Catholic Group Based in Chicago Leads Protest Against Church

[manualman]

Actually, the petition isn’t in support of women’s ordination. Its in support of Fr. Bourgeois.

Dale, I know from long experience of reading your posts that you’re smarter than that. That argument is the exact same one used by the defenders of abortion and slavery: “We’re not pro-abortion, we’re pro-choice. We’re not pro-slavery, we’re for state’s rights. We’re not rebelling over women’s ordination, we’re for freedom of conscience.”

Same thing in each case. You can’t simply raise a smokescreen or change the subject to get your friends out of trouble. The guy is in trouble because he has been using his catholic pulpit to teach ideas incompatible with catholicism. Conscience or not, that’s a no-no.

And any priest naive enough not to see through such an attempted distinction REALLY ought to be on that blacklist I mentioned earlier.

 

[wynnejj]

From the article…

The Chicago group contends that surveys show that more rank-and-file Catholics side with Father Bourgeois on church policies than with the Vatican. “What it all boils down to is who is the church?” Mr. Heineman said. “The hierarchy? Or the people?”

Our Church established by Jesus Christ is made of sterner stuff than that of Moses in the Old Testament. It won’t cave to divorce or any other popular plea. Individuals within the church hierarchy will fail frequently due to our fallen nature; the Church’s interpretation of dogmatic matters of faith & morals will never fail.

 

[FloridaJoan]

I just don’t get it. If you don’t want to be Catholic, don’t be Catholic. There are many flavors of Christianity out there. But if you do want to be Catholic, humble yourself and be obedient to Mother Church. Isn’t it obvious that this is not OUR Church but a Church given to us by the Father through Jesus Christ, and that therefore we can’t just do what we want to and change teachings that are already Doctrines of our faith? Let’s pray for these and all dissenters that the grace, mercy, and love of God be with them through their days of confusion. And please quit using political terms like liberal and conservative to explain what kind of Catholic you consider yourself. It is inappropriate. If you want to make distinctions please use orthodox or lax. God bless and God love you.

In Christ,
Joshua

Joshua,

I think the problem rests in their perceptions of themselves as Catholics. They say one thing with their lips ie. that they are Catholics BUT their actions betray them. Jesus said " If you love me, keep my commandments ". He saw the problem with words versus actions. We can’t have it both ways. We either do or don’t love Him And His commandments and teachings. And if we do love Him we will keep His commandments and teachings. Being human we all fall sometimes, but we must keep our eyes on Him and in our humility ask for His grace to do His will not our will.

 

[Corki]

From the article…

Quote:
The Chicago group contends that surveys show that more rank-and-file Catholics side with Father Bourgeois on church policies than with the Vatican. “What it all boils down to is who is the church?” Mr. Heineman said. “The hierarchy? Or the people?”

The section you quoted is interesting since it reduces the teaching of the Church on women’s ordination to one of “policy”. While the mistake may be on the part of the journalist, it is a major misinterpretation of doctrine.

 

[Dale_M]

And any priest naive enough not to see through such an attempted distinction REALLY ought to be on that blacklist I mentioned earlier.

Oh, I think any priest who signed the petition has effectively put themselves on that blacklist. The petition is vague enough to avoid immediate discipline, but signing it creates a red flag which will turn up when promotions are considered and an career evaluation conducted. At least that is how it would work in secular organizations.

 

[wynnejj]

The section you quoted is interesting since it reduces the teaching of the Church on women’s ordination to one of “policy”. While the mistake may be on the part of the journalist, it is a major misinterpretation of doctrine.

Yes. I often think that the journalists may indeed be accurately expressing the belief system of rank-and-file Catholics, who may feel that the trend toward emphasis on ecumenism is an invitation in the Church for people to redefine the Church to keep in step with the modern world. This view is encouraged when clergy choose to hide God’s light under a basket because the subject is not popular.