The Vatican has hammered CMR, well it has if you listen to Stephen K. Ryan at MinistryValues.com. Mr. Ryan has dubbed us, along with others, as “Taliban Catholics” singled out for rebuke by the no less than the Pope himself in his call for those engaged in Catholic social media to be mindful that “”The proclamation of the Gospel requires a communication which is at once respectful and sensitive.”
Vatican Hammers Conservative Catholic Bloggers
You know who you are out there.
Vatican’s social communications office, Archbishop Claudio Celli, said it was certainly correct to direct the pope’s exhortation to some conservative Catholic blogs, YouTube channels and sites which, with some vehemence, criticize bishops, public officials and policies they consider not Catholic enough.
“Taliban Catholicism” is John Allen’s description of web-based McCarthyism on the rise in the Catholic blogosphere and undoubtedly this is what the Vatican was referring to.
Pressure is on to radically change the Roman Catholic Church in America, but it’s not coming from the usual liberal suspects. A new self proclaimed beed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube spearheaded by Michael Voris to say the church isn’t Catholic enough. Many of these conservative catholics have been enraged by dissent that they believe has gone unchecked for decades, and unafraid to say so in the starkest language, these activists are naming names and unsettling the church.
-In the Archdiocese of Boston, parishioners are dissecting the work of a top adviser to the cardinal for any hint of Marxist influence.
-Bloggers are combing through campaign finance records to expose staff of Catholic agencies who donate to politicians who support abortion rights.
-RealCatholicTV.com, working from studios in suburban Detroit, is hunting for “traitorous” nuns, priests or bishops throughout the American church.
I suppose that “Bloggers are combing through campaign finance records to expose staff of Catholic agencies who donate to politicians who support abortion rights,” refers to CMR if not also others.
Good, we embrace our designation as Taliban Catholics. I think Mr. Ryan misinterprets the Pope’s words to mean that people with whom Mr. Ryan disagrees should shut up.
We here at CMR love the Church, love our Bishops, and even try to be respectful of stupid people. Stupid ideas, well that is another thing altogether.
Taking the Pope’s admonition to be repectful and sensitive, let me just say this to Mr. Ryan. I respect you. I am sensitive to you. I would like to know how you interpret the Pope’s words in a way that allows you to assert that the Vatican “hammers” conservative Catholics (aka people you don’t like) and to call us names like “Taliban Catholic.” Do you think that properly embraces what the Pope was getting at when he called for respect and sensitivity?
Now others, way less respectful and sensitive than I, might call such a thing blatant hypocrisy and downright laughingly stupid. But not me. No, not me.
January 25, 2011 at 3:46 am
Poor baby!
January 25, 2011 at 3:51 am
RC unless you have proof you are defaming me. Ministryvalues.com works extremely hard at writing original content and you absolutely know we do or you would have never heard of ministryvalues.com . You know who we are because we write ORIGINAL content, which by the way is a rapidly disappearing asset and we give attribution whenever we can. We have built ministryvalues.com with our own original content, with our own point of view – you know that. We do not need to copy anybody -. If you were here in this room I would punch you right in the nose you little pin-headed weasel ( to the combat editor I understand I am name calling here but RC's accusation is unsubstantiated BS)
January 25, 2011 at 4:02 am
Plagiarism is plagiarism, whether it comes from AP, America Magazine, or a personal blog.
Plagiarism.org I think gave this kind of plagiarism committed a perfect name:
3."The Potluck Paper"
The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, tweaking the sentences to make them fit together while retaining most of the original phrasing.
Steve – did you even bother to tweak the text in those paragraphs?
Perhaps you should study up a little. Here are some sources you might consult…
– Types of plagiarism at Plagiarism.org
– Here is a very good overview of blogging ethics, copyright, fair use, etc., (I know you consider yourself a professional news source, so what applies to bloggers applies to you, and even more if you are a professional news source).
January 25, 2011 at 4:03 am
Steve – he just gave you proof in his first comment – LOL. When we bring those texts up from AP and America, it just so happens that you have paragraphs in your article that are verbatim, or near verbatim ("tweaked") and those articles were written some time ago. How do you explain that?
