San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy sharply criticized the Eternal Word Television Network, the conservative Catholic U.S. media conglomerate, in an interview with Spanish magazine Vida Nueva published on March 24.
Vida Nueva asked McElroy about the decision of newly installed Bishop Fernando Prado of San Sebastián, Spain, to ban diocesan television from carrying content produced by EWTN. Prado wrote that he made the decision “trying to support the communion of the diocese with the Successor of Peter.”
“I would not have EWTN on diocesan media either,” McElroy responded.
“EWTN worries me because it represents a giant of economic and cultural power connected to a religious viewpoint that is fundamentally critical of the pope,” the cardinal said.
“The main anchors of the channel constantly minimize the abilities and theological knowledge of Francis, cite Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s slander of the pope and try to move the world away from the reforms the pope is signaling,” said McElroy….
Full story at NCR Online
Next he will ban the Book of Leviticus because of all those admonitions against homosexual behavior.
Now I know where my annual appeal is going, directly to EWTN. No longer San Diego Diocese
Bejarano needs to replace this hollow-man ASAP; tired of this Cardinal who acts more like a lay Eucharistic Minister Susan than a prince of the Church
Los Angeles Cardinal Mahony also had issues with EWTN. He and McElroy have much in common, beware.
What, specifically, has EWTN broadcast that is not compatible with Catholic faith and morals or that is factually wrong?
They, like the National Catholic Reporter, are a news organization. Who has more dissented from the teachings of the Church and been critical of members of the hierarchy, EWTN or the National Catholic Reporter?
James Martin, among others, regularly criticizes the Pope, the Vatican and the US bishops when they issue statements clarifying Catholic moral teaching.
Since the Cardinal accuses a brother bishop of slander, might he provide an example?
Criticism and suppression are sometimes vague because there is no factual evidence behind them.
Would the Cardinal like to provide evidence for his claims?
(Of course, he is a bishop and does not have to answer to any of us, except Christ. That said, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be good and helpful if he did. We are a human institution, as well as a Divine one. There is a benefit to transparent leaders, especially when they make public comments.)
Attacks on the Pope are not compatible with the Catholic Faith.
It does not matter who dissents more or more often.
Dissent is dissent.
Who attacked the Pope? And, what did that attack consist of?
Is a serious question, even a critical one, at “attack” in your mind?
Was Saint Catherine of Siena wrong when she corrected an erring pope?
And, if you mean dissent from Church teaching, you’re right. But, disagreeing with a person, even a bishop, isn’t usually dissent from Church teaching.
If it is God’s Will, such as with Catherine of Siena that is different than when prideful people who are angry or envious or greedy decide to publicly denounce, challenge, undermine the Pope.
If you disagree with the Pope, talk to your pastor and to God or Mary.
Do not go into a public arena and strike the shepherd.
Who decides what is “God’s Will”?
God.
And to whom does God reveal His Will?
What qualifies as an “attack on the pope”? What qualifies as dissent? Dissent from a pope’s personal opinions? Dissent from the way he exercises the power granted to him regarding each and every thing a pope wishes to promote? Dissent from ambiguity, sophistry, euphemisms, slogans? Much needs to be unpacked here. when a pope proclaims the teachings of Jesus from the apostolic tradition and the Bible clearly without edits, can there be dissent? When he commands his preferences for liturgy, morality, and so forth, dissent certainly is possible. The opposite of dissent is assent, firstly to the divinely revealed truths such as the Eucharist, the commandments, the perpetual virginity of Mary for example. Others call for religious submission of the will and intellect. To disagree with a pope’s personal opinions that are not solemnly defined, to ask for an explanation of these as did the 4 Cardinals from Pope Francis, to question for the purpose of clarity are not dissent or attack. It is important that any pope especially, but also all clergy, be clear and united to the Bible and Tradition of the Church to proclaim what the magisterium contains as be subject to it as they are rather than to form the magisteriums according th3 their own desires. The faithful have a right to examine these statements
Your clarity of thought and certitude of faith are inspiring. Thank you.
