Tuesday, December 02, 2008

I agree with Fr. Euteneuer: The National Catholic Register is now part of the problem

Not only will Barack Obama be the most radical pro-abortion president in U.S. history, but as the CNA has observed: "Citing what they call America’s 'promise of equality,' the Obama administration plans to push for homosexual rights by including protections of sexual orientation, 'gender identity' and 'gender expression' as civil rights. His office proposes expanding hate crimes statues and the adoption rights of homosexuals while supporting full civil unions for 'LGBT couples' to give them 'legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.'"

The Vatican II Fathers teach us (in the conciliar document Inter Mirifica, No. 14) that: "...To instill a fully Christian spirit into readers, a truly Catholic press should be set up and encouraged. Such a press-whether immediately fostered and directed by ecclesiastical authorities or by Catholic laymen-should be edited with the clear purpose of forming, supporting and advancing public opinion in accord with natural law and Catholic teaching and precepts. It should disseminate and properly explain news concerning the life of the Church."

Catholics in this country really do not need another Commonweal or National Catholic Reporter to instruct them as to how to sell out to the secular culture.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's no reason to fear the president? Is he serious? Apparently he has no clue as to what the President-elect has in mind for us. Respect the new president? His office maybe. But not the man. Personal respect is something one must earn. As a Catholic, I'm supposed to respect a man who wants to promote a radical anti-life and sodomite agenda?

I won't be reading the NCR any longer.

Anonymous said...

The Register is becoming absolutely ridiculous. I was upset last year over what they had to say about contraception. Now I'm livid. How is the paper living up to the demands of Vatican II regarding the responsibilities of a Catholic Press? Unbelievable.

Michael Cole said...

During his campaign, Obama referred to religion as something people "cling to" like a crutch. Was he respecting Christians, Jews and other believers when he made that remark? How does a believer (no matter what his religious tradition may be) respect a president who has nothing but disdain for those who take their faith seriously?

The NCR needs to apologize to its readers and to hire some new help.

Anonymous said...

At this point, I think Catholics should simply boycott the NCR. The recent direction of the paper has been nothing short of scandalous. And it no longer deserves our support. We need to resist the culture of death. And part of that resistance is being the Ecclesia militans (Church militant) and speaking the hard truths.

Genuflecting before the world is not the answer. Somewhere along the line, those who produce the Register forgot that. We should concern ourselves less with appeasing the world and concentrate more on pleasing Christ Jesus.

Anonymous said...

It's really ironic that in striving to be more "relevant" in the eyes of the secular culture, the NCR is making itself irrelevant to the Catholic culture. What an absolute tragedy!

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Fr. James Farfaglia, a former Legionnary of Christ and now a pastor of two parishes in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, said about the National Catholic Register in Matt Abbott's column on the RenewAmerica website:

'Last Sunday evening, after having finished a rather intense day of parish work, I received an e-mail with very disturbing news. The e-mail contained a copy of an editorial written by Thomas Hoopes, executive editor of the National Catholic Register.

'To be perfectly honest, I was angry and devastated by Mr. Hoope's affirmations: '...and though we disagree on much, I, for one, always liked Obama. He is a civil, decent man.'

'I would expect this kind of commentary coming from the National Catholic Reporter, or the New York dioceses of Albany and Rochester. I am still shocked that this kind of commentary has flowed from the pen of the editor of a Catholic newspaper known by thousands for its orthodoxy and conservatism.

'Whatever is true or not true about [the abuse allegations against] Father Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, if he were alive today he probably would have fired Mr. Hoopes and sent his superiors to Siberia.

'As a former Legionary of Christ, I had extensive personal conversations with Father Maciel to know, first hand, his anti-communist stand and his conservative politics. When Ronald Reagan bombed Libya, Father said to a number of us joining him for lunch at the Legion's Rome seminary, 'There's a man with guts.'

'Where has Mr. Hoopes been during the entire presidential campaign? Has he not heard of Obama's associations with Saul Alinsky, Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright? Father Maciel would have understood Obama for who he is: a dangerous, radical leftist with Marxist ideas. He would have understood Obama as the most pro-abortion political leader ever to occupy the White House.

