Comments for Points of Light at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 13 out of 13 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Fri, 24 May 2013 10:44:07 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6485 Hey Bill, no, 2 billion is not a lot in my circles, not even the smallest fraction of the worth of a single innocent soul. I am only suggesting there may be a fowl habit of attribution of improper wieghts and measures from an undetected myopia. I wish you the best Bill and I always enjoy your posts, Achilles - Achilles, Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:43:27 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6482 Dear Achilles: Thank you for your thoughtful post. The "actions of these perverts". as you put it, has cost the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. TWO BILLION DOLLARS and climbing, in attornies' fees and settlements. That may not be a lot of money in your circle, but it is in mine. Shall we move on to Assisi I, clown masses (sic), altar girls, ......? - Bill Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:47:54 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6479 Bill, though your claims may have validity in appearance, the rigidity and breadth of your indictment is nonsensically arrogant. I can’t call myself an “informed Catholic” as you and your cohorts, but does that include a near omniscience? 26 years of “nonfeasance”, can you hear yourself? Was John Paul the Great really responsible for the immoral homosexual behavior? Do you really fault him for incredulity or have solid knowledge that he was not incredulous? I still have trouble believing that priests could do the things that some of them have done, like weakland and maciel. These weak men have brought great filthy shame on Mother Church. Are the requirements for greatness really reduced to the homosexual and predatory behavior of certain sick men? Surely you must think there is more to John Paul the Great then just the actions of these perverts? If you might extend or expand your view you and your informed Catholics might see a little of the forest for the tree you have been commenting on as if it were a forest. - Achilles, Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:40:14 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6476 Brad: Thank you for your reflective reply. Nowhere in my posts do I refer to "child abuse", but rather to adult, consensual homosexual activity involving priests and bishops. If JP II "was simply too old and too incredulous to accept the truth..." for the 26 years of his pontificate, then he was certainly not "Great" and he should have stepped down. It was BXVI, who upon his investiture as pope, declaimed "the filth in the priesthood". - Bill Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:50:26 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6474 These are wonderful programs for profs and faculty members, and it's exciting to witness this renewal, but what about Catholic college students stuck in public universities (for financial reasons or with a major not available from a good Catholic college) who will never receive a genuine liberal arts education? How about a summer program that would introduce these students to the classics? - Diane Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:25:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6473 On JP2 and the sex-abuse crisis: In her bio of him, Peggy Noonan says he was simply too old and too incredulous to accept the truth as some, including Cardinal Ratzinger, were presenting it to him. George Weigel amplifies the reasons for his incredulity, mainly that the child abuse charge was a common smear used first by Nazis and then by communists to discredit the Church. - Brad Miner Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:58:00 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6472 Dear repliers: May we deal with two concrete items regarding JP II and sexual morality (not theory but praxis)? Abp Weakland stepped down as Abp of Milwaukee in 2002 amid allegations that he had used (embezzled?) $450,000 of diocesan funds to pay off a former male lover. Did the Church prosecute him? Was he made to pay back the monies he purloined? He was allowed to quietly retire. Who was the Pope? Look up Fr. John Minkler. In 1995, at Cdl O'Connor's request, he turned over a seven page report on the homosexual activites in the dioceses of Albany and Rochester, N.Y., which included both ordinaries,to the Cdl who was shortly to see JP II. When the Cdl. showed the dossier to the pope, his reply was "I can't do anything about it". See Paul Likoudis's book Amchurch Comes Out. - Bill Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:41:46 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6471 Thanks CCL, I have been trying all day not to respond to the reduction of "informed Catholics". Certainly John Paul the Great was human, but you have to ignore mountains of facts to call him "nonfeasant". I wonder if Bill would find himself a more worthy pope? - Achilles Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:00:20 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6470 My comment was directed toward your claim that Pope John Paul II was derelict in his duty to teach the Faith, specifically issues of sexual morality as you stated in your post. If you are claiming that the American bishops have been negligent as well in this regard, then I agree; to say, however, that JPII failed in this regard is quite a stretch. Are you claiming that Evangelium Vitae and Veritatis Splendor are being ignored by the laity? How can the laity be culpable for ignoring documents which the bishops have never taught to them, much less mention? This of course brings us back to the negligence of the bishops, not JPII. - CCI Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:58:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6469 Thank you for both replies. The operative words in my e-mail were: "American bishops" and "constant teaching". All three documents you cite are Papal/Vatican initiatives. Unfortunately, many if not most of these documents have been and are ignored. The very reason that the Faith and Reason Institute exists, whether one realizes it or not,is to fill the vacuum left by the failure of papal/episcopal leadership on the pressing issues of how lay people are to lead their daily lives. Fathers Eutenuer and Corapi had become larger than life because many lay people were demanding direction from them as they appeared to STAND FOR SOMETHING. These tasks should be accomplished by the Ordinaries as that is their proper role. When they abdicate their responsibilities, the Church collapses. - Bill Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:36:34 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6468 @Bill Theology of the Body as well? - CCI Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:47:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6467 @Bill So Evangelium Vitae and Veritatis Splendor don't count? - CCI Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:59:10 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/points-of-light.html#comment-6466 Dr Royal: These Fides and Ration seminars sound like wonderful opportunities for academicians to share ideas. I have two quibbles: you cite the present condition of the Church and then refer to "John Paul the Great". This puts you at a certain point on the ecclesiastical spectrum.I, and other informed Catholics, believe the state of the Church is largely a result of 26 years of JP II's nonfeasance. The second point is only a few scholars are affected. In Nov. 2009, the American bishops approved Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan. 65 million Catholics(?) will benefit from knowing that the Church's condemnation of contraception is a constant teaching. This is something that Catholics have not been taught in forty years! - Bill Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:22:31 +0100