I am still partially unplugged, but, having reengaged a little. Enough to have read a few headlines, my blood-pressure to spike, and then to chuckle at something unintentionally hilarious in its entirely intended malice.
First, compare and contrast.
At Church Militant, there is a piece about how bishops in the Eastern states created a “pipeline” for seminarians from S. America who had been released because of their homosexuality. One of the dioceses implicated is Newark, where McCarrick once was and where Tobin is now.
Speaking of Tobin, the Cardinal Archbishop of Newark, according to a shocking piece at CNA, is said that not to have head of a a “gay sub-culture” there. In once sense, I could understand that, given that Tobin was a religious before he was made a bishop, and not diocesan. On the other hand, pretty much every American priest I knew, both in these USA and in Rome, knew at least about the infamous McCarrick.
Moving to “gay sub-culture”, one of its stalwart defenders, Madame Wile E. Lafarge – Michael Sean Winters, at the radically pro-homosexualist National Sodomitical Reporter (aka Fishwrap) has taken exception to the statement of Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison. Bp. Morlino has forthrightly stated that The Present Crisis in the Church is truly a problem of homosexual priests acting on their inclinations rather than strictly of pedophilia. THAT‘s the key strategy of the homsexualists and their activists: by any means possible they must separate homosexuality from pedophilia. Especially, for the truly committed homosexualists, the next hill to storm is the age of consent. Watch them repeat and repeat and repeat that what predator bishops and priests were doing was about “children” and this has nothing to do with homosexuality which, they say, is consensual. Anyway, Madame Lafarge has a new word to add to his knitting: Feenyite. Here’s what the tricoteuse dreamt up this time:
On the other hand, at the Catholic News Agency, Bishop Robert Morlino discusses what he thinks is the core issue in the clergy sex abuse crisis: “In the specific situations at hand, we are talking about deviant sexual — almost exclusively homosexual — acts by clerics. We’re also talking about homosexual propositions and abuses against seminarians and young priests by powerful priests, bishops, and cardinals. We are talking about acts and actions which are not only in violation of the sacred promises made by some, in short, sacrilege, but also are in violation of the natural moral law for all. To call it anything else would be deceitful and would only ignore the problem further.” I will resist the urge to defer to his expertise and merely note that Morlino has become a leader of the neo-Feeneyites, who wish to roll back the clock to the 1950s. It is a fool’s errand and Morlino is just the fool to lead it.
Holy cow. They must really be getting scared, to stoop that low. Then again, this is from the one who wants to sit by a guillotine and watch the people disagree with him die. Also, when you read this sort of trash from Fishwrap‘s prized writer, you are reading the position of their entire publication. MSW is Fishwrap’s chattering Id.
On the other hand, these “neo” labels are more and more amusing! Beans, on Twitter, talks about “neo-traditionalists” or “neo-jacobins” (- not sure quite what that last one means). Another guy came up with something like “neo-ultramontanists” to describe people who were resisting Pope Francis! That’s real creativity. Like the guy in the movie: “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”
If Catholics are experiencing a kind of “rage mode” right now, then catholics are in “panic mode”.
UPDATE
Up above, what’s his face snarked about “wanting the 50’s back”, which is the laziest of the many clichés in which lib-haters regularly traffic.
Today I had the great pleasure to leaf briefly through a book about beautiful churches of Chicago. It was an eye-opener. I’ve seen a few of the better known buildings, but, frankly, I had no idea. I am now determined to have a”steeple chase” here one day, and visit more of these great temples.
Back to Madame and his snark.
In the text about Chicagoland church Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, held by the Servites, I read that back in the 30’s – and surely this perdured through the 50’s and perhaps up through the Vatican Council (but I doubt beyond) – they had to have 38 regular services of the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows for some 700,000 participants, “spilling out into the streets and lining up for blocks”.
“Want the 50’s back?” Damn straight. I want our identity and heritage back. We knew who we were and we were building, not collapsing. On the other hand, we have far better antibiotics and indoor plumbing now, and you would not be reading this on your mobile device. (Some would say that would be better.)
HEY BISHOPS! FATHERS!
15 September is Our Lady of Sorrows.
Why not have a Pontifical Mass with the intention of reparation for homosexual sins committed by clergy? How they must offend Our Lady Immaculate Heart!
Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us.
Loading ...
“…who wish to roll back the clock to the 1950s … a fool’s errand.” — MSW
I have been listening to The Great Courses, “The Renaissance” and the professor has the gumption to say that the whole renaissance thingy was from people who wanted to roll back the clock to the great roman classicists. A fool’s errand I suppose.
“…who wish to roll back the clock to the 1950s … a fool’s errand.”
Why a fool’s errand? Can anyone name a single good thing that’s happened to the Church since the halcyon days of the 1950s?
