Posted on 12/26/2012 8:10:10 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Regulation of firearms “is an imperative” in the aftermath of the massacre of 26 children and adults in Newtown, Conn., along with “robust care for those with mental illness,” according to a bluntly worded statement by America’s largest organization of Roman Catholic nuns.
“There is much to mourn, but mourning is not enough: The killing must stop, America is losing its future,” said the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The LCWR asked that convents, monasteries, churches and town halls ring their bells 26 times at noon on Dec. 28, which in the church year is the Feast of the Holy Innocents.
“Gun regulation is an imperative,” added the sisters’ statement. “Automatic weapons created for the battlefield have no place in the hands of children or adults incapable of talking responsibility for their use. This societal rupture has been going on far too long and demands immediate action by our national leaders.
“This is not about protecting the 2nd Amendment, but rather protecting the most precious resource we have — the gift of life. This is also time to restore civility to our world and work to change the pervasive culture of violence found throughout this nation, and especially in the entertainment industry.”
The Leadership Conference has been willing to walk in harm’s way. The LCWR was accused by the Vatican earlier this year of promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith” and failing to teach and promote the church hierarchy’s positions opposing contraception, embryonic stem cell research, marriage equality and abortion.
The Vatican named a panel, headed by Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, to bring the sisters back in line. But the LCWR has denied what it calls “unsubstantiated” Vatican allegations, and defended its activism for social justice.
It has taken far more specific positions than the Catholic hierarchy in the wake of the Newtown massacre. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has said through a spokesman that it supports “measures that control the sale and use of firearms.”
Archbishop Sartain, in a statement of sympathy for the Newtown victims, said: “It is at times such as these that we must rely on God, and resolve to become instruments of his peace in our own homes, workplaces and communities. In Christ alone is our hope for true peace, the peace that wipes away every tear and gives life to our darkest hours.”
The LCWR, by contrast, is urging nuns in its ranks to “stand up and speak out for the sacredness of the lives of these (Newtown) children and all people everywhere.” It is also urging action by temporal political leaders.
“We suggest letting your elected officials at every level of government know that you favor responsible gun legislation,” it said. “Encourage congressional leaders to support a federal ban on the sale, transfer, importation and possession of assault weapons and the munitions that go with them.
“Ask them to fund robust care for those with mental illness as well as take steps to address the growing use of violence as a means of entertainment. Call on your local and state officials to do the same.”
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious is an umbrella organization that represents about 57,000 Catholic sisters, or about 80 percent of the women religious in the United States.
These nuns are pro-abortion feminist progressives. They don’t represent “the Catholic Church.”
The Catholic Church moves very slowly (I think too slowly) to discipline wayward nuns and clerics. It is not the thought-controlling, speech-controlling totalitarian organization it is often portrayed as.
I.e., just because a bunch of nuns comes out for gun control doesn’t mean “the Catholic Church” has come out for gun control.
And then there is Mother Angelica.......... ;^)
The Pope needs to remove them from the church.
To recap:
You complained people were bashing Catholics.
I explained what they said was bash-worthy.
You came back with the non sequetor that they don’t represent the Catholic Church.
Not to mention, very high profile liberal politicians.
Or maybe it's not the church's job to discipline private citizens, not being Catholic, I don't know. I do know there appears to be a lot of them.
When they outlaw rulers, only nuns will have rulers...
And then there is Mother Angelica.......... ;^)
All that applies in spades to Mother Angelica's order, in case you're not familiar with it. A lot of young vocations there, too.
Strictly speaking, the Pope can't remove them from the Church. Baptism makes "an indelible mark upon the soul." They will always be Catholics.
BUT . . . to your point. He can silence the worst individuals from making any public statements. He can disband their entire orders. Or he can wait for the trouble-makers to die, which is ongoing at very great speed, since they are all old. He appears to be doing a bit of all three. I'd like it all to move a lot faster, but no one made me Pope. Or even God.
The Church's policy in all these cases is to move very slowly and make every effort to keep the wayward in the flock, always hoping that they will be granted the grace to change back to conforming to what the Church teaches.
But the Church "is" moving, and a number of high-profile "dissenters" have been disciplined of late, and in the case of some priests, laicized. One name that comes to mind is "no-longer-father" Roy Bourgeois, a MaryKnoll priest who started out anti-nuke, then anti-war, then social-justice, and finally, advocating women priests. I suspect that "Father" Pflegler of Chicago will be called to order soon.
I'm more familiar with Bourgeois, as he (like me) hails from Louisiana, so I've heard more about/from him than many others.
Oh, I'm VERY familiar with MA. My sincere regret is that my cable package doesn't include EWTN, and I can't justify the upgrade just to get her channel.
The Church has no right to discipline any politician qua politician. But it has the obligation (which all but a few bishops ignore) to protect the sacraments from sacrilege—whether the person involved is a washerwoman or President or Nancy Pelosi.
I'm like you. I only see it at the gym, when I turn one of the TVs to it. I don't even take TV in my cable package. I've got young kids, and there's too much trash. DVDs and the (controlled) Internet are generally plenty, but it would be nice to have a better idea of what the channel is showing.
Do you know if EWTN tends to feature the sisters of Mother's order? About 20 years ago, a friend—the daughter of a big-time Catholic philanthropist—joined, and I think it's worked out very well for her. I also get newsletters from a lot of turbo-Catholic colleges, and I've seen several mentions of recent graduates who are postulants or nuns there.
Those devout young ladies are in reality. The poor old '60s nuns are on a bad trip, and I don't think most of them still in their dying, socialist religious orders even did drugs. Some of them are even pretty good schoolteachers, but that generation of nuns was never taught how to think. Way different from the pistol-packing philosopher nuns who went before them. I still meet a few of those.
I'm pretty sure it does, but since I don't get EWTN, I can't testify directly. A lot of what I read indicates that, though. The wife watches some of the programs over the internet on her laptop.....mostly Marcus Grodi's show. I can't get into TV shows and movies on my PC (screen too small, speakers inadequate). We stream Netflix onto our "slightly" large screen TV, as access to it is built into both it and our Blu-Ray player.
Anyone out there know of a "stream-to-TV" option for EWTN??? One that doesn't involve a "home theater PC" setup??
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