The Catholic Spectator

  1. Maze Craze

    November 29, 2007 by Eugene Michael

    In February, a Lenten retreat and a prayer labyrinth also will focus on the transition.” From an article about the Cathedral Community in the 11/19 issue of Catholic Courier.

    “But Christians who walk the labyrinth should know there is little if any proof in church history that labyrinth walking has been a spiritual tool for Christians. More important, they should know that its current popularizers see the labyrinth’s spiritually amorphous path more as a partial replacement for the transcendent God of Christianity than as a tool to bring followers closer to him.” Mark Tooley writing in article titled Maze Craze, CatholicCulture.org.

  2. God Or Mammon?

    November 28, 2007 by Eugene Michael

    “Q: What are the risks the Church faces if it enforces stricter penalties against politicians (for being pro-abortion)?

    A: And finally, the Church incurs a danger of alienating judges, legislators and public administrators whose good will is needed for other good programs, such as the support of Catholic education and the care of the poor”. Cardinal Dulles in an interview posted by ZENIT on 6/9/04

    In this interview Cardinal Dulles has lifted the veil ever so slightly and given us a greater understanding of the bishops’ tepid response to pro-abort politicians. They are afraid of jeopardizing government funding for their various social programs. In other words, one can’t be too insistent about saving innocent children because Catholic Charities may lose funding for their programs to combat poverty, racism and homelessness. I wonder what the millions upon millions of dead babies would have to say about that trade-off?

  3. Torn Garment

    November 27, 2007 by Eugene Michael

    “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position.”

    This statement is taken from the USCCB’s recent document titled Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about the wisdom of equating an act of killing with an attitude about racial superiority. I am more concerned with the apparent free pass the bishops are giving to pro-abort politicians. The bishops seem to be saying that you can vote for a pro-abort as long as you aren’t supporting the candidate’s advocacy for killing babies.

    So go ahead and vote for the rabid pro-abort Hillary Clinton as long as you don’t personally support her baby killing agenda. In fact the bishops’ document would allow you to vote for an Adolph Hitler as long as you weren’t supporting his program to exterminate the Jewish race.

    This is nothing more than a rehash of that tired “seamless garment” philosophy that is largely responsible for the lack of Catholic activism on the abortion issue. The seamless garment lets you vote for the baby killer as long as he/she is supposedly solid on poverty issues, health care, global warming, etc.

    In theory the seamless garment presents a number of issues as being equally relevant in Catholic social teaching. In reality, the abortion issue gets lost in the shuffle. Here is a visual representation of the seamless garment in action:

    Seamless Garment Issues: CLIMATE CHANGE, UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, POVERTY, DEATH PENALTY, WAR, IMMIGRATION, RACISM…(abortion).

    Perhaps it’s time to categorize the seamless garment as being intrinsically evil.

  4. Casti Connubii

    November 19, 2007 by Eugene Michael

    Pope Pius XI has these strong words of warning for priests who mislead the faithful regarding artificial contraception:

    “We admonish, therefore, priests who hear confessions and others who have the care of souls, in virtue of Our supreme authority and in Our solicitude for the salvation of souls, not to allow the faithful entrusted to them to err regarding this most grave law of God; much more, that they keep themselves immune from such false opinions, in no way conniving in them. If any confessor or pastor of souls, which may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted to him into these errors or should at least confirm them by approval or by guilty silence, let him be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict account to God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of his sacred trust, and let him take to himself the words of Christ: “They are blind and leaders of the blind: and if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.” Casti Cannubii

  5. More Casti Connubii

    November 16, 2007 by Eugene Michael

    “Those who hold the reins of government should not forget that it is the duty of public authority by appropriate laws and sanctions to defend the lives of the innocent, and this all the more so since those whose lives are endangered and assailed cannot defend themselves. Among whom we must mention in the first place infants hidden in the mother’s womb. And if the public magistrates not only do not defend them, but by their laws and ordinances betray them to death at the hands of doctors or of others, let them remember that God is the Judge and Avenger of innocent blood which cried from earth to Heaven.” Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubii

  6. DOR’s Rapidly Declining School System

    November 15, 2007 by Eugene Michael

    Student enrollment in Rochester’s Catholic elementary and middle schools has declined 45% in the last 10 years. The decline in Catholic school enrollment nationally since 1997 is a much smaller 17%.

  7. Roger Haight In Review

    November 2, 2007 by Eugene Michael

    Monday night at the University of Rochester, Roger Haight showed why the Vatican issued a formal “Notification” about his book “Jesus, Symbol of God”. In his one hour talk, he told a small group of about 35 people rambling tales of Vatican II and the new and improved Catholic Church that it produced. He proved that the Vatican was correct when it said that “Jesus Symbol of God contains erroneous assertions, the dissemination of which is of grave harm to the faith”.

    The essence of his theology is that the Church’s teachings are continually being modified based on historical periods, cultural environments, and Church leadership. This premise is the apparent foundation for his new theology that the Vatican described as containing “serious doctrinal errors contrary to the divine and Catholic faith of the Church”. This is why the Vatican has instructed that Roger Haight “may not teach Catholic theology”.