Garçon - when you get a chance dear.
"Bravo" for University of Missouri football star Michael Sam for coming out as gay.
"Bravo Cardinal Dolan!"
So just last week I was called out for being too soft on gays and this weekend - on National TV - Dolan praises some guy for coming out.
Bravo for Cardinal Dolan! For taking that monkey off my back.
So what do I really think?
"Who am I to judge" a Cardinal Archbishop of the Catholic Church?
"Huh? Who is waiting
to hear from me?"
Song for this post here.
While it may be appropriate to cheer on those who admit their problems in circumstances such as alcoholics anonymous because its an admission of a defect, there is nothing appropriate in Cardinal Dolan's cheer because far from an admission of a defect the point of his coming out was to scorn those who see it as a defect.
ReplyDeleteVery well said. Thanks!
DeleteI have come to the conclusion that I do not understand ANYTHING about this world I find myself living in, and what is more, I never ever will. *putting a damp cloth over my eyes*
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way at times.
DeletePerhaps Cardinal Dolan is applying the principle of "carefully avoiding a head-on collision with the dominant culture".
ReplyDelete(Reference: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350737?eng=y)
I kind of thinks so. I also think when put on the spot, it's difficult to say something kind and figure out how to affirm moral teaching. I doubt the interview was scripted. I think it might be a better idea to speak ex cathedra and avoid television appearances and interviews. Fr. Longknecker has a good post on the situation.
DeleteI remember years ago a former Christian Brother came up to me and said, "Terry - I left the order!" I didn't know what to say - how do you respond to that? He seemed very happy about it so I said, "Congratulations! Good for you!". Such a dumb reaction. I think Dolan didn't know what to say - he wanted to be positive, but it came out screwy.
I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong.
I think that's a fair reaction. If something is not scripted, then there's that possibility of saying something off the mark or misleading. If everything I ever said was scrutinized, ...
DeleteYour both right. I watched it yesterday. He was on a roll, doing his thing. I was saying to myself: "this Cardinal Dolan has some great game". Then the "what would you say to......" question.
DeleteNot sure if this is the whole interview:
http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/mtp-exclusive-cardinal-timothy-dolan-n48326
Cardinal Dolan lacks discipline. Really goofy thing for him to say. Have you read Tom's posts as of late, Terry? On gay athletes coming out? Here's one: http://www.fightingirishthomas.com/2014/03/et-tu-matthew-notre-dames-double-fault.html
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanette - I just skimmed Tom's post - I'll go back and read it closer. Tom is always right on with this subject. But no one accepts it any longer. Obviously Cardinal Dolan doesn't - Notre Dame doesn't. Tom is correct that someone at Notre Dame should have said something - expressed clear teaching. Unfortunately that isn't happening at most Catholic colleges - and now that Dolan praised coming out and affirmed 'gay is good' - no one will listen. So what is going to happen next?
DeleteI don't get it - I do not understand the schizoid hierarchy when they Meet the Press and talk and act like Ron Ford of Toronto.
God bless you and Tom - and keep the faith!
Thank you for taking a look, Terry. We both appreciate your blog postings (and commentary) on this subject, and all topics, actually, not to mention your art, and now I'm wondering if you're preparing (at least in your mind, if not otherwise) your beautiful garden. Thinking about God's great earth helps me sometimes cope (especially after a long hard winter); how about you? But, yes, Cardinal Dolan, it's just really shocking to hear someone of such great stature (pun probably intended) in the Catholic Church speak such talk. I've been adoring a lot lately, as it fits in with my schedule very well (retired, so to speak, close to a chapel, etc.), and Tom has been penning his last several postings (he's got one on Michael Sam too) at the chapel in front of Jesus while I pray by his and, of course, His side. We're hopeful that will help the cause. That Christ is steering Tom's pen and thus hearts. What else can one do? But beg Our Jesus.
DeleteThanks again, for all that you do.
[Now I have to go look up Ron Ford of Toronto!:)]
You and Tom are good faithful Catholics - Tom writes well and with respect and charity.
DeleteRon Ford is a scoundrel - but funny and lovable - he says some pretty cray things. It's disrespectful of me to associate the Cardinal with him - but when the Cardinal says silly things and has so many photo ops of him laughing - the comparison - all in fun - is hard to resist.
