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Wednesday 6 July 2016

John Paul Shimek and the National Catholic Register - mocking faithful Catholics and supporting the notion that, "gay is good and godly"

The screed that follows below is from a writer at the National Catholic Register. John Paul Shimek is pictured at the right. 

He enjoys spending his time on Facebook and Twitter mocking faithful Catholics, tradition and the faith in general whilst purporting to be a faithful Catholic and professional journalist He has the temerity to call himself on Twitter, a "catholic theologian." 

John Paul Shimek is as much a theologian as this writer is a Doctor of the Church. What a self-indulgent, narcissist.

He promotes that Holy David and Holy Jonathan were sodomites blest and honoured by God. Not only an outright lie, but a blasphemy. He is also believes that "gay is good and godly" and that traditional or rather, faithful Catholics should be "driven out of the Church.

Who is this effeminate, disgrace for a Catholic journalist? 

Why is he writing in the National Catholic Register?

John Paul Shimek's diatribe could have been written by Thomas J. Rosica, CSB. You can read it below where it is copied, lest you give his work at NCRegister (notice they downplay Catholic) a hit and feed the bear. 

I have provided these two screenshots lifted from Hilary White. If anyone has any others, please forward them to voxcantoris@rogers.com.

Shimek convicts himself. 

So too does the National Catholic Register.

UPDATE: AS REPORTED IN THE COMBOX, THE NCREGISTER HAS DELETED HIS POST.






Should Good Catholics Read Far-Right Catholic Blogs?by John Paul Shimek   
Last weekend, Ines San Martin of Crux reported that Pope Francis “has vowed in a new interview that he won’t be slowed down by resistance from ‘ultra-conservatives’ in the Church who ‘say no to everything,’ insisting, ‘I’m going ahead without looking over my shoulder.’”
Good Catholics everywhere cheered the words of the Holy Father, the Successor of St. Peter.
You see, they readily understood that a handful of far-right ideologues do not get to determine the course of Christ’s Church. It doesn’t matter if those ideologues represent semi-schismatic enclaves or write popular blogs. Christ the Lord has empowered the Church’s Magisterium in communion with the Successor of St. Peter to lead the People of God. Not them.
Nonetheless, sometimes it can be instructive to read these far-right ideologues. Doing so, reveals some things worth noting about the signs of the times; and, taking stock of those things, helps us to perform better the work of the New Evangelization.
Just what do these blogs reveal?
At first brush, it would seem that there has been a shift in the tectonic plates. At the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Francis, only a small minority of ‘radical traditionalists’ teetering on the edge of schism opposed the man ‘from the ends of the earth.’ Middle-of-the-road ‘conservative Catholic’ types withheld judgment about him, biding their time as he got to know his new flock. Since then, the climate has changed and the sands have shifted.
As a variety of far-right or ultra-conservative Catholic writers make clear, now the ‘in thing’ among their number seems to be to ‘distrust and vilify’ the Pope, not to ‘trust and verify’ him. Thus, far-right Catholic writers get their Catholic ‘street cred’ by maligning the Pope as a chief plotter against the faith.
That this is their modus operandi becomes clear after a moment’s inspection of the kind of blogs where they tend to gather on-line. They never seek to read the pontificate of Pope Francis through the lens of charity. Their first instinct is to punch first.
Thus, they eschew charity and ecclesial union, preferring division and animosity. That does not bespeak a Catholic ethos.
This surfaces a second point: The far-right has radicalized. A small number of blogs have sent a direct signal to no doubt well-meaning ‘conservative Catholics’ that it is now open season on Francis. In effect, these blogs have allowed themselves to become little more than sleeper cells of ‘ultra-conservative Catholic’ ideologues, sounding the alarm to arise and take up arms in a bitter civil war where victories are won only by way of resisting the Pope.
Scripture tells us that we will know Christians by their fruits. Yet so often the fruit of reading the blogs of far-right and ultra-conservatives Catholics is anger, not peace, sadness, not joy, and ecclesial division, not unity in Christ’s Spirit. Aren’t these the marks of the Evil One? Certainly, they’re not the traits of spiritually mature Catholics.
Thirdly, all this effectively means their program of radicalization is carried out in an extra-ecclesial context. On the frontlines of this new battle for the soul of Catholicism, self-appointed gate-keepers of Catholic orthodoxy fill the ether in concerted attempts to marginalize the voice of the Church’s duly appointed pastors. Lacking episcopal consecration and any claim to Apostolic succession, they constitute among themselves a sort of ‘parallel magisterium’ that determines for itself the prerogatives of the Pope, the content of authentic Catholic teaching, and the future direction of the Church’s pastoral ministry.
None of that is Catholic. But it might well be deeply Congregationalist.Of course, they carry on their war against the ‘Francis Revolution’ while claiming to launch their missives from the secure tactical ground of established Magisterial teaching. But, ironically, they balk if you point out that they lack the credentials, rank, and profile to command their territory.
Cherry-picking the bishops to whom they adhere, and dividing the Church into political parties, they profess a libertarian ecclesiology that selectively adheres to the Church’s authority when it serves their spiritual preferences. Thus, far-right Catholic agitators entirely side-step serious theological questions about the nature of Catholic tradition, the definition of heresy, the extent of the Church’s canon law, the balance between doctrine and pastoral practice, the prerogatives of the pope, the meaningfulness of ecclesial communion, and the need for continental and lay consultation, opting instead for simplistic political drama.
Instead, they deal in innuendos, slander, and calumny. Those are their trademarks, not respect for the hierarchy of the Church and reverence for the truth.
And so, the fourth point: With their radicalization and de-ecclesialization comes their de-rationalization. They eschew the heavy-lifting of theology in preference for the sensationalism of political theater that finds no place for the common dialogue of parrhesia. Against any kind of synodality characterized by mutual listening, the discernment of spirits, or pastoral accompaniment, they opt for something Pope Francis has termed ‘declarationist nominalism’ – a form of political resistance theater to the ‘culture of encounter’ by way of a monologue in the form of one-dimensional pious platitudes.
When Pope Francis calls for a synodal Church that leaves no one outside the warm embrace of mercy, they envision a new Siege of Masada. They take on the guise of militants, perceiving themselves as the last defenders of Catholicism. Yet their war cries and battle slogans leave them sounding like un-catechized Catholics in great danger of slipping into Protestant forms of thinking.
Let us pray for them even as we continue to pray for His Holiness Pope Francis as he pursues the course the Holy Spirit reveals to him.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

