John-Henry Westen encouraging Catholics to go over bishops’ heads
In light of the burgeoning controversy over the Connecticut Catholic Conference’s provisional and contingent approval of the administering of Plan B to victims of sexual assault, John-Henry Westen encourages Catholics to write to both the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith in order to express “concern.” Perhaps I am a bit too traditional of a Catholic, but I would suggest that a clarification from the bishops themselves is the first appropriate step since neither the Pontifical Academy for Life nor the CDF has jurisdiction over the dioceses in Connecticut. Encouraging the faithful to go over the heads of bishops without first requesting from those bishops the desired clarification is not a very Catholic move, and it reeks of ultramontanism. No matter what your sentiment may be with regard to the decision of the Connecticut Catholic Conference, it is never appropriate to sidestep the bishop on doctrinal or moral matters unless that bishop or group of bishops is manifestly in error and obstinately refuses to clarify his or their decisions. Indeed, Westen’s ill-advised move encourages more disobedience in the Church, replacing the authority of the bishop with bureaucratic bodies whose authority is derived rather than intrinsic.
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I would hardly call it “encouraging disobedience.”
Who is this Westen character?
I would encourage the supposed-orthodox bishop bashers to give a careful read to Lumen Gentium…
How can Rome not already be aware of this? And “unleashing the power of the blog” on Rome to force them to act is not only a doomed enterprise (When has Rome ever bowed to real media pressure, let alone that of a bunch of self-appointed guardians of orthodoxy on the Internet?), it is profoundly unCatholic.
It would seem Lifesite was able to stop bashing Harry Potter for at least a few minutes this week.
Policraticus,
You’re right that it is prudent to wait for the bishop to respond. However, you are not right that you are a traditional Catholic, unless your definition of “traditional” is “novel”.
http://www.hli.org/sl_2007-10-05.html