The Pfleger-ization of the Catholic Church

[jenkiedad]

Today’s column by Michelle Malkin: The Pfleger-ization of the Catholic Church

townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2010/04/09/the_pfleger-ization_of_the_catholic_church?page=1

"So much that you need to know about the Catholic Church’s social policy problems can be summed up in one word: Chicago. On race, abortion, guns, immigration and “community organizing,” Catholic Church officials in the Windy City have forged unholy alliances with radical left-wingers and enablers who undermine the faith – and the faithful. "

 

[PacoG]

The American right’s attack on the Church has been gathering for some time now. We’ve seen the left’s offensive against the Church because it has been occurring in the open the last two weeks.

However, the right’s attack has occurred quietly and subtly since Benedict released his encyclical Caritas in Veritate. Glenn Beck and his substitute both referred to it as socialist feel goodism. Then you have had Glenn Beck ranting, equating socialist liberation theology with the flawed but pro-life seemless garment doctrine. Beck has also equated Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker Movement and Catholic Social Teaching as expressed in Leo XIII’s *Rerum Novarum * with Rev. Pfleger and Socialism.

Like the Left’s attacks result from the Church’s refusal to buy into the Left’s socialist agenda, the proximate cause of the Right’s attack is the Church’s refusal to buy into lazziez faire economics and unbridled capitalism. The Church doesn’t have and has never had friends at either end of the political spectrum. The Left seeks to destroy her. The right seeks to subdue her.

When I was in college at the University of Texas, a professor once told us that those in power have always suspected and disliked the Catholic Church because of its independence and its ability to speak the truth to power. The monarchs and aristocracy of Western Europe historically envied their Eastern Orthodox counterparts in Eastern Europe because the Orthodox Churches were national churches and, thus, under the thumb of the king and ruling class of the respective nation. This professor said that seeds of the Henry VIII’s Protestant Rebellion in England, for example, were sown when the Church forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. After that, English monarchs looked for a way to squash the Church’s independence. The Right has been an enemy of the Church longer than the Left has existed.

The point is that the Church has no friends in the powers of this world. Neither Glenn Beck/Michelle Malkin on the Right nor Christopher Hitchens on the Left will be loyal allies. Both are sides are agents of the Enemy. And the Enemy sees the Church as weak today so he is going to press from all sides and activate his agents on all sides.

As the hymn O salutaris Hostia goes:

Our foes press hard on every side;
Your aid supply; Your strength bestow.

 

[irishpatrick]

The American right’s attack on the Church has been gathering for some time now. We’ve seen the left’s offensive against the Church because it has been occurring in the open the last two weeks.

However, the right’s attack has occurred quietly and subtly since Benedict released his encyclical Caritas in Veritate. Glenn Beck and his substitute both referred to it as socialist feel goodism. Then you have had Glenn Beck ranting, equating socialist liberation theology with the flawed but pro-life seemless garment doctrine. Beck has also equated Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker Movement and Catholic Social Teaching as expressed in Leo XIII’s *Rerum Novarum * with Rev. Pfleger and Socialism.

Like the Left’s attacks result from the Church’s refusal to buy into the Left’s socialist agenda, the proximate cause of the Right’s attack is the Church’s refusal to buy into lazziez faire economics and unbridled capitalism. The Church doesn’t have and has never had friends at either end of the political spectrum. The Left seeks to destroy her. The right seeks to subdue her.

When I was in college at the University of Texas, a professor once told us that those in power have always suspected and disliked the Catholic Church because of its independence and its ability to speak the truth to power. The monarchs and aristocracy of Western Europe historically envied their Eastern Orthodox counterparts in Eastern Europe because the Orthodox Churches were national churches and, thus, under the thumb of the king and ruling class of the respective nation. This professor said that seeds of the Henry VIII’s Protestant Rebellion in England, for example, were sown when the Church forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. After that, English monarchs looked for a way to squash the Church’s independence. The Right has been an enemy of the Church longer than the Left has existed.

