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Why does KC have egg on his face?
Because he recants what he has written earlier today.
I, k.c. do apologize and beg the forgiveness of all of you, most especially our new Bishop Elect Mulvey and to his movement, the Focolare.
I will leave up your condemnation of my words, since it is well deserved. Thank you Diane, especially.
This blog will go off the air soon. It has become a danger to my soul.
k.c. please pray for me
Dear kc (kneeling catholic),
ReplyDeleteYou have crossed the line by trying to place yourself above the legitimate authority of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict has blessed the Diocese of Corpus Christi with the gift of Bishop-elect Mulvey. And the Focolare Movement, approved by the Catholic Church as a new charism within the Church , has been a tremendous blessing to the Church and is much admired by Pope Benedict XVI.
The late and great Pope John Paul II, as well as Pope Benedict XVI have constantly expressed their support. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI cites Focolare's "economy of communion" as an economic model in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth).
On July of 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said to the Focolare Movement, "while I rejoice over the election of new leaders for the movement, I exhort all of you, dear brothers and sisters, to follow with joy and courage the path of Chiara Lubich's spiritual heritage, which is gathered in your statutes, increasing more and more the relationships of communion in the family, community and in every ambit of society." And recently, Pope Benedict XVI nominated Focolare President, Maria Voce, as a consulter to the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
So clearly, it is you kc, who have placed yourself against God's Will, for your actions and thoughts are not based on the Gospel, nor the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Ex. Jn 17:21,"so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me."
Just maybe, the Roman soldiers would kneel before Caesar with more reverence than anyone of us does before our Lord Jesus -- yet they crucified our Lord.
Please DELETE me from your mailing list, until such time as you repent of your attack on Bishop-elect Mulvey and the Focolare Movement, and the legitimate authority of the Catholic Church. May you have the humility and courage to do so.
Fr. Eduardo Montemayor, SOLT
Dear k.c.,
ReplyDeleteI would rather see the dedicated Corpus Christi Cathedral shared with Anglican clergy, than used as a concert hall, as it has been for years. How else can we evangelize other religions if we don't have any community with them? It is not wise to drive a wedge between the Bishop-elect Mulvey and his new flock, please reconsider your position.
Mary Crabtree
Dear Father and Mrs. Crabtree,
ReplyDelete>>So clearly, it is you kc, who have placed yourself against God's Will,<<<
I cannot see the "clearly" here. Someone once told me that 'Holy' in its original meaning, means 'separate' or 'dedicated to one sole purpose' [and that is why our Lady's Perpetual Virginity is such an important doctrine since her womb was holy and for One purpose only] I don't see how using our Temple for other religion services is consistent with that. Such things confuse us simple people. I do want CLARITY!
That is why my post begins and ends with question marks.
pray for me
k.c.
Dear KC (Kneeling Catholic)
ReplyDeleteBishop-Elect Michael Mulvey deserves our utmost respect since his election as Bishop of Corpus Christi is the will of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI and therefore the will of the Holy Spirit. I will have nothing to do with anyone not granting the Bishop the opportunity to arrive in this diocese with love and devotion that he deserves. I join my brother priest Fr. Eduardo in condemning such a negative view of the new Bishop of Corpus Christi. This scandalous talk only attempts to divide the flock from our new shepherd. Please also refrain from sending me any e-mails in the future.
Fr. Rodolfo D. Vasquez
Diocese of Corpus Christi
The laity cannot ask questions without being threatened with hellfire? Questions are scandalous?
ReplyDeleteWhat if, Fathers, it hurts our consciences to keep our mouths shut when we are scandalized?
The lesson which we learn when our shepherds blur the distinctions between our Church and other Faiths is *indifferentism*. i.e. there is more than one True Faith. Maybe that's not what you intend. But that is what happens.
Dear KC,
ReplyDeleteI see that you are interested in Bishop Schneider based on your blog description.
I speak to you as a fellow Catholic blogger, and as one who has met, and photographed, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, ORC on several occasions during his trips into Detroit.
I don't think Bishop Schneider would encourage you in this fashion and I will explain why through my lengthy comment.
I also speak to you as one who knows nothing about Focolore or the convention involving Anglican Clergy at the Cathedral in Corpus Christi. These are two separate issues, and my intent here is to focus on general principles in the absence of said knowledge.
