Isn’t it ironic that I find pretty much everything written at CNN’s “Belief blog” unbelievable?
Steven Prothero, a Religion Professor at Boston University, in dealing with the question of possible sainthood for Dorothy Day wonders whether Catholics can abide a saint who’s had an abortion.
Of course the answer is that last I checked most of the saints had a few sins. (Saint Augustine call your office) Prothero’s question is similar to asking whether sinners can become saints. Duh.
Prothero finally says that Day can become a saint but comes at the answer from an odd perspective. He concludes that abortion’s not really a big deal and Dorothy Day can become a saint because polling indicates the public is split over abortion. Because, you know, sainthood is decided by polling.
Day’s case raises a parallel question. Can you be a saint if you have committed the original sin of contemporary Catholicism?
My money says yes.
Partly that is because of the Christian teaching of forgiveness. But mostly it is because of the tendency of Catholics to diverge from the official party line on questions such as homosexuality, birth control and abortion.
According to a June survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, most American Catholics (54%) think that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. More than two-thirds of them (68%) believe you can be a good Catholic even if you disagree with your church’s opposition to abortion. And when it comes to the question of whether abortion is a sin, white American Catholics are evenly divided.
Of course, rank-and-file Catholics do not decide who is declared a saint. But they decide who will be revered as one. And in this case, I believe, they will forgive Day’s sin in part because, in their heart of hearts, many of them don’t consider it all that much of a sin in the first place.
The cause for Day’s sainthood won’t be swayed by polling. It won’t be based on Prothero’s opinion. It’ll be about a miracle from her intercession.
After reading this I’ll have a hard time taking anything written by Prothero seriously again. For that to change would truly be a miracle.
July 10, 2011 at 6:08 pm
Dear Doktor Prothero of Boston University,
I have just read these lines of yours, as well as those immediately preceding them: "Of course, rank-and-file Catholics do not decide who is declared a saint. But they decide who will be revered as one. And in this case, I believe, they will forgive Day's sin in part because, in their heart of hearts, many of them don't consider it all that much of a sin in the first place."
Really amazing stuff.
Were my 11-year-old daughter to betray such a childish lack of information about her faith as you are here parading, I would genuinely fear for her. Do you have any knowledge at all about the Catholic Church? I mean, even such as could be gained by a glance at a Penny Catechism?
If I had just written the lines attributed to you at CNN I would want to disappear in shame, like Anthony Weiner. (He isn't your spiritual director, by chance?)
Do you know the meaning of the word 'forgiveness'? Do you know that for a Catholic to hold as "bound" a sin forgiven sacramentally is itself a very serious sin? Do you know that Dorothy has been and will be revered (regardless of the outcome of her cause) precisely because she had an abortion–and then came to repent of it? Do you not know that the members of the Catholic church (unlike those of many of the bizarro sects of Protestants) do not consider themselves anything but sinners forgiven, and consider those we venerate as Saints merely has having availed themselves of God's forgiveness and grace to a heroic degree? Do you not know how many hundreds (thousands, tens of thousands) of Saints were great sinners in their early lives? Does the name 'Paul' ring a bell? Mary Magdalene? St Mary of Egypt?
You are a professor of "Religion;" yet you know nothing at all about the Catholic version.
Amazing, and sad. I regret that so many parents have entrusted the education of their children to mountebanks such as you appear to be.
==L Coty
July 10, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Saul had the rock concession at Stephen's stoning where he aided and abetted his killing, and yet Paul is one of the most blessed Saints and Martyrs of the Catholic Church.
What is sad in Professor Prothero's post on CNN's "Belief [sic] Blog is how little he understands the love, faith and compassion that is so carefully preserved in the Church's magisterium and authority in service of the truth.
July 10, 2011 at 7:13 pm
We leave it to the prominent Catholics he mentions in his articles to distinguish their positions and not permit their public personas to be held hostage by a someone who is not a Catholic and appears to feel he knows better than the faith to tell people of other religions what to do.
Why is it that so many "Catholic" politicians engage in theological contortions and bend over backwards to say out of both sides of mouth that although they personally would sin if they had an abortion as it is murdering an innocent human life, that they will vote so that others would be prey to it so much as possible? It is the same reason why cnn comes out on the side of the culture of death.
Perhaps if the cnn journalist had the integrity to publicize the truth of the Church's teachings then public opinion polls would reflect more accurately what people already know in their hearts, that an ethical nation would never encourage the slaughter of their own so that in numbers if not technical u.n. definition the result is a genocide. If he were intellectually honest he would publicize the fact that young people express serious reservations about perpetuating the culture of death in this country, and worldwide. He is a little bit out of it as far as his having his hand on the pulse of things. There are atheists who also concur that abortion is torture and murder and really hasn't advanced the cause of equal rights of women at all in the final analysis. When it comes to abortion cnn and others must uphold this status quo, this is creed and dogma for them.
It's kind of sad that he would hide behind such people as Dorothy Day, Fr. Martin and S. Colbert, as if these justify what he is trying to assert, that all Catholics love lots of culture of death when it is the exact opposite. Classic anti-Catholic bigot tactic. Classic wolf disguised in sheep's clothing. Don't buy it.
