Witch Hunts

Check out Rick Lugari’s new blog De Civitate Dei (or City of God for the Latin-challenged like me) which replaces Unam Sanctum. I especially thought the quotes he has under "The buzz around town" to be pretty funny, especially the one from St. Terese. He is also the wit behind Musum Pontificalis.

He links to an article about Newton parishioners holding a vigil to protest Fr. Cuenin’s resignation.

"It has all the earmarks of a witch hunt and must be stopped," said Margaret Roylance, an Our Lady parishioner.

Sometimes it seems from the news stories that the only time a vigil is held in Boston is when a church closes down or a pastor is forced to resign. If only we could get all of their energy expended in sit-ins and protests involved in prayer for vocations and for the Church. Now of course Fr. Cuenin is, shall we say, not exactly a stalwart defender of the faith. It does seem though that the term "witch hunt" is appearing more and more. It was used in connection with the resignation of America magazine’s Father Reese, the seminary visitations, and now Fr. Cuenin and just keeps popping up. The term witch hunt is disingenuous to say the least. It is more like a fox hunt or should I say a Matthew Fox hunt. Their implication is that the search is for something nonexistent. I only wish a heterodox hunt was as firmly in our imagination as any historic witch hunts were. And if you are going to make the case for a with hunt, Fr. Cuenin would not be my first defense exhibit.

Now I kind of like the idea being a heterodox hunter, though not in a inquisitional sense. The thought of going out with a group wearing orange vests, funky hats, and water guns filled with Holy Water sounds fun. Now we wouldn’t need hunting jackets with suede elbow patches for reinforcement. More like pants with knee pads for prolonged praying. We could put up a priest stand in a church on one of the columns and pray in quiet until we see are target and then unload our Holy Water Blasters at him. Though I don’t know how they would react to being tied up to the roof of my car, but I would guess much better than being mounted on a wall in my living room. Now of course being a heterodox hunter is not much sport. It is kind of like going on a hunting safari at a zoo. Unfortunately being a orthodox hunter would be much more challenging.

Now of course this is in jest and I much more admire the actions of our Holy Father Benedict XVI:

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI met with one of his fiercest critics, the Swiss dissident theologian Hans Kueng, in yet another sign the pontiff wants to reach out to prominent Catholics who fell from grace under his predecessor.

In an interview with the Associated Press from his home in Tuebingen, Germany, Kueng called Saturday’s meeting "extraordinary" but said that it was wrong to speak of reconciliation.

"I am sure that this will be seen in the Catholic world, and even more than that, as a hopeful sign because it shows that [Benedict] has more positive intentions than maybe what was seen at the beginning," Kueng said.

The two former university colleagues met for several hours and had a friendly theological discussion, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement Monday. He said the two did not discuss the "magisterial" differences that divide Kueng and the Catholic Church.

Wow meeting with the SSPX, Oriana Fallaci, and now Hans Küng he must sure have some diverse and interesting conversations. Our German Shepherd is truly a shepherd who tries to bring in some of the flock who have strayed.

… As a result of their differences, the meeting Saturday was very significant, said the Rev. Richard McBrien, a liberal theologian at the University of Notre Dame.

"That the new pope granted him an audience – and such a lengthy and friendly one at that – indicates that he intends to be more of a [conciliator] than was his predecessor, at least insofar as it affects members of the Catholic Church itself," McBrien said in an e-mail message. "As we know, John Paul II built many bridges to those outside the Church, but his record was far from illustrious internally."

…"That he dedicated to me so many hours – and this was extraordinary – I am happy that this was possible," Kueng said. "That he talked to me is a very significant event. I asked his predecessor for 25 years to see him," he added. [Source]

Well neither Küng or McBrien could keep themselves from taking potshots at our previous pope. Obviously our current and late Holy Fathers have different styles, but there love for their flock is very much the same.

There is another amazing thing about this article. It came from the AP and before the word theologian was dissident in Küng’s case and liberal in McBrien’s case.