Friday, December 9, 2011

Bishops Behaving Boldly - 4 Stories

Because the myopic vision of those who insist on only passing along negative news about the Bishops represents a tiny minority of what our Shepherds do.


1) Archbishop Dolan on building a culture of vocations

In an interview with The Catholic Answer, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York discusses his ideas for building a culture of vocations.

“I always tell my priests that when we tell you to preach on vocations to the priesthood, preach on vocations to the priesthood bluntly, in an unapologetic way — not watering it down by saying, ‘I don’t mean to demean this other vocation,’ or ‘I wish we could ordain married men,’” he said.

Archbishop Dolan recounted:

"What I mean by a culture of vocations is that when our young people grow up in a culture that encourages you to do God’s will and that affirms one in his desire to be a priest, you are going to get priests. I grew up in such a culture. I said to my teachers in grade school, “I think I want to be a priest,” and they beamed and did everything possible to encourage me. My parish priest would. My folks would. My neighbors would. The parish would. I can remember as a kid — I must have been 9 or 10 years old — getting a haircut, and the barber said, “Hey shrimp, what do you want to be when you grow up?” I said, “I want to be a priest.” And he wasn’t even a Catholic, but he said, “Hey, isn’t that great?” Now that is the culture of vocations that we need in the Church."
Asked whether the Church is experiencing a new springtime of priestly vocations, he said, “I think we have to be realistic. I think we might be in early March.”



2) Archbishop Wenski: Obama administration ‘running roughshod’ over conscience rights

The Obama administration is “running roughshod over conscience protection provisions long part of the law,” and Catholic supporters of health-reform legislation were “played by the president,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami said in an op-ed column.

“It seems that pro-life Catholics such as Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak and the Catholic Health Association’s Sister Carol Keenan — who trusted the administration’s position that abortion was not part of the healthcare bill — along with Notre Dame’s leadership have been played by the president,” the prelate wrote. “His administration is running roughshod over conscience protection provisions long part of the law that find their justification in the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion, a foundational human right.”

“It is one thing for an administration to support and promote an agenda; it is quite another to force those who disagree with it to violate their moral and religious principles,” he added. “The long line of evidence is disturbing … Catholic social and healthcare providers — the largest private network in the nation — are at risk of being left out of all federal programs, despite their well-earned reputation for providing superlative service to the American public. In effect, the Obama administration is telling these Catholic providers to surrender their conscience rights and their Catholic ethos or shut their doors.”



3) Bishop Lynch will end diocesan health coverage unless conscience concerns addressed

Surprising attendees at the annual Red Mass, Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg announced that the diocese will no longer provide health insurance to its 2,300 employees if the Obama administration’s proposed implementation of health care legislation is not changed. Employees would instead be given an additional stipend and asked to purchase their own insurance.

Under a draft mandate announced by the Department of Health and Human Services, all insurance policies--apart from those that fall under a very narrow religious exemption--would be required to cover contraception and sterilization without copayments.

Stating that “I'm extremely uncomfortable with even thinking of such a thing,” Bishop Lynch said that the Church is at a “moment of history" in which it must defend "religious liberty and individual moral conscience.”



4) Kentucky bishop demands adherence to new Missal, liturgical directives

A Kentucky bishop has directed his priests to follow the new translation of the Roman Missal “exactly as it is written,” and called for appropriate music and gestures in the liturgy, in a pastoral letter.

Bishop Roger Foys of Covington warned priests against straying from the approved liturgical texts. He said that the music for the Mass should be “theologically sound and properly composed in accord with the teaching of the Church on sacred music.” And he cautioned that the choir should not be in the sanctuary during Mass.

Among other liturgical directives in his pastoral letter, the bishop said that it is improper for lay people to extend their hands during the Lord’s Prayer:

No gesture is prescribed for the lay faithful in the Roman Missal; nor the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, therefore the extending or holding of hands by the faithful should not be performed.

14 comments:

  1. AMEN!!! These men are suppose to be the Generals in the Church Militant!!! They are charged with souls in their care and getting as much souls on Peter's Barque, the True Ark, where a man meets his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the most personal way possible!!! Almighty God Tabernacles with his people, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity until the end of the age...Amen

    Will @ In Defense of the Children of Light...

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  2. Archbishop Dolan is famous for his boldness.

    When a 16 year old girl was sexually abused in New York by an 87 year old priest in August of 2011, Dolan boldly trashed her on his blog, making it clear to Catholic teenagers that if anyone comes forward with yet another case of pedophile priest sex abuse, the biggest bishop in the country is going to question them. That's bold.

    The priest admitted to massaging the girl. Why would any priest anywhere be massaging any 16 year old girl? He then accused the girl of wearing “short skirts.” That’s just what the priest admitted to. More at http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/08/04/bronx-priest-accused-of-inappropriately-touching-16-year-old-girl/

    Dolan and the Catholic league boldly trash the girl at http://blog.archny.org/?p=1556

    Dolan knows psychology, he knows finances, and he knows boldness. He knows that if he publicly trashes a teenager who has been sexually abused by one of his priests, other teenagers will be afraid to come forward.

