The Midterms: Is There a Catholic Angle? | National Catholic Reporter

The Midterms: Is There a Catholic Angle? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Is there a Catholic angle?  I would hope it would not be abortion, because the entire program of the GOP is perpetrating a fraud that the GOP desire to overturn Roe and turn it into a state issue won't happen, nor should it.  Davis will probably win the war, even if she loses the governorship, as the trap laws Texas enacted will never stand up.  A Catholic position on this issue would be to increase funding for each child in the child tax credit to $1,000 per month (maybe $500 each state and federal).  The economic conservatives in the pro-life movement are entirely against this, even the Catholic ones - which is sad.  And the issue will not turn Texas purple - anchor babies voting while old Tea Partiers die off will.  Could happen sooner than you think.



On same sex marriage, this also no longer a political issue.  Enough courts have ruled that there is no chance of a reversal now, especially with the Court not challenging the current spate of appellate rulings, all of which agreed with each other and a moderate conservative mindset that dominates most federal courts.  There is a question for the Church on how it will react to legal gay marriage and the pastoral demands that will soon be made on it - but it won't stop this train.



Colorado is unfortunate.  Without Archbishop Chaput as a foil, contraception is a non-issue. This issue was so 2012 and not even Valerie Jarrett with a flaming sword can help Senator Udall now.  Pity that.

In Georgia, don't count out the Nunns.  I look for Michelle to win - a slim win - but a win.  Not really any Catholic issues here.  Although there are lots of African-American voters back from the north, and they won't be intimidated at the polls.



Sam Brownback in Kansas deserves to lose, and lose he will.  His Republican economic paradise has become an economic Hell - although since half his opposition is Republican, this bodes nothing for the future.



Elizabeth Warren is dominating the stage, which likely means nothing at all for the future, as neither Clinton would be thrown off and the President has his hands full (he has no need to lay low as far as I see).



As for MSWs issues, generally we who either get paid to campaign or do it professionally at times do understand the meaning of each race (look above).  As I said earlier, there will be no adoption of  Catholic vision, even on abortion and certainly not on war - unless of course someone throws unimaginable amounts of money at it and the national becomes more Catholic.  Look for a Wall Street Party, a small rump conservative party and a new majority of Libertarian Greens/Socialists.  It the Church wants to hitch its wagon to that, we will welcome them warmly.

Meyerson on Dems & Wall Street | National Catholic Reporter

Meyerson on Dems & Wall Street | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Interesting.  It is the difference between the heart of the Democratic  Party and its stomach.  It indicates that Hillary's team reflects her views and that her views are not consistent, at least during an election campaign. The question for now is will getting caught at this cost her?  I doubt it - especially if the noise comes from the Republican side.  Will it hurt her in governing?  Not sure.  It depends on what issues come up and whether she will have to say not to any of these firms (or go along with Obama doing so in the next year - the prosecutions take a long time to set up).  The final question is whether the Democratic Party can stay together post-Clinton. This depends on whether the Republicans stick together or finally divide at last into the business side and the Tea Party libertarian/social conservative side (and such sides do stick together, even on abortion and against support for families in preventing it).  I foresee a one term Hillary and new parties in 2020.  Can't wait. 

CNA Spins for Chaput | National Catholic Reporter

CNA Spins for Chaput | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I am sadly not surprised that Archbishop Chaput would counsel a Republican to soft-pedal Church teaching on anything liberal.  Of course, the Church has moved since then, challenging supporters of Life without Parole to re-examine what is essentially death by slow mental torture when some attempt should be made to salvage the person, and yes, let them go, rather than letting them rot - especially if they were kids committing the crime. Chaput knows that death is the last ditch penalty, only used when that is not possible - of course our judicial system cannot handle trying rehabilitation first and then euthanizing when it does not work - even though this would make a world of sense for true sociopaths.

Guttierez to Get Honorary Degree | National Catholic Reporter

Guttierez to Get Honorary Degree | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Not sure who Guttierez is and even if I did, this blurb will tell me.  I hope they sent a flier to the Maltese Knight Commander, just to make things clear.  Congratulations to  the Archbishop, a cousin on my paternal grandfather's side, for keeping the faith - although the list of events on his calendar hardly scream liberal - although we can at least be assured that the pro-life event has nothing to do with politics - Canada is very unequivocal about such things, although politely so.

Saint Cicero & the Jesuits, Part II | National Catholic Reporter

Saint Cicero & the Jesuits, Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: It goes without saying that Pope Francis is definitely a good Jesuit Probabilist and not at all an Jansenist - and we have been quite good at manufacturing the later and not the former.  One need only look at those speaking against Francis at the Synod to see this.  This is likely a good thing in figuring out how to deal with remarried Catholics (and even just the divorced ones - although it is hard to see the fault of one's ex more than your own - especially if you think the balance does rest with them (and their mother).  This should allow many to return to the Church in both the sacraments and marriage who otherwise would not.  Indeed, I am already considering the question of wedding China again.



Where a harder look is needed - and not just on forgiveness but on the question of whether morality, some of it of ancient vintage, might be mistaken in some aspects. That gay trysts for heterosexuals, or even among gays, is wrong does not take much moral imagination.  To go beyond these circumstances and view that gays were like made that way in something called epigenesis, and is therefore not chosen, must lead to the conclusion that marriage among gays and lesbians cannot be in the least bit wrong or in any way disordered - as they are no more flawed than those of use with a melanin deficiency - yet white people are allowed to marry other white people all the time, though this subjects the children to possible skin cancer.  Mercy is not necessary in either case, except for past mistakes in one's sexual history where the grace of God could help us with the fact that the relationship just did not work out.  The error are mostly the human nastiness, not the sex, but we can throw that in too.

EJ on Kansas Governor's Race | National Catholic Reporter

EJ on Kansas Governor's Race | National Catholic Reportern by MSW. MGB: E.J. hits it, but its what we've been seeing on Rachel Maddow for weeks - and EJ will likely be on her show tonite or tomorrow talking about this piece.  A Democratic victory here will be like a Reagan loss, except that Reagan stands with Kassenbaum, Baker and Dole rather than the Koch Brothers and Brownback.  Riley might survive with his Senate seat, but I would not be the farm on it.

The Church & the Media | National Catholic Reporter

The Church & the Media | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: To be fair to the media, Benedict said he did not believe in the element of randomness that is intrinsic to the Theory of Revolution - making him more of an intelligent designer.  Of course, if you ask any old Catholic, they will not really be up to date on modern science.  Just ask them about the degree of chance in particle physics.  They will both be wrong and blown away.  The important thing is that we are getting it right at Catholic schools and keeping the young people current.  I was, but not all of us took Chemistry - far fewer took Chemistry and Physics in college - those that did were the brainy few.  There may have been a theology student there.  I do not know, I did not go.  I would not think that MSW could explain the significance of the Higgs Bosson (or that there was no person named Bosson on this particle). I certainly can't nor do I need to care.  Academe's division means we don't have to care about everything.



Let me add that this extends to human anthropology.  The Church no longer officially believes in the existence of two people named Adam and Eve who were the first humans.  It still, however, clings to the concept of there being two first parents who seemingly rejected the paradise of being eaten by lions and ate an apple, bringing us both a divine experience and a heritage of sin for millions of years of proto-humanity.  Can't see it - even among the Bushmen of Kalahari.  While the film "The Gods Must Be Crazy" certainly does not show their sinful side, it neither shows the innocence of staying in the garden either. Still, I have friends who became theologians who won't talk to me now because I don't believe in some first parents myth - rather than a much more rational view that the authors of Genesis were telling a fable about human nature, particularly blame.