'Father Maciel had a profound love for the United States of America, and he would have done everything in his power to stop Obama from gaining the presidency. He would never have considered him to be 'a civil, decent man.' Obama is evil and has blood on his hands. Catholics who supported Obama — like Mr. Hoopes — also have blood on their hands.

'I am not going to waste my time refuting Mr. Hoope's arguments. However, I will say that his statements are ridiculous, naïve, disappointing and scandalous. The thousands of pro-life Catholics who have trusted the National Catholic Register should cancel their subscriptions immediately. When it comes to the issue of life, there is no room for 'compassionate truth.' Yes, the truth must be preached and taught with patience and compassion, but we can never give in to compromise.

'The 'compassionate truth' line reminds me of a conversation that I had many years ago with a Legion of Christ superior. After an enjoyable dinner in the Cheshire seminary, the superior told me the congregation had just purchased the National Catholic Register. I was happy to hear the good news, but was perplexed when the priest proceeded to inform me that 'We will follow the middle of the road.' What does that mean, I thought to myself? Does that mean that the Legion of Christ will not challenge the heretical American bishops? Does that mean that the Legion of Christ will continue to shower gifts upon corrupt and inept Vatican officials who fiddle while the Catholic Church in America continues to burn?

'Cardinal James Francis Stafford was correct when he said that the election of Obama is 'aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic.' Mr. Hoopes and his superiors have been deceived by the most dangerous man ever to be elected to the White House. Mr. Hoopes and his superiors think that they can trick the dedicated heroes of the pro-life movement. I don't think so. Remember what Abraham Lincoln once said: 'You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.'

'Maybe it's time for the National Catholic Register and the Legion of Christ to return to the dirt roads of Mexico from whence they came. Rather than being part of the solution, they have become part of the problem. They are the enemy from within.'

And in the same place to the Register's updated editorial:

'I am very happy to see that my commentary has sparked a lot of reaction to Tom Hoopes' original editorial in the National Catholic Register. Although the election is over with and the culture of death has won, I believe it is important to raise serious concerns regarding Catholics who have been mesmerized by the president-elect.

'The principle point of my concern and where the Hoopes' editorial falls apart can be found in his own words: '...and though we disagree on much, I, for one, always liked Obama. He is a civil, decent man.' In light of the Church's Magisterium on life issues, this affirmation cannot be sustained by a faithful Catholic. The issue at hand for Catholics who find Obama to be exciting is the fact that we can never separate the issue of abortion from the issue of Obama. Here is where I think lies the deceptive error of Mr. Hoopes' argumentation.

How can the editor of a very respected and revered Catholic publication affirm that the paper is pro-life (which it is) and then come out and say that Obama is a 'civil, decent man.' Obama is not a civil and decent man. He supports and condones the wholesale killing of innocent babies. He is the most pro-abortion candidate ever to be elected to the White House. Abortion is the issue. No Catholic could vote for Obama, due to his pro-abortion stance. Bishop Emeritus Rene H. Gracida of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, and a few other courageous bishops around the country, made this point clearly.

Mr. Hoopes tries to correct himself with these words:

'My only point in this post, nearly a month ago, was that many pro-life voters voted for Obama and are excited by him. Those are our voters, and we should win them back. We can't win them back if we are polarized by rage.'

'First of all, I am not polarized by rage. Secondly, Mr. Hoopes is naïve. Let's get real. Mr. Hoopes seems to think that we can work with Obama on those issues with which we may agree. He seems to think that we can find some kind of common ground with this man. I disagree.

'Some of you may think I'm being radical, but I submit that rather than trying to reach out to Obama and his associates in Washington, the Catholic Church needs to be organizing a resistance movement such as what the Church did in Poland when it was terribly persecuted by the Nazis and later by the Communists.

'We need to be working against the new regime, not trying to hold hands with the man as if we were all a bunch of girl scouts at some campout. Whatever happened to the Church militant?

