Denver, Colo., Jul 20, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- From a young age, Catholics are taught to pray about and discern their vocations – whether they’re called to marriage, to the religious life, to the priesthood, or consecrated single life.
This can leave the lay single person feeling that they are in a vocational limbo of sorts, and it’s become a topic of much heated and emotional debate in the Catholic blogosphere: have these people missed their vocation? Is the lay single state, chosen or by default, a vocation?
But actually, at the end of the day – does it matter?
Fr. Ben Hasse is a vocations director for the Diocese of Marquette, Wisc. He said addressing the topic of singleness in the Church can be difficult because of the emotions surrounding the issue.
“I have quite a few friends who would like to be married, so there’s a much more emotional investment in the question because there’s more people who find themselves single” rather than having specifically chosen it, he said.
Recognizing the emotional weight of the topic, Fr. Hasse noted that there are many aspects to addressing the question of vocation and singleness that need to be taken into account, and that it can be difficult – and dangerous – to make generalizations about a population in the Church that is actually very diverse.
Being specific about singleness
Fr. Hasse said that he has found it’s helpful as a pastor to approach singleness very specifically – whether it’s a college student who hopes to marry someday, or a widower who lost her husband last month, being single encompasses a wide variety of people and circumstances.
“Everybody will be single for at least part of their life. Nobody is born as a priest or married to someone or a consecrated religious, so everyone will pass through being single,” he said.
“It’s important to distinguish between people who are single because that’s kind of where you’re at when you’re 16, versus someone who has really felt God calling them to give their life in service to the Church as a single person,” or various other circumstances.
For example, a single 19-year-old college student is probably not necessarily living a vocation of singleness in any settled way, Fr. Hasse said, but a person in their 40s who finds joy in serving Christ in their everyday circumstances of work and life “is not someone I would say lacks a vocation.”
“It would be different from the way we usually use the word because it wouldn’t be defined, and made concrete by vows or promises,” he said.
“But the single accountant or school teacher could certainly live their life and see the work of their hands as something they’re offering to God, and live that in a very spiritually fruitful way, and I wouldn’t say – now here’s a person without a vocation.”
Your vocation is given at baptism
Jason Coito, Coordinator of Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told CNA that most of the debates surrounding singleness and vocation rely “on a very narrow definition of vocation, or confuses the term with what we refer to as ‘states in life,’” he said.
He said when we become fixated on discerning our state in life, referred to in the Church as the primary vocation, “…we become so focused on the ranking of them, rather than looking at each day or the bigger picture and saying, here are all of these components of my life, now how am I called to live the promise of my baptism and of my life, and how do these things work together?”
It can be helpful instead to refocus these debates and conversations on the universal vocation to holiness that each Christian receives at their baptism, Coito said.
“I think this helpfully reframes the conversation and then asks us, ‘How is God calling me to make a response to Him and to my brothers and sisters from within the state in life in which I find myself?’”
This respects every vocation, because it’s a question anyone can answer on any given day in their life, regardless of their state in life, he said.
“You do have a vocation. All baptized Catholics are called to live their lives as disciples of Jesus. This is the foundational call of our lives as Catholics,” he said.
“If you feel deeply called to get married, and you have prayerfully discerned and confirmed this call, then until you meet the person you feel called to get married to, you continue to live out your baptismal call, open to the people and circumstances that God puts in front of you each day. For those who are married, we do pretty much the same thing, except that we do this out of the sacramental relationship we have with our spouse,” he said.
In Lumen Gentium, one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI wrote about the universal call to holiness each Christian has:
“Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history.”
Fr. Hasse reiterated the importance of the baptismal call to holiness, and said that this call is not something to “settle for,” but rather should be the primary focus of our lives as Christians.
“The call to holiness is not some second-string operation,” he said.
“It’s not like – wow I really wish I had something important to work towards, but since I don’t, sanctity will have to tide me over until the beatific vision.”
“So I think a reappropriation of the universal call to holiness, which is deeply, profoundly significant, it’s the one that matters in a sense, and we’re all called to that,” he said.
The big lie: You are incomplete until you’ve made vows
Coito noted that one of the worst patterns of thinking that a Catholic can fall into when thinking about vocation is to believe that they are somehow less-than or incomplete until they are married, or are a priest or in a religious order.