The point is that the Church has no friends in the powers of this world. Neither Glenn Beck/Michelle Malkin on the Right nor Christopher Hitchens on the Left will be loyal allies. Both are sides are agents of the Enemy. And the Enemy sees the Church as weak today so he is going to press from all sides and activate his agents on all sides.

As the hymn O salutaris Hostia goes:

Our foes press hard on every side;
Your aid supply; Your strength bestow.

Beck does not speak for the majority on the right (he is a radical in many ways and makes a lot of money with his over the top extremism).

The so-called right simply wants the Catholic Church to be…wait for it…gasp…Catholic! What a horror, what a terrible thing for people on the right to do, what a viscious attack to want the Catholic Church to actually become Catholic again.

The right is NO enemy of the Church. It simply expects the Church to hold-up its end of the deal and if the truth be told, the Church has let us down many times. The Catholic faith never lets us down, but the Church sure has and that is an undeniable fact. Abortion would not be legal if the Church, and Catholics, would simply be Catholic. The same goes for same sex marriage and a list of other things…as the Catholic Church goes, so does the world.

 

[Dandelion_Wine]

Like the Left’s attacks result from the Church’s refusal to buy into the Left’s socialist agenda, the proximate cause of the Right’s attack is the Church’s refusal to buy into lazziez faire economics and unbridled capitalism.

Well put.

 

[irishpatrick]

Well put.

Simply false.

 

[mb1122]

I don’t agree with you on your views of the Right as far as the Church is concerned. I believe the Right is right in line with Church teachings. We are pro-human life in all it’s stages, from birth to natural death. We believe that we should help our fellow man by empowering him to help himself, and not be dependant on the goverment. And we concede that we answer to a higher power than ourselves. The rest is all politics.

 

[beeliner]

1. Beck has also equated Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker Movement and Catholic Social Teaching as expressed in Leo XIII’s *Rerum Novarum * with Rev. Pfleger and Socialism.
2. [T]he Left’s attacks result from the Church’s refusal to buy into the Left’s socialist agenda…

1. Dorothy Day and the CWM of her time were unabashedly Communist, not Socialist. That was a long time ago.
2. Run that by me again? Most countries which are overwhelmingly Catholic could certainly be described as Socialist or socialistic. I’m not aware of many instances of politicians in those countries attacking the Church or vice-versa. Maybe you could give some examples.

 

[irishpatrick]

I don’t agree with you on your views of the Right as far as the Church is concerned. I believe the Right is right in line with Church teachings. We are pro-human life in all it’s stages, from birth to natural death. We believe that we should help our fellow man by empowering him to help himself, and not be dependant on the goverment. And we concede that we answer to a higher power than ourselves. The rest is all politics.

Many people try to equate money theories with abortion and protecting life, as if they are on the same moral level.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

Malkin is wrong about ‘unholy alliances with radical leftists.’ What she fails to credit is the fact that Father Pfleger, by any assessment, is an anomaly in the archdiocese. There are a number of parishes on the south side and a number of pastors who act in a far different manner.

And then there is Cardinal George. He runs the place and has never been even on the Church’s left wing. Malkin should have mentioned Father Clements and his work with adoption of children. That is surely a Chicago-style movement within the Church.

Once again, I have attended services at St. Sabina and I also took part in their gun buy-back. Folks on the outside tend to paint the pastor in broad strokes and their strident commentary is quite often inaccurate.

And Catholics within the archdiocese make much less of the situation than outsiders who seem to think the subject to be within their province and understanding.

 

[csuliman]

The so-called right simply wants the Catholic Church to be…wait for it…gasp…Catholic! What a horror, what a terrible thing for people on the right to do, what a viscious attack to want the Catholic Church to actually become Catholic again.

