Today she sends an open letter to the Pope expressing indignation at the recent clarification by the CDF on the ordination of women. She writes:
Today, I am ashamed to be Roman Catholic. It has become a Church blighted by ignorance, arrogance and the decadence of a dying regime mired in its own obsessive clinging to power.Strong stuff eh?
There was recent interview somewhere by a senior cleric bewailing the Catholic Church being ...err Catholic. It is a bit strange that the "establishment" is in rebellion, forming a Church within a Church. The basis of Catholicism isn't proposiotional or clausal it is actually based on believing and professing "... all that the holy Catholic Church teaches, believes and proclaims to be revealed by God".
You see, what some just don't get is that Catholic just isn't Anglican. The Catholic Church just doesn't have the authority to suddenly decide to change its teaching. The Professor might well be right that many Catholic women have actually left the Church and become Anglicans, the truth is they have really stopped believing that the revelation of God is at the Church's very heart. The problem she has, and many in the establishment have, is really one of authority: ultimately, did Jesus lie when he promised to be with the Church until the end of time?
61 comments:
I can't stand the woman. She came to my university to be part of a debate (with an atheist about the existence of God) and started her bit with, "I hope you are all are ashamed, as I am, with Pope Benedict XVI." If I didn't have to be there because it was obligatory then my Orthodox friend and I (who looked at each other in horror after she muttered) would have been up and straight out the door with perhaps a few tuts along the way.
Catholic on paper perhaps........
This is dreadful - Catholic theologians who have no understanding of why the Church teaches what it does. Oh where will it all end? - I'm thoroughly depressed about it.
Father Blake, you may be interested to know that a church in Gloucestershire (not my parish) has this in its latest newsletter:
" “Rooted in Christ” - New Course.
A new diocesan course beginning in October entitled “Rooted in Christ” is aimed at grounding the people of our parishes in a simple, uncomplicated understanding of our faith. Talks will take place at Holy Family Church, Patchway, Bristol, 7.30 - 9.00pm. The sessions flow through the academic year using the liturgical seasons to explore our understanding of the Sacraments. There is a variety of speakers: Bishop Declan, Professor Gavin d’Costa, John Huntriss, Professor Tina Beattie to mention a few…. "
The course has been set up by the Diocese of Clifton’s Department for Adult Education and Evangelisation. The diocesan news item is <*a href=”http://www.cliftondiocese.com/were-rooted-in-christ”>here.<*/a>
I recall attending a talk by Professor Beattie early in the 2000s. She is a convert, and when asked her reasons for converting said something along the lines that she had been impressed by the Church’s attitude to women.
In answer to a later question, she dismissed the Church’s teaching on matters of family planning, presenting the choice as between contraception and constant childbearing. A charitable interpretation would be that she was poorly informed; but should a person known as a theologian make such an elementary mistake? You may gather from this that I was not entirely happy with the talk.
I read the 'letter' and found it inspiring I must say.
I am sure Tina Beatie is closer to Christ than those out of touch camp misogynists in Rome.
The writing was on the wall years ago. See www.catholic-feminism.co.uk Plenty about Beattie on there
Frankly, and with due deference to Christian charity, we will all be better off if people like this leave the rest of to worship God in the Catholic Church, and go their own way. They certainly have lost all claims to be Catholics, so, as my old Granny used to say - "Good Riddance."
Quite.
There'll be plenty of room left for her in the Cof E when those of us who believe what "semper, ubique & ab omnibus" has been believed are enabled to join you through the Ordinariate. She will be elected to General Synod before you can say "traitor". +E
Is the TABLET an Apostate Rag ?
It seems to go against all we've been taught.
They must be stopped from calling themselves Catholic.
We are still trying to get over the ravages of the Reformation but we are infiltrated by traitors and loony-tunes.It is doubtful whether they can actually call themselves Christian,even if they knew the meaning of Christianity.
Some of the nonsense they print should be referred to Health & Safety as it certainly puts up my blood pressure.Could we sue them with the help of a No-Win No-Fee Charlatan?
