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Catholicism as
"a living"
...
In Thucydides',
History of the Peloponnesian War, the greatest Commander in
classical antiquity, the Spartan General Brasidas, in the winter of the 8th year
of the war, laid siege to the strategic city of Amphipolis in northern Hellas in
424 BC (visited, incidentally, by Socrates while serving in the Athenian Army)
where in a later battle, in 421 BC, Brasidas himself was to die. He headed the
most successful army of Sparta. It was not, however, by force of arms that
Brasidas entered the besieged city, but through sedition and not,
interestingly enough by the demos, or people, of Amphipolis, but principally
through the people of the neighboring city of Argilus "who had their own designs
on Amphipolis" (Bk. 4/103) and countrymen inside its walls. Amphipolis fell
without a fight, and even in subsequent wars was never recovered by Athens.
So ... you ask, what possible nexus exists between today's "Professional"
Catholics in the Church, and the Argilians who lived inside the walls of Amphipolis?
First, we must understand that the Argilians lived, profited through, enacted perfunctory rituals within,
and took shelter under the aegis of of Amphipolis ... even as they
planned and executed the betrayal of the vast majority of native Hellenes or
Athenians within her. While not native Amphipolans, or, for that matter,
Athenians, they were, in a manner of speaking, "professional" Amphipolans. They
earned their wages and some made their small fortunes solely through their
association with Amphipolis. They had no allegiance to --- except inasmuch as they
could earn a living through --- the Athenians at Amphipolis, whom they emulated
even as they despised them.
It is not the case that the Argilians looked to the Lakedaemonians (the
Spartans) as their liberators (which Brasidas sincerely believed himself and his
army to be); they did not love Sparta, but they hated Athens. Yet, daily they
passed in and out of her walls, ate in her fields and sold in her markets.
They
could earn a living in Amphipolis ... even as they hated her.
It is notable that
even as their hatred festered, they did nothing overtly treasonable until an
opportune time ... in fact, until the appearance of the leading elements of
Brasidas' cavalry at the gates of Argilus. The designs they could not effect on
Amphipolis of themselves, they could, they understood at once, effect through
Brasidas, and they used him to this end.
Awaiting Brasidas ... or is it Alcibiades?
The situation we presently face within the Roman Catholic Church is not entirely
unalike the situation in which Amphipolis found itself in 424 BC. The Church is
dangerously bloated with "Professional" Catholics, that is to say, Catholics to
whom, and for whom, being Catholic is a means to emolument, money, for whom Catholicism
is a job, an income, and in many cases a "profession" (not necessarily or even
primarily a profession of faith).
Given the American Corporate model around which the Church in America appears to
be increasingly molding itself, there is no inherent contradiction in working
for the corporation and hating the boss who runs it.
The point of significant
divergence, however, is that in secular Corporate America, the expression of
such sentiments is likely to end at the back of the unemployment line. What is
strange is that in such an event, we seldom, or rarely encounter the charge of
intolerance (in the form of litigation). The reasoning appears to be legitimate:
if you do not like it here, you are free to leave and find a job elsewhere and
more to your liking. XYZ Company produces and pushes products and services much
more to your liking, and in better keeping with, or at least more amenable to,
your lifestyle. However ... if you choose to stay here at ABC Company which
produces and markets goods and services deeply antithetical to those of XYZ
Company's whose interests are not only at odds with, but in fact inimical to
our own we presume that you will be loyal to the interests of ABC Company
who is, after all, paying you to produce our own authentic goods and providing
loyal services. If you are willing to take our money, you must be willing to
agree with, and abide by, our policies. This is not tyranny. If you find such
policies repugnant to you, you are free to keep them to yourself, or to leave;
you are, however, not free to disseminate policy of your own making, or goods
and services promoted by XYZ Company .... and pass them off as ours. This is
egregiously duplicitous and dishonest, is it not? In this way only do we see a
significant divergence between the secular corporate model and its
ecclesiastical emulation.
