They simply are not Catholic and whatever doctrine or dogma or practice they teach,preach or exhibit if it is not in accord with the Catholic Catechism,which is the official teaching of the Church,is error. That is the beauty of the Catholic Church,there is a repository of the faith and we can all access it.
Unfortunately,most Catholics these days are so caught up with the post-Vatican II new,touchy,feely,Kumbaya Church and they don't even know the dreck they are accepting as Catholicism,is not. If all they did was read the catechism and the Encyclicals of the Pope they would have been able to have influenced our society, so that citizens of this country would live in a Culture of Life rather than a the Culture of Death. I believe that the rot of the last ten years which led to the events on September II would not have occurred had the people,clergy and lay,not tried to broaden their appeal and get worldly and throw the supernatural aside.
It is a tragedy and a profound embarrassment that Catholics voted for the likes of a Clinton or a Gore with their unwavering dedication to provide unlimited oppurtunity to enjoy, through personal experience or vicariously,every type of perversion and ill-behavior man is capable of imagining. The Catholic Church,much like our country has been infiltrated by persons claiming beliefs and values,in accord with the "true believers". These infiltrators or subversives actually hold to evil ideologies far,far from those they claim to espouse. They have an agenda that,in fact, is probably too frightening for most people to comprehend. But God is Just and He is Merciful and He will prevail. But if His people don't wake-up,powerful and loving as He is, there is little that He can do about us with our free will which we interpret as "our 'God-given'right to choose". I guess,we can only pray .
And finally, Cardinl Ratzinger and Mother Angelica are both pretty darn orthodox Catholics despite disparate styles.
Of course. I specifically chose those two because they are dissenters.
They simply are not Catholic
I disagree. They were baptized Catholic. They are presumably members of Catholic parishes, and receive the sacraments. McBrien is a priest, fercryinoutloud. By your own doctrine, the priestly sacrament cannot be revoked. They are dissenting Catholics. Neither has been publicly excommunicated. You can call them "bad Catholics", but you cannot say "they are not Catholic".
The Catholic Church,much like our country has been infiltrated by persons claiming beliefs and values,in accord with the "true believers".
They are not infiltrators. They are home-grown.
And finally, Cardinl Ratzinger and Mother Angelica are both pretty darn orthodox Catholics despite disparate styles.
I agree. Let me repeat my contrast, for clarity:
| GOOD CATHOLIC | BAD CATHOLIC |
| Cardinal Ratzinger | Fr. Richard McBrien |
| Mother Angelica | Ted Kennedy |
Good or bad Catholics, they are all Catholic. MY POINT WAS, THERE ARE GREATER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN "ORTHODOX" AND "DISSENTING" CATHOLICS THAN THERE ARE BETWEEN SOME PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS. I'd go further and say that Cardinal Ratzinger has more in common theologically with Billy Graham than he does with Richard McBrien.