Posted on 10/20/2004 3:32:01 AM PDT by topher
Pressure Groups Impede Church's Voice, Says Cardinal
Vatican Official Sees "New Inquisitions, Full of Money"
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 19, 2004 (Zenit.org).- If John Paul II and the Church is little heard today, it is partly due to "powerful cultural, economic and political pressure groups," says Cardinal Renato Martino.
The president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace expressed this concern Monday at the Vatican press office when presenting the book "Pope John Paul II and The Challenges of Papal Diplomacy -- Anthology (1978-2003), a collection of papal texts.
According to the cardinal, there are today "new holy inquisitions full of money and arrogance" that are motivated "by prejudice" against everything that is Christian.
Commenting on "the ambiguities present today in the claims of the rights of man," Cardinal Martino noted that "the voices of the Holy Father and of the Catholic Church are little heard, especially in rich countries."
"They are even made to disappear deliberately, submerging them in the uproar orchestrated by powerful cultural, economic and political pressure groups motivated predominantly by prejudice toward all that is Christian," he said.
In their work against the Church, for these "new holy inquisitions … every method is licit if it serves to silence her voice: from intimidation to public contempt, from cultural discrimination to marginalization," the cardinal added.
Cardinal Martino mentioned in particular the tenacity "with which these pressure groups promote the confusion of roles in gender identity, mocking marriage between man and woman, and attacking life which becomes the object of the most outrageous experimentations."
Asked by journalists for examples of the pressure groups' action, Cardinal Martino limited himself to highlighting the "adulterated democracy" that is based on the axiom "if you are not in agreement with us, get out!"
"We should not be surprised by cases such as those that have happened in Europe," he said.
Last week, Rocco Buttiglione's comments on marriage and women, and opposition to homosexuality, prompted a committee of the European Parliament to vote against his candidacy as EU commissioner.
ZE04101920
Clearly, attacking life refers to abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, and cloning.
The article also talks about attacks on the traditonal marriage of a man and a woman, as well as deliberate attempts to confuse the roles of the gender of each person -- male and female roles.
Though in the United States, this message clearly pertains almost 100% to the Democrats and liberal Republicans, and to a very small degree to the Republicans. But, except for the Death Penalty, I cannot think of anything that the Republicans are as guilty of in contrast to the pagan beliefs held currently by the leaders of the Democratic party.
Last week, Rocco Buttiglione's comments on marriage and women, and opposition to homosexuality, prompted a committee of the European Parliament to vote against his candidacy as EU commissioner.
I guess the odor of immorality in Europe is pretty bad these days. Maybe Kerry wants the United States to drop into the immoral pit of the European Standard where X-rated programming is available on the typical Television stations.
Nudity is considered a non-issue in Europe.
Clearing if one reads the article, and the stand of the candidates on issues, they are against traditional Christian values.
Especially when John Kerry makes stupid comments such as: I am Catholic but I disagree with the Bishops just as many do. Such comments do not foster Christianity but division.
Jesus said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Is not John Kerry, claiming to be Catholic, trying to cause divisions in the Catholic Church.
Clearly, he and his message is being denounced by the Vatican, and in particular Pope John Paul.
>>If John Paul II and the Church is little heard today, it is partly due to "powerful cultural, economic and political pressure groups," says Cardinal Renato Martino. <<
And part of the biggest problem is that "powerful cultural" pressure groups inside the church itself.
Someone is missing the elephant in the parlor. Maybe JPII should have a talk with his liberal Bishops first.
Liberal Bishops? In New Jersey on Sunday, Archbishop Myers of Newark and the Bishop of Camden lead a Pro-Life Rally at the state capitol.
I can name one liberal bishop -- John F Kinney of St Cloud, MN.
Opposed to that are the statements on http://www.priestforlife.org/elections/bishops.htm of a number of Bishops/Archbishops and a Cardinal.
Cardinal McCarrick is looked down upon, but he was directly threathened by the Democratic members of Congress -- a clear violation of the separation of Church and State that has not been reported in the media -- because the media likes to bash the Catholic Church.
Bishops of St Augustine, Archbishop of Atlanta, Bishop of Charlotte, Bishop of Charleston, Archbishop Burke of St Louis, Cardinal George of Chicago, Bishop Sheridan of Colorado Springs, and many more -- are all bishops that are conservative in nature and have condemned the policies that Kerry endorses such as abortion.
The Liberal Media has gone after the Catholic Church because the Catholic Church leadership has been strong on the issues of abortion, euthanasia and Homosexual marriage -- as well as Stem Cell research.
Out of the 200+ bishops are a few bad apples.
But Archbishop Chaput of Denver is under a lot of pressure because of a falsified NY Times article misrepresenting his views.
He is the Archbishop that said a politican who is for abortion has made a deal with the devil.
You consider Archbishop Chaput liberal?
Archbishop Sean O'Malley might be more aggressive in portraying his attitudes except for the mess he inherited in the Archdiocese of Boston (including two very bad US Senators). He has been forced to close a number of churches there.
It is time to support the Bishops of the Catholic Church if you claim to be Catholic -- and if nothing else pray for them.
The dream of Don Bosco applies to this particular comment.
A few years ago, the West Coast bishops and cardinals were in Rome for a Papal audience with John Paul.
If one realizes how humbled he made some of these liberal bishops, it is what John Paul said.
