The new joint cable news venture of NBC and Microsoft, MSNBC, is to be commended for its recent series on the Catholic Church in America. Its substantial interviews were a pleasant change from the usual sound-bite coverage the Church gets from secular media.
Like most outlets, though, MSNBC weighted its coverage to the marginal far left of Catholicism. Granted, dissent is inherently more dramatic than assent and, therefore, makes for better television. But we hope that future news and commentary will recognize the mainstream of Catholic thought.
After an interview with Fr. Philip J. Murnion, of the National Pastoral Life Center (disappointing in its lack of straight answers), Tom Brokaw questioned Sr. Maureen Fiedler, S.L., feminist activist; Ronald P. Ingalls, who left the priesthood to marry; Linda Pieczynski, of Call to Action, Chicago; and William A. Donahue, Director of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
Brokaw did his level best to grasp the issues, but the Modernists threw out the customary smoke screen:
Fiedler: “Certainly, women will become priests in the Roman Catholic Church . . . Jesus called women and men equally to ministry.” Citing public opinion polls, she added, “We are the mainstream, and we are the Church!”
Ingalls: “My vocation to be a priest didn’t come from the Church; it came from God . . . I don’t believe that just because I’m married, that’s gone away.”
Pieczynski: “I am what the Catholic education system has made me.”
Donahue tried to counter the disinformation, but he was outnumbered three to one.
In the next segment, Fr. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., of Georgetown University, and Scott Appleby, from the Cushwa Center of the University of Notre Dame, commented on the state of the Church in America.
Appleby raised the significant question: “Is this the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, or is this the ‘American Catholic Church’?” Asked why so many young people are turning to the Church, Reese echoed John 6:68: “They come to the Catholic Church because where else are you gonna go? You’re not going to go to MTV [to find meaning in life].”
Brokaw asked the inevitable question about how the Church might change with the next papacy, and Reese replied: “I think people who place their hopes on a new pope will be disappointed . . . 83 percent of the cardinals who will vote in the next conclave have been appointed by John Paul II.”
Sr. Fiedler’s public claim that she represents the mainstream of American Catholicism is laughable when one considers the progress of the much-publicized “We Are Church” petition drive. Privately, organizers admit the results have fallen far short of expectations. Those circulating the petitions have been urged to send in signatures immediately, not to wait until they have filled their forms.
As evidence of its desperation, We Are Church is offering cash incentives to marshal Catholic school students to gather signatures. Children are asked to solicit $1 from each signer; schools will receive 60 percent of the take.
The petition, which is co-sponsored by the Women’s Ordination Conference, calls for ordination of women, a married priesthood, popular election of bishops and pastors, acceptance of homosexuality and divorce, and changes in Catholic positions on sexual morality, including artificial birth control.
According to a published report, “several” Catholic high schools and “a large number” of Catholic colleges have joined the campaign.
It strikes us as troublesome, even sleazy, that those assigned to inculcate Catholic values in children-priests, sisters, religious educators-are using the children to further their own ends.
Since the end of World War II, many true stories of spiritual heroism have slowly emerged. Catholics have been edified by those martyred in the death camps, including St. Maximilian Kolbe, Bl. Edith Stein, and Bl. Titus Brandsma. Now, following the fall of Communism, another name is coming to light: Jaroslav Kozel. An account of the life of this young man, who died in Dachau in November 1942, was originally written shortly after the war. During the decades of political and religious repression in Czechoslovakia, it could not be published.
Now Peter Pohorsky, who was a close friend of Kozel, tells his story in English for the first time in a 46-page booklet, The Road to Happiness: The Life Story of Jaroslav Kozel. He proposes Kozel, who “achieved remarkable progress in his spiritual life while active in the lay apostolate,” as a model for American young people. Copies of the booklet are available for 90 cents plus postage from New World Treasures, P. O. Box 361656, Milpitas, CA 95036.
Anthony Gick posted this message on the Catholic Information Network: “As most CIN participants know, Call to Action will be holding their yearly conference November 15-17 in Detroit. Since I live in the Detroit Archdiocese, I have been upset by the prospect that CTA will be allowed to further undermine the faith of Catholics in my diocese. My wife and I prayed that someone would come forward to promote a restoration of true Catholicism and loyalty to the teachings of our pope.
“Well our prayers have been answered! To counter the ‘reforms’ being promoted by CTA, Stephen Brady, of Roman Catholic Faithful, has helped organize the Call to Holiness Conference, to be held November 15-17.
“Speakers will be Mother Angelica of EWTN; Fr. John Hardon, author and catechist; Fr. John Harvey, founder of Courage; Fr. Joseph Fessio of Ignatius Press; Donna Steichen, author and lecturer; E. Michael Jones, editor of Fidelity magazine; and Fr. Richard Welch of Human Life International. Needless to say, we are elated and pray that those people who were planning to attend CTA’s conference will attend the Call to Holiness conference instead.”
Ann Landers provoked a flood of angry responses when she cited a priest as saying that “non-Catholics should NOT step up to receive Communion.” Readers wrote to excoriate this position as “Catholic snobbishness.”
The misunderstanding was not limited to non-Catholics. One woman said her Catholic husband receives communion in her Protestant church, and she resents being barred from the Catholic sacrament. We wonder if she would feel so resentful if her husband, who should know better, witnessed to his faith by not receiving “communion” in a non-Catholic church.
The gulf between Catholics and Protestants on the Eucharist was apparent in the letters. Landers, who is neither, showed good sense by asking, “Why shouldn’t the Catholic Church have rituals for Catholics only? It’s not snobbery; it’s rooted in their religious beliefs. Someone who does not believe in Catholic doctrine should not be participating in Catholic rituals.”