In the Church you can stay, promote your own unique
and incompatible agenda ... and even get paid for it. Not a bad deal. Except for
the Church ... and the children.
To do otherwise clearly requires a measure of some integrity. It requires
something more than a neurotic paralysis between incompatible choices. Integrity
should compel us to do, not what is profitable at any cost ... but what is
right. To be paid to make one thing and to make another is one example. To be
paid to teach one thing, and then to take it upon ourselves to teach its
contradictory for the same pay is, I suggest, another and extremely eminent
example of the absence of integrity.
This breach of integrity however lamely excused (and there are always
excuses, and they will always be cleverly couched, for they are self-interested)
is exponentially compounded not by the intrinsic disorder within it, and not
even by a breach of faith with what is presumed to be holy. It is, in the end,
theft of the most execrable kind: it is predation of the Widow's Mite. It is a
taking of the 25 cents from the 7 year old girl, the dollar from the 85 year old man and sometimes the lunch money from some destitute student .... to make a
comfortable living dissenting from the very things they hold sacred and to which
they contribute at so great a cost in so little a gift. It is, as it ever has
been, a taking by the powerful from the powerless. It is nothing less. We know
the victims. They fill every pew. Now ... who are the predators?
The "Professional Catholics"
The division of labor in fleecing the poor to their own ends ... which is to
say, in defiance of and in contradiction to the authentic teaching of the
Catholic Church to which the "ignorant masses" pay tribute in coppers of real
sacrifice ... is fairly equally distributed between clergy and lay and
especially those in that amorphous penumbra in between, ranging from local
"Pastoral Assistant" to theologian-cum-Mandatum. Let us enumerate a few. All are
putative docents of sorts, and the one thread binding their diversity is this:
disaffection. Disaffection from the Church. From Rome. And sometimes from God.
Now that we've put a point on the needle, let us touch a few of the more bloated
institutions ... but with the blunt end first; you know, the one with the
proverbial "eye" ... the passage through which bloated purses and personalities
are said to be so problematic. Too quick a thrust with the pointed end would
at least narratively be anticlimactically implosive. Let us start with the
Catholic Colleges, Seminaries and "Theological Institutes" where the
"profession" is most lucrative, the dissension most strident and the
disaffection deepest. The commensurability between the latter two and the first
(the emolument) appears to be fairly proportioned.
Where to begin?
The list is long, involuted, and often redundant. Perhaps it is well to start at
the apex where the dissidence and, commensurably, the "professional"
salaries are greatest; in other words, where dissidence is most amply
rewarded and appears to be the sine qua non of "academic" credibility.
We must, however, and in all fairness, preface our consideration of this
implosive topic by a clear understanding of something contractual and signatory
in nature and morally binding in purpose, scope, and intent. In other words, if
you "sign on the dotted line" you agree, in taking the money, to do the job, not
as you see it, but according to the job description clearly outlined in the
contract. To do otherwise is clearly duplicitous.
You want the money and you want the job title both are very appealing and
the latter redounds to your notability but the fact of the matter is that
you really do not want to do that particular job. The perquisites, nevertheless,
are very compelling indeed. It is vexing, but it remains the case withal that,
once you have entered into the contract, you have agreed, for example, to
refrain from insider trading and to act honestly on behalf of the brokerage and
its legitimate interests which, presumably, coincide with yours, as well as
those of the investors who have entrusted their interests to you ... or you
would not have applied in the first place .... right? You will not, by contract,
broker securities that are not within the portfolio of the brokerage, offer
misleading advice, or encourage your investors to go elsewhere. You concurred
with the terms of the contract, they are amenable to you, and the compensation
is handsome, so ..... you sign up. Correct?
