Catholic Faith and Reflections | Faith Seeking Understanding

Muddy Thinking

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Deacon Bob

I find it difficult listen to “muddy thinking,” you know, the kind of reasoning that fails in its premises, confused in its logic, disordered in its choices, and dominated by passions.

Muddy thinking is what is occuring in our society today about marriage.

Here is my take on the whole issue of trying to equate same-sex relationships with marriage.

Those pushing the “same-sex marriage” laws in state legislatures throughout the country (indeed in many other nations of the world) are using the civil rights argument. They argue that one should be able to establish a sexual relationship with whomever – male or female – and obtain the state’s, and society’s sanction and support. This includes most importantly the legal rights afforded marriage. To restrict marriage to only heterosexual persons is a violation of the civil rights of homosexually oriented men and women. To support traditional marriage (one man and one woman) is considered intolerance and homophobism, and the struggle to obtain marriage rights is similar to the 1960s civil rights movement for racial equality.

The problem with their reasoning, their muddy thinking, lies in the premise that it is a civil rights issue. It isn’t. The issue, in part, has to do with the state’s role in regulating sexual behavior and defining family structure.

Now some will say that the state has no right to do either. This too is muddy thinking. The state has always, from the beginning of history, establish laws and norms regulating and sanctioning both sexual behavior and family life.

The fight that is on now has to do with just that, and secondly with the question of whether society (you and I) dare to assume the authority to define as we wish marriage and family. Are we the ultimate authority of marriage? Can we make it whatever we will?

Careful before you respond. Some will say, “Yes. This is what we must do as a society. We must define what will be marriage.” To those, I would ask, “What then of future challenges to marriage definition? Can you refuse such to recognize the relationship between a 30 year old and a 12 year old as marriage if they are in love and involved sexually? Many people are deeply loving to their pets. Many people in fact are amorous with them. Can you refuse to recognize as a marriage such a relationship if a man or woman wanted to make it so? And if you do refuse, on what grounds and to what authority do you appeal in making the refusal? On what grounds do we continue to refuse to permit a man to have several wives, or a woman to have several husbands concurrently?”

Society has always defined marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman in which sexual intimacy occurs and children are reared. Society has always appealed to a higher authority on which it grounded its definition. Society has always recognized something we now call natural law to which it tried to adhere and support. Society has always known that children are best raised in a family inclusive of a man and a woman. This is not something being pulled out of thin air nor prejudicial persecution or homophobia.

The concerted effort to recognize same-sex relationships as marriage is not a matter of civil rights. Opposing changing the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is not homophobic.

Protecting marriage is a matter of the state’s interests in promoting that which is in accordance with natural law, the value of sexual difference, social stability and a recognition that there is a larger authority to which we need listen, an authority that is part and parcel of human nature — the natural law as many would say.

This is far too huge of an issue to be quiet about. We must protect marriage. We have an opportunity to do so in Minnesota this November. Go to the polls and cast your vote to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Pray that “muddy thinking” not confuse the hearts and minds of the many.

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Update #2 – “Has Europe Lost Its Soul?”

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Deacon Bob

Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathon Sacks delved into the morality of today’s economic crisis.

Just as corporations have become international and have outsourced jobs and manufacturing, so too, he argues, they have outsourced moral responsibility, i.e., the attitude that “it is someone elses problem,” the result being a business world without trust.

The word “credit,” he reminds us, is from the Latin word credo, meaning “I believe.” “Confidence” comes from the Latin meaning “shared faith.” Trust has deep religious roots, and without it in our banking and economic structures, these systems fail.

The moral vision of the rightness and wrongness of a business practice is not dependent on governments, laws, courts and the like, but rather upon conscience, virtue and an internalized sense of obligation to others. The Judeo-Christian ethic for generations was burned into our moral circuitry, you might say, and regulatory bodies were not all that necessary to ensure the common good was protected. Even if legal liability was limited, moral responsibility was present.

