Friday, September 12, 2014

Cardinal O'Malley Reveals More of Pope Francis Plans for Catechesis (or lack thereof)


I reviewed several articles describing last night's Crux kickoff.


Cardinal O'Malley hasn't been this gaga in a room full of powerbrokers moral relativism since Ted Kennedy's funeral.

He made several startling revelations.

First of all, he and Pope Francis are in constant communication by fax around the clock.

Whooh-boy. Carol is calling in some chits to get her hands on that number!

Cardinal O'Malley indicated that Pope Francis is looking in every corner of the world to find voices of cafeteria Catholics who discredit 2000 years of Catholic saints and theologians and help put them in charge of the Vatican.

He really wants lay people to take their proper role in the church, ...But of Francis’ curial reforms that rely on lay experts rather than Vatican bureaucrats? “There’s been a lot of resistance, but the Holy Father has been behind this 100 percent.”

And, if there were ever two men who knew how to pick 'em, it is Cardinal O'Malley and Pope Francis.

Here we were thinking the proper role of a lay person in the Church was being a mother and father, grandparent, children taking care of their elderly parents, husband, wife, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, friend, neighbor and let celibate men take care of the Deposit of Faith and the Sacraments?

One of the more interesting lines of discussion began when Margery Eagan, who writes a column on spirituality for Crux (and who co-hosts Boston Public Radio on WGBH 89.7 FM), asked if Francis might bridge the gap between someone who is “a liberal Catholic” or “a cafeteria Catholic” such as herself and “a conservative Catholic” such as Glendon.

Bridge the gap.

This is a Church that teaches right from wrong, sin from virtue. Why in the Name of Christ would we ever want to leave the River of Sanctifying Grace to cross a bridge to listen to the talking points of misguided wolves in sheep's clothing?

No, there isn't going to be any common ground initiatives with lies. It is so far over their heads, they are incapable of processing the reasons why.

Are you ready for the best line in the whole thing?

“I’m going to resist being called a conservative Catholic,” Glendon replied.

You don't say!

For reasons I don't have to explain to readers of TTC, I couldn't think of anything more harebrained than Cardinal O'Malley and Mary Ann Glendon to be the stars of an infomercial encouraging Catholic leaders to read the theological trash posted on Crux.

If they were intentionally trying to sabotage the salvation of souls in Boston, they couldn't do a better job.

What do you think they'll do for an encore?

I think the St. Patrick's Day Parade is looking for a couple of Catholics who know to pull off a decent publicity stunt to spin the story.

Another excellent Vortex -- he's on fire!



I've never taken a shine to the word 'pastoral'. Mikey nails the meaning.

3 comments:

StevenD-Jasper said...

"This is a Church that teaches right from wrong, sin from virtue. Why in the Name of Christ would we ever want to leave the River of Sanctifying Grace to cross a bridge to listen to the talking points of misguided wolves in sheep's clothing?

No, there isn't going to be any common ground initiatives with lies. It is so far over their heads, they are incapable of processing the reasons why."

excellent. Too bad we don't have a Cardinal who can teach like this. I've been watching some of the old Bishop Fulton Sheen videos, he is great, we could use him now...

Steve Dalton said...

Every criticism Voris leveled at Dolan and the church of nice crowd could have been leveled at Dolan's boss in Vatican City. The current and past popes of the Vatican II era have either allowed or encouraged this sad state of affairs for years. Mikey is truly delusional if he thinks attacking the bishops and priests is going to get the job done. When you fight against an enemy, you have to defeat the man at the top, not his soldiers. It's the head man who gives the orders to attack and plans the strategy to fight against you. The only thing Voris will accomplish in the long run with his strategy is to keep his followers in a state of emotional turmoil about the bishops and priest, while leaving the real cause (humanly speaking) untouched.

TTC said...

Stevie, Michael is giving many of us strength for the battle on the ground. That is where the fight is at this point in time.

I disagree with him about revealing the consequences of 'the Francis effect' but I respect his work very much and it is most effective.