Archbishop John Wester has already threatened priests who preach longer than five minutes during Mass with suspension of their faculties to preach. I would call that a no nonsense bishop. He continues his no nonsense approach to Catholicism with a rather extraordinary rebuke of an organization outside of his jurisdiction who plans to give AG Barr an award.
We need this kind of zeal from bishops who make cogent remarks not only about the death penalty but about abortion and Catholics in high places who take a scissors to the seamless garment of life and shred it to pieces with their pro-choice, pro-abortion rhetoric. Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden are two such Catholics and the Catholics and Catholic organizations who support them.
‘LET US NOT BECOME THE EVIL WE DESPISE’: ARCHDIOCESE CALLS FOR GROUP TO WITHDRAW AWARD TO AG BARR
This is quite extraordinary: the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, led by Archbishop John Wester, has issued a very public rebuke
17 comments:
No, Archbishop Wester will not go after Pelosi or Biden. He is just grandstanding. By the way, the death penalty is not intrinsically evil like abortion, so the Archbishop needs a remedial course in Catholic theology.
Pete: The death penalty is intrinsically evil as it is the privation of a "good," that good being the good of being alive.
Your error - and it is a BIG one - is to confuse premoral evil and moral evil.
You are the one who needs serious remediation in Catholic philosophy and theology.
YOU MUST NOW REGISTER TO POST A COMMENT. I AM NOT SURE HOW THAT WORKS, SO WE WILL SEE IF I LEAVE IT IN PLACE OR NOT.
Lizzie,
Wrong
Fr. ALLAN McDonald - Well, that was a quick decisions! Ain't technology grand?
Sophia here:
Sorry Lizzie. Pierre is correct. "Intrinsically evil" means that something is evil "by its very nature i.e. against nature itself", not merely that it deprives someone of a "good" even if that "good" is his life. There is absolutely no logical/philosophical, moral/theological equivalence between the killing of an innocent preborn (and now even recently born) child and the state's right to administer the death penalty to a criminal who has been found guilty in a court of law of committing the most heinous of crimes- premeditated aggravated murder/multiple murders. That's why abortion, is intrinsically evil but the death penalty is not- the baby is innocent, the murderer is guilty! The Church has never included the death penalty on it's list of intrinsic evils - abortion, euthanasia/physician assisted suicide, gay marriage, embryonic stem cells/aborted fetal tissue research.
Unfortunately, the death penalty and a multiplicity of other "goods" have been elevated to the same moral level as intrinsic evils ever since Cardinal Bernadin gave a talk at Fordham U. (1983) in which he used the metaphor of a "Seamless Garment" to link multiple life issues together under the one " respect life " continuum. It allowed all these issues to be raised to the same moral level as those which are intrinsically evil. This conclusion can only be justified by a philosophy which is aptly called a "Philosophy of Feelings" and is a very poor basis for any morality. It wreaked havoc in the culture because it sowed so much moral confusion when Catholics (including clergy-even the hierarchy) used it to justify voting for politicians and therefore policies which have led to an ever expanding number of abortions and other intrinsic evils.
Cardinal Bernadin is reported to have made a few attempts to clarify his metaphor and to deny that he intended to imply a moral equivalence among the life issues. However, as as you can see, as recently as this week, there are still members in the leadership of our Church, (Archbishop Tobin, for one) erroneously placing the death penalty at the same moral level as abortion and the other intrinsic evils I mentioned. There is no such equivalency. But it does lead some Catholic voters to think and behave as if it is when they go to the voting booth! The Church has never denied that the state has the right to impose the death penalty but it has more recently taught that as the state becomes increasingly able to protect society (including fellow inmates and prison personnel) from the most violent criminals, using less lethal means, it ought to move towards doing so.
Sophia here:
Sorry this blog entry was referencing Archbishop Wester. But my Comment stands.
No, Soph, you are incorrect. Evil is the privation of a good. Period.
Pete misunderstands the difference between premoral evil and moral evil.
A volcano erupts and kills Pete's family. That is an evil, they are deprived of the good of being alive. But that is a premoral evil. No one bears guilt for choosing to do the evil.
Pete chooses to throw his Mama from a train which results in her death. That, too, is an evil, but it is also a moral evil for which he bears guilt.
You, too, need to look more carefully into the Catholic understanding of evil, both premoral and moral.
The death penalty, since it deprives a person of the good of being alive, is intrinsically evil, though not intrinsically immoral.
Pope Benedict XVI is among our holy Popes who insisted upon the =death penalty's abolition.
On September 14, 2012 A.D., Pope Benedict XVI declared:
"God wants life, not death. He forbids all killing, even of those who kill.
(Confer Gen 4:15-16; 9:5-6; Ex 20:13.)
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Lizzie K,
The Church has taught for centuries that capital punishment is not intrinsically evil. Are you suggesting the Church erred?
However, the Church has declared abortion intrinsically evil, yet corrupt clerics will vote for the Democratic Party which markets itself and fundraises as the defender of this intrinsically evil practice.
TJM - You have shown that you don't know what "intrinsically evil" means.
You're in no position, therefore, to sya what the Church has or has not declared to be intrinsically evil.
At some point, if you choose, you can understand the difference between premoral and moral evil. Then, you'll understand your original error.
Lizzie K,
As has been demonstrated amply over the years you have a weak grasp of the Catholic faith and liturgy. I understand intrinsic evil but you desire to obfuscate the issue to defend a crime organization masquerading as a political party. Do your black congregants enjoy the Dem Party stormtroopers, Antifa and BLM, destroying and looting their neighborhoods?
TJM - You have demonstrated that you don't know the difference - the BASIC difference - between premoral evil and moral evil.
Go learn, then come back and acknowledge your error.
Lizzie K,
By your posts you continue to display your lack of Catholic theology and liturgy. Why do you support the violence of Antifa and BLM? IF you vote Dem, you are
The church has recognised the state has the right to execute criminals ever since Jesus said as much to Pilate. Any bishop, including a bishop of Rome, who denied this is contradicting church teaching.
Tony V - What rights a state may or may not have was not the question, was it?
Execution is evil - a premoral evil - because it deprives the condemned of a good - the good of life.
Turning this into a discussion of what rights a state has or doesn't have isn't germane.
"U.S. bishops urge immediate halt to federal executions"
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/09/22/us-bishops-urge-immediate-halt-federal-executions?fbclid=IwAR3m607YN6tCE-RAi6bgMes1aqyiRJBjbi2E2N3K-bpX-ED8g3txXiidvvk
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