Sungenis removes Jewish material from CAI website after contact from bishop

It has come to our attention that in a PDF document entitled "Catholic Apologetics International and its Teachings on the Jews," Robert Sungenis, President of CAI, reports that as a result of a letter from his bishop, the Very Reverend Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg, PA, and a follow-up meeting with his vicar general, the Very Reverend William J. King, JCD, along with the executive director for ecumenical and inter-religious affairs of the USCCB, the Reverend James Massa, he has removed controversial material about Jews and Judaism from the CAI website. "Since our apostolate, in both name and content, publicizes itself as a Catholic institution that teaches the Catholic faith," and since "I am a faithful son of the Catholic Church," who takes "their wisdom and counsel with the utmost seriousness," as "from God himself," says Sungenis, "I consider it a privilege to obey them." Mr. Sungenis deserves our gratitude for this gesture and our prayers for fortification in his resolution to remain faithful to Mother Church. Deo Gratias.

May Jewish & gentile Catholics celebrate Seder Meals?

Robert Sungenis thinks not. If you visit his Catholic Apologetics International website, you will find not only his critique of the Jewish Catholic convert, Roy Schoeman, but at least five links to articles and discussions on whether Jewish traditions and customs under the Old Covenant (like the Seder Meal) have any abiding validity and worth for Catholics, and still more links on the question of the relationship between the two covenants.

The latest response to these statements is by Ben Douglass, a former associate of Sungenis, who takes issue with him in "A Last Response from Douglasstein" (Pugio Fidei, april 17, 2007). Among other things, he cites the following words of Pope Benedict XIV (fourteenth, not sixteenth) from his Ex Quo Prium (On the Euchologion):

If a man should perform acts for a different end and purpose (even with the intention of worship and as religious ceremonies), not in the spirit of that Law nor on the basis of it, but either from personal decision, from human custom, or on the instruction of the Church, he would not sin, nor could he be said to judaize. So when a man does something in the Church which resembles the ceremonies of the old Law, he must not always be said to judaize. [Ex Quo, 67]

He also takes issue with Sungenis' attempt (Q & A April 2007) to deflect the import of the following (related) words from Ex Quo Prium:

But others remarked wisely that some, surely, of the ceremonial rites of the old Law could be observed under the new Law if only they were not done as obligations of the old Law, which was abrogated, but as a custom, or lawful tradition, or as a new precept issued by one enjoying the recognized and competent authority to make laws and to enforce them, as Vasquez observes (vol. 3, in the 3rd part of the Summa, disp. 210, quest. 80, art. 7). [Ex Quo, 74]

Sungenis comes out against his critics

For the record, CAI apologist Robert Sungenis, recently under attack ("Sungenis, again," Musings, March 6, 2007) for his criticism of Jewish Catholic convert, Roy Schoeman as a 'Judaizer', has come back swinging against his critics in a PDF post entitled "I'm mad, and I'm not going to take it anymore" [PDF], with the subtitle, "Ben Douglass, confused and culminating."

The answer, my friends, is blowin' in the wind ...

Sungenis, again

According to Mark Shea, Robert Sungenis has been attacking Jewish convert to the Faith and author of Salvation is From the Jews, Roy Schoeman, as a 'Judaizer'. The attack goes a good bit farther even than that. See Mark Shea, "Bob Sungenis Outdoes Himself." Shea writes:

The last time Bob indulged himself in a reckless and irresponsible attack on the Jews, he simply disappeared loads of text he had downloaded from Nazi and White Supremacist sources without apology, once his sources were exposed....

However, this being Lent, I am hoping for better. I am hoping (and praying) Bob will finally emerge from the bunker, stop declaring all critics to be Judas Iscariot, stop casting himself as a persecuted prophet and applying messianic psalms to himself, admit that he is acting with gross injustice toward both Jews in general and, in particular, towards his brother Roy and repent. Anti-semitism (and slanderous manufactured quotes in support of it) is a sin like any other, not a bold prophetic stance. But like any other sin, it can be forgiven, if repented. My hope is that Bob will finally admit that he's behaving outrageously, recognize that his friends remain his friends and are not Judases, and find something to do with his time besides continue to sink further into this quagmire.

Related discussion:

Michael Forrest Apologizes and Offers a Correction (Sungenis and the Jews, March 6, 2006)

Update: Sungenis debate deepens

Following up on the topic a propos "Sungenis and the Jews, again" (Musings, 1/23/07), the debate continues and deepens:

• Bob Sungenis, "Another Look at Blosser's Website" (CAI website, 1/19/07; last modified 1/24/07) -- a response to Christopher Blosser's "Carl Schmitt, Israel Shamir and Robert Sungenis"
  
• Christopher Blosser, "Response to Bob Sungenis (Part II)" (Against the Grain, January 23, 2007) -- a lengthy and detailed, point-by-point reply.