II Thessalonians 2:

And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto him, that you be not easily moved from your sense nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle as sent from us as if the day of the Lord were at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth, and is lifted up above, all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God.

Remember you not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh, only that he who now holdeth, do hold until he be taken out of the way.

And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, him whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders and in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore, God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying, that all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have consented to iniquity.

But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of God, for that God hath chosen you first fruits unto salvation, in sanctification of the spirit and faith of the truth, whereunto also he hath called you by our gospel unto the purchasing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.

Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God and our Father, who hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope in grace exhort your hearts and confirm you in every good work and word.

DJR

jim norwood said...

I stand in awe of man's ability to delude himself. As a Catholic brought up in the fifties, I can only shake my head! As a boy I sometimes found it hard to believe some of the goings on in the old testament. What I see going on today however, makes the old testament now seem tame in comparison.

Murray said...

The Register has now pulled the article with the following comment:

Editors' note: This post has been removed. The original text was posted without authorization and bypassed any editorial review. The blog did not reflect the Register's editorial views.

Anonymous said...

This appears on the NCR website:

Should Good Catholics Read Far-Right Catholic Blogs? by John Paul Shimek 06/30/2016 Comments (54)


Editors' note: This post has been removed. The original text was posted without authorization and bypassed any editorial review. The blog did not reflect the Register's editorial views.


Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jpshimek/should-good-catholics-read-far-right-catholic-blogs/#ixzz4DeUUzAA7

DJR

Oakes Spalding said...

As you may just have seen, NCR just pulled it, saying it was submitted without editorial approval.

My Blog said...
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My Blog said...
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Anonymous said...

My last name is spelled 'Shimek.' You may say whatever you like about me, but please spell my name correctly.

My Blog said...
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Aged parent said...

Desperation is written all over Mr Shimek's article.

Both sad and funny at the same time.

TH2 said...

"The original text was posted without authorization and bypassed any editorial review"... Ya, right.

Is Shimek the fraternal twin of Dave Armstrong? A relative of Fr. Rosica? Anyway, that piece has the undertone of a pervert poofter.

Peter Lamb said...

This poor Shimek heretic needs lots of prayers. May the Holy Ghost lead him to Catholicism.

dcs said...

Did the article get tweeted out on NCRegister's Twitter account without editorial approval as well?

B flat said...

I hesitate to comment after those strange {and unmoderated?) comments from Greg J Ben. I don't see their relevance to this posting of Vox.


Mr Shimek's NCR article which you post is very emotive and sensitive. In view of its being now erased, thank you for preserving it.

