Peggy Noonan: How to Save the Catholic Church

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—in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, a conservative Republican bastion.

Peggy is a former speechwriter for Reagan, a card-carrying Republican and a card-carrying Roman Catholic, Irish, at that.

This editorial offers interesting background on the gross mishandling of the predator priest scandal in Boston, with Cardinal Bernard Law leaving town a few hours ahead of state troopers arriving with subpoenas.

online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html
 
“The information won.” Great line. She is right. When will people such as Cardinal Law learn that enabling is not helping?
 
Ms. Noonan writes; "They need to let younger generations of priests and nuns rise to positions of authority within a new church. Most especially and most immediately, they need to elevate women. As a nun said to me this week, if a woman had been sitting beside a bishop transferring a priest with a history of abuse, she would have said: “Hey, wait a minute!”

**Hopefully not the pro-abortion nuns?!

Thank God the vast majority of our priests & nuns are incredibly faithful!

We need to fix our problems, but we also need to focus on Jesus Christ & the many wonderful things done everyday in His Name by our Catholic priests, nuns, religious & lay faithful!!!**

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark
 
This is no better than the garbage that Maureen Dowd and the whole crew at the New York Times writes. Noonan looks at the Church like any other institution on earth, not as the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church needs help, no doubt about it, but “saved?” C’mon on. If she is truly a Catholic, she knows the Church will never be lost. The problems in the Church will not necessarily be solved by putting the right people in the right place. The problems will be solved when we fully and completely devote ourselves to our Saviour and to His Will. It isn’t a matter of “updating”. Just as we individually need to get right with God and his will in our lives, so the church needs to do the same thing as a whole.

I found this article disgusting.
 
—in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, a conservative Republican bastion.

Peggy is a former speechwriter for Reagan, a card-carrying Republican and a card-carrying Roman Catholic, Irish, at that.

This editorial offers interesting background on the gross mishandling of the predator priest scandal in Boston, with Cardinal Bernard Law leaving town a few hours ahead of state troopers arriving with subpoenas.

online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html
It’s one extreme to the other.

Any time that the Church determines we need the direction of such as Noonan, Malkin, Beck, Chittister, the Church will so inform us.

Until then, I’m not interested. I’m sick of all of them.
Armchair philosophers - and paid for it.
 
This is no better than the garbage that Maureen Dowd and the whole crew at the New York Times writes. Noonan looks at the Church like any other institution on earth, not as the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church needs help, no doubt about it, but “saved?” C’mon on. If she is truly a Catholic, she knows the Church will never be lost. The problems in the Church will not necessarily be solved by putting the right people in the right place. The problems will be solved when we fully and completely devote ourselves to our Saviour and to His Will. It isn’t a matter of “updating”. Just as we individually need to get right with God and his will in our lives, so the church needs to do the same thing as a whole.

I found this article disgusting.
DITTO. 100% disgusting.
 
Ditto ^ ^

For a second I thought I was missing something but I’m glad I’m not the only one.

It’s insulting to assert that a woman (nun) would have stood up for the child but a man (priest) wouldn’t. So all she’s doing is taking the generalization that all priests are pedophiles and furthering it to say that all men would allow it.

She can keep her crackpot philosophy.
 
Ditto ^ ^

For a second I thought I was missing something but I’m glad I’m not the only one.

It’s insulting to assert that a woman (nun) would have stood up for the child but a man (priest) wouldn’t. So all she’s doing is taking the generalization that all priests are pedophiles and furthering it to say that all men would allow it.

She can keep her crackpot philosophy.
Well, apparently a priest, Law, or priests–those around him—didn’t. Their irresponsible neglect almost destroyed the archdiocese of Boston.

Noonan is not Dowd or Chittister. She is a loyal Catholic and conservative politically. She is sophisticated and knows her way around. She *talked *to Law in Rome.

I think that many on this forum just don’t get it, either. The call of the pope for penance by the church–not singling out anyone that might be* responsible*, for example, is not a good sign.
 
Ms. Noonan writes; “They need to let younger generations of priests and nuns rise to positions of authority within a new church. Most especially and most immediately, they need to elevate women. As a nun said to me this week, if a woman had been sitting beside a bishop transferring a priest with a history of abuse, she would have said: "Hey, wait a minute!”
That is a statement that I have difficulty believing.

Similar teacher transfers have happened in the public school system, done by women administrators.

They fell for the same lines from the same ‘mental health’ professionals that the bishops did, that these people were ‘cured’ and they didn’t want to damage any careers.

So no, women were (and are) not immune
 
Well, apparently a priest, Law, or priests–those around him—didn’t. Their irresponsible neglect almost destroyed the archdiocese of Boston.

Noonan is not Dowd or Chittister. She is a loyal Catholic and conservative politically. She is sophisticated and knows her way around. She *talked *to Law in Rome.

