tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post5867806326012421407..comments2023-08-21T03:51:17.425-06:00Comments on Enlightened Catholicism: The Winds Of Change Are Stirring More Stronglycolkochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03432916690101599393noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-8061386955799266222013-11-05T01:30:47.704-07:002013-11-05T01:30:47.704-07:00G'day, Salut, y'all !
I'm the Aussie...G'day, Salut, y'all !<br /><br /><br />I'm the Aussie Frenchman formerly from Tulsa, Oklahoma and now resident in L'Isle-Adam, France, who posted a note here several months ago. Since then I have completely revamped and renamed my BLOG (blindfaithblindfolly.wordpress.com) You might like to comment on one or other of the many recent postings. Just remember Cato, Carthage and my signature mantra : "Delenda Religio".<br /><br /><br />Frank O'MEARA, alias Frank O'PhileFrank O'Mearanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-1739898596271790152013-06-17T03:29:56.604-06:002013-06-17T03:29:56.604-06:00I have self-published a book "From Illusions ...I have self-published a book "From Illusions to Illumination. The Itinerary of a Franciscan Priest from Catholicism to Atheism". Recently I created a blog (faithandfolly.canalblog.com) to offer complementary reflections for the target-audience of both the book and the blog : believers on the brink.<br /><br /><br />"Bred and buttered at Botany Bay", I am an Australian theologian with degrees from the Institut Catholique in Paris, a former Diocesan Director of Religious Education and a former Professor of Religious Pedagogy in a Catholic university in Vermont. I have been an atheist for thirty-five years. I respect non-atheists but not their beliefs. I know I cannot get them to ... see the light, but hope to provide encouragement for those who have already begun to have serious doubts about faith and religion.<br /><br /><br />In my book I applaud Bishop Robinson for his "admirable courage and sincerity" (page 66), but express my regret that he states that he believes in Mary's Assumption "because that is what my mother told me as a child and I have always believed it" (page 255 of his "Contemplating Power and Sex in the Catholic Church").<br /><br /><br />While the Church struggles with its sexual and other scandals, some Catholics may wonder whether it is built not on rock but on the sands of credulity. Even if Pope Frank the First (at one time I thought I might get the job myself) manages to "repair the Church", it will remain an institution where the blind continue - for the most part "in good faith" - to lead the blind. Believers on the brink ought to look beyond the current scandals which are rotting the barque of Peter, abandon ship, and discover the truth that will make them truly free. <br /><br /><br />Frank O'Meara, a.k.a. Frank O'PhileFrank O'Mearanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-28447524162996362092013-05-18T12:52:34.037-06:002013-05-18T12:52:34.037-06:00Thanks Dennis. I'm OK, it's just that my ...Thanks Dennis. I'm OK, it's just that my schedule at work got changed and things got out of kilter. It was a case of making changes for the sake of making changes and I was not particularly happy about it, nor was anybody else.colkochnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-5220129566468375252013-05-18T06:36:18.355-06:002013-05-18T06:36:18.355-06:00Coleen, I hope that everything is OK with you. I ...Coleen, I hope that everything is OK with you. I have missed your blog and you are in my thoughts and prayers. dennisrdp46noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-78244539811619663422013-05-07T09:41:44.557-06:002013-05-07T09:41:44.557-06:00I would add to this list the need for a healthy, m...I would add to this list the need for a healthy, multi-faceted understanding of women's experiences is necessary for the health of the Church and our theology. For too long the only valued experience of women has been as mother. This has kept women from fully contributing to our understanding of God but it has also kept men infantiel. I think especially priests bear the brunt of this. Married men at least have to contend with a real woman at home and daughters. Priests often get fixated on their mom and then Mary as the only way women can be. Then there is the creepy pre VC2 way of seeing Mary as a very young teen / mom, which I wonder if that vision of Mary as very young added to the warping of sexuality of some priests which allowed them to think of twelve year old girls as sexual partners. This is one reason I have hopes for Pope Francis. He has sisters who are alive (who do NOT act as his housekeeper.) And as far as I know he has nieces and nephews who have families. This is a vast change from the last two popes who did not have a growing