Father, When I read the letter I sensed that Ms Beatie feels more hurt than angry. Whilst I disagree with her view on the possibility of ordaining women (and also on the matter of abortion), she correctly points out that several bishops have behaved disgracefully concerning the grave scandal of child abuse. She is also right in saying participating in the ordination of a woman is not equivalent to child abuse even though canonically they are both serious matters.
I regard Prof Beatie's final paragraph to be very OTT, which can happen when we are hurt and speak (or publish) without first taking a good nap. I also find it quite sad that it is that paragraph you selected to stand next to the comment about people going over to Canterbury. Having them pulled out of context and placed next to each other is rather unfair.
Damien Thompson of the Telegraph seldom agrees with Andrew Brown of the Guardian, but both have written that the Vatican made yet another PR blunder by announcing the canonical changes on these matters at the same time; they are right. I wonder how those who have suffered abuse at the hands of clergy felt about having their situation equated with believing that women can be priests for that is how it came across. As a result, the media were given yet another opportunity to lambast the Holy Father. Of course, today there was a clarification but this whole thing could so easily have been avoided.
Emphaticallly Jesus did not lie. Lying is the prerogative of the father of lies, or his agents.
The problem, as you say, is one of obedience. These "liberal Catholics" are simply too proud to give their loyaty to anyone except themselves.
"The real problem is not the sins of individual priests, but the structures of sin which have infected the institutions and governance of the Church." T. Beattie.
How can a structure sin? What is a structure of sin?
The real problem is the sins of individuals, lay, priests, bishops and even Professors at Roehampton.
Parce Domine ne in aeternum irascaris.
Then get out! No one is forcing you to be Catholic if it makes you ashamed leave!
If our Bishops had anything about them she would have been made to leave a long time ago.
"I am ashamed to be a Roman Catholic"
But she is not a Roman Catholic.
As one who rejects a fundamental article of truth, as taught and defined by the Church, and now re-confirmed by the full authority of the Vicar of Christ on earth, the Pope, she has place herself outside the Church.
So you would have ran away Catholic with Attitude? You allowed her to insult the Pope in front of you and you did nothing?
How courageous of you.
I wish I had never been curious enough to look at this lady's blog. It is depressing. And her blog list is decidedly odd and is headed by the NCR site - a newspaper which Fr Z has given a good nickname and which appears to be similar in content to the Tablet.
She is a Professor of Theology and yet she cannot see why women can never be ordained? It has always been obvious to me. I have never had a problem with this and I am a woman. She must regard being a Priest as just another job - men are ordained so why not women.
I see Dorothy mentions the fact that the Professor is a convert but it would appear that rather than accept what the Church has taught through the ages, she prefers to have her own version. She says that although she is ashamed of being a Roman Catholic, she is not leaving and adds 'for along with Peter I would have to ask Lord where else would we go?'
Fr Ray mentions the forming of a Church within a Church. Sadly there seem to be people in authority and the public eye now calling themselves Catholic but who no longer accept the authority of the Church. They were once known as Protestants! I hate to think how many of these will be interviewed by the media leading up to the visit of the Holy Father in September.
It seems she's excommunicated herself automatically on two counts of heresy. So how can she be a Roman Catholic, let alone be ashamed of being one?
You men must not suggest this lady leaves the Catholic Church. I will pray to Our lady that she draws close to this woman. Talk about female empowerment!! I got introduced to my own self for the first time, when I got close to Mary. I had been plunging around looking for an identity within and without the Church. A lost child.
However, once I asked Jesus to let me get closer to His Mother, if it were permissable, my journey in faith has never looked back. Oh, I have got into messes since, but I know the track I need to get back on afterwards, and it is by Our Lady's side. The gospel has come alive for me, when going through the Rosary mysteries. I feel no envy towards a man's position in the Church. I wouldn't swap what I have found, not for anything on earth, and I have thought about this deeply. I have discovered the secret place next to my heavenly Mother that is just mine. It is available to all women and men and once you find your place in her heart, you rest from all spiritual ambition. These are not fancy words, they are the truth. Test them. Ask Jesus, right now, to show you your place in His Mother's heart. It's a prayer that will be answered powerfully, so don't pray it, if you don't mean it. Pray it!! And mean it!!
God bless Tina. May Our Lady, the dispeller of heresy, harness Tina's intellect and make her a powerful voice in the Church, for the bringing about of the Father's kingdom. Amen.
