catholic News-Herald, reported that the meeting was acrimonious, with those who dared to speak out in support of Sr. Laurel or the Church being shouted down by an angry mob. The paper’s sources called the atmosphere “disrespectful” and “hate-filled.”
[... READ THE REST THERE... several quotes of reactions, all interesting...]
“Darkness has fallen upon us with all of the attendant confusion which it brings,” Kauth continued. “Our Lord can speak to this darkness just as He did in the beginning and say, let there be light.”
To read Fr. Kauth’s full statement regarding Sr. Laurel’s presentation click here.
Contact:
Diocese of Charlotte Phone: (704) 370-6299 chancery@charlottediocese.org
It is good to see that some sanity is being applied.
Fr Z kudos to Bp. Jugis. Mega kudos to Sr. Jane
Excellent!
About time!
I am stunned at the reaction to all of this.
A Catholic nun goes to a Catholic high school, and espouses the church doctrine on various issues, including human sexuality.
And this has provoked such a strong reaction in opposition to her.
Really??? A nun espouses church doctrine, and everyone is shocked, just shocked, that she didn’t endorse homosexual marriage, or other sexual sins????
And the parents mounted a protest meeting to vent about all of this???? How Catholic are these parents?? Why in the sam hill are they sending their kids to a Catholic high school, if they don’t want their kids exposed to Catholic doctrines?????
This whole incident is unbelievable to me. It’s unbelievable that a nun talking about faith issues is attacked. And that there was controversy in her speaking at a Catholic school.
Good to hear this. Whoever is in charge at that “Catholic” high school seems to have fallen down on the job, since this appears to be the first time the students or the parents have heard the truth.
Pastors and administrators of Catholic schools should realize that if they don’t teach the orthodox faith, and do it regularly and openly, then sooner or later there’s going to be serious trouble.
Unfortunately, they often seem to think that it will be easier and less troubling if they hide under a rock when it comes to anything “controversial.”
Fr. Kauth tries to shoulder some of the”blame”. He alludes to miscommunication between him and Sister. He does address the poor religious formation that young people (and obviously, their parents) are living out.
Yes, to all. Sometimes I wonder if Catholic schools are more interested in pedagogy than theology (never mind subject matter scholarship) when it comes to hiring teachers. Very few of the nuns I had were exposed to the sometimes-required education credits that come into play today. I also wonder if an abundance of married teachers don’t tend to spin the family-life issues according to their own vs. the Church’s lights.
" I emailed Sr. Jane’s superior, Sr. Mary Sarah (srmsarah@aquinascollege.edu)-President of Aquinas College, yesterday (Saturday) in support of Sr. Jane. To my surprise, I received a reply:
“Sister Jane Dominic has only tried to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to a world in need of healing. The Dominican Sisters and the Aquinas College community are in complete support of Sister Jane Dominic. We have concerns for Sister’s personal safety at this time. Please keep this intention in your prayers.”It truly is a shame that the April 4th statement by Sr. Mary Sarah was released and is still posted. The Charlotte Diocese has not done her or Fr. Kauth any favors either.
I anticipate that we will see no further movement on this as the institutional Church quietly lets this pass and focuses on the ritual celebrations with the Easter season. In my opinion, this is more cowardice and only further confuses people due to the lack of any firm resolution. The “Progressive” can feel like they gained the upper hand by their crucifixion of Sr. Jane and the savaging of Fr. Kauth at the “parents” meeting. The Church has thrown the Progressives their bone.
I say "slightly" more encouraging because, for the most part, the cowardly equivocating bafflegab continues. However, it looks like Sr. Jane Dominic's Superior, who is also the president of Aquinas College (I hadn't realized that that's one and the same person) is now affirming the Nashville Dominicans' "complete support" of Sr.Jane Dominic, and hinting that she was sabbat-eradicated (my word) out of concern for her "personal safety."
Death threats, maybe? Is that it? Seems to me if there were threats, what you do is get restraining orders on the people making threats, not put Sr. Jane out of circulation as if she were Salman Rushdie.
And there's hints that the huge shouting mob scene at what was supposed to be the "parents' meeting" was in part orchestrated by Diane Troy, the president of PFLAG/Charlotte.
I increasingly suspect we don't yet know the half of it.
Sounds like a rent a mob of gay activists more than parents.
The devil can't stand when the truth is spoken and always puts up a fuss.
You have to be able to identify them to do that.
bump
Thank you, Bishop Jugis,
I just wanted to say I appreciate you for supporting and defending Sr. Jane Dominic.
I've been following this whole exploding circus for a week now, struggling to get an accurate and balanced idea of what went on in Charlotte during and after Sr. Jane's talk, and before and after that howling, spitting mob scene known as a parents' meeting. I'm telling myself, " Prudence! Justice! Fortitude! Temperance!" And trying not to jump instantly to every plausible conclusion.<> Sure, there's layers of complexity and nuance, etc. But what shines forth brilliantly clearly is that Sr. Jane is the most quietly courageous, precisely intellective, obstinately gentle and God-honoring Teacher of the Faith we've run into in quite awhile. QUITE awhile. Isn't she?
What an honor it must be to be associated with her in any way, in this Great Work of correcting faulty catechesis and saving our vulnerable children from the Father of Lies.
Let's pray that Our Lord the Holy Spirit will correct such flaws as she may humanly have. Give her blade a brighter shine and an even finer edge. And then we must beg the Holy Spirit to send us 10,000 more Sr. Jane Dominics.
Thank you for defending this Sister as she defends God's Truth. And for her sake let us be quick and strong.
In Christ our Lord,
[signed]
Father Kauth should have used a Mass with sermon to spell out the Catholic Church doctrine and then finished the Mass. No questions. No heresy. No quarter.
It would seem that a lot of these parents are either non-Catholics, or just aren't frequent church-goers, or go to parishes where the preaching is less straightforward than Fr. Kauth's.
Charlotte Catholic High School is a diocesan school, not a parish school, and I would imagine the families with kids in the school come from all over, both geographically and religiously.
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