Comments on: Something worth preserving

By: Lauren Ivory

Lauren Ivory — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:15:48 +0000

Nate, we all have a catechism. This is a place for dialogue, not debate.

By: nate415

nate415 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:11:34 +0000

I think that what you experienced is a realization that liberal or conservative, we are all Catholics. I think something similar to this is happening in America today, liberal or conservative we are all Americans. However, I think you contradict yourself when you mention that conservative Catholics are tyring to keep the doors shut where liberal Catholics are trying to open them.
I argue that in some cases, there are no doors, and its futile looking for them. To create a door where there was not one, and one was never intended will only accomplish the weakening of the structure; its eventual collapse.
Advocacy of homosexual behavior is one area like this. Sexual activity is reserved for marriage, which is only Sacramentally possible between a man and a woman. That will not change in the Catholic Church.
The valid ordination of women as Roman Catholic priests has been categorically ruled out by an infallible teaching of the Church. The Sacrement of Holy Orders requires a human male, as instituted by Christ. The Church does not have the authority to alter this, so it will never change.
Teachings on abortion and contreceptives will not change, they can’t because they’ve already been settled. There is nothing to debate.
Celibacy is a good example of a debatable issue, as it is a discipline, not a doctrine. But other social justice issues, like the treatment of the environment and the poor, you will probably find that if there is definitive Church teaching it is quite liberal (politically) and even conservative Catholics should agree with it!

By: Rick Beitman

Rick Beitman — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:07:10 +0000

You know, I’ve had a similar experience. I remember being stranded in Brussels late one night and having trouble typing an e-mail on a Belgian keyboard in desperation trying to let people at home know what happened. And a little while after that, my friend and I happened upon the cathedral of St. Micheal’s. It was a source of comfort… or sanctuary, if you will.
A week earlier we had been in Paris and attended mass on the third Sunday of Advent in Notre Dame. I’ve never had an experience like that. Even though the French (like the Belgians) are very secular, the cathedral was packed. There was a sense of community and deep spirituality among a diverse group of people from different ethnic, cultural, and national backgrounds. And certainly not everyone spoke the same language. I think places like Notre Dame and St. Michael’s remind us that we have an ancient foundation of faith, and there still is awe and mystery in that faith.