Bothered by door-to-door proselytizers? If you don’t have time to evangelize them (our best suggestion), you might try posting a no-proselytizing sign we’re seeing more and more. It features a reproduction of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and says, “This home is Catholic. We don’t accept propaganda from Protestants or other sects. Long live Christ the King! Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of God!”
Such notices are available in bilingual, Spanish-only, and English-only versions. The ones we have were purchased at a Catholic bookstore in San Diego. Check your local store to see if it stocks them.
For those not yet ready to defend their faith from aggressive Mormon and Jehovah’s Witnesses onslaughts, a no-proselytizing sign may be a good solution. Perhaps pastors might consider making them available to their parishioners.
From a Protestant writer come these words of warning about uncritically applying the methods of historical criticism to Scripture. We urge Catholics to ponder them, too:
“It is not uncommon for this eager appropriation of biblical criticism, especially of its skepticism at contain historical points, to be part of a rejection of one’s entire past, part of the emancipation from mother’s religion. It is often accompanied by parallel revolts in theological stance, attitudes toward the institutional church, and against inherited mores of personal conduct . . .
“Nor is it uncommon for preachers to arrest their maturation in rebellion . . . Such a preacher could easily adapt the Pharisee’s prayer, ‘Lord, I thank thee that I am no longer the pious conservative I once was. I know that some psalms were composed for the enthronement festival borrowed from Mesopotamia. I know that 2Cor inthians is a compilation of at least four letter fragments. I know that most of the Fourth Gospel does not report accurately Jesus’ words. Above all, I am thankful that I have been liberated from my past by what I know.’
“If our emancipated friends teach the Bible to the congregation, they will probably try to liberate the pious from their conservative views as they too have been liberated. They will emphasize courses on ‘How we got our Bible’ or explain and justify the Two-Source Theory of the Synoptic Gospels, and regard it as a major victory if they can get people to start speaking of Deutero-Isaiah.
“But these preachers may scarcely know how to help the congregation study the Bible as its Scripture, as its canon, inasmuch as it has lost much of its canonical status for them long ago; only the aura of authority remains. In the meantime, other books and journals have become the real canon of their ministry” (Leander Keck, The Bible in the Pulpit [Nashville: Abingdon, l978], 26, 28).
Promising for both the Church and aspiring evangelists is the University of Dallas’s Millennium Evangelization Project. It will offer schools, parishes, and dioceses a three-year series of conferences on the faith-and the University is seeking Catholics willing to be trained as presenters. Among bishops endorsing the plan are Archbishop Christoph Schönborn, O.P., general editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Cardinal John O’Connor of New York, and Bishop John J. Myers of Peoria. From MEP’s announcement:
“The Millennium Evangelization Project (MEP) has developed conferences to help Catholics prepare for the coming millennium. The MEP seeks to make Christ and the richness of his message more widely known and better understood. Too few Catholics know their faith well. The MEP helps educate Catholics about their faith so that they can dedicate themselves more fully to him and can, in the face of modern challenges, evangelize others to follow Christ.
“Experts are writing scripts and producing engaging visuals. The slides feature great art, cartoons, and supporting charts and data. All scripts are based on the documents of Vatican II, theCatechism, and recent encyclicals.
“Booklets reproducing the slides and data will be available for purchase at the conference. Teams of speakers from around the United States are being trained to present the conferences. You can sponsor a conference for your parish, Catholic high school, college, or lay group. Contact the national office about fees and scheduling.
“Conferences:
“Year One (1997): Christ Reveals Man to Himself; Jesus Christ: Revelation of God’s Love; The Culture of Life vs. the Culture of Death; Life in Christ.
“Year Two (1998): The Holy Spirit; Completing the Mission of God through the Church; The Holy Spirit and the Church; Women in the Church; The Family as the Domestic Church.
“Year Three (1999): God, Father and Creator; The Fatherhood of God; Religion and Science; Thy Kingdom Come on Earth.
“The MEP will provide three conferences for each year prior to the millennium. Each conference will feature four talks. For instance, the conference, ‘The Culture of Life vs. the Culture of Death’ will include talks entitled ‘The Modern vs. the Christian View of Man,’ ‘The Myths of Overpopulation,’ ‘The Modern vs. the Christian View of Sexuality,’ and ‘Euthanasia and Capital Punishment.’
“The Millennium Evangelization Project seeks individuals who are followers of Christ and who love the Catholic faith. We seek those who wish to deepen their own love for Christ and their understanding of Catholic teaching, and to help others to do so as well. We need individuals who are willing to stand in front of an audience and present some of the crucial truths of Christianity, fully faithful to Vatican II, the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the work of Pope John Paul II.
“Speakers, working in teams of four, will be trained to present material and to answer questions on the topics. They will be provided with suitable reading material and samples of the most likely questions with appropriate responses. Training sessions will be held in different locations around the United States.
“We will train two tiers of speakers. Professionals, such as teachers, lawyers, businessmen and women, doctors, nurses, etc., will speak before parishes, college audiences, and Catholic lay groups. Recent college graduates who would like to acquire the skills of making public presentations will be trained to present conferences in high schools.
“Those interested in training to be speakers should contact the MEP national office: University of Dallas, 1845 East Northgate Drive, Irving, Texas 75062-4736; phone: (972) 721-4063; Fax: (972) 721-4078; e-mail: mep@acad.udallas.edu.”
Office parks make for strange neighbors. Catholic Answers was startled to discover that our new next-door neighbor is a photographer specializing in “glamour or boudoir portraits.” Its ad in the local paper features a silhouette similar to the young woman who adorns so many truckers’ mudflaps. Gary Lucero, whose shipping department shares a wall with the studio, reports loud music and giggles filtering through the wall. Is this what it means to be “in the world, but not of it”? We can only warn visitors to Catholic Answers to be sure you pick the right door!