While Bishop Schneider advocates a return to receiving Holy Communion while kneeling, and on the tongue, he is a man of extraordinary meekness and humility. He is a gentle man, and one who would discourage militancy for the sake of reverence. Reverence for the Eucharist should yield reverence for our neighbor, and especially for our bishops, even if they do things we don't understand or agree with.
His desire has been to raise discussion on the topic and to make use of historical-liturgical information to enlighten people about how Holy Communion has been received throughout the history of the Church. It is believed that Pope Benedict XVI began the use of this protocol, with a kneeler, in his Communion line at Papal Masses after he read the bishop's research (his doctorate is in Patristics).
I watched the author of Dominus Est preach his heart out at a local event on this topic. He received Holy Communion in secrecy behind the Iron Curtain at a time of great persecution of Christians, and understanding his life's story, helps us to understand his passion for the subject. Yet, despite his passion, when it came time for Communion, he humbly distributed the Eucharist into the hands of those who extended them out of obedience and charity. I knew this had to be painful for him, given his strong feelings on the subject, but you would not have known it.
The bishop desires not militancy, but to spark dialogue on the subject of kneeling for Holy Communion. We help him best by using our blogs to enlighten others about his research, as opposed to pointing out what we feel others are doing wrong.
How then, do we handle our concerns?
Lord knows, that I have made my share of errors in using blogposts to point out my concerns. I stopped posting on liturgical abuses after a solidly orthodox priest, one whom is very close to Bishop Schneider, challenged me, thus: Your time would be better spent in Adoration making reparation for that offense and asking for conversion of hearts, than to give it this kind publicity.
There are options other than public blogposts to deal with these matters, such as sending a letter to the bishop, with any media collected of the abuse for him to deal with. If he does not resolve it, then it can be sent later to the CDW, for example. But, taking it public, should not be our first course of action.
Blogging has great potential to lead us into sin. Yet it also has great potential to help us to build virtue. I have found myself in the confessional more than once on acccount of choices I made while blogging, and apologized publicly where it was warranted.
ReplyDeleteWe must carefully examine our conscience, especially in terms of rash judgment (ccc 2247) when discussing our concerns about others.
You ask: The laity cannot ask questions without being threatened with hellfire? Questions are scandalous?
I do not think the priests who responded threatened, but offered some catechesis on a part of your post, pertaining to what you said about Bishop-elect Mulvey.
The Pope, through the actions of the Holy Spirit, has sent this man to your diocese. In essence, you dissed the bishop-elect based on his association with Focolore - a Church sanctioned apostoalte. Love your new bishop! Pray for him. Give him the filial reverence due to him. Leave to God judgment of any actions or omissions he may make. In time, look for ways to open dialogue with him on matters of interest to you and you might be surprised at how he responds.
If I have a concern over an event being sponsored in my diocese, fraternal charity and filial reverence towards my bishop, would demand that I first communicate it to him through private correspondence. This, as opposed to taking the concern to the public sphere as a first option. If, after a period of three months I do not get a response to a charitably written, one page, letter stating my concern, I would then take it to the relevant office at the Holy See to discern the matter. I would do this also, if I was not in agreement with a response.
The key word is discernment. This is something which we must entrust to the Church.
I would say the same of any concerns you have over a particular apostolate. I have seen many Church sanctioned apostolates from all ends of the spectrum fall under public attack - from those of a traditional nature, to those which are more ecumenical, and those that are charismatic.
It is always possible in any apostolte, especially very large ones, that people within stray from the original, sanctioned, mission and norms and do things which are not in keeping with the mind of the Church. This can certainly scandalize the faithful in many ways.
Here again, if such a case is true in a given circumstance, fraternal charity should have us first consider the possibility that our brothers and sisters have strayed not out of ill-intent, but out of good-intent. In this case, private communications with the apostolate head is a best, first recourse. Again, after a reasonable period of time passes without a response, or if a response is received with which you disagree, communicate your concerns to a higher authority with charity, which is your right. Humbly accept the discernment.