Yes and no. In the cut-throat, self-interested world of corrupt Corporate
America such agreements, such contracts are, in fact, binding and even
actionable; however often they are violated as a matter of fact, there is a real
or at least a presumed binding in such contractual agreements, together with
legal recourse and punitive sanctions in the event of breach. In fact, it is of
the essence of contractual agreements that they bind; otherwise the notion of a
contract becomes incomprehensible.
The moral, the ethical, dimension that has a direct bearing on the integrity of
the individual signatory to the contract is much simpler. One simply does not
(or clearly ought not) enter into, nor remain within, affairs that entail a
conflict of interest. It is both morally reprehensible and egregiously
self-interested. One does not earn ones living by violating ones keep. It is a
matter of irreconcilable contrariety. One who agrees to work for, and be paid
by, the Anti-Defamation League, and then uses that money and position to promote
anti-Semitism, is, I suggest, guilty of more than mere duplicity in advocating
the liquidation of his employer.
And now, literally, to the heart of the matter: What is the Contract and what is
the Breach?
Ex Corde Ecclesiae:
"Out of the Heart of the Church"
Excerpts from
The Apostolic Constitution on Higher Education
Vital points of consideration
First let us look at:
The Apostolic Constitution itself:
The Apostolic Constitution on Higher Education, "Ex Corde Ecclesiae" "Out of
the Heart of the Church" was issued by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and requires
professors of Catholic theology within Catholic colleges and universities obtain
a "mandatum", or mandate, from the local bishop (click here to view the actual
Mandatum Contract) . Professors must petition for the mandate, the purpose of
which is ensure that Catholic theologians teach authentically Catholic doctrine,
and "refrain from putting forth as Catholic teaching anything contrary to the
Church's Magisterium. Such a petition may be denied by the local bishop, or a
given mandate withdrawn if the bishop deems that the theologian is not teaching
doctrine that accords with the Magisterium of the Church; in other words, if it
does not proceed ex corde Ecclesiae.
Let us briefly look at some pertinent excerpts (click here for the entire text).
The Apostolic Constitution calls for:
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"Fidelity to the Christian message as it comes to us through the Church" (Part
I.3)
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"In a Catholic University ... Catholic ideals, attitudes and principles
penetrate and inform university activities ..." (ibid. 1.14)
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"One consequence of its essential relationship to the Church is that the
institutional fidelity of the University to the Christian message includes a
recognition of and adherence to the teaching authority of the Church in matters
of faith and morals. Catholic members of the University community are also
called to a personal fidelity to the Church with all that this implies." (ibid.
3.27)
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"If need be, a Catholic University must have the courage to speak uncomfortable
truths which do not please public opinion, but which are necessary to safeguard
the authentic good of society." (ibid. 32)
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"As a natural expression of the Catholic identity of the University, the
university community should give a practical demonstration of its faith in its
daily activity, with important moments of reflection and prayer." (ibid. 39)
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"It is a question not only of preaching the Gospel ... but also of affecting
and, as it were, upsetting, through the power of the Gospel, humanity's criteria
of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources
of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God
and the plan of salvation." (ibid. 48)
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"These General Norms ... are valid for all Catholic Universities and other
Catholic Institutions of Higher Studies throughout the world." (II.1)
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"The General Norms are to applied concretely at the local and regional levels."
(ibid. 2)
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"A Catholic University, as Catholic, informs and carries out its research,
teaching, and all other activities with Catholic ideals, principles, and
attitudes. It is linked with the Church either by a formal, constitutive and
statutory bond or by reason of an institutional commitment." (ibid. 2.2
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"Catholic teaching and discipline are to influence all university activities
..." (ibib. 2.4)
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"The responsibility for maintaining and strengthening the Catholic identity of
the University ... calls for the recruitment of adequate personnel, especially
teachers and administrators, who are both willing and able to promote that
identity. The identity of a Catholic University is essentially linked to the
quality of its teachers and to respect for Catholic doctrine." (ibid. 4.1)|
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"... all Catholic teachers are to be faithful to, and all other teachers are to
respect, Catholic doctrine and morals in their research and teaching. In
particular, Catholic theologians, aware that they fulfill a mandate received
from the Church, are to be faithful to the Magisterium of the Church as the
authentic interpreter of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition." (ibid. 4.3)
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"Any particular laws or customs presently in effect that are contrary to this
Constitution are abolished. Also, any privileges up to this day by the Holy See
whether to physical or moral persons that are contrary to this present
Constitution are abolished." (ibid. 5.11)
then
the "Dissidents" ...