McElroy on Income Inequality | National Catholic Reporter

McElroy on Income Inequality | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Its an interesting piece and he hits the right areas, including not just the accomplishments but also the problems with capitalism, the free market and the whole makers v. takers thing.  Of course, he, like the Pope, does not prescribe solutions, although several exist - among them realizing that capitalism, both domestic and international, exist not to encourage free markets, but to restrict them for the benefit of the capitalist. The Government, with the support of the Church, as created some floors, but as yet nothing to change the nature of the system - and without such change we are simply perpetuating makers v. takers as a political debate (guess who wins - its not the GOP anymore).  The comments, by the way, run the gamut, including those who stridently defend the status quo as both effective and just (which is obviously is not).  Of course, it would be interesting to visualize politics in an equal society - I am fairly sure we would need no such thing.

Pope Francis & Accompaniment | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis & Accompaniment | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Roddy offers an interesting reflection - of course accompaniment can mean a Church that is leading or a Church that his following.  I suspect that in dealing with the questions of the Synod, it must do a little of both.  The extent to which the Synod fathers actively engage the people and get their hearts, rather than their data, is the extent to which the Church will make progress.  Of course, we cannot enter this walk in confusion and they must end it with the smell of the sheep on them and a willingness to understand these questions a bit more openly than before. Sometimes the understanding of a truth can change, even if the underlying truth does not.  Reject even that, and there has been walking without listening and therefore no accompaniment.

Prisons and Spirituality | National Catholic Reporter

Prisons and Spirituality | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: This is relevant to the old Quaker Penitentiaries, which were abandoned because every prisoner was put in solidarity confinement to meditate on his sins.  Turns out they obsessed and went mad.  Not much has changed.  The problem is that not segregating prisoners can lead to violence.  We must find a medium someplace and it should probably include some social time - although doubling up on cells is probably more of a cost cutting measure than residual socialization.  Without a good treatment model, it hardly matters anyway - we are likely making matters worse.

Understanding Francis: Saint Cicero and the Jesuits | National Catholic Reporter

Understanding Francis: Saint Cicero and the Jesuits | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I suspect that Abbe Pierre Favre had it right on seeing to the spiritual health and peace of all his neighbors, although the later manuals probably would have served him better in this purpose.  It certainly shows why it matters what we do regarding divorced and remarried Catholics (or even those who were at cause in their divorce, even if they never marry - or are even never allowed to marry again).  As for gay marriage, this is not a question for confession at all, save for the need to confess the many errors anyone makes within a marriage.

MSW Responds to Matthew Franck et al. | National Catholic Reporter

MSW Responds to Matthew Franck et al. | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Too funny.  It seems the Chaput is the one confused (and I suspect mostly about how to get his red hat - or why he has not gotten it yet - after all, Donald Wuerl got his?).  All he must do is listen to his flock with an open heart - rather than having an answer ready when he disagrees with them.  That is why it called listening and not suppression.  If Satan is bothering him about this, I suggest he either find a better Confessor or an Exorcist (or a nice place to retire).

Cum Douthat et sub Douthat? | National Catholic Reporter

Cum Douthat et sub Douthat? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Oh, wither the poor conservatives and their apocalyptic dreams! Douthat's poor potentially lost conservatives, if they were to leave, would have done so when the Mass was translated into English. Rationalizing how give Communion to the divorced and remarried - and how we deal with why marriages are ended - allowing the wronged party as much say in forgiving the other as the Confessor - and realizing gays are not the monsters the conservatives think they are can be considered good things. Hopefully the faithful will tell those bishops that Douthat is enabling their views on this in no uncertain terms.

Kudos to Mollie Wilson O'Reilly | National Catholic Reporter

Kudos to Mollie Wilson O'Reilly | National Catholic Reporter to MSW,  MGB: Let us hope that such treatment opens George Weigel and Archbishops Pell, Chaput and Tobin to see that the virtue they need may be openness rather than Orthodoxy - if only so that these bishops can listen to their own flocks with an open heart (rather than using it as an opportunity for further discipline).  Sadly, since we are not forced to resort to ridicule to get their attention, such openness is not very likely.

Remembering Lorenzo | National Catholic Reporter

Remembering Lorenzo | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Letting Msgr. Lorenzo go is the greatest affirmation of love that we can give him.  He understood the incarnation was a free gift of love, unmerited by any act of mankind, and that any expression of Jesus in the Church and the poor has to be exactly that, and he loved any he encountered accordingly.  It is that love which the rigorists seem to miss when they seek the preservation of current understanding over the changing needs of the people - as they desire their version of the truth more than they desire it be an expression of love.  I am sure Lorenzo understood this - his live shows it.  May this life be a witness to those who love the Magisterium more than the Majesty it represents so that they can adjust practice accordingly.

Donatism and Divorce | National Catholic Reporter

Donatism and Divorce | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Novationism and Donatism are not appropriate to this argument because they had to do with the Church in direct persecution by the Empire.  Unless one is willing to argue with a straight face that secular governments are somehow persecuting the faith by allowing divorce, especially to women, there is no connection.  On the giving of Communion, how we do that has changed numerous times in the past 2000 some years and we still don't have it right - although in practice we are doing good because most people have realized that unless the sin is very major (and loving someone in second marriage is not such a major flaw), going to Communion is not an issue - and it is a question of practice, not faith and morals.  Now, should there be forgiveness in ending a marriage - absolutely but it has nothing to do with remarriage.  If one spouse victimizes the other through adultery, abuse, drunkenness, or abandonment (especially if they had the bad example of a parent), then they should seek forgiveness from the other spouse before marrying again or getting absolution.  The wronged spouse should not have to.  Of course, I have not great expectations of the Synod coming to such a rational moral conclusion, although I fail to see how standing up for a status quo that is wrong (unless you like the fees from marriage tribunals - ah, that's it!) is defensible.

Abp Forte, Call your office | National Catholic Reporter

Abp Forte, Call your office | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Or just read the Bible, which states that all must repent - not only those in undesirable groups or those on whom a tower collapses (like Shiloam).  The right wingers made this case about Katrina - whose real problem was corruption in fixing the levies and just bad urban and land use planning (especially to the south, where the marshes were lost to the Gulf).  Ebola is the result of bad pubic health, from nurses training to public information for the sick.

What does Jesus really say about marriage and divorce? | National Catholic Reporter

What does Jesus really say about marriage and divorce? | National Catholic Reporter by Nicholas Collura.  MGB: In Jesus' time, no one got old enough to get a divorce because they got tired of their spouse after the kids have grown.  I suspect that Jesus was talking about arranged divorces and second marriages by the families.  Sadly, I have some experience of that, as does my brother in law, my late sister in law and my former other sister in-law.  Divorce seems to be a disease that runs in families. It desired ease over challenge and love and nothing good can come of that.

Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete: Requiem Aeternam | National Catholic Reporter

Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete: Requiem Aeternam | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Rest in peace Monsignor Albacete.  Very wonderful piece on human suffering, which he no longer must face.

Midterm Spending in post-Citizens United Elections | National Catholic Reporter

Midterm Spending in post-Citizens United Elections | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Let me start by saying that the problem is not money in politics - its too much money by too few people - in short, the problem is capitalism.  The the free market kind libertarians keep mentioning as an apology for big business, but the monopolistic kind that hires workers on its terms, not on mutual terms, and restricts the number of competitors to as small a number as possible.  Being able to do that takes a lot of money, hence contributions - but contribution limits won't fix capitalism.  Employee-ownership will.



