Posted on 04/06/2015 6:29:36 PM PDT by ebb tide
Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski, head of the Catholic diocese of Metuchen, N.J., would not say whether he agrees with the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church pertaining to homosexuality and marriage as quoted directly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Instead, a diocesan spokeswoman directed CNSNews.com to a statement on the diocesan website where the bishop writes, “We have never wavered from our traditional Catholic teachings.”
In a March 30 e-mail to Bishop Bootkoski and his office of communications, CNSNews.com asked the following three questions:
1) Do you, Bishop Bootkoski, agree with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2357, which says, “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved”?
2) Do you agree with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2359, which says, “Homosexual persons are called to chastity”?
3) Do you agree with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1605, which quotes Jesus Christ Himself on the issue of marriage, saying, “’Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.’ The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been ‘in the beginning’: ‘So they are no longer two, but one flesh’”?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the depository of Catholic teaching on theological issues and basic moral questions; it is the book that explains Catholicism from A to Z.
Despite two e-mails, Bishop Bootkoski did not respond and a spokeswoman from his office, by telephone, referred CNSNews.com to the March 20, 2015 statement: “Bishop’s statement on status of teacher at Immaculata High School, Somerville.”
It notes that, "Pope Francis reminds us that we are to accept all of our brethren. We must ensure that our educators steer away from harsh and judgmental statements that can alienate and divide us."
In explaining the establishment and role of a bishop in the church, the Catechism states (1558), “’Episcopal consecration confers, together with the office of sanctifying, also the offices of teaching and ruling.... In fact ... by the imposition of hands and through the words of the consecration, the grace of the Holy Spirit is given, and a sacred character is impressed in such wise that bishops, in an eminent and visible manner, take the place of Christ himself, teacher, shepherd, and priest, and act as his representative (in Eius persona agant).’ ‘By virtue, therefore, of the Holy Spirit who has been given to them, bishops have been constituted true and authentic teachers of the faith and have been made pontiffs and pastors.’”
According to the 2013-14 annual report for the Diocese of Methuchen, it serves 636,280 Catholics in 90 parishes (churches), with 233 priests. The diocese operates 25 elementary schools and 5 high schools, with a combined enrollment of 10,568 students. It also runs one hospital, 4 health care clinics, and 9 social service centers. Paul Gregory Bootkoski was appointed bishop of the diocese in 2002.
It’s definitely heretical. Practically every other word will summon to mind a major heresy of the first centuries (the ones that never go away but always crop,up again in new guises).
But as one Spanish poster said, it’s going to be the hit of the Sunday mass in now time at all. I’d provide a link, but the you tube is unavailable in this country for copyright reasons. I saw it last week when I was in Mexico City for Holy Week.
bfl
“come out of her my people lest ye be partakers of her plagues”.
That's what I thought as I read it. Sounds like somebody is fishing to ensnare a Catholic bishop into a Mike Pence moment.
And absolutely nothing will happen to this bishop. Tells us all we need to know about this compromised cult.
Trust the media to not twist what ever you say around.
1) “...but the “Church” is YOU....”. 2) “It’s NOT the hierarchy or the bigwigs in Rome....”.
As you say, God identified the “people of God”, in terms of “His people”.
Over them there was always appointed, in the Old Testament, the Levite priesthood, and in also the New Testament, the Great Prophets, the priesthood, the shepherds of the people. Christ Jesus identified the people of God— the Church.
Over the Church, He breathed on the Apostles and He charged the Twelve with authority, to go into the world and preach the Gospel. He charged them with shepherding the people that the people might be blessed, confessed, absolved, taught and counseled and FED, by His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist.
Outside of the Holy Eucharist of the Holy Catholic Church, you have good people who well love God but deny His commands, torture His Sacred Scripture and cut off nearly all understanding for His fulfillment of the Law, by Jesus the Christ, and reject the necessity of obedience to the sweet sacraments, laid out, and foreshadowed in the Old Testament to always identify for the world His People, the Church, made counter to the popular culture by those very sacraments, Tradition and teaching.
The countless givens in Sacred Scripture were the Sacraments. What was OT circumcision into the sheepfold became, now, Baptism. What was commanded by God, in the OT consumption of the blessed perfect Lamb, became now the consumption of the Holy Eucharist of John 6. And, so on....and on.
The Sacred Scripture, the Gospel and the Letters bear witness to the Truth, but ALL that Jesus said and did is not expressed nor explained therein, as the scripture itself attests.
We have the Didache, the Early Fathers, the Apostolic Fathers, all full of the context of the practices and authorities and teachings given to the Church, comforted by the Holy Spirit, Spouse of Mary, daughter of the Father, Mother to the Son, and spouse to the Holy Spirit.
So, yes, for a layperson, there is duty and conscience to consider, for what first of all God has in mind for the Church to suffer, and what might be necessarily addressed by the people in the name of correction and grievance.
Thank you for your understanding and the generosity of your tone. I thought your reasonable advise deserved my frank objection, in order to properly explain my struggle from my point of view. You don’t seem to mind being frank, so it’s best that I be frank. Thx, Rita
I should have proofed better. I had a thoroughly oops moment by mistakenly ascribing the Prophets to the NT. I was trying to do some editing and missed by boobery there.
If the bishop truly believed in traditional Catholic teaching, why did he fire a teacher for posting those same teachings on her personal Facebook account?
"Protestant," and "Evil" are not interchangeable terms, Fish. Neither is "Catholic," and "Evil." "Heretic," of course, can be used to cover both "Protestant" and "Catholic," depending upon which part of Belfast you are from.
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