When he taught high school religion, Coito said he would ask his students to recall the famous line from Jerry Macquire, when he tells his love interest (played by Renee Zellweger): “You complete me.”
“I would always tell them that from a Catholic perspective, that’s ridiculous. It wasn’t as though before marriage you were incomplete, or that a priest before his ordination is incomplete. God already made us whole and entire,” he said.
“We’ve been given everything as human beings that God intends us to have, so to begin to think of ourselves as somehow unfinished…we can joyfully be living out our vocation already right now.”
Part of this mentality has seeped in from the culture, he said, which tends to romanticize love and to view marriage as another achievement or milestone in life, rather than as a sacrament.
“I think it’s important to address the mentality that if I’m not married or in a community or ordained that I’m this sort of ‘Catholic arrested development’ or ‘suspended animation,’” he said.
The belief that marriage or religious life will also magically make us completely fulfilled is also a mentality that can set people up for disappointment, he noted.
“It ends up being a Disney sort of (mentality) of happily ever after, but it’s much more Paschal mystery than happily ever after,” he said.
Finding fulfillment: It’s about self-gift
The reasons that there are more single people in the Church now than in other times in recent history are many and varied – an emphasis on education, a culture that values individualism, higher rates of divorce and economic factors are just some of the many reasons there are more singles in the pews.
But this doesn’t mean that human nature has changed – we are still made for love, self-gift and service, Fr. Ben Hasse said.
“Trying to schedule events in our lives that will make us happy at some point that doesn’t really work,” he said. “Happiness is richest and fullest kind of as a by-product of gifts of love and of service.”
“There’s almost a way where you can attend to the basic dynamics of seeking to live a life of holiness, and that’s the actually the path that’s going to leave you more and more disposed to receive his call,” he said.
In particular, acts of service can be a key way to find fulfillment regardless of one’s state in life, he said.
“Look for opportunities to give of yourself,” he said. “It’s also a good way to meet other people who have a similar disposition…doing that has very real potential to fill one’s heart, and leaves you more and more receptive to (God’s) call.”
Soley utilizing acts of service as a way to find a spouse would be unhealthy, Fr. Hasse added, but serving alongside like-minded people, and finding others who share your values is a good way to find authentic community, in whatever form that may take.
What the Church has to say about single people
Pope John Paul II, who wanted to be known as ‘the Pope of the family’, wrote in his familial document “Familiaris Consortio” that those without a family must be able to find their family within the Church. In fact, the entire final section of this document is dedicated to single people.
This is a subject with which John Paul II would have been intimately familiar – by the age of 20, all of his immediate family on earth had passed away, and he surrounded himself with good friends that essentially became his family.
In the document,he wrote: “For those who have no natural family the doors of the great family which is the Church-the Church which finds concrete expression in the diocesan and the parish family, in ecclesial basic communities and in movements of the apostolate-must be opened even wider. No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who ‘labor and are heavy laden.’”
The Catechism of the Catholic also recognizes “the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live – often not of their choosing – are especially close to Jesus’ heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors.” (CCC 1658).
Practical advice from single Catholics
Still, it can sometimes be difficult for single people to know where they fit in the Church. Parishes are often structured around family life, which can make it challenging for single people to find community.
Judy Keane is a 40-something single Catholic and author of “Single and Catholic,” a book in which she interviewed numerous single Catholics of a wide variety of ages, circumstances and backgrounds about their experiences in the Church.
“Mother Teresa once said that the greatest poverty is loneliness, and feeling discounted by society,” Keane said.
“So I would say (to married people in the parish): approach single people, connect with them, take that initiative to introduce yourself, not make them feel like because they don’t have a spouse and children in the pew with them that they’re no less a member of the parish community,” she said.
MaryBeth Bonacci is a Catholic author and speaker who has often written on the topic of being a single Catholic. She said she loves it when people in her parish help her feel included in their families and lives.
“Some people would say ‘Oh well she wouldn’t want to go to a 1-year-old’s birthday party.’ Yeah I would!” she said. “We don’t have our exciting singles lives that you think we have, I’m at home eating cottage cheese and watching Simpsons reruns, it’s not that exciting.”