As for spending the money for Ebola or some such nonsense, that will only happen with higher taxes on the rich - the funds spent on ads are not transferable.  If there were not political ads, there would be more ads for beer, cars and sugary cereal.



The people who make the negative ads seem to have an exemption for slander, but the big money has now become the ads that run in presidential primary years - because they are aimed at other partisans (in the general election, people who have made up their mind tend to tune out).  the right wingers seem to be products of the College Republican Club system, which rewards cut-throat politics.  (Full disclosure, I was my CR chair in college and it was the most inactive chapter in the history of the party). Still, they are nasty rich kids with feelings of entitlement on most campuses, which is not good training for real life unless you are a partisan hack or corporate capitalist.



The issues make for interesting analysis.  ISIS and Ebola ads play to those Republicans who dream of Reagan - and no one is up for any more Bush bashing, even though ISIL would not exist were it not for Rumsfeld's stupidity in not reconstituting the old Iraqi Army.  Ebola talk is just ignorant, but ignorance seems a premium on the right wing.  Still, the influence of Obama For America should not be underestimated.  They are running their usual ground war - and that may make all the difference in who turns out to vote.

Pope Francis calls for abolishing death penalty and life imprisonment | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis calls for abolishing death penalty and life imprisonment | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Pope nails it, including bringing out the fact which all Lifers know, that life in prison is simply execution by slow torture.  I wonder what the anti-death penalty pro-lifers in and outside the Church will say about this (talk about a wedge issue).  Especially like reference to murder by cop.  The people demanding justice in Ferguson should like this a lot (pass the word so that they know it was said).  He also essentially damned Dick Cheney.  Nice day's work in one speech.

Tobin Slams Synod Too | National Catholic Reporter

Tobin Slams Synod Too | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: You knew there had to be a third and it would probably be Tobin.  That makes him Curly Joe, since Dolan is too good a politician to hang out in their tub (as in rub a dub dub).  It appears that these remarks were not staff  generated, although they may have been.  Irregardless, the comments have been closed - so you can image the reaction.



I think that Tobin might have written an article in America more than ten years ago about gay marriage.  He, or some other older bishop, questioned why one could not marry a family member.  No one makes that analogy now.  The reason is it is obvious that family members need no additional legal connection to act as next of kin for each other.  That is actually the reason we need gay marriage. People should have the right to chose their own next of kin.  To not do so is to make them perpetual infants (which is also what happens to you when you are divorced and your kids are under legal age).  Its probably also a good reason to change how we deal with divorce and remarriage (although the usual rules certainly did not do Anna Nicole Smith any good).

Don't Be Afraid of Subsidiarity | National Catholic Reporter

Don't Be Afraid of Subsidiarity | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Liberal Catholics, or liberals in general, are not afraid of subsidiarity.  We went along with it in creating health insurance exchanges in each state (while doing them for those states who would not).  We accepted what was an ill-advised state by state implementation and funding of welfare programs (which has proved disastrous to the South) and have never opposed state highways.  On the religious side, I would love a lot more subsidiarity in the choosing of bishops and archbishops. Unless the government is interfering with the freedom of the Church, papal appointment is neither necessary nor desired.  Anyone who wants to talk smack about subsidiarity can start there.



Some of us are libertarian socialists - meaning not only employee ownership of the workplace - but also as the provider of direct educational, medical and social services (in lieu of taxes). That is the ultimate in subsidiarity and it definitely lives in the liberal space.  Going back to the Church, if we had an autocephalous English Language or North American Patriarch, one could imagine that it would be much more liberal in its doctrine - especially with a Canadian running the show.  Indeed, much of what is now Protestantism would have no excuse not to merge back in, since Roman overreach would be gone.  The only place where I am not for subsidiarity is in recognizing the true vicar of Christ.  That would be the Ecumenical Patriarch, not the Bishop of Rome who is only recognized in the wider Church as Patriarch of the West.  That is usually where Rome wants as much subsidiarity as possible, since they like their red and purple outfits.

Kurtz Doesn't Take the Bait | National Catholic Reporter

Kurtz Doesn't Take the Bait | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Archbishop Kurtz, who my wife knew when she was at Catholic Charities as the Episcopal Advisor (before the late Bishop Sullivan) handled this interview well, letting humility defuse the ideological questions.  I suspect, however, that the comment used for the headline,  that there cannot be mercy without truth nor truth without mercy was likely misunderstood by the interviewer.  The Synod is not out to change the truth, but to sniff out what is true.  The other NCR and the dissident conservative bishops don't realize that there may be a difference between their understanding of the truth and the truth itself (which does evolve with the times).

Archbishop Chaput's Remarkable Challenge to Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter

Archbishop Chaput's Remarkable Challenge to Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I would love to see a purer Church - one where Chaput, Burke and Tobin are retreat directors and not bishops.  His confusion comes from the fact that he used to know how to get that Red Hat.  I wish him luck, especially if His Holiness has Internet Access or a staff who tracks what people say about the Synod.  Maybe Burke needs an auxiliary in Malta.  As for the sheep and the goats, I suspect it is Chaput, Burke and Tobin who are wandering around in the wild, not Francis and the rest who seem to know the difference between essential truth (things like the Trinity) and natural law (which can improve with new evidence) and practice - who we allow to get married, how we treat divorce, who receives Communion.



As I said before on the CNS article, Chaput's job is not to tell Philly what to think - but instead to find out what they think.  I have a similarly conservative bishop in Arlington.  Lets hope he is not so confused.  (Even if he is, I will copy the Vatican with my remarks - as well as the reason why I am doing so).  As for same sex marriage and the Church, I suspect that this is where we will find the God of surprises - especially when the Laity weighs in on wanting to have their gay children married in Church.



It was not so long ago that Catholic hospitals excluded long time gay companions from medical decision-making, letting an estranged family member supplant the person who was essentially the spouse.  To a great extent, those little insults created the movement to marriage equality.  If you read the Gospel with an open heart, you will note that marriage is when a person leaves their family and clings to another.  That applies to this issue as much as it applied to a persons family seeking a divorce for their child so that the family can have better marital connections.  Are gay Catholics who left the Church after such insults lost?  Maybe - but it is not sinfulness on their part that drove them away.  Until the Burkes and Chaputs of the world understand that, there will be much kicking and screaming in the conservative camp.   Hopefully, instead of allowing Chaput to shoot off his mouth at Pope during his visit to Philly, someone else may be found for the archdiocese.

Chicago's new archbishop to live in rectory at Holy Name Cathedral | National Catholic Reporter

Chicago's new archbishop to live in rectory at Holy Name Cathedral | National Catholic Reporter by CNS.  MGB: This is how they roll in Spokane.  Good to see.   Getting rid of the mansion is an essential first step in defining his tenure (I will not call it rule).

Archbishop Chaput blasts Vatican debate on family, says 'confusion is of the devil' | National Catholic Reporter

Archbishop Chaput blasts Vatican debate on family, says 'confusion is of the devil' | National Catholic Reporter by David Gibson, RNS.  MGB:  If the Archbishop is confused, then perhaps he needs a job he can cope with - as he will be of absolutely no use to his Archdiocese in listening to the people on these issues.  Indeed, if he told me that Philly Catholics overwhelming supported his position - I would think he was lying.  Indeed, he seems to have some trouble distinguishing between a civil marriage and a Church based one.  Unless Pennsylvania has a remarkably different marriage law, civil marriages are performed by the court - and in Pennsylvania you can even get married with no judge or minister at all (its a Quaker thing - my brother and his wife got married that way).



