Sunday 6th October 2024

Home » Frontpage » Currently Reading:

San Diego Bishop McElroy… Brings Message Of A New Day Under Pope Francis To National Priests’ Conference

July 1, 2018 Frontpage No Comments

By DEXTER DUGGAN

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Pope Francis has launched a wonderful pastoral moment that is “unfolding with a new depth” in the life of the Church, San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy told members of a progressive priests’ organization here that was founded in 2011.
“The emergence of this pastoral theology” in the last five years is like the spirit of change in the years leading up to Vatican II, McElroy told more than 200 people, mainly priests, attending the seventh annual national conference of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP) meeting from June 25-28 (uscatholicpriests.org) here in New Mexico.
The gathering’s theme was “The Church in a Post-Modern World: Spirituality and Ministry in a Secular Age.”
McElroy recurred to themes of mercy, the call to accompaniment, and the “field hospital” popularized by Pope Francis during his 39-minute presentation on June 26, followed by a standing ovation.
The Pope’s pastoral theology rejects the blindness of a law that is insensitive to human problems that need healing, the bishop said, adding that it’s wrong to ask the wounded person about his cholesterol level or blood sugar. Instead, say God is good and God forgives.
The Church as a field hospital begins as Jesus did, by healing women and men of their brokenness, McElroy said, as the “saving love of God” arrives in a setting that’s earthly, rough-hewn, much like the manger in Bethlehem.
In this sequence, the bishop said, the Lord first embraces the person, then heals them, then calls the person to reform.
The order in which the three are done is essential, he said.
The organization’s website proclaims a view like McElroy’s: “The AUSCP supports Pope Francis in his efforts to move the Church in the direction pointed by the Spirit through Vatican II.”
This article is being written as the conference continued. Next week’s Wanderer will include additional information, including the results of votes on various resolutions including the status of women in the Church, climate change, seminary formation, Gospel nonviolence and gun control, and pastoral ministry and LGBT people.
The LGBT resolution begins by saying, “It is timely that AUSCP raise its voice in defense of informed and compassionate ministry with LGBT people.”
The Wanderer was welcomed into all of the conference’s sessions and fellowship except two colloquia and the business meetings where the resolutions were to be discussed. However, veteran media representative Paul Leingang promised to inform this newspaper of the results of voting on the resolutions.
The AUSCP mission statement says it is “to be an association of U.S. Catholic priests, offering mutual support and a collegial voice, through dialogue, contemplation and prophetic action on issues affecting Church and world.”
Fr. Bob Bonnot, chair of the organization, told a June 25 evening session that the organization has about 1,200 members.
The morning of June 26 the conference Mass started promptly at 7 a.m. after the celebrant cited Scripture at Mt. Tabor, “Lord, it is good that we are here.” His homily focused on trust in God, something that he admitted humans may find hard to practice. But, “Lord, I come to do your will.”
Communion was distributed under both Species, with a traditional wafer being used, not slices of bread or something else unconventional.
About 80 people attended.
McElroy told his June 26 audience, “We are privileged to be living at this, the pastoral moment” of the Church. The bishop told The Wanderer that the text of his talk should be posted at the San Diego diocesan website soon after he gave it.
Later, during a question session from the audience that lasted 25 minutes, McElroy said he gets so many negative reactions, he buys flowers for the diocesan receptionists. He joked that he’ll come in to the office in the morning, “and they say, what did you do?” — apparently a reference to a barrage of new reactions.
The bishop said the answer is to speak the truth, but do so lovingly.
“It’s simply clear on certain issues” when people are dissidents from Pope Francis’ authority, McElroy said, “and we have to say that. . . . We do have to underscore, when you dissent from the Pope, you’re dissenting from the Pope, and from papal teaching.”
The San Diego bishop soon was put to his own test on a question of dissent.
One member of the audience posed this situation to McElroy: A convert to Catholicism was a daily communicant who had nine children. Because of the size of her family, she asked a priest in Confession if she could use birth control. (The audience member didn’t distinguish between licit and illicit methods, not did McElroy address this necessary information in his reply.)
The confessor “got infuriated” and wouldn’t give her absolution, said the audience member, who asked what the woman should do if she honestly feels God is calling her “to follow their conscience” in a different way.
McElroy didn’t directly affirm Church teaching but said a San Diego diocesan working group was “blown away” by examining the Church’s attitude on conscience.
They were looking for what God calls for “in excruciating situations.” This wasn’t just to get “a get out of jail free” card, he said.
He said the question arose after World War II about “how could it have been that people followed the law in the Third Reich?”
Still not directly addressing the questioner’s contraception issue, McElroy said, “The great enemy of the Christian moral life is rationalization. . . . Conscience is a great gift.”
A different question from the audience mentioned the problem of young people leaving the Church because they see it as judgmental.
The bishop began by acknowledging that everyone fails, and that it’s important to communicate what failure is.
“I think we too much concentrate on sexual. . . . That is not the heart of the Christian moral life,” McElroy said. “That is one of the virtues. It’s not the most important one. . . I think that’s a disservice in the life of the Church.”
The audience applauded.