Fr. Perozich, how well do people actually live the teachings of Christ? The real teachings. Not the watered down ones.
If the Pope taught, as in Acts, that people should hold all things in common (which he hads not) he would be called a communist.
How many Catholics do you know who have actually sold all their belongings and given the money to the poor?
How many Catholics do you know who do not grow angry? How many do you know that make excuses for their anger such as “righteous anger?”
How many Catholics do you know who honestly believe that we should offer no resistance to evil?
How many Catholics live in poverty in solidarity with the poor?
How many Catholics hate their families for Christ?
Some do. There are some saintly souls. Very few.
Now please tell me how the Vicar of Christ has offended you in a way contrary to Christ.
A lot of the complaints are because as the vicar of Christ he has to reject no one who comes to him.
Catholics do not really love people. Can you not see that? They are supposed to love sinners but they are picky about what kind of sinners they will love..
An attack on the pope is any criticism, denouncing, insinuations such as of bad motives, gossip, slander, questions which lead others to question.
Dissent is disagreeing on an issue where you must agree.
You can like a different kind of pasta-that is his personal opinion. In matters of governance, you can disagree but you should keep it between yourself and God, at least until he is not Pope anymore. There is some level where it might be OK. Like if he makes a real error like calling us the United States of Arika, things like that can be corrected. A decision he has made should not be. The people closer to him should be the ones to tell him, not the Internet.
One good rule of thumb, iif you are talking about a person, it is probably not good. Gossip is sinful even if you are saying something good about a person. yes, we all do it. That is why there are so many admonitions against it in the Bible. Some of it is just knowing your corner of the vineyard. If you read something that concerns you, pray about it. Pray for the person. Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Your questions seem to accuse rather than really ask.
Some of them are “What if he beats his wife again?” on someone who has not beaten his wife.
You and I should assent to everything the Catholic Church teaches. A lot of it is over my head. I don’t know much about a lot of things.
I think the dubia was a mistake. Sometimes, people are not asking sincere questions.
Like if someone says Jesus is the Son of God and another person asks “Does that mean you don’t believe he is the Messiah?”
As for examining statements, yes, you should and if you do not understand it, take it to prayer not to the internet.
There are so many lies and liars on the Internet. So many people who misinterpret. And, to be honest, there are people doing it for money.
Be holy. Silence is golden. You have to pray to know when to speak and when to be quiet.
Canon 212: The Laity
According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.
“Silence is golden” —not always!
robert ferrez, yes. with reverence toward their pastors, notice. I was the one pointing out the seriousness of Cardinal McElroy’s change in pastoral theology (really sacramental theology). Nobody else took it seriously. I came to the conclusion that they did not have the understanding or knowledge to understand. So I stopped.
I don’t remember how many thumbs down I got when I said I would have to contact the Cardinals themselves..
You have to respond to real situations not the lies on the internet.
And you have to know what you are talking about.
If something needs to be done, like I said, you have to pray over it.
I agree that the actual dubia was not dissent or attack, but when some people on the Internet got a hold of it, it became so.
Cardinal Burke was very grieved that people were trying to pit him against the Pope.
If he means “Southern Cross”, I’ve never read it. Aside from that, SD Diocese has media? Who knew?
St. Paul attacked Pope Peter. Read about it in Galatians 2:11-21
I guess St. Paul was a dissenter then
It’s too bad women, like Mother Angelica, Saint Mother Teresa, Saint Clare, Saint Frances Cabrini, Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Mary of Egypt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Mother of God as well as others, have no influence in the Church.
You don’t believe in the Communion of Saints?
I sure do. I’m a member. I’m “only” a lay woman, but that didn’t stop me from speaking the truth to a pope.
As I said years ago, “Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.”
Then you would not say that those women have no influence in the Church.
‘Twas irony, I do believe.
SouthCoast, you believe correctly. Although, I don’t know, maybe St. Catherine of Siena reads Cal Catholic Daily, but I’m pretty certain she doesn’t post here.