Rabbi Lord Sachs said, “Those who believe that liberal democracy and the free market can be defended by the force of law and regulation alone, without an internalised sense of duty and morality, are tragically mistaken.” He went on to say, “When money rules, we remember the price of things and forget the value of things, and that is dangerous…….. Success depends on the ability to delay gratification, which is precisely what a consumerist culture undermines.”

Again, some food for thought. My question is how do we regain the economic “soul” not only of Europe, but here in the United States.

Any reactions or comments from you?

Posted in Economy, Ethics and Morality | 1 Comment

Quote for the Day

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Deacon Bob

“Behold the Cross of the Lord! Begone, you evil powers! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered. Alleluia!” –St. Anthony of Padua, OFM

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The New York Times’ Take on the “Accommodation”

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Deacon Bob

You might want to read today’s New York Times article on the “accommodation.” If what they report is true, then it would seem the accommodation shows a disregard for the bishops and religious beliefs of Catholics in this country.

To read the article log on to: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/health/policy/obama-to-offer-accommodation-on-birth-control-rule-officials-say.html?_r=2&hp

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The Catholic Bishops Respond to Recent “Accommodation” by HHS

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Deacon Bob

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops have released a response to President Obama’s announcement of an “accomodation” in the HHS mandate for contraceptive, sterilization, and abortifacient coverage in health plans.

I stand with my bishop and the body of bishops in their position.

Here is the USCCB’s response:

WASHINGTON – The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement:

The Catholic bishops have long supported access to life-affirming healthcare for all, and the conscience rights of everyone involved in the complex process of providing that healthcare. That is why we raised two serious objections to the “preventive services” regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in August 2011.

First, we objected to the rule forcing private health plans — nationwide, by the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen—to cover sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion. All the other mandated “preventive services” prevent disease, andpregnancy is not a disease. Moreover, forcing plans to cover abortifacients violates existing federal conscience laws. Therefore, we called for the rescission of the mandate altogether.

Second, we explained that the mandate would impose a burden of unprecedented reach and severity on the consciences of those who consider such “services” immoral:insurers forced to write policies including this coverage; employers and schools forced to sponsor and subsidize the coverage; and individual employees and students forced to pay premiums for the coverage. We therefore urged HHS, if it insisted on keeping the mandate, to provide a conscience exemption for all of these stakeholders—not just the extremely small subset of “religious employers” that HHS proposed to exempt initially.

Today, the President has done two things.

First, he has decided to retain HHS’s nationwide mandate of insurance coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients. This is both unsupported in the law and remains a grave moral concern. We cannot fail to reiterate this, even as so many would focus exclusively on the question of religious liberty.

Second, the President has announced some changes in how that mandate will be administered, which is still unclear in its details. As far as we can tell at this point, the change appears to have the following basic contours:

·It would still mandate that all insurers must include coverage for the objectionable services in all the policies they would write. At this point, it would appear that self-insuring religious employers, and religious insurance companies, are not exempt from this mandate.

·It would allow non-profit, religious employers to declare that they do not offer such coverage. But the employee and insurer may separately agree to add that coverage. The employee would not have to pay any additional amount to obtain this coverage, and the coverage would be provided as a part of the employer’s policy, not as a separate rider.

·Finally, we are told that the one-year extension on the effective date (from August 1, 2012 to August 1, 2013) is available to any non-profit religious employer who desires it, without any government application or approval process.

These changes require careful moral analysis, and moreover, appear subject to some measure of change. But we note at the outset that the lack of clear protectionfor key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected. And in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer’s plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer. This, too, raises serious moral concerns.

We just received information about this proposal for the first time this morning; we were not consulted in advance. Some information we have is in writing and some is oral. We will, of course, continue to press for the greatest conscience protection we can secure from the Executive Branch. But stepping away from the particulars, we note that today’s proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions. In a nation dedicated to religious liberty as its first and founding principle, we should not be limited to negotiating within these parameters. The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services.

We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all.

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Government “Accommodation” to the Objections of Catholics and others to the HHS Mandate

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Deacon Bob

This morning President Obama announced a revision of the HHS mandate. The devil is in the details, no doubt, and what they are will hopefully be made clearer.

