Another Bishop Who Takes His Teaching Responsibility Seriously

(Hat tip: The Cafeteria is Closed)

From the latest column by Milwaukee Archbishop Thomas Dolan:

Today I want to share with you some great signs of hope and vitality in the archdiocese. But, before that, I need to speak with you about three unfortunate issues.

The first issue concerns Daniel Maguire, a professor at Marquette University. He has dramatically dissented from clear church teaching for decades. After my arrival here four years ago, I sought counsel as to whether or not I should publicly warn the faithful about his erroneous opinions. Voices I considered wise advised me that this was not necessary, since the great majority of our people already recognize his views as clearly inconsistent with legitimate Catholic teaching.

Regrettably, he recently has widely distributed two pamphlets claiming that, as preposterous as I know it sounds, abortion and same-sex marriage are consistent with Catholic teachings. Because of the response generated among shocked and thoughtful people in the archdiocese, I feel obliged to exercise my teaching responsibilities and say such positions are blatantly erroneous and contrary to the clear teaching of the church. To claim the acceptability of such opinions is simply wrong and disingenuous.

The second issue concerns the woman from our archdiocese who regrettably participated in a simulation of the sacrament of holy orders on a barge on a river in Pittsburgh. With the exception of a few inquiries from the media, the event has not generated a great deal of public comment, since most people seem to realize that her claims to ordination are groundless. People are saddened to see the sacraments, intended to be a source of unity, become an occasion for lobbying a personal agenda.

My duty was to notify the Apostolic See (the Vatican) of this episode. When another group staged a similar event about four years ago — an episode now for the most part forgotten — the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared the participants sadly to be separated juridically from the church.

The third issue has to do with the “Call to Action” conference scheduled for Milwaukee this November. As you may recall, this group, based in Chicago, has been meeting in Milwaukee for decades. This group was actually initiated by the bishops 30 years ago, and started off asking some legitimate questions.

But they have gotten way off track. In this case as well, I inquired some years ago what impact this annual meeting has on the archdiocese, and was told, almost none. Our Catholic people, I was advised, recognize that this is a group that has taken stands totally outside the bounds of church teaching.

Unfortunately, as stated in the official program of this year’s conference, the leadership of that group has decided to include in the program an invitation to invalidly ordained “priests and bishops” to “celebrate a liturgy.”

Here again it becomes my teaching responsibility to state clearly that such an action would make any claim of Catholic identity by the group to be misleading. Faithful Catholics attending these sessions would only promote division and disunity rather than genuine renewal in the church.

People ask why I “allow” Call to Action to meet in Milwaukee. This group, of course, hardly asks my permission, and pays little attention to what any bishop, including the Bishop of Rome, has to say.

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Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Bishop Blair Teaches: "And With Your Spirit"