The Pope Has Let Us Down

Wall Street Journal ^ | August 20, 2002 | ROD DREHER

[gcruse]

There he was on Sunday, the old lion, John Paul II, preaching to a crowd of two million faithful in his native Poland. His words thundered a condemnation of modern man, who embraces "freedom without truth or responsibility." Said the pope: "He claims for himself the Creator's right to interfere in the mystery of human life. Rejecting divine law and moral principles, he openly attacks the family."

[Askel5]

Thanks Colleen ... the tares particularly apt.

[Domestic Church]

"Now there are a lot of folks upset that there is not a crackdown from Rome?"

Maybe Rome is waiting for the celestial spanking.

[ContemptofCourt]

FWIW, would it suprise you to learn that kids have been abducted on a regular basis since, oh, the beginning of time? Good grief.

[saradippity]

I think that great comfort,wisdom and understanding come to us when we pray to the Holy Spirit to give us the "mind of the Church",with whom He abides forever.Your inspirational comment seems to reflect the fruits of a petition like that.Thankyou.

[patent]

Thanks for the post, its right on. That verse is beginning to haunt me as I struggle to accept it. I find it a hard saying, even at those times when I see how true it is.

patent

[De Fide]

While no one can imagine or judge the intentions of the Holy Father, his visible activity has left much to be desired. This article praises his writing, but much of it is vague and novel and in line with the neo-modernist theology that has wracked the Church for a century.

He can be thanked for not giving in on some key doctrines, like womens' ordination; but otherwise he seems to have given away the store. He apparently decided early on not to try to reform the Church in a traditional manner (he is a man of the revolutionary generation, after all) and now, with all due respect, he ends his pontificate with a Church on the verge of collapse.

[Orual]

In serious matters, such as priestly sexual misconduct, abuses in the liturgy, corruption in seminary life, and the rejection of church teaching by Catholic universities and hospitals, the pope has explicitly recognized the crisis, given clear directions for its correction -- and done nothing when his orders were ignored or undercut by subordinates in this country. Over the last 30 years, faithful Catholics have found a variety of ways to make known to the Holy See their urgent concern, but most often to no avail.

Finally, a good Catholic dares to tell the truth about the Pope's inaction. Words are cheap file.

[duckln]

"Now there are a lot of folks upset that there is not a crackdown from Rome?"

There's a lot of folks upset at Nixon to this day, and he's been dead for years. Nixon was a saint compared to Bill and Hillery, but a viceous partison efford gardered enough 'idiots' to bring him down, and IMO we are worst off because of it.

Some people will never get over it because their goal is to destroy the church.

[PieroC]

1.Can the Bishops Forbid the Police from Arresting Priests?
2. Can the Catholic Church declare any American law about sexuality null and void?
3. Can the Catholic Church arrest American criminals?

[duckln]

FWIW, would it suprise you to learn that kids have been abducted on a regular basis since, oh, the beginning of time? Good grief.

No, but I don't have the tread 'numbers' and doubt if you do. But it's all the more reason to consentrate on 'regular basis' abductions than rare, dubious, past limitation accusations by 'greedy people' and Actup.

[Domestic Church]

I agree there is a concerted effort to undermine the church both overtly and covertly. This has been going on since the beginning. The trusting laity never expects the clergy to be participating on both sides.

I don't like the title of this article, as it presumes knowledge we can't possibly have. And it points the finger at one person.

Given the clash in writings alone between the USCCB and the Vatican, how can one person be at fault, especially one very elderly holy person who is surround by bishops, many who lean more towards the USCCB? We don't even know if the Holy Father has been privey to all that has been hitting the press here. What if his physician has asked that some stuff be filtered(I'm not saying this is happening, but any number of variations could occur.)

[duckln]

I agree. The writer is from National Review which has gone down hill since W. F. Buckley stepped aside. For the WSJ to pick it up this hashed over trivia puts them the tabloid category.

I thought Paul Gigot was chief editor of the WSJ. I feel like giving him a 'talking to'. It's all a smoke screen so as not to draw attention to real crisis the country has. It's designed to draw people into a senseless ridiculous argument that has no end.

[Siobhan]

Many thanks, Colleen. Well said. God bless.

[Conservative til I die]

Don't bother asking questions to gcruse. He just hates Catholics and religionists in general. He should be pleased though, as he said, the Pope will be in the fetal position soon. Ha ha! Parkinson's Disease! What a laugher!

[duckln]

the guy has huevos

What is 'huevos? Are they something in his head?

My point is that the Church, IMO, is squeeky clean compared to other demographics. Dreher should look at the company he keeps and stack them up to the Popes.