Since these Bishops and Cardinals were not speaking out against abortion, Pope John Paul spoke very strongly on the point.
By saying that, it was clear he was sending a message to these liberal pastors.
When the Holy See has had a Bishop retire, a more conservative and orthodox one has been replacing the liberal ones.
In the case of Cardinal O'Connor of New York, he was not allowed to retire. Even though he had terminal cancer, he was still a voting Cardinal in the Church. Normally, lesser illnesses force the retirement of Bishops/Cardinals.
John Paul has tried to keep the conservative/orthodox ones, and he has given the liberal ones another chance.
No one knows what letters might privately be conveyed to liberal bishops by Rome -- just as letters to Tommy Daschle was kept secret and other pro-abortion Catholic politicans.
Ping -- maybe you might feel this is worth spreading
the word about. It sounds like the Vatican, in its
way, is making it thoughts known on this election by
the timing of these statements (or that is God's Hand).
God Bless you for living under a Conservative Bishop.
But let me tell you, coming from Cleveland with the Lavender Mafia having it's own part of the Diocese website, and now living in Detroit, where the Diocese fights tooth and nail to keep control of the teaching of children, even from the parents, it is not easy.
You can close your eyes and site the conservatives, but there is still tons her in the states that are Libs and lets not even talk about Europe!
>>I can name one liberal bishop -- John F Kinney of St Cloud, MN. <<
BTW, your idea of Liberal and mine must be totally different if this is all you can name. Or maybe I just negelected to include the Cardials in my statement, Like Miada and Mahoney?
Other bishops who do all they can to promote liberalism while Rome is looking away:
Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles
Cardinal Eagen of New York
Archbishop O'Malley of Boston
My own bishop sounds like a rock-solid conservative, but makes sure all of the massive churches dominated by religiously and politically impressionable young adults are run by leftist extremists.
The situation is much better than in the days of Bernadin, who made it appear voting Republican was complete apostasy from the faith, but it is still very bad. Most church-going Catholics are Republican (3:1), but I don't think I've ever met a Republican pastor in my life.
"And part of the biggest problem is that "powerful cultural" pressure groups inside the church itself.
Someone is missing the elephant in the parlor. Maybe JPII should have a talk with his liberal Bishops first."
Bingo!
The fact is, the Catholic Church has been in the pocket of the Democrat party for a very long time. This unholy alliance between the Catholic bureaucracy and the treacherous Democrats has resulted in the moral confusion we see among the laity. How in the world could it be possible that over half the Catholics in this country continue to vote for candidates who perpetuate abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, human cloning, and other abominations without the Church being complicit in this monstrous conduct. Its the Church's fault that this situation has come to pass. The Church must make its positions clear and unambiguous, even if it has to fight to protect its financial status, which seems to be its main concern. Certainly, it seems, soul formation and character building is secondary to continued influence peddling, income generation, and tax shelters.
He has ... this is the year they make their 'ad-limina' visits. Our "ultra" liberal bishop just returned from his visit. From the Times Union article ...
In addition to a discussion of laity contributions, Hubbard said his private audience with John Paul II focused on the dwindling number of priests.
"That's all he wanted to talk about with me," Hubbard said.
There was no mention of his own battle with sexual misconduct allegations, although the Pope was well aware of it, he said.
Hubbard says priest shortage on Pope's mind
Perhaps the approach you or I would take - hitting someone over the head with a reality bat - is too direct. The Holy Father is more subtle.
Pope's Address to Bishops of New York State
"A single sentence will suffice for modern man: he fornicated and read the papers"I agree with Albert on one thing anyway.
>>Perhaps the approach you or I would take - hitting someone over the head with a reality bat - is too direct. The Holy Father is more subtle.<<
That is why he is the Holy Father and I am just a woman in MI!!
Mahoney I agree with, though O'Malley has a pile of horse manure left by Cardinal Law. And look at the Senators around him. Archbishop Chaput of Denver is his friend, and if Massachusetts not so much a socialistic and communist part of the country, he could get things done.
I consider Cardinal Egan to be in similar boat. An important point is Egan is that he could have recalled a priest that is head of a national, very conservative and orthodox group, but he did not. I think he originally was pressured into making this request. But this matter was considered, and the priest is still leading the national organizaiton.
Cardinal Egan has the mess known as New York City, and although Cardinal O'Connor did a great job, this is a place that leads the country in abortions -- 757 abortions for every 1000 live births. This is the home of Rockefeller Plaza and the United Nations. Even the Catholic and popular, previous Republican Mayor Guiliana was great with everything except he was a strong supporter of abortion.
Mahoney is the one that should probably be removed. He was the one I was referring to that was at the Vatican, and Pope John Paul II mentioned how wrong abortion was -- because these Bishops and the Cardinal were not.
The Catholic Church in Europe is in much worse shape and trouble.
Read about the sex education program, designed by an organization initially created to lobby for legalized prostitution, which O'Malley is foisting apon little children in Boston. It'll make your hair curl. And he's acted like a total Nazi in forcing parents to send their children to his sexual desensitization program.
Besides, the argument he doesn't want to upset the apple cart too badly doesn't wash with O'Malley or Eagen when you learn about parish closing tactics. I will recognize the need to close parishes, but the choice and tactics of O'Malley have been horrid.
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