The Holy Spirit has ways of catching up with movements that stray (and I'm not suggesting that Focolore has because I know nothing about it, other than it is a Church sanctioned apostolate). It happens not in a time frame of our choosing, but of God's.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the Anglican event, we have not been given any context for this convention. Are these Anglicans giving consideration to the Holy Father's generous offer? I can find nothing on the internet indicating any kind of Mass took place at this convention. Therefore, I can offer no comment on something I cannot be sure even took place.
In any event, you might consider writing to Bishop Mulvey about six months after he settles in and tell him that you were scandalized by it. But, leave the door open to the possibility that you were scandalized through a misunderstanding on your part about what actually took place. Ask him to help you to understand it if in the next six months you have not found information to set aside your concerns.
I would encourage you to do something that Bishop Schneider would encourage: Go into Adoration and place your concern before the Lord. Surrender it to Him and ask Him for guidance. Do this silently for the next six months before you write to Bishop Mulvey. Give him an opportunity to respond to your concerns.
Read the story more carefully. Focolare engages in *dialogue* with non-Christians who like its spiritual theme of charity and unity. It doesn't say that they become members. Focolare has various types of involvement, and none of them is a religious order. I think their core group of consecrated singles is a secular institute established under Church law, and there are other groups with looser commitments for families, kids, sympathetic priests, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Anglican service at the Cathedral, it actually is legal to let a non-Catholic group use a Catholic church in certain cases, according to the 1993 "Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism". The group involved was from the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. Personally, I think bishops should not grant permission to Episcopalian groups, but at least that diocese seems to not be led by ultra-liberals. Their bishop was the spokesman for a statement in July 2009 that opposed the Episcopal Church's radical drift.
I hope you will all pardon my 4-part response.
ReplyDeleteOne last word of encouragement goes to the priests who have responded, and any others reading:
Please pray for KC and all Catholic bloggers. May we be guided not only by what we think we know, but by prudence, wisdom,temperance, humility, and above all.... Love.
KC, I for one support your message. I think Catholics need to be very careful in what message we are sending our members especially in these very confusing times. I recall when I was in the Army studying Russian at the DLI in 1990\1991 I came across many luke warm Catholics that really did not know their faith. I believe that movements like Focolare, although well intentioned, can actually be harmful to the faithful.
ReplyDeleteI am a firm believer in Ecumenism, but done right and by the right people in the right forum. I will keep Diane and the two priests above in prayer and the diocese of Corpus Christi.
My very best to you and God's love and peace be with us all.
d.r.
d.r.,
ReplyDeleteWhile many Catholics do not know many parts of the Cathecism, there are others who know much about the Catechism, but some seem not to be fully aware of Apostolic authority. In fact, some people - Catholics - and Catholics who have left the Church - become their own Pope. Their personal experience and sentiments becomes their own Magisterium.
As I said, I know nothing of Focolore other than that they are a Church sanctioned apostolate.
It's one thing if you have something specific which would reveal that a segment of Focolore, or the whole, has strayed from the sanctioned mission. Even in such a case, there are virtuous ways of handling the concern and not so virtuous ways, some potentially involving grave matter. (CCC 2247).
Taking a concern, even if it is legitimate, to the web first, or any public forum, with generalized subjective criticisms, is not in keeping with the Gospel (Matthew 18:15)
Further, it is against reason, and faith (imho), to assume that we know all of the relevant facts, and have not misinterpreted something.
This so important, and often side-stepped by many on the web, that I'm going to pull it out for all to read and ponder. As I have stated previously, I have found myself in a confessional more than once for such offenses. While it talks about individuals, it certainly extends itself to groups of people, like Focolore.
2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.
278 He becomes guilty:
- of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
- of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another's faults and failings to persons who did not know them;279
- of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:
Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.280
2479 Detraction and calumny destroy the reputation and honor of one's neighbor. Honor is the social witness given to human dignity, and everyone enjoys a natural right to the honor of his name and reputation and to respect. Thus, detraction and calumny offend against the virtues of justice and charity.
Thank you for the prayers, and I will keep you in mine.
Kneeling Catholic,
ReplyDeleteI commend you for acting on God's graces, and showing the courage and humility to which you were called by Fr. Eduardo.
I hope you have found my emails, sent from two different addresses. I hope we can exchange more thoughts in the future, especially on Bishop Schneider's works.
KC, we all have misunderstandings at times; don't let this one throw you off-kilter too much, OK?
ReplyDelete