I think that many on this forum just don’t get it, either. The call of the pope for penance by the church–not singling out anyone that might be* responsible*, for example, is not a good sign.
Noonan doesn’t address the role played by the politicos in Massachusetts. The Kennedys used the Church for their own purposes and then jumped ship over the issues of abortion–and most relevant—homosexuality. My guess is that she doesn’t share the disgust many of us felt to see Kennedy given a state funeral attended by two Cardinals.
 
Noonan will continue to “preach” to her fans
as long as someone signs her paycheck.

I’m not one of her fans and I can’t imagine why any Catholic pays any attention
to the pseudo-journalists who bond together in knocking the Church.
 
Well, apparently a priest, Law, or priests–those around him—didn’t. Their irresponsible neglect almost destroyed the archdiocese of Boston.

Noonan is not Dowd or Chittister. She is a loyal Catholic and conservative politically. She is sophisticated and knows her way around. She *talked *to Law in Rome.

I think that many on this forum just don’t get it, either. The call of the pope for penance by the church–not singling out anyone that might be* responsible*, for example, is not a good sign.
Noonan is conservative politically? Are you kidding??!!! This is what she wrote about Obama in October 2008:

"The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes:

He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking; his victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief. He climbed steep stairs, born off the continent with no father to guide, a dreamy, abandoning mother, mixed race, no connections. He rose with guts and gifts. He is steady, calm, and, in terms of the execution of his political ascent, still the primary and almost only area in which his executive abilities can be discerned, he shows good judgment in terms of whom to hire and consult, what steps to take and moves to make. We witnessed from him this year something unique in American politics: He took down a political machine without raising his voice."

peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=440

That’s conservative??!!!

And if you call the article cited in this thread as “loyal Catholic”, then you and I definitely disagree on the meaning of loyal.

We can’t possibly be talking about the same person.
 
That is a statement that I have difficulty believing.

Similar teacher transfers have happened in the public school system, done by women administrators.

They fell for the same lines from the same ‘mental health’ professionals that the bishops did, that these people were ‘cured’ and they didn’t want to damage any careers.

So no, women were (and are) not immune
Do you have any idea of the number of female teachers who were caught diddling adolescent boys in the province of Ontario?The CBC did an entire show on it;and guess what,THEY NEVER GO TO JAIL,but the men sure do.I find the concept disgusting that a woman (nun) is automatically more sensible and morally correct than a man(priest).Everybody’s got their own pet solution to this disgusting meass that shames me to my core as a Catholic.Heres mine,dust off the Dominicans and have a world-wide Inquisition,if that’s what its going to take to cleanse us.

I and most other disgusted Catholics want to see many,many,heads rolling.
I personally can’t take much more of this,but to paraphrase Peter,where else will I go?
My parish priest feels like he is being lashed every single day.What away to end 40 years in the priesthood leading people to God,providing absolution for God only knows how many sinners.Saying mass daily and consecrating Christ.Being a true shepard to his flock.
What happens when the 99% or whatever the number is of saintly priests retire,die or quit in disgust-who will replace them.Can you see many young men entering seminaries today because of this disaster?
No Priests-no Eucharist.
 
It is Christ Himself Who sustains the Church.

The standard of the Church is Jesus Christ. We must apply ourselves to Him; rather it is about Who Christ is rather than about us.

It is the theology of the Cross. It is the Crucified Lord we must follow daily, not our pride and ego, our plans and programs.

We are supposed to be the Christian brotherhood, but the Church has either gotten too bureaucratic, and priests placed on pedestals.

Abuse needs to be brought into the light. But I must also reflect on some of the teachings of St. Catherine of Siena regarding the priesthood and Christ’s relationship to them. It does present a dilemna. I will get it and share it in the next post. It is something I continue to ponder and have concern.
 
That is a statement that I have difficulty believing.

Similar teacher transfers have happened in the public school system, done by women administrators.

They fell for the same lines from the same ‘mental health’ professionals that the bishops did, that these people were ‘cured’ and they didn’t want to damage any careers.

So no, women were (and are) not immune
Her comment is also sexist. As if men are inherently untrustworthy and corrupt and if we only had some women in charge they would bring integrity to the Church.

Its offensive.
 
I don’t believe in the word “sexist.” It is entirely political and has no meaning outside of that sphere. The idea that women are a separate species than men is simply radical feminist thought.

No. Women will not be elevated as secularists like to think. Mary is the archetype for women, not radical feminism which seeks to drive a wedge between the complementary relationship between men and women. Our esteem for all people, men and women, comes from the fact that we are all children of God.

God bless,
Ed
 
I don’t believe in the word “sexist.” It is entirely political and has no meaning outside of that sphere. The idea that women are a separate species than men is simply radical feminist thought.