Sungenis and the Jews, again

Robert Sungenis has recently posted a piece to his Catholic Apologetics International (CAI) website entitled, "Christopher Blosser and the Catholic ADL: A Review of Mr. Blosser's Website." This piece was written in response to a brief notation posted by Christopher on Sungenis quoting Shamir quoting Schmitt (Jan. 8, 2007), responding to one of CAI's "news alerts" promoting Israel Shamir's essay "The Tyranny of Liberalism" to CAI readers. (Apparently this page has been removed from CAI's main "news alerts" page in light of this recent controversy). Shamir is a notorious anti-semite. Back in July of 2006, Christopher addressed another instance of his promotion by a self-styled "traditionalist" Catholic (E. Michael Jones) in a post entitled, "Culture Wars' Troubling Praise of Israel Shamir" (Fringewatch, July 3, 2006). Christopher says of Shamir, "Apparently once a darling of the Palestinian cause, his anti-semitism proved so toxic that he was deemed a public relations disaster and eventually disowned by his comrades (See Nigel Parry's The Israel Shamir Case and Roland Rance's Israel Shamir: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing?, from the Socialist Viewpoint)."

Shamir's writings, according to Christopher, are similar to that of other anti-semites in that they perceive society's ills through the lens of a global Zionist conspiracy, setting "Talmudic" (or in some cases, secular) Judaism against Christian civilization. In his essay, "The Tyranny of Liberalism," Shamir relies upon the work of Carl Schmitt, a Nazi legal scholar whose writings laid the ideological groundwork for the Third Reich. As Christopher noted in his original post: " ... while I am not necessarily opposed to an academic study of Carl Schmitt, in light of Shamir's own reputation and polemical worldview it certainly made for a curious picture to find Sungenis quoting Shamir quoting Schmitt -- so soon after last year's controversy when Sungenis was once again outed for his reliance upon questionable ideological sources" (See Michael Forrest' Sungenis and the Jews).

This is where Sungenis' post, "Christopher Blosser and the Catholic ADL: A Review of Mr. Blosser's Website," surfaces in the picture. Christopher comments, "I am sorry to disappoint Sungenis, but his response to me reveals his knack for using dubious sources and a consistent failure to check his facts." Christopher details his own response to Sungenis in a long post entitled Carl Schmitt, Israel Shamir and Robert Sungenis (Against the Grain, January 19, 2007).

Third party observations include Kevin Tierney's article, "Thoughts on the latest Sungenis flareup" (KevinTierney.Org, January 23, 2007). If only tangentally related, the New Oxford Review website (NOR News Link Archive, Jan. 18, 2007) recently posted a link to an article in the Intelligence Report by Mark Potok, "The 'Synagogue of Satan'" (Southern Poverty Law Center), detailing instances of egregious antisemitism among fringe-traditionalist groups. Pieter Vree, Dale Vree's son and NOR Deputy Editor, independently confirmed that NOR neither endorses the view that "radical traditionalists are anti-semitic" nor has any intention of appearing to support the claims of this so-called "intelligence report," but posted this link for informational purposes only -- i.e., to show how "radical traditionalist" Catholics are viewed and portrayed by others.

Having said that, one can hardly avoid the conclusion that even a handfull of antisemitic traditionalists give Catholics a bad name and contaminate the Church's witness to the Gospel of Christ -- especially in light of the fact that Catholics historically have been among the most despised minorities in the United States, with hatred of "Romanists" and "papists" driving the Know Nothing party in the 1850s and swelling the ranks of the Ku Klux Klan (renown for its hatred of Catholics, African-Americans, and Jews) in the 1920s to almost 4 million members.

Update (1/24/07) -- the debate deepens:

• Bob Sungenis, "Another Look at Blosser's Website" (CAI website, 1/19/07; last modified 1/24/07) -- a response to Christopher Blosser's "Carl Schmitt, Israel Shamir and Robert Sungenis"
  
• Christopher Blosser, "Response to Bob Sungenis (Part II)" (Against the Grain, January 23, 2007) -- a lengthy and detailed, point-by-point reply.

More trouble involving brother Sungenis?

Back in September, we posted news regarding a controversy over Bob Sungenis and some statements he has made regarding the Jews (see "Contra Sungenis: a brother traditionalist's charitable anathema," September 9, 2006). Apparently there have been some behind-the-scenes negotiations between the principal parties involved which came to an impasse and failed. A short commentary on those negotiations by Michael Forrest can be found at www.sungenisandthejews.com, and a much more detailed discussion by Jacob Michael at Sungenis and the Jews: An Update on the Negotiations. Sad business.

Update 10/18/06

Sungenis and the Jews: David Palm's Defense of Michael Forrest (LumenGentleman Apologetics)