In one ear, out the other
In 1998, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, along with the other bishops of California and the bishops of Nevada and Hawaii, had his ad limina visit with Pope John Paul II. The Holy Father's message to Mahony, et al., can be summed up in two little words:
Humanae vitae.
John Paul II told them:
And the Cardinal of the West and his episcopal entourage gave a respectful nod to the already aging pontiff, returned to their respective dioceses and kept their mouths shut.
Humanae vitae.
John Paul II told them:
The Holy Father told them in no uncertain terms: Brother bishops, teach Humanae Vitae to your people. This is the truth they need to hear! This is the truth that will set them free!The teaching of Humanae Vitae honors married love, promotes the dignity of women, and helps couples grow in understanding the truth of their particular path to holiness. It is also a response to contemporary culture's temptation to reduce life to a commodity.
As Bishops, together with your priests, deacons, seminarians, and other pastoral personnel, you must find the right language and imagery to present this teaching in a comprehensible and compelling way. [For the complete address, click HERE.]
And the Cardinal of the West and his episcopal entourage gave a respectful nod to the already aging pontiff, returned to their respective dioceses and kept their mouths shut.
posted by Quintero at 1:06 PM
10 Comments:
And you are surprised that nothing has changed in the ignoring of the directives of the Holy Father?
It is business as usual. Well, not quite as there are lawyers much more involved now.
Anonymous,
I am not sure if I understand your point. And, no, I am not surprised by any of this.
Hmm... from what I read, Mahony did host the California Natural Family Planning conference, with Fr. Frank Pavone as speaker, at the LA Cathedral and has made his thoughts against same-sex marriage known many times.
But on the other hand, 4:38 Anon, our Cardinal has made it clear that rainbow sashers and pro-abort politicians are welcome to receive communion at the Cathedral.
And I was a parishoner at the Cathedral for 2 years; now, I never went to the 10am mass, so I didn't hear the Cardinal preach much, but don't recall ever hearing a homliy about gay "marriage," contraception, NFP, abortion, IVF, cohabitation, etc.
4:38 anonymous,
It is true that the Cathedral hosted the California NFP conference (and the CNFP must have paid big bucks to be there; the registration fee for this year's conference was huge compared to other years).
The Cardinal's hosting a conference at his Cathedral facility and promoting clearly and effectively the teaching of Humanae Vitae are two very different things.
I challenge you to produce anything at all Cardinal Mahony has said as Archbishop of Los Angeles in which he vigorously and unequivocally condemned the evil of contraception. I'd really like to see it.
To be fair to Cardinal Mahony, this mailing from the archdiocese supports Natural Family Planning: "On May 3,1996 Cardinal Mahony approved the Goals for the Archdiocese Regarding Natural Family Planning presented to him by the Commission for Catholic Life Issues. In Goal #3 of the document it stated: 'All couples preparing for marriage will complete a two hour introductory Natural Family Planning course in addition to the existing marriage preparation requirements.'
http://gm.la-archdiocese.org/FamilyLife/NFPprst.htm
Let's give him an E for effort at least. Granted that Mahony is not "vigorously condemning contraception" or writing pastoral letters to his archdioceses about Humane Vitae like Archbishop Chaput of Denver (hopefully of Washington DC soon). http://www.archden.org/archbishop/docs/of_human_life.htm
Most of Mahony's pastoral letters seem to be concerned with wrecking, er I mean, revising the liturgy.
I take back Mahony's E for effort and suggest a D- in vocabulary and for his vapid diversity. The May 2001 issue of the LA Lay Catholic Mission had this short news piece about Mahony's online chat answering questions at the Religious Ed. Congress:
"...Two questions dealt with birth control. One person asked, 'with the health and population issues in poorer areas of the world, do you foresee the Church relaxing it's stance on birth control any time in the future?' 'Obviously, a very difficult question,' replied the cardinal. 'But the Church has been implementing many programs of approved birth control in places such as India with great success. Best aspect: these programs don't interfere with the beliefs and the customs of the local people.' Another participant asked: 'Where can a layperson learn more about approved birth control methods? And, are these methods just applicable to particular countries or everyone who's interested in trying them?' The cardinal did not, it appears, answer this question. The Beliefnet editoiral staff, whom we contacted, explained that 'the cardinal temporarily lost his internet connection. The birth control question may have been asked right before this happened, and the cardinal's answer was therefore not recorded.' The interview appears on the archdiocesan Religious Education Congress website with the same omission."
Maybe he was typing too fast but multicultural Mahony sounds more concerned with the local customs of third world folks than with the immorality of contraception. During times like these one wistfully looks back longing for the return of the good old inquisition.
Frankly, I believe the Cardinal deserves an F. It's not a difficult question. The Church's teaching on this subject is eminently positive and not the big downer that Mahony and his ilk make it to be.
What did John Paul II tell Mahony at the ad limina?
"The teaching of Humanae Vitae honors married love, promotes the dignity of women, and helps couples grow in understanding the truth of their particular path to holiness. It is also a response to contemporary culture's temptation to reduce life to a commodity."
That's a message that needs to be heard in from India to Inglewood! But it's not being heard thanks to Churchmen like Roger Mahony.
And regarding NFP in parishes. Call around and you will discover that in this vast Archdiocese NFP is available in a handful of parishes.
Here is a good exmaple of how the meesage ought to sounds:
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/2236855476
When I read the Gospels Jesus constanting takes his flock to a point where they have to make a choice. He outlines the consequences such as(Unless you eat.....) along with the rewards, with persecutions. St Peter's remarks at the last supper at the washing of the feet comes to my mind when our leaders do not teach humane vitae Not my feet.
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