Well, if we all must make up words with a “neo-” prefix, how about neocultures Heliogabali? Too close?
If being a neo-Feeneyite means restoring the Great Commission by doing away with the effective universalism that was washed ashore by the tide of Nostra Aetate (arguably homo-priest Gregory Baum’s magnum opus), that’s an errand this fool can live with.
How about rolling back to the 1590s?
Dreher has an interview with a former seminarian who says he is homosexual. He attended a seminary in the North East in the 2000s and reliably relates that his experience was one of terrible pressure from other homosexuals. He referred to a man who went by a woman’s name as an alter ego whenever he wanted to complain about things (I saw similar behavior quite often in the seminary and at priest social gatherings). One would never see a heterosexual seminarian act in such a campy way, nor can one imagine a heterosexual priest acting in such a manner.
While I’m not hopeful for a positive and lasting solution to come out of the bishop’s meeting in November or even the inevitable apostolic visitation, after those are completed, we will be able to clearly see where individual bishops stand. If they say this is, in large part, a homosexual problem, they are on one side. If they say it has nothing to do with homosexuality but is instead a problem of “clericalism” or “power” and the solution is to be found in better procedures, we will know they are on the other side. Of course, the line is already well-drawn between the main players, but these months ahead will require bishops to show where they stand.
Unholy cow. Missieur (cut it out, Spellchecker, I WANT to spell it that way) Lafarge should try rolling the clock back about 1900 years before the 1950s and read what people who actually heard Christ speak had to say about homosexuality in the Didache. Try working that into your knitting!
I believe this will ultimately turn out much like the “homoousion vs. homoiousion” litmus test in the days of the Arian heresy. Those who refused to acknowledge that “one iota” fall under suspicion by the Christian community. Those bishops that refuse to acknowledge the homosexual sub-culture in seminaries and dioceses and the need to eliminate these groups will not get the vocations.
Ezekiel 34
Our Shepherds have not shepherd us. God is our Shepherd right now and He will show us the way.
I mean why on earth would we want to go back to the 50s? In some areas (for all our advances) we are still catching up with the Ancient Greeks vis vis technology and we’re definitely behind them in terms of morals
Now whilst time travel is impossible…….. I say lets break out the fleet of Delorions and set course for the Academy :)
Eventually EVERYTHING that happens in the dark comes into the light. ALL will be known and all who continue to live in the dark will be known. The ONLY way to correct the abuse and to make sure it does NOT continue in any way shape or form is to let it be known that ONE instance of any type of indecent behavior of ANY kind with ANY minor, young person, or even adult will be IMMEDIATELY and clearly made known to all. If the law has been broken in any way shape or form then it will be turned over to the legal authorities to deal with as proper. Nothing that is done and stays in the dark does any good for anybody. But when the full, honest, complete truth is told then it can be addressed and properly dealt with. What needs to be put in place are people to whom ANY instance of any kind by anybody in the Church can be reported and taken for truth and dealt with as swiftly and as completely as possible. No one should worry about talking to their superior and being ignored by them. If there were person’s that were not their superiors and they knew would take action on reports no matter what this may not have gotten to the point is has gotten. The Church can fix this and can do MUCH MUCH better. They owe it to all of us. They owe it to the Church and they owe it to God to do what is right no matter whose toes get stepped on in the process.
Henry Edward asked:
Can anyone name a single good thing that’s happened to the Church since the halcyon days of the 1950s?
Lots of things:
I was born.
My patron, St. Martin de Porres, was canonized.
So there.
That Servite parish was home to Fr. Peter Rookey.
Henry Edwards: I would have to say Humanae vitae, Lumen gentium and Nostra aetate (without both of which I would not have become Catholic), and virtually every major encyclical, apostolic constitution, etc. of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Another revelatory moment. By way of an outrageous admonition to the priests of the Archdiocese of Newark we have all been told to “shut up.”
Someone is feeling some heat?
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/new-allegations-surface-regarding-archbishop-mccarrick-and-newark-priests
He didn’t know? I think he protests far too much. Everyone knew about McCarrick. If I found out in 2001 believe me, everyone knew. And anyone who has crossed the threshold of a seminary or religious house “knows,” “has a sense of things.” God willing it is not under the roof where you are, but the grapevine is long indeed. Dioceses and communities have reputations.
The cardinal Archbishop of Newark: A Redemptorist religious, a bishop, an archbishop of Indianapolis, a secretary for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and he didn’t have the temperature of what was going on? He has lived in the episcopal loop for years. What is the state of our seminary and who are the seminarians would be the first question out of my mouth if I was in his shoes when he was transferred to Newark in 2017. You aren’t working the stage by yourself after all.
The man does not impress me as clueless, so what other explanation exists? For credence I’ll put my money on the anonymous clerical sources from Newark.
Fr. Fox: “I was born. My patron, St. Martin de Porres, was canonized.”
