Bishop Thomas Tobin Responds to Congressman Patrick Kennedy

His Excellency, Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence responds to Congressman Patrick Kennedy's statement that, "The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic." By respond, I mean, he lays out in a clear and powerfully direct fashion exactly what being Catholic means.

Here are a couple of excerpts:

• Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they might be instructive to other Catholics, including those in prominent positions of leadership.

• “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does. Although I wouldn’t choose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion, their unity with the Church. This principle is based on the Sacred Scripture and Tradition of the Church and is made more explicit in recent documents.

• Well, in simple terms – and here I refer only to those more visible, structural elements of Church membership – being a Catholic means that you’re part of a faith community that possesses a clearly defined authority and doctrine, obligations and expectations. It means that you believe and accept the teachings of the Church, especially on essential matters of faith and morals; that you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish; that you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly; that you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially.
  
  Congressman, I’m not sure whether or not you fulfill the basic requirements of being a Catholic, so let me ask: Do you accept the teachings of the Church on essential matters of faith and morals, including our stance on abortion? Do you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish? Do you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly? Do you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially?
  
  In your letter you say that you “embrace your faith.” Terrific. But if you don’t fulfill the basic requirements of membership, what is it exactly that makes you a Catholic? Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?

This is how every Bishop should approach those politicians who want to claim their Catholicism in the Public Square and yet just as publically deny their Catholicism by the legislation they support or oppose. Lay it all out there in the hopes of the person's conversion and return to Christ's Body, his holy Catholic Church.

Read the full text of His Excellency's letter here.
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Archbishop Chaput - "St. Paul in the Public Square"

In the June/July 2009 issue of First Things Archbishop Chaput of Denver lays out the state of Catholicism in the U.S. and then uses Saint Paul as an example of how we should be engaging the culture. As always Archbishop Chaput does not mince any words. Here are four examples:

• The November election showed us that forty years of American Catholic complacency and poor formation are bearing fruit.

• If 65 million Catholics really cared about their faith and cared about what it teaches, neither political party could ignore what we believe about justice for the poor, or the homeless, or immigrants, or the unborn. If 65 million American Catholics really understood their faith, we wouldn't need to waste one another's time arguing whether the legalized killing of an unborn child is somehow balanced out or excused by other social policies.

• If we learn nothing else from last November, it should be this: We need to stop overcounting our numbers, our influence, our institutions, and our resources, because they are not real. We cannot talk about following St. Paul and converting our culture until we sober up and admit what we've allowed ourselves to become. We need to stop lying to each other, to ourselves, and to God by claiming to oppose personally some homicidal evil - and allowing it to be legal at the same time.

• We've forgotten how to think, especially how to think as Catholics. We have to make ourselves stupid to believe some of the things American Catholics are now expected to accept. There is nothing more empty-headed in a pluralist democracy than telling citizens to keep quiet about their beliefs. A healthy democracy requires exactly the opposite. Democracy requires a vigorous public struggle of convictions and ideas. And the convictions of some people always get imposed on everybody else. That's the nature of a democracy. So why should faithful Catholics play by different rules and a misguided sense of good manners?

God bless Archbishop Chaput. See the full piece here.
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"Common Ground: What Protestants and Catholics Can Learn From Each Other"

Check out TBN on July 14 at 5 PM Eastern (The link has the time listed for the Pacific time zone). They will be broadcasting a conversation between a non-denominational pastor and a Catholic priest. Here is a short clip (Quicktime) of the priest speaking about the sacraments. If this is any example of the rest of the conversation it will be excellent.

Here is some background on how it all came about.

If you miss the broadcast, order a copy of the DVD from Nineveh's Crossing.
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Coke Commercial

Carl Olson over at the Ignatius Press blog wants us to watch a Coke commercial:

Catholic Coke Commercial?
Most of us have seen far too many titillating, suggestive commercials for soda, beer, cars, clothes, burgers, and just about everything else. Here's a commercial from Europe that starts out in the usual fashion (girl, guy, beach, etc.), but ends with a, um, blessed little twist.

Excellent use of condensation.
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