Bonacci said she’s also had a friend at her parish who told her she was invited to her family’s dinner any time. And she didn’t wait to make good on the invitation – she followed up with Bonacci every day.
“She would call me every day at 3:00 and say, am I setting a place for you? And I didn’t go every night…but she actually called every day, and said if you want to come, we’ll set a place for you, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciated that.”
She added that she appreciates when parishes make an effort to create a cohesive community, rather than always segregating people into groups according to their states in life.
Both Bonacci and Keane said that they especially have noticed that there are many single elderly Catholics who are alone, whether they’ve never been married or have since lost their spouse.
“If you’re having a family Sunday dinner, why not try to befriend an elderly single person who may have lost their spouse and say we’re having our family dinner, would you like to join us?” Keane said.
It’s also important to remember that God acts in unexpected says, and oftentimes frustration with one’s state in life stems from a place of thinking about vocation or God’s will too rigidly, Fr. Hasse noted.
“If I’m talking to someone who says well most of my friends seem to have found their vocation and I haven’t, what do I do? I usually say man, the saints are people that God caught in all kinds of unexpected situations and places,” Fr. Hasse said.
“So there’s lots of precedent for thinking God has passed me by or hasn’t answered my prayers” but then he shows up in unexpected ways, he said.
[…]
How can there not be a mass exodus from that Mass? Oh, I know. We have a sentiment over substance Church.
Oh, fabulous.
So our parishes are now advocating for offbeat sexual practices.
I hope that by commenting on this abomination I will not be turned into a pillar of salt.
Cupich. Papa.
This practice is emesis. Pure emesis.
Let’s get down to some brass tacks regarding Chicago’s Cupich and Francis’ Catholic restorationists seeking reverence for Christ rather than bowing down, back and sideways to seriously disordered and dishonored laity and priests.
VCII’s Sacrosanctum Concilium says the liturgy “is thus the outstanding means by which the faithful can express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church. It is of the essence of the Church…. that in her the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, which we seek.”
Canon law, 767 says: “Among the forms of preaching the homily is preeminent; it is a part of the liturgy itself and is reserved to a priest or to a deacon; in the homily the mysteries of faith and the norms of Christian living are to be expounded from the sacred text throughout the course of the liturgical year. Whenever a congregation is present a homily is to be given at all Sunday Masses and at Masses celebrated on holy days of obligation; it cannot be omitted without a serious reason.”
In 1980, John Paul II promulgated “Inaestimabile Donum”
Instruction Concerning Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery
Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship
The document addressed common liturgical abuses at that time, one of which was lay people giving homilies.
From the document: “One who offers worship to God on the Church’s behalf in a way contrary to that which is laid down by the Church with God-given authority and which is customary in the Church is guilty of falsification.”(Aquinas)
“None of these things [liturgical abuses] can bring good results. The consequences are–and cannot fail to be–the impairing of the unity of Faith and worship in the Church, doctrinal uncertainty, scandal and bewilderment among the People of God, and the near inevitability of violent reactions.”
“The faithful have a right to a true Liturgy, which means the Liturgy desired and laid down by the Church,…Undue experimentation, changes and creativity bewilder the faithful….The Second Vatican Council’s admonition in this regard must be remembered: “No person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove or change anything in the Liturgy on his own authority.”
Finally,
“3. The purpose of the homily is to explain to the faithful the Word of God proclaimed in the readings, and to apply its message to the present. Accordingly the homily is to be given by the priest or the deacon.”
I agree with you. But also, look at where they’re at, Chicago. Another one of those “blue cities”. That said, what else can one expect?!
[Pietrzyk] “…reiterated that the fact that they are living publicly as a same-sex married couple — a state the Church teaches to be sinful — cannot simply be ignored.“
Oh, Jonah, not to worry. The Diocese of Chicago isn’t ignoring that fact.
Not hardly.
They’re celebrating it.
Can two gay “dads” create a natural family?
And we don’t think that the local Church (and here I am referring to the diocese) in Chicago hasn’t apostacized? Wake up…someone with authority.
Yes, are we seriously to believe that behind this event there is no backstory of a leadership vacuum, or hhinting, acquiescence or even approval?
Something like Mission Impossible! “As always, should you or any of you be caught, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape/disc will self-destruct in five/ten seconds. Good luck, guys,” or whatever.