I see that one of your posters actually supports her and another, charitably, suggests that she is more hurt than angry. Clearly she is a very unsound person to have as a proponent of the Catholic Church. I pray that she will temper her outbursts and ages gracefully.
JARay
The little rascal is at it again. She never ceases to surprise to me.
Perhaps it is her erroneous conscience working overtime.
http://catholic-whistleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/tablet-gives-support-to-abortion.html
This knee jerk reaction to the Catholic press posting pieces that have views contradicting Church teaching is really getting tiresome. In the 1930s the Catholic Herald (back then rather radical) used to run all sorts of arguments calling for an English liturgy, the inclusion of other Christians at Mass and other things that contradicted prevailing orthodoxy. Noone seemed to be confused as to the difference between opinion and fact.
You wouldn't read a secular newspaper and believe every word about, say, Afghanistan, because the author will have a particular slant, but you may find certain facts correct and appropriate. Why on earth is it so difficult to do the same with articles in the Tablet?!
Most commenters have said it all already- but one further thing puzzles me: how is it that someone as woefully ignorant has been appointed to an academic post?
A thought for those who suggest that Professor Beattie should leave the Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict's anxiety for the unity of the Church has been expressed in a rather different direction by Summorum Pontificum and the rescinding of the excommunications and opening of a dialogue with the Society of St Pius X.
Should we not extend the same anxiety for unity in what is, politically speaking, the opposite direction as well? I am not sure what the equivalent of Summorum Pontificum is in the case of Professor Beattie, but we should be looking out for it.
I do not have a problem with the Professor voicing her personal opinions. I know nothing about her or her writings. I do not believe that anyone could or should label her or anyone a "heretic" without going through a proper process. Hopefully she will remain in the Church and grow in grace.
Where I think she may have a problem is in her being designed as a "Catholic theologian" (if in fact she is). As I understand it the term "Catholic theologian" is a technical term and not one to applied to someone lightly. It cannot be given to a Professor of Theology who happens to be a Catholic.
If she wishes to be recognised as a "Catholic theologian" she has to abide by the rules applicable to such theologians, e.g. Donum Veritatis (On the On the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian: see
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19900524_theologian-vocation_en.html).
She cannot say that an article in a blog to which the public have ready access is not "a publication". It is.
The blog article seems to offend a number of directions in Donum Veritatis. See:
"The theologian, to be faithful to his role of service to the truth, must take into account the proper mission of the Magisterium and collaborate with it. ...
Collaboration between the theologian and the Magisterium occurs in a special way when the theologian receives the canonical mission or the mandate to teach. In a certain sense, such collaboration becomes a participation in the work of the Magisterium, linked, as it then is, by a juridic bond. The theologian's code of conduct, which obviously has its origin in the service of the Word of God, is here reinforced by the commitment the theologian assumes in accepting his office, making the profession of faith, and taking the oath of fidelity.
From this moment on, the theologian is officially charged with the task of presenting and illustrating the doctrine of the faith in its integrity and with full accuracy. ...
When the Magisterium, not intending to act "definitively", teaches a doctrine to aid a better understanding of Revelation and make explicit its contents, or to recall how some teaching is in conformity with the truths of faith, or finally to guard against ideas that are incompatible with these truths, the response called for is that of the religious submission of will and intellect. This kind of response cannot be simply exterior or disciplinary but must be understood within the logic of faith and under the impulse of obedience to the faith. ...
25. Even when collaboration takes place under the best conditions, the possibility cannot be excluded that tensions may arise between the theologian and the Magisterium. The meaning attributed to such tensions and the spirit with which they are faced are not matters of indifference. If tensions do not spring from hostile and contrary feelings, they can become a dynamic factor, a stimulus to both the Magisterium and theologians to fulfill their respective roles while practicing dialogue.
26. In the dialogue, a two-fold rule should prevail. When there is a question of the communion of faith, the principle of the "unity of truth" (unitas veritatis) applies. When it is a question of differences which do not jeopardize this communion, the "unity of charity" (unitas caritatis) should be safeguarded.