Agreed. Two very good things, indeed.
msc: I would disagree on Humanae Vitae being *that* good. It pales compared to Casti Conubii. Nostra Aetate also has some questionable aspects which, if I remember correctly, can lead to indifferentism.
All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the Evil One.
Wish the made up words would stop. What is a neo-traditionalist? According to the dictionary: “That returns to or revives traditional methods, styles, ways of life, etc., especially while incorporating contemporary elements or influences.”. But surely if they are so backwards looking and Vatican 2 hating then they can’t be incorporating contemporary influences???
Pingback: Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report: VVednesday Edition – Big Pulpit
…but I do want the 1950’s back.
And I want the 1850’s, and the 1750’s, and the 1650’s, and the 1550’s back as well. Is this so much to ask?
Neo-Feeneyite?
In that term one may sense a veiled attack on Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who worked first at the CDF and then in his pontificate to regularize most Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Should not Mr. Winters be more like his Mercifulnnes and the God of Surprises?
Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica, where the classic solemn Mass of Easter narrated by Fulton Sheen was filmed in 1941 (youtube here).
Near the beginning—in describing the cope worn by the priest during the Vidi aquam (sprinkling) rite—Msgr. Sheen delivers the unforgettable line
“The large cape worn by the celebrant is called a cope. …. Its use today is continued in memory of the ancient tradition. It is a long-established principle of the Church never to completely drop from her public worship any ceremony, object, or prayer which once occupied a place in that worship.”
Little could he have known how ironic this would sound three decades later, when the solemn high Mass as it had been known for centuries was (for most) but a forlorn lost memory.
This gay lobby claims what McCarrick did was consensual! NO! Lies!
The coercive use of power and authority makes the sins much more grave, as it is with the abuse of children. But inability to achieve continence must disbar from ordination, quite apart from the candidates sexual predisposition.
george: “can lead to”? Virtually anything can lead to anything. Almost every major church doctrine has led to some form of heresy or at least perverted interpretation of that doctrine. Anyway, for me Nostra aetate is massively important and my deep love for John Paul II was only enhanced by his enrichment of its teachings. I will now also add Dignitatis humanae to my previous little list.
Madame Defarge is “such a nasty woman”.
http://journeytoorthodoxy.com/2010/06/crunchy-cons-conversion-crisis I”ve thought about crossing the Tiber and going Orthodox, but I made a vow to God to remain Catholic:.
I think we need to roll back farther than the 50s, bluntly. Vatican II only went the way it did because of what was *already present* in the Church in the 50s. The cancer was present, even though the patient as of yet had not had any symptoms.
Msc, I would also add to your list Gaudium et Spes. Which is a beautiful document.
I don’t want to go back to the 1950’s, even though there were manifestly some good things going on then.
No, the future lies with the traditional faith, the traditional liturgy and traditional piety. We had 55 young people confirmed out of two parishes this past Sunday. (That’s 55 total, not 55 each).
Imagine wanting to look FORWARD to the arrival of the St. Louis Jesuits, or Haugen and Haas, or Amoris Laetitia. I want all of that in the rear view mirror, fading out of sight, thank you very much.
I find no fault in what Bishop Morlino has said. I wish more bishops, especially some on the eastern side of the Atlantic, had the courage to speak plainly about sexual morals.
@Crabbetrywe: here here! We want two millennia of Catholic heritage back!
The good things about parish life in the 1950s are not somehow negated now merely because they predated the sexual revolution, which is probably the grand heyday the Fishwrap perpetually hearkens to.
Yesterday’s first reading at the Mass for the Queenship of Our Lady, struck me so clearly. It was Ezek 34 1-11. The prophet was told that because the shepherds had fed themselves on the fattest sheep and failed to feed the flock then God was going to take the flock away from those shepherds and look after the flock Himself. I almost jumped out of my skin in thinking just how up to date that reading was for what is happening today!
A poster queries what good thing has happened in our Church since the 50s. I can think of two.
As some have mentioned; Nostra Aetate. At least we’ve given up so denigrating other faith traditions that we feel the need in the name of a governing authority to persecute.
Second: the Novus Ordo. I am 75 years old and have grown up over the years under both rituals. I look at the Tridentine Mass as close to the Aaronite priesthood of the Hebrew Scriptures: a priest separated from the people acting alone. [Which suggests that, even at your age, you don’t get it … yet.] In our pre-Vatican II Mass we had a priest separated from the people, [Which priests, by definition, are, and aren’t.] back to the congregation [Canard.] in prayer silently. [Umm… no.] We emphasized the sacrificial nature of the Mass to the loss of Mass as meal. “Take and eat; take and drink.” [Narrow.] We lost the altar/table. [ROFL!] We lost the tradition of the earliest post-apostolic communities. [You are now out of your depth.] We lost the tradition of the Sunday liturgy of Justin Martyr where the community worship was led by a president. And we lost the celebration of Mass as a meal to the point where the Church had to mandate that we receive Communion at least once a year. [As opposed to everyone receiving in the state of mortal sin.]
I am happy to go to church on Sunday to garher around the altar table with our pastor/presider where men and women share in the ministries of proclaiming the Word and sharing the body and blood of Jesus with the assembly.
[A buzz word generator could hardly have done a better job. You might try broadening out a bit.]
Return to the 1950’s!? Hah!
There’s no going back. I can no more pray with the innocence of my grandfather than Magdalene could hope to die a virgin.
I was brought into a spiritual cesspool before I had the choice or even the ability of reason to so choose. May I be capable of fully forgiving before I draw my last breath.
To Dismas: please stop identifying Mary of Magdala with a prostitute. This confusion of Marys is attributed to Pooe Gregory the Great.
It’s not a Mass of reparation, but Bishop Persico of Erie did specifically set aside the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows for all churches in his diocese to be open for prayer and reflection from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Perhaps some priests there will offer Masses of reparation during that time. I pray that they do.
@Henry Edwards
Q. Anything good after the 50s?
A. The Second Vatican Council.
Even if it is at least in theory and not in reality, there are many many positive aspects of it. I think it is a bit naïve to think that the chaos was produced by the Council itself. Many of the problems would have come with or without the Council, just like Trent and the Protestant Deformation could have happened a bit after or before. The Chaos was there and the spirit of the council is the excuse.
Often many “liberals” and “traditionalist” live very much in the past (I think almost all liberals and many traditionalists). For instance pushing for diaconettes is very much a pre-VCII thing, in which we think that to “promote” the laity is to clericalize them, and the more the better. This is pushed by people, I think, who do not understand a bit of what VCII is. The same for liturgy.
They are many positive aspects of the relationship between the Church and the World, the role of the laity, many things of the Sacrosanctum Concilium, etc., that still have to be understood and implemented.
Vatican Council II is still a paper, waiting for its saints to arrive.
Re Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica.
My dad attended these novenas during the Depression and also, I believe, during WWII. On Fridays, I believe, that massive basilica would empty out only to be refilled immediately about every half hour.
My son and I visited the basilica about fifteen years ago, knocked on the priory door and a priest kindly let us wander that vast space. I picked up some literature then that indicated that in imitation of this phenomenon 2200 parishes throughout the U.S. erected their own stations of the Seven Sorrows of Mary and instituted the novena on Fridays. Among these was St. Joan of Arc parish in Lisle, Illinois which only took down those stations sometime in the 80’s. Perhaps the stations were removed simply because parishioners lost interest and were no longer attending the novena.
When I found the novena booklet among my father’s papers after he died, I began to say the novena myself, to wonderful effect. When I attempted to promote it among the charismatics of True House in 1973, I was shut down abruptly. We were beyond such a morbid, penitential spirituality and were singing a new church into being, doncha know. For myself, I do not doubt the genuineness of the charismatic renewal at all, but it began to dawn on me after a while that we are not going to get to heaven merely by singing songs.
There is no essential incompatibility, though, between being penitential and joyous, between compunction and praise. Certainly we have emphasized one at the expense of the other right down the line and it is killing us.
For myself, I gringe now at the pointing fingers and the j’accuse of so many bloggers and commenters. Until we ALL repent massively of our all too sybaritic lives, our incredible softness and lack of discipline ( speaking in broad generalities, I admit, but it is true enough of the church in the West) we will once again leave unaddressed the underlying causes of the shame that has fallen on all of us Catholics..
It was sin, some bishops insist. Sin is the problem. Okay, but what are the underlying causes of this sinfulness? Leave these unaddressed, and you will have more of the same in anther twenty years.
Could it be that we are wallowing in luxury, that we are compared to practically every generation of Catholics who came before us remarkably gluttonous and materialistic, that we more than every generation that ever lived been more exposed to demonic preaching, teaching and example through the mass media and are so used to it, so inured to it, that we can no longer see it for what it is? There is no decent Catholic parent of any age who would not recoil in horror, unbelief and stupefaction at the sort of thing Catholic parents have been letting into their homes for the past sixty years.
There is hardly a Catholic family who has not experienced the fruits of this preaching of demons, yet remain totally obtuse and uncomprehending, as do our spiritual leaders. How does it make ANY sense to speak of the New Evangelization without making a concerted effort to kill off the old de-evangelization. In short we, priests and people, are utterly out of touch with reality, the reality of the cross and of our rejection of a crucified life.
@Fr Reader: there are some beautiful passages in the documents of Vatican II; but the devil is in the details.
Of course Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart is offended. There are more reports of weeping statues than ever before…..”the stones will cry out”!