'Remember the opening of the movie 'Patton.' If the Church in America was like General Patton, there would be no abortion in America. That's right — we need to kick them in the rear-end. Resistance: We need to seek every legal means to stop abortion.

'Finally, Mr. Hoopes has stated: 'Our job now is to watch the Obama administration and relentlessly oppose what we must, and in the meanwhile shore up the pro-life and pro-family majorities in America.'

'I agree. But what can be done when we have the most pro-abortion candidate as our next president supported by a Democratic Congress? Mr. Hoopes needs to understand that pro-life Catholics have been totally crushed by the election of Obama. They find nothing exciting in his election at all. Moreover, hard-working, common people are extremely afraid of the future. Mr. Hoopes should have said something totally different in his editorial. He has alienated anyone who is a serious pro-life Catholic.

'But, like I said in my original commentary, I was once told by a Legion of Christ superior that 'We are just going to go down the middle.' Here is the problem: 'compassionate truth.' Compassionate truth is a code word for compromise. We must resist evil. We must fight. There is no way that the pro-life movement will be able to achieve anything with Obama. Don't you guys get it? We have been taken over. The radical movement that started in 1968 has won. The U.S. as we know it is over with. This is not doom and gloom; this is reality. Let's resist, not hold hands with the enemy.

'A final word on John McCain: I am not a registered Republican. The Republican Party died when Ronald Reagan left the White House. Those days are over with. I vote for the one candidate who will do all he can to stop abortion. I resent Mr. Hoopes' assertion that McCain is no pro-life hero. Yes, it is true that he supports federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. However, we needed to try and get what we could.

'This past election was a classic example of voting for the lesser of the two evils. All Catholics had to do was to read John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae. If McCain would have chosen Giuliani, Lieberman or Ridge as his running mate, I probably would not have voted for a presidential candidate this time around. However, he picked Sarah Palin. It took tremendous fortitude on the part of McCain to pick a pro-life running mate. It took tremendous fortitude for him to stick by her while she was relentlessly under fire.

'Sarah Palin was vilified by the culture of death precisely because the enemies of life knew that she was the true Christian and the true pro-life candidate in the entire mix. She was the greatest threat to the culture of death and that is why they hate her.

'Moreover, when I saw a news item of John McCain before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, I knew Our Lady could reach him. McCain was our best hope of getting pro-life justices on the Supreme Court, and that's a fact. All of that hope is now dashed.

'Frankly, Tom, I don't find anything exciting about Obama or what is going on in the Church or in our country. I am on the front lines, in the trenches, day in and day out in parish life, dealing with real issues and real people. I highly recommend that you get out of your office and find out what is really going with the people who have trusted your newspaper. Enough is enough. And while we are at it, you can take Father Jonathan Morris back to the dirt roads of Mexico, too.'

Anonymous said...

Uh-oh. You'd all better cancel your subscriptions to the Catholic Church as well. Pope Benedict actually had the gall to send his congratulations to the president-elect.

Oh wait, that's right, Pius XII was the last true pope.

The lack of charity here and elsewhere is appalling.

Anonymous said...

My apologies to the blog moderator and all the posters for previously writing in anger and for my own lack of charity.
Pax

Paul Anthony Melanson said...

That's okay anonymous. We all understand where your hatred is coming from. Apparently you view membership in Christ's Church as so cheap a thing that you would compare it to a magazine subscription: something which is disposable. This speaks volumes about you.

If you had a modicum of common sense, you would know that while Pope Benedict XVI extended his congratulations and well-wishes to President-elect Barack Obama, such was merely a diplomatic courtesy.

Hopefully you are not suggesting that His Holiness endorses the radical pro-abortion and homosexual agendas which the Obama administration will be pursuing.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, your hateful post was truly lacking in charity and it is good that you apologized for it. Mr. Melanson is not a Sedevacantist and neither is anyone who posts here on a regular basis. Therefore when you implied otherwise writing, "Oh wait, that's right, Pius XII was the last true pope." you were engaging in dishonesty.

Unlike yourself, those who frequent this forum are committed to the teaching of Vatican II regarding abortion and contraception and everything else the Council taught.

Take your hatred somewhere else.

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