Sometimes I am just not in the mood to write a post about somebody flushing the culture down the drain or doing their best to destroy the Church I love (as if that were even possible.)
It wears me out, day after day pointing out the pointless. So today I wanted to write about good news. Perhaps I would write about the wonderful news that the Transalpine Redemptorists, a traditionalist group akin to the SSPX, has come back in to communion with Rome and has had all the canonical sanctions removed.
I looked around some more for some good news. Perhaps I would write about the Long Island man, trained archivist Ed Thompson, who has been conducting in-depth spoken-word histories of some 250 religious workers – priests nuns, and brothers on Long Island and in New York City in an effort to show the larger truth that the vast majority of priests are heroes.
As much as I wanted to write in detail about these nice stories, alas I had my hand forced when I came across one of the more imbecilic articles I have had the displeasure to stumble upon in a while. But I must admit I have mixed feelings about it, and I need your help. Who is more inane? Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, author of the absurd Failing America’s Faithful or Lisa Miller, religion editor of Newsweek. Miller writes this adoring review of Kennedy Townsend’s book.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend grew up in that kind of Roman Catholic family, the kind that—in spite of the imperfections of individual members—put country and duty above personal pain, the kind that put the suffering of those with less above the suffering of those with more. In a new book, “Failing America’s Faithful,” Kennedy Townsend joins former senator Jack Danforth and other “old school” politicians in mourning a world in which being Christian meant caring for others and making sacrifices to solve problems.
And so she suggests reforms that she believes will revitalize her beloved Catholic Church and refocus the faithful on service. The hierarchy in Rome, she says, needs to stop obsessing about sex. It needs to rethink its position on the ordination of women and married people, on abortion, on gay clergy and gay unions. “Clearly,” she says, “if we can believe in the virgin birth and that the body and blood of Christ are in the eucharist, then we can certainly believe that a woman can be a priest.” These recommendations will infuriate Catholic traditionalists, but Kennedy Townsend doesn’t care: she loves her church and she’s not leaving. “The church,” she says, “is full of possibilities.”
Tough call. You be the judge.
July 2, 2008 at 4:01 am
Look, the media obsession with anything “Kennedy” will not die out in our lifetime. But there is one certainty we can take to our graves — there is nothing “Catholic” about any member of that family, and we are in no danger of running into one of them in the next life if our own eternal reward is in Heaven. That they feel compelled to speak about that which they no longer believe is more than just a family trait, it’s a congenital family disease. The sooner we get on about the business of ignoring anything that emanates from their lips, the sooner we can go about addressing climate change, since it is a scientific fact that next to Boston traffic, a Kennedy bloviating about any subject whatsoever, especially religion, is the highest form of carbon emissions in Massachusetts.
July 2, 2008 at 4:52 am
Usually when people ask me why us sexist Catholics don’t have women priests, I ask them a simple question, “If Mary is sinless and blessed among women, then why didn’t Jesus ordain her as a priest?”
No one’s answered yet.
And in answer to your question, Patrick: Kennedy.
July 2, 2008 at 6:30 am
Right conclusion, wrong arguments. The Church is indeed “full of possibilities”, but contradicting 2000 years of consistent teaching
isn’t one of them. Its Kennedy by a nose. Needs our prayers, both of them.
July 2, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Lisa Miller is simply horrible.
July 2, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Let’s meditate on what’s just happened to the ‘Anglican communion’. They’ve done everything this woman wants done to the Apostolic Church.
July 2, 2008 at 1:44 pm
That’s a very Hyannisport-like take on Catholicism.
July 2, 2008 at 2:50 pm
“…a woman can be a priest?” Let’s ask Mary Jo Kopechne and other victims of Kennedy abuse about that.
— Mack Hall
July 2, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Sadly, Ms. Townsend seems to think that the apostles got together in the upper room after the Crucifixion and spent forty days scheming things that their new Church could be about.
“How about a virgin birth?”
“Eh, nobody will go for that.”
“You always say that, Thomas.”
“I think it fits nicely with the ‘no sex’ stuff Andrew came up with.”
“Cool. Now remember – it’s SAINT Andrew. And call my brother Pope so people won’t think he’s just some white European male.”
July 2, 2008 at 3:47 pm
My mama always told me “there are some things that if you don’t laugh about ’em they’ll make you cry”. I’m at the point now where if I don’t laugh about the inanity of such statements I’ll not be able to get my equilibrium back to deal with them seriously. ‘Scuse me while I go try to laugh myself silly.
July 2, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I met an Irish priest at a wedding in Montana a couple of years ago. Making polite conversation, he proudly said that he is from the same town in Ireland as the Kennedy family–I suppose this line always went over well with an American audience. I said, “How nice. Too bad they’re not Catholic and all.” The priest fixed me in a long, silent stare, then said something like this: “Sure, and I would agree with you. In a whispered tone. In the very back of the pub. In the wee hours. With my last pint before me.”
Kate Asjes
July 2, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Great anecdote, Kate!
Somewhat off-topic: Patrick, you said: “Sometimes I am just not in the mood to write a post about somebody flushing the culture down the drain or doing their best to destroy the Church I love (as if that were even possible.) It wears me out, day after day pointing out the pointless.”
I understand completely your position. It can’t help but have an effect on your mood, daily living, and family interaction, to focus on writing a piece about something that is repugnant on its face. There’s probably an element there as well of futility, since perhaps you won’t be the only one getting the word out, your readers probably feel the same, and yet there’s a spiritual or simply temporal hit you’ve taken just by addressing it that we as readers don’t because we think about it less. (Unless we feel the need to comment, like I’m doing now.)
If you feel worn out but still want to get the word out, maybe try just posting a link with maybe a snippet. A discussion will still ensue — and if you feel like jumping into the comment thread after a while, have at it! When I used to blog, I found this method to be a godsend, especially when dealing with morally-repugnant or plain idiotic subjects. Don’t subject yourself to it unless there’s a clear benefit (to you and your family, primarily)! 🙂
July 2, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I’m voting for Kennedy as the bigger moron, only because she should know better.
July 3, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I guess Ms. Townsend never really paid attention to the fact that, while many women were involved in Christ’s ministry, it was only the males that he sent out to spread His word. Funny how so many in this day and age have bought into the “feminist” thinking that men and women are “equal.” St. Paul does say that we are not men and women but all members of the body of Christ, and this is where the arguments come from, however, Christ Himself set the church up with a male at its head. But why should we Christians actually do what Christ said? How silly we are. We need to “get with the times” and “change our thinking” and “stop being sexist” and “stop being homophobic.”
If only these supposedly educated people would step back and actually pay attention. Read Humanae Vitae, read John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, read the documents about the dignity of women. All of these point to Christ’s truth. Of course, in this day and age, moral relativism abounds, “Political correctness” rules, and common sense has been thrown out the window.