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SSPXwannaB
Guest
kind of reminds me of a Bill Clinton answer; hard to pin down and done on purpose. I wish he would just speak plainly.
J
JReducation
Guest
This is taken out of context. What the Cardinal was answering to was a question about the healthcare bill. He said that he opposes a healthcare bill that includes funding for abortion and that the President said that the bill will not include such funding. When asked further questions on the bill the Cardinal simply said that he could not say more, because this is not the field that has been working on. He has been working on the immirgation issues. He’s not taking a position for government funded abortion. He’s simply saying that the bill, which is a legal document, is not his area of expertise. There is a reason why this is so. The USCCB has committees. Each committee has an agenda that they deal with. Cardinal Mahoney is on the Social Justice and Immigation committee. The legal angles of this are not in his area of expertise or experience. But he did clearly say that he wants a bill without government abortion funding. We cannot expect every bishop and the USCCB to have the same area of expertise. That’s not the way that the Church functions. Bishps, priests, deacons and religious are assigned to work on commissions and projects according to their area of training.
I’ll give a simple example. My religious community deals only with respect life issues. All of our brothers are trained in bio-ethics, medical sciences, mystical theology and human rights law. If you asked any of us about immigration we would tell you that we believe that every immigrant must be served by the Church. If you asked us to comment on the immigration laws, we would tell you that we are not knowledgeable on that law to comment on it. That is the area of expertise of religious and clergy trained in that issue. In the case of the Franciscan family, that would be the Capuchins. They are very well trained in immigration issues and ecclesiology, which is the area of theology and pastoral care that deals in those issues. We take our cue from them. But they simply communicate what is moral and immoral. They don’t give us the breakdown of the laws. We trust them to do that research and tell us what we should do and how to do it. This happens with all clergy and religious.
We have found that when clergy and religious make statements about an area of ministry in which they are not trained and have little experience, they often say the wrong thing. It is better for them to say that this is not their area and that you should speak to someone who is involved in the area in which you’re interested.
Be careful with what you read in the media and especially what you see on Youtube, because it’s edited. If you watch the videos on immigration, Cardinal Mahoney is very well versed on the matter and clearly reflects the teachings of the Church in this area of pastoral care.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
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Eucharisted
Guest
Why do people feel the need to rip on my Archbishop all the time? Doesn’t anyone know that what you do to the clergy, you do to Christ? If you want to aid the Cardinal, than pray for him. Maybe make a thread for him in Prayer Intentions too.
J
JReducation
Guest
There was nothing wrong with the answer that the Cardinal gave. First, the interviewer asked the question in a dreadfully long sentence. Second, when he finally go to the essence of the question, the Cardinal finally understood what he wanted to ask and gave the right answer. He said that he did not believe in funding abortion.
What the Cardinal avoided was the legalese of the question as it was posed the first time. He did not avoid the question about state funded abortion. He simply said, no he did not believe in it and he quoted the President as saying the same thing.
What is wrong with that?
Some may have wanted a longer and more elaborate response from the Cardinal. As he said, this is not his area of expertise. We cannot expect every theologian, cleric or religious to be an expert in every field. Each of us has his or her own field. We are aware of what goes on in other fields, but we are not experts on the technical aspects. I give my own example. I have spend years in the area of life issue and mystical theology as it applies to this area. My bishop, who is also a Mystical Theologian, has spend his life on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When someone is needed to speak on life issues, I get to speak. When someone is needed on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he gets to speak.
You have to be humble enough to know when you know enough and when you don’t. When you’re speaking to the average Catholic, it’s OK if you speak freely, because the average Catholic is not out to crucify you if you make a mistake. But when you speak to the press, you had better be on your toes and avoid questions in an area in which you’re not an expert or they will curcify the Church, not you personally, if you make one slip.
The media of today is not out to get information to the public, but to sway the public. I don’t trust any of these interviews and I can see why the Cardinal looked in a hurry to get away from this intervier.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
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