No ministry allowed for gay Catholics | National Catholic Reporter

No ministry allowed for gay Catholics | National Catholic Reporter Finally, being married to a gay spouse is not really a mortal sin.  Indeed, it is a good act that the Church should join in on.  The mortal sin is held by the bishop.  Also, St. Augustine proved that sacraments are not dependent in their validity on the state of the minister's soul.  Neither are works of mercy and less valid.

Vigneron, Same Sex Marriage & Communion | National Catholic Reporter

Vigneron, Same Sex Marriage & Communion | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Actually, from what I read from Canon Law, the whole fecundity argument found by the DOM set is wrong, since as some members of the Supreme Court have pointed out, fecundity is not a requirement in either civil or canon law - and in Canon Law only functionality is. While some bishops do not agree with how gay people practice functionality, the unitive purpose is still served. Additionally, in the marriage sacrament, the couple administers it to each other - the priest or civil clerk are merely witnesses. What the bishop really fears is that a largely gay clergy will end up blessing the civil unions or gay marriages and he won't be able to stop it. The Church has a definite problem thinking it can be wrong. It needs to grow up to the fact that on this issue, it most certainly is, as marriage is the basic adult right - allowing a person to leave their family of origin and create a new family with another person who will become one flesh (both legally and sexually).

MSW Takes the Bait | National Catholic Reporter

MSW Takes the Bait | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Sometimes the hierarchy needs to respond to criticism from the pews.  In fact, the protection from being overcome by Satan is not some magic boon but the ability to change its mind in the nick of time.  My faith is found in the Nicene Creed, not the Catechism or the confused teachings of the 70s and 80s when my faith was formed.  The reality is that every generation must make up its mind on everything.  That is the beauty and the curse of being human.  Much in the Church will fall rather shortly, especially in how it is managed and how sexual doctrine, which is essentially misogynistic, is taught.  

Libertarianism Going Mainstream? | National Catholic Reporter

Libertarianism Going Mainstream? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: It depends on how you define Libertarianism.  If you mean hard core Austrian economics, I agree with you.  However, if you mean finding alternative institutions, especially the Church, to do what the state does not do as well (provided the state watch on how rights are protected - for example the rights of teens to keep their newborns and the rights of gays to adopt), then the Church should cooperate in making the public sector smaller and its own footprint bigger.

Christian Conservatives & "Secularism" | National Catholic Reporter

Christian Conservatives & "Secularism" | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The Church does indeed need to expand into the secular world, at least in terms of serving not only its membership but the poor.  We need more Catholic Vocational-Technical High Schools and Remedial Schools (which also manage social benefits for their clients).  We need more Catholic Hospitals taking on non-violent drug offenders so that they do not need to be incarcerated.  This does not mean we need to impose our beliefs on them, although we could certainly offer Catechism classes as optional electives funded by the Church rather than by taxes.  We should also work with socialists toward more social justice - not for revolution, but just for representation.  Our obsession with Liberation Theology has gone on for far too long.

Self-Referential? Exhibit A | National Catholic Reporter

Self-Referential? Exhibit A | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The word is scruples, which can also be sinful because they are, as you say, self consumed.

What's Really Wrong with Our Politics | National Catholic Reporter

What's Really Wrong with Our Politics | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I am sure my old prof, Frank Luntz, had a piece of this too. Whatever gets it done.  I am still troubled that we only have a gang of 8 and not a gang of 10 behind reform, since we need 5 Republicans to get it done.

Back to the HHS Mandate | National Catholic Reporter

Back to the HHS Mandate | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The whole issue, let me remind you, was Valerie Jarrett baiting the bishops in order to attract Catholic women.  Sadly, the bishops took the bait.  Now that the election has occurred, the Administration has basically caved.  Let me also remind you that the issue is not about whether contraception is to be covered, since this has been true since 2000 for all with insurance policies with preventative care, but whether there is a co-pay.  Facts are inconvenient things.

Reform & Pope Francis: Part II | National Catholic Reporter

Reform & Pope Francis: Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The pro-life office did certainly get out of control - changing doctrine by press release and impacting (or trying to impact) the case of Terri Schaivo.  The solution my be breaking up the operation into several patriarchies and ending Roman supremacy (which is mythical) altogether.  Send these guys home and let their local patriarchs deal with them according to their worth.  (I suspect many will retire).

