Double standard?

Thought provoking.

Read and comment.

From the Pew Sitter.

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Over the last year, three prominent priests, all outspokenly pro-life, have been the subject of disciplinary actions by their bishop or immediate superior. Fr. Frank Pavone is the latest of these. The other two are of course, Fr. Corapi and Fr. Euteneuer. It is not my intent to lump these three together in terms of guilt or innocence; rather it is only to illustrate that in each case a very public action was initiated against them.

To be clear, I am NOT criticizing a Bishop's right or obligation to discipline. As lay Catholics from the outside looking in, we may not always understand or even agree with the actions taken by the Church hierarchy. However, we do acknowledge that one of the duties of a spiritual shepherd is to reprove and correct all of the faithful under their care, whether priest or layperson. [That is the keyword there folks.  ALL OF THE FAITHFUL, whether clergy or laity.]

According to the website OneNationUnderGod.com that tracks Catholic politicians and their votes, as of 2009 there were 161 Catholics serving in Congress. Twenty-six had a 100% voting record on all life issue votes and twenty-eight have never taken a pro-life position, earning a 0% voting record. Thirty four Catholic lawmakers co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act of 2007. Seventy-five Catholic members of Congress accepted campaign donations from groups that advocated for unrestricted abortion rights. [I'll bet a dollar and a dime that Miriam and Edcel Lagman will fit right into this group.]

Unfortunately, there appears to be double standard within the hierarchy when it comes to meting out discipline. In the three cases mentioned above, highly public steps were taken where a problem was perceived to have existed. Would it be that equally decisive action were taken to correct and reprove Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo, Rudy Giuliani, John Kerry, and other prominent pro-abortion Catholics politicians in public life.

Catholics understand and support the behind-the-scenes dialogue and diplomacy that Bishops and others within the Church hierarchy must use with prominent Catholic officials. [And I know this for a fact, but....]  Most Catholics would prefer to have such issues resolved in this way and not to air our dirty laundry in public. However, when public dissent by prominent Catholics continues for years and in some cases decades - as is the case with many politicians - some kind of public disciplinary action is necessary. [You may not want to wash dirty laundry in public but the question is if we are actually washing them in PRIVATE.  Are we washing our dirty laundry at all?]

I can think of only one instance in the last five years where a Bishop actually took a public position against a Catholic politician. That instance was when Archbishop Joseph Naumann publicly requested that then Gov. Kathleen Sebelius not receive Holy Communion due to her pro-abortion position. That's it, and though public, one can argue that this wasn't a disciplinary action - but that's beside the point. The point is, out of dozens of very prominent Catholics in the Congress and State Houses, there is ONLY one example of a bishop taking action in response to their dissent. [Here, the cardinal -archbishop of Manila allowed his Cathedral-Basilica to host the wedding anniversary Mass of pro-RH and dissident "theological charlatan" Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago!  And she has the audacity to even teach the bishops what is the actual teaching of the Church in morals by giving her own heretical interpretation of the Second Vatican Council!]

Many faithful Catholics see a double standard here. [Me!] If public action is called for when prominent pro-life priests who have strayed from the path, surely there is an equal need to take a public stand against prominent pro-abortion Catholics who have dissented for years or even decades - and remain unrepentant to this very day.


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Here actually, things are a bit slow if you ask me.

What has the CBCP done to the ilk of the Ateneo Jesuits?  The liberals of Maryhill School of Theology and os St. Vincent School of Theology and of Euntes in Zamboanga City?

How about Catholic politicians who openly go against the teachings of the Church against artificial contraceptives?


Still waiting!

One thing, among the handful of things I admire with that despicable Church of Felix Manalo Ysagun, is that it is quick to give the boot to anyone who would go against their teachings.

Well, of course after giving them all kinds of threats.

Oh, yeah believe me I have friends who swear by this.  And when I mean threats, I mean ALL THREATS.

Going back...

When do we see those dissidents made to pay for their crimes, eh?