January 25, 2011 at 4:10 am
By the way RC i just discovered from your blog profile you write for Catholic light) and you are indeed Richard Chonak and that your Magazine in currently engaged in more character assassination against one of my writers
Here is what you have to say about my writer:
"A few weeks ago, some graduate student at CUA posted a blog article (at ministryvalues.com) against Foley's book, thinking he'd offered a very scholarly critique, but it just amounted to an opinionated, unsubstantiated rant. God help the poor kid if he submits such horrible prose to his professors."
That "some grad student" you disparage recently earned his Masters Degree at Yale Divinity and is pursuing his doctorate in Washington D.C. at Catholic University.
Good lord man you are really up to some bad stuff.
January 25, 2011 at 4:17 am
Dianne K has also this to say about steve ryan
During Christmastide, many large Catholic news sources like Zenit and Catholic News Agency shut down completely. Most Catholic bloggers observed a period of reduced posting, avoiding the more controversial subjects, and focusing largely on Christmas related themes. It wasn't that way on all sites. Ministry Values, which does not claim to be a Catholic website, and which seems to exist mainly to promote Medjugorje, released three "hit-jobs" on skeptics and critics of the alleged apparition. These came unprovoked because they focused on works that have been out there for weeks, months, or decades – puzzling indeed was the urgency that they had to come during such a solemn season. On of these was a critical review of a book by Donal Anthony Foley, "Understanding Medjugorje" (shown above), which was published in 2006.
I would not have known about these pieces had they not been sent to me by Steven K. Ryan, the publisher of Ministry Values. He goaded me several times for responses, but I did not bother to follow the links because…. it was Christmastide.
http://te-deum.blogspot.com/
this is all character assassination. Get a life Diane honestly
January 25, 2011 at 4:26 am
Thanks to CMR for posting this commentary. It was well deserved.
January 25, 2011 at 4:37 am
The article was terrible but RC would like to pat himself on the back for his commentary.
January 25, 2011 at 4:38 am
Indeed, RC, indeed.
And, Steven – thanks for posting my commentary about where Ministry Value's focus was during the solemn season of Christmas. The Blessed Virgin Mary always leads us to Christ, most especially at Christmas.
God bless and good night. Or shall I say, in my mother's ancestral tongue: Laku noć
January 25, 2011 at 7:36 am
I am like the Martian that just came to earth and so can only form first impressions without bias. I do not know the Ministry Values site or Stephen Ryan, Diane Korzeniewski, or RC. I followed a link to this page but have no prior knowledge of the players in the thread.
Having said that, it seems those alleging plagiarism are on firm ground, Stephen, and all the more so because of your weak denials (or not). In fact, you barely deny your stealing of others' written work and you spin it as if you routinely do original work – and then you make yourself look foolish by allging your critics know this without providing evidence of either claim. This is the act of someone caught in the glare of headlights.
From where I sit, however, you have hardly satisfied my expectation that you provide clear and compelling evidence to refute the charge. You have failed so miserably that you've obviated any curiosity on my part to even visit your site.
I am neutral on Medjugorje but friends of mine who are devotees have sufficient integrity to refuse to consider patronizing a site whose proprietors are so openly dishonest and who engage in manifest dissembling when challenged.
The folks on this thread have presented you with a straight-on opportunity to justify yourself in full view of everyone, but you have acquited yourself poorly. You appear to be every inch a culprit caught with your hand in the cookie jar, and you seem to believe your best gambit is to repeatedly proclaimin the accusers as the evildoers.
Pathetic.
January 25, 2011 at 11:25 am
why don't you read the article at http://ministryvalues.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1430&Itemid=125
and make up your own mind
January 25, 2011 at 11:47 am
I don't always follow Voris over the ciff, but I have to admit, that if it weren't for him, CCHD would not have been brought to light. And I'm glad to see that he's making those Catholics in upper positions squirm a little. If you're always comfortable in this life, chances are you're not going to be so comfortable in the next right? I don't think Catholic Bishops should be afraid to answer questions, especially in light of the truth. That's very different from being overly critical of them.
January 25, 2011 at 12:23 pm
There's lot's worse than Voris. I just don't tune them in. I dig Voris like a brother, in fact, I love the guy. I just don't think it's worth much hoopla. Voris will be more popular now, praise the Lord.
