Posted on 05/15/2005 11:00:40 PM PDT by mandatum
The NCR's John Allen has a chat in a Roman café with San Francisco Archbishop William Levada, who is distressed by "aggressive Pentecostal and evangelical movements making strong inroads into traditionally Catholic populations" in the U.S. Why do these people bother to go after Catholics?
"These are people acting out of their own sense of the missionary apostolate. They are not people touched by the vision of ecumenism. They are convinced that Catholics are going to Hell and need to be saved, so they reach out to them."
Can you beat that? These folks really believe that there really is a Hell. They don't want their neighbors to go there -- they're not touched by the vision of ecumenism -- so they put themselves to considerable trouble to reach out to them to save them from damnation.
Now take look at any letter, homily, speech, interview or book produced by Levada or by the USCCB in the past 30 years, and try to come up with a single example of pastoral concern that someone, anyone, may end up in Hell as a consequence of any action whatever. You won't find it.
And so you are suggesting that Protestants are partly responsible for the "gates of Hell" battle being "excessively close"?
Remember whose church has an ingrained pedophile hierarchy in the US. Perhaps you need to look within for your problem, first.
I think that was the whole point of the post. The Catholic Church has become disoriented since Vatican II. Even the most basic of Christ's mandates for her (to preach the Gospel to the world and convert souls to the faith) have been lost in the madness that is this false ecumenism.
And as an aside, the pedophile crises is not exclusively a Catholic problem. We just get all the press because of our size. Believe me, pedophilia and homosexuality are problems in other denominations as well.
Welcome to a collection of news reports of ministers sexually abusing children:
The support of the congregation and elders
ALL Protestant denominations - 838 Ministers
147 Baptist Ministers
251 "Bible" Church Ministers (fundamentalist/evangelical)
140 Anglican/Episcopalian Ministers
38 Lutheran Ministers
46 Methodist Ministers
19 Presbyterian Ministers
197 various Church Ministers
http://www.reformation.com/
(Thanks AAC).
For th eCatholic CHurch to regain it's leadership position in the World, Vatican II must be repealed, the Latin Tridentine Mass and the Catechism of Trent must be reinstated.
The Third Secret of Fatima must be revealed and Russia must be concecrated to The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Actually, this is not the direction that I hoped to take this thread. Yes, pedophilia and homosexuality have invaded all denominations. What I really wanted to discuss was Levada's, (the Church's new head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith) false and damaging conception of Eucumenism. If this quote from Allen is correct, then I think that Levada's appointment is a disaster in a number of ways. Not the least of which is that it suggest to us what Benedict believes about Ecuminism.
Walsh may replace him in SF.
This "sloppy" opinion piece is as thin as gruel. What worries me is Levada's statement. The Church has gone from bad to worse with opinions of this sort. Kind of difficult not to worry when you see the Captain driving the ship full speed ahead for an iceburg.
Who is Walsh?
One of several reasons they are effective.
Levada doesn't get it. He does not grasp the problem yet he has been tapped to be part of the solution.
Forget it. I looked it up. Now I'm sorry I did.
A more perfect description of the "fruits" of Vatican II could not be found. Vatican II, thy name is Modernism, Madness and Death. I think that Catholics will not be released from this nigtmare until the generation responsible pass on to their eternal reward.
As I recall he had his priests in an uproar right after the scandal broke. He ordered that no young men under the age of eighteen were allowed to work in rectories or parish offices after 5:00 PM. His priests considered this a sign of no confidence and there was wailing,anguishing and a gnashing of teeth that was beyond belief. He had to withdraw his order. San Francisco is rife with recalcitrant,homosexual diocesan priests who are aided and abetted by the Jesuits who have quite a presence there.
An acquaintance of mine,an ex-Jesuit from SF said that Archbishop Levada was not a diplomat nor particularly pastoral but he was a brilliant theologian. Maybe that is his charism and maybe that is what the Congregation most needs.
I am not saying he is going to be great or that he would have been my choice but the comment you posted about the hatred of his priests doesn't hold water,given the givens.
I will agree with your critique of the previous poster. Levada is hated by his priest for imposing the lightest and must perfunctory of discipline. Such is the state of the modern world. But as to the opinion that he is a brilliant theologian, where is the evidence for this? The man seems to have forgotten the most obvious of Christian obligations. If he can manipulate the perennial teachings of the Church to accord with Cardinal Kasper's conception of ecumenism, then he may be brilliant, but he is not a "Catholic" theologion in any meaningful sense.
Actually, I was not happy with the appointment of Levada, either, but I suspect that saradippity is right and he's probably a good theologian but a weak administrator. He was out of his depth being a bishop, especially of a place like SF, which has been out of control for 40 years (and in fact, wasn't even very good before VatII). I think you should read more than one carefully chosen snippet of his opinions for a better idea of his thought.
There's a very contentious thread going on about Levada, where some Freepers were kind enough to link to his writings. I followed the links and read various statements and papers he had written, and I came away very much encouraged. It's always possible to find some ambiguous phrase here or there in anybody's writings, but I really think that if you go and read more, you'll feel more confident about him.
I just hope the Vatican puts somebody in SF now who will really bring the hammer down on them! That would be sweet!
They hated him because he tried to discipline them. They got away with hating him because he was weak and they could smell blood. Who is Walsh? Is he any stronger?
What a reversal of ecumenism and Vatican II-now the Protestants are worried about Catholics! Well I am also worried about Catholics because I cant ever remember in my 35 year of attending Novus Ordo or RCIA that anyone ever mentioned hell or anything.
The Post Vatican II church is sad. How can it be taken seriously. I had hoped the Ratzinger, after being a radical with Rahner at Vatican II would have seen the light after seeing the destruction he caused, but other Traditional groups have called him a "wolf in sheeps clothing" and with this appointment, you have to agree
Wasn't the third secret of Fatima already revealed to Pope John Paul II?
It had to do with the vision of a member of the clergy dressed all in white, walking up a hill, stepping over dead bodies, striving for the Cross at the top of the hill even though mortally wounded. I have seen a painting of the scene. It parallells the life of John Paul II being shot on the feast of our Lady of Fatima; dead bodies -- in my mind parallel the sexual abuse scandal?? (I know that part is a stretch.)
Not to pick on Levada specifically, but there are a lot of clerics who buy into the ideas of an empty hell and universal salvation.
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