Fr. Roger Landry to bishops: You haven't converted ANY pro-abortion politicians, so it's time to try a new approach
As Ole Q mentioned yesterday, Fr. Roger Landry, editor of The Anchor, the newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, has been writing about the funeral Mass for Teddy Kennedy and its implications for the U.S. bishops' decades-long useless policy of futilely "educating" Catholic pro-abortion politicians instead of warning and then disciplining them for their own good.
Fr. Landry's editorial (click on this post's title) in the September 11 issue of The Anchor is about that subject, too. He notes that the bishops' "educating" policy has not converted any politician, has not made any politician less pro-abortion, and in fact has taught these politicians that they can be 100% pro-abortion and still go to Communion. Fr. Landry writes:
"Jesus spoke of a different way in the Gospel (Mt 18:15-18). It involves not merely general educational statements that we hope offenders will apply to themselves in conscience, but the type of one-on-one instruction traditionally called fraternal correction. If that fails, and fails repeatedly, Jesus enjoined us to regard the offender as someone who no longer belongs to the community, who is no longer a member in good standing.
"This may seem harsh, but we should remember that Jesus always seeks nothing but the best for His Church and for individual sinners, even obstinate sinners. Implied in Jesus' strategy is that education involves not just information but formation, and that you can't form disciples without discipline. This is a lesson that after four decades of the undeniable failure of another approach, we need to consider anew."
Cardinal Mahony, are you listening? Auxiliary bishops, are you listening? Reverend clergy, are you listening? Is Fr. Landry right? What should you do about all the pro-abortion Catholic politicians in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles? What are you going to do to save the little babies of our Archdiocese from these defiant politicians? Nothing? Or something (in fact, something new)?
Fr. Landry's editorial (click on this post's title) in the September 11 issue of The Anchor is about that subject, too. He notes that the bishops' "educating" policy has not converted any politician, has not made any politician less pro-abortion, and in fact has taught these politicians that they can be 100% pro-abortion and still go to Communion. Fr. Landry writes:
"Jesus spoke of a different way in the Gospel (Mt 18:15-18). It involves not merely general educational statements that we hope offenders will apply to themselves in conscience, but the type of one-on-one instruction traditionally called fraternal correction. If that fails, and fails repeatedly, Jesus enjoined us to regard the offender as someone who no longer belongs to the community, who is no longer a member in good standing.
"This may seem harsh, but we should remember that Jesus always seeks nothing but the best for His Church and for individual sinners, even obstinate sinners. Implied in Jesus' strategy is that education involves not just information but formation, and that you can't form disciples without discipline. This is a lesson that after four decades of the undeniable failure of another approach, we need to consider anew."
Cardinal Mahony, are you listening? Auxiliary bishops, are you listening? Reverend clergy, are you listening? Is Fr. Landry right? What should you do about all the pro-abortion Catholic politicians in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles? What are you going to do to save the little babies of our Archdiocese from these defiant politicians? Nothing? Or something (in fact, something new)?
posted by Quintero at 9:23 AM
2 Comments:
Dear Q:
The following isn't a post; but, you can use it as such if you like. I just wanted to call you attention to an article that talks about the connection that USCCB and ACORN used to have. Since I can't reach you by email so I'll do it this way. But hey, I don't blame you. You'd probably be inundated by correspondence. We have to accept that life is more than blogging.
Boy, Father Landry is a voice in the moral desert that is the American episcopacy. The loyal bishops are hunted down and hounded out [Philadelphia's ex-bishop, Martino for one].
And if that's not enough, you got a sector of the laity that has appointed itself as "lay leaders" in a militant manner that pushes the envelope on the meaning of "the common priesthood." And they totally ignore that the ordained priesthood is exclusive. They have invaded [sometimes enabled by priests and bishops] church boards, Catholic universities, even seminaries. Many of these jerks have total disdain for the Magisterium, Traditional Catholic worship, The Bible, and especially against Our Lady. Well I suppose they simply ignore Papa Benny's admonition to the Brazilian bishops recently, ""it is important to avoid the secularization of clergy and the 'clericalization' of the laity." But, who pays attention to the Pope, anyways.
As if corrupt, jelly-spine bishops isn't enough of a problem for the Church. You got the mishandling of the contributions of the faithful. Here's the link to the article I mentioned above:
http://tiny.cc/USBishopsACORN
or,
copy and paste: http://biggovernment.com/2009/09/18/acorn-and-the-catholic-church-a-legacy-of-big-hearts-and-small-brains/#more-5014
Thanks,
-MVH
Dear Tuleesh,
Thank you very much for your good post, for the important link, and for being a faithful friend of this blogspot.
Let's keep Bishop Martino and his intentions in prayer. It's clear that lay liberals in his diocese had a vendetta against him.
You've hit the nail on the head with your comments about the liberals who wrongly try to minimize the priesthood and exaggerate the role of the laity.
Imagine the good that could have been done, and all the babies saved, if the bishops' CCHD had given pro-life pregnancy centers and other pro-life groups all of the zillions they squandered on far-left agitation groups.
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