What frightens Chaput about the Synod is that at the end, most bishops might say that the families of gay Catholics want a sacramental marriage for their children - maybe even in Philly.  It is fear, not doubt or consideration, that is the work of the Devil.  Someone needs to give the Archbishop an exorcism, else he will never get his red hat. (Indeed, what is confusing him is likely how much he will have to bend in order to become a cardinal - it used to be that hard core orthodoxy did it - but not any more)

Democracy For Sale | National Catholic Reporter

Democracy For Sale | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Super PACs are a problem if your billionaires are not as generous as their billionaires.  Either, the result is probably a TV ad buy designed to put your view of the facts in front of the public in a way that is not flattering to the other guy.  We used to (and probably still) do this with newspapers.  It is as old as the Republic itself - and that is why the Supreme Court is unlikely to do anything,  nor will the parties, because they both use the same tactics.  The libertarian view has always been say what you want - but minimize what government does so that ads are not relevant anyway.  Unless we can organize a really good Socialist Super-PAC, nothing will happen to reign them in.

NRA In Newtown, CT | National Catholic Reporter

NRA In Newtown, CT | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: At some point, boldness becomes stupidity.  I think the NRA is there.

The Synod: What Does It Mean? Part II | National Catholic Reporter

The Synod: What Does It Mean? Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: On the second day's comments, let me first say that if Francis wants the bishops to listen to the Spirit, we must remember first and foremost that the Spirit is Love - and that solutions that do not serve Love come from somewhere else.  Love is not only for families who may need a rethinking of the Church's teachings, but also for such seemingly unlovable people as Cardinals Burke and Chaput.  Dissent must exist between both of those bounds.  We must be gentle with those who think they will be cast into Hell if they revise the prejudices of the past.



Witness must be given to the concept that morality is for people, not for God's sake.  This is usually a hard one for conservatives to handle in their hubris.  Speaking out against Eugenics, which is essential, is an entirely different witness than the project of celibates teaching married couples how to love each other (not that they don't sometimes need help).



As for Mia Farrow encouraging the Episcopal Church - at some point when the Church of Rome makes itself right in relation to the Orthodox Church, which may have taken Peter's primacy with it when it left the shores of the Tiber, there may be reason to make the western Church more like the Episcopal.  How sects and Churches relate (and the uncharitable belief that they are somehow different), is a matter of politics - not faith.  While some Protestant sects need to return to more orthodox beliefs about Eucharist - and when they take Communion it will be obvious to them, bringing them back is something that is absolutely necessary for the march of history.  To do this will take humility on all sides - which is part of Love.



The conservative bishops, with all of their rush to be covered by the media to reassure the world that God is an Orge, at best provide a useful foil to the need for change. They are as wrong today as their predecessors were wrong in the past.  Still, we must love these poor fools. Mercy cannot only be the mercy to the sinner (which even conservatives agree with), but also mercy in realizing that some people may not really be sinning at all.  That kind of stance takes faith, as well as love.



Such love will bind the wounds of the Church.  Francis is showing it - indeed, he is off the Turkey - which always makes the Romanists nervous.  If we follow Christ, through him, we may just get it right.

Silk: Is Douthat a Donatist? | National Catholic Reporter

Silk: Is Douthat a Donatist? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Ross makes some interesting observations and comparing his intellect with Silk's is a bit much.  The question of Communion by the remarried is not so much one of sin as practice. The Church could simply opine that receiving unworthily was never part of issues of marital law or even all but the gravest) as opposed to all, mortal sins.  Silk is clever, however, in stating that the argument dissolves into rigor - but that is the nature of the beast.  One can also be called a Rigorist by addressing the question of what kinds of marriages were Jesus talking about in Matthew - all of them or the ones where a family broke up a previously arranged marriage to form a more socially upward one?  Other marriages where the actions of one spouse toward another can be blamed for not just breaking a marriage, but for doing actual harm, should be treated differently - as leaving such marriages is not sinful - and nor would finding a new spouse if one is the victimized party (victimizes should be excluded from future marriage - and indeed the Church - until they repent and the judge of repentance should be the wronged spouse, not just the Confessor.  Is his rigorism?  Probably, but it is useful is setting a question that his been left far too open for centuries.

Wilton Meets with Parents with LGBT Children | National Catholic Reporter

Wilton Meets with Parents with LGBT Children | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I wonder if some of the gay children (not a good term, as I am sure some of the children described are in their 20s and 30s, if not older) will be at the retreat the Archbishop mentions - and how some of the not so welcoming bishops will howl if they come forward for and receive Christ in the Eucharist.  At least this pastor is listening and seeing - may he be useful in opening the eyes of others.  I like his Charism.  Perhaps Phili should loose its red hat to Atlanta.

Dionne on Dems & White, Working Class Voters | National Catholic Reporter

Dionne on Dems & White, Working Class Voters | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: About Udall, bringing up the war on women only works when the other side is actually lobby grenades at their own feet - especially in a purple state.  He could have done a better job by promising progress on legalizing weed, since those in opposition are not voting for him anyway.  There is also time for the GOP to make some comment on legitimate rape - but Udall should have kept his powder dry until they do.

The Synod: What Does It Mean? Part I | National Catholic Reporter

The Synod: What Does It Mean? Part I | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: It seems the Pope was an equal opportunity scold, saying things about not judging by the letter of the law alone - but also not making change for simply the cause of mercy.  Of course, in looking to be surprised, one need only look to gay marrieds, who can model love sometimes more intense in its care in adversity than straights.  Also, some of us liberals are not pleading for mercy in some cases, but are saying mercy is not necessary if there is no sin.  Indeed, the first place we encounter God is in the family, not the Church (to answer Cloutier).  I suspect that the real work of the Synod is for the bishops to listen to us as to how we encounter God in the family (and when we do not).   Sadly, of course, Cloutier is also wrong about the Church staking out positions for politics sake.  It has done so far to often, especially on gay marriage, rather than encountering gay couples to see if, indeed, there is sin present.  Such would be more profound revelation than any prophet (and it takes no credential in Theology to see it or be a prophet).  As for MSW  on consumerism, he needs to know that consumerism is what prevents workers from a Marxist revolution.  The ball is now in the court of the bishops - which in the US is the USCCB, who meets so.  Let us see if they can get one over the net.

EJ Profiles Next Gov of PA | National Catholic Reporter

EJ Profiles Next Gov of PA | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I agree that he is much better than Corbett, who I am glad will lose. I am also glad he is the kind of boss who gives a share of profit to his employees - although as a socialist I would hope he eventually gives them a shae of the shares (if not the controlling shares). More importantly, I hope that, barring crisis, he governs in the same way.



There would be a lesson for the Synod fathers in doing this as well.

Gomez on Brittany Maynard | National Catholic Reporter

Gomez on Brittany Maynard | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Lest we forget, St. Thomas More, in his Utopia, made a case, which some call a natural law case, for terminal patients ending their lives like this. We can all certainly agree that continuing with more procedures is not obligatory. Indeed, we do believe in a resurrection - and not just any - but one with the Lord. The thing is, there is a natural law thesis that God is in control of both death and life and that we should not be. While it is true we cannot kill others, unless they pose a danger to us our our loved ones, the fear of killing ourselves a midst great suffering is ultimately a fear of God's judgment. It is only a valid fear if we believe God has an opinion on this issue. I am not so sure he does and is not the Ogre that many bishops see on both medical suicide and late term abortion for medical necessity. Indeed, I sometimes get the impression from such clerics that they believe that their souls are in mortal danger should they reject the concept of God the Ogre. (they certainly fear loss of position - but that is no valid reason for the rest of us).