Of course, those on the left would also agree that the Church should be Catholic again- their version of Catholic. What both sides want is the Church to conform to their ideas of what being a Catholic means- the left tend to focus on the social justice aspect while the right focuses on freedom, pro-life aspect.

My opinion is that there is nothing wrong with advocating for your interpretation of what being Catholic means. However, it is disingenuous to claim that what you are doing is not spouting your view but rather just defending the REAL Catholic way.

 

[irishpatrick]

Of course, those on the left would also agree that the Church should be Catholic again- their version of Catholic. What both sides want is the Church to conform to their ideas of what being a Catholic means- the left tend to focus on the social justice aspect while the right focuses on freedom, pro-life aspect.

My opinion is that there is nothing wrong with advocating for your interpretation of what being Catholic means. However, it is disingenuous to claim that what you are doing is not spouting your view but rather just defending the REAL Catholic way.

Not true. The right does not define what the faith it, the Church does and the right accepts that. The left wants to tell the Church what the faith should be.

For example: the right accepts the Church’s position that abortion is an intrinsic evil. The left does not, they want to be able to feel one way in Church, and another way everywhere else.

That example can be applied to tons of teachings and issues. The right says, “hey this is what the Church actually teaches,” while the left says “this is what the Church should teach about x.”

There really is only ONE authentic Catholic way. We either accept and try to live by all of the teachings of the Church, or we are not being fully Catholic. The left wants to pick-and-choose, the right tries to accept and live by what the faith actually teaches.

 

[tr1strev]

The right is NO enemy of the Church. It simply expects the Church to hold-up its end of the deal and if the truth be told, the Church has let us down many times. The Catholic faith never lets us down, but the Church sure has and that is an undeniable fact. Abortion would not be legal if the Church, and Catholics, would simply be Catholic. The same goes for same sex marriage and a list of other things…as the Catholic Church goes, so does the world.

Well said and true. When does Cardinal George turn 75?

 

[tr1strev]

Well said and true. When does Cardinal George turn 75?

Less then 2 years, to answer my own question.

 

[irishpatrick]

Well said and true. When does Cardinal George turn 75?

Janury 2012…a bit more than a year and half until Chicago gets a new Sheperd.

 

[Monica02]

Michelle Malkin’s article is right on track. The Archdiocese of Chicago is infested with lefties. Elena Segura was director of the Chicago CCHD for about eight years. She was not even Catholic when she was hired and did not convert until a few years ago. Why would a non-Catholic get such a position? Do we have a shortage of qualified Catholics? In a conversation she told me she was a SOCIALIST in her native Peru. I asked her if whe was still a socialist and she told me that she was not. She was given another department/project dealing with immigration and her replacement at CCHD (Rey Flores) used to work for the SEIU - another lefty group.

The normal politics of Chicago is very left - how did this develop with most people in Chicago being Catholic? One would think that a politician in Chicago would think “Oh my - Chicago is mostly Catholic - I cannot win being pro-abortion”. This is not the case. Most Chicago politicians (Lipinski is a happy, notable exception) have to be pro-aborts to win. Durbin used to be pro-life and had to switch to get the support of his party. Chicago and Illinois Catholics vote for these pols with no problem.

Conservative (orhthodox, if you will) Catholics get ridiculed and marginalized in their own Church. There are three parishes in the Archdiocese where these people are told to go if they do not like how things are at their lefty parish.

 

[cyberwolf001]

The American right’s attack on the Church has been gathering for some time now. We’ve seen the left’s offensive against the Church because it has been occurring in the open the last two weeks.

However, the right’s attack has occurred quietly and subtly since Benedict released his encyclical Caritas in Veritate. Glenn Beck and his substitute both referred to it as socialist feel goodism. Then you have had Glenn Beck ranting, equating socialist liberation theology with the flawed but pro-life seemless garment doctrine. Beck has also equated Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker Movement and Catholic Social Teaching as expressed in Leo XIII’s *Rerum Novarum * with Rev. Pfleger and Socialism.

