Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
As reported on RealClearPolitics:
Reporter at Nancy Pelosi's weekly news conference: "You're a Catholic that supports gay marriage....[H]ow do you grapple with the idea that you support gay marriage as a Catholic?"
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: "My religion has, compels me, and I love it for it, to be against discrimination of any kind in our country, and I consider this [opposition to gay marriage] a form of discrimination."
Is anyone listening--anyone, say, in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops? Pelosi misstates the teaching of the Church so badly, and so baldly, that I see no way the bishops can permit her comments to pass without rebuttal--without, that is, abdicating their pastoral duty. Will we hear from Archbishop George Niederauer, the archbishop of San Francisco, Pelosi's home diocese, or from Donald Cardinal Wueril, the archbishop of Washington, D.C. (pictured here)? And if not from them, then from Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the archbishop of New York and president of the USCCB?
And if not, why not?
Watch this space.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
Mrs. Pelosi has it exactly backwards. Our religion informs our morality and not the other way around. She has strayed from her Catholic upbringing into the Church of Liberalism, where the only true sins are bigotry, intolerance, and discrimination.
Jan '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
It's one thing to say that Pelosi doesn't speak for the Catholic Church, which we all know, but given the fact that she said it publicly ... well, that's why we have bishops in the first place. It's their job to define and publicly referee what the Catholic Church teaches.
Frankly, that's their job. If they're not going to define Catholic teaching, there's no reason to have them.
As for Pelosi ... never mind her theology; her logic is even more embarrassing.
No, it doesn't.
The bishops need to do their job.
Jun '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
Maybe Pelosi is Lutheran and doesn't know it:
Dec '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
You're a kind, decent, and rational man, Mr. Robinson. That's why you can't imagine this passing without rebuttal from the bishops. History seems to indicate otherwise.
If Pelosi can make claims to the Church being uncertain as to when during pregnancy a fetus is ensouled (and therefore a person deserving constitutional protections) without consequence, I can see the bishops ignoring this lesser infraction.
In every aspect of life, including my faith, I find I am perpetually outraged and simultaneously unsurprised by what's going on. With Dolan, maybe things have changed. We'll see.
Jan '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
Western Chauvinist
If Pelosi can make claims to the Church being uncertain as to when during pregnancy a fetus is ensouled (and therefore apersondeserving constitutional protections) without consequence, I can see the bishops ignoring this lesser infraction.
Well, to be fair, her bishop did publicly reprimand her and correct her when she did this last time. It just didn't receive widespread attention. The angry feminist reaction to the reprimand received more coverage than the reprimand itself.
Mar '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
etoiledunord: Maybe Pelosi is Lutheran and doesn't know it:
The ELCA is the liberal version of the Lutheran church. There are close to 14 different types of Lutheran. Most are more conservative on social issues.
The Bishops have let powerful Catholic Dems say what ever they want since the Roe V Wade days. It would be great to see Pelosi finally put in her place as she misuses church doctrine constantly. That said I won't hold my breath.
Mar '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
KC Mulville
Well, to be fair, her bishop did publicly reprimand her and correct her when she did this last time. It just didn't receive widespread attention. The angry feminist reaction to the reprimand received more coverage than the reprimand itself. · 1 minute ago
Ms. Pelosi's beliefs and her lies about the Catholic Doctrine should get her ex-communicated. That is the only way the Bishops could really make a point that would actually be covered by the Press.
Jun '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
Jager
etoiledunord: Maybe Pelosi is Lutheran and doesn't know it:
The ELCA is the liberal version of the Lutheran church. There are close to 14 different types of Lutheran. Most are more conservative on social issues.
The Bishops have let powerful Catholic Dems say what ever they want since the Roe V Wade days. It would be great to see Pelosi finally put in her place as she misuses church doctrine constantly. That said I won't hold my breath.
Since I used to be ELCA (I'm now Catholic,) I think we were the last to hear that there are other types of Lutherans. :)
Jan '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
This episode can open up a host of interesting conversations.