27. Even if the doctrine of the faith is not in question, the theologian will not present his own opinions or divergent hypotheses as though they were non-arguable conclusions. Respect for the truth as well as for the People of God requires this discretion (cf. Rom 14:1-15; 1 Cor 8; 10: 23-33 ) . For the same reasons, the theologian will refrain from giving untimely public expression to them. "
Hopefully the Professor will reconsider the matter and withdraw the article.
Shadowlands response is the most soundly Catholic here ^shadowlands:)
The most disturbing thing I get from this thread, indirectly, relates to Pat Phillips link: catholic-feminism.co.uk where all its Catholic Family Publications links say their publications are no longer in operation, there's not even an alternative link given
I think what this is really about is that the prof and those like her lust for power themselves, and all their ridiculous theorising is no more than a battering ram to use to achieve that end.
+ Wolsey.
*sigh*
If she teaches the subject you would think she would attempt to understand it.
Ah well.
Is not the problem that no-one has ever heard of a Catholic Theologian until they become a "Well-known RC theologian" such as Davies, Curran and now Beattie?
Nicolas Bellord
More disturbing, in my opinion, is the article of hers that you linked to on abortion.
Rather than simply acknowledging that abortion kills a life but that in her opinion the circumstances of that particular case justify it, she attempts to make a case that the unborn baby becomes a human person "gradually".
She makes this case by appealing to the medieval concept of ensoulment.
And also, and this is what really grinds with me, she appears to be saying that the humanity of the baby develops in accordance with the growing consciousness of the mother in relation to it. This statement is supported by an explanation of how, in Christian theology, the understanding of personhood is fundamentally relational because we bear the image of the Trinity.
So now we have an explanation of the Trinity used to depersonalise and dehumanise a fetus. If the mother doesn't consciously relate to him, he's not fully human.
This makes no rational, scientific or moral sense.
It's always seemed obvious to me that babies are little human persons regardless of what their mothers thought.
But then I'm a midwife and not a philosopher, so it's probably all over my head.
There’s a childhood characteristic which most of us grow out of. It’s called showing off. For some adults it continues all their lives. They are forever pushing at boundaries, breaking rules and shouting “shan‘t“. You can name any number of “celebrities”, lobbyists and media folk who call attention to themselves, not by intellect or by argument but by poking out their tongues and spitting. Tina Beattie belongs to this genre. It’s so hard-wired they can’t help themselves.
They are the Violet Elizabeth Botts who thcweam and thcweam until they’re thick. It gets them headlines. It gets them talked about. Which is precisely what they want.
I am only surprised that Tina Beattie isn’t labelled “devout Roman Catholic”. That’s usually a sign that something is amiss. As for being part of the Catholic Establishment well, in the UK maybe, which seems long ago to have forgone any commitment to the Establishment of Christ’s ministry.
No doubt she will be one of the 2000 (yes, 2000) VIPs who won’t have to pay a cent to get into the Newman beatification Mass, while the PBI are expected to cough up £25. That’ll exclude a large chunk of the real Catholics who won’t be able to afford a ticket and the travel. The Pope will be surrounded by dissenters and, sadly, will meet very few priests and faithful who are his loyal supporters.
To borrow a phrase from the inimitable Fr Z: "And now the wheels come off Beattie's walker"
Yes Tina is very establishment, she also teaches 'Catholic Studies' at Roehampton. This is no surprise. Tina's PhD argued for female ordination in the Catholic Church. Here Supervisor was the famous liberal Ursula King.
Tina is very popular with Clifton Diocese too. She regularly gives seminars and workshops on teaching the Catholic Faith - the mind boggles why she would be asked in the first place.
http://www.cliftondiocese.com/catechists-symposium-2010
Fr. Ray,
When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith in Clifton Diocese?
I am not sure what the equivalent of Summorum Pontificum is in the case of Professor Beattie, but we should be looking out for it.
Perhaps, the pope could approve a motu proprio, for the likes of Tina Beattie to spew her venom in favour of abortion?
There is a vast difference between the SSPX and the likes of the Hebblewaite, Beattie, Mickens et al. To try and even put them in the same sentence is intellectually dishonest.
The more this kind of thing is seemingly endorsed by the Bishops of England and Wales the more I become convinced that they are all in schism.
