"My sister Teresa and I attended his talk and a few other TOT talks. After we heard how heretical and mocking of Church teaching these speakers were, we decided to make a couple of signs to hold out in front of Holy Name Cathedral for TOT’s concluding Mass. Our signs simply read ‘FOR TRUE CHURCH ANSWERS READ THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’ and ‘QUESTION THE AGENDA OF THEOLOGY ON TAP.’
"We remained on the sidewalk, out of the way of pedestrians, and spoke to people who wanted to chat with us about their experience with TOT. We had the Catechism of the Catholic Church with us and showed it to those with whom we spoke. The associate director of the Young Adult Ministry, Kate DeVries, came out and demanded to know what we were doing there; she stomped off while we were answering her.
"The Chicago police arrived shortly after and ordered us off the sidewalk. They said there is an ordinance prohibiting demonstrations near church services. Remember, however, that SNAP and Rainbow Sash demonstrations — or those by any other group that wants to protest Catholic teaching and practice — are always seemingly ‘welcome.’
"The police made us go to the other side of the street where our signs couldn’t be seen by those whom we were trying to influence. Father John Cusick, director of the Young Adult Ministry, came out after Mass and gave the police a big ‘atta-boy’ pat on the back and hand shake for making us move. This whole program is nothing but political conditioning.
"Pay Byrnes and another speaker, Friar John Paul Cafiero, both ridiculed and dismissed the Catechism as ‘their’ rule book. Somehow the suggestion of the Catechism in any way at TOT really hits a nerve.
"We are currently composing a letter to Cardinal George about our experience. We thought you would like to hear our story; and we thought you would appreciate that there were others who also were uncomfortable with the TOT program."
This program is hot – that is Heterodoxy On Tap. I guess though it might take a few beers for this type of theology to start to make sense.
22 comments
I attended a few “Theology on Tap” talks in the diocese of Nashville several years ago, and thankfully my experience was very different from what is described here. The talks were always given by a local priest or deacon, and were always orthodox as far as I could tell. I certainly am saddened to hear about the problems with this program in Chicago though.
God Bless you and your work.
I agree with the first post. My experience with Theology on Tap in Denver has been great and is a great way to encourage younger folks to listen to a good discussion on often difficult topics. I listened to an ethicist on stem cells and an NFP doctor talk about NFP. Our Archbishop has been there several times as well.
I would encourage anyone to find a local ToT and check it out. I pray that Chicago gets back on track.
Where in the Catechism does it say pro-life and Catholic activist Paula Emmerth decides what is heretical and what isn’t?
Wow. This gives me more incentive to check out TOT here in Houston. I’ll be sure to bring my Bible and the Catechism.
Good work. We must have a Gideon type service for the Catechism sometime soon. A copy in every family kind of thing.
How’s this for a shocker? The TOT meetings in St. Paul MN (“infamous” Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis) that I’ve attended were not heterodox either.
I went to TOT last year in the Archdiocese of Washington,DC. It was very good and orthodox. And for all his foibles, Cardinal McCarrick let the Latin Mass be celebrated at a convient time and convenient location which was really well attended the time I went.
Yeah, I’ve got good stories about TOT from Columbus, as well — the Chicago chicanery is an anomoly, that’s for sure.
I also love Theology on Tap. As a 20 year old, it’s a great way to stay connected with friends from home while on break from college. Our speakers usually do not dig too deep into Church teaching, but speakers do use the Catechism and weekday Mass readings – encouraging us to develop a relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. And, our final session this summer was from Bishop Doran. Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t go to Chicago from Rockford for the closing Mass, but I also echo the sadness that Chicago’s seems to not be orthodox.
I went to TOT here in Chicago this year and I would say it was mixed. Things are getting better here, but there is still a long way to go. The Young Adult office is still very heterodox.
Some of the TOT was fabulous. Very solid and Catholic. In particular a talk by the head of pre-Cana for the Archdiocese was great.
