Cardinal Dolan sees US as ‘mission territory’
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The U.S. and other Western nations are “mission territory” for the Catholic Church in modern times, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York stressed in a July 17 online posting.
“I was raised – as were most of you – to think of the missions as ‘way far away’ – and, to be sure, we can never forget our sacred duty to the foreign missions,” the New York archbishop wrote on his “Gospel in the Digital Age” blog.
“But, we are a mission territory, too. Every diocese is. And every committed Catholic is a missionary. This is at the heart of what Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI call the New Evangelization.”
Cardinal Dolan voiced his agreement with Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who observed in a June 2012 speech to the Catholic Press Association that his own archdiocese was “now really mission territory … for the second time.”
While the Philadelphia archbishop’s statement may seem startling, Cardinal Dolan said it was “right on target” – not simply due to troubles facing the Church in Philadelphia, but because of the larger crisis of faith sweeping through Western societies.
“Our beloved Archdiocese of New York is also mission territory,” the cardinal and U.S. bishops’ conference president observed. Although his local church is financially and administratively sound, it faces the same spiritual challenges that prompted Archbishop Chaput’s remark.
“Maybe, we have gotten way too smug. We have taken our Catholic faith for granted,” the New York archbishop suggested.
The entire Church, he said, can no longer “coast on the former fame, clout, buildings, numbers, size, money, and accomplishments of the past.” [More]
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15 Comments
The “mission” whereof the Cardinal Dolan and the Archbishop Chaput speak is that of drumming up support for their partisan political positions, especially those related to the so called pelvic theology. And that’s precisely why Catholic pews are emptying instead of filling, with more parish church closures ahead.
As Benedict XVI said prior to becoming pope, we might need a smaller Church with more faithful Catholics.
The church was said to be built on Christ … but no ! Card . Dolan bemoans the loss of” former fame , clout , buildings , numbers , size , money and accomplishments of the past ” . However might this be the breakthrough we’ve been hoping for ?
The faithful are , according to Sacred Scripture living stones being built up into the Body of Christ .
So maybe fame , clout, money and buildings etc . are all in vain ?
Jim – ever read St Francis de Sales?
J.O. — a very little, and frankly I don’t remember what I read. Why do you ask?
Hey Jim, I’m the original Tony, I have found a great website for you, real conservative, I think you will love it. Catholicculture.org
Check it out you could not get more conservative.
Tony — thank you, and good to hear from you again. I actually was missing you a little bit!
No one in there right mind, be it pope. bishop or priest, is going to tell it like it is and lose 75% of there income. Nor will any bishop allow the truth to be told. You will receive just what they want you to think, act and do, nothing else. Freedom of thought is a sin; don’t you know?
Jim, no saint has lived under the poor leadership of their bishops as we dc today in the United States. And I post on a Catholic Blog because I am a Catholic.
I love the Chruch but I want to see better leadership on the part of the bishops. I see sentiments of the same nature on other Catholic blogs.
With regard to your last sentence first: of course, I see Catholic-bashing everywhere too. But, many people, very likely the majority, of people who identify themselves as Catholic actually aren’t Catholic — e.g., they typically think artificial contraception is okay; some don’t even believe in either Heaven or Hell. With regard to your assessment of the current status of the leadership of the Church in the USA: you are not in a position to make that assessment. Virtually everything you know about the Church is rendered through the media, which of course is dispicably liberal, biased, and anti-Catholic. There is no objective data to support your contention in that regard. With regard to better leadership, though, I too want to see that, both with regard to issues of sexual abuse, but especially for the bishops and priests to step up, be men, and quit being so pusillanimous — they need to tell the congregation like it is, and be willing to lose 75% of the people who attend Mass. If I were a priest, I would do exactly that.
You have no idea of my association with the bishops, you don’t know if I am a priest, bishop, deacon, or religious or layperson who works with and for the bishops. You don’t know what my association is so don’t presume that my knowledge is only passed on what I get from the media.
Yes, the media often seems to be ultracrepidarian.
And then where will their operating money come from?
Ignatius — why are you posting on a CATHOLIC blog? Man, are you a complainer. Why don’t you read the lives of some of the saints to get some examples of commendable behavior — you’ll find that no saint ever would have posted the whining complaints you do.
Who in their right mind would want to join a church with the poor, inept leadership of our arrogant, Pompus, control freak bishops?