NEW YEAR'S MISCELLANY
Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:
Ah, a new year, new possibilities, new ventures--and the likelihood that things will be pretty much as they were last year. (Sorry to disappoint the overenthusiastic.)
Let me begin 2006 will a few short observations.
1. The recent instruction regarding the ordination of homosexuals took, by various accounts, anywhere from five to eight years to write. I realize that things move slowly in Rome, but this may mark a new record in time inefficiently spent. The instruction was not long, it broke no new ground, and it contained no theological obscurities that necessitated long periods of high-level head scratching. It could have been written in a single afternoon. Perhaps it was, after which it was shuffled from one desk to another--for years.
If in that time it was seen by many competent eyes, I wonder why the instruction ended up with obvious imprecisions. What is meant by a "deep seated" homosexuality? What is meant by a "transient" attraction to it? These are the terms that decide whether a man is to be admitted to ordination. They needed much fleshing out but were left vague.
Given the clerical scandal in the U.S., did no one foresee that certain commentators and prelates would give their own spin to the instruction, trying to neutralize it? If this was foreseen, why was the instruction written so loosely as to allow such spinning? If it was not foreseen, why not (and why are those who did not foresee it permitted to compose such documents)?
2. Disorders come in many forms. There are physical disorders, mental disorders, moral disorders, intellectual disorders, psychological disorders, and other kinds.
A man who is born with only one arm has a physical disorder. There is no use pretending otherwise. You do him no service by telling him that his one-armed condition is "normal" for him. He knows it is not.
Other disorders may be less obvious to the people who have them.
A person who is mentally retarded may not realize that fact. A bright person who labors under an intellectual disorder (example: thinking that atheism is true and good) may imagine that everyone around him is intellectually off but that he is intellectually sound. Someone ideologically attached to a serious sin (example: promoting abortion) may not understand that he suffers from a moral disorder.
In the December 9 issue of "The National Catholic Reporter," the lead editorial began this way: "To all those in positions of leadership in the Roman Catholic church who also happen to be homosexual, we offer our commiseration and sorrow that once again you have been forced to hear your sexuality, an element intrinsic to your humanity, described as an objective disorder." The editorial takes its expected path from there.
The fact, though, is that homosexuality really is a disorder. We should not pretend otherwise. It may fit best in the category of psychological disorders, though in certain respects it fits also into other categories.
However you might compartmentalize it, homosexuality is a disorder. It may be the only sexual condition a person has been aware of having, but that does not make it "normal" for that person, just as being one-armed is not "normal" for the one-armed man. (Most people confuse what one is "used to" with what is "normal.")
3. Avery Cardinal Dulles is interviewed in the January/February issue of "The Catholic Answer" (which, confusingly, is published by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing and not by Catholic Answers). The topic is "Do We Still Need Apologetics?" Cardinal Dulles says "Yes."
Among other things, he says that dissentient Catholics ought to pay attention to what Catholic apologists say to non-Catholics. The dissentient Catholics might find their own confusions cleared up. "Members of the Church are not immune to the doubts and difficulties that afflict others who do not have the guidance of Scripture and Catholic tradition." The problems that affect many Catholics are the same as those that affect many non-Catholics.
Often it is easier to talk about the faith with non-Catholics than with heterodox Catholics. The latter may be more defensive. They know they believe in opposition to official teachings of the Church, and they feel a need to justify themselves. This tends to close their minds to arguments made to them directly.
It may be wise, then, to reach them indirectly, by giving them materials (books, booklets, recordings) aimed not at heterodox Catholics like themselves but at non-Catholics. Let them imagine themselves to be overhearing someone else's conversation. What they hear might lodge itself in their own minds.
4. Two books arrived on the day I wrote this edition of the E-Letter. I hope to get through them both before 2006 becomes 2007. (I have a long shelf of to-be-read-ASAP books.)
The first is "Christ, the Life of the Soul" by Columba Marmion. Born in Ireland, Marmion (1858-1923) became the abbot of a Belgian monastery. He wrote several books; this one sold 1.5 million copies.
This new translation (Marmion's works originally appeared in French) includes a foreword by Fr. Benedict Groeschel. Marmion was beatified in 2000 by John Paul II, who described this book as "an authentic treasury of spiritual truth."
More information can be obtained from the publisher's web site:
http://www.zaccheuspress.com
The other book is a proof copy of "Without Roots: Europe, Relativism, Christianity, Islam." It is a short (less than 140 pages) exchange between then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Marcello Pera, formerly a professor at the University of Pisa and now the president of the Italian Senate.
Pera begins with "Relativism, Christianity, and the West." It originally was a lecture he gave at the Lateran College of the Papal University. Ratzinger follows with "The Spiritual Roots of Europe: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." It was an address he gave to the Italian Senate. The book includes a long letter from Pera to Ratzinger and a long one from Ratzinger to Pera.
This book will be published by Basic Books in February:
http://www.basicbooks.com
5. I have no burning desire to see "The Chronicles of Narnia." Maybe I will see it, maybe not. I never had much interest in C. S. Lewis's "Narnia" series, but I did profit from many of his books. The best, I think, is one that is little read today: "The Discarded Image," which is subtitled "An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature"--not the kind of thing most Lewis fans are interested it, I'm afraid.
6. I did view three movies recently: "The Bicycle Thief," "The Postman," and "Life is Beautiful." I saw them in the original Italian, hoping to attune my ear to that language. They are fine films but perhaps not the best for aural comprehension. There is little dialogue in "The Bicycle Thief," the protagonist in "The Postman" mumbles (plus he speaks Neapolitan rather than standard Italian), and the star of "Life is Beautiful" speaks quickly even for an Italian.
I will learn this week if watching these films did any good: As you read this I am in Rome, where I am attending a conference.
If I happen to run into Mr. Big,* I'll give him your regards.
p.s., If you have a comment about anything appearing in this E-Letter, please do not hit your Reply button. Instead, go to Catholic Answers' discussion forums at
http://forums.catholic.com
where you may post your comment in the forum dedicated to the E-Letter. You will find a thread devoted to this issue of the E-Letter. Feel free to add your comment in the form of a reply to that thread.
*If you grew up watching Rocket J. Squirrel, this title may mean something to you. If not, never mind. (The Mr. Big I refer to is a Good Guy, of course, and is not from Pottsylvania.)
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