Cleveland Woman Issues Call for Vatican III

Regina Brett is a New York Times best-selling author.  She is host of “The Regina Brett Show” on WKSU 89.7 FM in Cleveland.  She is a columnist for the Cleveland  Plain Dealer.

But lest you or she forget, let me point out one inconvenient fact:  She is not God.

Apparently, though, her local fame has gone to her head and has led her to believe that she may, in fact, have something to teach the Almighty.  Because this week Regina Brett, speaking on behalf of the Holy Spirit, has called for a Third Vatican Council.

In a column posted October 10, 2012, in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the self-described “cafeteria Catholic” calls on the Pope and the U.S. Bishops to listen to her, in order to find out what else God might want to do with us and with this church.

She quotes the billboard “God is still speaking,” but then laments that the billboard is sponsored, not by the Catholic Church, but by the United Church of Christ.  Yes, she admits, God is still speaking—but in an outburst of hubris, Brett wonders whether anyone in Rome is listening.

She cites the liberals’ familiar litany of complaints against the Church:  homosexuals are not allowed to marry the person they love; the “men in Rome” refuse to ordain women; we can’t use birth control; the “papal posse” is going after nuns to investigate their “legacy of service”….

As we begin the Year of Faith, Regina Brett believes that we should look ahead, not back.  She writes:

Instead of renewing our faith by returning to the fundamentals of church teachings, why not open our minds to a new church? It’s been 50 years since Vatican II renewed the church and helped it face the modern world. The world has only gotten more modern. The Catholic Church hasn’t.

Vatican II is an antique. It’s time to grow. The difference between a rut and grave is there’s a bit more space to move around. That space is closing in on this church, and fast. It is losing priests and members and buildings. It’s time for a real renewal.

I’m sorry, Ms. Brett, but my prayer is that you and your “nominal, Christmas and Easter Catholic” friends will, during this Year of Faith, listen to our God-appointed leaders, and will open your hearts and minds to the wisdom that has been passed down through the ages.

From Brett’s kinder, gentler church of Vatican III—free of dusty old rules, welcoming of women to the priesthood, embracing the “spirit of the times” (whatever that means)—preserve us, O Lord.