I heard the Holy Father tell me what I needed to hear, didn't you? Or were you thinking it was all about Voris? Hmmm?
January 25, 2011 at 12:48 pm
regarding my article
Ministryvalues.com is a Google news source and as such my content gets indexed rapidly and gets picked up by others before I have finished my edits. This is out of my control. The internet is not a perfect world. RC and Diane K are well aware of the tremendous efforts minstryvalues.com makes to develop original content. If we were not developing original content nobody would pay attention.
January 25, 2011 at 12:59 pm
From the AP article:
"Benedict didn't name names, but the head of the Vatican's social communications office, Archbishop Claudio Celli, said it was certainly correct to direct the pope's exhortation to some conservative Catholic blogs, YouTube channels and sites which, with some vehemence, criticize bishops, public officials and policies they consider not Catholic enough."
I'd be interested in seeing the original quotes. It is certainly correct to direct the Pope's exhortation to some conservative blogs, just as it's certainly correct to direct the Pope's exhortation to some liberal blogs. I'm curious if the Bishop specifically called out conservative blogs, if there was a leading question involved, or if it's just the spin put on his words by liberal Catholic blogs.
I wonder, too, if the same exhortation would have applied to Catherine of Siena, who clearly thought she was more Catholic than the Pope when she opposed staying in Avignon.
There is legitimate disagreement with the actions of bishops, and it doesn't make one unCatholic. Example: a Bishop could oppose frequent use of the EF in his diocese while a lay person can desire to have access to the EF weekly. Then there are those who go beyond simple disagreement, such as those who call for Mass to be celebrated only in the EF, and to do away with the OF (which can still be a valid opinion to hold, but not if one starts disparaging the OF).
It seems to me that there's a rush by some to apply this statement to anyone with whom they disagree. To use it as a "gotcha", to say "see, the Vatican says you are wrong to voice your opinion".
I also wonder how the Pope would react to how he was treated by many liberal Catholic blogs prior to and just after his ascendancy to the Papacy.
Instead of using this statement as a hammer with which to hit others, why not see it for what it truly is: a call for Catholics on the Internet to choose their words carefully, to be charitable and kind. I should ask myself before posting "is it right for me to post this?", not go out searching for how others may have written something they probably shouldn't have.
In other words, Stephen, thanks for pointing out the speck in our eyes…
January 25, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Ahh labeling, what the socialist, communist left does so well. Traditional Catholics have no need to accept or throw labels back at these clowns. Just march forward with the pre conciliar truth like Fr Malachi Martin always did.
January 25, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Steve,
All you did was to add links, without clearly identifying what was copied from other sites, and what is your own written content.
You must clearly identify by putting the copied text into quotations, italicize it, blockquote it, or combine any of the above. But you can't simply copy text into your post and not clearly differentiate what was written by others and what you wrote.
Furthermore, don't be in so much of a hurry to put out a piece without proper attribution and citation of sources before you hit the publish button until you are done.
It seems you are in a state of denial now that you have been caught and you are compounding the wrong by throwing darts at others and twisting it in such a way as to absolve yourself of any wrong doing by projecting it on to others.
On this Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, may you be enlightened with truth.
January 25, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Dear CMR,
Changing the subject. This can be a good response to Jesuits from Georgetown University:
http://visnews-en.blogspot.com/2011/01/all-baptised-must-communicate-gift-of.html
Best,
January 25, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Civility and political correctness are great allies of socialism if used "correctly". Language can be used to distort the message until it becomes one that prevents all disagreement by labeling it as "uncivil" or "politically incorrect". Disagreement is fundamental to the idea of free speech… as Americans we are guaranteed the right to oppose what we believe is wrong. As Catholics, we are morally obliged to oppose evil… in all its forms.
January 25, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Diane,
I can give you my user name and log in and you make changes as you see fit. I agree with RC on one thing I need big time help with editing spelling etc.
also i do have Conservative credentials so please do not box me in. I am an investment advisor by trade with deep respect for freedom and capitalism….please read "Rachel Maddow Silent on Gun Control for Hollywood"
at
http://ministryvalues.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1410&Itemid=214
(to CMR understand if you want to edit out the link but hopefully you can keep it in – thanks)