Liberal Tolerance in Action
There have always been clergymen who have sought to destroy the Church from the inside in every generation. By the grace of God, they have never been successful. But it has always been prophesied that the road to damnation is paved with the bones of shepherds who misled their flock in this earthly life… pray for the Diocese of San Diego!
This is the level that some people are at and most aren’t even this knowledgeable.
Learn the Catholic Faith from Church sources. The Bible, the catechism, Church documents.
Please take the time -30 minutes a day- you can do it.
People are not very knowledgeable. They have littles bits of vague information. They know a few quotes-many of which are not even real. They can’t make an argument.
They label, they call names because that is the level that they are at.
Everybody do better. You can.
A couple of people said they too have found problems with EWTN.
No one has said that it is important to their faith life.
It was important in the “90s and early 2000s.
A lot of people learned a lot from it.
Young people don’t like it because it is so dated. I have noticed that they are trying to upgrade the graphics.
The Internet has made it much less important.
Honestly, there isn’t much on EWTN worth watching.
honestly, ask the many, especially the homebound, who can pray along with the Mass and you’ll discover they value EWTN.
What do you watch?
I gave it up years ago because of lack of fidelity.
I would assume that things like Mass, Rosary, Chaplet are still good.
This is where how well you know the Faith enters in.
Somebody who does not know the Bible, the Catechism, the documents from the Vatican (both pre and post Vatican II), teachings of the Fathers, teaching of the Saints and who does not practice the virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity and Humility can easily get caught up in error.
I think they are sincere but they have gone astray.
Pray for them and yourselves and me.
“I gave it up years ago because of lack of fidelity.” I am guessing your complaint aligns with Bishop Fernando Prado that EWTN, and particularly the papal posse, have been an irritation to Pope Francis from time to time. They have taken Pope Francis to task for his disastrous accord with the villain Xi Jinping, for his handling of the TLM devotees, his course of action promoting the synodal church, and other things os which I know not. So the question is, can intellectuals discuss this papacy openly and frankly? Does this papacy need to be discussed openly and frankly? These men know the Bible, the Catechism, the documents from the Vatican (both pre and post Vatican II), teachings of the Fathers, teaching of the Saints etc. and I find their discussions reflective of faith, hope and charity. I often have the same questions about Francis that they have, and I appreciate their bringing issues to light. And more to the point, I have long thought the wounds of a friend are far the better than the kisses of an enemy. It seems to me that Francis’ true friends are those willing to subject his papacy to scrutiny when the occasion requires it– to praise or criticize alike. If commentator would like to give an example of how the papal posse has gone astray, I would be glad to hear of it.
I gave it up when it turned and yes, it was Raymond Arroyo.
I don’t stick around when an entity that claims to be Catholic starts criticizing the Pope.
Do you understand how wrong it is?
Do you understand how offensive to God it is?
I guess not.
And yes, just knowing the Bible and the Catechism and the documents and the teachings won’t help you if you do not live them.
You are very naïve if you do not understand what is driving this. It is not charity or faith.
“Do you understand how wrong it is? Do you understand how offensive to God it is?” You guessed right. I do not think God is offended by attending to a discussion of Pope Francis governance of the Church, especially in prudential matters where he has no particular expertise (such as diplomacy), but also aspects of his leadership, like his treatment of conservative clerics (Cardinals Pell and Zen come to mind), his treatment of traditional Catholics, his silence on the evils of communism, his stomping on the legacy of Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity and that of JP II’s PAL etc. When one suspects the pope has failed in an aspect of leadership the real sin, IMO, is not to think it through, perhaps on a program featuring the papal posse. God is never offended by the search for truth and understanding.
He hands you truth and understanding on a platter and you reject it.
Talking about others is not pleasing to God.
Judging others is not pleasing to God.
This is very offensive rhetoric.
I am sure it does not offend you because you have bought into the lies.
Lying is offensive to God as are insinuations.
It offends God if you do it to the worst sinner or the lowest person on the planet.
And you are doing it to the Pope, His Vicar.
Please ask God to remove the scales from your eyes and repent and turn back to Him with all your heart.
