June 22, 2013

Apostasy and Cardinal Dolan

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Cardinal Archbishop of New York and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has made statements that suggest apostasy. Visiting a mosque in New York, he said the following: “You love God, we love God and he is the same God,” the cardinal said of the Muslim and Roman Catholic faiths. He likened Muslims to earlier waves of Roman Catholic immigrants who some 150 years ago faced the same challenge of “how to become loyal, responsible, patriotic Americans without losing their faith.

June 20, 2013

Proselytizing : Dialogue :: Heaven : Hell

The ever-trenchant Mundabor has a post about Cardinal Tauran on the New Evangelization. Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran is the president of the Pontifical Council of Inter-religious Dialogue. The Cardinal has made statements such as these: “In this pluralistic situation, we have no other option than consciously cultivating friendly relationships with all of them based on mutual respect and understanding that eventually could lead to mutual collaboration for the common good, for peace and harmony towards the development of the society.

June 13, 2013

Nemo Potest Dare Quod Non Habet

Nemo potest dare quod non habet is a Latin phrase that translates “No one can give what he has not.” It is a cliché because it is so very true. If you do not have an apple, you cannot give someone an apple. If you do not have an umbrella, you cannot give someone temporary shelter from rain. If you do not have sound catechesis, you cannot pass on the Catholic faith to anyone else.

May 31, 2013

St. Benedict Evangelizes

From Pope Pius XII’s Encyclical Fulgens Radiatur: Trusting in God and relying on His ever present help, he went south and arrived at a fort “called Cassino situated on the side of a high mountain …; on this stood an old temple where Apollo was worshipped by the foolish country people, according to the custom of the ancient heathens. Around it likewise grew groves, in which even till that time the mad multitude of infidels used to offer their idolatrous sacrifices.

May 17, 2013

Keeping Faith Defined

A post entitled Keeping Faith Real by Marc Cardaronella introduced me to the concept of “enrichment of faith”. A definition, by way of quotes: It’s the idea that faith is only truly enriching when it’s a lived reality in the heart of the believer. And, it must be communicated that way. Everything, “all pastoral activity,” Wojtyla wrote, was to be directed toward fostering a mature faith that was fully lived.

May 9, 2013

Pope Francis Proselytizes

Pope Francis says at a daily Mass that evangelizing is not proselytizing. Since they are two separate words, I am inclined to agree. But why does the pope need to make this distinction? Evangelization is the act of proclaiming Jesus Christ. Proselytizing is the attempt to win converts to your cause. Emphasizing their differences masks just how complementary they are. Why proclaim the good news that is Jesus if you did not wish to convert people to His religion?

April 25, 2013

Catholicism Is For Everyone

Jesus came so that all might be saved. Now He never said that all would be saved, or even most. But salvation is at least possible for anyone. Nobody knows better than God that different people have different capabilities. Some, like St. Thomas Aquinas, can dictate three different books to scribes at the same sitting and have one of them be considered the best theological treatise of all time. Others like St.

April 22, 2013

Saint Dominic Evangelizes An Innkeeper

Excerpted from Saint Dominic de Guzman by Fray Diego Matamoros On their first evening of the journey, the small band of Royal emissaries stopped at an inn is [sic] southern France to rest for the night. The owner of the inn was a heretic, who engaged the bishop and young sub-prior in a discussion. Up to this point, neither the bishop, nor Saint Dominic had any idea of the nature of this heresy, or the mental hold that it had on its adherents.