Barack Obama and the Magisterium of Cafeteria Catholics

When I heard about it, I wondered how is it that Jack Lew can go on TV and say the White House is "done" negotiating with Catholics? Did they not see the bishops' response to their "accommodation?"

But then a liberal priest friend pointed me at an Op Ed from that noted Catholic theologian E.J. Dionne and another, even more troubling column printed in the National Catholic Reporter.

"Take these comments seriously," he said.

As if I would do anything else!

And I read both. I'd encourage you to do the same.

But when I got to this passage, well let's just say I stopped taking the comments as seriously as my friend had probably intended.

Good grief, it's the Lutheran heresy writ large! Popular opinion carries equal weight to the Magisterium? And what's the "magisterium of the theologians" anyway? Do scholars issue encyclicals now? Or does His Holiness The Pope still confer authority to a theologian by virtue of extending his blessing to their work?

If there is a better, albeit inadvertant definition of Cafeteria Catholicism, I haven't seen it. Let your conscience be your guide, because the bishops are just some random dudes with no inherent authority. So long as you've given the matter "serious thought" you're good to go!

This is going to be a long post. Because I'm just getting warmed up, and there is so much wrong here that I don't know where to start.

Obama thought he had his bases covered. He found some ostensibly "Catholic" organizations to endorse his faux compromise. Father Z calls them the Magisterium of Nuns.

What I mean by that phrase is a hitherto loose — now coalesing — group of catholics in organizations and as individuals who are setting themselves up as an alternate teaching authority, "magisterium", over and against the legitimate authority of bishops. Why "of Nuns"? Because they key figures are women religious, such as Sr. Carol Keehan of the Catholic Health Association — who gave cover to catholics in Congress to vote for Obamacare and Sr. McBride in Phoenix who approved a direct abortion at a catholic hospital, and a coven of other women religious who have set themselves against Catholic doctrine concerning the exclusive ordination of men, contraception, homosexuality, etc.

It's no coincidence that Sr. Keehan's endorsement of Obama's compromise was trumpeted by the White House itself. Alas she embodies a significant problem within the Church. The Magisterium of Nuns has no ecclesiastical authority. Yet they have accumulated considerable gravitas, granted by their schismatic relationship with the secular power structure in Washington, DC. They give cover to Obama when he, to quote Mark Steyn, "decided to go Henry VIII on the Church's medieval ass."

It is past time for the bishops to Do Something.

Again, Father Z has a suggestion.

It's a start.

Bishop Jenky of Peoria is out in front.

I read somewhere that Secretary Sebelius is already forbidden from receiving Holy Communion due to her unabashed pro-abortion activities while governor of Kansas.

Yes, Canon 915 means what it says. The Church ought make more use of it.

Beyond that, the next logical step is of course, public excommunication.

Yes. It is time to take the gloves off. Catholic politicians have gotten a pass for far too long. Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy Pelosi have traveled far beyond the bounds of Canon 915. Formal excommunication is more than warranted.

The pseudo-magisterium of cafeteria catholics must be neutered post haste.

Some may be wondering who is going to win the battle for authority in the U.S. Catholic Church: The pseudo-magisterium or the bishops. I know one thing for certain: Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church, so where does that leave the pseudo-magisterium and it's followers?

Pray for the bishops, that they may remain steadfast.

Posted at 00:34 by Chris Wysocki   [/religion]   Comments | Perm Link |
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