Posted on 05/20/2005 9:57:40 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Washington DC, May. 20, 2005 (CNA) - This morning at the 2nd annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, held in Washington, Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput urged Catholics and Christians to make their voices heard in government and public life.
“Catholics”, he said, “see politics as part of the history of salvation. For us, no one is a minor actor in that drama. Each person is important. And one of the most important duties we have is to use our gifts in every way possible for the glory of God and for the common good.”
He added that, “That’s why Catholics and other Christians have always taken an active role in public life. What we believe about God shapes how we think about men and women. It also shapes what we do about promoting human dignity.”
The Archbishop, who was joined by President George Bush, San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez and an estimated 2,000 other participants in what is said to be the only major event of its kind.
Archbishop Chaput, who was criticized during the recent presidential election for adding his own voice to the public square, said that, “If God is the center of our lives, then of course that fact will influence our behavior, including our political decisions. That’s natural and healthy.”
“What’s unnatural and unhealthy”, he said, “is the kind of public square where religious faith is seen as unwelcome and dangerous. But that seems to be exactly what some people want: a public square stripped of God and stripped of religious faith.”
Archbishop Chaput chided what he sees as a false idea of religious pluralism, saying that often, people are afraid of being “too Catholic” and offending others.
That, he said, is “not democracy. Democracy and pluralism depend on people of conviction fighting for what they believe through public debate – peacefully, legally, charitably and justly; but also vigorously and without excuses.”
“Divorcing our personal convictions from our public choices and actions is not ‘good manners,’” he said. “On the contrary, it can be a very serious kind of theft from the moral treasury of the nation, because the most precious thing anyone can bring to any political conversation is an honest witness to what he or she really believes.”
Calling on all members of society, from politicians to average folks, the Archbishop said that the Church is Christ’s—not ours.
“Only God is God, and only Jesus is Lord,” he said in closing. “When our actions finally follow our words, then so will our nation, and so will the world.”
ping
BTTT!
Some people God has designated in the church to be, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
Cardinal Chaput sounds good to me.
Respecting the beliefs of others, does not mean abandoning your own.
So do we have the future Cardinal Archbishop of San Francisco here?
Brace for the Second San Francisco Earthquake if he's the one!
Along with the many good things Archbishop Chaput has done, there's one very bad thing that I know of: he's an enthusiastic backer of the Neocatechumenal Way.
I don't know much of this 'Way'. How is it problematic?
I didn't know that. Thanks for the grim tidings.
They are secretive, with cultic elements including taking over all of their members' time, forcing them to perform public confession, isolating them from all non-members. They celebrate liturgies of their own design, departing radically from the norms established by Rome. They are not accountable to the hierarchy. Their theology is suspect, in matters such as the Real Presence and the sacrificial nature of the Mass. They are gnostic, posessing a secret catechism, and having various "stages" of membership to which members are admitted only after having satisfied their NC catechists. In short, they are a para-church, powerful and a menace to souls.
That is disturbing and disgusting. I thank you for the information. Has anyone trustworthy done an expose' on them?
"Archbishop Chaput chided what he sees as a false idea of religious pluralism, saying that often, people are afraid of being “too Catholic” and offending others."
Not me. But I am allergic to lions. And prisons. And martyrdom.
In short, chicken.
Bad History, Bad Guide. The Strange Liturgy of the Neocatechumenals
Are there cults in the Catholic Church?
The Neocatechumenal Way - A Fearful Danger to the Faith
I thought Archbishop Chaput was a member of Opus Dei, which is not the same thing as the Neocatechumenal organization called The Way. Saint Josemaria Escriva was the founder of Opus Dei, and some guy named "Kiko" is head of The Way. Saint Escriva wrote a book called "The Way" but it is basically similar to Saint Theresa's "little way". I know a few priests in Opus Dei personally.
Chaput would know what to do! He is an excellent shepherd.
There are different ways of making the truth known. When St. Perpetua was taken prisoner, the group taken was just a small number of the Christians in her area. Those in the group wanted to be martyrs.
This is not to belittle the other Christians there at the time...God calls us all to witness. How we do it varies according to who we are, what talents and abilities we have, and what God wants to do with us.
Little things done with great love count as much as getting thrown to the lions.
Just search for "Opus Dei" on the FR religion threads, there are many mixed opinions. Opus Dei is named a cult in The Da Vinci Code, which I think only adds fuel to the fire of any erroneous cultish ideas about the group.
"Little things done with great love count as much as getting thrown to the lions."
Which is exactly why I am very very fond of St. Teresa! (And her namesake, Our Blessed Teresa.)
I know OD, my DH has one of their priests as a spiritual advisor. They don't scare me.
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