Here is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s first response to the Federal Government’s revision of its HHS mandate on contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drug coverage.

WASHINGTON— The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sees initial opportunities in preserving the principle of religious freedom after President Obama’s announcement today. But the Conference continues to express concerns. “While there may be an openness to respond to some of our concerns, we reserve judgment on the details until we have them,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, president of USCCB.

“The past three weeks have witnessed a remarkable unity of Americans from all religions or none at all worried about the erosion of religious freedom and governmental intrusion into issues of faith and morals,” he said.

“Today’s decision to revise how individuals obtain services that are morally objectionable to religious entities and people of faith is a first step in the right direction,” Cardinal-designate Dolan said. “We hope to work with the Administration to guarantee that Americans’ consciences and our religious freedom are not harmed by these regulations.”

Posted in Church News, Health Care, Politics | 5 Comments

More on “Towards Healing and Renewal” at the Gregorian University in Rome

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Deacon Bob

As I mentioned a few days ago, at the Gregorian University in Rome there just concluded a symposium for bishops and religious superiors on sexual abuse of minors.

The Gregorian is where I studied back in 1977-78, and I have fond memories of the place. I am delighted that they hosted this much needed symposium.

Yesterday, Msgr. Charles J. Scicluna, Promoter of Justice, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith presented a wonderful paper entitled: A Quest for Truth in Sexual Abuse Cases. You may read it entirely in English at:

http://thr.unigre.it/vescovi2012/Portals/0/Documenti/8_Mercoledi/Scicluna-English.pdf

I would like to draw out for you a few key elements of his comments:

“Love for the truth must be expressed in love for justice and in the resulting commitment to establishing truth in relations within human society.”

“…the teaching of Blessed John Paul II that truth is at the basis of justice explains why a deadly culture of silence or “omertà” is in itself wrong and unjust. Other enemies of the truth are the deliberate denial of known facts and the misplaced concern that the good name of the institution should somehow enjoy absolute priority to the detriment of legitimate disclosure of crime.”

“The acknowledgment and recognition of the full truth of the matter in all its sorrowful effects and consequences is at the source of true healing for both victim and perpetrator.

“Experts in psychology are better equipped to explain how and why the perpetrator develops coping mechanisms, whether primitive or complex, like denial, sublimation, minimizing and projection. No coping mechanism can substitute the liberating effect on the cleric’s conscience and on his whole being as a person and as a minister of God derived from the full, humble, honest and contrite acknowledgment of his sin, his crime, his responsibility for the harm he has caused to the victims, to the Church, to society.”

“Experts in psychology are also better equipped to explain the radical need of the victim to be heard attentively, to be understood and believed, to be treated with dignity as he or she plods on the tiresome journey of recovery and healing. We need the input of experts in order to be able to evaluate the so called “recovered memories” concerning event that allegedly happened decades previously. No less challenging is the limited phenomenon of some victims who refuse to move on in life, who seem to have indentified “self” simply with “having been victims”. These fellow brothers and sisters of ours merit our special attention and care.”

“The law is clear. But, as Blessed John Paul II rightly remarked in 1994, the faithful need to be convinced that ecclesial society is living under the governance of law. The law may indeed be clear. But this is not enough for peace and order in the community. Our people need to know that the law is being applied.”

“Another corollary of this “paramount criterion” is the duty to cooperate with state authorities in our response to child abuse. Sexual abuse of minors is not just a canonical delict or a breach of a Code of Conduct internal to an institution, whether it be religious or other. It is also a crime prosecuted by civil law. Although relations with civil authority will differ in various countries, nevertheless it is important to cooperate with such authorities within their responsibilities.”

“Blessed John Paul II had this to say in 1994: «You are well aware of the temptation to lighten the heavy demands of observing the law in the name of a mistaken idea of compassion and mercy. In this regard, it must be firmly said that if it is a question of a transgression that concerns the individual alone, one need only refer to the injunction: “Go your way, and from now on do not sin again” (Jn 8:11). But if the rights of others are at stake, mercy cannot be shown or received without addressing the obligations that correspond to these rights»”

It is too bad this symposium is not receiving more coverage, even in the Catholic media. The Catholic News Service did place an article on its website today. I would encourage all of you to log on to website above to read the many other presentations on this subject.

