Commonweal & US Catholic on my diocese's website...advice needed!

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gez722

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I was shocked to discover that 2 liberal and dissenting Catholic magazines (Commonweal and US Catholic) have links on my Diocese’s website. They are listed under the category of Adult Spiritual formation. This really scares me, since any Catholic using these for spiritual formation is going to be in big trouble.

I’m really disappointed to see this and I’m looking for advice on the best way to handle it. Should I contact the Diocese?

Thanks,
Gary
 
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gez722:
I was shocked to discover that 2 liberal and dissenting Catholic magazines (Commonweal and US Catholic) have links on my Diocese’s website. They are listed under the category of Adult Spiritual formation. This really scares me, since any Catholic using these for spiritual formation is going to be in big trouble.

I’m really disappointed to see this and I’m looking for advice on the best way to handle it. Should I contact the Diocese?

Thanks,
Gary
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No problem with them being liberal, but who has labeled them as dissenting? Has the Diocese said that?

If so, then the Diocese can simply tell the Pastor to remove the magazines. If they’re simply liberal as opposed to traditionalist, that’s not a ground for removal.
 
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gez722:
I was shocked to discover that 2 liberal and dissenting Catholic magazines (Commonweal and US Catholic) have links on my Diocese’s website. They are listed under the category of Adult Spiritual formation. This really scares me, since any Catholic using these for spiritual formation is going to be in big trouble.

I’m really disappointed to see this and I’m looking for advice on the best way to handle it. Should I contact the Diocese?

Thanks,
Gary
Click to expand...
My former Parish had Commonweal on their website(not the diocese’s website). I e-mailed the webmaster and asked him why they had a Liberal site link on it and he said that Father wanted it on there. They also had Peggy Noonan so that “evened it out”. The webmaster said he wasn’t happy about it either, but Father made the decisions, so it stayed on there. There’s none of that at the Parish I belong to now:amen: to that!
 
My advice…read them. Expand your horizons a bit.

I have a subscription to Commonweal, and just got one to First Things. It’s important to make an effort not to get trapped in a media bubble.
 
“Commonweal” is good and offers a fresh Catholic viewpoint on lots of issues.
 
norbert said:
“Commonweal” is good and offers a fresh Catholic viewpoint on lots of issues.
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Like this?

commonwealmagazine.org/article.php?id_article=1228

Is this the kind of garbage that you call a fresh Catholic viewpoint? How does this help me to become a better Catholic? By learning to disagree with the teachings of the Catholic Church as expressed by our Holy Father? Toward the end of the article, the author refers to the issue of women’s ordination. He doesn’t come right out and say that he supports it, but he certainly hints that he does. This is an infallible teaching of the Church and cannot and will not be changed!!! I also liked his point about the Church not being a monarchy. Says who? We have a king named Jesus Christ and he speaks through the Magesterium.

I am currently discerning whether or not I have a vocation to the permanent diaconate and when I go to the website of the diocese to which I belong and select “Adult Spiritual Formation” and find links to magazines like Commonweal and US Catholic, I get VERY concerned.

Believe me, I often look at anti-Catholic literature (Jack Chick, James White, etc.) in order to better prepare myself to defend my Catholic Faith, but I don’t want to see anti-Catholic ( some may call it liberal, others dissenting, but when you start to question infallible teaching it’s all the same to me) material on the website of the diocese in which I am looking to for my spiritual formation.

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I feel very passionate about this.

God Bless,
Gary
 
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gez722:
Like this?

commonwealmagazine.org/article.php?id_article=1228

Is this the kind of garbage that you call a fresh Catholic viewpoint? How does this help me to become a better Catholic? By learning to disagree with the teachings of the Catholic Church as expressed by our Holy Father? Toward the end of the article, the author refers to the issue of women’s ordination. He doesn’t come right out and say that he supports it, but he certainly hints that he does. This is an infallible teaching of the Church and cannot and will not be changed!!! I also liked his point about the Church not being a monarchy. Says who? We have a king named Jesus Christ and he speaks through the Magesterium.

