Catholic and Enjoying It!
In addition to a Congressional member of the Greatest Catholics of All Time boycotting the Pope rather than so much as hear about new ideas and stuff because the pope is not coming to pledge support for a new war but to talk about Laudato Si, the Party of Crazy also offers these welcome mats to the Successor of Peter:
George Will loses his mind and announces his conversion to the Know Nothings. Really, actually declares: “Americans cannot simultaneously honor him and celebrate their nation’s premises.”
plus
“Go Home! You don’t speak English!” from the Nativist Mob who hate pope for speaking the same language as the Muslims from Honduras
and
You know, it’s being reported by Breitbart that Obama is giving Francis a rude welcome by Obama because he is inviting (along with 15,000 other people) some Catholics who openly dissent from the Church on pelvic issues. I agree it’s rude and politicized and the rest.
But here’s the thing. Obama’s not a Catholic. He will, therefore, not see the Church’s teaching or the office of Peter as something he is duty-bound to respect. He sees Francis from a purely secular view as a head of state who needs to change his archaic beliefs. It’s what non-Catholics do.
But people like Congresscritter Cosar and Kilmeade flaunt themselves as Catholics. They claim to respect the Church. Jesus has something to say to them: “Those to whom much is given, much will be required.”
Obama is, I think, rather obviously anti-Catholic and hostile to the Church on a number of points. Duly noted.
But here’s the thing: Jesus has almost nothing to say to us about external enemies of the faith except “If they hated me, they will hate you too” and some consoling remarks to the effect that should hostility come to us from enemies outside the Church, well then cowboy up, ask for grace to endure whatever persecution comes and if it comes down to it, die well.
But when it comes to tempters within the Church, he has much more stern words about millstones around necks and so forth. He is, in a word, far more concerned about sin than he is about trouble. As he puts it, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Lk 12:4–5). Catholics who run around preaching defiance of the pope are a much more serious problem than rude non-Catholics. Conservatism is now the principal bastion of naked anti-Catholicism in American culture. And the worst of them all are those who exalt conservative dogmas to attack the Magisterium and do so while claiming they are models of “Faithful Conservative Catholicism”. Millstones, indeed.
Corruptio optimi pessima.
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