Unity Or Not?

It was the JungleWatch Nation who invited Bishop Athanasius Schneider to Guam as a guest speaker.  According to Andrew Camacho of CCOG:

Andrew CamachoJanuary 13, 2020 at 12:05 PM  An enormous THANK YOU to Lou Klitzkie who had the idea of inviting Bishop Schneider to Guam more than two years ago. Lou has worked tirelessly to make this visit become a reality. May God bless Lou and everyone who works for the good of His Church.

The good of the Church is to bring healing and unity to Guam's Catholics. In fact, Archbishop Byrnes expressed this many times.  According to news report:

"One of the things the Holy Father (Pope Francis) invited me to focus on is healing."

Byrnes, from Detroit, said his job was to act as "a bridge, to reunite and solidify the unity of the Catholic community".

To bring about unity and healing, Archbishop Byrnes instructed the NCW to celebrate the Eucharist inside the church building and to consume the Body of Christ immediately.  The NCW followed this change. However, Bishop Schneider, who was invited by CCOG, is well-known to be highly critical of both Pope Francis and the Neocatechumenal Way (See the articles here and here).  Bishop Schneider is entitled to his misinformed and false opinions of the NCW.  After all, I believe in freedom of expression.  However, one must ask himself/herself....is the jungle truly seeking healing and unity?  What was their true intention of inviting Bishop Schneider more than two years ago?  

Ironically, Bishop Schneider along with other like-minded bishops mentioned in his criticism of Pope Francis, saying: 

One must keep in mind the fact that the Apostle Paul publicly reproached the first Pope at Antioch in a matter of a lesser gravity, compared to the errors which in our days are spread in the life of the Church. St. Paul publicly admonished the first Pope because of his hypocritical behavior and of the consequent danger of questioning the truth that says that the prescriptions of the Mosaic law are no longer binding for Christians. How would the Apostle Paul react today, if he would read the sentence of the Abu Dhabi document which says that God wants in his wisdom equally the diversity of sexes, nations and religions (among which there are religions which practice idolatry and blaspheme Jesus Christ)!   

First of all, the statement in the document has been twisted.  The document never said "God wants, in his wisdom equally the diversity of sexes, nations, and religions,"  That is only what Bishop Schneider and other bishops claimed the document stated in their criticism of the pope. The document quoted in news report stated (the bold is mine):   

The bishop told LifeSiteNews that he had a direct exchange with Pope Francis on a declaration signed last month by the Pope and the Grand Imam of Abu Dhabi. The document states that the “pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings”.

So, the document never said that God wanted the diversity of religions.  It stated that the diversity of religions (along with color, sex, race, and language) was willed by God. In fact, the words "willed by God" was even in the document. This means that different religions exist with the permissive will of God.  There is no error in this statement.  After all, God even allowed bad things to happen.

Finally, the criticism also stated: "St. Paul publicly admonished the first Pope because of his hypocritical behavior and of the consequent danger of questioning the truth that says that the prescriptions of the Mosaic law are no longer binding for Christians.  How would the Apostle Paul react today...." 

Many Protestants use this biblical scripture of St. Paul rebuking St. Peter (the first Pope) as evidence that Catholics should rebuke our pope for any hypocritical behavior or perceived errors in Catholic teaching.  What these Protestants (and now bishops) do not realize was that St. Paul copied the same "hypocritical behavior".  

After James and his friends came in, Peter removed himself from sitting with the Gentile converts and sat with the Jews in order to avoid conflict with the Jews.  The other disciples followed Peter.  However, St. Paul rebuked Peter for this behavior.  Later, St. Paul copied the same behavior in order to also avoid conflict with the Jews.  

Acts 3:16  Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

Lo and behold!  The Apostle Paul was the one who preached that circumcision, which was a Mosaic law, was not necessary; yet, he had Timothy circumcised to AVOID conflict with the Jews who lived in that region.  This was the same reason St. Peter removed himself from the Gentile converts and sat with the Jews......to AVOID conflict.

The lesson learned from this scripture is NOT that one should rebuke or criticize the Pope. The lesson learned is that conflicts need to be resolved rather than avoided. The Council of Jerusalem settled the conflict. Continuing to avoid a conflict does not solve anything.  By choosing a side, the Council of Jerusalem resolved the conflict.  And now today, there comes a time when one needs to decide where to stand.  Should one side with the persecutors or with the persecuted?    

