Catholics Cheer Pope's Remarks

Words matter. How we interpret words matter. Twisting words to massage our consciences matters.  

What did the Pope really mean during the three interviews by Antonio Spadaro, S.J. Editor in chief of La Civilta Cattolica (August 2013; Rome)? It seemed to fire the shot that was heard round the world. The interview was captured and then translated for the English world by a team of five translators. It was also translated into the various languages of the world for both believers and non. Interestingly, it continues to be in the news even a week later - that is impressive considering the news cycle seems to last one day at most - maybe a week if its huge. To read the 12000 word interview,  visit http://www.americamagazine.org/print/156341.See for yourself what you think the Pope was trying to say. This is my interpretation of his message.

 Francis' sentence (lifted from the translated document):  "The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules" does not in any way match up with the following statement from the press: "The church has become too focused on small minded rules on hot button issues like homosexuality, abortion and contraceptives?"

First, note that Pope Francis does not define when, where, and how the church has locked itself up in small things! Yet the press took that statement and defined it for the rest of us by running all of his next thoughts together as if this is the context of what he was thinking. In fact, NARAL thanked the Pope for including Abortion in this small mindedness. So what does Pope Francis do and say next? He meets with Catholic physicians the very next day and says the following: "Your being Catholic entails greater responsibility: first of all to yourself, in the effort to be consistent with the Christian vocation, and then to contemporary culture, to help recognize the transcendent dimension in human life, the imprint of the creative work of God, from the very first moment of conception. This is a commitment to the new evangelization that often requires going against the tide, paying a personal price. The Lord counts on you to spread the 'Gospel of life.'"!

Pope Francis strongly condemned abortion as a manifestation of a “throwaway culture.”

"Every unborn child, though unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of the Lord, who even before his birth, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world," the pope said. 

Do these words sound like a sentiment that NARAL can support?

The same can be said for the Pope's comments about contraception and homosexuality. As he says: he is a son of the Church. This means he has been formed by the Church and faith, hope and charity. He loves the Church but is its newest visionary, He sees how it can do more. He sees the need to bring the truth to people in a new way, a new language, and personally with love!  

I think he is saying this... Faith doesn't seem real to the little people when priests, clergy, Archbishops and Cardinals are buried by administrative details and fail to connect with the people on a daily basis - the little people not the big shots of the world. Religion doesn't seem to make a difference when so much of the donated money goes to bureaucracy rather than direct aid to the people of hurricanes, and other disaster relief. It doesn't seem to make a difference when we fail to provide ongoing help for women in troubled relationships and/or pregnancies - personally and time and  time again. It has little impact when the religion does little to nothing to support parents with special needs pregnancies. It seems to have little impact when young people attend Catholic academies for their  academics and sports and not matters of faith and charitable works of mercy and vocation development. It seems to have less impact when special needs children are left out of the Catholic education system. The pre-marriage formation programs last only weeks and we wonder why divorce is so common among believers. Church going parents seem to just be going through the motions when attending Mass and doing little to  nothing to swim against the tide of materialism and secularism. It does little good to hear the admonishments that we need to hear but think it points to someone else. It does little good to take the Pope's words and twist them so they fit my lifestyle. It does little good to talk against contraception without being able to explain why cogently and consistenly. It does little good to talk against homosexuality without conducting Catholic studies that really look at what it is and why is comes about. It does little good when we  'behold a God dead on the cross for our sake and not love him." It does little good when we behold a God dead on the cross for our sake and not be appreciative of his sacrifice and proving it by changing the way we live!

Is the Pope bringing the Church to a new place? I think so but not the place talked about in the secular press or by many of us. The real Pope is a revolutionary for Christ. He means it when he says " I ask you to be revolutionaries, to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes that you are incapable of responsibility;  that you are incapable of true love."

Does this sound to you like he is trivializing abortion, contraception and homosexuality? It sounds to me as if he is really calling us to an even higher plain - to the Beatitudes. This is a tall order and only with God's grace can we love authentically. That means being close to Christ and he never suggested that we ought to just go along to get along!

