Diocese is becoming politically leftist

  • Thread starter Thread starter Loud-living-dogma
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Loud-living-dogma

Guest
My diocese is starting to endorse politically leftist views and partner with an organization that calls itself the “Name of place Community Action Network”. I have concerns about this and the (new) Social Justice office, and I wonder what would be the most effective way to let the diocese know? I think that when more people become aware, the diocese will face a backlash. They are partnering with a group to monitor ICE and other law enforcement. This just seems like a terrible idea - - when so many police are Catholic. Or am I wrong? Any thoughts appreciated. I live in a very conservative area. This group is affiliated with PICO, which I didn’t know anything about at first, but the more I read, the more I don’t like it.
 
Last edited:
You should speak to your pastor and your bishop about your concerns. The Church should be above partisan politics. You are correct that this PICO organization seems very dangerous as ally of pro-abortion and radical Left politics.
 
Well, that’s the problem. Since the bishop has instituted this “Social Justice” office and now “Solidarity Network”, I can only presume that he is on board the PICO train. We are currently having our annual bishop’s appeal - - - I am thinking about making my feelings clear there. I suppose it’s possible though, that the bishop is just paying lip service, and doing as little as possible? I wonder if other diocese are seeing more of this as well. I think part of this is the “Resist” mindset.
 
I would not presume to know your bishop’s motives, and I would not criticize him on the internet even if I did. I would speak to your pastor and bishop to better understand this. I would speak to other concerned Catholics and encourage them to do the same.
 
I think those are good points. Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Loud-living-dogma said:
My diocese is starting to endorse politically leftist views…
Click to expand...
A view does not become problematic for a Catholic because someone has dubbed it “leftist”. Issues have to be examined on their own merits, not according to a label or which party subscribes to that view.
 
Agree. For example I believe that big govt is incompatible with Biblical teachings. God’s plan for the state is to punish criminals (protect life and property), not regulate society.
Neither is racism or misogyny compatible with Christian faith. Jim Crow or Saudi Arabia is definitely contrary to the faith. To oppose it is to be morally consistent and isn’t “bringing politics into religion”.
 
You are right to be concerned. There are many similar movements in other dioceses that have involve the diocese or parishes in partnerships with groups that exploit the Church’s credibility, and often disagree with Catholic teaching. The experience in my diocese, and others I read about, is that there is no spreading of Catholic belief, but only co opting the Church for secular causes.

There is not much you can do, other than monitor it. They can always try to justify any alliances or shared projects, and you will get labelled a right wing conservative.

What you can do is check out something specific: if any leaders or organizations have taken a position on abortion opposed to the Catholic position, gather documentation. The diocese can ignore you if you complain about “leftists”. But if a given speaker, for instance at a Catholic school has taken a pro abortion position, forward documentation of that to the diocesan prolife office. Ask them to intervene. Send a copy to the parents guild, and to alumni association. Catholic institutions can ignore you, especially if you are vaguely talking about “leftists”. They can’t ignore their funders.

If an organization has taken a pro abortion position, and the diocese is proposing to partner a Catholic organization with that organization, do the same thing. If the local Catholic organization gets funded by the CCHD, contact the CCHD. They are supposed to have guidelines against this. If the diocese gets money for social programs from some other source, such as K of C, and if they plan to involve a proabortion organization, contact the K of C.

I realize abortion is not your particular concern yet, and should not be the only red flag for Catholics. But at the moment, it is the one red flag that might wake up some Catholics. And, tragically, the great majority of peace and justice advocate organizations have taken a trackable position for abortion. It might be the only handle you can grab onto.

It will take a little work on your part, find out which coalitions those other groups are part of, and find out who is funding the diocesan programs that would be partnering. Whatever you do, be brief, and focused, don’t bring up issues in general. You want the focus to be on the one thing that can limit them.
 
