|
Written by Catholic Register Readers
|
|
Friday, 08 June 2007 |
Feminists can leave
Mary-Joan Hale laments the “deconsecrating and demolishing ” of church buildings (“We ignore half,” Reader Opinions, May 6). What is even more lamentable is the doctrinal neglect which has resulted in so many women who call themselves Catholic, misunderstanding the basic nature of the Catholic priesthood.
Forgotten are Christ’s words: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church,” “I give to you the keys of the Kingdom,” “He who hears you hears me.” Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI understand these words when they affirmed that they have not been given the power to change the priesthood instituted by Christ. Yet feminists and modernists feel no qualms about advocating a change so fundamental that it would demolish the Catholic priesthood.
Hale notes the capable work done by female rabbis and ministers but neglects to mention that all the non-Catholic religions which have accepted female and homosexual clerics have suffered severe splits, schisms and atomization in their once united congregations.
Feminists who long for female clergy can join any of these congregations yet they insist on disobeying the Vicar of Christ in advocating something which is completely foreign to Catholic life and worship.
As Catholics in a modern world we are very vulnerable to novelties and must resist denigrating our past. Hale’s references to “medieval mud” and “dark and middle ages” are offensive and betray a chronological snobbery unbecoming of Catholics, who are heirs to two millennia of Catholic wisdom.
Diane Watts
National President
Women for Life,
Faith and Family
Ottawa, Ont.
Time to let go?
In recent issues of The Catholic Register there have been several articles concerning the threat to the Catholic school system in Ontario, including the editorial for the May 20 issue (“On Catholic schools ”). Before we rally the Catholic community to defend the separate system we must ask ourselves what we are defending. Are we simply defending a constitutional right and history that goes along with that law or are we defending an integral and living component of Catholic Church life in our province?
Pope Benedict, when he was still a cardinal, was interviewed by the German journalist Peter Seewald for the book Salt of the Earth. There he comments on the church’s institutional life in his native Germany. The Pope says, “Even in the church inertia is a powerful factor. Consequently, once the church has acquired some good or position, she inclines to defend it. The capacity for self-moderation and self-pruning is not adequately developed. I think this is true also, and especially of us in Germany, where we have far more church institutions than we can imbue with an ecclesial spirit.”
Are we not in the same situation? Is there an ecclesial spirit within our schools? Are we willing to engage in the self-pruning and self-moderation called for by the Holy Spirit or are we simply about defending an historical good that today has lost its purpose and meaning?
Fr. Ed Henhoeffer
Pastor
St. John’s Parish
Guelph, Ont.
Answers offered
In answer to Fr. Marco Bagnarol’s questions regarding the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (“It’s puzzling,” Reader Opinions, May 13), D. and P. has worked for the past 40 years to ensure that all mankind is endowed with the bare necessities required to maintain human dignity.
The organization uses two fundamental elements to achieve the objectives so clearly outlined by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical Populorum Progressio. The first element involves working with partners based in developing countries. The input of these partners is critical as it enables true lasting solutions to be found to problems faced by the underprivileged in developing countries. All too often unworkable “solutions” are imposed on developing countries by powerful members of the developed world.
The second element involves the education of the public here in Canada. This element is not only in line with the Populorum Progressio view on building community but is recognized by the southern partners as essential to building international social justice.
Words without action are meaningless and, while it is impossible to detail the achievements of 40 years of activism in a few short paragraphs, hopefully the above answers the questions raised by Fr. Bagnarol and that now he will throw his full support behind D. and P.’s new campaign to call to account Canadian mining companies who operate unethically in developing countries.
Bob Jowett
Barrie, Ont.
Recommend this article...
|
Opinion 
