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"PRIESTLY" MINISTERS
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Gary M. Burge writes in Christianity Today (October 6, 1997): "My Evangelical roots have reminded me in no uncertain terms that the pastor is ‘one’ with the people. We uphold Martin Luther’s ‘priesthood of all believers.’ In Presbyterian parlance the pastor is one of the elders—a teaching elder—alongside so many other elders. And so our demeanor, our dress, our participatory leadership style have evolved to communicate that there is no hierarchy in our congregations.
"I now disagree with this model. I am not suggesting that pastors have privileges in the grace of God or the economy of the church unavailable to others. But I am suggesting that in worship the pastor must become priest. The pastor plays a role—a significant role—in the divine encounter offered in worship. The pastor assumes the role of mediator, incarnating God to the people, forging an atmosphere and image that men and women will absorb when they contemplate divine things."
Burge has been Lutheran, one of the "Jesus People," Presbyterian (PCUSA), and Evangelical. His spiritual journey is not likely at an end.
Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and a longtime opponent of the death penalty, welcomed the news that the Catechism’s teaching against capital punishment has been strengthened in the new, definitive Latin text. In an article in the British Catholic periodical The Tablet, she writes: "Until now, Catholic supporters of the death penalty have been able to quote the teaching of the Church to support their position. But, since 8 September, with the promulgation of the official version of the Catholic catechism, they will have to look elsewhere. For the Catholic Church now invokes ‘such severe criteria’ for the use of the death penalty, to quote Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that ‘it would be very difficult to meet the conditions today.’"
Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon writes in a review of Entertaining Angels, the Paulist film about Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day: "The decision to dwell on Dorothy’s spiritual journey may have hurt the film at the box office. Even to some of Dorothy’s admirers, her orthodox Catholicism is an embarrassing aspect of her life. They would prefer more picketing, less piety. But that would have taken the yeast out of the loaf." Interesting that some Catholics should be embarrassed by piety, orthodoxy, even sanctity.
Most reviewers have said just the reverse: They thought the film was flawed by not showingenough of Day’s spiritual life—she is never seen at Mass, for example, and the only time she "prays" is when she yells at a crucifix. Entertaining Angels is a lovely film, but it reduces Catholicism to an umbrella organization for soup kitchens and flophouses. It is that, but it is more. And the viewer never comes to understandwhy Day was willing to give up marriage, family, even ordinary comforts and necessities to serve the poor.
Jack T. Chick’s newsletter, Battle Cry, criticizes Promise Keepers for cozying up to Rome: "It was inevitable that an estimated 10 to12 percent of the men at the rallies would be of Roman Catholic background or affiliation. It was also almost inevitable that they would be welcomed as Christians since the momentum of the movement would be seriously damaged by bad publicity if they were told the truth about Catholicism’s false gospel. Now it appears that from the start, there was no intention to draw this distinction. PK founder Bill McCartney, who claims to be an ex-Catholic, told the Catholic weekly , Our Sunday Visitor recently, ‘Back in 1992, at our first stadium event, we very clearly stated from the podium that we eagerly welcomed the participation of Roman Catholics, and we’ve had scores of Roman Catholics attend and go back to their churches excited.’ That ‘participation’ has blossomed to include a Roman Catholic board member, Mike Timmis, a Detroit-area lawyer and businessman. Catholic ‘evangelist’ Jim Berlucchi was a featured speaker at several of this year’s rallies.
" Our Sunday Visitor reports that PK hosted a ‘Catholic Summit’ at its headquarters in Denver this June to ‘sound out’ Catholic leaders from the country. Most significant, however, was a revision of the PK statement of faith earlier this year. The original, published last year, stated that alienation from God because of sin could only be removed by ‘accepting, through faith alone, God’s gift of salvation, which was made possible by Christ’s death.’ Roman Catholic associates of the PK leadership quickly objected to the ‘faith alone’ phrase as being a ‘key doctrine of the Protestant Reformation.’
Early this year the statement of faith was changed to read: ‘Only through faith, trusting in Christ alone for salvation, which was made possible by his death and resurrection, can that alienation be removed.’ This was deemed acceptable by the Roman Catholics who are required to add ritual and other works to their faith. It also leaves open their option to worship their wafer-Christ instead of our glorious Jesus of the Bible."
On Extra!, a syndicated tabloid TV show, actress Whoopi Goldberg criticized the Holy Father: "I’m not pleased with this Pope. He has really, really infuriated me." Goldberg, whose real name is Caryn Johnson, was educated as a Catholic, but abandoned her faith years ago. "I am angry that this Pope is against the homosexual lifestyle and against in-vitro fertilization," she explained. "He is out of touch with kids!" (which must be why one million of them showed up in Paris to see him..
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who offended even anti-Catholic liberals when she ripped apart a photograph of John Paul II on "Saturday Night Live" a few years ago, has apologized. "Dear Holy Father, forgive me," she said in a magazine interview. "I did it because I was in rebellion against the faith, but I was still within the faith."
Instructive news from the Wisconsin Call to Action newsletter: "The Liturgy of the Eucharist [was] concelebrated by Fr. Mike [Michael Sullivan, O.F.M. Cap.] and the fourteen who sat together at the table. [The others were not priests, of course. Sad to say, this "Mass" and CTA meetings are held in parish churches in the Milwaukee Archdiocese—this one at St. Benedict the Moor.] At 2:00 p.m. the group regathered for small group discussion based on Dick Westley’s presentations [on the essential elements in Catholic tradition]. What do we want to keep? What do we want to get rid of? Many wanted to keep the God-with-us concept, the social justice, and the freedom of conscience concepts. Many wanted to get rid of the cultic, ritualistic, legalistic concepts as well as a cultic priesthood and the punitive aspects of Catholicism."
