Anti-Catholicism alive, well

DailySouthtown.com ^ | 04/14/02 | Andrew Greeley

[steveisright]

Phew! And here i thought it was dead, what a relief!

[ccmay]

Sometimes I think I've logged onto Oliver Cromwell's FreeCommonwealth website. I luv FR, but the snake-handlers and Roundheads get a bit thick sometimes.

No kidding, especially when they launch into round CLXXVII of Calvinism vs. Arminianism. What a bunch of wackos.

-ccm

[ejo]

Fr. Greely must have some reputation in the literary field. Not familiar with his writings but I take yours and Lady in Blue explanations.Heh! Heh!

[BlackElk]

If you are talking about Fr. Damian of Molokai, we could use a lot more like him. I haven't a clue who M. Vincent or Fr. Kino may be. I take it that Joe Bernardin is the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago. I would certainly rejoice if he was the absolute last of his kind here or anywhere else. That's probably an unrealistic hope but it is mine. He was a rank disaster from one end of his career to the other.

[F16Fighter]

LOL

[Gophack]

Do the bigots really think that Catholics were in the churches on Easter because of the priests?

This is the key point, and something that most people don't understand about Catholics. Priests are incidental to the Catholic Church. Not that they are not valuable, but it doesn't matter WHO the priest is. They are interchangeable. (I love my two parish priests and would miss them dearly if they left, but that's beside the point.) The Catholic Mass is about JESUS CHRIST. The priest is the instrument by which the bread and wine are turned into the body and blood of Jesus. God turns the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus; the priest celebrates the Holy Eucharist with the flock.

Many Protestant churches -- I will not say all, because I don't have knowledge on all -- but many to revolve around a particularly charismatic, or smart, or attractive, or saintly minister. Without the minister, the church disappears or weakens. In the Catholic Church, changing priests doesn't take away from the Mass, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ.

I think that is worth remembering, particularly us Catholics who might feel betrayed by the actions of a few wayward and sinful priests.

God bless.

[HockeyPop]

That poor celibate man retired to the Sussex Downs to take up bee farming while "that woman" married an American barrister. It appears they settled in Iowa. As it is said, the game 's a'foot.

[RobbyS]

He's an arrogant so-and-so, BUT he is no McBrien.

[nickcarraway]

We still haven't heard from ``that women.'' I'm interested though. Maybe she has something to blackmail Harkin into retirement.

[redhead]

Thank God for THAT! McBrien is a heretic. I hope he fries for leading so many Catholics down the garden path.

[Petronski]

Thanks Rev. Greeley, so why have you spent the last few decades sleeping with the enemy?

[RobbyS]

I wonder why they don't create more seminaries like this one since demand is so high? You have to know who controls the purse strings.

[RobbyS]

The problem is that I fear it is not just a FEW and that the bishops are not minding the store or are afraid to tackle the homosexual lobby. IAC, what I dislike about most of the recent liturgical reforms is that they seem to want to make the priest a "star', like the evangelical preachers.

[colorado tanker]

I'm a prod, but I sure see the anti-Catholicism. What surprises (well, it really shouldn't) me is the degree to which most of the anti-Catholicism in the U.S. today comes from the left, and not just the secular left, but also the protestant left.

[Junior]

How do you know it was a nun? American Catholic nuns do not wear the distinctive habits that were favored at one time. Instead nearly all nuns dress like everyone else. Methinks your husband was the victim of an actress in a nun's constume. Either that, or you are trying to drum up anti-Catholic hatred with a prevarication.

[Gophack]

I agree that the Mass needs to continue to focus on Jesus Christ as it has over the past 2,000 years. While we have some charismatic priests who tell wonderful, inspiring and thought-provoking homilies, it doesn't matter what priest consecrates the Eucharist.

In my diocese, I haven't had a problem with priests being elevated or whatnot based on their charisma or some external gift. Maybe other churches are doing it. I have no problem evangelizing in any way we can, provided that we hold fast to our ancient beliefs and firm and steadfast in our doctrine.

I think one reason some Catholics have left the church, particularly in the 80s during the era of Pat Robertson et. al. was because they felt a sense of community in a Protestant church that had been lost in their own parish community. I have many protestant friends who tell me of the weekly prayer meetings, the groups of couples who get together monthly to talk about faith and family, the hours they spend at church socializing, the sense of family and community among the parishioners.

I am fortunate to have that in my parish. At the same time, I have been to churches that feel cold and sterile. While it doesn't bother me because I am there for the Lord, I can see how some with outside influences might be more attracted to the comraderie and fellowship of the large Protestant churches.

We need to bring them back home, but we have to understand why they left in the first place.

God bless.

[Gophack]

My cousin is a nun and when she comes to family reunions she dresses in her full habit.

God bless Sister Philip.

[RobbyS]

Forty years ago, I knew a nun whose congerhation served our small parochial school. In the mid-60s, the order decided to get rid of the traditional habit. She wass very, very unhappy, because to her, the habit was very, very important. She was pround of her uniform for the same reason that a soldier is prud of his uniform and insignia. Liberals don't seem to know that dressing too casually can be more of an affectation than dressing up.