Another Time, Another Place
By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Jun 07, 2012
Count on Catholic World News and CatholicCulture.org for some of the greatest journalistic writing on the planet. Consider the close of today’s story, Australian bishop who called for discussion of women’s ordination resigns:
In 2010, Bishop Power called for “total systematic reform” of the Church, including a reconsideration of “the authoritarian nature of the Church, compulsory celibacy for the clergy, the participation of women in the Church, the teaching on sexuality in all aspects.” He has also called for an open discussion of women's ordination.
The archdiocese has announced a schedule of farewell Masses, teas, and other gatherings in the weeks ahead.
There was a time when these circumstances would have prompted the announcement of trial, defrocking and excommunication. Or perhaps even inquisition, imprisonment and torture. But now? Tea.
The rhetorical juxtaposition between cause and effect in this story is absolutely brilliant.
Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: dfp3234574 -
Dec. 01, 2018 7:29 PM ET USA
"Don't be anxious," the Pope says. Yes, just like God exhorts us: "Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God" (Philippians 4:6).
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Posted by: dover beachcomber -
Dec. 01, 2018 2:06 PM ET USA
Each church that the Pope and his allies are so apathetic about closing is both an indictment and an opportunity—an indictment of their faithless refusal to preach the authentic Gospel in the past, and a readymade sacred place in which to sanctify the unbaptized who live near it now. It’s simple, Pope Francis: spread the real Catholic Faith, and the Church will flourish and churches will fill. Do not, and it will wither and they will empty.
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Posted by: Retired01 -
Dec. 01, 2018 10:13 AM ET USA
And the more the Church tries to adapt to the culture, the more the Church will go the way of Mainline Protestantism, and the more the Church will become like the culture; and therefore irrelevant. More and more, it appears that this is what Pope Francis and those who surround him want.
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Nov. 30, 2018 11:50 AM ET USA
Christ has the solution to the lack of faith(ful) in the Catholic Church: spread the Gospel, aka the evangelization of peoples. St. Paul has the solution to the lack of clergy in the Catholic Church: holy bishops, deacons, and presbyters. For our part, the members of the "extraordinary form" community are bearing many orthodox Catholic children, supporting our holy seminarians, standing as orthodox witness to a pagan society, setting the example for our peers, and cultivating personal holiness.
