AmericanPapist Comments
Did you see what CNN has among thier newest headlines? "Vatican stresses inferiority of Protestants"?!
that's nothing...earlier they had "Vatican: Protestants not true Christians".
I still think mine's in the lead ... as horrible as that is too!
In some ways, however, the headlines are strangely right...if imprecise.
I was reading one article that was reporting everything correctly...except saying it very, very badly. I thought, "You know, there's a nice way of saying all of this but this just ain't cutting it."
(I think I know what you were getting at but the means of communicating it were too vulgar for my standards. - AmP)
Edited By Siteowner
There is nothing so pure or virtuous that it cannot be debased or portrayed in an evil light. [Dostoyevsky]
The adverse hostile reactionism has a multitude of less-than-subtle anti-catholic agendas; and regrettably progressive catholics are renowned for pragmatically conspiring with any available unscrupulous resource [invariably the media] on the principle of using 'any stick to beat a dog'. If the media attacks rome or the hierarchy for them for a few days - all the better for them, plus they get a few days off from doing it !
Let's stop lying about it all: In order for sincere authentic inter-faith dialogue to possess even a modicum of integrity , each side has to stop using diplomatic, duplicitous, double-speak which allows possible deceptive inferences; without any guilt or responsibility of the speaker; who is ready to deny any of these possible implications should the need arise.
[e.g. certain comments about evangelising the Jews as being unnecessary as they are children of the first covenant taken one way can be seemingly benign, in another interpretation it is out and out heresy ! calling protestants all manner of 'christian' titles [which we are still technically forbidden from doing] but getting away with it by including conditional double-edged statements which can either be an oecumenical 'reaching out for unity' or anti catholic lies equivocating apostasy!
We must desist from this - We have to speak clearly and from the heart grounding all we stand for upon our dogma and the doctrinal, moral and liturgical praxis which axiomatically follows from this.
Dialogue has to pertain to Truth - the Person of Christ - otherwise it will be fruitless and inefficacious; and lead to even greater difficulties further down the line.
So what about inside the church ? We must confront the reality that progressive recklessness and laissez-faire compromises with secularism and anti-catholic sentiments have wrought havoc and devastation over vast swathes of catholicism for the past forty years - however benign their intent* it has been allowed to annihilate centuries long traditions , jeopardise our coherent fundamental moral principles, and even go so far as repudiate even the most basic dogmatic tenets which make us catholics - you know what I mean - during my first year in seminary I had to endure the lies taught to me by 'contemporary renowned theologians' who denied the virgin birth, the incarnation,any of the gospel mracles that could not be explained by Jesus' capabilities as a psychoherapist, the full divinity of christ, the bodily resurrection, the primacy of peter, the doctrines on christology, the nature of the Trinity, the supernatural grace or efficacy of the sacraments...the list went on and on. I had to endure all manner of extravagant liturgical innovations with stringent rules which forbade all manner of symbolic ritual enhancing aspects of the mass - young girls could run up and down the aisle doing the danc
sorry, lost the second half, will finish it again tomorrow - it's long past my bedtme.
Sadly, this confirms what I learned in my Baptist high school, tho the lesson now learned is completely the reverse: The Catholic Church is still the True Faith, the keystone of Christianity, and the rest of us have wandered far afield, but, speaking as a Protestant, it's not that easy to come back to the fold. I refuse to swim the Tiber until I can do it without being a hypocrite. On the other hand, if I find myself admiring Papa Benedict much of the time, is that a start?
Panda Rosa - I'd say that's a definite start! Continue to pray about it and honestly search out what you would need to learn/change to honestly swim the tiber! :)
That's nothing! How's about the headline in the Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI): "Pope: Protestants Are Going to Hell" which some cretinous editor slapped onto the AP wire story!!??
Not as bad as "Protestants are going to Hell," but the Boulder Daily Camera used "Vatican: Only Catholics are on road to salvation" with the AP story (online http://www.dailycamera.com/news/...-to-salvation/)
. From the comments online, it appears that no one read past the headline.
Thought you'd "enjoy" this one: From Slate.com
The Vatican's Product Recall
Defects found in Protestant and Eastern Orthodox sects.
By Timothy Noah
Updated Wednesday, July 11, 2007, at 6:00 PM ET
.
ROME—Pope Benedict XVI restated Tuesday what he said were the "defects" of Christian faiths other than Roman Catholicism, prompting anger from Protestants who question the Vatican's respect for other beliefs.
—Ian Fisher, New York Times, July 11, 2007
NEWS FROM THE HOLY SEE
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Vatican City, Rome
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vatican Recall Hotline: (800) ASK-RATZ
July 10, 2007
VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer products. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Products: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.), Amish, Anabaptist, Anglican, Baptist, Calvinist, Christian Science, Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Huguenot, Jehovah's Witness, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Mormon, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Puritan, Quaker, Seventh-Day Adventist, Shaker, and Zwinglian Christian sects (frequently labeled "Protestant").
Name of Products: Albanian Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Czech Orthodox, Cypriot Orthodox, Estonian Orthodox, Finnish Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Latvian Orthodox, Macedonian Orthodox, Montenegrin Orthodox, Polish Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Slovak Orthodox, and Ukranian Orthodox sects (frequently labeled "Eastern" or "Oriental" Orthodox).
Manufacturer: The devil (listed on the New York Stock Exchange as "Angel of the Bottomless Pit," "Beelzebub," "Belial," "Dark Prince," "Evil One," "Fallen Angel," "Foul Fiend," "His Infernal Majesty," "Lucifer," "Mephistopheles," "Mr. Applegate," "Mr. Scratch," "Prince of Darkness," "Satan," and "Tempter").
Hazard: Can fail to achieve salvation on contact.
Incidents/Injuries: Widespread reports of salvific malfunction and consequent exclusion from the Kingdom of Heaven. Users complain of being rerouted to Purgatory and in a few instances to the Fiery Pit.
Cause: Because Jesus Christ subsists only in the Catholic Church of Rome™, adherents to other faiths that self-advertise as Christian must rely on infrequent guest appearances. Although He is omnipresent, He can't be everywhere at once.
Sold at: A complete list of retail outlets has been unavailable to the Church for the past five centuries. We continue our efforts to compile one and will post it online when we can.
Manufactured in: Wittenberg, Germany; Istanbul, Turkey; Alexandria, Egypt; Boston, Mass.; Palmyra, New York.
Remedy: Consumers should desist adherence to the abovementioned sects, now proven unreliable, and transmit their souls to the Catholic Church of Rome™. United States residents may use this Catholic Church locator.
None of these is as libelous as the one in the Wisconsin State Journal: Pope: Protestants going to hell.
Whaaaa?
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