It seems clear that the Church more clearly understands and is confronting this evil of child sexual abuse. I applaud the men and women who are attending this symposium and the work they will do in returning to their home dioceses and congregations. May all of us educate ourselves sexual abuse of minors, and create safe environments in our Church institutions.

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Quote for the Day

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Deacon Bob

“Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil. Fertilize the soil ever so richly, it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains.” – St. John Vianney, SFO

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Minnesota Marriage Minute #6

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Deacon Bob

Here is another good video on the upcoming Marriage Protection Amendment. We need to be able to protect marriage in Minnesota, and this video and the others in its series explain why.

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Update # 1 on “Has Europe lost its soul?”

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Deacon Bob

Last week I made mention of a lecture that was given by Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathon Sacks at the Gregorian University in Rome. His lecture was a brilliant discussion of the Judeo-Christian roots to the market economy, and I wanted to take the time to read it carefully and post a comment regarding it.

Here is my first updated post. Others will follow.

Sacks makes the point very early on that the market economy never reaches a stable equilibrium, and in fact, experiences what he called the process of “creative destruction,” by which he means that the very values (values which arose from the Judeo-Christian heritage but which can easily be secularized) that give rise to the market also undermine its stability. Because of this, the loss of a religious awareness and sensibility in the market, i.e., the loss of “soul,” will lead to decline economically. He said, “When a civilisation loses its faith, it loses its future. When it recovers its faith, it recovers its future.”

Not only the market economy but the emergence of capitalism (related although not necessarily synonymous with the market) and democratic politics were made possible by the Judeo-Christian moral foundation of society and culture, asserts Sacks in quoting Niall Ferguson’s book, Civilisation.

What are these moral and spiritual roots that give rise to and contribute to the fall of capitalism and the market?

According to Sacks, there is first of all a respect for the human individual created in the image of God. The market gives freedom and dignity to human choice. Secondly, there is a biblical respect for private property rights. Thirdly, there is a biblical respect for labor and entitlement to the fruits of that labor.

He continues by saying that Judaism has a positive attitude toward the creation of wealth. It considers job creation as a high form of charity to others for it gives them dignity in sharing in the creative/productive activity of God. Poverty, something not idealized in Judaism, is alleviated by the market, yet untoward consumerism is frowned upon.

The interesting piece of Sack’s discussion for me centered on what he saw as the limits of capitalism. The Judeo-Christian ethic teaches the limits to which capitalism need adhere. Whereas it may be a good system of generating wealth and offering dignity to workers (in contrast to socialism or communism or totalitarianism) it is not perfect. It does not easily redistribute wealth.

Sacks points out that in the Bible there is an entire structure of welfare legislation that is often overlooked by modern-day economists and politicians. This system of redistribution ensured that the poor would have a means of livelihood. Every seven to fifty years there would be redistributions of land and debt to correct the inequalities created by the market to reestablish a level playing field. Thus, Sacks points out that the concept of welfare, or if you will distributive justice, is Judaic in origin and comes from a constitutive element of the free market which is that every person has dignity in the image of God and the economy’s task is to develop structures that honor that dignity.

Food for thought in today’s economic climate, yes?

Posted in Economy, Politics, Social Doctrine of the Church | Comments Off

Quote for the Day

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Deacon Bob

“The true peacemakers are those who preserve peace of mind and body for love of our Lord Jesus Christ, despite what they suffer in the world.” — St. Francis of Asissi

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Symposium “Towards Healing and Renewal” at the Greg

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Deacon Bob

Starting today and continuing until February 9th at the Gregorian University in Rome a symposium is being held entitled “Towards Healing and Renewal.” From what I know, this is an opportunity to discuss the need for healing from sexual abuse within the Church. It website indicates it is for bishops and religious superiors.

