Father Zuhlsdorf has a newsclip about St Mary's parish in Brisbane. The Holy See declared that baptism celebrated there in the Name "of the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sanctifier" were invalid, apparently they had been happening in that form for the last twenty years and the Archbishop did nothing and was only forced to act after hard evidence was sent to Rome. I think his resignation has already been accepted.
It is lamentable when a bishop seems to tolerate something which is heterodox for so long. I think this is what certain bishops mean when they talk about a "listening church" and seem to forget about the Church teaching.
That being said I think we have ask what it is that makes "Catholic-Lite" so attractive.
15 comments:
Catholic Lite means, more or less "do as one pleases". How can that not be attractive?
Scruffy-looking banner.
I'm upset that invalid Baptisms should be conferred for 20 years in this parish. It's one thing tolerating liturgical anarchy, but quite another that so many souls should have been left in grave danger like this.
The ABC transcript was quite revealing - they seem to be quite open about which side they're on ("Spy 1", "Spy 2", etc.).
If parents their children baptized 'invalidly', but in good faith, does that mean that the Church will not recognise those children as Christians?
The whole of Queensland is notorious in Australia for having heterodox bishops and priests, under whose ministrations the laity suffer (if they manage to retain the Faith and not be corrupted by them) - His Grace of Brisbane only began very unwillingly to act on this scandal at St Mary's because he has been goaded by Rome to do so at long last.
With liturgical abuse like that going on, that poor parish really is at risk of going 'down under'!
Joe, The Lord gave specific instructions about baptism, Christ wouldn't recognise the priests of St Mary's as following his instructions. See Matt 28:19
Its not really all that attractive Father, why do you think so many people have left the Church in the last 40 years.
If the faith matters so little then why bother at all? And so a lot of people simply don't.
The only people who remain in such places are a group of people who seem to be suffering from various mental disorders, primarily strong feelings of inferiority, which is why they respond so extremely to anyone in authority who does not validate them.
Satan's ideas have always seemed attractive. That, presumably, is the whole idea. He cannot defeat Christ, but he can undermine the work of the Church on earth, even to the ruin of souls.
What better way to do this than encourage the celebration of invalid sacraments, particularly invalid baptisms ? An invalid baptism is, well, invalid. Just think what that means.
It is terribly wicked. But it is terribly easy to fall into Satan's traps, too. All you have to do in cases like this is put your intellect on hold, and do the easiest thing. Faith and obedience do not come easily to most people. So, forget about Faith and obedience, suspend your critical faculties. And there you are.
But woe to the shepherds and pastors who allowed this to happen, who made this happen. Terrible will be their fate on the day of judgement.
This parish would not be in such a sorry state if the shepherd -the archbishop - acted years ago to stop the hererodoxy. He has been dragged, kicking and screaming, by Rome via the Faithful to put an end to the farce that is St Mary's.
I think though that we have to look past the abp and ask who recommended him for his position. His track record would have been obvious surely. All recommendations for bishop should be independantly checked for orthodoxy by Rome.
Why is Catholic Lite so popular?
a) we’re all saved
b) we’re all Church
c) what’s original sin?
d) it’s not the sinner it’s the sin (so that’s okay, then)
e) let’s get rid of the guilt thing
f) Hell doesn’t exist
g) Mass is a community meal
h) Real Presence, what’s that?
i) Virgin Birth, yeah, whatever
j) all religions are equal
k) all you need is love :-)
I could go on, but I won’t. Catholic Lite is popular ‘cos it’s easy.
My experience of the Catholic church in Queensland was not a happy one. I was distressed by the illness of a close family member and when I spoke to a priest, he said " Yes, that happened to my brother too. He's dead." Thanks.
Perhaps Catholic lite also means poor pastoral care. And as for the Mass; the less said the better.
Why is Catholic Lite so attractive?
I think it's worth adding that "Catholic Lite" is the attitude of "I'm more important/relevant than the teaching and tradition of the Church."
It is easy because "I" make the rules. The inevitable result is Pride, obstinacy, disobedience, heterodoxy, dissent, no unity ...
Plenty for the devil to work with to attack the Church!
Dear Father, I linked to a couple of your posts again because they relate to some issues I've been dealing with as a result of a few discussions I've had with some friends of late. I always appreciate your insights and thank you for writing. I wanted to answer the question you posed about Catholic-lite especially.
God bless and thanks for your blog.
As a catholic in Brisbane I am saddened that the Archbishop has ignored this problem for so long even after knowing of the parish's unorthodox baptisms that required many to be rebaptised and created great scandal. He is to blame for the failure of the parish priests to lead faithfully. We have yet to see what this weak man will do to resolve the situation which has been picked up by every anti catholic in Australia. Thank God for Rome. AMDG
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