Al Kresta's Blog, page 338

Answering a "Self-Loathing Catholic"

Clark DeLeon is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and a Catholic. He has written a column entitled "A Philadelphia Catholic Confesses" in which he imagines himself in a "Self-Loathing Catholics Anonymous" meeting. I have created a faux conversation between Clark and myself to demonstrate how silly his claims are. His full column can be found here.

CLARK:
"I haven't attended a Self-Loathing Catholics Anonymous meeting in years. I'm here tonight because the news about the cover-up of sexual abuse of children in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has me half-crazy. I feel a desperate urge to hate the church. That's what self-loathing Catholics are supposed to do, right?"

AL:
"I was raised Catholic during the 1950s and early 60s. While I went to public school I had regular catechism classes every Saturday morning taught by the nuns. I spent two yeas in Catholic highschool (Notre Dame, West Haven, CT) and have almost no memories which correspond to this guy's claim."

CLARK:
"Back in the day, to be a Catholic school student in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was, by modern standards, to be abused psychologically and physically. Every high school seemed to have at least one priest who was a former Golden Gloves champion and was willing to demonstrate his technique on a prideful student or three. That was part of the mystique, lore, and reality of being a Catholic school kid. And we celebrated it the way Marines celebrate surviving Parris Island.

"I think psychiatrists call it the Stockholm syndrome, in which hostages come to identify with and support their captors. They also have a name for the psychological condition manifesting itself in varying degrees among many of us in this room tonight: post-traumatic stress syndrome."

AL:
"When I left the Catholic Church, I don't remember feeling overwhelming guilt or betrayal. When I became an evangelical Protestant bible-only-type Christian at 23, I don't remember thinking that the Catholic Church was too harsh or strick (although I disagreed with many of its teachings). My experience in the early 70s was that the Catholic Church was filled with feel-good, nice, not especially effective, clergy. I've always been tolerant of these jokes and stories about harsh, eccentric nuns and thought they were harmless, almost ethnic type jokes, told by the ethnic group in question. Now, I'm finding them sickening.

"Who was raised Catholic during the 40-70s who thinks his portrayal is ANYWHERE near accurate. 'Psychologically and physically abused...Stockhold Syndrome...post traumatic syndrome'???? Come on. IF this was the institutional norm, we shouldn't love the Church anymore than we should love a restaurant that normally is turning out sick clients, or has a reputation for rudeness and abusive conduct. We should find someplace else to eat. People who have been regularly abused shouldn't get nostalgic about the abusers. Wives should leave their husbands. Parents should withdraw their students from abusive schools. Employees should quit. Citizens should rise up in rebellion. What kind of nut looks back wistfully on events which caused them post-traumatic stress syndrome.

"Is this man's picture of the Catholic church a generation ago even close to anybody else's experience?"

Let's Be Patient and Have Some Prudence

Mark Shea on the accusations against Fr. John Corapi:
Everybody is writing me about Fr. John Corapi being put on administrative leave. What do we do? How do we respond? Won't I join the Facebook page supporting him? Why is it our bishops are either sheep or wolves I am asked. Why would these "she devils" (yes I've seen people use the term) attack this godly champion of the Faith? How do we fight back against this satanic attack on this great man?
Ahem. I don't know Fr. Corapi at all. I also don't know his accusers. Nor do I know who has put him on administrative leave or why. I don't, in fact, know the first thing about anything other than that Fr. Corapi protests his innocence.
Naturally, I presume innocence until guilt is proven. But come on: If it were any other priest and these charges were brought we would be *screaming* at the bishop or superior in charge of the priest to pull the guy out of action until an investigation could be made and screaming hysterically at the preferential treatment of priests over victims if they didn't. So let's show some consistency here, okay? Amy Welborn noted way back during the Long Lent that even when priests had *gobs* of evidence against them (as Fr. Corapi does not at this point), their congregations would rally to them and say, "Oh, not *my* beloved priest! Other priests are bad, but *my* beloved priest is being treated meanly by the Church". So we need to make up our minds. Are we going to demand rigorous investigations and accountability for clergy--except with Fr. Corapi because we happen to feel--on the basis of no actual knowledge of the man other than what we see on TV--that he is one of us? Or are we going to let the Church investigate, find out what's going on and so forth. I mean, it's all well and good to claim that some women we know absolutely nothing about are "she devils" because they are accusing a famous and b beloved priest. But here's the thing: that's *exactly*--exactly--what happened with accusers of the great and saintly and unquestionable Maciel.

Continue reading here.

Today on Kresta - March 21, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on March 21

4:00 – Libya, War, Operations and the Civilian / Military Divide
Energized by international strikes on Moammar Gadhafi's forces, rebels advanced in an attempt to reclaim an eastern city under siege by the Libyan leader's troops on Monday as the U.S. commander of the allied campaign warned that a stalemate could emerge from the bombardment. That could mean a longer conflict and an unclear end game as the U.S. and European countries try to calibrate how much their now three-day old air campaign — officially intended to protect civilians — should go toward actively helping the rebel cause. We look at the definitions of Operations, Wars, Military Action, and what we are facing in Libya. Our guest is Bruce Fleming of the US Naval Academy.

4:20 – The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It
In a world torn apart by religious extremism on the one side and a strident secularism on the other, no question is more urgent than how we live with our deepest differences—especially our religious and ideological differences. Os Guiness's 2008 book, The Case for Civility, has taken on a new relevancy with so much talk of political civility in the aftermath of the Tucson shootings. Influential Christian writer and speaker Os Guinness makes a passionate plea to put an end to the polarization of American politics and culture that—rather than creating a public space for real debate—threatens to reverse the very principles our founders set into motion and that have long preserved liberty, diversity, and unity in this country.

5:00 – Waging War In Libya Make Peace? U.S. Intervention in Global Conflicts
Coalition jets are patrolling the no-fly zone over Libya today after scattering and isolating Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi's forces with a weekend of punishing air attacks. President Obama stated the mission Friday as one of protection of Libyan citizens from attack from their own government. Susan Yoshihara , author of Waging War to Make Peace: U.S. Intervention in Global Conflict, joins us again to analyze the action in Libya in light of her book.

5:20 – The Original Meaning of Lent
Lent is a time of introspection. We read Exodus, and watch the Israelites grumbling, even after the amazing things God had done for them (Ex 17:3-7). In them, we recognize ourselves. For many of us, then, Lent is time for the spiritual equivalent of New Year's resolutions. We set aside work on ourselves for forty days so we don't end up wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years. We do things to burn off the excess fat that's weighing us down, try to improve our spiritual diet, and do some meaningful spiritual exercises to strengthen the muscles we call "virtues." But in the early days of the Church, Lent was not so much a time to focus inward. It was time for Catholics to focus outward. It is a time not just for personal growth, but for growth of the Church. We look at the original meaning of Lent with Marcellino D'Ambrosio .

5:40 – The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming Our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity
Arguing that many moms have gone overboard in their quest for perfection, Dr. Meg Meeker , pediatrician and mother of four, presents 10 "new habits" that will help moms maintain their passion, purpose, and sanity. Meeker addresses understanding your value as a mother, maintaining key friendships, valuing and practicing faith, saying no to competition, creating a healthier relationship with money, making time for solitude, giving and getting love in healthy ways, finding ways to live simply, letting go of fear, and embracing hope. Meg is with us.

Fr. John Corapi Accused of Drug Use / Sexual Exploits With Adult Women

The full statement from Fr. Corapi's Website is below:

"On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult women. There seems to no longer be the need for a complaint to be deemed "credible" in order for Church authorities to pull the trigger on the Church's procedure, which was in recent years crafted to respond to cases of the sexual abuse of minors. I am not accused of that, but it seems, once again, that they now don't have to deem the complaint to be credible or not, and it is being applied broadly to respond to all complaints. I have been placed on "administrative leave" as the result of this.

"I'll certainly cooperate with the process, but personally believe that it is seriously flawed, and is tantamount to treating the priest as guilty "just in case", then through the process determining if he is innocent. The resultant damage to the accused is immediate, irreparable, and serious, especially for someone like myself, since I am so well known. I am not alone in this assessment, as multiple canon lawyers and civil and criminal attorneys have stated publicly that the procedure does grave damage to the accused from the outset, regardless of rhetoric denying this, and has little regard for any form of meaningful due process.

"All of the allegations in the complaint are false, and I ask you to pray for all concerned."

ND Bishops Instruct Faiithful With List of Organization to NOT Support

REPRINTNG A POST BY THOMAS PETERS AT AMERICAN PAPIST

God Bless bishops Zipfel and Aquila, who have taken their responsibility seriously to protect the faithful from being misled by groups that work against fundamental human goods such as life and marriage/family:

Catholics and Catholic organizations should not endorse organizations with "morally objectionable" missions, North Dakota's bishops said.

Bishops Paul A. Zipfel of Bismarck and Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo in a March 10 statement called upon pastors, clergy and the lay faithful to be prudent and just in making their charitable decisions, particularly on issues related to human life and marriage.

Here is the list of organizations they singled-out (see the reasons why here):

American Association of University Women
Amnesty International
Crop Walk/Church World Service
March of Dimes
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
UNICEF

I would add to this list catholyc organizations that explicitly dissent from the Church's teaching on life, family and Church doctrine (feel free to make additions in the combox):

[UPDATE: I should make clear, I'm only listing organizations that claim to be/represent Catholic(s), not secular organizations (such as Planned Parenthood or the Human Rights campaign) that undermine life and marriage without claiming to be Catholic.]

Call to Action
Catholics for Choice
Catholics for Equality
Dignity
New Ways Ministry
SNAP
Voice of the Faithful
Women Priests for the Catholic Church

And here are catholic organizations we should have strong reservations about:

Catholic Coalition for Church Reform
Catholics United
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good
Corpus
Faith In Public Life
Matthew 25
National Catholic Reporter
NETWORK
Pax Christi

This is the thing about the organizations I list – they already (with the possible exception of National Catholic Reporter) receive a vast majority of their funding from rich, anti-Catholic donors such as George Soros (more on this later, too).

So there's simply no need for Catholics to give any support to the groups listed above, especially when there are so many good Catholic organizations that need our assistance.

Please help me spread the word to these groups – if you support evils such as abortion, contraception and the erosion of marriage and family – don't expect the hard-earned resources of Catholics!

European court allows crucifix in public schools

Crucifixes in public school classrooms do not violate a student's freedom of conscience, a European high court ruled Friday in a verdict welcomed by the Vatican in its campaign to remind the continent of its Christian roots.

The case was brought by a Finnish-born woman living in Italy who objected to the crucifixes in her children's classrooms, arguing they violated the secular principles public schools are supposed to uphold. The debate divided Europe's traditional Catholic and Orthodox countries and their more secular neighbours that observe a strict separation between church and state.

Initially, the Strasbourg, France-based European Court of Human Rights sided with the mother. Italy appealed, supported by more than a dozen countries including the late Pope John Paul II's predominantly Catholic Poland, and won.

Friday's reversal has implications in 47 countries, opening the way for Europeans who want religious symbols in classrooms to petition their governments to allow them.

It was not immediately clear how the ruling would affect France, a traditionally Catholic country with a strictly secular state that does not allow crucifixes or other religious symbols in public schools, including the Muslim headscarf.

The court's Grand Chamber said Italy has done nothing wrong and it found no evidence the display of such a symbol on classroom walls "might have an influence on pupils."

"The popular sentiment in Europe has won today," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

The Vatican, which had unsuccessfully sought include mention of Christianity's role in Europe in a European constitution, hailed what it called a "historic" decision.

It said the court recognized that crucifixes weren't a form of indoctrination but rather "an expression of the cultural and religious identity of traditionally Christian countries."

Spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the court also recognized that each country should be granted "a margin of judgment concerning the value of religious symbols in its own cultural history and national identity, including where the symbols are displayed."

The ruling overturned a decision the court had reached in November 2009 in which it said the crucifix could be disturbing to non-Christian or atheist pupils.

The case was brought by Soile Lautsi, a Finnish-born mother who said she was shocked by the sight of crucifixes above the blackboard in her children's public school in northern Italy.

Massimo Albertin, Lautsi's husband, said Friday the family was disappointed and "disillusioned" by the ruling, saying it showed that the court didn't respect the principles on which Italian society is built.

"Freedom of religion, freedom from discrimination, freedom of choice are fundamental principles and in this case they weren't respected," Albertin said by phone from Abano Terme near Padua, where the family lives.
A self-described atheist, Albertin said he didn't think the family had any further recourse, saying the ruling showed "the Vatican is too strong for individuals."
The court said "Ms. Lautsi had retained in full her right as a parent to enlighten and advise her children and to guide them on a path in line with her own philosophical convictions."
The children, who were 11 and 13 at the time the case began, are now 20 and 22 and in university. The father said while Lautsi's name was on the court documentation, it was very much a joint initiative.
New York University legal scholar Joseph Weiler, who argued the appeal, said during the hearing last year that the case for secularism taken to the extreme could endanger Britain's national anthem "God Save the Queen."
Crucifixes are on display in many public buildings in Italy, where the Vatican is located. In Poland they are displayed in public schools as well as the hall of parliament.
These countries were joined by Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria, which, like Poland, lived through religious persecution under communism.
"The message of the court is that in Christian tradition societies, Christianity has a special legitimacy that can justify a different treatment," said Gregor Puppink, director of the pro-Christian European Center for Law and Justice.
The ruling came as Vatican officials announced the Holy See is reaching out to atheists with a series of encounters and debates aimed at fostering intellectual dialogue and introducing nonbelievers to God. The first one begins next week in Paris.

Outrage of the Day

Show up drunk to work, serve a 5-month PAID suspension (vacation) while investigations occur, return to work. Thank God for his Union contract that does not allow the city to fire this BUS DRIVER!!!

The secret of Mother Teresa' success, according her postulator

Cartoon of the Day - Libyan no-fly zone

Today on Kresta - March 18, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on March 18

4:00 – Kresta Comments

4:20 – Libya and the Doctrine of Justifiable Rebellion
The revolutions in North Africa this year call to mind the old controversy about revolution, and whether citizens can rightly rebel against their long established government. Insofar as the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi has escalated all the way to civil war, Libya (as distinguished from Egypt and Tunisia) offers a sort of laboratory test on the issue of whether a citizen can rightly take up arms against a corrupt regime. Robert Struble Jr . is here to discuss it.

4:40 – The Global War Against Baby Girls
If you were asked to name the technologies whose proliferation inadvertently threatens the human race, what would you include? Landmines? Assault rifles? Nuclear warheads? Add this one to your list: the sonogram machine. The widespread use of sonogram technology—coupled with liberal abortion laws—has made it easier than ever for women to identify the sex of their child so that those without a Y chromosome can be killed before they're even born. Joe Carter is here to look at "The Global War Against Baby Girls"

5:00 – O Rare Ralph McInerny: Stories and Reflections on a Legendary Notre Dame Professor
During more than a half century at the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Ralph McInerny's legendary achievements include writing more than 50 non-fiction books in philosophy, medieval studies, and theology, as well as more than 90 novels, including the Father Dowling Murder Mystery series. Following his death last year, many of his friends and colleagues, including Cardinal Francis George, Michael Novak, Joseph Bottum, Gerard V. Bradley and many others compiled a volume of personal reflections on the man himself and what he meant to so many over his rich life of teaching, writing, and contributing to the life of the mind. Editor Christopher Kaczor joins us.

5:30 – Saturday's Feast of St. Joseph the Husband
What we know about the life of Saint Joseph is contained in the gospels of Saint Matthew and Saint Luke. He has become known as the "Just man". A village carpenter of Nazareth, he was chosen among all men to be the husband and protector of the Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ. To his loving care was entrusted the childhood and youth of the Redeemer of the world. He reveals to us the perfect model of Christianity through his purity of heart, patience, and fortitude. Steve Ray is here to discuss tomorrow's feast of St. Joseph the Husband.