“No Priest shall abide in this Dominion: he shall be banished, and suffer death on his return. Priests may be seized by any one without a warrant.”Connecticut is considering a new law, R.B. 1098, “To revise the corporate governance provisions applicable to the Roman Catholic Church and provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations.” This law would remove pastors as the head of parishes, and greatly reduce the power of diocesan bishops.
— One of the ‘blue laws’ of the Connecticut colony, 1656
This law is seen as payback to the Catholic Church for opposing same-sex unions.
The law, if passed, would forcibly reorganize parishes along the lines of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Corporation — formerly of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis — and likely chaos would ensue. Small numbers of well-organized political activists will likely attempt to take over the parishes, leading them to heresy and schism.
Thomas Jefferson's “wall of separation between Church & State” is built by the State wherever it pleases. The State ruined our vocations, took our schools, is in process of taking our hospitals, and now wants our churches. That this new law targets only Catholic churches is outrageous, but at least they are being honest, as were their colonial forefathers.
how did the state ruin vocations....not picking! just curious about what you are referring to?
ReplyDeleteI was mainly thinking about public education which strongly encourages girls to pursue paid work; this is harmful to both homemaking and religious vocations.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun reading the Time Magazine archives with articles discussing the Catholic problem: they have too many children, are too insulated from American life, etc.
Back in the 1960s, the government experimented with psychological warfare techniques via 'third wave' psychotherapy, which was notorious for wrecking the IHM nuns and Jesuits.
Mark, I don't understand why you should be surprised. Church and state have been opposed for 2000 years -- and for 1700 years the state has been trying to co-opt the church. What's new? The Kingdom of God is not of this world.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many nuns prior to the 1960's were educated in public schools? I also wonder why then a high percentage of girls educated in Catholic elementary and high schools didn't end up being nuns?? Let me suggest that you spend sometime with an 80 to 90 year old sister and ask her if her calling/vocation came before or after her parents who were stuggling with many mouths to feed, sent and encouraged the eldest daughters off to the convent. Please understand that I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the sisters of my youth and even the young nuns of today but to suggest that economics didnt play a role in the elderly nuns initial decisions is blindness. I am positive you will find a very devout sister who first left home to help her family survive in a very difficult time and who came to love the life and devotion.
ReplyDeleteIrene,
ReplyDeleteI am not at all surprised. But even governors, kings, and presidents ought to be subservient to Christ.
Kestrel,
ReplyDeleteCatholic schools are not immune to the culture. My reading of the history of the Catholic schools in the United States in the 1950s and '60s leads me to believe that a trend towards secularism was strong, although not nearly as strong as was found in the government schools.
The influence of poverty on encouraging religious vocations have both a good and bad side.
The Benedictine order, in particular, strongly encourages the self-sufficiency of each community, and that such a community was to be a net giver of alms. The dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII of England had the direct effect of increasing poverty greatly.
Now, the bad side is that someone may not really have a religious vocation; this is a problem of formation, discernment, and virtue for both the individual and for the religious community.