"Today, I am ashamed to be Roman Catholic. It has become a Church blighted by ignorance, arrogance and the decadence of a dying regime mired in its own obsessive clinging to power."
Well, guess what, Tina? Today I AM ashamed to be a Roman Catholic woman who, sadly, you presume to speak for. Geez. WHO is 'blighted by ignorance, arrogance blah blah?' if its not you? Doesn't it strike you as even a little bit arrogant to brazenly proclaim that you know better than the Church that God came to earth to start a couple of thousand years ago?????
For my money, I'll take the Church's word over yours, ducky.
So this lady's PhD was acquired by writing about an impossibility ie arguing for female ordination in the Catholic Church. How on earth can an impossibility be marked?
Georgem mentions the term 'devout Roman Catholic'. I have come to the conclusion that the media has no idea what the word 'devout' means as I recently read in the Daily Mail about a 'devout atheist!'
You put it very succinctly Father – Our Lord’s guarantee that the Church will never fail but will last until the end of time.
So many people - otherwise intelligent - fail to distinguish between the failings of the members and the Mystical Body of Christ. But then Lucifer was the smartest of all the angels and he fell through pride. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing – and ‘a lot of knowledge’ can be a downright disaster!
“Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.”
I concur with what G said.
Francis said
" When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith in Clifton Diocese?"
He will find faith in the Clifton Diocese, I know 4 traditional Priests (including the SSPX priest in Bristol) and many traditional lay folk; however unless we are amongst ourselves we do keep quite about it; being a well known traddie in Clifton involves living with a bullseye painted on ones back, I'm all for signing the creed with ones blood but knowing those who are supposedly on your side are waiting to plunge daggers into your back is a bit much to ask for.
Thanks be to God for the net whereby we can contact each other in saftey
I would think that if you were ashamed to be a Roman Catholic then the likelihood is that you are probabily not one at all!
These days often to be Liberal is to be Heretic, and to be Conservative is to be Orthodox. It scares me to no end when the very people we should trust to keep us from error are leading us to hell.
What is she doing to that Benedictine in the picture. I hope she isn't poisoning his mind with liberalism.
Just another mad catholic said:
"He(Jesus) will find faith in the Clifton Diocese, I know 4 traditional Priests (including the SSPX priest in Bristol) and many traditional lay folk; however unless we are amongst ourselves we do keep quite about it"
Have I missed something in this thread, indeed amongst bloggers? Are we now stating that the only Roman Catholics with the kind of faith Jesus will accept on His return are trads and sspx's?
If so, I must state publicly and be held accountable one day for the following words, I do not believe that these are the only believers with faith. This kind of Catholic exclusivity is frightening to me, it brings a spirit of condemnation with it and I am sure it is not Catholic teaching and I urge fellow catholics not to start alligning themselves with groups in such a way.
The Pope doesn't state that these are the only people of faith within the Church, so neither should we. After all, if we are going to call out this woman for disobedience to Rome, we must check we are not guilty of the same thing. Our words might draw a person closer to Christ, or send them running. Dangerous ground to be treading on.
As far as I am aware, God loves Charismatics and non-Catholics and indeed anyone sincerely trying to follow and obey the Ten Commandments and answers their faith filled prayers just as much as the two preferred types here!! (shocking, isn't it? Then again, He's a God who likes to shock)!
shadowlands - I really don't understand why you have to throw a hissy fit at the comment by "Just another mad Catholic". Its quite obvious he is talking about finding faith within the Catholic diocese of Clifton, whose officials seem to be as far away from the Holy Father's aspirations as ever. It does make any references to non-Catholics at all.
As the late Msgr. Gilbey used to say, "God loves everyone uniquely" rather than equally.
We can certainly pray for this woman as Shadowlands has said,but we also have a responsibility to defend the Truth as revealed by Christ through the Church which He established. The point of Beattie's so called 'appeal' was to berate the Holy Father and the Church because Roman Catholicism teaches that the attempted ordination of women, by Catholic Bishops would constitute a grave error, as now clarified by the recently published new norms.Catholics who persist in the view that women should be ordained in the RC Church are rejecting the Church's teaching and wandering into enemy territory.
