"Thou art a wimp forever" - bishops meeting

Touchstone Magazine - mere comments ^ | September 9, 2003 | Leon Podles

[american colleen]

THOU ART A WIMP FOREVER:

I went to the meeting with the bishops that Deal Hudson and Russell Shaw arranged. I did not expect much, and I was not disappointed.

The bishops were told 1. that they had to be more direct in dealing with dissenting Catholics, and 2. that they should at the least stop appointing notorious pro-abortion politicians to prominent committees (Leon Panetta at the national Review Board).

The response to 1 : we are family, doing anything might make matters worse and only help pro-abortion politicians

The response to 2 : if his bishop vouches for the orthodoxy of any member of his flock, no other bishop will ever question that decision.

We were asked not to quote people, so I will quote myself:

“We all know that bishops were chosen by the Vatican because they are diplomatic, unifiers, team players, collegial. These are good qualities. However these qualities also lead to a reluctance to confront evil, even when confrontation is necessary. This reluctance led to the scandals. When people who knew the bishop responsible were asked how the bishop could ever let such a thing go on, they invariably replied, 'He hates confrontation more than anything.'

"Bishops have to be willing to go against their personalities and confront evil. We are in a battle, we are losing it. The more Catholic a state (or Canadian province), the more pro-abortion the politicians. Catholic societies have the lowest birth rates in the world. The policy of accommodation of the past 30 years has not worked. Confrontation may not work either, but we have to try it, and at least go down fighting.”

This was the message which almost all the participants gave to the bishops, with various degrees of tact.

But, as was obvious, nothing will change.

Hostility (see Mark Shea’s blog) is generally reserved for those who complain about outrageous goings–on, not the people who perpetrate the outrages. A bad conscience hurts.

Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the USCCB Theodore Cardinal McCarrick of Washington, D.C. Bishop William Friend of Shreveport, LA Msgr. William Fay, USCCB General Secretary Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, USCCB Communications Director Kathleen McChesney, director of the USCCB’s Office of Child and Youth Protection Raymond Arroyo, EWTN News Director Pat Cipollone, Kirkland & Ellis partner William Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights Greg Erlandson, Publisher of Our Sunday Visitor Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Professor of History at Emory University Dr. Robert George, Professor of Politics at Princeton University Frank Hanna, III, CEO of HBR Capital, Ltd. Barbara Henkels, Board Member of the Catholic Leadership Conference Paul Henkels, CEO of Henkels & McCoy, Inc. Tom Hoopes, Executive Editor of National Catholic Register Mother Assumpta Long, Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist Peggy Noonan, commentator and columnist for the Wall Street Journal Robert Novak, commentator with CNN Kate O’Beirne, Senior Editor of National Review Fr. David O’Connell, President of the Catholic University of America Timothy O’Donnell, President of Christendom College Russell Shaw, co-host of the meeting, writer and editor Gene Zurlo, President of the Catholic Radio Association Denis Coleman, Ambassador for the American Consulate in Bermuda Bernard Dobranski, Dean of Ave Maria School of Law Jeffrey Wallin, President of the American Academy for Liberal Education William Plunkett, Jr., Plunkett & Jaffe partner Leon Suprenant, President of Catholics United for the Faith Sister Joseph Andrew, Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist Patrick Madrid, Publisher of Envoy Magazine Father Richard Gill, L.C., Director of Our Lady of Bethesda Retreat Center Gregory Popcak, Director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute Dr. Thomas Dillon, President of Thomas Aquinas College Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, Office of Lt. Governor for the state of Maryland Fr. Terence Henry, President of Franciscan University Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life Carol McKinley, Faithful Voice Rep. Michael Ferguson, U.S. House of Congress Mark Ryland, Vice-President of the Discovery Institute Kathryn Jean Lopez, Associate Editor of National Review John Klink, former Diplomat of the Holy See to the UN Leon Podles, Senior Editor of Touchstone Magazine Cortes DeRussy, former President of Federated Capital Corporation Brian Saint-Paul, Editor of CRISIS Magazine

—Leon Podles 4:33 PM

[ultima ratio]

Where did you get the idea that if the two Masses are equal theologically, I would be obliged to attend the Indult rather than the SSPX? The letter by Msgr. Perl never said this. Here is what it said in part : "If your intention is simply to participate in a Mass according to the 1962 Missal for the sake of devotion, this would not be a sin."

Nowhere does it say anything about attendance only if another Mass were inferior. It is up to the individual to decide what Mass furthers his own interior life. And devotion is very much tied up with who says the Mass and what kind of preaching of the Gospel is provided.

[american colleen]

We did the changes we wanted basically kept all our statues, tabernacle was left to rest in peace where we wanted it...

If you don't mind me asking, where is the Tabernacle in your parish located? And see "where we wanted it" is how the wreckovators changed things in the first place...