Thursday, October 7, 2010

Radical Ex-Jesuit

Dr. Paul Lakeland
The Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, has organized a conference this month to be delivered by dissident theologian and former Jesuit priest Dr. Paul Lakeland of Fairfield University in Connecticut, who openly holds views on abortion, h@mosexuality, contraception and women priests that go against Catholic teaching. The conference, entitled ‘Catholicism at the Crossroads: How We Can Save the Church’ and scheduled for October 22-24, has a strong emphasis on the role of lay people in the Church.  The brochure includes a quote from Pope Benedict XVI, calling for lay people to be “co-responsible” for the Church rather than mere “’collaborators’ of the clergy” (Rome Conference on the Laity, June 2009). 
There is strong evidence, however, that Lakeland’s vision of a “co-responsible” laity radically diverges from that of the pope and the bishops. In his books, Lakeland suggests that Catholics can disagree with the Church’s condemnation of contraception and h@mosexual acts, for example.  
He has even suggested that the Church should not seek a ban on abortion, based on the notion that Catholics should not impose their view on the entire population.
Link (here) to read the full Lifesite article.

7 comments:

TonyD said...

I can understand why he objects to Church values – including those that reflect Gods values. Given the coexisting truths of a “worldly Church” and an “absolute God” there is only confusion.

Humility is not just for the laity and priests.

Anonymous said...

Three questions for you. Who else is humility for? Are you a baptized Catholic? Do you believe Satan exists and do you renounce him?

Fergie said...

It's a liturgical wasteland here in the Diocese of Antigonish. It was hoped the new Bishop would slowly turn things around, but he is apparently on board with the heterodox views held by the vast majority of the clergy and "lay ministers" who run things around here. If one questions them, one is basically told to go away. It's the faithful clergy and people who are suffering for it. Please pray for all of us.

Anonymous said...

Fergie -- When all fails you can try mass on the Internet...

http://www.themass.com/default1024.htm

...and write to Card. William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with a copy to the Papal nuncio.

I will keep you and the Diocese of Antigonish in my prayers.

TonyD said...

Anonymous #1:

You know, I’ve noticed over the years that questions with simple answers are usually the wrong questions. For example, any list of the humble doesn’t really provide their associated values, judgments, and emotional stability. Similarly, I suspect that pretty much everyone on this blog would agree that being baptized a Catholic doesn’t tell you much about the person – except that they were baptized a Catholic.

As for Satan, I will say that evil is far more subtle and complicated than is generally understood. As a result, I’ve noticed that most people often mistake God’s works for Satan’s works. So renouncing things that are not understood is more symbolic than meaningful.

Fergie said...

Anonymous #2 (10/10/10 7:28pm): your prayers are greatly appreciated! and thank you for the link.

As for a "worldly Church"; there is much more to the Church than the mere sinful mortals of this world. Much more indeed...... :)

And questions wih simple answers are in fact usually the right questions. Evil is evil, whether subtle, complicated or debated. Most people with any form of conscience inherently know what is right and what is wrong. Most of the time, it's only as complicated as we ourselves choose to make it.

www.ventaxcatalogo.com said...

It won't actually have success, I consider this way.