    Jesus would never do that. Jesus would never use the power of his position to attack a 16 year old girl from the Bronx. Dolan is the biggest bishop in the country, and he is doing the opposite of what Jesus would do, and intimidating every child sex abuse victim that is afraid to come forward.

    That's bold.

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  3. You're stupidity is bold

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  4. Our Church leaders have become so weak-kneed that these examples pass as boldness.

    Encouraging Vocations
    Making a statement about religious freedom
    Requiring priest to follow the rubrics

    I would suggest that we have become so used to the accommodation of the present culture, by our shepherds, that we get giddy when we see a bishop not fold like a cheap chair after a KC pancake breakfast.

    Thanks,
    Doug

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  5. Gosh. After reading these comments, I feel more sorry than ever for our poor bishops! How in the world could anyone lead people who are so bitter & critical? Very sad.

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  6. Sheesh. 3 cynical comments? Read about how Iraneus died. He prayed and begged the Christians in Rome not to interfere with his coming martyrdom. Polycarp had an interesting send off too, not to mention every apostle but John. The full force of the Roman empire and it's culture did nothing to stem the tide of proclaiming the Gospel. Persecution is NORMAL and expected and is where the action of the Holy Spirit is most visible to us here on earth. Take the gloves off! Hasten the coming of the kingdom!

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  7. Bishp Frank Dewane of Venice, FL also deserves mention. The gray "we are church" hippies (aka screwtape) think he is "destroying the diocese" - which means he is doing the heavy lifting that rarely gets done.

    209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/2814137/posts?page=2#2

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  8. BOLD? Oh please! More kiss up Catholic media nonsense. What about the lack of the faith being taught in their Catholic schools, the never ending stream of liturgical abuses by their priests, their absolute silence on things like the evil of contraception, the false ecumenism and on and on? Talk about "myopic vision". Sheesh

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  9. practically every diocese in the country is closing schools and parishes in unprecedented numbers. Millions upon millions of Catholic just in America do not practice their faith. Many who got to Mass don't believe some/most of what the Church teaches. Orthodox priests and seminarians are bullied by the old liberal crowd and ALL of this going on right under the bishops' noses. Do people in the Catholic media REALLY think that this a time to hand out awards for boldness? if so, then they themselves have become part of the problem in the Church. Why don' they EVER, JUST ONCE, tell the full truth about all these other problems. They just sit idly by, deathly silent as they make a nice living patting bishops on the back and writing stories about how bad things are "out there" in the world - with nary a comment that the real danger is the filth inside the Church. A bishop isnt bold because he challenges a proposed piece of legislation. Someone qualifies for the label of BOLD when they do something right that they are going to have to pay severe consequences for, but do it anyway.

    Challenging proposed legislation and making a speech of two isn't bold. Letting same-sex marriage in your state become law without essentially lifting a finger to stop in isn't bold. Going on Catholic media outlets and saying it happened by accident because you were misled isnt being bold.

    And being Catholic media personalities that KNOW the Church is in horrible shape and refusing to talk about the REAL reasons why .. which trace back to the bishops, their policies and their staffs .. isn't bold either. In fact, it disqualifies said media personalities from claiming who is bold and who isnt.

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  10. As usual, those with the most offensive and dishonest comments refuse to be held accountable by hiding their identities behind "anonymous."

    What would you know about bold, cowards!

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  11. My name is Phil Steinacker, and I take responsibility for every word I post online.

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  12. To those who are critical of the Bishops, when was the last time you said a rosary for any of them? When was the last time you fasted for them? Satan has singled them out to "sift" them like wheat. We need to pray for them and hope that they will rise to the occasion of grace. But even if they don't we should remember that they will have to answer for their actions, but we will have to answer for ours...

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  13. Thank God for Bishop Foys of Covington KY.

    The LAITY abuses at Mass - both prior to and after Nov 27 are not only distracting but also disruptive to the Worship of God. Holding hands and raising arms by the Laity is a PROTESTANT tradition, not Catholic.

    We should all send a copy of Bishop Foys' Decree to our own Diocese Bishop.

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  14. Things will start to change when the USCCB and each Diocese Bishop actively promote the reading of:
    1) the "CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, Second Edition" for all Catholics and non-Catholics over age 16;
    2) "YOUCAT" (Youth Catechism) for ages 12 -16;
    3) "Baltimore Catechism" for those under age 12.

    The CCC should be a required text at all Catholic Seminaries, and Universities, and for Seniors in High School.

    The use of these age appropriate Catechisms will educate or re-educate the masses.

    Instead, I heard that the USCCB Committee is working on yet another series of catechisms that are un-necessary. (When will they learn that they cannot improve upon the best.)

    People of the USA are LITERATE and can easily understand the Catechisms provided by Blessed Pope JPII and Pope Benedict.
    It is insulting to the American people for the USCCB to rewrite them according to their personal opinions.

    Each of us should make certain that we and our loved ones have the above catechisms regardless of the USCCB.

    Read: "The RATZINGER REPORT, an exclusive interview on the State of the Church", in particular pages regarding - "A shattered catechesis" and "the problem of episcopal conferences". (Give your Diocese Bishop of a copy of this book too.)

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