Mark Shea covers it.
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I got the same Press Release that he and every other Catholic blogger must have received:
Blah, blah, blah, whatever. I haven't seen a copy of YouCat, but surely it was approved after extensive review by the appropriate ecclesial authorities - in other words, as far as I know, YouCat carries an imprimatur and nihil obstat. As Mark points out:INTERNATIONAL COALITION CALLS FOR YOUCAT RECALL:Youth Catechism’s Doctrinal Errors Prompt Global Petition to Pope Benedict XVI
So some press release shows up in my box announcing that "a formal petition for the recall of YOUCAT has been launched by a group of more than 25 theologians, clergy, and Catholics involved in lay apostolates." I click the link (no, I'm not providing it), but have trouble locating who these people are. That smells. Strike one.After strike two and three he concludes - as I do:
More and more, there seem to be "lay apostolates" whose mission seems to be to "save" the Church from the Magisterium and replace their guidance with the dogmatisms of sectarians. On the whole, if it's choice between the teachers ordained by Christ and Some Guy with a Website, I think I will stick with the bishops and the Pope. - YouCat Recall Looks Pretty DodgyThen there is The Black SheepDog's...
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New look.
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Following his truth I guess.
Wow. I had no idea there was an official recall or that others were concerned about YouCat. Fr Zee made a comment about it a few weeks ago and I thought it sounded pretty good, minus the name. Then I was on the WYD site the other night and read they were giving it out as a "free gift from the Holy Father to all WYD attendees." Then my antenna went up. And then I read that the "coolest feature" about YouCat was that they were featuring quotes from Non-Catholics in the catechism and then my heart sunk. I'm glad to hear others are on to this as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't give a shit what Mark Shea says, the laity has an obligation to voice its concerns.
"as far as I know YouCat carries an imprimatur and nihil obstat."
Yes, and as we know, that really means something these days. Maybe I'll write a book and get Weakland to sign off on it.
Clark
Clark - I like Mark - I frequently agree with his POV, I can't figure out why people dislike him. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteAs far as YouCat however - I believe it was gone over with a fine tooth doctrinal comb - I link to an NCRegister article on the catechism and a few of the hoops it went through.
If I were you, I would never seek Weakland's imprimatur however - for anything. ;)
Terry,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately my humor doesn't translate well over this medium. I have no problem with Mark Shea. He is my brother in Christ and I think he does a lot of good. His take and mine on various issues diverge somewhat (not to go there, but conservative v traditional. On this point, regarding YouCat, I do think there are some issues that need to be addressed and see no problem with raising them. Our youth deserve the best. The Church should cast her pearls before THEM. Why pollute the Truth with pop cultural BS?
You are right. I should hold all opinion on YouCat until I have a copy and since I am no longer a "youth," that may be a while. I just know that what we got at WYD 1993 (when I was a youth) sucked. A woman portrayed Christ, dancers staged on risers on either side of the Papal Mass, wiggling and dancing out the Pope's words... That is where I am coming from. Maybe that will help you understand my reactions a little better.
Mea culpa
Clark
I haven't seen this catechism so I can't comment on it. Whether it is good or bad is a non-issue - the kids won't read it. End of story.
ReplyDeleteIf it does have all the non-Catholic quotes as said, it would be like the "youth" Bible I got stuck with at Church (till I threw them all away.) It was liberally laced with what the Chinese, Indians, Hindus, etc believe. Even the kids noticed it and asked why all that stuff was there. They didn't read those, either.
Mark Shea? No comment...
When I advocate greater respect for gay and lesbian people, I'm dissenting.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone "orthodox" with bad hair and a Bachelors degree says that the hierarchy is wrong on any number of issues, he's "faithful," and "saving the Church."
So. fed. up. They're out of control.
Thom, I live in NYC and worked in fashion PR for a number of years and in product design. I know this group of people very well. I love them enough to pray this prayer for them each day:
ReplyDelete"That you will reveal the love of your most Sacred Heart to them, O Lord, and grant them the grace to respond generously to that love."
That is the only prayer I can think to pray for them. Between the coke, meth, rounds at the gym-craigslist-bathhouse, porn addiction and then bars-shopping-preening rounds, I pray in the midst of all that, God reveal His love to them.
I would be open (and I don't mean this sarcastically) to hearing how I can better love them.
Clark
I didn't necessarily mean you specifically, Clark. More corporately, "as a Body," as the Church.
ReplyDelete(Though I'm not sure you have a good grasp on most gay people having worked in FASHION in NYC. You know fashion designers. :-p )
What the... I thought I unsubscribed your blog.