I am currently discerning whether or not I have a vocation to the permanent diaconate and when I go to the website of the diocese to which I belong and select “Adult Spiritual Formation” and find links to magazines like Commonweal and US Catholic, I get VERY concerned.

Believe me, I often look at anti-Catholic literature (Jack Chick, James White, etc.) in order to better prepare myself to defend my Catholic Faith, but I don’t want to see anti-Catholic ( some may call it liberal, others dissenting, but when you start to question infallible teaching it’s all the same to me) material on the website of the diocese in which I am looking to for my spiritual formation.

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I feel very passionate about this.

God Bless,
Gary
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I don’t know what anyone means by “fresh Catholic outlook”. I read the article and especially that one paragraph about women’s ordination had dissent written all over it. I would be upset if my Diocese had that link on it too.
 
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gez722:
Like this?

commonwealmagazine.org/article.php?id_article=1228

Is this the kind of garbage that you call a fresh Catholic viewpoint? How does this help me to become a better Catholic? By learning to disagree with the teachings of the Catholic Church as expressed by our Holy Father? Toward the end of the article, the author refers to the issue of women’s ordination. He doesn’t come right out and say that he supports it, but he certainly hints that he does. This is an infallible teaching of the Church and cannot and will not be changed!!! I also liked his point about the Church not being a monarchy. Says who? We have a king named Jesus Christ and he speaks through the Magesterium.

I am currently discerning whether or not I have a vocation to the permanent diaconate and when I go to the website of the diocese to which I belong and select “Adult Spiritual Formation” and find links to magazines like Commonweal and US Catholic, I get VERY concerned.

Believe me, I often look at anti-Catholic literature (Jack Chick, James White, etc.) in order to better prepare myself to defend my Catholic Faith, but I don’t want to see anti-Catholic ( some may call it liberal, others dissenting, but when you start to question infallible teaching it’s all the same to me) material on the website of the diocese in which I am looking to for my spiritual formation.

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I feel very passionate about this.

God Bless,
Gary
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Yes, that is a good article. It’s not anti-Catholic. There are many of us good, Church-going Catholics who don’t agree with every last thing that Rome wants to tell us. Many of us want change, and many of us were a little disappointed in the choice of Ratzinger. We’re not going to go away. You’ll get to meet lots of us in person, if you become a deacon.
 
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norbert:
Yes, that is a good article. It’s not anti-Catholic. There are many of us good, Church-going Catholics who don’t agree with every last thing that Rome wants to tell us. Many of us want change, and many of us were a little disappointed in the choice of Ratzinger. We’re not going to go away. You’ll get to meet lots of us in person, if you become a deacon.
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"Those who struggle for the ordination of women cannot solve the problem in conscience. The institutional church needs to change. I can appreciate why some women have left the Catholic Church. But I admire and support, as much as I can, those who stay and struggle for change. They are true pilgrims who witness to us the meaning of hope. "

Applauding those who are struggling to change an infallible teaching of the Church is not anti-Catholic?

"From a theological perspective, many moral teachings are not part of the core formulations of faith and depend heavily on human reason and experience.
…

I have often appealed to the well-known Catholic distinction between infallible and noninfallible teaching to distinguish what is essential in Catholic belief and what is somewhat peripheral. I strongly object to being called a “cafeteria Catholic.” Here the insistence on what is necessary and central to our faith is most important. One cannot be a good Catholic and disagree with necessary beliefs such as the Trinity, the creative role of God, the saving role of Jesus, the sanctifying mission of the Holy Spirit, revelation in the Bible and in tradition, the sacramental life of the church, and the role of bishops in the church. But one can disagree with some teachings that are not infallible, not central, and not certain. "

How can we determine which beliefs are not essential without relying on the Magesterium?

"Catholic theology and practice provide some breathing room to those who disagree on some noncentral issues, especially in moral matters. People can make their own conscientious decisions and continue to participate in the life of the church despite practicing contraception, being divorced and remarried, or living in a committed gay or lesbian union. The church has space for practically all of these decisions. "

This sounds like the old “freedom of conscience” argument that has been used whenever someone wants to dissent from Church teaching. This is absolutely not supported by the Catechism, which is what we as Catholics believe.

