Progress? From what? To where?

""The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. " GK Chesterton From the Illustrated London NewsApril 19, 1924

Will the bishops follow Pope Francis in New Orleans?

Thomas Reese  |

Fr. Reece sees the Church in the world through an unfortunately bifurcated lens. In charity, I will say that his concern for the poor and for Progressive causes has blinded him to the real meaning of “the consistent ethic of life.” That blindness leads him to say things like this: “The last thing troubled families need is bishops quoting papal encyclicals to them.” I could say that he appears to believe that troubled families need access to abortion, birth control and divorce more than they need the pastoral teaching of the Magisterium to show them what is truly true and beautiful and good. Perhaps he would have the bishops do away with Jesus’teaching as well that “what God has joined let no man put asunder.”etc. Frankly, there are trillions of tax dollars and billions of corporate and private charitable dollars going to help the poor. Somehow, they are not having the desired effect. Perhaps Fr. Reese should spend some time thinking about why the Progressive program to help the poor has failed so miserably. At the same time, there are precious few who are willing to defend the Truth in regards to the Family and sexual ethics. Does the proud Father consider that the bishops’ voices appear louder on those subjects because there are so few other voices? Fr. Reese’ is missing from the pro-family chorus. And I have the sorry sense that he wished the bishops would be silent too – or worse, join the amen chorus of Progressives who cheer the re-definition of marriage, the dissolution of the family, the misdirection of an individual’s sexual powers, the intentional sterility of the womb and the death (when “compassion” demands) of the unborn.

Of course, this story only presents one side of the argument; because that is the side NCR supports. But it leaves to be assumed that NCR prefers that the pope redefine truth and reality and will be disappointed if the Vicar of Christ uses the data to infuse the New Evangelization in order to teach the Church what is true and beautiful and good about human sexuality, marriage, children and the family.