if you don't read this, humanity could become extinct

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 29, 2009

Pope Benedict's willingness to welcome Anglicans into the Catholic Church is "a rejection of contemporary human experience." That is the magisterial judgment of James Carroll, the former Paulist priest who, having abandoned the order of Melchizedek, has taken up the Great Commission of the Boston Globe to write occasional columns bashing the Church.

The Pope's plan is "an insult to loyal Catholic liberals who will be denied what converted Anglicans are offered (notably a married clergy)," writes Carroll-- who is now married, in case you were wondering, although whether he can be considered "loyal" is another question. And it's an insult to women and to homosexuals and…and… and-- hold on here; Jim is working up a full head of steam--

...not only a stark contrast with the common Anglican practice of fully welcoming alienated Roman Catholics, while eschewing any pressure on them to convert..

Beautiful. Anglicans welcome Roman Catholics who wish to enter their communion. Whereas the Pope, in "stark contrast," is… Actually, he's welcoming Anglicans who wish to enter the Catholic communion. So it's not really a contrast at all, but a symmetry. But you can't perceive symmetry when you're viewing things at an acute angle.

Carroll roars on:

Equally damaging, the Vatican’s preemptive exploitation of Anglican distress explicitly ducks the large and urgent challenge facing every religion and every religious person, which is how to positively reconcile tradition with the massive changes in awareness, knowledge, and communication that come with the scientific and technological breakthroughs that daily alter the meaning of existence.

Whew! The meaning of existence changes every day! No wonder he sounds so tense. Because of technological changes? Wow. Jim must be on the cutting edge; maybe his Iphone has the beta version of that today's-meaning-of-existence app. And yet there are other computations he must do:

While the Vatican and its recruits just say no, the rest of us attempt to apply tested modes of ethical reasoning to revolutions, for example, in genetic science that separate reproduction from sexuality.

(In case you were wondering, he's talking about homosexuality.)

James Carroll may sound a bit overexcited, but that's only because he has a message: for the Catholic Church, for the world, and especially for the people who gather for cocktails at the Tavern Club. While of course Jim is a very humble man, still it's important to hear his message, because...

…because…

…because…

…because…

Wait for it…

Nothing less than the survival of the human species is at stake.