Thursday, July 20, 2006

NCR worried about SSPX reconciling with Rome

In a New Oxford Note entitled "Everyone Is Intolerant At Some Point" in the July-August 2006 issue of the New Oxford Review, Dale Vree observes:
An Editorial in the National Catholic Reporter (April 7) is mighty worried about the possibility of Archbishop Lefebvre's Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) reconciling with Rome. The Editorial says: "Though unity is always a good thing, it must not come at the expense of clarity about what we believe.... Leaders of the Society of St. Pius X have demanded a formal 'right to dissent' from these elements of the teaching of the council [Vatican II: religious liberty, ecumenism, and interfaith relations] as the price of returning to the fold.... Benedict XVI must make it crystal clear that the price of admission is unambiguous assent to Vatican II, whole and entire. This is an opportunity for the pope to show the world that his emphasis on Catholic identity is...a principled insistence on 'thinking with the church'...."
How the NCR can say this with a straight face is anyone's guess. The NCR has been promoting homosexuality, contraception, priestesses, and dissent from defining doctrines of Catholic faith and morals for years. Nobody in his right mind would call NCR the 'go to' journal for "Catholic identity," "doctrinal clarity," or "no right to dissent"! What a joke! And here we have NCR speaking up for "clarity," "Catholic identity," "a principled insistence on 'thinking with the church,'" and no "right to dissent"! Well, glory be!!! My guess is that we've got some something like the old Trilemma going on here (remember? "Liar, Lunatic, or Lord"?). Only this one goes "Liar, Lunatic, or Leery" -- either (a) NCR is not being honest with itself or with the public (Liar), or (b) it's on crack cocaine (Lunatic), or (c) it's taking its cues from O'Leary (Leery). Then again, in some possible steamy 'hot tub' worlds, I suppose these could all be one and the same.

Addendum:

Over at Rorate Caeli, New Catholic furnishes the following translation of an Italian article by Andrea Tornielli entitled "Lefebvriani, l’accordo è più vicino" (il Giornale.it 7/13/06), which he titles: "Lefebvrists: the agreement is closer - The pact is ready, but Fellay has not yet decided":
All is ready for the agreement between the Holy See and the Fraternity Saint Pius X, founded by the "rebel" Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The Vatican forwarded several weeks ago precise propositions to reach peace [a peaceful solution] and the reentrance of the Lefbvrists into full communion with Rome.... (Read more.)

No comments: