“There being an imminent danger for the Faith, prelates must be questioned, even publicly, by their subjects. Thus, St. Paul, who was a subject of St. Peter, questioned him publicly on account of an imminent danger of scandal in a matter of Faith. And, as the Glossa of St. Augustine puts it (Ad Galatas 2.14), ‘St. Peter himself gave the example to those who govern so that if sometimes they stray from the right way, they will not reject a correction as unworthy even if it comes from their subjects.” (SummaTheologiae, IIa IIae, Q. 33, A. 4)
The Vatican always seems to have the secrets and intrigues of a Renaissance court — which, in a way, is what it still remains. The ostentatious humility of Pope Francis, his scoldings of high-ranking prelates, have changed this not at all; if anything, the pontiff’s ambitions have encouraged plotters and counterplotters to work with greater vigor.
And right now the chief plotter is the pope himself.
The push back against Douthat did not take long. James Martin. S.J. was first of the mark and has since used the word "hater" against those who question his Jesuitical arrogance. Then, a group of so-called "theologians" issued a public Letter to the Editor of the Times, chastising Douthat. Were they trying to get him fired? Douthat is not the first to attacked by churchmen for stating his opinion, he will not be the last.
Douthat has responded again. Fundamentally, according to the "theologians," his crime is not being one, therefore, he is not part of the club and has no business commenting. These modern day no-nothings and their clericalist aides and abettors hate an educated laity.
Douthat has responded again. Fundamentally, according to the "theologians," his crime is not being one, therefore, he is not part of the club and has no business commenting. These modern day no-nothings and their clericalist aides and abettors hate an educated laity.
Dorothy Cummings McLean picks up this matter in Catholic World Report.
As the Affair Douthat unfolds, I keep attaching faces to the names I hadn't heard or seen for many years. One of them belongs to an active homosexual who brought his boyfriend along on the departmental retreat and shared a room with him. Another belongs to an active unmarried heterosexual who brought his girlfriend along on the departmental retreat and shared a room with her. They were both very pleasant and cheerful men. I liked them very much—which does not erase the facts that they did not believe the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning sexual morality and that today they are professional Catholic theologians.
Some Catholics these are, poisoning the minds of our youth not enough in touch with the Truth as Mrs. Cummings McLean was whilst a student there.
In the combox at CWR, a writer quotes the late Richard John Neuhaus writing in First Things in 2003.
It was at a conference in the mid eighties that I listened to Hans Küng hold forth in triumphalist tones on the victory of the progressives. “We” control, he announced, the seminaries, the academic departments of theology, the catechetical and liturgical institutions, the publishing houses, the magazines that matter, and the chanceries. Most of the bishops, he said, are now on “our” side, and those who aren’t have been neutralized. Anyone who wants a future in the hierarchy or the Catholic academy has no choice but to cooperate, he observed. It was a clean sweep; all that was left were a few details; the disgruntled band of risibly reactionary dissidents from the new order didn’t understand what had happened and couldn’t do much about it."
Douthat is right. These heretics, and that is what they are, hid underground as best they could under the last two papacies, They worked quietly, these malefactors did, to undermine and destroy the faith. Under Jorge Bergoglio, they have the confidence to come right out in the open, either because the Bishop of Rome is weak and ignorant to what is going on around him or because he endorses it and promotes. it
So what does this have about Thomas Rosica, CSB?
I have a collection of emailed letters from Rosica. Letters which insult and deride this writer and more. Cummings wrote about some of them previously at Catholic World Report following the farce of a vexatious lawsuit against this writer by Rosica. A poverty vowed Basilian the suit was undertaken, allegedly "pro bono," by Fogler Rubinoff, one of Toronto's largest and most expensive legal operations.
Below is one of the letters. I am making it public because it shows that this attempt to silence and berate lay men and women who have every right and duty to raise their concerns to the Church and Catholics in general is not new. These bishops, priests and theologians are the best examples of clericalism, something they apparently thought was wrong in the Church before the Council which they adore as if it is their god.
Tom Rosica, James Martin and the others cannot silence the Catholic faithful and the truth. They have played their hands and they have been exposed. They are not the President and Vice-President of the Internet.
They cannot cope with the fact that we may not be "bishops or liturgists" but we do know what words mean and there are many we could use and Dorothy Cummings McLean knows it too.
They cannot cope with the fact that we may not be "bishops or liturgists" but we do know what words mean and there are many we could use and Dorothy Cummings McLean knows it too.
"The brain-blowing combination of asserting that what is not Catholic teaching is somehow Catholic teaching and then shrieking like a frightened schoolgirl when the word "heresy" is uttered is what the American Catholic/Jesuit theological academy is all about."
From: Thomas Rosica [mailto:rosica@saltandlighttv.org]Sent: March 24, 2011 8:18 PM(…) your vision of the Church will not help you to grow. It simply confirms you where you are. …You launch arrows and broadcast yourself from a website. You have no theological formation ... Your keyboard and your monitor do not make you a bishop or liturgist.Fraternally yours in Christ,Fr. Rosica