From an article by Joe Beck.
As a Catholic who favors abortion rights and opposes the death penalty, I came away from an interview with Bishop John D’Arcy relieved that he has no interest in starting a conflict over denying Communion to those of us who disagree with church teachings on political issues.
There is something deeply wrong when a Catholic pro-abortion reporter can come away from an interview with one of our bishops and feel relieved.
5 comments
Sooooo…if D’Arcy doesn’t preach, doesn’t teach, doesn’t articulate the faith, what does he do for a living? That’s my question and has been for a long time.
As I mentioned on another blog, I smell a rat in this article.
For anyone who’s followed Bishop D’Arcy’s career, he is one of our most faithful and stalwart bishops. You’ll remember he made headlines last month for disrupting a couple of speaking engagements in his diocese by cancelling pro-abort speakers. He’s also strong on the issue of homosexuality, especially in the seminaries. D’Arcy is no friend of the looney left. I suspect there’s quite a bit of spin on this article.
What’s funny here is that the reporter frames it in terms of “political issues”. Apparently abortion is not a moral or ethical issue. And denying the Eucharist is not an ecclesical issue. In the U.S. since virtually every moral issue has a political component that means a cleric cannot deny the Eucharist for any reason. Wasn’t this teaching condemned in the late 1800’s as part of the “Americanism” heresy.
Ken
I have lived in that Diocese, both as a student at ND and then as a teacher at a Catholic High School. D’Arcy talks a good game, sometimes, but he doesn’t back it up. He has a great person in charge of Catechetics, but our kids who have done things on the Diocesan level with Youth Ministry have walked away with the impression that the Diocese supports women’s ordination, homosexuality, and thinks that the pro-life position is something to be ashamed of.
Seriously he’s not an easy guy to understand. On the one hand he seems completely reasonable, and on the other, he is swimming with Weakland and Untner.
I have seen him treat very good and faithful priests very badly and I have seen him reject faithful and good candidates for the seminary (who later were accepted by other dioceses known for their faithful bishops) for no apparent reason.
He thinks his decisions are infallible.
Something deeply wrong with the Bishop…….. :***( Let’s keep him in our prayers.