Posted on 11/22/2015 6:25:37 AM PST by marshmallow
Baltimore, Md., Nov 20, 2015 / 03:30 am (CNA).- At their annual fall meeting in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops voted to issue a new introductory note and make limited revisions to their quadrennial statement on political responsibility.
But while the vote was overwhelmingly in favor, it was not without controversy.
The 2007 voting guide, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," was among the subjects discussed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this past week.
Previously, the bishops had directed a working committee to make limited revisions to the document in order to reflect the magisterium of both the latter part of Pope Benedict's pontificate and of Pope Francis' whole pontificate. The changes would be limited and the original message of the 2007 document would be retained, however.
Some bishops voiced objections to this plan at the November meeting in Baltimore, saying that an entirely new document was needed to adequately address present-day challenges and accurately reflect Pope Francis' teaching.
Other bishops disagreed, suggesting that the revisions to the text sufficiently address the issues that Pope Francis has called into focus in recent years. They cautioned against presenting the teachings of Pope Francis as opposed to that of previous Popes, saying instead that Church teaching is a continuity.
Ultimately, the bishops decided overwhelmingly to move forward with the 2007 document. The vote was 217-16 with 2 abstentions in favor of on a new introductory note, and 210-21 with 5 abstentions for a limited revision to "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship."
In the discussions before the vote, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson acknowledged the "tremendous amount of work" put into revising the document, but said, "I think it was a mistake, really, to try to revise a document from 2007 when so much has happened since then."
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
Church teaching is a continuity but it's obvious that Francis is trying to make an end run around some of it. Without changing the teaching itself, there's a clear attempt being made to flex it, bend it, ignore it in certain situations......a de facto rupture without an explicit statement of such.
I went to Mass in Tucson at the St. Thomas More center on campus. The students (even the ones in their jammies at 5:00 p.m.) were respectful and seemingly faith filled, going all the way down to genuflect, following the liturgy etc. The priest however was to me an obviously liberal wackadoodle. He was three times the age of most the students and gave off more than a whiff of swishiness. Not judging the whole clergy there by that one man but just saying.
He represents a generation that is on its way out at this point in time.
Should such a guide be based on eternal principles or pop culture?
Does the sanctity of life change with the times? eg SCOTUS said validity of abortion depends on viability of fetus, which depends on available medical skills and technology available to the fetus. So should the Catholic teaching follow that SCOTUS language?
Or take social justice. Do the advocates of liberation theology (preached at many Catholic churches I’ve attended) ... Does it depend on changes in the ipad? or changes in the way we kill others with death rays rather than bullets? Is income inequality in 2005 morally different than income inequality in 2015?
In other words, did the updaters really want to update it? Or did they want to change its teachings to move the compromise more in their direction.
It should be recognized that it is a pragmatic compromise where bishops horse traded... I’ll support your wording in that section if you support my wording in this section.
Always a document blamed for helping obama get in despite abortion and contraception in obamacare....and they fixed nothing....
**“Ours is a hermeneutic of continuity,†stressed Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston, vice president of the bishops’ conference......“I think we have brought to light an important dimension of what Pope Francis and the later ministry of Pope Benedict is,†he added.**
Kicanas is a disciple if the late unlamented Bernardin. No surprise there.
If the voting were reversed the headline would read
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