Graduality at the Synod | National Catholic Reporter

Graduality at the Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The truth is quite liberating, including a sexual doctrine that offers integrity (it must be offered, it cannot be demanded). Still, Burke's insistence that there is certainly in the Gospels about divorce or gay marriage is simply not true.



In Jesus' time, marriages were arranged (and apparently unarranged) by families, not individuals and people took it for granted that homosexual relations were a pagan thing - something from outside. I suspect that gay Jewish lovers may have disagreed but would not come forward - although one does hear of gay cults and even gay unions in early Christianity. Perhaps the Magisterium is a bit more muddled then Burke believes.



As for gradualism, it is hard because of resistance, but what must be gradually and then radically changed is that the bishops, the Roman Curia or even the Holy Father, have some monopoly on natural law reasoning. It is just not true - and its claim to experience is laughable. Truth is what it is, regardless of the Synod. Hopefully it will become the instrument of freeing the truth so that those actually making moral decisions can be guided by the Magisterium but feel bound by their own consciences.

Land Grabs in Africa | National Catholic Reporter

Land Grabs in Africa | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: It is a constant since colonialism arrived.  For all its western claims of progress, it never gave native Africans the tradition of land titling, as this would interfere with their own ambitions.  The dividing of colonies without regard to tribe also means that the liberated nations are less likely to enforce tribal rights - and may even turn a blind eye when the territory from a rival tribe is grabbed.

More Great Churchill Quotes | National Catholic Reporter

More Great Churchill Quotes | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I suspect that Queen Anne would not have put up with reading some of the non-sense the Tory's have put in The Queens Speech read by Elizabeth during her reign.  Parliamentary democracy does have its drawbacks, especially when dealing with rights and the disregard thereof.

Ebola & Fear: Two Crippling Diseases | National Catholic Reporter

Ebola & Fear: Two Crippling Diseases | National Catholic Reporter It is not fear of indifference that is on FoxNews, but fear of the different - so this story was made for them. The amazing thing is the body count.  Before American deaths, we published the death tolls in Africa in our news stories.  Now, we act as if only Americans were sick.  The good news, however, is that the current strain does not have the sever bleeding experienced in past years (sadly, this is a cyclical disease, like the flu).  We are also sending people to Africa, even though reporters are too afraid to go with them - and that there is a possible serum and maybe a vaccine.  If so, these benefits can be brought back to Africa - hopefully with public or contracted public manufacture so that American pharmaceutical companies treat the elite only and not everyone.  That is where solidarity could mean something (not in denying me a much needed iced decaf Americano, which is the best anti-depressant I take - for some its not just a jolt).

Wieseltier's Unflinching Look at Ebola Crisis | National Catholic Reporter

Wieseltier's Unflinching Look at Ebola Crisis | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: This has been bad for decades (and is not the exaggerated disease where everyone bleeds out everywhere at the end).  Exaggerations are why the world has kept away.  Now that we did not come to the sick, the sick will be coming to us in due course.  Still, I wonder why TNR is always featured and the Nation is not.  So much for MSW's leftist cred.

USCCB Elections | National Catholic Reporter

USCCB Elections | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I suspect that staff does most of the committee work - it is the hardest nut to crack.  As for the Secretary, this is the first round in who will be on track to be the eventual President.  I am hoping that Aymond wins rather than Broglio, since the latter is the obvious choice of the right-wingers.  It will certainly be a test.

Reactions to the Synod | National Catholic Reporter

Reactions to the Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The key teaching that the conservatives are protesting is not about either gay marriage or second marriage.  It is about people making their own decisions about their own moral circumstances.  In essence, it is about defanging the Magisterium - turning it from an iron law - to which the ability to go to Communion is the punishment, a guide to be used in forming moral decisions.  Nothing is more radical or as much an affront to religious conservatism as this.  Of course, even the gentle teachings of the Archbishop of Washington will still require more modification.  A modern society demands no less.  The Church, however, is smart enough to adapt - that is what the Lord was talking about when He said He will always be with us. As for Call to Action, they simply said they are still praying - I would challenge them to realize that a newly repurposed Magisterium means their prayers have been answered.   I would add that Cardinal Burke, Professor Weigel and Fr. Z are out of luck because they are praying for the wrong thing - indeed, it could almost be called black magic.

Tom Roberts at TNR on the Synod | National Catholic Reporter

Tom Roberts at TNR on the Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Amazingly good for a magazine at whose cocktail parties Ayn Rand professed her atheism to the publisher.  This sets the table for the next year - but I don't see conservatives pulling their punches when talking about it, nor liberals pulling theirs when demanding things go further.  Still, one must start somewhere.  Finally, I suspect that Benedict was a bit too tolerant of dissent on Caritas in Veritate.  If Francis had issued it, the right wing would have really gone through the roof!

LifeSiteNews Goes Bonkers | National Catholic Reporter

LifeSiteNews Goes Bonkers | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I am surprised they did not include the Protestant Family Research Council.  They seem more in simpatico with them than with the Church.  The rules for Communion are not as universal as they seem to think - indeed, when Paul wrote about receiving worthily, there was no Sacrament of Reconciliation the way it exists today.  Until Trent, there were gay cults it the Roman Church and men did marry each other.  As for cohabitating - marriage celebrations for the poor often had to wait until long after people started a family.  Indeed, more and more the ceremony itself is out of many people's reach.  Finally, I have yet to hear anyone advise me on my solution - having married someone who has left me as her mother left her father.  Is there an annulment for that?  And if so, why should I have to seek it, having been wronged by someone who is leaving because of her feelings and fears over my mood disorder?

Voter Suppression & the Culture of Exclusion | National Catholic Reporter

Voter Suppression & the Culture of Exclusion | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Voting is entirely about power and the denial of power.  The reason that conservative and conservative Catholic  forces say nothing about voter suppression is that they side with the powerful, not the poor - and certainly not with the poor who do not look like them.  If they thought they could get away with it, they would suggest adding more restrictions, such as banning burkhas in the polling place.  They speak for their coalition, not for justice - indeed, they want to step as far back from justice an into earned power as any other reactionaries. They will also lie - just listen to some of the outlandish advertisements this month.   I would say shame on them, but they have no shame - which says everything about what has to be done in the future to make things better.  The only way to fight reactionaries is radicalism, however moderate liberal voices in either the Church or the Democratic Party seem to have no stomach for such things.

Pope Rebuts Burke | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Rebuts Burke | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I think that when he comes to the chapel to celebrate Mass, the Pope is just another parish priest.  I would hope that Burke's homily for today was similar.  If it was not, there's the problem, because it is not Francis teaching, it is the Lord.

Will Marshall's Inadequate Rx for Dems | National Catholic Reporter

Will Marshall's Inadequate Rx for Dems | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I am not sure why he is calling himself a progressive.  The progressives will be the left party that will arise when the Democratic Leaderships Council types and the non-Tea Party GOP merge into a business friendly party.  The Tea Party will die off, mostly, and the new party on the left will talk about socialism and change, not values.  Let us hope that wedge issues will go away forever at this point (since cooler heads will all say that abortion and gay marriage will have been decided).