No. Women will not be elevated as secularists like to think. Mary is the archetype for women, not radical feminism which seeks to drive a wedge between the complementary relationship between men and women. Our esteem for all people, men and women, comes from the fact that we are all children of God.

God bless,
Ed
Bless you too, Ed.
 
I don’t believe in the word “sexist.” It is entirely political and has no meaning outside of that sphere. The idea that women are a separate species than men is simply radical feminist thought.

No. Women will not be elevated as secularists like to think. Mary is the archetype for women, not radical feminism which seeks to drive a wedge between the complementary relationship between men and women. Our esteem for all people, men and women, comes from the fact that we are all children of God.

God bless,
Ed
I think you may have missed the point of the post in which this comment was made. I believe what the poster is saying is that this is the way that Noonan thinks - that women can handle everything better than men can, Noonan is the one who is elevating women, not the poster. It is sexist in that Noonan is saying that women are better and wiser than men. And I agree with you, it does drive a wedge between men and women. Mary is indeed our model, and she was and is the personification of humility and service, not something that the feminists are big on. And it doesn’t seem to be something Peggy Noonan is too big on, either.
 
The chapter I am referring to is ‘The Mystic Body of Holy Church’. The writing is in the first person of Jesus Christ. It begins, ‘Now I will answer what you asked me concerning the ministers of holy Church. First, so you may better come to know the truth,…and consider their excellence and the great dignity in which I have placed them.’

First God refers to Himself. '…I want to tell you of the dignity in which my goodness has established them. This is beyond the love that I have shown in general to all my creatures by creating you in my image and likeness and re-creating all of you in grace through my only begotten Son’s blood. You attained such excellence because of the union I effected between my Godhead and human nature that your excellence and dignity is greater than that of the angels. For it was your nature I assumed, not that of the angels. So, as I told you, I, God, became a man and humanity became God through the union of my divine nature with your human nature.

This greatness is given to every person in general, but from among the rest I have chosen my ministers for your salvation, so that through them the blood of the humble spotless Lamb, my only-begotten Son, might be administered to you. It is the sun I have given them to administer, for I have given them the light of learning, the heat of divine charity, and the color that is fused with the heat and the light, the blood and body of my Son. His body is indeed a sun, for it is one thing with me, the true Sun…the unity that can neither be separated nor cut off from the other…’

‘I am that Sun, God eternal, whence proceed the Son and the Holy Spirit. To the Holy Spirit is appropriated fire, and to the Son, wisdom…And in that wisdom my ministers receive a gracious light for administering this light with lightsome gratitude for the blessing they received from me the eternal Father when they followed the teaching of this Wisdom, my only-begotten Son…’

‘Each one of you bring your own candle, that is, holy desire with which you receive and eat this sacrament…It is I who have given you the candle with which you can receive this light and nourish it within you. And your candle is love, because it is for love that I created you, so without love you cannot have life.’

He goes on to say that when we approach the Eucharist while guilty of deadly sin would receive no grace from it…The passage goes on to describe the reception of the Eucharist with holy desire. When we receive this sacrament, Christ lives in us and we in Him. 'When this appearance of bread has been consumed, I leave behind the imprint of my grace, just as a seal that is pressed into warm wax leaves its imprint when it is lifted off…the power of the sacrament remains there, the wisdom of the Son remains there, leaving the soul with strength ‘and power, which make her strong and powerful against her selfish sensuality and against the devil and the world.’

‘I told you this so you may better know how I have dignified my ministers, and thus grieve the more over their wickedness. If they themselves had considered their dignity, they would not have fallen into the darkness of deadly sin nor muddied the face of their souls. Not only have they sinned against me and against their own dignity,l but even had they given their bodies to be burned they would not have been able to repay me for the tremendous grace and blessing they have received, for it is impossible to have a greater dignity than theirs’.

‘They are my anointed ones and I call them my ‘christs’ because I have appointed them to be my ministers to you and have sent them like fragrant flowers into the mystic body of holy Church.’
 
I found it eminently distasteful that Cardinal Law refers to himself as “the Church,” and the way he infers that criticizing him is attacking the Church. His Eminence is not the Church, he is only one member of the Body. Do these men not understand that they are servants, and not masters? They serve the whole Church, which is mostly the laity - too often it seems that they only served the clergy. A bishop should ask himself “what is the best course of action for the souls of my flock?” Not the clericalist “best course of action to protect our reputation & authority.” The bishops of the last few decades are much more akin to the Pharisees whom Jesus criticized, than the Apostles. Meditation on Matthew 19:30 & Mark 10:31 seems in order.

In fact the whole article is distasteful, especially Noonan’s misguided premise that the Church can be saved by us, and her misandristic conclusion that women can do the saving! Women are not morally superior to men, and only Christ saves His Church; anyone blessed to be His instrument must give Him the glory. I do believe that our present Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is so blessed.
 
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