As we see in the Apostolic Constitution,
Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the Holy See is
unequivocally clear and extraordinarily succinct in the stipulations outlined in
the contract binding the Catholic theologian to the Magisterium, or authentic
teaching, of the Church (click here to view the actual Mandatum Contract). Its
clarity, in fact, is pristine; there is little, if any, room for casuistic
interpretation of the Holy See's expectations. There is equally little room for
latitude in interpreting the commitment to teaching authentic Church doctrine
that is to say, explicitly, doctrine that completely accords with the
Magisterium of the Church on the part of the applicant, the
professor-hopeful.
The difficulty comes to us, really, in the form of the simplest disjunction in
syllogistic reasoning evidencing itself in the manifest absence of
correspondence between otherwise irreconcilable propositions :
"You must explicitly agree to abide by the terms."
"I explicitly agree to abide by the terms. So much so, in fact, that I am
signatory to them. Nevertheless, I hold myself to be exempt from them."
Apart from the formal, or logical subreption, there is the salient ethical
breach, and this, of the two, strikes us most forcefully. Inadvertent errors in
reasoning are of the nature of defect; deliberated breaches of ethics are of the
nature of malice. As Alisdair McIntyre, perhaps the most eminent 21st century
moral philosopher, once astutely noted, to hold oneself in exception to, or
self-exempt from, otherwise universally binding norms, is not simply immoral,
but of the essence of the unethical, the immoral. In other words, I hold myself
to be an exception to the rule ... to which all others must, or at least ought,
to comply. I hold such rules to be legitimately binding ... but not upon me.
Were it simply a matter of cognitive dissonance we could dismiss the matter
merely as a psychological aberration ... were it not pandemic within Catholic
theological academia, where, as we have said, open and abrasive dissent is the
sine qua non of acceptable academic credentials and the appropriate posture of
plausibility. The problem is deeper.
Let us take, for example, the curious figure of one Daniel Moynihan who,
according to his own web site 1, is the author of Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in
Ten World Religions, among several other ... titles, admonishes us that,
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"We listened much too much to the penis when we should
have sought an audience with the clitoris."
(The Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health & Ethics)
_________________________________________________________
("Daniel C.
Maguire is a Professor of Moral Theological Ethics at
Marquette University, a Catholic, Jesuit Institution and
President of the Religious Consultation on Population,
Reproductive Health and Ethics. Dr. Maguire has a degree
in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian
University in Rome, one of the worlds major Catholic
universities. He is the author of Sacred Choices: The
Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World
Religions, Fortress Press, 2001.
Dr. Maguire has
written over 150 articles printed in publications such
as The New York Times, Atlantic, USA Today, The Crisis:
Journal of the NAACP, etc. The articles include
"Different but Equal: A Moral Assessment of the Woman's
Liberation", "The Psychotherapist as Moralist", "The
Freedom to Die", "Sex and Ethical Methodology", "The New
Look of Death" and "Affirmative Action at Bay".
Of his many ... honors ... he was listed by Ms. Magazine as one of the
"40 male heroes of the past decade, men who took chances
and made a difference", 1982. His book, The Moral
Choice, won "Best Scholarly Book of the Year, 1978. The
University of Notre Dame named Maguire one of the ten
best teachers, 1983-1984.
