Posts Tagged James Martin
Editorial: Stop censoring, have a civil discussion / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Voice of the Faithful on September 29, 2017
“It no longer takes the time it once did for tiny minorities to derail careers by slandering anyone who asks inconvenient questions.) National Catholic Reporter
“In September, NCR (National Catholic Reporter) and GSR (Global Sisters Reporter) have reported on three tales of Catholic thinkers censored — Jesuit Fr. James Martin; Boston College theology professor M. Shawn Copeland; and Rebecca Bratten Weiss, co-founder of the New Pro-Life Movement. The excruciating irony of these tales begins with the fact that it no longer requires an edict from the Holy Office or a word of disapproval from the local bishop to silence thought and to pronounce someone persona non grata.
“The mechanics have gone digital for sidelining someone like Martin, whose rather mild suggestions in his latest book, Building a Bridge, which urges a kinder church approach to the LGBT community, have stirred the hornet’s nest of homophobia. Bratten Weiss was branded as insufficiently pro-life for suggesting the life agenda can and should include issues of women’s rights, health care and violence. Word from Madonna University is the decision for Copeland not to speak was mutual, out of fear the situation would get ‘uglier.”‘
“It no longer takes the time it once did for tiny minorities to derail careers by slandering anyone who asks inconvenient questions. Once upon a time, such groups at least had to make the effort to send actual letters to faraway offices in Rome. They at least had to have some pull with officials there who would mistakenly construe a few dozen missives to mean the Catholic population of an entire country was up in arms.”
Editorial by National Catholic Reporter — Read more …
Deacons, women and the call to serve / America: The National Catholic Review
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Future of the Church, Voice of the Faithful, Women Deacons, Women in Catholic Church on December 8, 2016
The current Vatican commission exploring the possibility of women deacons has raised a number of questions about their role in the church. As ordained ministers who are neither priests nor lay people, the actual role of deacons in the parishes where they minister remains unclear to many Catholics. What are deacons, and how has their role changed over history?Could women deacons revolutionize pastoral ministry and transform the church? How can the diaconate better meet the changing needs of the faithful today? Join us for a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture and America Media featuring:
- Nancy Dallavalle, theologian and vice president for mission and identity at Fairfield University
- Deacon Greg Kandra, blogger at Aleteia’s “The Deacon’s Bench,” multimedia editor at Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
- Rita Ferrone, contributing editor at Commonweal and blogger at “Pray Tell Blog”
- George Demacopoulos, theologian and founding co-director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University
- James Martin, S.J., moderator, author and editor-at-large for America Media
By The Editors at America: The National Catholic Review — Click here to read the rest of this article and access links to videos and transcripts of the roundtable discussions.
What some critics of ‘Amoris Laetitia’ are missing / America
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Pope Francis, Synod on the Family, Voice of the Faithful on April 14, 2016
In its statement regarding Amoris Laetitia, Voice of the Faithful pointed to the role of conscience in moral decision-making and quoted Pope Francis, who said, “We also find it hard to make room for consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations. We have been called to form consciences, not to replace them.” James Martin, S.J., is concerned in the article below that some critics of the Pope’s letter are missing “… the notion that God can deal with people directly. The way that this notion is framed in the document is primarily through the lens of ‘conscience.'”
What some critics of “Amoris Laetitia” are missing
By James Martin, S.J., Editor at Large, America
Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” has been accepted by most Catholics as a breath of fresh air. Its warm encouragement to families to place love at the center of their lives, its clear invitation to pastors to accompany Catholics in the ‘complexity’ of their situations and its strong reminder that the church needs to recover an appreciation of the role of conscience have been welcomed by millions of Catholics as a sign that the church wants to meet them where they are.
“But not by all Catholics. In a few quarters of the church it has not been received warmly at all. In fact, it was greeted with a vituperation that seemed to approach apoplexy.
“Many critics were frustrated, alarmed and angered by the same thing. They claimed that Francis had muddied the clear moral waters of the church by elevating a concept that had landed St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order to which the pope belongs, in jail: the notion that God can deal with people directly.
“The way that this notion is framed in the document is primarily through the lens of ‘conscience’ …”
Click here to read the rest of this article.
James Martin, S.J., Talks about One of the Effects of the Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal on Priests
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on April 29, 2013
In his column called Papal Embrace, which in the May 6 issue of America magazine, editor-at-large James Martin, S.J., wonders if the Pope’s embracing of children will change anything for other priests in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. Click here or on his byline below to read the entire column.
I make sure,’ said my friend, ‘that I am never alone with my nephews and nieces.’ That comment came from a priest. We were talking about the most sensitive topic imaginable: the fallout from the clerical sexual abuse scandals and the way that has affected our priesthood. It is something that many priests often discuss among themselves.” By James Martin, SJ, America magazine
America Magazine Commentary Sees Hope for the American Nuns
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Religious Women, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on April 18, 2013
Pope Francis, the CDF and the LCWR by James Martin, S.J., in America magazine
Today (April 15) the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement about the ongoing oversight and “reform” (to use their word) of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the main umbrella organization of women religious in the United States, which represents roughly 80% of American Catholic sisters and nuns. In their statement, the Congregation noted that the new prefect of the Congregation, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, as well as Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, the Holy See’s Delegate for the Doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, met with the Presidency of the LCWR. Archbishop Müller also noted that he had spoken with Pope Francis, who “reaffirmed” the findings of the Assessment, and the “program of reform.” The LCWR issued a statement, which listed the participants in the meeting in full, and said that the meeting was “open and frank.” Several things need to be kept in mind before people jump to conclusions about what this may or may not portend.
Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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