But, hey, the idea is to get something to stick to the wall, and then to call those feces the “paradigm shift.”
Two fathers preaching on Father’s day! Sad! So very sad
Not really two “fathers”; one is the “husband” and the other is his “wife.” And when the wife clarifies this arrangement, the husband will back her up.
Fatherhood through leagalized kidnapping is not fatherhood. Neither is worshiping of one’s sins at Mass an act of fatherhood.
Just when you thought the lunacy had peaked (again).
“[T]here are probably not too many gay dads speaking on Father’s Day at many Catholic Churches . . .We wanted to raise our children in the Catholic Church . . . On the other hand, we didn’t want to expose our children to bigotry . . .”
Why, may I ask, do folks who do not believe in what the Church teaches want to join?
They want to infiltrate and compromise the moral and spiritual teachings of the church. Full frontal attacks won’t work; progressives know that. So they seek change in a more subtle but equally malevolent way.
Yes!
“The Archdiocese of Chicago has not responded to questions on the matter from other Catholic publications.”
Really – what more need be said?
This charade is nothing more or less than an obscenity. The irony that we pretend to advance the study of Sacred Scripture while casting its teaching and The Teacher to the gutter is heart wrenching. We engage in a “new evangelization” while endorsing sin and the damnation of souls — yes, it is “new” indeed. We are in the throws of a demonic self-deceit as we hurl toward ecclesial suicide.
Where is the Pope on this matter??? They remove Fr. Altman cause he states a true comment in his sermon and this is accepted??? Know wonder many are leaving the church and going to church’s that go by the bible. This needs to be brought to the attention of the Pope.
The bishop was right to remove Fr. Altman.
Ok, so explain the logic for me. Fr. Altman is removed because of his conservative positions on various issues but James Martin SCH, is permitted to violate church teaching on sexuality and receives support from his bishop when doing so. How exactly does that work?
I would have gotten up and walked out.
Me too!!
Reportedly [Lifesite news] a nationally known drag queen requested a Mass from new Phoenix Archbishop Dolan in which the morally disturbed man was permitted to speak, presented the Archbishop with an international drag queen award. I pray for former Archbishop Olmsted who I’m certain is deeply pained by Pope Francis’ purposeful slap down of a faithful priest who fearlessly represented the truth revealed by Christ.
Added to the Chicago Mass, and the increasing similar abominations permitted, and we must confess openly for sake of a bewildered, scandalized laity, the faithful who remain and are being subverted in their faith, abetting by Pope Francis, in context of all the high profile appointments of men who either practice homosexuality or favor it from Archbishop Paglia, Cardinal Hollerich, Fr James Martin et al the list goes on. What can the Daemonic do when we have Christ standing beside us? Persecute us? Bring it on I say. Let the whirlwind of Christ’s righteous wrath sweep them from the stage of life to the pit where they belong [do we pray for them? Yes. They are included in all our prayers for conversion]. Faithful Catholics are at this momentous point in Church history obliged to take a stand in favor of the faith revealed by Christ and condemnation of these abominable acts and this manifest Vatican policy.
Thank you.
It has to be recognized that many ‘priests’ are in reality only people who saw the priesthood as a way to an easy life. They are without a deep felt faith and go with what they believe to be popular views from their reading of the secular press and trends. They have little or no apostolic or ecumenical inclinations. If the world is pushing the agendas of homosexuals, they will believe that going with the flow is what must be done. Some even believe that because sinners are people too that their sin must be accepted if they are to be accepted as candidates for salvation. The problem is that most truly faithful people cannot see this. Parish councils should learn to be continuously putting their priests to the test and refusing their right to serve if necessary.
Well to top it off. One the parishes I go to or technically am a member in the Chicago Suburbs introduced a new principal, who by apparances and speaking demeanor is Gay. During Mass when he introduced himself he did not wear a suit, just some sort of tee shirt and is not married. The parish priest did not introduce him, so there ya go. I hope he is not Gay, but given what I just identified above, he fits it. BTW, just before the last blessing at Mass, the parish priest said he was leaving for a few weeks to see his mother in another country.