This is in reply to Commenter March 28, 2023 at 4:16 pm who piously pleaded with me : “Please ask God to remove the scales from your eyes and repent and turn back to Him with all your heart.”
Commentator, your entire 4:16 post is wrongheaded. 1. Talking about others is neither bad nor good. It is the content and the intent of the talking that counts. I’ll let you mull over that. 2. Talking is not the same as judging. 3. The search for truth and understanding cannot be reduced to offensive rhetoric unless there is a predetermined hostility to truth and understanding 4. The charge of lying can be a great calumny; you put yourself in the place of God to judge that any discussion of this papacy is a pack of lies and that we who discuss are liars. 5. Your call for repentance of course is always good any time, as we all need to repent of things throughout our lives. Just be careful about judging the scales over others’ eyes as you have no window into their souls, unless you are God. And worse, you may fail to understand what scales cover your own eyes. That would be a real pity. If you care to pursue the matter I would gladly give you my email to further the conversation. Let me know.
Your intent would increase or decrease guilt and if you are truly ignorant that you should not gossip (talking about others) that would help your soul but now you have been admonished so that will not work
Bible verses:
We were always taught that talking about others is wrong. Even if you say something good, when the person you tell repeats it, it will not come out the same. Also, that person may be an enemy of the person you talk about.
Think about how people would react if you said something good about Father James Martin.
You should always take admonishment with humility.
I have learned the hard way not to do these things.
Thank you for calling me pious although I am not worthy.
https://www.catholiccompany.com/magazine/struggle-gossip-saint-quotes-6179
https://laycistercians.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-slander/
https://www.ncregister.com/features/sins-of-the-tongue
You can google Bible verses about gossip-there are many.
Look at the charge against the Pope: “his treatment of conservative clerics (Cardinals Pell and Zen come to mind), his treatment of traditional Catholics, his silence on the evils of communism, his stomping on the legacy of Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity and that of JP II’s PAL etc.” There are two sides to each of the issues above, and the truth is that the Pope is being maligned in each of them. For example, his treatment of “traditional Catholics”? Those folks have brought all of this upon themselves, people. They’ve brought all of this upon themselves. They’re very good at portraying themselves as the “persecuted ones.” Excuse me, but Popes John Paul II and Benedict have been very gracious to them and have accommodated them. And how did they respond? Divisiveness.
Just a few more points here, folks. Don’t forget that there is an industry that has sprung up these days that specializes in thrashing the Pope and the Church. Yes, such dissentful talk draws money, clicks, and advertisers. If the Papal posse can draw viewership by maligning the Pope, hey, why not? Secondly, there are enemies of the Church that are just inciting these right-of-center Catholics to despise the Pope. They did that at the last pontificate by inciting those on the left. Now, they’re doing it to the right. They’d do anything to separate the sheep from the shepherds. Lastly, “Dan’s” and the others’ points here do nothing but just rationalize unjust criticism of Pope Francis. This is because they’ve drunk the cup of divisiveness being served up by the enemies of the Church. Sad.
The Pope has done nothing wrong to traditional Catholics. Traditional Catholics are the ones who obey the Pope. Traditionalist Catholics are outside of the Church.
If you are referring to people who attend the TLM, if you do not have an inordinate attachment to the TLM you might be disappointed but conformity to the will of God will have you offer it up without complaint.
I thought this dissident stuff was coming from the Internet, and I think it is, but I had no idea that EWTN had gotten that bad.
This is all from the devil.
People used to be concerned about that but they aren’t anymore.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/voices-synodal-dialogue
Here is the 3rd part of the McElroy essays
McElroy’s recent writing about how the church should minister to LGBTQ people and divorced and remarried Catholics has received significant backlash, including an essay where Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, seemed to accuse McElroy of heresy.
When asked by Vida Nueva if the accusation of heresy hurt him, McElroy acknowledged that it did, but he said it hurt the church more.
“This language endangers the church even more, in breaking down the dialogue that we should maintain these days about the fundamental questions that we are confronting,” McElroy said.
The source of temptations are the devil, the flesh and the world.
The vulnerabilities that cause us to fall for temptations are concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life.
