Are 'Real Catholics" Pragmatists?

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It would have been nice had you posted at least the title; that way, you would have spared me the trouble of reading that tripe:

“Varia: Who Are the ‘Real’ Catholics?
SOME TRADITIONALISTS MAY WANT TO SHUN PRO-CHOICE CATHOLICS LIKE JOHN KERRY. BUT A PRAGMATIC APPROACH WON’T HARM A CHURCH STILL TRYING TO DEAL WITH PEDOPHILE PRIESTS, ARGUES MELINDA HENNEBERGER IN HER FIRST WEB-EXCLUSIVE COLUMN ON RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
By Melinda Henneberger”

My first observation would be that any Catholic so “open-minded” as to read Newsweek risks having his brains fall out.
Just two pearls of Ms Hamburger’s folly:
“the Catholic Church has not survived for more than 2,000 years by excluding, but rather by co-opting everything from Roman holidays to elements of African animism.”
“they all looked like ‘real’ Catholics to me”

This is typical pro-death, anti-Catholic hogwash.
Please note how she links Sacred Tradition and pedophilia in the title. In her darkened mind, the Word and Sacraments entrusted to the Church by Jesus Christ are an obstacle to “dealing” with “pedophile priests.”
The author wants us to believe that the Church will not survive unless it co-opts the culture of death’s celebration of the killing of unborn children and every other vice.
Since Ms Hamburger is obviously the new standard of right and wrong, not the Church, she is competent to decree what a “real” Catholic looks like.
Another point: just who is “shunning” whom? Those who consciously reject Catholic doctrine on faith and morals shun Jesus Christ, the Church, and all those who stand with her, not the other way around. When Catholics guilty of very public grave sin refuse to repent and would commit sacrilege, it is an act of mercy not to give them the Sacrament and to call them to repentance.
 
Somehow or other I believe one can read (or write for!) Newsweek and remain a real Roman Catholic.
 
ppeter said:
It would have been nice had you posted at least the title; that way, you would have spared me the trouble of reading that tripe:

“Varia: Who Are the ‘Real’ Catholics?
SOME TRADITIONALISTS MAY WANT TO SHUN PRO-CHOICE CATHOLICS LIKE JOHN KERRY. BUT A PRAGMATIC APPROACH WON’T HARM A CHURCH STILL TRYING TO DEAL WITH PEDOPHILE PRIESTS, ARGUES MELINDA HENNEBERGER IN HER FIRST WEB-EXCLUSIVE COLUMN ON RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
By Melinda Henneberger”

My first observation would be that any Catholic so “open-minded” as to read Newsweek risks having his brains fall out.
Just two pearls of Ms Hamburger’s folly:
“the Catholic Church has not survived for more than 2,000 years by excluding, but rather by co-opting everything from Roman holidays to elements of African animism.”
“they all looked like ‘real’ Catholics to me”

This is typical pro-death, anti-Catholic hogwash.
Please note how she links Sacred Tradition and pedophilia in the title. In her darkened mind, the Word and Sacraments entrusted to the Church by Jesus Christ are an obstacle to “dealing” with “pedophile priests.”
The author wants us to believe that the Church will not survive unless it co-opts the culture of death’s celebration of the killing of unborn children and every other vice.
Since Ms Hamburger is obviously the new standard of right and wrong, not the Church, she is competent to decree what a “real” Catholic looks like.
Another point: just who is “shunning” whom? Those who consciously reject Catholic doctrine on faith and morals shun Jesus Christ, the Church, and all those who stand with her, not the other way around. When Catholics guilty of very public grave sin refuse to repent and would commit sacrilege, it is an act of mercy not to give them the Sacrament and to call them to repentance.
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👍
 
Beau_Ouiville said:
Somehow or other I believe one can read (or write for!) Newsweek and remain a real Roman Catholic.
Click to expand...
You could certainly read it, and probably be against most opinions. You might even be able to sumbit an article that supports Catholic positions. You probably couldnt get it published
 
“Somehow or other I believe one can read (or write for!) Newsweek and remain a real Roman Catholic.”

“Somehow” I agree with you. You can also jump off a cliff, but don’t be offended if you don’t sprout wings and fly…
 
I used to write for and I still read [Newsweek]. I’m a Roman Catholic and very real. And that’s not a leap off a cliff.
 
There is some wisdom in the article.
Though this attitude is sure to be criticized as more watered-down Catholicism Lite, I don’t see it that way. At a less orthodox time in my own Catholic life, a nun in my parish in Northern California improved my understanding and appreciation of the sacraments through the underused–and doubtless desperate–strategy of working with me instead of turning me away. I had agreed to teach a parish Sunday school class for second-graders preparing to make their first communion–until it dawned on me that I would also be expected to instruct them on the sacrament formerly known as confession. “I haven’t been in a while myself,” I told her. "That’s fine,’’ she said briskly. "Maybe you’ll go now.’’ Like her, McCarrick seems to feel that we only get better if we stick around and practice.
Click to expand...
This is similar to some of the experience my wife and I have had. I’m a convert and have become more and more “orthodox” over time. My wife is a “cradle Catholic” who, like the author, hadn’t been to Confession for years until she became involved in catechetics and learned her faith. She still doesn’t like Confession, but she does go. I learned about the importance of Confession from a “traditionalist” co-worker who explained to me, better than my RCIA class and priest explained, the importance of being in a state of grace when receiving the Eucharist.

I don’t believe that having a pro-choice position as a Catholic politician is licit, but I don’t see the need for them to be vilified…just sternly corrected every time they try to present their pro-choice views as an authentic Catholic position (please note: I’m not saying they aren’t authentic Catholics…I’m talking about one of their views/policies).

So, let’s continue to correct those who misrepresent Catholic teaching, but remember that they are still fellow Catholics, even if they are a little confused.
 
Considering the article is four years old, maybe it shouldn’t be posted in Catholic News.
 
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