I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this article as not being anti-Catholic. When Jesus founded the Church and made Peter the first Pope, He gave him the authority to speak infallibly for the Church. That authority still applies today, just as much as it did 2000 years ago. As far as the choice of Benedict XVI goes, I trust that the Holy Spirit still knows what he’s doing.

God Bless,
Gary
 
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norbert:
Yes, that is a good article. It’s not anti-Catholic. There are many of us good, Church-going Catholics who don’t agree with every last thing that Rome wants to tell us. Many of us want change, and many of us were a little disappointed in the choice of Ratzinger. We’re not going to go away. You’ll get to meet lots of us in person, if you become a deacon.
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Which teachings of Christ may we reject? Can we now tell Christ His way is wrong, and ours is better?
 
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fix:
Which teachings of Christ may we reject? Can we now tell Christ His way is wrong, and ours is better?
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Commonweal isn’t a Catechism, it’s a magazine with a point of view. If you don’t share that point of view, it still won’t hurt to see what they’re about.
 
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Richardols:
Commonweal isn’t a Catechism, it’s a magazine with a point of view. If you don’t share that point of view, it still won’t hurt to see what they’re about.
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I was referring to Norbert’s assertions.

Commonweal is dissident claptrap.
 
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norbert:
Yes, that is a good article. It’s not anti-Catholic. There are many of us good, Church-going Catholics who don’t agree with every last thing that Rome wants to tell us. Many of us want change, and many of us were a little disappointed in the choice of Ratzinger. We’re not going to go away. You’ll get to meet lots of us in person, if you become a deacon.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is a very good article to point out the problem with Commonweal!!! The author is the same professor who was removed from his faculy position for refusing to stop teaching contrary to the Church. He now is right at home at a protestant university. It is bad enough that he is a columnist at Commonweal but for the magazine not to mention that the author has a personal ax to grind with Benedict XVI (he’s the one that gave him the boot from CUA) is pretty misleading.

As for US Catholic, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and to see if they turn around. The latest editor was asked to resign, and did so. We can hope that they (the magazine) responds positively to the message that they were going too far.
 
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kmktexas:
As for US Catholic, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and to see if they turn around. The latest editor was asked to resign, and did so. We can hope that they (the magazine) responds positively to the message that they were going too far.
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It doesn’t look they are turning around too much. Here’s an article from the June issue:

uscatholic.org/2005/06/featc0506.htm
 
I subscribed to Commonweal by mistake, thinking it was more traditional. The very first issue remarked on the empty cathedrals and lack of faith in Europe in one article, and in the rest of the magazine promoted the same bland dissenting liberalism that is emptying the churches here. They didn’t seem to see the connection at all.

That upset me so I wised up and subcribed to three years of the New Oxford Review. So I read both and I guess it’s a good thing to keep a somewhat open mind.
 
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caroljm36:
I subscribed to Commonweal by mistake, thinking it was more traditional. The very first issue remarked on the empty cathedrals and lack of faith in Europe in one article, and in the rest of the magazine promoted the same bland dissenting liberalism that is emptying the churches here. They didn’t seem to see the connection at all.

That upset me so I wised up and subcribed to three years of the New Oxford Review. So I read both and I guess it’s a good thing to keep a somewhat open mind.
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I hate to be flip, but should you read Jack Chick to be even more open minded?
 
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caroljm36:
I subscribed to Commonweal by mistake, thinking it was more traditional. The very first issue remarked on the empty cathedrals and lack of faith in Europe in one article, and in the rest of the magazine promoted the same bland dissenting liberalism that is emptying the churches here. They didn’t seem to see the connection at all.

That upset me so I wised up and subcribed to three years of the New Oxford Review. So I read both and I guess it’s a good thing to keep a somewhat open mind.
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Commonweal and NOR… talk about two extremes. lol But I commend you for trying to keep informed about and understand/appreciate both perspectives.
 
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