Hot tip for CTA: That church already exists. It is called "Unitarian."
Interesting reading is a list, compiled by Political Research Associates and the Institute for First Amendment Studies, called "Selected Influential Organizations and Periodicals Promoting an Orthodox View." Dozens of political and religious groups, including many Catholic ones, appear among the "Conservative, Ultra-Conservative, Religious Right, Secular Right, Traditionalist, Anti-Obscenity, and Far Right Institutions" listed. Just a sampling of how liberal social scientists see Catholic orthodoxy:
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights: "Dr. William A. Donohue oversees a group that appears to believe that Catholic religious and civil rights are incompatible with full rights and equality for women and homosexuals. Seeks constraints or codes that would affect free expression and the arts."
Human Life International: "Promotes a wide range of right-wing political and economic goals as part of its anti-abortion agenda based on an orthodox Catholic perspective."
Christendom College: "A four-year college centered around an extremely orthodox and ultra-conservative Catholic worldview."
Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation: "Established to fight communism, the predominantly Catholic group in recent years has detected the seeds of communism in various feminist and peace movements."
Knights of Columbus: Conservative Catholic lay society. A major financial contributor to the U.S. Catholic Bishop’s anti-choice campaign."
Knights of Malta: "Reactionary Catholic lay society with aristocratic roots and diplomatic status for its ambassadors. (Full name: Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta)."
Franciscan University of Steubenville: "Offers an academic minor in Human Life Studies as part of its orthodox Catholic and anti-choice worldview."
Opus De: "Reactionary fundamentalist Catholic lay society which makes totalitarian-style demands of its followers."
The Institute for First Amendment Studies’ home page boasts that "the Institute serves as a resource for a wide variety of media, including CBS, CNN, NBC, "MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour," The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Time, Playboy, School Board News, TV Guide, Reform Judaism, Extra!, and Mother Jones."
Well, that explains a great deal.
The conversion story of Joseph and Ruth Burkholder (, This Rock, July/August 1997) first appeared in the April 1997 issue of, Catholic Witness newsletter, a lay apostolate in the Richmond, Virginia, diocese. Editors Martin Phillips and Earl Whittaker distribute the publication for free and (like Catholic Answers) depend on financial support from readers. Their address is P.O. Box 8092, Charlottesville, Virginia 22906.
It was startling to many American Catholics when they read that Bob Dylan would perform at the Twenty-third Annual Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, Italy. But the 300,000 who attended seemed to love it—and loved the Holy Father, who cracked jokes and quoted from Dylan’s song "Blowin’ in the Wind." The "wind," said the Pope, is the Holy Spirit. Dylan sang "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door" and "A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall." He closed with "Forever Young" as a tribute to the Holy Father. After his performance, he removed his cowboy hat and approached the papal dais, where John Paul II held his hand, chatted with him, and gave him a rosary.
A man, curious about religious orders, approached a Dominican friar: "What can you tell me about the Dominicans?"
"Well, in short, we were founded by St. Dominic as an answer to the Albigensians," replied the friar.
"What about the Jesuits?"
"They were founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola as a response to the Protestant Reformation."
"So which is the greater order?"
The Dominican pondered for a second, then replied, "Well, when was the last time you met an Albigensian?"
David Briggs of the Associated Press, got the U.S. bishops’ pastoral on homosexual young people wrong—as did much of the secular media. His story lead read: "U.S. Catholic bishops are advising parents of gay children to put love and support for their sons and daughters before Church doctrine that condemns homosexual activity." Not even close. The pastoral letter, entitled "Always Our Children," plainly states that "it is not to be understood as an endorsement of . . . a ‘homosexual lifestyle." The Church consistently has maintained that there is nothing inherently sinful in a homosexual, orientation, only in homosexual, acts. The letter is hardly "ground-breaking," as AP calls it—merely a reminder to "love the sinner while hating the sin."
In a Sunday bulletin insert published in Modern Liturgy, Fr. Paul Turner, pastor of St. John Regis parish in Kansas City, Missouri, writes (correctly) that the tabernacle was originally used to reserve Communion for the sick and dying.
"Later as Christians realized that the tabernacle housed the most precious object of our faith, a devotion grew up around the tabernacle itself as a place for divine worship. It made sense, but the original idea was to reserve Communion for the sick, not to foster adoration. Gradually the tabernacle began to serve a further function. It provided extra hosts for Mass. When Communion time came, the priest could always rely on the reserves in the tabernacle. First a storehouse for the sick, then an object of adoration, now it became a source of feeding the community gathered for Mass.
"To bring it down home, the tabernacle began as a medicine chest, became an heirloom, and ended up as a refrigerator. No wonder people disagree about where it should be placed in the [church]."
Fr. Turner holds a doctorate in sacramental theology from Sant’Anselmo University in Rome. It is puzzling, then, that he would refer to the tabernacle as "an object of adoration." Catholics understand that it is the Real Presence of Christ they adore, not its container.
There is irony in his argument, too. Many readers of Modern Liturgy, which tends to be "progressive," will happily argue that "development of doctrine" should allow for women priests or homosexual marriages—yet they would reject out of hand the notion that Eucharistic theology has developed far beyond the early Church’s understanding.
And does it really matter that "people disagree" about where the tabernacle ought to be placed? The Church’s liturgical documents are clear that it is to be in a "truly prominent" place, whether on the main altar or a side altar.
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