Posted on 09/02/2009 5:11:26 AM PDT by markomalley
For suddenly departing politicans and CEOs, the standard line is to "spend time with my family." Now the Catholic church may have its own version of this unconvincing, stock answer. On Monday controversial Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino stunned longtime church-watchers by announcing that he was resigning his post because of problems with insomnia and fatigue.
The controversial Catholic leader, who has gained national prominence for his outspoken pro-life advocacy and aggressive criticism of pro-choice Democratic politicians, was still more than a decade away from reaching the Church's automatic retirement age of 75. Martino's abrupt resignation, along with the fact that he was not reassigned to another position within the Church, has some church insiders suggesting that the highly unusual move was far from voluntary — and quite possibly the work of a Vatican that has been decidedly less openly critical of the Obama Administration.
Whether Martino is leaving willingly or not, his departure means that one very vocal critic of the Administration has lost his bully pulpit. That may come as a relief to some within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who have become increasingly disturbed by the politicization of some church leaders this year, most notably in protests against President Obama's invitation to speak at Notre Dame and the role of some church officials at Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral service and burial.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Your thoughts?
The Bishops, priests and congregation members who think like this have no place in the Roman Catholic Church.
If they were Republicans, we would call them RINOs....should we call them CINOs?
That's the acronym we usually use around these parts.
I think it’s the USCCB that pushed him out, not the Vatican. Incidentally, he took on two of their sacred cows: pro-abortion politicians and dissenting (particularly pro-homosexual) “Catholic” colleges. He prevented Misericordia from having a pro-gay day, and also required all Catholic colleges to present him with a detailed explanation of their steps to comply with Catholic teaching in the area of sex and reproduction (that is, no dispensing birth control at the college clinic, either).
The powerful old guard at the USCCB has some clearly lavender members, and in addition is full of elderly bishops who, quietly, do not agree with Catholic teaching and have absolutely no desire to enforce it.
There are many who believe Martino was forced out to preserve donations to the US church from pro-abortion politicians and members.
Don’t ever believe that the money given by the Kennedy’s, Kerry’s, Pelosi’s, etc do not amount to much.
Now that reason sounds more plausible to me than the theory SLIME is advocating.
I feel the two theories have more in common than not.
SLIME is purporting that the USCCB did not like Martino's attacks on politicians....not because they were untrue, but because they jeopardized donations.
Remember, the Church does not report its source of funding, but I bet the USCCB has a good handle on where it derives the money needed to operate the Church in the US.
Is it possible that the US wing of the Church has been bought by Democrats? The infiltration of the US Church by homosexuals is well-documented. Homosexuals are typically quite affluent.
Like Rush says----follow the money.
He was very patronizing. I explained that I understood he couldn't tell members who to vote for, and that the Obama stickers are just a symptom of what the church is becoming. Parishioners should be embarrassed to have an Obama sticker on their car, but they aren't. In a parish of 7,000+, we can't even fill a single bus for the annual DC March for Life, less than 2 hours away. The weekend before the 2008 election, we didn't get a sermon about supporting representatives who respect for life, we got the priest of our sister parish begging for money.
Mass used to be a source of strength and solace for me, a harbor from the crazy world. Now I leave mass angry. I'm not sure what my next step will be. Maybe the parish council. Maybe I'll try to find a different parish.
Around here Kerry and Kennedy are known to throw nickels around like manhole covers when in comes to charitable giving. Kennedy campaign is only allowed to donate only $2000.00 of his $ 3.5 million campaign contributions to individual candidates. They could give it all to charity, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Make sure when you discuss social justice issues, use the language of the Church. Quoting popes is sometimes effective (not always, but it can influence fence-sitters).
Find others who are like-minded and volunteer for positions teaching RCIA, parish council, PRE (Catechism classes), adult education....and form a prayer group for your parish.
That prayer group is THE most important.
It will take time....but God will change your parish. ;-)
The Compendium of Social Doctrine is excellent. It places these teachings of the Church in the correct context.....a context which is sadly not well understood by many Catholics these days.
