A mandatum for all Catholic Charities USA?

[setter]

Should the bishops implement a mandatum for all Catholic Charities USA? I ask this in response to the self-will run riot displayed by dissent board members at Catholic Charities Boston. Or perhaps a new hire and existing employee pledge of allegiance to present and promote only that which is acceptable by Catholic teaching and immediate termination for any offense against. I know of more than a few priests who refuse to refer anyone to their local Catholic Charities for counseling because they lack guarantee that Catholic teaching will be honored.

 

[Jeanette_L]

This is one thing that really confuses me about the Catholic Church. I’ve been Evangelical all my life (will be confirmed Catholic at Easter Vigil), and in the Evangelical world, if you don’t conform to the belief system of any particular organization (church, charity…) that you are a part of, you submit or you move on. It’s as simple as that. And I understand it implicitly, in that, why would you want to be a part of a church or organization that you don’t have a loyalty to where it’s beliefs and teachings are concerned. Isn’t that a given?

The Catholic Church’s tolerance of dissidents and their destructive influence on the last generation or two of Catholics seems strange to me. The damage has been overwhelming.

 

[T.A.Stobie_SFO]

It is up to the local bishops right now. Some do require leaders of Catholic Organizations sponsered/supported by the diocese to be loyal to the teaching of the magisterium.

 

[dts]

Jeanette L:

This is one thing that really confuses me about the Catholic Church. I’ve been Evangelical all my life (will be confirmed Catholic at Easter Vigil), and in the Evangelical world, if you don’t conform to the belief system of any particular organization (church, charity…) that you are a part of, you submit or you move on. It’s as simple as that. And I understand it implicitly, in that, why would you want to be a part of a church or organization that you don’t have a loyalty to where it’s beliefs and teachings are concerned. Isn’t that a given?

The Catholic Church’s tolerance of dissidents and their destructive influence on the last generation or two of Catholics seems strange to me. The damage has been overwhelming.

The reason for the difference you observe follows from the dogma that the Catholic Church is THE true church. That dogma and corollaries that flow from it create strong incentive to stay even when one dissents on a variety of issues. There is nothing comparable in the theology of Evangelical Protestants.

 

[Elzee]

Jeanette L:

This is one thing that really confuses me about the Catholic Church. I’ve been Evangelical all my life (will be confirmed Catholic at Easter Vigil), and in the Evangelical world, if you don’t conform to the belief system of any particular organization (church, charity…) that you are a part of, you submit or you move on. It’s as simple as that. And I understand it implicitly, in that, why would you want to be a part of a church or organization that you don’t have a loyalty to where it’s beliefs and teachings are concerned. Isn’t that a given?

The Catholic Church’s tolerance of dissidents and their destructive influence on the last generation or two of Catholics seems strange to me. The damage has been overwhelming.

I heard a priest on Fox News (very orthodox - can’t remember his name) during the death of JPII asked if JPII would consider all the ‘cafeteria Catholics’ in the U.S really ‘Catholic’. The priest said something to the effect of well, I would say that he would think they are all Catholic, but just at different points in their lifelong conversion.

 

[setter]

Elzee:

I heard a priest on Fox News (very orthodox - can’t remember his name) during the death of JPII asked if JPII would consider all the ‘cafeteria Catholics’ in the U.S really ‘Catholic’. The priest said something to the effect of well, I would say that he would think they are all Catholic, but just at different points in their lifelong conversion.

That is a hopeful way of putting it. I would add to pray for their conversion and also pray that they do not weaken the faith of their fellow Catholics.

 

[Elzee]

setter:

That is a hopeful way of putting it. I would add to pray for their conversion and also pray that they do not weaken the faith of their fellow Catholics.

I don’t think I could have been as charitable.

I’d love to know how both JPII and B16 would answer that question.

 

[fix]

Elzee:

I don’t think I could have been as charitable.

I’d love to know how both JPII and B16 would answer that question.

How about this?

When John Paul II visited the United States in 1987, Archbishop John R. Quinn, representing the Catholic bishops, stated publicly to the Pope before all the bishops: "We as pastors are greatly concerned that some particular areas of the Church’s teaching in both sexual and social morality are at times subjected to negative criticism in our country and sometimes even by Catholics of good will."37 John Paul II replied:

It is sometimes reported that a large number of Catholics today do not adhere to the teaching of the Church on a number of questions, notably sexual and conjugal morality, divorce and remarriage. Some are reported as not accepting the Church’s clear position on abortion. It has also been noted that there is a tendency on the part of some Catholics to be selective in their adherence to the Church’s moral teachings. It is sometimes claimed that dissent from the Magisterium is totally compatible with being a “good Catholic” and poses no obstacle to the reception of the sacraments. This is a grave error that challenges the teaching office of the bishops of the United States and elsewhere.38

catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Homiletic/07-97/america.html

 

[setter]

Elzee:

I don’t think I could have been as charitable.

I’d love to know how both JPII and B16 would answer that question.

From B16 as then Cardinal Ratzinger:

It is always easier to destroy rather than to build. Curial authority was certainly misused during the reigns of Popes Paul VI and John-Paul II to undermine orthodoxy and orthopraxy to great effect. It will be an indefinitely more difficult, daunting, demanding and delicate task to put back together the pieces of the seamless garment of faith torn asunder by the forces of dissolution acting in the aftermath of the disastrous Second Vatican Council.

“Was the Council a wrong road that we must now retrace if we are to save the Church? The voices of those who say that it was are becoming louder and their followers more numerous. We must be on guard against minimizing these movements. Without a doubt, they represent a sectarian zealotry that is the antithesis of Catholicity. We cannot resist them too firmly.” [Cardinal Ratzinger: “Principles of Catholic Theology” (1982) pp. 389-390]

geocities.com/Pharsea/OldAndNew.html