Sunday, December 18, 2011

"..as long as their parents support the Catholic mission of the school and do not offer a serious counter-witness to that mission in their actions."

In an editorial for Catholic Insight entitled "Those who attack the Catholic Faith cannot be part of Catholic schools," Fr. Alphonse de Valk writes, "I am writing this editorial in the third week of Advent, just after Gaudete Sunday. Gaudate is Latin for rejoice. Yes, we rejoice in the coming (advent) or Our Lord Jesus Christ and nothing can, nor should, take away the joy in the Son of God becoming “man” and thereby preparing the way for mankind’s delivery from sin and the devil. Jesus did break the bond of sin created by Adam and Eve’s fall for disobeying God. He did re-open the road to Eternal Life, which, however, we will not, and cannot, enter unless we obey his invitation to accept His commandments. ”My yoke is easy, my burden is light.” If only we believe it.

The magazine enters its 20th year of publication with this issue. From the beginning, the defence of the dignity of each human life has been our chief concern, first the assault on life itself—abortion—and its forerunner contraception—then the associated evils which were to follow—sterilization, homosexual behaviour, euthanasia (the killing of the elderly and the sick), assisted suicide, pornography.

In our first year, 1993, we exposed the false teaching of the priest/professor André Guindon at St. Paul’s Theological University in Ottawa. From then on, after contraception-abortion, Catholic Insight took the homosexual agenda as the most virulent threat to society. Why? Because unlike abortion which does not leave any survivors, only victims, those practising same-sex relations grow in number and ruthlessness as their agenda is strengthened by newly coined “rights” in law and public acceptance. Supported by the enormous popularity of modern pornography, assisted by prostitution and the elimination of old restrictions on human behaviour mostly through judicial fiats, their own insatiable immorality demands public approval for more and more deviant behaviour.

During the last ten years, Catholic Insight has traced the expansion of same-sex relationships throughout the Western hemisphere with special attention to the activity of the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the enshrinement of homosexual behaviour as a human right in Canada in 2005. Since then, we have tracked its expansion in Europe and the U.S., to the newest announcement from American President Barach Obama and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on December 5, 2011, to link American foreign aid to the promotion of homosexuality-based “rights” abroad. Just as every American embassy earlier had become an outpost for the promotion of abortion, so they will now become sources for bribing and bullying the whole world but especially African, Asian and South American countries dependant on aid. The great Imperialist of yore has been replaced by the Ugly American of today, interfering in the internal affairs of countries everywhere and doling out hundreds of million of dollars to corrupt their people. Kenya, the Philippines, and South America have been targeted already. Nigeria is on the list.

The mission of Catholic schools has not changed over time. The main purpose of religion, as Archbishop Charles Chaput, then of Denver, now of Philadelphia, wrote two years ago.

“[T]o form students in Catholic faith, Catholic morality and Catholic social values. … Many of our schools also accept students of other faiths and no faith, and from single parent and divorced parent families. These students are always welcome as long as their parents support the Catholic mission of the school and do not offer a serious counter-witness to that mission in their actions

“That’s the background. Now to the human side of a painful situation. The Church never looks for reasons to turn anyone away from a Catholic education. But the Church cannot change her moral beliefs without undermining her mission and failing to serve the many families who believe in that mission …

“The Church does not claim that people with a homosexual orientation are bad, or that their children are less loved by God … But what the Church does teach is that sexual intimacy by anyone outside marriage is wrong; that marriage is a sacramental covenant; and that marriage can occur only between a man and a woman. These beliefs are central to a Catholic understanding of human nature, family and happiness, and the organization of society. The Church cannot change these teachings because … they are the teaching of Jesus Christ…” (See CI July/August 2010, p. 21)

These words are clear and concise. They apply to Canada and especially to Ontario Catholic schools. Bishops in Quebec and Newfoundland allowed state officials to pull the wool over their eyes. This must not happen in Ontario. (See article “Same-sex relations rampant in Toronto Catholic schools” in this issue, p.28.) If OECTA accepts the same-sex relationship motion in March 2012, it should have the title “Catholic” removed and its Charter as a union for Catholic teachers revoked."  See here.


Reflect very carefully on these words: "Many of our schools also accept students of other faiths and no faith, and from single parent and divorced parent families. These students are always welcome as long as their parents support the Catholic mission of the school and do not offer a serious counter-witness to that mission in their actions..."


The Archdiocese of Boston has said that it will tolerate parents who offer a serious counter-witness to the Catholic mission of the school in their actions.  Cardinal O'Malley believes that Catholic schools can partner with homosexual parents.  See here.

Which view is Catholic and which view represents compromise with the Culture of Death?


Related reading here.