His published books
include: Moral Absolutes and the Magisterium,
1970; The Moral Choice, 1975; A New American
Justice: Ending the White Male Monopolies, 1980;
The New Subversives: Anti-Americanism of the Religious
Right, 1982; The Moral Revolution, 1986;
On Moral Grounds: The Art/Science of Ethics, 1991;
The Moral Core of Judaism and Christianity, 1993;
Sacred Energies, 2000; What Men Owe Women,
2000; Sacred Choices, 2001; and Sacred Rights,
2003.")
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Clearly, as an ethicist and preeminent moral theologian, "Dan" has much to teach
the young Catholic entrusted by the Church to his tutelage ... once, that is,
the student is sufficiently adept at discerning that he is lecturing on ethics
and not being gratuitously salacious. To wit, consider the following:
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(Father)
Daniel
Maguire's Memorable address to:
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA
2002 ANNUAL
CONFERENCE
INTERFAITH PRAYER BREAKFAST
MARCH 21, 2001
"Pleasure is what sex is all about. Historic philosophy invaded western culture
with the idea that sexual pleasure is presumed guilty until proven innocent.
Only procreative intent could bring acquittal. Such nonsense. Sex rarely has
anything to do with procreation. The old axiom listen to your body was
misapplied here. We listened much too much to the penis when we should have
sought an audience with the clitoris. The penis has divided loyalties and
multiple missions. It is concerned with procreation and waste removal. The
clitoris is single-minded. Its one goal, as Susan Ross, the ethicist says, is
exquisite sexual pleasure." 2
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Unique ...
How many scholars outside of the Catholic Church, have not simply the
propensity to discuss ethical issues with vulvae, but to seek an audience with,
and hope to elicit an answer from, inter-labial anatomical features? And
anticipate being enlightened? That is a rare gift. An audience with the Pope?
Out of the question. He would not listen. With a clitoris? A distinct
possibility ... even if he is the only one who hears it speaking.
An exemplary Catholic scholar, to be sure ... despite the absence of any
consonance between "Dan's" teaching, and the authentic teaching of the Catholic
Church at a Catholic Jesuit University. Is something immediately amiss?
Who pays "Dan" handsomely (not) to teach "Moral Theological Catholic Ethics"?
The Catholic Jesuit Marquette University. Who pays the university that pays Dan?
Where do the students get their tuition to pay the university to pay Dan? From
their parents. Are their parents Catholic? Largely. Was it their expectation
that by sending their son or daughter to a Catholic University that their
children would receive a genuine "Catholic" education? Presumably. Was someone
sold a bill of goods? I think so.
Who have you been listening to lately ...?
Well, we have a pretty clear take on "what" not "Who" Dan has been
listening to lately, and even if we do not hear what Dan hears from his own ...
well, private, sources, he is ready to proclaim it to the world ... and who is
listening, besides his unfortunate students? Not the bishops! They are, by the
latest polls, apparently too busy listening for the liveliest pulse ... and
thither they go! Or to the most correctly and popularly nuanced political agenda
likely to increase the numbers despite the cost. "Mandatum? What Mandatum? Oh
... that Mandatum.! Yes, we'll have to look into it seriously ... someday."
Demand a Refund
Have you been defrauded? Have you been sold a bill of goods? Did you get what
you paid for? Did you get who you pay for? Who broke faith? The
"Catholic" University? The bishop? Dan of the sub-Sybilline gifts?
Actually ... all three:
One for profit, one for power, and one for prestige.
And ... alas ... no one stood with Christ.
Sounds like a viable class-action suit to me.
Wasn't it a fixation with
genitalia that brought the Church in Boston to this sad state to begin with? Or
are the two somehow related?
It depends on Who and what you're listening to.
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1
http://www.sacredchoices.org/ About_the_author_of_SacredChoices.htm
2
http://216.239.39.104/searchq=cache:KSLKTGmrPrMJ:www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/uploaded_files/Transcript_ppfa-interfaith.pdf+%22Daniel+Maguire%22+%2Bpenis&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
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