Francis & Reform: Part I | National Catholic Reporter

Francis & Reform: Part I | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Francis appeared conservative when he was in his see, however Justice Sueter also appeared conservative on the New Hampshire Supreme Court.  He could very well end priestly celibacy - indeed he must for a good doctrinal reason, its link to Continence, which is based on a hatred of sexuality and women.  It is an insult to marriage and must be rooted out.  This is more likely to occur, however, if the Western Patriarchy is split into several linguistic or national autocephalic patriarchies with their own Canon law to deal with such issues.  Africa, by the way, should be transferred back to the Coptic Pope in Alexandria.  If they wish traditional mores, let them have them.  Indeed, they are reasonable to do so in fighting an ongoing struggle with polygamy.  The Irish, English, American and Canadian Churches should set their own rules as well.  Now that would be reform (and I suspect that this is the way we are going, given some of the Catholic prophesies of this era).

Rosshirt on Dr. Ben Carson | National Catholic Reporter

Rosshirt on Dr. Ben Carson | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: This is not different than many in the conservative movement, who have no compunction on fleecing their flocks.

What's Wrong With Planned Parenthood? | National Catholic Reporter

What's Wrong With Planned Parenthood? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: This is also why Catholic Hospitals should do late term inductions, so that the child may be baptized and dies with dignity, rather than left to these people.

(Un)Think(Non)Progress | National Catholic Reporter

(Un)Think(Non)Progress | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The Cardinal was wrong.  Gay couples are as entitled to form families as heterosexual couples.  It is the basic adult right.  What really scares the hierarchy is that the families of these couples may ask for a priestly blessing, which they will likely get, given the amount of gay priests in service.  The teaching on homosexuality and so much else is decidedly doomed once this happens.

A Real Threat to Traditional Marriage | National Catholic Reporter

A Real Threat to Traditional Marriage | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The hook up culture is not only exploitative of women, it is exploitative of men.  It is a sin against one's own heart - diminishing the ability to know real love as an offering of one's whole self.

Pope Francis & the Washing of Feet | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis & the Washing of Feet | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: It seems that this Pope is the real deal, especially if you look at his living situation.  I wonder how much he will require his brother bishops to emulate him? Now that would be revolutionary.

Triduum | National Catholic Reporter

Triduum | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: In a few weeks we will hear the last discourse in the Gospel of John, which explains how we shall be perfect - not in ethics but in Love (a task which is only possible in and with God).  As for Good Friday, I have an essay linking Holy Thursday and the promise not to drink of the fruit of the vine until doing so in the Father's kingdom and how this relates to John's Gospel, during which Jesus does drink what is offered him before he dies.  One must look at the Gospels to see why this is not code for a statement that the religion is a farce.  One must understand that before he drank of the vinegar, he yelled out My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me? and then said I thirst.  Before he called out in abandonment, he gave up on both his divinity and his mission by giving his mother to John, essentially telling her that he is dead to her now and that his mission will not happen.  In doing this, he surrenders to the despair of the human condition in a way that he could not reach before.  For me, that is the essence of the Triduum, with his death continuing that solidarity with us so that we can have solidarity with Him in the Resurrection, so that we can be an Easter people.

NoLa Priest On Ryan's Budget | National Catholic Reporter

NoLa Priest On Ryan's Budget | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Ryan's budget may or may not cut actual services to the poor.  What it mainly does is make states responsible for raising their own revenue rather than relying on federal revenue to run programs that operate in relatively the same way across state lines.  Of course, the downside is that some states will do a good job in helping the poor while others will punish the poor for being poor (especially in the South).

"The Cult of the Self" | National Catholic Reporter

"The Cult of the Self" | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I saw a show about the middle ages a few weeks ago which made the interesting point that the people of the time considered themselves modern.  At the time, they were.  What is disturbing is when the Church deliberately tries to not be modern and closes its ears and eyes to new data in the sciences and humanities while still claiming to argue using natural law (which is the most contradictory of positions). Note that the screed condemning Modernism by Pius X contains many things that we now know are erroneous.  There are still those who claim that the myth of Adam and Eve rely do relate to the first human parents rather than being a way to explain human nature and sin in general.

Wieseltier Tackles the Next Big Idea | National Catholic Reporter

Wieseltier Tackles the Next Big Idea | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Kurzweil is writing a book on the related subject of creating the mind - although the primitive mind seems out of reach of machines - which is a good thing.  Additionally, there is a branch of epistomology which shows that all our truth about the outside world (and even experience of the eternal) is understood through language - which is simply a form of information.