8 comments:

Paul Anthony Melanson said...

It is most interesting that while the children of homosexual parents are welcome in the Boston Archdiocese, as a military dependent I was excluded from Catholic schools. My parents were devout cradle Catholics who lived a sacramental life and were entirely obedient to the Church's Magisterium while living chaste lives.

It's not much better for me as an adult. At my current parish I am excluded from participation and shunned. The priest and deacon have shown a real animus toward me because of my fidelity to the Magisterium.

I am excluded from pursuing a vocation to the priesthood (as another Air Force veteran was excluded from pursuing the priesthood within the Boston Archdiocese) because of my fidelity.

I am an Honorably-discharged veteran who has received a letter of commendation from a Lt. General and who was once chased by members of the Communist New People's Army who intended I'm sure to fill my body with bullets as they did one of our Colonels as he walked through a shopping district with his wife.

Some of our Church leaders have nothing but respect for homosexuals who thumb their noses at Church teaching. But none can be found for a veteran who served his country with distinction.

Go figure.

Ellen Wironken said...

Hterosexual men who fully accept the teaching of the Magisterium need not apply Paul.

ACatholicinClinton said...

Unholy homosexual agenda in the Catholic priesthood...


http://www.renewamerica.us/
columns/abbott/060721

Tim said...

Paul.

I am confused here. How do gay "parents" offer any more serious a "counter-witness to that mission in their actions" than divorced parents?

We must uphold Catholic morality as must our schools, but we also have a duty to do it compassionately and consistantly. Being more strict about homosexuality than about other immoralities (adultory, divorce, single-parenthood) is not consistant.

Paul Anthony Melanson said...

I'm sorry that you're confused Tim. I'll pray for you. This Blog post is not about adultery. It's about the fact that the Church cannot partner with homosexual parents because of the serious counter-witness which they offer through their sinful actions.

It is, however, dishonest of you to suggest that the Church is "not consistent" in her teaching. This is simply another form of lying. And you need to confess this sin.

Pope Benedict XVI has been most clear. The Holy Father singled out abortion, divorce and same-sex "marriage" as "some of today's most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good."

You are concerned over what you perceive as Catholics "being more strict about homosexuality" than they are with other forms of immorality. But you neglect to mention, in your dishonesty, that, "The catechetical tradition..recalls that there are 'sins that cry to heaven': the blood of Abel, the sin of the Sodomites, the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt, the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan, injustice to the wage earner." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1867). These are the sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance. Do you see adultery and divorce (which are still very serious) listed among them?

You do not. And what does this suggest to you?

Stewart said...

Tim, you have a strange notion of "compassion." It is not compassion to withhold the truth from people. And the truth is that homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity which are an abomination to the Lord.

tim said...

Thanks for your reply Paul. I don't disagree with what you say (although I reconise that I need to do more research, study and praying in this area- as you say yourself the Holy Father puts divorce, gay marriage and abortion in the same moral bracket and I need to reconsil that with your proposal that the School should place divorce and same sex marriage in different categories of sin).

I do think that you need to be careful about calling potentially allies liars. There is a difference between lying and asking a genuine question.

I shall pray that you will come to better learn the difference.

Paul Anthony Melanson said...

Tim, you implied that the Church is not consistent with her teaching. You wrote, "We must uphold Catholic morality as must our schools, but we also have a duty to do it compassionately and consistently. Being more strict about homosexuality than [with] adultery, divorce..is not consistent."

And I responded: "It is... dishonest of you to suggest that the Church is 'not consistent' in her teaching. This is simply another form of lying. And you need to confess this sin.

Pope Benedict XVI has been most clear. The Holy Father singled out abortion, divorce and same-sex 'marriage' as 'some of today's most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good.'

You are concerned over what you perceive as Catholics 'being more strict about homosexuality' than they are with other forms of immorality. But you neglect to mention, in your dishonesty, that, 'The catechetical tradition..recalls that there are 'sins that cry to heaven': the blood of Abel, the sin of the Sodomites, the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt, the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan, injustice to the wage earner.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1867). These are the sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance. Do you see adultery and divorce (which are still very serious) listed among them?"

You fail to answer my question. But now you write, "I don't disagree with what you say..I do think that you need to be careful about calling potentially allies liars. There is a difference between lying and asking a genuine question. I shall pray that you will come to better learn the difference."

You engaged in dishonesty. You falsely accused the Church, and Catholics in general, of being "inconsistent" about upholding Cahtolic morality. Now that you have been proven wrong, you retreat into victimhood by writing, "There is a difference between lying and asking a genuine question."

But you weren't asking a qustion. You were making an accusation. I will pray for you. That you come to better appreciate the difference.

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