Last edited:
I don’t see anything in that particular news item that is problematic, but yes, often the views of the Catholic Church related to immigration seem to want to skirt the law. I don’t understand why the Catholic Church thinks that the US is not allowed to monitor and enforce our immigration laws and policies.
 
Commenter, thank you so much. I believe this PICO organization does have ties to “abortion rights” ideas, and I’m sure you’re right – I can hang my problems on that, at least for a beginning.
Thanks – those are very concrete and helpful!
 
One of the major teachings of both old and new testament is looking out for the Stranger (immigrant). It’s not a matter of disregarding a nations immigration laws. It’s making sure that we look out for the Stranger. Saying that, it’s blatenty wrong for priests to ignore a nations laws.

I’m a conservative and a traditionalist, so don’t start going off about me being a liberal. Jesus is the Word, and the Word is Jesus. And Jesus taught that we are to look out for, ando take care of the Stranger.
 
Last edited:
Okay, so how do people do both? Respect the laws of our nation, and welcome the stranger? Why is it welcoming to assist them in breaking the law? Don’t we owe some respect and loyalty to our own country as well? I was wondering today, how much tax money we spend on protecting the border, rounding up people who are not here legally, and then the (relatively few) undocumented people here who do get caught, act like we are persecuting them.
There are immigrants who are here legally, or who are trying to get here legally, who wait years and years, and fill out many forms, get medical exams, get fingerprinted, etc. - - and we’re all supposed to jump for joy because some people just sneak across the border?
 
Your first responsibility is to the faith. The priests harboring the illegal immigrants should be trying to find places for them, working to find a way to get them accepted to the US if possible or somewhere else they will be safe if not. Not ignoring the laws of the country they are in. That in itself can be a sin, and they will have some explaining to do when they have to account for their lives in front of Jesus when judgement day comes (as we all will have to). It will be up to Jesus on what judgement will happen.
 
This would be an interesting discussion for some priests or bishops to weigh in on. How does one engage in “correct” spiritual warfare with one’s own clergy?
 
In terms of “social justice”, a lot depends on what is their frame of reference. In my city, they often put up notices that “Catholic social teaching is the best kept secret”…and then they push their own agenda, which is something very different. It is important to differentiate genuine Catholic social teaching from the Peace and Justice movement we often find, which is secular and follows the media.

Catholic social teaching sources include social encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI, and recent popes. It involves the principles of subsidiarity and distributism, as presented by people like G. K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, and others. It is not Left or Right. It is fully integrated with Catholic teaching on the family, on the Natural Law, and the dignity of the person.
 
Last edited:
This.

I’d encourage those who are wrestling with Church teaching WRT immigration to do a good reading of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, available on the Vatican website or in printed form from your bookstore. Start with the section titled “The Universal Destination of Goods”. Note, this information is Doctrine, not just some lefty suggestions.
 
Cath13 said:
I believe the heart of our Catholic “Social Teaching” should be about stopping abortions and not all this support for people on welfare, or letting the U.S. become over run by poor people from other countries who come here to sign up for welfare. Let’s get back to being Pro-Life!
Click to expand...
I don’t recall Jesus ever saying “Stop all the abortions”, but he did go on at great length about loving your neighbor, and indeed, the entire parable of the Good Samaritan suggests that Jesus was fundamentally a humanitarian deeply interested in “social justice”. It strikes me that you’ve bought into a myopic narrative where the Catholic Church should only be about being a political pressure group whose only purpose is to end abortion, thus, so far as I can tell, ignoring much of the New Testament in the process.
 
Good thing you know the intentions and motivations of every single immigrant, and also have calculated the ultimate cost of “helping” them and determined it to be tenable…

Because we know you wouldn’t ever be arguing political policy without facts but only using pure emotionalism.
 
I especially enjoy that part in the parable of the good Samaritan where the Samaritan blames the traveler for his misfortune, builds a wall between himself and the traveler and pats himself on the back for being so moral and decent.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top