So, is the jungle really looking for the good of the Church?  Are the bishops who call out for the resignation of Pope Francis also looking for the good of the church?  Like Pope Francis, I believe constructive criticism can be useful, but there are also criticisms whose only goal is to mislead and destroy.  According to Pope Francis in a news report:

Criticism, he insisted, can be a constructive tool.  When a person issue a criticism that isn't fair, the pope said, he or she should be ready for a response and to dialogue about it. 

On the other hand, Francis said, a critic who cloaks his or her objections behind a facade is "an arsenic pill, a bit like throwing a stone and hiding our hand.  This doesn't help, and it comes from closed [minded] people who don't want to hear the answer." 

Recently, the NCW had brought families together through the festivities of the Three Magis.  Does this bring healing and unity?  Of course it does.  All Catholics came to enjoy the festivities regardless of whether they were walking in the NCW or not.  We celebrate together as one people of God.  So, what is the intention of the jungle for inviting a bishop who is vehemently opposed to the people of the Way? If this bishop speaks a word against the Way in their fundraising event, would that bring healing and unity?     

The Epiphany: The Three Magis

The following photos were published in the Pacific Daily News.  Well done!!! 😊

A Mirror Image in the Devil's Masterpiece

The article below was published by Father Gordon MacRae on his blog.  The article was in response to Bishop Robert Barron's letter to a Suffering Church.  You can find the article here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inspired by Bishop Robert Barron’s acclaimed Letter to a Suffering Church, a reader was moved by These Stone Walls to post this reply at the Word on Fire Institute.

• Editor’s Note: On the Feast of the Holy Innocents TSW reader Dilia E. Rodriguez published some inspired commentary at the Word on Fire Institute. Father Gordon MacRae is postponing his annual New Year post by one week in order to start the year at These Stone Walls with this spiritually empowered writing re-posted with permission of the author.

Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and to me it offers symbols for the crisis in the Church.

First, let me say that, as so many others, I am moved by the impassioned efforts of Bishop Robert Barron to stop Catholics from leaving the Church. His heart and soul are on fire with the love of Jesus, of His Church and of His People.

I never thought of leaving, and it is not just “to whom shall we go?” It is that God is LOVE, and as one saint, whose name I cannot recall, said, “LOVE is not loved.” I see the current scandal as stark evidence that LOVE is not loved. So my reaction is that I want to love God, I want to love Jesus, as I have never loved Him before, with my whole being.

I want to consider (… think aloud … pray aloud …) three points: the devil’s masterpiece, evangelization at this time, and the call for saints.

Bishop Barron convincingly describes the sexual abuse scandal as exquisitely designed by the devil. He shows the horror that attends the sexual abuse of young people by priests, and the cover-up of these abuses by bishops. Whether or not it is seen as the devil’s masterpiece, this is what is described almost universally as the entirety of the sexual abuse scandal, by the mainstream media, by the Catholic media, by attorneys general and others.

But there is more to the devil’s masterpiece. There is a mirror image that remains invisible to most. The Father of Lies surely can use lies in this masterpiece of masterpieces. In this mirror image the accused priests are innocent, and the ones who claim the abuse are the abusers. In this mirror image bishops disclose lists of names of priests who have not been proven to be abusers. At this time of anti-Church fervor, a “credible” accusation is one that cannot be proven beyond all doubt to have been impossible.

So two abuses coexist: the visible one, the sexual abuse of young people by priests; and the invisible one, the abuse of innocent priests by those who falsely claim their abuse.

In the accused innocent priests Jesus is living His Passion. Pilate said, “I find no guilt in him.” There is no evidence against many of the accused priests. Jesus stood wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. The chief priests and the guards cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him.” Pilate tried to release him, but the crowd insisted, “Crucify him!” Bishops may want to do the right thing, but they cave in to the pressure and they crucify innocent priests; they remove them from the ministry to which God called them. Bishops cave in to the pressure of those who ask cynically “What is truth?”, and do not listen to the One Who is TRUTH.

The massacre of the holy innocents captures in symbol the two coexisting abuses. Herod’s killing of the innocent children represents the killing of innocent faith of the young who have been abused by priests. The way of Herod, to kill the many to ensure killing the One, is the way that has been adopted to assuage the anger and fears of the crowd and the media. So Herod’s killing of the innocent children also represents the destruction of the lives of innocent priests without
compelling evidence to the contrary. Both are very grievous abuses.

A mirror adds much light where there is light; the mirror-image abuse deceptively intensifies the dark evil of the abusive priests.