July 10, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Yes, forgiveness and mercy must be considered IF the person has repented ,,, not sure if this was the case with D.Day.
The issue is not that simple. Having regret is not necessarily the same as being contrite.
Abortion is so serious that participating in one is an impediment to ordination to the priesthood …. perhaps it is an impediment to sainthood also.
July 10, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Yikes. You must be kidding, Judith Ann; or else you merely know nothing about Day's life. I have no idea whether or not she is a Saint, but that she lived her life in penance for the abortion is about as well documented as such a fact could ever be: The wealth of her letters, writings, and conversations, as well as the entire manner of her life, make this clear. I suggest reading up a bit before spouting off about someone like Day so lighthandedly.
July 10, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Congratualtions, CMR! In your very combox we have finally found the limit of God's Mercy as per the comment which tells us that abortion is perhaps an impedimenta to sainthood. (sarcasm off)
Attn: Sainthood does not equal a declaration of human perfection. Sainthood is based on demonstration of Heroic Virtue. I have no idea whether D. Day practiced heroic virtue in her life or not. I am completely sure that the sin of abortion did not keep Jesus in the tomb. Since He rose, as Catholics we believe that He overcame that sin by His Blessed Blood.
It might not be a bad idea to re-read the parable of the Publican & the Pharisee.
July 10, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Actually what will be needed for Dorothy Day's cause to advance will be miracles. Again, CNN doesn't want you to know that as they think that a saint apparently just gets voted in.
I for one would vote her in if it came down to that but not because she had an abortion, or because she told the truth in describing how women feel after experiencing it, or for anything cnn might have to say.
Now it is true that among other things Dorothy Day was a pacifist. In her writings clearly she over years clearly states that communism and socialism really did not offer people much in the end. I just don't think that the radical poverty she chose in order to attend to those living in abject poverty themselves would resonate with the same American "Catholics" who say they like abortion. Generally if one does not recognize the sanctity of human life first and foremost then radical acts of mercy to serve the sanctity of human life are not comprehended. Clearly there are people who realize the pressure that the culture of death puts women under in making them feel as if they have to have "everything" in order to bring a child into the world and are working to alleviate that through works of mercy. So unfortunately I do not think that she would win a vote.
But that's ok, the Church's process is about faith, miracles, and the supernatural. With God all things are possible.
July 11, 2011 at 1:19 am
Shouldn't it be a basic requirement for a religion professor and writer of a blog discussing religion to understand the religion they're about to slam? Or is merely the intent to cause confusion and introduce heresy enough for their anti-religious backers?
Sainthood is not conducted by a public opinion poll. There is a thorough examination and requires supernatural, unexplainable revelation that the saint was not merely forgiven by her/his peers, but reconciled and blessed by God to consider their intercession. Many saints have sinned in as much serious manner as Day, even of sins held in disdain by contemporary Catholicism. The difference is that unlike say murder, abortion is no longer vÍewed as a sin by some, isolated but influential contemporary voices. But I ask who's fault is that?
God will not be deterred by those who say "I can sin, because Day did." Such people are not listening to the Holy Spirit but the Devil. And God knows the Devil will not win in the end. Those that find that selfish excuse okay now will continue to be called to repentance, reconciliation, holiness and sainthood themselves. But woe to those such as Mr. Prothero who might lead these little ones to sin. To much is rewarded, as professors and influential bloggers are in audiences, much is expected.
July 11, 2011 at 3:40 am
Whatever her repentance might have been over abortion, she was an unrepentant Socialist. That's why the Left is so hot to get her beatified. Socialism is incompatible with orthodox Catholicism, and the Left hopes to mock us with a Blessed Dorothy Day.
July 11, 2011 at 7:49 pm
I don't know, I don't read her as an apologist for socialism. And her works were much more along the lines of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta than a big government program. In fact I think it is just the opposite, that she believed that direct action and individual works of mercy, done as an act of faith and with the Church are much more powerful than any government program. I am not convinced, from her writings and actions, that she would support much of the things done by those who claim to follow in her footsteps. I am not sure at all that American Catholics can claim, from whatever angle, to actually understand what she was about.
But of course our opinions are sort of irrelevant as it will require miracles which will require genuine prayers.
July 12, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Just a few words. Sinners who are repentant as was Day, are forgiven. Read the New Testament. Day believed she was practicing what Jesus taught – take care of the least among us, provide food, shelter if you can, so Day did just that – not because she came from a socialist or Communists belief, but because she believed in sharing, not acquiring – so did the beloved St. Francis of Assisi.
July 12, 2011 at 10:22 pm
But she believed of course that her sharing were sacred works, not just along the lines of social justice and never apart from her belief in God and the holy Catholic Church. It wasn't that she felt politics irrelevant of course but she did not see what she was doing as about political action as do socialists, communists etc.
Since she was loyal to the Catholic Church and believed in the grace of the sacraments it is logical to think that she had repented but that involves some speculation. After her conversion she saw the great need to render obedience to holy mother Church and her works to the poor, like Bl Teresa of Calcutta, were compelled by her loyalty to the Church. She worked alongside others who did not believe but at the same time she herself was only compelled to work in harmony with the Church and to bear with faults of other Christians.
It is true that the process for formal canonization is a declaration of heroic virtue with evidence of miraculous intervention.