Pray for me.
I am wondering how you view the idea that:
ReplyDelete"Some Catholics hold that we must never engage in public criticism of the Pope—no matter what he says, no matter what he does. “We must not incite indignation concerning the Holy Father” say these people, even as they themselves—quite rightly—call for indignation concerning wayward prelates such as Cardinal Dolan, publicly criticizing them without reserve for doing nothing other than what the Pope has done, authorized, encouraged or tolerated himself." (Source: http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/364-the-francis-effect-a-gathering-storm)
If I've understood your thinking right, Pope Francis is not to be criticized but someone like Cardinal Dolan can be. How can that be?
By the way, I am not trying to criticize you personally. I struggle with this myself. And, above all else, I have much that I am guilty for - related: http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-solemn-warning-to-catholic-bloggers.html
DeleteFirst, the site you link to attacks the pope and members of the hierarchy - they don't just offer critiques.
DeleteMichael Voris refuses to criticize the pope and goes after bishops. That's his business - literally. He can do that.
I'm not qualified to criticize the Pope, nor do I have the least desire to do so.
I'm inconsistent and I'm a hypocrite - I say one thing and do another.
Who am I to judge Cardinal Dolan? I'm no one.
Pray for me.
I was asking about your ideas, though, not about the validity of the critiques of the site. I am not with them or trying to justify them. Rather, what I quoted from them accurately summarizes, I think, a trend that has emerged which I do not understand, in a lot of ways: how can Catholics defend the Pope as a matter of principle but critique priests, bishops, cardinals, or even other laymen? Why is the Pope an exception? I truly do not understand.
DeleteBut here is what I think is more important - came across this today:
“We now can look back at the devastation which has been wreaked within the Catholic Church over the past few decades and can give our answer as to what has gone wrong. It is not, as has been proposed by so many traditional Catholics, that the Church has been usurped by an elite cadre of Modernist theologians, priests, and bishops. This certainly has happened to a large extent, but it is not the cause of this devastation. Rather, these men and their modernism are simply the fruits of a pharisaical and Manichaean-type Catholicism which had placed its heart and its treasure far from Jesus Christ.
How are we to bring our hearts back to Christ? The answer is very simple: we must listen to Him and understand Him. It is very possible, as Jesus has said, to listen and yet not understand. The Pharisees, for instance, heard, read, and studied the scriptures with great diligence; and yet they did not understand the most fundamental and simple truths concerning God and man. There are many scriptures scattered throughout the Old Testament (especially the one which we have already quoted from Isaias 53 concerning the “Suffering Servant”) which clearly foretold that the Christ would not be a worldly ruler, but rather a suffering Messiah. Yet when He came in the likeness of the Paschal Lamb rather than a worldly king, they scoffed at, tortured, killed, and rejected Him. It is easy for us to call the Pharisees hypocrites – we have the benefit of historical hindsight and Jesus’ own condemnation of them. We might well ask, however, if we are doing the same, with some slight variations which now make us blind to our own hypocrisy.”
Source: http://www.waragainstbeing.com/node/46
Sorry your comments went into moderation so I didn't notice them.
DeleteThanks for the clarifications.
I just don't know what the answer is. I suppose we can critique what the pope says without criticizing him - or better, without disrespecting his office - the same with bishops and priests.
It is all very troubling to me. I'm as confused as the next person.
I think one of the biggest problems with Bishops, indeed most Catholics, is that the society in general is intellectually weak, and we as Catholic people are intellectually weak Catholics. Then when some priests ascend to become Bishops, they exceeded the limits of their own competence, but they don't realize how much damage they inflict on The Church. They have been winging it for years, getting by with a smile and happy talk, and have made a life-long habit of evading tough questions and losing the opportunity to form strong instincts about how to engage when confronted. In short, they are failing to heed Jesus command: "I send you out as sheep among wolves, therefor be ye wise as a serpent, and gentle as a dove." The Bishops, and we as a people, have failed to do the prep work Jesus requires of us to do the "wise" part, we take the shortcut, and think we can get by with the "gentle" part.
ReplyDeleteAnd that, as we know, is not "child-like" - but rather - "childish."
I agree.
Delete