Comments for Advantages of being the minority at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 11 out of 11 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Thu, 23 May 2013 07:19:53 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13537 Two observations: 1. The Church is 'the Catholic Church', not the 'Roman' catholic church. 2. In the 20th century among the outstanding Catholic French writers were Maritain and Gilson, neither of whom were mentioned. The both had a wide influence on Catholic thought in the last century. - senex Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:54:50 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13529 "...a brave and beseiged minority." To understand that that is where the Church is will require leadership. I suspect that it will come primarily from the laity. At times the Archbishop of Philadelphia expresses this understanding. It is obvious that the Archbishop of New York is resisting it. I don't know why. New Yorkers do pay far too much attention to a media and intellectual elite which holds them and their beliefs in contempt. I used to work in that business. The continuing exhortation that we "all get along" invariably means "can't we all just go along." And there is a connection between the Catholic social justice activists and their belief that the left of any kind is more an ally than a Catholic of any other kind. Consequently things don't improve because social justice Catholics identify with secularists more than with the faithful. And these secularists support judicially-directed change, abortion, the redefinition of marriage (at a time marriage is in decline), and a generation children set adrift from family and values and basic literacy. At least it seems that way to me most days of the week. And I'm not proud -- English-speaking Catholics need fortification wherever we can get it and in whatever language it is expressed. - Graham Combs Sun, 23 Sep 2012 15:42:00 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13526 Great article! I wish those books were in english, I'd very much like to get my hands on them. But I think Randall has a point, at least with the actors, Catholic is a stretch, especially given that the later one converted to Judaism. It'd be helpful if you explained that part a bit more. - Aeneas Sun, 23 Sep 2012 12:49:08 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13513 How are leading actors such as Juliette Binoche, Gerard Depardieu, and Anouk Aimée representative of a "Catholic turn" in French philosophy who function within Catholic horizons? Their personal lives and many of the films they've appeared in don't suggest such a thing. Were you simply looking for a place to tack on the names of your favourite French actors? - Randall Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:44:30 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13512 What a delightful article, and many thanks for it. Now I want to relearn French so that I don't have to wait for the translations. - Dave Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:43:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13511 Mr. Nemoianu: I really enjoyed your essay, but I disagree with your assertion that in America we live in a Protestant milieu. I wish we did; we would at least have an agreed-upon point on which to argue. But the reality is that the Protestant era is past, and we are left with shifting, history-less cults: mega-churches, cowboy churches, and other adjective churches founded upon a Sun Myung Moon-ish figure (Joel Osteen comes to mind) or upon popular culture (in place of a crucifix, a tabernacle, or a communion table one sees a drum set). The opportunities are rich, but how does one engage a perpetually shifting culture based one day on Elvis and the next on Honey Boo Boo? - Mack Hall Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:38:33 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13509 Keep this good internationally focused blog going! Very good! - Ib Sat, 22 Sep 2012 09:34:48 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13507 Dr, Nemoianu, Thanks for an infomative piece,Manfred if you were trying to creep me out?, IT WORKED! Have a blessed day friends. Jack - Jack,CT Sat, 22 Sep 2012 07:20:10 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13506 There is a wonderful sentence in this article: "What would happen, for example, if American Catholics were to understand themselves as a brave and besieged and joyful minority brimming with ideas and vibrant with cultural creativity?" I think this is the case with some of the newer Catholic blogs I see that are geared to different segments of the population. It is really refreshing to see the enthusiasm of those who are trying to explain things to Catholics in new ways that provide a context that may have been missing in the past. The upcoming "Year of Faith" offers great opportunity for a better understanding of the Catechism and Vatican II as it was intended, along with Pope John Paul's "Love and Responsibility". It is time for the "besieged and joyful minority, brimming with ideas and vibrant with cultural creativity" to bear great fruit. - sjm Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:52:15 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13503 If you are going to describe the situation of Catholicism in France, Mr. Nemoianu, you might want to explain why this condition exists. Christ appeared to Margaret Mary AlaCoque(?) in the 17th century and asked that France be dedicated to His Sacred Heart by the king. This was never done and the punishment that France received for its disobedience was the French Revolution and its secular condition today. This is not fiction. Christ, in a later apparition explained exactly what the result would be. God will not be mocked and most people will never see God,just Satan. Isn't it obvious, if not de fide, that America is suffering a Divine punishment today? - Manfred Sat, 22 Sep 2012 03:36:40 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/advantages-of-being-the-minority.html#comment-13502 One truly wonderful work, too long neglected in the English-speaking world is Abbé Henri Brémond’s monumental « Histoire littéraire du sentiment religieux en France, depuis la fin des guerres de religion a nos jours », published in eleven volumes between 1913 and 1936. It is a definitive conspectus of the writings of the French school of spirituality. His « Prière et Poésie » [Prayer and Poetry] and « Introduction a la Philosophie de la Prière » [Introduction to the Philosophy of Prayer] are based on his unrivalled knowledge of mystical writings and devotional works. His writings on poetry, symbolism and romanticism earned him election to the Académie française in 1923, in succession to Mgr. Duchesne and a eulogy from the French Symbolist poet, Paul Valéry. - Michael Paterson-Seymour Sat, 22 Sep 2012 01:40:08 +0100