Posted on 07/11/2010 8:09:29 AM PDT by GonzoII
COLUMBUS, OH (Catholic Online) - The New York Times full-fledged assault against the Catholic Church has many mystified and angered, some of whom haven't exactly been on the A list of orthodox minded Catholics such as Ken Woodward, the former Religion Editor of Newsweek Magazine. Woodward has said that New York Times Editor Bill Keller often referred to himself as a "collapsed Catholic." (If ever there was a hint.) Why now many have wondered, and why has a noted and respected writer like Laurie Goodstein taken part in such an odious display of yellow journalism?
Perhaps it is because the Church hasn't crumbled even with the devastating nature of the Abuse Scandal. Perhaps it is because unlike so many churches that have changed their doctrine, the Catholic Church remains true to the teachings of Christ, the Apostles and the 265 subsequent popes since St Peter. Perhaps it is because Pope Benedict XVI still uses the term, "The Dictatorship of Relativism" that so angers the Catholic Left. The first example of this being the theologically liberal lightning rod Father Richard O'Brien; who during CBS News' live coverage of the last Conclave Mass, presided over by then Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, stated that it is safe to say he would not become pontiff. Father McBrien went on to say, that if elected pontiff "Catholics would head to the margins of the Church," in response to Cardinal Ratzinger's homily about the Dictatorship of Relativism.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholic.org ...
for later
Why The New York Times Assault On the Catholic Church?
Because the Roman Catholic Church is not a threat to behead anyone who writes unflattering press stories ...unlike other ‘religions of peace’.
1. They're communists?
2. They're socialists?
3. They're leftists pricks?
4. All of the above.
It’s simple. It’s because we don’t approve of killing children and of same-sex unions. Apparently, we are the only institution that stands in the left’s way of total domination.
Really? Looking at it statistically, states with the highest concentration of believers in your institution seem to be at the vanguard of total leftist domination.
Like it or not, good old southern redneck Protestants stand in the left's way of total domination.
“Looking at it statistically, states with the highest concentration of believers in your institution seem to be at the vanguard of total leftist domination.”
Strawman argument.
Really? Elaborate, please. The purpose of the institution is the salvation of the souls of the people within and without. The behavior of those people is indicative of works, which follow salvation. Cities, regions and states with a high Catholic population are not just slightly left, they’re the liberal base.
How, then, is such an insitution some sort of bastion against leftist domination?
It’s clearly not.
RegulatorCountry,
The Church is Holy for one thing. And another thing, just because the Church is holy doesn’t mean individual members are holy. Answer me this, why is the press so blatantly going after Benedict XVI? Cause he’s “too Catholic” for them.
Welcome to the club. They’ve been “going after” prominent, outspoken Evangelical Protestants for half a century.
Benedict apparently is perceived as more conservative than his predecessors. He might, just might, prove to be a threat to the widespread homosexuality in the priesthood, that garnered your church a liberal pass in decades past, while evangelical Protestants were being reviled and mocked.
Well, it wasn’t just the de facto homosexual priesthood, but the social justice doctrine, the liberation theology and just the general, parochial regional biases of the northeastern media. Catholicism is a northeastern thing. Evangelical Protestantism is not.
You seem to believe that liberal condemnation is some new thing under the sun, just because it’s new to you.
It’s not new.
IF the members aren't the church, then What Is The Church???
To better understand why the Church is Holy please read Lumen Gentium:
“The Church ... is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as “alone holy”, loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.”
Why?
Because the NYT, like other leftist organizations, seeks the end of Western Civilization, which was based on Christian and Jewish principles, and because the left believes that the State should be the only one who tells people what is right and wrong.
That’s why.
“The Church ... is held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy. This is because Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is hailed as “alone holy”, loved the Church as his Bride, giving himself up for her so as to sanctify her; he joined her to himself as his body and endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God.”
I didn't ask why the church is holy...I ask, what is the Catholic church...
The Church is Holy for one thing. And another thing, just because the Church is holy doesn’t mean individual members are holy
Well if your church as you say is the Bride of Christ, what's Jesus going to do with unholy members of the Bride???
Or do you mean your church 'will' be the Bride of Christ after the bad members are purged???
“what is the Catholic church...?”
“Well if your church as you say is the Bride of Christ, what’s Jesus going to do with unholy members of the Bride???”
Do you even know what holiness is?
“Or do you mean your church ‘will’ be the Bride of Christ after the bad members are purged???”
NO! Christ is always purifying His Church. The Church is the sinless Bride of Christ because of she teaches.
Sounds like more double-speak...If your church is the sinless bride of Christ, what about the unholy members of the Bride of Christ that you claim are there???
How and when are these people purged??? How did they get into the Holy Bride of Christ to begin with???
“How and when are these people purged??? How did they get into the Holy Bride of Christ to begin with???”
To answer your questions first, we have to get one thing clear. The Church, which is both the Bride of Christ as well as His mystical Body, is spotless. This is true, even though it is comprised entirely of sinners. How? Thankfully, the spotlessness of the Church does not rest with the members. If it did, there could be no true Church, as every earthly Church is comprised of sinners. The Catholic Church claims to be spotless and indefectible, while at the same time acknowledging the shortcomings of all members (including the Pope); we can do this because the verse above tells us it is so and Rom 3:23 tells us that we are all sinners.
We alone among Christianity can say that we do not bind error; an easy example is birth control - until the 1930’s, every Christian church stated that birth control is morally wrong. Since then, all but one have reversed positions. The conclusion is simple - either they taught error then, or they teach error now. Only one whose teachings haven’t changed can be said to be indefectible. If it is indefectible, the gates of hell will never prevail and she will remain the “spotless Bride of Christ”, regardless of the moral status of any individual member.
The Second Vatican Council spoke about the holiness of the Church in chapter 5 of the Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium,” which is at
http://ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/V2CHURCH.HTM
You will have to scroll a bit to get to Chapter 5..
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