The article is beguiling in its warmth and enthusiasm, while totally devoid of any rational argument on the points which Catholic Traditionalists defend to the best of their abilities. He misses or intentionally evades completely, the point that deference to the hierarchy, and obedience to its decisions made at whatever level, is the norm for every Catholic. This holds true up to the point where those decisions depart from the truth which we have always been taught and held hitherto, which was always and everywhere believed. The Truth which Christ has identified as Himself. Then we have to choose. Do we listen to God, or to men? That is why there is now a battle going on, and it is not the lovers of Tradition who went on the attack. Do we pervert the words of Christ Himself on divorce or adultery? Do we dismiss those of St Paul on the origin of homosexual practice and the damnation it brings to its practitioners? For a different, practical example, look at the history of the Franciscans of the Immaculate since the current Pope's election. Evidence in this case from the earliest months of his pontificate until now, of "a Catholic way of thinking". rational explanation of how "the course of the Holy Spirit has been pursued" by His Holiness Pope Francis, with shining evidence of the work of Mercy, of care for justice, and truth, has been entirel absent and is long overdue. Meanwhile the lives of many faithful men and women of this Order have been disturbed to the point of destruction (as regards continuing in their vocation) with no relief in sight. What was their crime? Being "un-Catholic"?
Is this the way the shepherd shows care for his sheep? The Lord said we would know them by their fruits. This fruit of Francis' work raises doubt about his intentions as supreme pastor, which he could have dispelled three years ago. Subsequent decisions and actions and words of the Bishop of Rome have simply confirmed and redoubled the attack on the life of the Church as expressed in its Faith.
As for the lie of "pastoral accompaniment" where was it in the last three years of mass persecution of Christians in the Middle East? Tell us how Asia Bibi is being accompanied by the Pope or any hierarch in Europe as she languishes under a death sentence in a Pakistani prison.

But John Paul Shimek would have us all keep quiet before our betters.
If the children kept silence, the very stones would cry out.

Ana Milan said...

John Paul Shimek has an imagination that only Lucifer could have endowed him with.

Tancred said...

How does a fruitbar like that get to post at the NCR in the first place?

F said...

Quite disturbing, I wish I could unread this. May Christ release him from these demonic shackles.

Mark Thomas said...

B flat said..."Tell us how Asia Bibi is being accompanied by the Pope or any hierarch in Europe as she languishes under a death sentence in a Pakistani prison."

Possibilities:

-- Via prayer.

-- Via diplomatic channels.

Pax.

Mark Thomas

Anonymous said...

They don't have to drive anyone from their "parishes" people are leaving them in droves ,they have nothing to offer.

Stephen Lowe said...

Diabolical narcissist....two words that describe this self anointed 'theologian'....enuf said.

Barnum said...

I wait for Mark Thomas to weigh in.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to second the vote for diabolical narcissist. Men who are this outspoken about the need to welcome gays are typically grappling with an itch that they want permission to scratch.

Anonymous said...

NCRegister is owned by VC2. "John Paul" named for J23, P6, JP1 and JP2 is true fruit of evil tree.

TLM said...

Grateful that the Register has pulled the article! At first, I thought you meant to say:
'The National Catholic REPORTER'. Now.....that would have been very likely! The Register may be Vat 11 but at the very LEAST they would probably thwart promotion of outright evil. But the 'Reporter'? It would be just like them to praise evil. They are right up there with 'America' the Jesuit publication. Both diabolical.

Dymphna said...

Does this guy get paid by EWTN?

David said...

Technically, the man is a Catholic theologian, insofar as he has accredited degrees in Catholic theology and has written on theological topics.

Keep in mind that Hans Kung is also technically a Catholic theologian.

The question is less whether one is a theologian, as it is whether or not the writings of said theologian are, in fact, Catholic.

To say, as JPS does, that the Church has no teaching on homosexuality would be a gross misunderstanding to the average layperson.

To a Catholic theologian, it's an outright lie. The Church has always been clear on the morality of sodomy.

Mixmastermattywatty said...

You all are the heretics and simply mad because John Paul is poking the belly of the schismatic. His sexuality is not what’s in question nor relevant. The church does not teach homosexuals are sinners but that physical acts of homosexuality are sins. There very well may be a christianized chaste version of a homosexual relationship. The church does need to teach more on this topic and the homophobes need to take a backseat and shut up.

Vox Cantoris said...

All sodomites are sinners. The desire to live as a sodomite is a sin. It is more than just sticking it in. The very notion of two men living in a quasi-marriage is repugnant.

A homophobe is a fraud name. I do not fear sodomy, I despise it.

So, my sodomite friend, you who know something about "backseats," recognise your filthy, your evil predilection, your intrinsic disorder and repent and comet to Christ.