Mike, since you posted this publicly, I’ll call you out publicly. You have judged a man because, in your mind, he fits a stereotype that may or may not be true. This principle may very well have same sex attraction. He may also be valiantly fighting to live a chaste and holy life. You don’t know. You cannot know. Yet, sanctimoniously, you have committed the sin of detraction. Publicly. It is attitudes and actions like this that drive people away from Christ and His Church. Remove the plank from your own eye before looking for the speck in his. In justice you owe the man an apology and a retraction.
I’m not a proponent of Ghandi, but I completely understand the quote attributed to him: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Agree I definitely have a lot of planks in my eyes, no doubt. Always helps to have someone point out my sins. Maybe on the golf course you could analyze my game and prevent my too frequent quadruple bogeys.
Nevertheless this situation concerns me. How this will play I don’t kmow. If he would have worn a blazer or suit etc. and a better presentation, I would not be so concerned. The school already is on the verge of not having enough students. This I do not think helps, will see.
Just wondering do you apply the same comments to people who critize Catholic politicians that support abortion. If so I’ll add that to the plank in my eyes.
Whether a man is attracted to a woman or another man, he must aim for a chaste life. This is not an easy task and if we fail, we have confession. We have counsel to live virtuous lives, yet God gives special admonition against homo sexual practice.
The church is a place where sinners congregate to be cleansed and enriched through God’s eternal word. Where God has set boundaries, we must respect what he says. To promote what God considers an “abomination” within the Church is totally unacceptable.
If we truly love a person, then we must speak the truth in love.
No surprise that this happened at Old St. Patrick’s in Chicago. It has been a laboratory for “the reform” for decades. I lived in Chicago from 1986-91, a few blocks from the parish, and witnessed it first-hand.
In sum, the AD of Chicago is run by the “quite intentional apostates” (to employ the phrasing used by Fr. Imbelli in his 2021 essay “No Decapitated Body,” though of course he wasn’t naming names, he simply admitted it was widespread and implied that it extended far upward), led by the apostate sodomo-clericalist “His Eminence” Blase Cupich.
As my dear friend states, who escaped the nightmare of the “GB” spectrum of the LGBT lifestyle, “It is insanity for adults to teach [anyone] that it is OK for a man to inseminate someone else’s intestines.”
What is patently obvious is that our Catholic Church, in a vast number of places, especially at the Archdiocesan level (e.g., LA, CHI, NY, DC) is under the control of apostate hierarchs and their chanceries. For example, LA, which is advertised to be led by an “orthodox” (i.e., faithful) shepherd in Archbishop Gomez, promotes LGBT ideology at its annual REC conferences. A false shepherd, and an apostate LA diocesan establishment.
The Cardinal Newman Society has stated it can only recommend 10% of so-called “Catholic” universities to parents (some 20 or so out of approximately 200). I take that as a rough benchmark for the state of what Fr. Imbelli has admitted is the widespread and “intentional apostasy” in the Church at large.
Having been desensitized by the contempt of the First Commandment, shown by Pontiff Francis in his 2019 orchestration of idolatry, the apostate Church is now primed for the “sanctification” of sodomy proposed by the apostate Cardinal Hollerich, SJw, executor of the ideology of Pontiff Francis.
Old St. Patrick’s is the prototype of the new-post-Christian-Pagan cult, with many gods, including Her Occult Majesty Pachamama, mistress of all who possess “the mind of McCarrick.”
Prayer and fasting is commanded by Jesus, before confrontation of this evil.
“Then many of his disciples who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’ Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, ‘Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.’ As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”
Father Roccasalva, this is how Jesus approached teaching hard truths. Might I suggest doing as Jesus did? Sure, some people may leave the Church when you do so. Some may revile you for doing so. That’s what you signed up for in your vocation. The time has come for you to embrace it. Can you do what Jesus has called you to do?
Additionally I would add, could hierarchy preach at now much greater length for marriage prep to fiancé and fiancée? Anthony Esolen responds in The Vatican Confesses:
“You cannot have the sexual revolution on Monday, and then wag your finger on Tuesday and tell the man and woman that they have done ill, shacking up as they do, or using porn. And so they must study hard and listen to sermons and reorient their whole arrangement of sexual habits and expectations. And then on Wednesday you go to the [LGBT] parade and clap your hands. It is incoherent. And there is more. The fact is, there are Catholics among us who have not bent the knee to Baal. Why should they be made to suffer for the sins of others? And where are such Catholics to be found, dear hierarchs? You know where. But many of you have done your best to vilify those few havens of health and fidelity” (Anthony Esolen The Vatican Confesses in TCT).