There is no one free from these.
That is why you need to be constantly vigilant.
Uh…..I can watch EWTN any time that I want on other venues than diocesan media.
Not too swift are you, Eminence.
No, you will only watch what you bishop says is permissible.
According to who or what ?, the moral authority has been destroyed from within , does this authority extend to social media or platforms like this ? is there a list so we can know what we are and are not allowed ?.
They stopped that in 1966.
Controlled by government, now controlled by a Bishop
The frequent commenter, jon, is probably “anti-EWTN,” too– because EWTN is honest, faithful to Christ, and always rightfully criticizes errant, heretical Catholic clerics and popes. EWTN has always stood for the authentic Catholic Faith. jon and his friends do not see that a Catholic pope or cleric can be a heretical one, misleading the Church. McElroy should never have been accepted into a seminary. He is not really, honestly, a true, bona fide Catholic or Christian. Similar to the errant Jesuit, Fr. James Martin, he has always been a dishonest, liberal-leftist, radical social activist, promoting the “LGBT agenda,” not Catholicism– and has had an extremely controversial, scandalous “pro-gay” ministry, ever since he was ordained a priest.
If they are criticizing Catholic clerics and popes they are not faithful to Christ.
You cannot view the Catholic Church with the mind of a toddler. Don’t be a lazy, brainwashed simpleton, hoping that those in clerical robes will “magically” protect you— that’s very lazy, irresponsible thinking! Your kids are depending on you to think carefully and responsibly– and keep them safe! Some men in clerical garb are “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” as Christ warned us. Parents in Spain recently were in an uproar, because a religious teaching order had recently implemented an extremely explicit “sex-ed” program, laden with “free sex” and “WOKE” LGBT and gender-bender ideology—- and tried to repeatedly deny the parents access to the curriculum and graphic, explicit pictures. The parents finally got mad, and a huge group of them confronted the religious order and demanded that they remove this evil sex-ed material— and only teach their children authentic, solid Catholic teaching. These parents are using their God-given brains responsibly– they are Christ’s faithful servants. The errant, evil clergy of the religious teaching order– are Satanic impostors, faithless to Christ, minions of the Devil.
Matthew 18:3
No. Read St. Matthew 7:15– “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
You don’t recognize the false prophets.
Wolf- I do not know what to say except please get to confession (if you are Catholic), pray the Rosary, consecrate yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Your own words testify against you.
You need to know the difference between a good cleric, faithful to Christ– and a heretic, an impostor.
The way you do that is by knowing scripture, Catechism, church documents, a good understanding of the theological virtues and by practicing works of mercy especially to the poor.
Are the clerics and popes who cover for the abusive priests faithful to Christ ? Look at how the Chilean sex abuse scandal was mishandled “I was part of the problem ” . The personal holiness of anyone is not guaranteed, the abuse scandals and the behavior’s of those same prove this , look at the declining numbers and the poor catechism among the faithful as evidence of this.
Exhibit #1
McElroy simply is one of Pope Francis’ henchmen. Why else would this Bishop of this relatively small for California Diocese be promoted to being a Cardinal while two of the largest Catholic Archdioceses in the US continue to not be headed by Cardinals. If memory serves, Los Angeles is the largest archdiocese by population in the US. So, it comes as no surprise that McElroy is anti EWTN.
Our Church really needs to teach people right from wrong, sin and virtue, and the necessity of repentance of sin. And our society needs to get tough on crime, and require much higher, normal standards of Christian Morality, everywhere. This morning, another tragic school shooting happened, at a Christian school I’m Nashville, TN. The killer, a 28-year-old girl, was a former student. The news reporter said that she identified as a transgender. She brutally killed six people– a substitute teacher, a custodian, the school administrator, and three little 9-year-old students. Then, the cops killed the shooter. I am deeply sorry for this! May God be with and comfort the poor, suffering families of these six senselessly slain victims.
My comment of March 27th at 6:35pm contained an error. The end of the third sentence should read, “… at a Christian school in Nashville, TN.”
And the suffering Christian family of the shooter.