HuffPost on 'Earthquake' at Vatican | National Catholic Reporter

HuffPost on 'Earthquake' at Vatican | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: What Ratzinger understood was that without the Intrinsically Disordered language, there is not logical reason why gay marriage should not only be allowed, but celebrated at Mass.  What he also understood was that giving in on this issue changes the nature of the Magisterium as the last word on natural law.  We can only hope that this signals change on both counts.

Halftime at the Synod | National Catholic Reporter

Halftime at the Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: It is interesting that there is such silence from the Synod (without a reported formal demand for it).  This synod is much more important than anyone thought - because the challenge is not which view of gay marriage, divorce and polygamy is adopted by the Synod (after its one year listening period), but rather whether they can produce something that will keep the Church relevant in this area (I rather think it will, because Jesus promised it would be).  I suspect that part of the answer is local decision making, so that North will be allowed to work out gay marriage in its area while the South can deal with polygamy.  More will be revealed.



On the extended family, the Church can only take over its functions if the government funds them.  Currently, it is the government, not the Church, who is the backstop.  Indeed, many say that government support of the elderly freed them from the extended family.



On pre-Cana rites - I don't think we need more events for the engaged that simply up the emotional level - none of that will help if one of the members is the child of divorce and quietly holds that as an option to be exercised later (welcome to my life).



On those who wrote to MSW, I don't think people outing themselves will help that much - especially not with those who reflect the second email, who seem to believe that God is an Ogre to be placated by good behavior (exactly why anyone would want to spend forever in such a God's company is a mystery to me - especially if that God does not permit any amount of pleasure in sex). I think the key to this may be realizing that every person is capable of natural law judgments - without the Church.  St. Augustine had his very stoic opinion, but if it sounds a bit too much like aesthetisicm, it probably is.  In the end, what Jesus thinks and now what his Church thinks, is important.  The questions is whether we know best through the Church's pronouncements or our hearts - and if the latter, will the Bishops admit it?

While House redistricting may keep GOP in place, real battle is within the party | National Catholic Reporter

While House redistricting may keep GOP in place, real battle is within the party | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Stu and Charlie don't tend to predict big news, so I bet the numbers are a bit more volatile than they will say.  The fact that President Obama is talking business tax reform in 2015 tells me his polling operation knows something that is not being published (the fun ones are internal, not the ones published in the papers).  The GOP candidates have three weeks to way stupid things, while Obama For America has the same amount of time to turn seemingly safe districts into swing districts.  The key is always figuring out who is a likely voter - and that can always be changed.

'Facilitate' is Back | National Catholic Reporter

'Facilitate' is Back | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: This is why the USCCB should not be making comments at all.  Let Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Higher Education Association and Catholic Health make their comments (and let these stand for parish school teachers - who are a vanishing breed indeed - and who the USCCB should be concerned with saving rather than their access to contraception).  Oh, and the Bishops are still wrong about when life begins - it is still gastrulation.

Cardinal Burke is tone deaf when it comes to 'intrinsically disordered' language | National Catholic Reporter

Cardinal Burke is tone deaf when it comes to 'intrinsically disordered' language | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Whether something is intrinsically disordered depends on how you view the natural order.  The the natural order reflect the world as it actually is (and it is), then Burke is full of it.  His comments only work if you are under the Tyranny of Catholic Relativism, where the natural order is what the Magisterium says it is - and where it is sponge of divine offense. Because God cannot be harmed by anything, including sin, something must be so that God can balance the scales.  That thing is the Natural Order.  It is a sophistry to be ignored by anyone with compassion for people who are different than you expect.  It is an attempt to control dissonance, nothing more.

Notre Dame's ACE | National Catholic Reporter

Notre Dame's ACE | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Interestingly, this program is mostly bringing Catholic education to Latino immigrants who have never known it in their home nations (it is simply not offered there).   This is a very Catholic program, which means it will not be allowed in those Catholic Schools that have been turned to Charter Schools because the parish has migrated to the suburbs and inner city students have taken their place, but without the ability to pay.  That work, of course, is as important.  While a religious focus is important to Catholic school success - it is important to follow St. Francis dictum, pray always - use words only when necessary.

Meyerson: It's About More Than Macroeconomics | National Catholic Reporter

Meyerson: It's About More Than Macroeconomics | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Harold is correct about the institutional factors.  It was the sixties, not the fifties, where strikes slowed down.  One reason was that the top tax rate was 93 percent (federal) - and state taxes made it 103 percent at times.  JFK proposed and LBJ enacted a tax cut to 70%, but that was not enough of a benefit for the CEOs to push back much at labor.  What had them do it was Reagan cutting the top marginal tax rate, not once but twice, the second time during tax reform.  Now, if they cut wages, it was not the shareholders who got the value, it was the CEO.  If we offshore jobs, the shareholders make the same nominal dividend, but the CEO buys a mansion or a new Degas.  This is no longer institutional, it is microeconomics and the micro-economy will look bad fore workers unless one of two things happen.  One, tax rates go back up.  I think that ship has sailed.  Two, we go to a large citizen dividend/guaranteed income so workers can stay home if not for a decent salary.  Maybe.  Three, we could make workers owners, either through capital homesteading (too much banker involvement) or through redirecting Social Security employer tax proceeds (shifted to a VAT so there is no income cap and equalized so each worker gets the same), invested in employer voting stock - not in the hedge funds and mutual funds that leave the CEO largely unaccountable.  Favored solution, not sure on passage.

W(h)ither the Extended Family? | National Catholic Reporter

W(h)ither the Extended Family? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I believe the Church already serves as extended family, although the daycare is not free - nor is Catholic education at the surviving parish schools (the ones where the Sisters get paid - the others are gone).  As for childrearing, I gained much in the way of knowledge by hanging out at my sister's house and watching my brother-in-law burp my newphew/Godson. The secret is to hit hard.  Three of us moved here, one lived with my now-deceased mother and the other is the family doctor, living with his husband in Dallas.  My soon-to-be-ex-wife's siblings are equally solid, especially when kids are concerned - although people do move away and then they come back.  They give or loan money that is sometimes paid back - just like when me and my family lived with my uncle and grandmother when the defense industry tanked as Viet Nam was winding down.  Of course, in our families we have had gay weddings (with some kind of priest), self-marriages in Pennsylvania and probably more than our share of divorces (thanks to my mother in law).  It is not support for the extended family we need from the Synod - and I am not sure that baptizing our choices is really what we care about.  If they just realize that we are the ones who care about these issues and have the most at stake, not them, it will be progress. Indeed, all we want from them is humility.

Silk on Jonah and the Synod | National Catholic Reporter

Silk on Jonah and the Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I hope that we can assume that Francis and Kaspar are Jonah and not Burke.  It is not at all clear, however, if Burke and his caste will repent - and Francis would not be at all upset if they did.

MSW Visits Notre Dame | National Catholic Reporter

MSW Visits Notre Dame | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I would like to think Loras College alumni are as pumped up as Domers, although back in my day no one would be at a 10pm Mass.  I am glad you like the hospitality of the premier midwestern Catholic university.  It is is certainly not the only one.

Cupich on Anti-Semitism | National Catholic Reporter

Cupich on Anti-Semitism | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: It was good of him to speak out (whether he wrote the remarks or not). I hope it was not one of us who did this. Usually the people who hate Jews also hate Catholics - at least in the United States. Chicago is lucky. I hope Cupich does not take too many priests with him to Chicago.