What Drives Me Crazy About the RC Right | National Catholic Reporter

What Drives Me Crazy About the RC Right | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: What makes me crazy about this particular rite is not that it is done with or without women, but that the bishops and priests spend the rest of the year doing what Jesus tells them not to do when he washed the feet of his friends.

"See, I am doing something new!" | National Catholic Reporter

"See, I am doing something new!" | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: One wonders if he will begin to sell the art in the Vatican Museum to not only help the poor, but to settle the claims against the Church.  I suspect he will not stand by the ridiculous claim that the bishops don't work for the Pope but are independent actors (which is a bald faced lie).

Dems for Life File Amicus Brief | National Catholic Reporter

Dems for Life File Amicus Brief | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: This issue will fade away, as it was all about the election.  Sadly, the Church would benefit by dropping its stance that life begins at fertilization and instead take the view that it begins at Gastrulation (when both parents genes' control development).  Once that argument is made, the only counter arguments to allow abortion are the problems of equal protection having to do with criminalization of doctors and not mothers or parents and of dealing with investigative authority in miscarriages (as well as tort relief).  These are not issues that simply go away just because you are sympathetic to first trimester embryos.

Rowland on CL & Francis (&B16) | National Catholic Reporter

Rowland on CL & Francis (&B16) | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: And yet, it is still true that one may argue for workers controlling the means of production and the distribution of consumption and still remain a Catholic.  Indeed, because part of consumption is education, care for the sick and especially care for the mentally ill (rather than their simple incarceration), the Church must be involved in it as the best practitioner.

SSM at the Supreme Court: Part II | National Catholic Reporter

SSM at the Supreme Court: Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Actually, the states rights issue is that if one state says a couple is married, every other state must accept it.  That is what DOMA specifically violated - as well as the Fifth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights in state and federal jurisdictions to equal protection under the law and due process.  If homosexuals are considered a protected class - as they apparently are - denying them the right to marriage, which is a basic adult right (even if not adjudicated as such - although it is) cannot be upheld.  The only problem is jurisdiction.  The Human Rights Campaign needed a case that went the other way in federal court - although that would take some extreme judge shopping, as most lawyers at that level would uphold gay marriage.  It is simply easier to go to the Supremes first than do a 50 state slog.

Scheiber on Cyprus & Geithner | National Catholic Reporter

Scheiber on Cyprus & Geithner | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The problem with Europe is that it has not yet decided to become a real government yet, with a centralized presidency, tax and debt.  It is as befuddled as the Confederate States of America and the USA under the Articles of Confederation (not to mention the UN).

Pope Francis & The Devil | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis & The Devil | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The devil is not absolutely evil.  If he were, he would pose no attraction to either the strong or the weak.  Indeed, Lucifer was the highest of all the angels - thinking that his worship of God was more essential than the sacrifice of Jesus.

Same Sex Marriage Heads to the Court: Part I | National Catholic Reporter

Same Sex Marriage Heads to the Court: Part I | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: It turns out the argument against gay marriage that the DOM side was sticking to relied on the incomplete reading of natural law contained in Humanae Vitae which the Church has saddled itself with - and which does not even comport to Canon Law or to the teaching that the individuals minister the  marriage, not the witnessing priest.   I will not bet that the current Curia will change willingly.  I suspect a new generation of bishops may, however, as the people demand it.  Sadly, standing issues may prevent the court from nationalizing the District Court decision.  HRC should have tried to get a court where it would go the other way (if that is possible - I am not sure it is).

Obama's Speeches in Israel | National Catholic Reporter

Obama's Speeches in Israel | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Romany were slaughtered as well.   I am one of the "we".  I suspect that this is a clever reference to the treatment of the Palestinians.  I also suspect that this is one of those speeches that he had help drafting.  No elected official writes all his own stuff.

Garnett Responds to Camosy | National Catholic Reporter

Garnett Responds to Camosy | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: My hope is that the new pope will be briefed as to the reality of the pro-life leadership, which lives quite well deluding most of the movement that it is making progress. As for the Democrats being the party of the poor, that has not been true since Bill Clinton got a hold of it.

Quebec: What Happened? | National Catholic Reporter

Quebec: What Happened? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: God is ever present and therefore impossible to simply forget.  Culture, and the beliefs which animate it, however, must be recreated anew for each generation.  What has changed is that more of the Catholic culture have benefited from a liberal college education and are not so willing to accept doctrine because it is tradition.  The forces of reaction will not be able to stand up to the forces of re-creation over the next generation.  This is likely a very good thing.