One point that strikes me is that the Catholic Church existed for about nineteen centuries before the mass media came along. The relationship between bishop and believer was constructed long before mass communications.
In the old days, if a cleric or professor published a questionable or heretical work, the bishop could work in-house to discipline the offender. And if a private person who had no share in the teaching office of the church decided to spout nonsense, then the damage was limited. But these days, the media will report (falsely) the gibberish of any nominal "Catholic" as long as they're a politician or celebrity ... and never have the decency to call the bishop's office for correction or comment.
So, here you have local bishops (shepherds of the sheep) who are reluctant to wage a media battle against members of their flock ... especially when we can predict and expect that the media will distort the argument in favor of the heretic.
How can you be "pastoral" in the age of the media? Or internet?
Mar '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
I used to be Catholic, now Missouri Synod Lutheran. Wisconsin Synod is even more conservative.
Mar '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
You clearly state the beliefs of your church and correct publicly anyone who misstates your beliefs. The rest of your flock must know where you stand or more people will deviate from your core beliefs.
Then you hop e that the individual you have corrected returns to the church.
Jun '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
I'm not Catholic, so I have little ground to comment (but that hasn't stopped me before). It's one thing for someone to misstate a church's doctrine in an across-the-fence conversation with a neighbor. But when, in a public manner, a prominent person not only misstates, but completely inverts, church teaching, it seems incumbent on church authorities to set the record straight.
Whether it's in the form of a reprimand (or whatever the right term is) doesn't matter to me, but as the shepherds of the church doctrine, I hope the proper bishop publicly disagrees with her. I hope it's Bishop Neiderhauer. He was the bishop in SLC for many years and is a wonderful, spiritual man.
Edited on May 13, 2012 at 1:35amDec '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
KC Mulville
Western Chauvinist
If Pelosi can make claims to the Church being uncertain as to when during pregnancy a fetus is ensouled (and therefore apersondeserving constitutional protections) without consequence, I can see the bishops ignoring this lesser infraction.
Well, to be fair, her bishop did publicly reprimand her and correct her when she did this last time. It just didn't receive widespread attention. The angry feminist reaction to the reprimand received more coverage than the reprimand itself. · 2 minutes ago
Thanks, KC. I'm glad there was some response.
That's a fine letter as far as it goes. I'm hoping for something more like, "Mrs. Pelosi is free to change her religious affiliation, but until she stops speaking heresy in the name of her purported Catholicism, she should desist from approaching the altar for holy Communion."
Mar '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
From his picture, Cardinal Wueril appears to be channeling WFB. That's a good sign.
Jan '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
The bishops should definitely state Catholic doctrine firmly.
The problem is: how do you address ... the person ... who holds a wrong belief? You certainly have to swat down the belief, but do you take any further action against the person? Normally, unless the person has actually committed a public sin, you don't take actions against the person. Sure she's wrong, and you have to address that, but she isn't a Catholic teacher in any capacity.
And trust me, if you excommunicated every Catholic who didn't understand the faith perfectly, the collection plate would be pretty light every week.
So what do you do?
If I were the bishop, I know what I'd do. I'd have every Mass read the following statement during the announcements: "Please note that all questions on Catholic faith are the jurisdiction of the bishop. All Catholics are instructed to ignore any comments concerning faith or theology from Representative Nancy Pelosi, or any member of the media."
Over the top?
Sep '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
More at Ed Peters canon law blog and Fr Z's cri de coeur
Sep '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
Sep '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
Get yourself some Fr. Z canon 915 mousepad swag here.
Mar '11
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
Pseudodionysius thought mirrors my own. Speaking as a layperson, feel free to correct me if these thoughts are foolish, I cannot help but wonder why has Representative Pelosi been allowed to partake of the Holy Communion? Is she not preaching false doctrine? Is it not the exact purpose of excommunication to steer fallen Catholics back onto the correct path?
Edited on May 13, 2012 at 2:27amAug '10
Re: Will the Bishops Talk Back--for Once?
What we have here is failure to (ex)-communicate.