Pope to CCUSA: No One Is Excluded | National Catholic Reporter

Pope to CCUSA: No One Is Excluded | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: One thing - he did not write this. It has all the hallmarks of staff writing (and the attendees know staff writing, they do it for their bishops when Charity is the issue). I suspect someone from Caritas International penned this - not to invalidate it, we are a big Church after all. If he did write it, the translation is way too bureaucratic, so no, this was some priest on Caritas staff. One thing, the majority of the Catholic Charities network gets its funds from the government. CCUSA is funded by dues from the member agencies (which are under the control of the local bishop - who almost always appoints the director), plus 10% of the proceeds from contributions through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign (my wife used to make those allocations, which I helped program on occasion). There are also major donors who give and of course, conference attendees who like to hear a message from the Pope, even a clunky one.

'As the Church has always taught....' | National Catholic Reporter

'As the Church has always taught....' | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Unless one can really imagine the Apostles putting on purple stoles and going into confessionals, there is no always taught on the relationship between confession and communion - although we have separated confession from the sacrament of the sick (except in extemis, where Communion is also present). 

The issue is not whether the Church can and will change either praxis or teaching, but whether Rome has a monopoly on such teachings.  While standing up autocephalus patriarchies in the Western Church would certainly minimize that a bit, it is still the clergy taking unto itself what should be universal, the exploration of natural law.  While belief on the essentials of faith must be universalized by agreement, these truths are usually the ones that involve the Blessed Trinity - items that cannot be known by reason - although speculation should still be allowed for the possibility of progress on even these matters.  Of course, democratizing thought in the Church will likely drive Burke into retirement, it would so shatter his world view.  Sounds good to me.

The Synod Opens | National Catholic Reporter

The Synod Opens | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I wonder if Cardinal O'Malley will be there as well.  On the question of barn burners, this Homily was one.  He may have just shifted the Synod from family morality (although it will be a part) to family finances!  Now that would be worthy and it would end all this claptrap about the Church's social teaching being a throw-away up to prudential judgment.  Indeed, I would love it if the Synod excommunicated Catholic employers (including clergy) and shareholders who paid families less than a living wage (of equal living standards to their own families).  What about do unto others is not obvious?

'He is our son' | National Catholic Reporter

'He is our son' | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: You have to wonder whether these ersatz pro-lifers who are so anti-gay would turn the other way at aborting gay fetuses.  They don't seem capable of understanding that current Church teaching is muddled on this issue. Being promiscuously (not monogamously) gay is sinful because being promiscuous is a heart wrenching thing, as well as dangerous.  Of course, conservatives deny we ever detect whether someone is gay in the womb - but we can, which means it is not a choice, which means the term disordered is out of line and marriage equality is the only acceptable solution.  Its not the gays that risk Hell-fire, its LifeSiteNews.

Obama Can't Catch a Break | National Catholic Reporter

Obama Can't Catch a Break | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: 2008 was the start of a Depression where massive asset value was lost. The stock markets may have recovered and kept right on going up, but homes are still well below their value of two years earlier - and if Obama does not work harder on that problem - I am not sure he deserves a break.

Politico on Becket Fund | National Catholic Reporter

Politico on Becket Fund | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I like what they did with Holt and wonder about the rights of those who work for Hobby Lobby and may not share the moral views of its founders.  I still think that Becket has a bias for orthodoxy, even while many believers are not.

The Pope Preps the Synod | National Catholic Reporter

The Pope Preps the Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Pope's September 4th point is that it is in the tragedy of sin that we find God, not in simply saying a few magic words to acknowledge sinfulness.  Turns out you really do have to hit some kind of bottom to really get what salvation is.  The September 12th point is that smugness does not save souls. There should be no street prophets in the Catholic Church.  September 18th brings the sinful woman and the point that the Lord made that forgiveness means we are with the sinner, not above the sinner.  Now, all of these things were homilies, not encyclicals.  Any priest could have made them (and should have).  This time, it was Francis who did so.



In the prayer vigil preceding the Synod, he speaks of a familiar meal (which sounds like Mass) and of those who come in loneliness (sounds like he knows some of his bishops) and the privilege of preaching the gospel.  As the synod starts, the Pope speaks of the scent of the people as where to begin (so much for wanting to quickly affirm past teachings and leave).  He preaches that Christ wants the Synodal fathers to bring light to the people where they live, as this is what the Gospel demands. This is said to be an echo of St. John's introduction to Vatican II, 50 years before (although John pulled punches at first in saying the Council was not new - we are still debating that point).  Unlike a Council, however, this process is a two week thing - talk about a real fortnight for freedom!

Nobel for Pope Francis? | National Catholic Reporter

Nobel for Pope Francis? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Its a nice idea, but I am sure he would hate it (which makes it more likely they would do it). Did St. JPII get one?  I expect that if not the conservatives will be in a bit of a tizzy, comparing this nod to the one that Obama received.

Wuerl on Synod | National Catholic Reporter

Wuerl on Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I wish he were more of a reformer (and hope Cardinal McCarrick is going with him), but he is at least better than my own Bishop of Alexandria or Archbishop of Baltimore.

Conscience & Abortion in California | National Catholic Reporter

Conscience & Abortion in California | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Lets deal with a few errors.  This law does not license  or fund partial birth abortion in any trimester.  The procedure is still illegal in federal law.  While it would be nice if D&C procedures (dismemberment) were also banned, that is the only alternative save induction - which is essentially childbirth, but is an abortion of the child is so premature that it won't survive for long.  As for Hyde, it does not apply to state decisions - nor does the Supreme Court decision that stopped states from having to offer expanded Medicaid or lose their funding.  Finally, late term abortions are almost, if not just plain never elective.  Something is wrong with the child and probably the mother as well (if you are going to object to language that never uses the word child, use the term mother and not woman).  Should California relent and provide the Obamacare alternatives?  Of course.  But I suspect the lawsuit will have a better chance if it does not overplay its hand.  The Bishops should go to the federal HHS, not the legal system.  Grandstanding has given them nothing on this issue except a lot of angry Catholics who are still sore that they put politics before patients when opposing Obamacare (then taking retaliatory action against those Sisters who crossed them.  Even now, I am in no hurry to lend my support to any popular outrage over their failure to urge bipartisanship and compromise - with compromise meaning voting yes at the end - even for Republicans.

A Bishop Who 'Gets' Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter

A Bishop Who 'Gets' Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Excellent speech. It is the biggest fear of both the Curia and capitalists to have the Francis effect take hold in the global south and the developing world. Bishops who insist on human dignity and humility in the Church can be a powerful force in stopping all manner of exploitation by the right wing. Imagine a world where outsourcing is met with a demand for living wages. These bishops can and that is what scares Walmart, et al.

Pope Francis on the Economy | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis on the Economy | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Is the answer tariffs or a value added tax? Maybe part of it - but the only real cure is employee ownership of the companies who do this job shuffling with those firms offering the same program to their overseas workers and suppliers (and opportunity they should not be able to refuse) - with pay providing the same standard of living in China, et al,  that their American counterparts receive. Once everyone does this, the currency gaming that makes outsourcing possible also goes away.

CUA's Business School's First Conference, Part III | National Catholic Reporter

CUA's Business School's First Conference, Part III | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The remarks by (and reaction by MSW) ot the talk by Edward Hadas are interesting. Essentially, he said to behave ethically in the Catholic mindset or the collectivist government will do it for them.  Libertarians saying the word collectivist imply that this would be bad.  As a collectivist, I would respond that the Popes are much more willing for a governmental role in providing real equality than most in the government do, aside from Bernie Sanders.  I suspect if I had been asked to give a presentation on a collectivist response to capitalism, the crowd would either throw things or run from the room.



