"How come we don't get no respect?"

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Mar 10, 2006

Following up the post below on do-it-yourself catholicisms, a glance at the National Catholic Reporter's classifieds produces three specimens of ecclesiastical slurpsmanship on offer (with Absolutely No Obligation):

DIOCESE OF CALIFORNIA -- American Catholic Church. Valid orders and apostolic succession. Inclusive/respect diversity. Inquire: (707) 554-2803 or [email protected]

RECONCILIATION CATHOLIC CHURCH -- "A modern church for modern people." Clergy wanted for an affirming Old Catholic Church opening new congregations. Telephone: (480) 649-0901. [email protected]

CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH in North America - Inclusive, progressive, marital status and gender no impediment to holy orders. Phone: (845) 586-2201. Web site: www.cacina.org

For those who bring to their search for the One True Faith the same commitment with which they look for a floor sander to rent or a buyer for their beagle puppies, I suppose these classifieds serve a purpose. But they don't increase one's esteem for the host publication itself. It's not often that the NCR's editors switch into their Earnest Catholic Mode, but when they do, can they expect to be taken seriously?

Look at it this way. On one hand, you've got Cardinal Ratzinger, in Dominus Iesus, carefully bringing into focus St. Cyprian's De catholicae ecclesiae unitate in order to expound the notion of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation. This author and this document, in turn, are subject to petulant criticism by folks peddling (on the side) the American Catholic Church, the Reconciliation Catholic Church, and the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America. Theological incoherence apart, any Catholic who responded to these ads in way the advertiser intends would be guilty of mortal sin, i.e., the sin of schism. Can we be excused if we sometimes fail to treat the NCR with the gravity to which it feels entitled?

The rubric, incidentally, under which these ads are listed is "Vocations."