Bitter Springs

In a separate session the morning of June 26, before McElroy spoke, conference participants joined in “the Baca Valley Lament,” a reference to a place of “bitter springs.” Seated at about 18 round tables, they were asked to confer over things they would lament, then what they would give thanks for.
A table representative would rise and report for that table.
Among lamentations: Having no solution but a political solution; a lack of women’s role in church; tensions between Christians; priests leaving their role to get married but then lacking a ministry they could do; a lack of leadership that inspires the community; and a narrowing of vision of Church leaders, “excepting Pope Francis.”
Among the blessings identified: thanking God for the laity “who put flesh and blood on Vatican II”; for people opening doors to refugees and for newfound relationships with Muslims and other religions: for discovering God’s unconditional love, and for DACA youth; the openness that Pope Francis offered to the world; for ministry to Latinos and other nationalities who have enriched lives; and for courage to take action on social issues.
The emphasis in general news coverage about opposition to “families being separated at the border” was the subject of repeated comments at the conference here.
More information follows in next week’s Wanderer.

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

This week at the Synod on Synodality — revolution or much ado about nothing?

Perhaps it is in the very nature of the Synod on Synodality to take steps back after having taken several steps forward. But the tone of the opening days of the synod’s final general assembly makes it apparent that, for the moment, there is no talk of revolution within the Church.  That tone was set days before the gathering got underway this week at the Vatican, when in his speech in Belgium on Sept. 27, Pope Francis…Continue Reading

Wyoming doctor fired by GOP governor for opposing child ‘sex changes’ asks to be reinstated

(The Daily Signal) — Wyoming’s governor removed a doctor from the state’s board of medicine because the doctor supported a law banning “gender-affirming care” for minors. The doctor is suing, and his lawyers are filing a motion Tuesday asking the court to reinstate him on the medical board. His legal team also revealed that more than 5,000 Wyoming residents have signed a petition asking the governor to reinstate him

Pro-life leaders express disgust with ‘fully booked’ mobile Planned Parenthood unit at DNC

(LifeSiteNews) — Planned Parenthood was “fully booked” with 25 appointments to dispense abortion pills at a mobile center on Monday and Tuesday during the Democratic National Convention (DNC). “Twenty-five innocent human beings whose lives are being ended at the DNC. And this is done as a political statement,” pro-life activist Lila Rose remarked Tuesday on her podcast.

Pope Francis acknowledges conference for ‘LGBT Catholics’

Pope Francis this week said he is “united in prayer” with those participating in a conference for Catholics who identify as LGBT taking place this weekend in Washington, D.C. Father James Martin, a controversial Jesuit priest who founded the pro-LGBT group Outreach in 2022, reportedly asked Pope Francis if he would like to send a greeting to the group’s 2024 gathering, taking place Aug. 2–4 at Georgetown University. Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington is scheduled to celebrate Mass on Saturday at…Continue Reading

Senators Slam Army After Presentation Calls Pro-Life Americans Terrorists

Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Ted Budd (R-NC), along with Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC) and their colleagues, sent a letter to Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth demanding answers after an anti-terrorism training conducted at Fort Liberty, North Carolina depicted Pro-Life Americans as terrorists. “We write regarding social media reports that anti-terrorism training conducted at Ft. Liberty, North Carolina depicts Pro-Life Americans as terrorists. Specifically, the slides identify National Right to Life, ‘Choose Life’ license plate holders, and…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)