The Pope's First Statement

Wall Street Journal ^ | March 22, 2002 | Peggy Noonan

[ZULU]

Obviously the hierarchy is the prime culprit here. I like to believe that the problem lies mainly with the American Catholic Church. Tim will tell if my hopes are justified, and for the sake of Catholics, I hope they are.

[ZULU]

Its not a difficult talent - its sort of like recognizing a liberal from their speech.

[ZULU]

If he is too old and ill to deal with this crisis, he shold resign. Perhaps he will. Or, perhaps God will take him.

[Orual]

Cough.

[BlackElk]

The artificial distinction is caused by an overdeveloped left wing of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States (the wing known as AmChurch) which is in widespread disobedience to and contempt of Rome.

We have nakedly dissident theologians who claim the authority to inform Catholics that birth control is fine, abortion is at least sometimes acceptable for reasons not life-threatening, that if your son Bruce is "marrying" his pal Lance you would be failing in your charitable obligations to object, that actual sin is by far eclipsed in seriousness by violations of Political Correctness,that Notre Dame is still Catholic, that the Western Regional Provincial of the once Catholic Jesuit Order is right to separate Fr. Fessio from his work at San Francisco, first of the Ignatius Institute which he created and now of Campion College which he has been creating and threatens to separate him from his book and movie distribution organization of Ignatius Press, that environmentalist hymns ought to be sung at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, etc.

It would be a blessed relief if the Vatican via Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger would crack down once and for all upon the renegades running the Jesuit order and many Catholic dioceses in the United States and do it now. The Jesuit order should be suppressed as it was several centuries ago.