Above My Pay Grade

Sister Simone Campbell recently went viral after going on FOX News, and addressing the DNC convention. She has been tagged - and has tagged herself-  as one of several "Nuns on the Bus" (as opposed to the wheels on the bus I suppose).

Another old sing-song that she may like goes something like this: "Some like it hot, some like it cold, and some like it in the pot nine days old."

Well, it seems that Sister likes it hot because she delivers a lot of hot air   - publicly. And she seems to especially like to criticize her 'own people and her own way of life' including Cardinal Dolan, and the Catholic Church itself. She is getting popular (among certain circles at least ) because of her criticism of "the U.S. bishops for their stance on the Affordable Care Act and the HHS mandate, as well as decrying what she sees as a Church leadership too focused on the right to life of the unborn versus other aspects of the Catholic pro-life message, and more." according to the Catholic News Herald,  (http://www.catholicnewsherald.com/schools/199-news/rokstories-vote/2341-sister-simone-campbell-nun-on-the-bus-gets-cheered-at-dnc-online) Sept, 19, 2012.

Still, she seems to be able to take the heat so I am going to give her a bit more ...

Sister Campbell seems confused about who/what she really believes in. While openly criticizing really Catholic Catholics she seems to prefer to run with Catholics who have to keep reminding the rest of us that they (really) are Catholics. That's the funny thing, Cardinal Dolan never has to tell people he's really Catholic does he?  That's because we know he is Catholic by what he says,what he expressly believes, and what he does. Her friends, on the other hand, need to keep telling the rest of us that they really are Catholic! And that's because we don't recognize them as such by the way they live, act, and talk. Even they have to keep reminding themselves that they are Catholic! 

Also, when asked by O'Reilly about her stance on abortion - after delivering an impassioned sentence or two about the immorality of the Romney/Ryan plan, Sister quickly dismissed the question by saying that a discussion of abortion is "above her pay grade"! 

If you are going to insert yourself into a discussion about the immorality of certain economic plans, it seems to me that you're paid enough to be able to opine on whether killing an unborn baby is right or wrong, for heaven's sake. Even our daughter with Down Syndrome can know that with 100% clarity and without doubting herself that killing little babies seen moving around, sucking their thumbs, yawning, and stretching on ultrasounds is a black and white issue - they are human and they are alive! Who's kidding who? All of us know it's a lot easier to know life when they see one compared to  understanding the full ramifications of economic plans on the poor and displaced people!

Sister, will you please get off the bus and start holding newborns so you can really understand who you support for president - the one you back with all your might and vocal cord energy! He is the president who would allow that same child you are holding to be executed gang style just moments before birth; and all because his intelligence prevents him from knowing that "a person's a person no matter how small!

And one more comment, Sister, please pray about this. By this I mean: stop asking God to get rid of those rascally Republicans  and start asking Him to give you a heart that is obedient, humble, and one that loves enough to take up the defense for the  very least of His: the unborn child!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fortifying-Families-of-Faith/128093305549?ref=hl

Abortion debates- Contradictions in catholic circles

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I think that it important to talk briefly about some contradictions in certain catholic circles with regard to abortion. They are the following:

1.While the Church clearly teaches that abortion is the taking of new life and always morally wrong, this message somehow gets watered down among catholics in schools and jobs over concern about guilt and the abortive mother. This concern is misplaced. Evidence shows that women without "religion" still have higher rates of depression and attempted suicides than birth mothers. This evidence comes by way of several Scandanavian studies which show that while abortion is very common and assumed to not have moral consequence, so is post-abortion depression. The evidence of increased risk for depressions also comes to us from a study that was conducted in Australia. Clearly, we have to worry about the state of the post-abortion mother but not by avoiding the discussion about the right and wrong of the abortion.