There is a new post on Prof Beaty blog explaining why she is still a Catholic.
SOME OF YOU MIGHT LEARN FROM IT!!!
Yes ABIE she became a Catholic to carry on the work of "Good King Hal"
Hestor,
I had to look up what a hissy fit actually is. Apparently it's this:
A sudden outburst of temper, often used to describe female anger at something trivial.
My point was, that there are good Catholics in Clifton diocese, who don't fit the trad or sspx mould/description, but Jesus would still consider them faith FULL Catholics. There does seem to be a trend developing, maybe just on blogger, that considers certain Catholics as elite and their preferred form of worship as seperate or the only valid way somehow and I try to counter this whenever I sniff a whiff, of it.
That is all I meant, I wasn't angry, just deadly serious.
Tina honey, don't let the door hit you where the good Lord Split you on your way out. And take those other creeps with you.
[It's news to this woman that Catholics don't ordain women? DUH.]
My understanding of what shadowlands is saying is that we are all on a path, e.g. St Paul - he turned himself around, how do we know, maybe because there was someone praying for him. Some of us get on the straight and narrow path easier than others - we should be praying very hard for the likes of Beattie and helping her to find the way not by condemning her but by patiently showing her the error of her ways. Anyhow, why do the bishops of E&W encourage people like her??
I find it very difficult to comprehend dissident Catholics. As Catholics, we should surely want to be fully in communion with the Holy See, rather than despising it. But it seems like some people are predisposed to reject anything that comes from that quarter. Why is that? Why do they seem to hate their own Church? Have they absorbed alien currents of thought or a hostile attitude from outside?
Take it from one who knows: if you're not "Catholic and Loving It" you're probably not Catholic at all, and you need to give very serious thought to that. One thing's certain - nothing is more prejudicial to your salvation than living in a constant state of bitterness, "shame", resentment and anger. Paradoxically, it's those liberals who insist on remaining "Catholic" while detesting everything "Rome" represents who are in fact the very worst kind of legalist.
Gem: ROFL
I agree with what epsilon is saying about praying for Tina Beattie and patiently showing her the error of her ways, but it's worth pointing out that she is in a position to do considerable good or harm to others. If she holds a licence to teach Catholic theology, then consideration could be given to withdrawing it if she is contradicting Church teaching. This is not a matter of restricting academic freedom but of requiring academic honesty.
RJ "I find it very difficult to comprehend dissident Catholics"
I think it's like not being able to comprehend cold fire or hot snow. The adjective simply does not link with the noun.
Quite right Shadowlands. It is easy to get carried away when considering and discussing those who seem to say things that are contrary to the faith. We must remember that our own faults may be worse. Besides she might even be right once in a while.
But it would be better if those who struggle to support the teaching of the Church were not presented as guardians of the Faith by having the title of Catholic theologian and trustee of a Catholic publication.
Shadowlands.
first apologies I should have been more specific; whilst I would admit that there are good and faithfull Catholics in Clifton that are not trads (of any description) the sad fact is that from my experiance many Catholics in clifton treat the Church as something akin to a sunday social club and ignore many of her teachings.
Anybody who has serious concerns about Ms Beatty should communicate them to William Cardinal Levada, Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio, Piazza del Sant'Uffizio 11 00120 Vatican City State.
Just another mad catholic
No apology neccessary, but thank you anyway.
God bless.
This reminds me of Peter Simple of the "Daily Telegraph" writing about the "Professor" at "Stechford University" (a former technical college) who spouted barely comprehesible jargon of a psuedo-sociological nature.
It does not take long for satire to be fulfilled by reality.
The Catholic hierarchy appears to be rather keen on appointing feminists to professorships in theology. The Roehampton case has a precedent in the appointment at Southampton - a well established university in the Russell Group - of a radical feminist as Professor of Catholic theology. It would not appear to be an isolated incident. See William Oddie "The Roman Option" pp122-123. Mary Grey, appointed to the Southampton Chair, wished to "search for the lost goddess from before the rise of patriarchy". Her appointment had the vote of Bishop Hollis, who said "It marks an exciting moment in the history of theological teaching in Southampton and the diocese" (p123).
Post a Comment