Civility and Church Life

[Davidnic]

Civility and Church Life | Charles J. Chaput

Two good points from many good points in the article:

But Dr. Faggioli’s main focus is Fr. James Martin, S.J. And for good reason. Some of the recent attacks on Martin, sparked by his book Building a Bridge, have been inexcusably ugly.

And:

Second, before we prematurely enter another name on our list of Catholic martyrs, we should remember that Fr. Martin’s book is not above legitimate, serious criticism that has nothing to do with ad hominem rancor.

 

[Michie]

I think a big problem within the Church just like it is in the secular world, is there a big tendency not to seek out commonalities but to develop a tribal type mentality that is based on the cult of personality and who you are associated with. What your causes are. What makes people feel good and better than those they disagree with. To me, that screams egotism. And having this within the Church is even worse. As people of faith, our commonalities should outweigh whatever it is that is going on in secular society. When we whitewash and basically avoid what the Faith teaches and claim to follow in favor of being basically more compassionate than God, there is always going to be a problem. There is a reason that people see Christians turning on a dime and eating their own in the name of this so-called compassion and political causes that the witness seems completely worthless.

We don't seem to know how or forget how to speak the truth with love. How could we when we when we are constantly villifying one another?

 

[Michie]

Some might suggest that disputes over Building a Bridge, given its call for closer diologue with the LBGT community, are really about whether we are willing to eliminate judgementalism from Church life. But that's simply wrong. Clear judgement, tempered by mercy but faithful to Scripture and constant Church teaching, is an obligation of Catholic discipleship-especially on moral issues, and especially in Catholic scholarship. The perceived ambiguities in Fr. Martin's views is sexuality have created much of the apprehension and criticism surrounding his book. There's nothing vindictive in respectfully but firmly challenging those inadequacies. Doing less would violate both justice and charity.