I hope you realize that if a Chicago priest spoke out against this Cupich would send him to a mental health facility.
Chris in Maryland above – Thanks for the tip re Fr. Imbelli’s article.
Always lucid and even-toned. Clarity and charity. Unbeatable combination.
Gilberta –
You’re welcome, and thanks in return.
I respect Fr. Imbelli enormously for his 2021 essay, which readers can find here at link to Nova et Vetera:
https://stpaulcenter.com/02-nv-18-3-imbelli/
In his 2021 essay, he revisited the theme of apostasy, which he had addressed in a previous essay in 2000. His 2021 essay’s purpose was to assess the fruits of the 2nd Vatican Council. The money quote is repeated here by me:
Imbelli wrote that in 2000 he stated: “There is abroad in the Church a measure of innocent and sometimes quite intentional apostasy.”
But in 2021, he revised estimate, stating: “I would now omit the words ‘measure,’ ‘innocent’ and ‘sometimes.’”
For a priest of his intellect and faithfulness, and his reserved demeanor in speaking and writing, to speak so candidly about the devastating truth, was surely painful for him to do.
But he said it, and may God bless him for saying it.
Matt. 7:15. Would Jesus be ok with Satan taking over the pulpit? To Love God is to love him unconditionally – let’s pray for these sad individuals and the priest who befriended Satan.
Barf.
There is simply no willingness to assert catholic morality across the board for sexual purity. Far too many are wanting to go with the flow of secular moral stands. We are at a point in the world where being “mean” appears to Trump almost all other moral failings except the oft repeated accusation of racism. Church leaders appear afraid to speak the truth for fear of being seen and “mean” to gays, lesbians or unmarried couples living together. This was the case of the fall of Donald Trump. Trump, who could slice and dice political enemies in a way generally admired by fellow New Yorkers, met his downfall by the votes of “college educated” (but evidently not too smart) white suburban women who voted Biden. “We teach our kids to be NICE and not to BULLY” was their rallying cry. Yes. Evidently suppression of “meanie” Trump was the MOST important goal.Even now, it appears.Its ok if terrorists come through our borders, or drug cartels kill 100,000 of our young people each year, and food shortages, even for babies prevail, and that massive inflation guarantees their kids will never own a home in most urban areas, our lowered quality of life is all worth shutting up Trump. Well count me as someone who believes in “sticks and stones”. As someone who is mature enough to know politics is a miserable and dirty game. And as somebody who feels a politician’s DECISIONS to protect his people is more important than whether or not he is “nice” and occasionally produces a mean tweet. That Catholic priests are following secular leaders ( like kneeling with rioters) and now succumbing to the pressure to Ok “anything goes” in order to avoid the hurt feelings which may come of speaking the church’s moral truth is very very sad. Once day they will have to stand before Jesus to give an account of their willful failure, and take responsibility for leading the sheep astray. Its my opinion that this couple, no matter how nice they may be, had no business flaunting their relationship in any catholic church. I am in fact not interesting in anyone flaunting their sexuality of ANY type in my face. Doesnt anyone still believe that certain things are too personal and intimate to be bandied about in public, and that it is crude to do so?? ESPECIALLY a priest? I dont have much hope that the church’s moral teachings will be presented strongly at all under the current Pope. No leadership has been shown in this area, as is demonstrated by the current state of the German church, which is taking steps toward schism.The priest who permitted this presentation should be removed.
Honest question: Can someone please explain what “full communion” actually means anymore.
This parish is in full communion and in good standing, but the SSPX isn’t.
It doesn’t make sense.
Moreover, for those of us “in communion” it also begs the question: What am I “in communion” with? and “Do I want to be?”
PS: I’m not an SSPX attendee.
Ok, so explain the logic for me. Fr. Altman is removed because of his conservative positions on various issues but James Martin SCH, is permitted to violate church teaching on sexuality and receives support from his bishop when doing so. How exactly does that work?