family around them.Sue Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-58987284339982703522013-05-06T16:51:56.710-06:002013-05-06T16:51:56.710-06:00Phillip, maintaining hope sometimes gets very hard...Phillip, maintaining hope sometimes gets very hard. Fr Musaala has a great deal of courage and where there is courage there is hope.colkochnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-24566225382128496652013-05-06T16:34:08.380-06:002013-05-06T16:34:08.380-06:00Thanks so much for sharing this story Colleen. It ...Thanks so much for sharing this story Colleen. It was incidents such as those that Fr. Musaala was aware of that had informed a bit of my last posting before the Conclave. But, because of the stigma, I hadn't heard of any specific examples to speak of. But, the wider phenomena is a very present reality. Let's hope that awareness and knowledge will one day lead to reformation and accountability -- instead of fearful repression.Phillip Clarkhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Phillip-Clark/559441180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-55840946781626158252013-05-06T16:09:51.364-06:002013-05-06T16:09:51.364-06:00Signed. Bravo, Bishops Robinson and MorrissonSigned. Bravo, Bishops Robinson and MorrissonbosicOnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-49943397120979743892013-05-06T11:17:52.944-06:002013-05-06T11:17:52.944-06:00This is an important list and proves to me that an...This is an important list and proves to me that any kind of reform is going to open a Pandora's box of change that really needs to happen if Catholicism will have any kind of future in coming generations. Evolution is in the genes of creation and to ignore that ignores that fact Jesus Himself was an embodiment of a form of evolution. <br /><br />One change, a conversion if you will, Catholicism needs to undergo is the one which takes us past fear motivating everything towards one where hope motivates everything. It's what the Resurrection is all about.colkochnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-37180419417401167232013-05-06T10:46:07.796-06:002013-05-06T10:46:07.796-06:00This is interesting and will either lead good plac...This is interesting and will either lead good places or to more schism. Don't know which, but there are very powerful people that will attempt to marginalize these Bishops as out of the mainstream and scandalous to the Church. We as the People of God should be calling for nothing less than the resignation of well over 1/2 of our Bishops who have perpetrated such an outrage. The are nothing less than common criminals and it is time for us to understand that. I have signed this petition because it is a first step and I think a sane step but it does not go far enough to solve sexism, clericalism that would lead to a more authoritative leadership rather than to the current authoritarian structure. <br /><br />Some suggestions: Election of all Bishops from the diocese and all people to participate; term limits for Bishops of no more than seven years; much more of a direct election of the pope from the People of God in every Catholic parish and term limits of no more than 7 years; A method of recall of any and all bishops including the Pope; end the war on relativism and modernism--- it has already been lost and well it should; Demand the resignation of any Bishop involved in the sex scandals that have produced such a crisis and that would be well over half of the current Bishops at least in the US; Stop the war on gays; Stop the war on women; Stop mandatory celibacy and realize that only a very few people are cut out for this schizoid life---- perhaps to be reserved for much older men and women; Promote the study of sexuality its spirituality that bonds and binds people; Forgive people who find that they must divorce; Use the scientific definitions of Abortion; Encourage Birth Control to prevent Abortion. Realize that Abortion is not the same as murder; Accept the rulings of the hospital ethics committees; quit attempting to Episcopal triage of hospitals; Obey strict Church and State separation; Never support candidates from the pulpit or from official church leadership; Rid the Church of the Vatican Bank and use only secular Banks; understand that other communions other than the RCC are both valid and licit. <br /><br />These are a few more suggestions that need be considered to prevent the schism of catholics that just refuse to support this Church (lack of) leadership. dennisrdp46noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-90986294443308837432013-05-06T10:44:41.016-06:002013-05-06T10:44:41.016-06:00SignedSignedOlivia Cooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-42272893319817438692013-05-06T10:21:02.953-06:002013-05-06T10:21:02.953-06:00signedsignedtpel_91noreply@blogger.com