ReplyDelete"gone over with a fine tooth doctrinal comb" - Sure pal.
Clark - you're good.
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie.
I generally agree with Mark Shea on most issues. It's his attitude that needs serious readjusting sometimes. I feel very disappoited in Fr Corapi, too, but Shea is just too nasty and condescending about him--and "Trads". That attitude of his convicts himself of the very thing that he accuses the "Trads" of doing--raising himself up while looking down his nose at the 'lesser beings', whomever that happens to be during his current rant.
ReplyDeleteThat's the real quagmire of blogging, isn't it? The Sin of Pride.
Well dangit, this is what LifeSite News has about the YouCat--some bad doctrinal errors in the italian and other editions. The article is from April, so I'm not sure if these were rectified before it was distributed this week--I'm betting it was not! The one about euthanasia is a pretty doggone bad one, I'd say. yikes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lifesitenews.com/news/youth-catechism-also-wrong-on-euthanasia-other-religions-vatican-admits/
Ok, all kidding aside, I'm ill. Schönborn is involved...I shudda known.
ReplyDeleteMy Jesus, mercy.
clark
Ugh. Do you think the "mistakes" were really mistakes, or evil drivel to confuse the lambs? It never seems to end.
ReplyDeleteI took a gander at "John's" new website. The biography was an interesting read, no mention of why he left or the scandal. I have a feeling he is going to fail rather quickly. Let's pray that this does not end badly. I worry for this poor Father.
Anon 6:52, pray for priests. They need your prayers for many reasons.
ReplyDeleteI read through (scanned some, read some) the objections to YouCat on that petition website.
ReplyDeleteAs to the sexuality stuff, I really think they're splitting hairs. Let's talk the masturbation part. (Or onanism, as the uber traddy types are calling it. Seriously? Who talks like that and is taken seriously?) Anyway, sure, the language these people are taking issue with is interesting. But the language is clearly meant to convey a larger message about guilt and God's mercy and forgiveness. For crying out loud, the book is geared to teens and young adults - you know, people who masturbate. What I read was (in my own words), "Masturbation is something to be taken seriously, you need to care, you need to worry about it. However, if you're obsessively worried about going to hell because you've done it or are struggling with it, you need to recognize that Christ's mercy, help, and forgiveness is bigger and more important."
More damage has been done by the Catholic church in the department of despair, guilt and scrupulosity than most Catholics want to admit. I see the language in YouCat (on the sex issues) as a step in the right direction so that we don't create mini-guilt/scrupulosity monsters at an early age. Places like the Fisheaters forum is filled with folks like these; they are stifled and imprisoned with "right" theology and no joy. Who needs that?
Yes, masturbation is a mortal sin. No one should lie about that or deny it. But must we talk about these things in a way that takes away the joy and hope of Christian living? THAT should be a mortal sin, too.
Char - Onanism has always been a rather sticky subject.
ReplyDeleteWhat? ;)
I forgot to add - before Larry does - it's time trads own up to it. Get it? Onanism - own. It's kinda Oprah.
ReplyDeleteSorry.
Nice, Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteAnd Terry - haha!
Reminds me of a traditionalist site I once read saying that we need to tell children more about Hell and the souls - including children - being tortured there for all eternity, we need to make our children meditate on those who perish forever (and of course how it's MOST people) ...
ReplyDeleteNow, I think we need to be honest about the danger of Hell as a very real possibility, something no one has the right to gloss over - but if that is all there is to it, how can we learn to love God? How can we ever think He actually loves us? And what good does it do to scare the living shit out of young children?
OK, boys. This is going downhill and fast. Ha!
ReplyDeleteOnanism and trads, well, that makes sense.
I once posted a question on Fisheaters a long time ago about female masturbation. You would've thought that the world was going to end. They locked down the thread and said that it was gonna cause people to sin and think too much about sex, etc. Never mind that Fisheaters was and is filled to the brim with threads about MALE masturbation that were all open and active. It was like the idea of women masturbating was either so disturbing or so titillating that they couldn't handle themselves.
Which brings me round to what I was saying: Pretend it's not happening and pretend that God won't forgive you for it, only harping on hell, hell, hell, and you're asking for trouble. And likely inviting young Catholics to say, "Screw this, why be Catholic?"
This so-called "Youth Catechism" is replete with errors and insinuations against the purity of Catholic faith, morals. worship, and discipline...both its "pop" format and "modo loquendi" openly violate the "Acta" of the Second Vatican Council, the "Credo populi Dei," "Humanae Vitae,"[1968] the General Catechetical Directory [1971]...it ought to be BURNED - !
ReplyDelete