Original title: Cardinal McElroy criticizes EWTN, says San Diego Diocese won’t publish content
I watched a youtube video by a Catholic lady and there were a couple of red flags and a lot of references to darkness and the enemy and spiritual warfare. And about 5 minutes from the end the lady starts lying and distorting about Pope Francis.
Satan is the father of lies.
This is a Latin Mass atendee.
Now I know by faith that the problem is not the Mass. And I know by faith that the problem is not the Pope.
The devil, the flesh, the world-probably the devil
concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, pride of life.
Be wary for your adversary the devil is prowling like a lion waiting for someone to devour.
Place yourselves under Mary’s mantel. consecrate yourself to Her Immaculate Heart.
“And I know by faith that the problem is not the Pope.”
what if the pope is not the Pope?
i said: what IF ? IF !
ya got an answer?
HE IS THE POPE. Do not fall for the lies of the sedevacantists.
This is the ultimate modernist heresy,
Heresy shaming has got to stop. It’s not loving. EWTN has disagreaphobia. They are afraid of different ideas and opinions from theirs.
No. You are not a true Catholic, faithful to Catholic teaching. EWTN promotes only authentic Catholic teaching. Their entire mission is to evangelize the Catholic Faith.
Christ warned about the wolves among the sheep. With respect to Cardinal McElroy, I won’t go so far as calling him a “wolf,” but maybe he’s feeding them.
People like to use that expression but really the wolves in sheep’s clothing tell people what they want to hear. They act perfectly fine. They are not the innovators or the envelope pushers.
McElroy is not pretending to be a devout, conservative Catholic in order to get people to trust him.
Everybody can see that he is not. He does not hide that he is not.
Watch out for the one’s that act like they are the great perfect devout Catholics. Real devout Catholics don’t ask for money. They don’t try to get you to sign petitions. Those are the ones that harm a lot of people.
“Pope Francis governance of the Church, especially in prudential matters where he has no particular expertise (such as diplomacy), but also aspects of his leadership, like his treatment of conservative clerics (Cardinals Pell and Zen come to mind), his treatment of traditional Catholics, his silence on the evils of communism, his stomping on the legacy of Benedict’s hermeneutic of continuity and that of JP II’s PAL etc.”
If this is what EWTN is doing, their bishop should be involved.
I came across this excuse making while searching
https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/its-time-us-bishops-reconsider-relationship-ewtn
Yeah, this publication ended public comment on their stories a while ago because they couldn’t take their constant streams of contradiction being called out every single time they published an article.
Comments on this page would not have happened prior to Vatican II.
Prior to Vatican II, churchmen never commented on air-conditioners, gardening, recycling etc. Those were prudential matters left to the laity. Bishops did talk about chastity, honoring the Sabbath, children obeying their parents, parents instructing children in the Faith, etc. You know: really Catholic stuff.
Are you needing instruction in these things?
There wasn’t a lot of either air conditioners or recycling before Vatican Ii, and we didn’t know the importance of either. Not everything is about Vatican II or gay civil marriage. Remember, the seeds and much of the written fruit of the clergy sex abuse crisis came before V 2, and while it is taking agonizingly long to end that horrible chapter, is coming after both.
Banned from diocesan media? Are these guys kidding? That’s like closing the kitty flap while leaving every window and door in the house wide open. As if they could prevent the faithful in their diocese from receiving EWTN in all of its vast platforms. Heck, Catholic Answers is based in San Diego. Their authoritarian hubris is only surpassed by their utter ignorance of the reach of modern media. And if they’re so ignorant of that, there is no limit to what their ignorance can rise to.
It would be diocesan media not any media in the diocese.
What an ignorant Cardinal from San Diego
EWTN is in his diocese 24/7 through social media.
This atheist Cardinal is a product of the lack of true evangelization from the last 100 years in the U. S.
He is just another enslaved, controlled, manipulated, disoriented, extorted, human being. A true product of Communism in the supposed leaders of the Catholic Church in the U. S.
Stop listening to these enslaved agents of Satan
The truth of Christ is the only true light.