Friday, July 20, 2007
Dutch Priest Speaks at a FCC Workshop
This post may get me into hot soup but I think we need to address the problem of the watering down of doctrine in the midst of heightened ecumenism and religious liberty.
Retired dutch priest waters down the Catholic faith in a workshop with members of the Free Community Church (FCC). The FCC is an inclusive protestant church founded by a former Methodist bishop and is the first 'gay church' in Singapore.
"Everybody can go to heaven; baptised or not baptised", "People suffer under the teaching of the Church", "I hope, even if it is against the teaching of the pope, I hope that in my lifetime I will see women priests".
Too much Alpha? Perhaps. Catholics cannot put our faith on the table and tell people, "Hey, this is what we belief. See if you can gel with it." Neither do we water down the teachings of the Church to allow others to feel more comfortable; this is the Faith that our the saints and martyrs were persecuted and even died for.
Where has our 2000 years of Christian tradition gone?
In the next few posts- when my schedule permits- we'll look at salvation and the teaching of the Church, the teaching authority of the Church, and women priests.
Mother of the Church, interceed for us!
Labels: Rants/Musings/Thoughts, Video
The RC Ch is wonderful and I have a deep love (and lament) for our dear Mother Church.
-Wang-
: Monday, July 23, 2007 1:39:00 AMThey would be scandalized should they hear him make such a remark.
Let me draw an analogy. It may well be that what one does is not wrong at all. But if one thinks it is and does it anyway, well, the person is corrupt. That's sin! OR what one does may really be wrong. But if one does not honestly think so and does it, well, the person's heart is not really amiss. The person may be uninformed, naive, or stupid, and even dangerous, but unless the person has neglected properly informing him/herself, he/she is not sinful.
BUT Let's assume that Jim adheres to the latter illustration. Jim does not need to confess what is not sin and can still partake of the sacraments. However, if his believe/conviction becomes too loud (by his own making) and he begins promoting them, to a point where it scandalizes others, Jim is guilty.
A scandal does more than make the listening party's hair stand, it may cause the person to lose faith=salvation. That is a grave sin. Assume that the scandalized party isn't Catholic... the scandal would be strong enough to make him think twice about the Catholic Church.
We must avoid scandal.
Ok, so now let us assume that Fr. Renkens really believes with all his heart that he is in no fault of his own; that he really believes that Jesus died once and fall all for all men to attain paradise, that Women ordination should be on the next papal agenda, etc... Based on the illustration in italics, he cannot be faulted. However, his opinions were recorded (I'm sure he knew) and was uploaded online. Didn't he think twice? Didn't he think of the reprecussions?
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