The third afternoon speaker was Samuel Gregg of Acton.  As you might guess, no one from Catholic Worker or the Green Party was on the agenda (MSW lists Catholics for Choice - although I suspect that they would be better received than my suggestions).  Once you invite Ave Maria, there is no where to go up up.  Gregg wrote a book called The Tea Party Catholic - I guess you can go lower.  He spoke on the dangers of crony capitalism (a libertarian code word for monopoly gone too far).  Gregg does not get the joke he is making - that all capitalism is crony capitalism because it restrains both product markets (making them less free) and labor markets (subverting them to hierarchy and despotism).  His audience were simply stealth crony capitalists who don't think what they are doing is at all wrong.  Perhaps it is apt that this is at CUA and that confessions were offered - sadly the biggest sinners did the teaching.



CUA Law's George Garvey spoke on organized labor (and exception to what I just said) and how it relates to solidarity and subsidiarity, with state functions growing as these have declined - sadly in my opinion, President Bush tried his utmost to kill those functions too.



CUA Business School Dean (and conference organizer) Andrew Abela spoke at some point (chronology by either MSW or me went away long ago).  His vision is to have this be the Pope's Business School, although I am not seeing how these speakers lead to that end. Having a course on marriage and family (is it mandatory?) may stop a CEO from not considering a candidate who was getting divorced because he would be "distracted" (except that in my experience, MBA students, like MPA students, while being oriented to the issues will not be making corporate policy until much later in their careers, if ever).  Abela spoke on putting virtue in "hiring, coaching and evaluation and leadership" in his course of study. Again, new MBAs, if they do these things, must listen to policy, not what they learned at CUA.  He cites a Koch Industries practice as an example.  You can fill in the blanks from there yourself, although I have two words to describe this - tone deaf.  He also mentions Hobby Lobby, which is funny to advocate libertarianism in one breath and religious hierarchism the next (in reiterating that corporations are people - more so then the employees).  Of course, that is the schizophrenia which is Catholic thought on the right.



One of MSW's major complaints about the Conference was no Q&A.  Of course, I am not sure how adding input from conservative or libertarian businessmen would have added anything - and if MSW tried to talk as a member of the media, I am sure the police in attendance would have removed him.  The other is that no one seemed to mention Catholic Social teaching (including the latest piece which follows the tradition of not saying nice things about business ("The Economy kills).  Again, if MSW had mentioned this, the police would have escorted him out.  The sad fact about any Catholic University is that it runs on donations from people like those who went to and were pandered to at this conference - of course, this may or may not say anything about what happens in class.  Those are hiring and admissions decisions, although it is telling that none of the CUA teaching faculty spoke.

Silk on Pew Findings | National Catholic Reporter

Silk on Pew Findings | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Silk's comments seem to indicate that the people the White Evangelicals don't like and those Democrats who don't think their party is moderate enough could probably form a new party and be the majority, although the people who think the Democrats need to be more liberal could join forces with some of the independent Socialist and Green voices and give the moderates a run for their money.  I suspect that a new majority, even in the South, of moderates may finally quiet the Tea Party vote, or sideline it as they die off, both physically and as a political force.  After the Scopes trial, the went into the woods.  I suspect in the future that they will go back.

Kasper's Amazing Interview | National Catholic Reporter

Kasper's Amazing Interview | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: A very good interview and I expect more charitable than what was lobbed his way.  The take away lines are the terms "Gospel as a penal code" and a fear among conservatives that any change will make the dominos fall.  Of course, the liberals hope that this is the case.

CUA Business School's First Conference, Part II | National Catholic Reporter

CUA Business School's First Conference, Part II | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Day two began with Ave Maria University's Catherine Pakaluk.  It is at this point that I usually say "next!" but I must slow down and look at this accident. She brought up Starbucks fair trade campaign in her piece on solidarity - but mentioned that the Barista needs a bit of solidarity too.  I think I agree with Starbucks - that every part of the chain is to be dealt with in solidarity.  In other words, it people in peonage pick your oranges, it is not enough to shop at a union grocery - everything matters.  See Walmart and China.  MSW made some interesting comments relating the virtue of the markets and Federalist 51 (if people were angels...). Sounds like an invitation for government action to me!  How is the creative part - and as most of my readers know, I have some definite views on that.



Mary Hirschfeld of  Villanova spoke next.  She is both an economist and theologian (credentialed, unlike yours truly).  She examined self interest, and how that shakes out in modernity (and needs satisfaction, which sounds like consumerism to me). The constant push for more has us work too hard, in her view, and has us look for ways to keep turning resources into products.  I would add that the most important resources are the human ones. The irony of capitalism is that consumerism prevents workers from seeking a good old Marxist revolution.  While we have workers who don't get enough who sound radical - give them more and they won't be.  This is why I am leery about guaranteed income schemes that don't also change who controls work (the correct answer, by the way, even for non-Marxists, is the workers - with pay following control.

Pope Francis on Authenticity of Prayer | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis on Authenticity of Prayer | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Very Ignatian advise on prayer from our very Ignatian pope.  He hits it on the nail.  Prayer is not about telling God what too do (magnified by prayer chains).  Its about being ready to respond to what God wants us to do - and sometimes the first step is to cuss God out.  I have it on the highest authority that God can take it.

Contra Glenn Greenwald | National Catholic Reporter

Contra Glenn Greenwald | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Interesting read.  Not sure why Greenwald thinks that just because his sources no nothing, that there is nothing there.  It is more likely that Glenn's sources were silenced then that the Aleppo attack's targets really did not exist.  Sometimes people of Greenwald's ilk get caught up in conspiracy theories involving the government either fabricating or covering up knowledge.  I usually ignore such nonsense.

CUA Business School's First Conference | National Catholic Reporter

CUA Business School's First Conference | National Catholic Reporter by On the prelims, first, on the police detail, the members are not supposed to tell you.  Probably one or two city officials in the audience.  Second, Cigar Receptions - how 19th Century!.Third, on the availability of Confession - the plutocrats need more than a few Our Fathers, or should, to wipe away some of their sins.  I hope he confessors agreed.



I suspect the Cardinal's talk on the vocation of businessmen was playing good cop. Saw nothing about a discussion of just wages, although the whole citing of the Logic of the Gift may have been hinting at that - the Gift in this context is to pay wages and benefits to employees over and above what the accountants say that they are worth in productivity terms (although in my experience, such calculations are very subjective - indeed, if someone's job is essential then they are as productive as anyone else in any other job, but the accountants don't see it that way).  Of course, because the gift probably breaks the budget (if the budget includes huge CEO bonuses), then we have the logic of public involvement in supporting salary adjustments for children.  Sadly, there was no Q&A to rock the boat, because the Napa Institute sponsored the event.  Politeness in pace of truth, it seems.



Professor Hittinger extended the talk on the vocation of business - and how it was more than just profit maximization or innovation. He spoke of people and actions being more important than things, how hard it is to escape the utilitarian ethic, and the reluctance to invoke moral authority on business issues.  My experience, of course, is that the left have no such qualms.  One of the points made was that business is not one of the big three institutions (not sure about that, but he is an academic), but that business is part of them all.  I would disagree - work is a biggie - church vocations? not so much.MSW.  MGB: