Here they go again (The Tidings, that is)
The June 9 issue of Cardinal Mahony's Archdiocesan newspaper, The Tidings, indulges in one of "liberal" Catholics' favorite sports, criticizing orthodox and pro-life Catholics.
The online version (click on this post's title) carries a column, "Sources of Demoralization," by Fr. Richard McBrien (the print edition helpfully directs the reader to the column in the online version). No, his column's title is not autobiographical, although it ought to be, given all the vitriol he has hurled against Catholic truth and morality and pro-lifers through the years.
As you can imagine, Fr. McBrien does lots of hurling in this latest column of his. He is mad at, in order, "hard-line conservatives," "ultra-conservatives," "Catholics of the far right," "the self-righteousness of ultra-conservative Catholics and...their harshly judgmental attitudes" and "ultra-conservatives...[with a] passion to judge and to punish." And that is just for starters.
Fr. McBrien also whines that the history of the Church would have been different if Pope Paul VI had "modified the official teaching on contraception." He whines again that Pope John Paul I might have appointed different bishops, had he lived, and that we might not be at war in Iraq had Algore beaten Bush in 2000. (Okay, Fr. McBrien did not say "Algore," I did.)
There is more. Fr. McBrien also hurls at "Catholics of the far right [again], and bishops who share and enforce their ecclesiology"; you see, they actually "insist that obedience is one of Catholicism's primary virtues and that the teaching of the hierarchy, and especially the [P]ope's, is the only sure guide to saving truth."
All right, to be fair: Fr. McBrien does not quite come out and say such obedience is wrong, he is insinuating that orthodox Bishop Robert Finn is flouting it by "dismantling" many programs begun by his immediate three predecessors in Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri.
In that connection, Fr. McBrien uncorks this one: "...how is a Catholic to know when any bishop is to be respected and obeyed, and when he is not?" The only time he shows concern for obedience, it would seem, is when orthodox Catholics contradict "liberals!"
Next, the print edition of The Tidings, but not, evidently, the online one, runs a column, "The New Puritans," by an Episcopalian clergyman. I'll comment on that in another post.
The online version (click on this post's title) carries a column, "Sources of Demoralization," by Fr. Richard McBrien (the print edition helpfully directs the reader to the column in the online version). No, his column's title is not autobiographical, although it ought to be, given all the vitriol he has hurled against Catholic truth and morality and pro-lifers through the years.
As you can imagine, Fr. McBrien does lots of hurling in this latest column of his. He is mad at, in order, "hard-line conservatives," "ultra-conservatives," "Catholics of the far right," "the self-righteousness of ultra-conservative Catholics and...their harshly judgmental attitudes" and "ultra-conservatives...[with a] passion to judge and to punish." And that is just for starters.
Fr. McBrien also whines that the history of the Church would have been different if Pope Paul VI had "modified the official teaching on contraception." He whines again that Pope John Paul I might have appointed different bishops, had he lived, and that we might not be at war in Iraq had Algore beaten Bush in 2000. (Okay, Fr. McBrien did not say "Algore," I did.)
There is more. Fr. McBrien also hurls at "Catholics of the far right [again], and bishops who share and enforce their ecclesiology"; you see, they actually "insist that obedience is one of Catholicism's primary virtues and that the teaching of the hierarchy, and especially the [P]ope's, is the only sure guide to saving truth."
All right, to be fair: Fr. McBrien does not quite come out and say such obedience is wrong, he is insinuating that orthodox Bishop Robert Finn is flouting it by "dismantling" many programs begun by his immediate three predecessors in Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri.
In that connection, Fr. McBrien uncorks this one: "...how is a Catholic to know when any bishop is to be respected and obeyed, and when he is not?" The only time he shows concern for obedience, it would seem, is when orthodox Catholics contradict "liberals!"
Next, the print edition of The Tidings, but not, evidently, the online one, runs a column, "The New Puritans," by an Episcopalian clergyman. I'll comment on that in another post.
posted by Quintero at 5:48 PM
2 Comments:
McBrien can't stop talking about Finn. Notice his need to mention Finn's involvement with Opus Dei; is this an appeal to his poorly-formed readers who went to see the Da Vinci Code? Are we supposed to think Opus Dei = criminal conspiracy?
He finishes up by talking smack about a dinner the bishop had with a handful of his priests (read: McBrien sympathizers). Amazing.
McBrien is done being politic, it seems. He sees his career swirling swiftly down the drain, and he's making one last attempt to satisfy his addiction for the spotlight.
Clayton:
You hit the nail on the head. He's bitter that Finn dropped his column. Boo-hoo.
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