2. While the Church stands up courageously for all life, many catholic schools fail to educate all of our catholic children for a variety of reasons: lack of family money, large families can't afford high tuitions, special needs children, etc. Too many catholic schools - like catholic hospitals have become more elitist in approaching education and caring for the poor and the special needs children. Is it any wonder that society overall has become less caring as they watch the faithful become less involved and concerned as well. The axiom that the more we love God the more we love others rings so true today.

3. The ideal of sending our children to catholic schools leads many families to assume a two-person income . A long time ago, I remember reading a commentary from Pope JP II; he wished mothers would stay home before taking jobs that took them away from the family and loving and nurturing their young ones. Peer pressure is hard to overcome even for parents.

4. Many Catholic schools of all levels (grade school through college) seem oblivious to the mission and vision of forming well educated, exuberant, faithfilled, authentic, students so they can become "soldiers for Christ" as popularized in the 50's. Instead, colleges (catholic) seem more prone to generate soldiers against Christ. While many parents wring their hands over the lack of catholic formation occurring at their kids' schools, they continue to pay the bills and allow this lack of formation to continue.

5. Irreligious philosophers suggested that the way to turn out people who don't need "religion" is to lure them into sexual immorality. It turns out that adopting the irreligious attitudes and behaviors is part and parcel of why we continue to debate the morality of abortion in 2010.

Abortion and the President

During President Obama's 100 Days In Office Address, he recounted his personal philosophy regarding abortion. The President answered a question about FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) by first stating that abortion was an ethical and a moral dilemma - an interesting admission! He then went on to state that a woman was much better equipped to consider the moral and ethical implications of abortion than Congress or the Courts. Too bad, using his logic, that both have already weighed in on the matter and pronounced abortion to be legal.


President Obama obviously believes in one's ability to have a fully informed and operative personal conscience - this is not an uncommon philosophy today. But, let's really examine women's ability to personally assess the ethical and moral nature of abortion when experiencing a crisis pregnancy.

First, crisis pregnancy infers that it (the pregnancy) occurred under less than ideal circumstances; either a contraceptive method failed, the mother is unmarried, a woman was raped, or she is involved in a relationship in which pregnancy is feared and/or unwanted by herself, her husband or boyfriend, or casual acquaintance. In any case, there is pressure to abort the newly conceived life by the one who fears or dreads the pregnancy. This could easily include the mother -to-be herself, her boyfriend or husband, co-workers, fellow students, or parents of the pregnant woman.

Overt pressure clouds someone's ability to reason properly. Sin also clouds our ability (conscience) to reason properly. It is fair to state that a "sin(s)" was involved in the resulting "crisis"pregnancy. When a woman is unmarried but sexually active, she and her partner commit sins against chastity. Married couples who resent a pregnancy fail to love each other authentically. Rape is an aggression against an innocent person. Therefore, most will agree that some type of unloving action occurred between two persons when a woman winds up with a crisis pregnancy. This doesn't mean that good can't result from the pregnancy, with God all things are possible.

Recently, a commentary reminded me how sin clouds our intellect and our ability to reason properly while disposing us to further sin. Pope Benedict teaches that we see Christ - not with our eyes - but with our souls and our hearts. Only when our souls are pure, are we able to see Him clearly. Only when we see Him clearly, are we able to reason properly. Sin calcifies (hardens) our hearts making it difficult to see or respond to God as we should.


Therein lies the problem with President Obama's statement. None of us are able to see or reason clearly while in the state of sin. While it is nearly impossible for the Courts or Congress to make truly righteous judgements or laws, I disagree when Obama states that a mother facing a crisis pregnancy is best equipped to make the right decision.

When faced with a crisis pregnancy, the mother- to - be must first look to the wisdom of the Church and the righteous example of the Blessed Virgin Mary who faced pregnancy as an unmarried woman. Although Mary had a holy pregnancy, she nonetheless had to face many of the social pressures facing today's unmarried mothers. Only when we depend on God and His Church, can we rest assured of finding the right answers in the right places.


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