Then there was some that was a bit squishy. A litany of the Saints that included Ghandi and Martin Luther King (both not Saints, not even Catholic). A Mass explanation that included no reference to the Real Presence or the sacrifice of the Mass – and a long explanation of why we shouldn’t kneel.
The finale Mass at the Cathedral was nice. Not my style (lots of Haugen/Haas Music) but nice. I didn’t see the protestors, I likely would have gone over to say bravo!
So sad to hear about the events in Chicago. I’m on my TOT planning team and we’ve brought in a variety of speakers. From my limited experience, the content and speaker selection depend largely on those people on the planning team. When some cool young adults who happened to be orthodox started helping out with TOT, we saw the likes of converts, priests & religious, and fired-up laypeople. Most of them have been engaging speakers, which helps when speaking to an audience with a range of orthodoxy. Good beer, free food, and a great speaker: priceless.
I think the problem with programs like these is that they are designed to be taught by experts and those not really well educated in the faith — which is a great way to see a catechetical program spread over a greater area in a shorter amount of time.
The problem is, because it is “theology lite” some more politically motivated folks will take advantage of these programs and abuse them towards evil ends.
There is no such thing, as far as I know, of a program that trains and liscences lay people to teach the catechism, but obviously that is what is needed here.
Maybe the “Theology Lite” is a by product of lite beers. Now, had they been drinking some yummy Trappist beers…
I’ve attended three meetings of Theology on Tap in Cincinnati. Very orthodox theology. The three presenters I saw, in order of appearance, were 1) a diocesan priest talking about church teaching on sexuality (including homosexuality); 2) a Dominican priest speaking about his devotional experience with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and 3) an exteremely powerful personal witness from an adult convert who overcame addiction through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments. All were extremely grounded in the teaching of the Church.
It sounds to me like we need to send some emails to the good ole Cardinal Geroge about his very anti-Catholic youth ministry team. This is an outrage that should be exposed throughout the nation.
Thank God for Catholics mentioned in the article who are not afraid to stand up for the Truth.
And thank God that the majority of TOT are supportive of what the church teaches unlike the one in Chicago.
Catholics should find out why the good Cardinal allows those who disagree with fundamental church teachings are allowed to organize these functions to begin with.
The Arch. of Cincinnati has two TOT programs: Cincinnati and Dayton. I have never attended one in Cinci., and the few I was able to attend in Dayton have been fine with me. I would not say anything condemnatory about that.
Perhaps things in Chicago are weird in regards to this?
I went to four TOT meetings in the Ardiocese of Los Angeles about five years ago. One was very orthodox. Another was very heretical. The other two were of the “Christ loves us no matter what (true) so there’s no sense in talking about right and wrong (false)” sort.
I wish there had been someone protesting when I signed up for RCIA a few years back… When we did a lesson on Mary, they invited an embittered nun who informed us that she had done the research, and the virgin birth was a misogynistic sham… What I didn’t get is how she could be so bitter at “the Church” when she was a protestant convert…Anyway, keep up the good work guys… these sorts of things can harm people spiritually, and can take years to get over. I know. It was 5 years before I came back to Christ’s True Church after this experience.
StubbleSpark, the Catholic Distance University has a program similar to what you mention. Hopefully it will become more popular/required in coming years!
I attended three ToT sessions in the Archdiocese of Chicago this year and did not experience any problems. I saw the protestors outside the cathedral but didn’t get a chance to talk with them before my group headed inside.
I think it is a little unfair to criticize the entire program based on a few speakers. To be fair, however, the talks I attended did not really need to delve too deeply into Church teaching, as they discussed leadership, discernment, and faith in everyday life. I can see how there might have been problems in some of the more theology-based sessions.
Overall, I think the Archdiocese does a great job. I especially enjoyed the homily given by the Bishop presiding over the finale Mass.
The problem lies with the Chicago YAM leadership; they should be replaced. There is one positive thing to say about them, though: At least one (orthodox) parish reportedly is allowed by the YAM office to choose its own (orthodox) speakers.
But for most of the parishes hosting TOT, it’s the YAM leadership that does the organizing.