Recent days have seen more well-known Catholics adding their names to the growing list of persons speaking out in the wake of the public Kennedy funeral, particularly against the prelates who lent their support to the scandal that left Americans "totally confused about what it means to be Catholic." A couple of relevant quotations appear below.
* ALL President Judie Brown stated that: "The entire travesty, from the television cameras to spectacle itself, goes beyond anything I have witnessed in my more than 65 years of life. In fact, while we all thought the appearance of President Barack Obama at the University of Notre Dame was a scandal, the very idea that he offered a eulogy in a basilica, while the Real Presence of Christ was in the tabernacle, is perhaps the most dastardly thing I have ever seen. America witnessed this nation's most avid supporter of abortion on demand, standing in a Catholic basilica, during the Mass, speaking of a fellow pro-abort in glowing terms! That alone is such an insult to Christ that words simply cannot express my sorrow. Yet a greater source of sadness is that the Cardinal Sean O'Malley, of the Archdiocese of Boston, looked on as though insulting Christ Himself were an everyday occurrence."
* EWTN News Director Raymond Arroyo, after noting the "marvelous bit of political theatre (as so much of Senator Kennedy’s funeral was)" and the Cardinal's "rather unfortunate history involving the delivery of letters, particularly those from a certain Vatican official by the name of Ratzinger" said: "The prayer intercessions at the funeral mass, the endless eulogies, the image of the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston reading prayers, and finally Cardinal McCarrick interring the remains sent an uncontested message: One may defy Church teaching, publicly lead others astray, deprive innocent lives of their rights, and still be seen a good Catholic, even an exemplary one. The casual viewer is tempted to think that Catholicism has become a Church of externals where core doctrines and major teachings are as malleable as they are in the nearest Protestant community... As a final desperate attempt to stamp the imprimatur of the Pope upon the funereal proceedings, Cardinal McCarrick read what he called the 'Pope’s response' to Senator Kennedy. Actually it was a note, very likely from the Secretariat of State. This is the sort of thing any member of laity receives when they send a prayer request or a Christmas card to the Pope. Cardinal McCarrick made is seem as if it had the weight of a new encyclical."
Of course these represent just a few of the many critical responses from Catholics who are scandalized by what they saw last weekend. Unfortunately, though, since so many prelates seem to have forgotten what the word scandal even means, it seems it might take a miracle for them to have a change of heart on such matters. But, as we know, miracles do happen - so keep praying! And, if you haven't yet voiced your concerns to those involved, why not do so now?
[9/2]
Posts
