Catholic "Radio Radio"
No, this isn't about Elvis Costello, but it could be if Elvis worked for EWTN.
Tonight I went to a Catholic radio fundraiser in Indy. I of course was invited as I could not afford shelling out the few hundred bills it would have taken otherwise.
Anyway, the speaker was Fr. Mitch Pacwa and he spoke about the last few decades in the Catholic Church, the challenge of secularism, and the challenge of Islam. I don't know if you guys know about Fr. Pacwa but he is an excellent speaker and linguist with an extremely deft understanding of contemporary cultures from Europe to the Middle East. Here are some points that Fr. Pacwa addressed that I would like to share.
First and foremost, echoing some of the sentiments Qahal and I have expressed on another blog, he explained how strong Catholic positions on cultural-political matters are. He explained that for some reason, at about the time that Archbishop Sheen went off the air the Catholic confrontation with contemporary issues switched from active engagement to outright cowering. Catholics were almost universally portrayed as good and valuable through to the early 60's and then were treated with outright contempt which is one of the reasons Mother Angelica started EWTN.
The problem wasn't Vatican II, it was something more like a passivity that crept into the ranks coupled with an increasing antagonism on the part of Hollywood. (E. Michael Jones's book "Libido Dominandi" makes the case that Hollywood was ruled by Catholics until guys like Leo Pfeffer took the kulturkampf into the Sup. Ct.)
Pacwa of course stressed that Catholics have nothing at all to be ashamed of. He related that in parishes and schools where teachers and priests push a sort of moral relativism the people involved will always slouch toward the lowest of aspirations. Interesting to say the least. I have had a few friends convert from Protestantism and none of them came into the fold because the Church was all inclusive, it was because it was ideologically exclusive; oh, and because we venerate some Saints that have killed people. I guess we can say with Aristotle that the passions want that kind of garbage and the intellect wants the good stuff. (Note how these relativist Catholic people are the same that looooove guitar Masses and couldn't tell the difference between Mozart and Bach if the fugue was right in their face.)
Second, he showed that since the election of John Paul II, the quality of priests and seminaries has steadily increased. He had just returned from Indonesia where the seminaries are turning people away en masse. Good news eh? Looks like the "priest shortage" news is actually pushed mostly by people pushing for women's ordination.
Most importantly, he talked about secular humanism (SH) and how it is preparing the West for absolute destruction be it from Islam or nuclear holocaust. SH presumes both anarchy and nihilism. It weakens social institutions and the ability for valid authorities to shape and affect individual choices. As nice as it can sound "you believe what you believe and...blah blah blah," the moral and psychological effect is devastating. The upside to SH is that Catholics are uniquely poised to offer the panacea so long as they know their faith and are unabashed about it.
America is religiously Catholic and it has been for pretty much 100 years. Protestant ranks are dying out except for charismatics who are disorganized and anarchial. SH is, well, meaningless and barren. So gentlemen and lady, Fr. Pacwa thinks that the future belongs to us as long as we keep up the good work of having kids, catechizing them, and bringing as many non-Catholics the good news as possible. Lets go smoke 'em.
Tonight I went to a Catholic radio fundraiser in Indy. I of course was invited as I could not afford shelling out the few hundred bills it would have taken otherwise.
Anyway, the speaker was Fr. Mitch Pacwa and he spoke about the last few decades in the Catholic Church, the challenge of secularism, and the challenge of Islam. I don't know if you guys know about Fr. Pacwa but he is an excellent speaker and linguist with an extremely deft understanding of contemporary cultures from Europe to the Middle East. Here are some points that Fr. Pacwa addressed that I would like to share.
First and foremost, echoing some of the sentiments Qahal and I have expressed on another blog, he explained how strong Catholic positions on cultural-political matters are. He explained that for some reason, at about the time that Archbishop Sheen went off the air the Catholic confrontation with contemporary issues switched from active engagement to outright cowering. Catholics were almost universally portrayed as good and valuable through to the early 60's and then were treated with outright contempt which is one of the reasons Mother Angelica started EWTN.
The problem wasn't Vatican II, it was something more like a passivity that crept into the ranks coupled with an increasing antagonism on the part of Hollywood. (E. Michael Jones's book "Libido Dominandi" makes the case that Hollywood was ruled by Catholics until guys like Leo Pfeffer took the kulturkampf into the Sup. Ct.)
Pacwa of course stressed that Catholics have nothing at all to be ashamed of. He related that in parishes and schools where teachers and priests push a sort of moral relativism the people involved will always slouch toward the lowest of aspirations. Interesting to say the least. I have had a few friends convert from Protestantism and none of them came into the fold because the Church was all inclusive, it was because it was ideologically exclusive; oh, and because we venerate some Saints that have killed people. I guess we can say with Aristotle that the passions want that kind of garbage and the intellect wants the good stuff. (Note how these relativist Catholic people are the same that looooove guitar Masses and couldn't tell the difference between Mozart and Bach if the fugue was right in their face.)
Second, he showed that since the election of John Paul II, the quality of priests and seminaries has steadily increased. He had just returned from Indonesia where the seminaries are turning people away en masse. Good news eh? Looks like the "priest shortage" news is actually pushed mostly by people pushing for women's ordination.
Most importantly, he talked about secular humanism (SH) and how it is preparing the West for absolute destruction be it from Islam or nuclear holocaust. SH presumes both anarchy and nihilism. It weakens social institutions and the ability for valid authorities to shape and affect individual choices. As nice as it can sound "you believe what you believe and...blah blah blah," the moral and psychological effect is devastating. The upside to SH is that Catholics are uniquely poised to offer the panacea so long as they know their faith and are unabashed about it.
America is religiously Catholic and it has been for pretty much 100 years. Protestant ranks are dying out except for charismatics who are disorganized and anarchial. SH is, well, meaningless and barren. So gentlemen and lady, Fr. Pacwa thinks that the future belongs to us as long as we keep up the good work of having kids, catechizing them, and bringing as many non-Catholics the good news as possible. Lets go smoke 'em.
posted by Duebster95 at 10:08 PM
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