Like the Left’s attacks result from the Church’s refusal to buy into the Left’s socialist agenda, the proximate cause of the Right’s attack is the Church’s refusal to buy into lazziez faire economics and unbridled capitalism. The Church doesn’t have and has never had friends at either end of the political spectrum. The Left seeks to destroy her. The right seeks to subdue her.

When I was in college at the University of Texas, a professor once told us that those in power have always suspected and disliked the Catholic Church because of its independence and its ability to speak the truth to power. The monarchs and aristocracy of Western Europe historically envied their Eastern Orthodox counterparts in Eastern Europe because the Orthodox Churches were national churches and, thus, under the thumb of the king and ruling class of the respective nation. This professor said that seeds of the Henry VIII’s Protestant Rebellion in England, for example, were sown when the Church forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. After that, English monarchs looked for a way to squash the Church’s independence. The Right has been an enemy of the Church longer than the Left has existed.

The point is that the Church has no friends in the powers of this world. Neither Glenn Beck/Michelle Malkin on the Right nor Christopher Hitchens on the Left will be loyal allies. Both are sides are agents of the Enemy. And the Enemy sees the Church as weak today so he is going to press from all sides and activate his agents on all sides.

As the hymn O salutaris Hostia goes:

Our foes press hard on every side;
Your aid supply; Your strength bestow.

Saddly many Catholics in America worship the Right Wing and not their God.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

Michelle Malkin’s article is right on track. The Archdiocese of Chicago is infested with lefties.

How do you know that? Do you know of Bishop Paprocki? Watch out! He has a law degree!

My opinion is that there is nothing wrong with advocating for your interpretation of what being Catholic means. However, it is disingenuous to claim that what you are doing is not spouting your view but rather just defending the REAL Catholic way.

Amen to that.

 

[Onyx88]

I don’t agree with you on your views of the Right as far as the Church is concerned. I believe the Right is right in line with Church teachings. We are pro-human life in all it’s stages, from birth to natural death. We believe that we should help our fellow man by empowering him to help himself, and not be dependant on the goverment. And we concede that we answer to a higher power than ourselves. The rest is all politics.

i agree

 

[BobCatholic]

And then there is Cardinal George. He runs the place and has never been even on the Church’s left wing.

Problem: He does absolutely NOTHING about Pffffffffffffffffleger (I pronounce his name with razz’s)

I remember complaining to the Archdiocese when I saw leftist literature being passed out at a major youth get-together at Dominican University sponsored by a Archdiocese department. Got no response, surprise.

Doing nothing about big-mouth leftists is SCANDALOUS.

 

[Monica02]

How do you know that? Do you know of Bishop Paprocki? Watch out! He has a law degree!

I did not say the Archdiocese was without some non-lefties. Of course I know of Bishop Paprocki and his law degree - I also think he plays hockey - so what? The Archdiocese of Chicago has thousands of employees and it is infested with lefties. Sure, there is a spattering of possibly orthodox Catholics - but they are indeed the minority. Why are Catholics told to “parish shop” for a conservative parish? Shouldn’t all parishes be true to the teachings of the church?

I will try and find the report that tallied the primary ballots of the Chicago clergy - 80%+ of priests and all bishops that voted in the primary pulled a Democratic ballot. Most Democrats from Chicago and Illinois are not even “moderate” Democrats - most are really left. They all could not vote for Lipinski ( the current reps father - who was also pro-life). Maybe they voted for the dem Poshard (If my memory serves me correctly he was pro-life )? I believe the report covered several election cycles so they all could not have pulled the Democratic ballot to vote for Poshard.

Okay - yes Bishop Paprocki stated he voted Repuplican so do not bother finding the article where he stated that - I already know that. The study I saw was done years before. The fact is - Chicago spawned Obama and is a center of Church dissent - people complain and complain and nothing ever gets done. Same ole, same ole.