Comments for Power to the People? at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 9 out of 9 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sat, 25 May 2013 20:12:41 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8682 How can a protestant agree in any sense with Catholic Doctrine? The Catholic Church is about assent, not protesting. Your two choices are the city of man or the City of God. - Achilles Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:58:09 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8681 Christian unity does not mean "being part of the same bureaucratic system." If all Christians took orders from Rome they would still disagree with each other. I have plenty of respect for my Catholic brothers and sisters but they seem to have a weakness for thinking that "schism" means "not accepting the Pope's jurisdiction" Schism is regretable but dishonesty more so. If a Protestant were to accept the Catholic doctrine in his mouth while disagreeing in his heart he would have commited a sin far worse then Schism. The Church has never been "unified". It won't be unified until The End. - jason taylor Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:50:29 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8680 Thank you professor Smith for an excellent essay! Chris, we are of one mind and one heart, well stated! I love your statement "amplified mediocrity" it has huge explanatory power in today's ethos. Keep up the good fight brother, Achilles - Achilles Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:53:24 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8679 Bravo, Manfred! You know we arre in trouble when these characters respond the accusation that they are neoprotestants with, "What's wrong with that?" and lecture on why the Church now admits that Luther was right. Yeah, he was right that the Holy Sacifice of the Mass is a greater abomination than murder or adultery. Is there still any sane person who doesn't think that this whole thing was planned and must be brought to a halt? - Thomas C. Coleman, Jr. Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:36:18 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8678 Where two or more are gathered - there is politics. The great weakness of the protestant worldview is that it depends on an individual's interpretation (opinion) and all individuals are fallen. Truth in such a worldview is by definition subjective and the number of denominations spun off is only limited by the energy and free time of opinionated and fallen individuals. One cannot be empowered in respect to the truth. The terms have no meaning in the context. One may follow the truth and be obedient to the truth as it is revealed and understood by fallen creatures (always imperfectly) but the individual is not in a power position in respect to it. When a man or woman (however bright and educated) assumes a theological position above and beyond the Church instituted by Christ, what follows is man-centered rather than Christ (God) centered. It is similar to Lucifer's choice and fails to take note of an important truth that even popes need confession because all fallen creatures are sinful. St. Peter denied Christ. Judas sold him out. It didn't cause the rest of the apostles to deny the validity of apostleship and reach out to empower pagans. - Other Joe Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:38:36 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8676 AMEN to Randall Smith and to "rtjl". The rhetoric of the Austrian Priest Initiative, the anti-Papal AMCHURCH network, and provacateurs like "The Tablet" is completely bound up in the seduction of politics and the relentless pursuit of power; it is adololescent, shameful, and the very definition of NOT IMITATING CHRIST. One of the serious dysfunctions in our current society is a big deficit in the virtue of humility. I observe Joseph Ratizinger, our good Pontiff, a man who stands in such great contrast to the amplified mediocrity of the media and the blogoshere (both secular and "Catholic"), a man who combines supreme intellect, courage, patience, preaching and loving kindness toward others, and he is a lightning rod of the secular and "Catholic" mediocracy, because the difference is, he knows he is the servant of all, and they covet his position, because they mistakenly construe the papacy as a token of the power the so hungrily crave. This is what happens to people, parishes and instiutions in The Church who are so porous to the "culture of self-actualization" that they forget the sensibility of self-sacrifice, which is the command of Christ, and instead demand "satisfaction." God save the Church from those who refuse to imitate the wisdom and gentleness of Christ the way Benedict does. - Chris in Maryland Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:58:30 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8675 "God bless them if they do. God help us if they don’t." It's slightly off the mark, but these two sentences brought to mind something that C.S. Lewis said, probably in the Screwtape Letters: "Seen on a tombstone: 'Here lies Mary Smith. She was always helping others. Now she is at peace and so are they.' " - Louise Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:43:12 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8674 @Randy. All of these issues were resolved at the Council of Trent and Vatican I. ALL of them. The Lambeth Conference of 2008? If Dr. Kroll had read on Lambeth, 1930, she would have left Anglicanism then for it was at that conference that the Anglicans agreed on permitting CONTRACEPTION in certain situations-the first time a "christian church?" permitted this. This triggered Pope Pius XI's CASTI CONNUBII in 1931 condemning contraceptive use. The True Church is constantly warring with these man-made religions both in and out of Catholicism. All of this is really a tiresome mess. - Manfred Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:40:09 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/power-to-the-people.html#comment-8673 Man. Does this hit the nail on the head. Clericalism is alive and well but oddly enough not practiced by the clergy so much any more. Under the new clericalism the iron fist is wielded by all the new lay liturgical and theological experts who have attended a few weekend workshops and now know the 'one true' way to conduct just about any ministry. Those who speak the loudest about collaboration are usually the least collaborative to work with: they usually just want a vehicle for getting their own way. Those who advocate for diversity and call for "unity in diversity" are usually just using that as a wedge in order to get others to conform to their agenda. Those who plead the loudest for tolerance are seldom tolerant with those who disagree with them. Actions speak louder than words. If you want collaboration, tolerance and mutual respect, work with those who have a demonstrated an ability and willingness to behave accordingly, not with someone who is always flapping their gums about them. Incidentally, contrary to what many seem to think, collaboration, tolerance and respect for diversity are not uniquely liberal values. They can be exercised by conservatives every bit as effectively as liberals and often are. This is because these things are actually virtues, not political values. As such they are practiced by virtuous people, whether liberal or conservative, rather than by ideologues. - rtjl Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:22:24 +0100