What can I do, we do, the bishops do, in response to the devil’s masterpiece of masterpieces? Absolutely nothing. Jesus said it, “Without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) But He said, “Whoever remains in Me and I in him will bear much fruit.” Only Jesus can respond to the devil’s masterpiece of masterpieces.

This time of great scandal is the Olympics of Evangelization. The Gospel is not just for intellectual discussions or for run-of-the-mill problems. It is only the full power of the Gospel that can cope with the immensity of this scandal.

The response of Jesus cannot be implemented by the weekend Catholic “athletes.” After the recent EWTN / Real Clear poll, Professor Robert George of Princeton University noted: “So even if you take the most devout Catholics – those who believe all of what the Church teaches or most of what the Church teaches, only 66% of those believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.” Clearly, an overwhelming majority of the laity can in no way be part of the response of Jesus. They are way out of shape.

The response of Jesus is the response of His Olympic team, the living saints, whom Bishop Barron and Benedict XVI point out as the great evangelizers; those who remain in Him, and He in them.

God is LOVE. Jesus said, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.” In the mystery of Jesus, LOVE, TRUTH, and LIFE are synonyms. There can be no love without truth. There can be no life without love. Only Jesus can love both the abused and the abuser. Only Jesus can restore their lives. Only Jesus, the WAY, can reject the way of Herod. Only Jesus… through those who remain in Him and He in them.

Bishop Barron wrote (p. 97): “Above all, we need saints, marked by holiness of course, but also by intelligence, an understanding of the culture, and the willingness to try something new.”

Under “intelligence” and “understanding of the culture” should come a realization that the moral relativism of this age, the pervasive misinformation in the news (e.g. huge pro-life marches become invisible), the readiness to attack the Church, etc., do not foster an accurate portrayal of the scandal in the Church.

CONDITIONED BY THE MEDIA

If in trying to solve a problem, or to understand a phenomenon, we ignore whole classes of facts and observations, we have no possibility of success: we will not solve the problem or understand the phenomenon.

Even though way back I realized that the real abuses of minors by priests could be exploited by others against the Church, I was still conditioned by the media. When the Pennsylvania Attorney General report came out, my knee-jerk reaction was “Here we go again.” But there was almost nothing new in it, and truth and fairness may not necessarily be its hallmark.

Jesus said: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” (Matthew 10:16). A saint marked by intelligence and understanding of the culture should eagerly seek to be well- informed. This means seeking to hear voices that are almost drowned out, such as “A Weapon of Mass Destruction: Catholic Priests Falsely Accused”; Hope Springs Eternal in the Priestly Breast; Men of Melchizedek; A Ram in the Thicket; The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights; Catholic Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories.

I began to see the magnitude of the mirror-image scandal when I accidentally discovered the blog “These Stone Walls” . It is the blog, published with the help of some friends, of Father Gordon J. MacRae, a falsely accused priest who has been in prison for 25 years. When the “hour had come,” Jesus prayed to the Father for those the Father had given to Him, “Consecrate them in the truth.” With a plea deal, Father MacRae could have been out of prison after one year. But he is consecrated to the Truth, and did not lie. For that, he got a life sentence.

Of his case Father Richard John Neuhaus wrote: “You may want to pray for Father MacRae, and for a Church and a justice system that seem indifferent to justice.”

The scandal of the Church is a colossal problem. The Dallas Charter of 2002 got some things right, but it also helped create the mirror-image scandal. Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote in 2004:

• “The church must protect the community from harm, but it must also protect the human rights of each individual who may face an accusation. The supposed good of the totality must not override the rights of individual persons. Some of the measures adopted [at Dallas] went far beyond the protection of children from abuse… [By their actions, the bishops] undermined the morale of their priests and inflicted a serious blow to the credibility of the church as a mirror of justice.”

He also added:

• “having been so severely criticized for exercising poor judgment in the past, the bishops apparently wanted to avoid having to make any judgments in these cases.”

If the priesthood is to be renewed, Jesus must be the foundation of this renewal. It must be His Way, His Love, and His Truth that renews the priesthood. The Church cannot be divided. It cannot call for saintly priests, while at the same time depriving some saintly priests of their civil and canonical rights when falsely accused.

Jesus, train me in Your ways. May I not utter empty words, and cry out “Lord, Lord.” May I love all the abused, all the abusers, and as Bishop Barron says, all fellow sinners. You have redeemed me through a Very Great Sacrifice. May I constantly beg You to make me Totally Yours.

Amen.