Sensing a wave of disaffection among Roman Catholics in Greater Boston, a tiny community of priests on Beacon Hill is waging an all-out campaign to win them back.
This week, the Paulist Center launched a three-year, $800,000 advertising and outreach campaign to attract Catholics who feel disenchanted with church teachings on gay marriage and other social issues, stressing that "everyone is truly welcome" at the center and that "questioning is encouraged."
They're spending $800,000 over three years. Hopefully some of that will be invested in putting a little sanity in Pope Benedict and Cardinal O'Malley. If more priests and members of the Catholic Hierarchy were so open and friendly, I somehow doubt there'd be attendance problems.
Short blog tonight - I'm really sick and it's now 40 minutes into Christmas Eve. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!
Peace,
Ryan
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11 comments:
I was thinking the same thing. Check out the comment I made at the end of the story on Benie.
As you may know Cardinal Sean also has a blog and will begin offering podcasts as well. He says it is because:
I see this as yet another tool I can use to reach the young people in our Church who more and more are turning to the Internet for their information.
Howabout that, huh?
Feel better Ryan! I've had mono for the past couple of weeks, so i know how you feel. we must get healthy!
Let's understand something. The Paulists are merely whoring for the Roman Catholic Church, Inc. (the RCCi, the hierarchy, the Harlot Vatican, the Whore of Babylon). It really is all about money, and the Paulists are trying to seduce lapsed Catholics back to the church so that they will donate to the RCCi. As far as I'm concerned, people who give financial support to the RCCi are complicit in the RCCi's jihad against gay people.
The last comment was mine
--raj
I agree with raj. I'm afraid the Paulists priests, even those most genuine in their open welcome, are just setting up lapsed Catholics for another fall. How can they in good conscience invite gays and others back into the house, when they know full well that their superiors are waiting behind the door with a raised axe?
Ryan, i hope you feel better soon!
The only thing we can hope is that they will eventually get that the church needs to be changed from the inside - and that can only happen from a concerned group of laity, priests and sisters who I'm almost certain are a very quiet majority. For example, I know for a FACT the sisters who ran my religious ed. program thought women should be able to be priests... but they didn't actually do anything about it.
Ryan, I do agree that many Catholics will want to stick with the church, if only at a distance, and try to make changes from within. The problem is that the CC is not a democratic institution. It is a dictatorship or sorts. Change will only happen if a pope gets elected who decides HE will allow changes as HE designs them. Or, there will be a rift, as there has been so many times in history with any religion.
My immediate concern in the present conversation is that the Paulist priests don't promise people something they are not authorized by the pope to offer. Truth in advertising demands they post a sign over the door "Wayward Worshiper Beware!". It will be interesting to see if anyone even believes there can be a 'kinder, friendlier' CC at this point and even takes them up on their invitation.
Laurel's right, despite his great PR image John Paul was a real reactionary, fighting against Vatican II, John XXIII, liberation theology and all of the ideas and forces that were opening up the Church. He got rid of a lot of progressive priests and filled all of the power posts with individuals who share his ultraconservative views on theology and social issues. Now that that structure is in place in such a top down organization, it will take a long time to undo the damage.
Ratzinger's elevation says a great deal about who the Cardinals are and what they prioritize. The power centers don't go our way, Ratzinger won't change it, and those who have power will tend to hold on to power if they possibly can.
"...There is no valid scientific evidence for a biological origin of same-sex attraction...However, there is evidence that persons with same-sex attractions can and do change."
-- Provost Joseph Fessio of Ave Maria University
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/dec/18/ave_maria_leaders_say_samesex_attraction_can_be_co/?local_news
I completely agree with you, Laurel, there needs to be a truth in advertising. But, even though the catholic church is an heirarchy with the Pope and his Cardinals at the top, popular opinion is still a powerful force: it's what keeps churches full and coffers heavy. Without that, they can't live their comfy lives and do the jobs they do.
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