Where the Rubber Hits the Road: Peggy Noonan: How to Save the Catholic Church

17 April, 2010

Peggy Noonan: How to Save the Catholic Church - WSJ.com

10 comments:

Freyr17 April, 2010
What will save the Catholic Church is for its bishops to display some initiative and integrity. Too often they have acted to protect themselves, hiding behind bishops conferences which have no basis in canon law. The old strategy of hiding the problem has given way to a new strategy of throwing priests to the wolves without due process. Fortunately there are exceptions.

Archbishop Collins, installed in 2007, has displayed a degree of leadership in dealing with these problems. The diocesan sexual abuse procedures, first published in 1989 and reviewed in 1991 and 2003 will be revised again based on recommendations of a panel of lay people to be appointed in July. This panel will consist of mostly women, professionals in various fields related to the issue.

There is no other place where the old mantra "Think globally, act locally" makes so much sense. What most people fail to recognize is the nature of the Catholic Church as an assembly of local churches owing loyalty to the Holy See. A local bishop has a great deal of influence for good or ill. I pray that our own bishop will continue to lead and teach his people in these difficult times.
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Mary G17 April, 2010
it has always been my opinion that you would have had to send only 1 man like Bernard Law to jail, where he belongs for the rest of his life, and that would have ended the coverup ...no bishop or cardinal wants to go to jail
i wonder if Pope JP took Law as a fatherly act rather than have someone shoot him in the street...if this were the case i wish he had said so.
I agree with the writer that he should no position or authority in our Church
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Fr. Tim Moyle17 April, 2010
Mary & Freyr: I could not agree with each of you more!!

Thank you.

Fr. Tim
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Small Town Guy19 April, 2010
Sadly, those who are trusting in the gospel of the Roman system and are believing in an atonement as practiced by Rome are believing in a false gospel.

The apostle Paul warned us about a false gospel which was being preached even in Paul's time. "I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the one who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel (not that there is another). But there are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, and now I say again, if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accursed." Galatians Ch1 vs 6 to 9. Saint Joseph's RC NAB

Until a person rejects this false gospel of atonement by various man-made devices(eg, mass, good works, indulgences, penance, purgatory), and places their faith in Christ's once for all sacrifice, that is, in Christ and His shed blood, he is lost. The apostle Paul had emphasized the importance of this by repeating a second time that anyone preaching a false gospel, let him be accursed.

A little further in Galatians, Paul emphasized the true gospel of salvation by faith alone when he says: "We, who are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, who know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." Galatians ch2 vs 15, 16.
For further information on this read Hebrews, particularly Hebrews ch.9, 10, and 11.
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MBrandon19 April, 2010
Sadly Wayne, those who mock the faith of the Roman Catholic Church have chosen to undervalue the scriptures, and place the interpretation of them into their own hands and minds, which the Bible cautions about when it tells us that God's ways are far greater than our own.

You choose to ignore the signs and wonders that God has wrought because your mind cannot gather them in. You would ignore the mystery of the Eucharist and the sacraments because you have such a shallow understanding of His Word.

Your ignorance of Catholic Church teaching, and your misguided beliefs about atonement are not atypical of those who the devil twists into a religion of self righteousness.

Rather than embracing the brotherhood of believers, because each of us sees Our Saviour dimly through the glass of our own weaknesses, you discount the faith of others, and choose to be judge and jury of that faith.

Judge not lest you be judged, my brother. You are heaping judgment on yourself by your self righteous condemnation of something and its adherents that you do not understand, or care to.

You are behaving like a fool.
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Small Town Guy19 April, 2010
Interesting comments from my friend MBrandon, but sadly considerably off the mark. Michael you are good at using the standard RC defence arguments, but you have not and never will be able to successfully refute the biblical truth.

The Roman system of the mass is really a re-establishment of an Old Testament principle of an earthly priesthood and sacrificial system, although instead of offering animals it attempts to re-offer Christ's sacrifice over and over again. It has an earthly sanctuary and an earthly priesthood just as the O.T. Jewish system had. However, the O.T. sacrificial system was a picture looking forward to the coming of Christ. It was not to be continued in any way after Christ came and offered Himself.

The O.T. system (and the RC system) used earthly priests as mediators, men which have infirmity. The apostle Paul contrasts this Old Testament priesthood with Christ in this way:

God the Father, speaking to God the Son said "The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent: 'You are a priest forever' -- to that same degree has Jesus become the guarantee of a better covenant. Those priests were many because they were prevented by death from remaining in office, but he, because he remains forever, has a priesthood that does not pass away. Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them.

It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests, but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever." Hebrews ch7 vs 21 to 28. Saint Joseph's edition of RC New American Bible.

As our wonderful Saviour said as He was about to die on the cross, "it is finished" (John ch19 vs30). The atonement is complete and final as Paul's Epistle to the Hebrew tells us.

Jesus is our only Saviour. We need no other; we need no other sacrifice for sin.

"Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated." Hebrews ch.10 vs 11-13.
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Lady Janus19 April, 2010
"Sadly, those who are trusting in the gospel of the Roman system and are believing in an atonement as practiced by Rome are believing in a false gospel."

Wayne. It is not your job to say whose culture or belief system is right or wrong, true or false. You choose which way you practise that which you call your "faith," and leave others a lone to practise it their own way. It's people like you who start religious wars.
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Small Town Guy20 April, 2010
Lady Janus,

"Wayne. It is not your job to say whose culture or belief system is right or wrong, true or false. You choose which way you practise that which you call your "faith," and leave others a lone to practise it their own way. It's people like you who start religious wars."

If the content of what I say and the quotes of the Bible are convincing, then maybe someone will accept it as the truth. If what I say is not convincing, it will be rejected as false. If one believes in the democratic freedoms we have in Canada, they should be willing to allow others to make their case. If they do not believe in those basic freedoms, they might argue that someone such as me should not have the right to speak. However, I do not advocate any religon should be forced on anyone. Neither do I advocate that anyone else should be deprived of their freedom of speech. Anyone is free to refute anything I say. Jesus did not advocate that christianity should be spread by the sword or by war. Neither do I. I would not like to see Canada go back to the dark ages when there was no such thing as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. Everyone should be free to believe what they want and free to make their case verbally or in writing for what they believe is the truth. Wouldn't you agree?
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Lady Janus20 April, 2010
"Everyone should be free to believe what they want and free to make their case verbally or in writing for what they believe is the truth. Wouldn't you agree?"

Well, you're a tricky litle thing, I'll give ya that much. But no cigar.

What you believe has absolutely no relationship to truth.

If you wish to state what you believe, then do so, but do not try to wrap it in the banner ot "truth."

And if you don't want to be called on the carpet for hate speech, stop referrring to other peoples' beliefs as being "false." They are no such thing. They are simply not yours.
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Small Town Guy21 April, 2010
Lady Janus,

"What you believe has absolutely no relationship to truth."

So you are you saying what I believe is "false"?

What do you believe is true?
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