archives

Far be it from me to be so arrogant as to think I could influence the Jesuits as they seek a new Father General. However, at this juncture [NCRCafe.org, Daily News and update, Allen posting, Dec. 5, 2007, "Theological dialgue with Islam 'impossible', top Jesuit says"] of our common faith-journey we should reflect on the enduring values that derive from the open dialogue of faith and reason, objectivity and subjectivity. Dialog between fideism and rationalism, and between objectivism and subjectivism, has proven to be impossible. The radical fixations of these “isms” are sources of all manner of personal/ social frustration, of psychological disease, alienation, abuse and calculated “civil” violence — a sorry legacy, indeed.

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
New York

As part of a broad initiative to promote Eucharistic adoration, the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy is proposing that religious women “spiritually adopt priests” through prayer before the Eucharist, and, more generally, that Catholics from every corner of the world spend time before the Eucharist to pray for vocations to the priesthood in an era of priest shortages.

The problem with ecumenists -- who are almost universally good-hearted and dedicated souls -- is that they don't know how to manage expectations. It's a lesson anyone who has ever organized a public event should have learned: if you expect 100 people, put out chairs for 75, so the result feels like a triumph rather than a disappointment.

Other people besides Quakers, left wing college professors and hippies have called for war abolition. See these man-bites-dog quotations from General Douglas MacArthur, Harry Stimson and Arnold Toynbee:

During the Second World War, General Douglas MacArthur commanded over 1,000,000 men in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The following are quotations from General MacArthur’s address to the U.S. Congress on April 19, 1951:

Someone following the coverage of the joint appearances of the US presidential candidates would have no idea that our planet is witnessing its sixth great extinction. The dinosaurs were too dumb to know what was going on and human beings have been ineffective to prevent our own extinction. After all, there are better things to do.

Issues of gay marriage, immigration, flag burning and the inerrancy of the Christian Bible deserve attention but do not rank as the most urgent issues of the day.

"Affirmation of Vow Day"

Since every Catholic assumes that when a priest is ordained, that he has taken the vow of being celibate, whether or not he is gay. what objection would an ordained person of the Catholic Church have, to affirm that vow publicly, once a year, on a specific Sunday called ."Affirmation of Vow Day." I'm sure that just suggesting such a proposal would be considered shocking and outrages by many Catholics and about every Priest and Bishop. But how shocking has it has been for Church-going Catholics as a result of the Priest Abuse Crises and the Bishop's cover-up for decades as well as the billions of dollars it has cost Church contributors. Do you think for a minute, it's not still happening. Get real. Whenever you see a Priest, do you automatically ask yourself, "I wonder if he has abused any kid." You can be sure that every Priest and Bishop are thinking if your thinking of this, if they are honest with themselves. So... let's give them a day to proclaim publicly so as to put the members of their Parish and Diocese at ease. The fact that a priest or Bishop would lie about affirming their vows, would have to be between them and God. I'd very much appreciate hearing what you think of this proposal. I'd also very much appreciate knowing about my parish Priest and Bishop.