We have two new pastors in my parish (and I’m in the Diocese of Scranton, btw). They’re making changes for the worse, I’m afraid. A new “social justice” committee, as well as folk choir for a specific Mass once a month. My daughter has literally been forced into helping with the folk choir, even though all I see are flashbacks to the 70’s hippy-dippy guitar “kumbaya” Masses.
Those prayers, what can I say? I never respond or pray for them, quietly praying to myself that they are not answered. The cafeterias have been upset with Bishop Martino, all because he follows church teachings. I’ve seen them storm out of Mass in anger, because of the pro-life speeches he wrote that were read to parishoners at certain times.
Pope Benedict was right - the church must get smaller in order for it to grow. Get rid of these people, including the pastors, and things will improve. Until then, we have to continue to fight the good fight against their lunacy.
I’m going to stick with Martino and his remarks about being ill.
(Not what Time might say.)
I hope you’re right.
The one ray of light in our parish was a young priest assigned to us about a year ago. He was great. Not afraid to give direct, pro-life surmons. Spoke very plainly about the culture in America, and our responsibility to counter and change its influence. Attended rallies at Planned Parenthood, etc...
He decided to go back to school about 3 months ago. Rumors abound that it wasn’t voluntary, but that he had refused to tone down his sermons and tow the line set by our pastor, a Msgr, and the same individual with whom I spoke. (described above)
Source is “Time” Magazine, and gives the impression of democRat Party propaganda. Note the almost immediate reference to unnamed “some church insiders”.
**Rumors abound that it wasn’t voluntary, but that he had refused to tone down his sermons and tow the line set by our pastor, a Msgr, and the same individual with whom I spoke. (described above)**
Good for him. St. Thomas More did not back down either for King Henry VIII. St. Thomas More, pray for this priest.
(Obviously there are still some older Bernardin guys in the priesthood there.)
*"Defector in place" is an actual term used by intelligence agencies, but I can never see it without misreading it as "defecator". I'm just sayin...
"The resignation of Bp. Joseph Martino as Bishop of Scranton raised some eyebrows. The eyebrows probably arched with the simultaneous resignation of the Auxiliary of Scranton. Bishop Martino cited health problems. I think we need to take him at his word. Still, many will wonder if there isn’t a some other reason.
Liberal pro-Catholics will try to spin this is such as way as to further their pro-abortion agenda..."
"I can hear it now.
"But Father! But Father!", leaps from the lip of you who are soft on the TIME spin of these events. "You are being unfair! The writer, Amy Sullivan is probably just an objective reporter sticking to the facts as she sees them. You are twisting her words!"
Oh?
Who is Amy Sullivan?
BeliefNet has this little bio about the writer, Amy Sullivan with my emphases:
Amy Sullivan is an editor of The Washington Monthly. She has written about religion and politics for publications including the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, and The Washington Post, and has served as a commentator for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NPR’s Morning Edition, and other news outlets. Previously, Sullivan served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle and as editorial director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Harvard Divinity School.
Washington Monthly has this little bio:
Amy Sullivan is the nation editor for TIME magazine, where she directs political coverage and the magazine’s polling operation. Her book on Democrats and religion, The Party Faithful, will be published in February 2008 by Scribner. Sullivan’s work has appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and was included in The Best Political Writing 2006. She is a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows. Previously, Sullivan served as editor of the Washington Monthly, and as editorial director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Harvard Divinity School, and pursued doctoral studies in sociology at Princeton University.
Her liberal pedigree thus established, did you see what she wrote in TIME about the "quiet faith" of late Sen. Edward Kennedy? It is a paen to the privatization of one’s faith, shelving of one’s faith when acting in the public square.
Bp. Martino is a bishop for whom Catholic identity includes accepting the Church’s teachings and then acting accordingly according to his state in life, including acting on Church teachings openly and actively in the public square.
We will be seeing more and more bishops like him in the future.
That idea has the liberal Catholic abortion collaborators in panic mode..."
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