It looks promising. I would hope it bears fruit. The Holy See issued a message today addressed to Fr. Dumortier, SJ the rector of the Gregorian. In part, he said:

“… healing for victims must be of paramount concern in the Christian community, and it must go hand in hand with a profound renewal of the Church at every level…. the Holy Father therefore supports and encourages every effort to respond with evangelical charity to the challenge of providing children and vulnerable adults with an ecclesial environment conducive to their human and spiritual growth.”

Here is the news release (minus the media notes) regarding the symposium. It contains some interesting information.

PRESS RELEASE

Rome, January 24, 2012

Church leaders from across the world come to Rome to relaunch their commitment to the safeguarding of the vulnerable with a new global initiative: “Towards Healing and Renewal”

Bishops and Religious Superiors from across the world will come to Rome in February for the launch of the Catholic Church’s global initiative on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Towards Healing and Renewal is being offered by the Gregorian University in Rome and consists of a major symposium followed by the launch of a multiinstitution e-learning centre which will run for the next three years – the Centre for the Protection of Children based in Munich, Germany. Delegates for the symposium will come from about 110 Bishops’ Conferences and also be superiors of more than 30 Religious Orders, making this a truly international gathering focusing on safeguarding by the Catholic Church.

This initiative has the support of several Vatican Congregations as well as the Secretary of State and the symposium, which will run from February 6-9, will have speakers from all continents in recognition of the global nature of safeguarding the vulnerable. The speakers include the testimony of a victim of abuse, who will address the delegates about the need for victims to be heard and how to effect positive change. Full details of the symposium and the speakers are available on the website thr.unigre.it.

Following the 2011 circular letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to Bishops’ Conferences requiring all Dioceses in the world to develop guidelines within the next year on the handling of all abuse allegations, the symposium will play a significant role in enabling Bishops and major religious superiors to move towards creating a consistent global response. Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, will give the opening address at the Symposium conference, and representatives from the CDF have had a very active role in giving shape to Towards Healing and Renewal.

The e-learning centre based in Munich (Germany), more formally known as the Center for Child Protection of the Institute for Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, which will be run by Hubert Liebhardt, Visiting Professor at the Gregorian University as well as serving at the University of Ulm, has full funding secured for three years. It will enable the dissemination of good practices to assist in the setting up of local structures to introduce robust procedures to deal quickly and effectively with all allegations of abuse and will go live at the conclusion of the symposium.

“Towards Healing and Renewal” will also act as a catalyst in developing a culture of listening and healing within the Church.

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Congratulations, Diocese of Salina

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Deacon Bob

The Holy Father today nominated Fr. Edward J. Weisenburger of the archdiocese of Oklahoma City to be the next bishop of Salina, Kansas.

Bishop Weisenburger was born in 1960 in the diocese of Springfield, Illinois. He studied theology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and later obtained a license in Canon Law from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada.

He was ordained a priest in 1987 and since then has held a number of diocesan positions including Vicar General and Rector of the cathedral in his home diocese.

The date of his episcopal ordination has not yet been set.

Congratulations, diocese of Salina!

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My Bishop’s Letter to all the Faithful in the Diocese of Winona

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Deacon Bob

(This is a transcript of the letter that was read in parishes of the diocese of Winona today regarding the Department of Health and Human Services mandate that strikes at the heart of religious liberty and the sanctity of conscience. Please read and respond to your congressman/woman, senator and the White House.)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Please allow me a moment to share some news with you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Diocese of Winona and the Church in the United States directly, and strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people-the Catholic population and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write; and almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. As a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

We cannot-we will not-comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second- class citizens. Our brothers and sisters of all faiths, and many others of good will, already join us in this important effort to safeguard our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust She can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

I am, therefore, asking two things of you. First, as a community of faith, we must commit ourselves to some extra time of prayer and fasting. I leave that time open to your good judgment and charity. We must pray that wisdom and justice may prevail and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, our efforts will amount to nothing; with God, our faith can move mountains!

Secondly, I encourage you to please visit the Bishops’ Conference website at: www.usccb.org/conscience. There you can find a video presentation from Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and the current President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, concerning the importance of this matter and learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend John M. Quinn

Bishop of Winona