The following comes from an Apr. 4 story on sfgate.com.
Teachers and staff working at dozens of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Oakland will have to sign off on a new morality clause in their contracts to keep their jobs. It’s small paragraph that dictates behavior in both their professional and personal lives.
“In both the TEACHER’S personal and professional life, the TEACHER is expected to model and promote behavior in conformity with the teaching of the Roman Catholic faith in matters of faith and morals, and to do nothing that tends to bring discredit to the SCHOOL or to the Diocese of Oakland.”
That might be a problem for some teachers and staff, given that they’re not Catholic or they’ve married their same-sex spouse or because they covet their neighbor’s house.
Such language wouldn’t have been much of a problem decades ago, when most parochial or independent Catholic schools were run by nuns and priests. But these days, there are atheist, gay, lesbian and transgender teachers, and others who hold beliefs or act in ways contrary to Catholic doctrine.
Diocese officials, however, say the new language resulted from a meeting of California bishops in which they “realized the importance of spelling out the mission of the Catholic educator,” according to a March 15 letter to school staff from Rev. Michael Barber, Oakland bishop.
School employees were encouraged to read the new contract carefully.
But the diocese said the new language wasn’t that different from that in the old contract, which “any conduct that tends to bring discredit to the School or Diocese” as a violation of regulations.
“We don’t see a marked change in the language of the contract, only a clarification of what the Philosophy of Catholic education is and what are the expectations of a Catholic teacher representing the Church,” said Mike Brown, diocese spokesman. “The old contract specifically referenced ‘conduct in accord with Catholic standards.’ The new contract underscores this point with no change in what has always been the importance of teaching and abiding by Catholic principles.”
It wasn’t an effort to remove any individuals from schools, Brown said. Increasingly, personal and professional lives are merging via social media and this is in part an acknowledgement of that, he said.
To read the original story, click here.
So when will all the other Catholic Diocese in CA (and throughout the USA) do the same ?
It would be nice to have Catholic Schools be “Catholic” again.
(And not deviate from the Bible and CCC in teaching or actions.)
Oakland is only one.
What about the Dioceses of: Los Angeles; San Diego; San Francisco; Fresno; Monterey; Orange: Sacramento; San Bernardino; San Jose; Santa Rosa; Stockton ?
Parents and Grandparents encourage your Diocese Bishop to follow the lead of Oakland in this matter regarding Catholic Schools. It is your duty.
Parents and others – Prior to contacting your Diocese Bishop you may want to know what he is required to do – to support your needs regarding schools –
Code of Canon Law:
◾BOOK III. THE TEACHING FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH LIBER III. DE ECCLESIAE MUNERE DOCENDI
– ◾TITLE I. THE MINISTRY OF THE DIVINE WORD (Cann. 756 – 780)-
– – – – – ◾CHAPTER I. THE PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD
– – – – – ◾CHAPTER II. CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION
– ◾TITLE II. THE MISSIONARY ACTION OF THE CHURCH (Cann. 781 – 792)
– ◾TITLE III. CATHOLIC EDUCATION (Cann. 793 – 821)
– – – – – ◾CHAPTER I. SCHOOLS
– – – – – ◾CHAPTER II. CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER INSTITUTES OF HIGHER STUDIES
– – – – – ◾CHAPTER III. ECCLESIASTICAL UNIVERSITIES AND FACULTIES
-◾TITLE IV. INSTRUMENTS OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION AND BOOKS IN PARTICULAR (Cann. 822 – 832)
-◾TITLE V. THE PROFESSION OF FAITH (Can. 833)
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM
and
” APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION of the SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II
on CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES”
https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae_en.html
They are your children, and its your tuition money. You have the obligation to make certain that any School advertising itself as ‘Catholic” operates as required.
And the specific Diocese Bishop plays a required and important role.
The homophobia of this blog is disgusting. Despite the numerous ways that a teacher may violate “Catholic teaching,” this blog curiously focuses on LGBT people. This witch hunt is a shame. Why don’t you get on people for being fat for being gluttonous and not exercising self-control, that is definitely a sin in the eyes of God.
You failed to mention unmarried couples, those who cohabitate, and drunks. We all know that Catholics love their wine. Also, why not fire people who speak with profanity, that is also a sin and Catholics love to curse.
The result of this new provision will merely reduce the quality of the education at Catholic schools. The only reason people send their students to them in the Bay Area is because of the quality of the education and the fact that it increases the college prospects for their children. However, if everyone has to be a practicing Catholic, that will serious impact the number of teachers and the backgrounds they have. The people who are most likely to appreciate this clause, probably cannot spend the 30k+ necessary to send their kids to these school.
The self destruction of the schools will be sad to watch.
Anonymous, sadly, you are right. The witch hunt against catholic schools will only result in poorer education of our students, and poorer presentation of The Faith. Catholics, subjected to this improper usage of the faith, will be subjugated in the workforce, and therefore by market forces, will sink the Church as we know it.
Is it any wonder that “Annonymous” and “YFC” are in complete Sync in their beliefs!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Anonymous:
What Catholic grade or high school that you know off charges $30K?
You complain of “homophobia” (a useless cuss word). What you mean is a refusal to accept same-sex attraction or marriage as normative. It gets mentioned a lot here because none of the other vices you list have political hit-squads behind them aimed at destroying both the Catholic Church and the civil liberties of Catholics.
Don’t trouble yourself about our imminent “self-destruction”. That only happens to Catholic institutions that DON’T self God’s will.
Anonymous, the homosexuals keep bringing up homosexuality. If they would stop arguing there would be a lot less discussion. You guys are the ones who are obsessed.
The CCC only covers 4 paragraphs on homosexuality (paragraphs #2357, 2358, 2359 & 2396), out of 2,865 paragraphs total.
* We want ALL the teachings of the Church upheld, not just the 4 on homosexuality.*
* We want ALL the teachings of the Church upheld, not just the 4 paragraphs on homosexuality.* AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.
Maybe next we can get the Bishops to tell their Priests to actively encourage the reading of the Bible and the CCC by the laity at home.
The CCC has all the moral teachings that the Church has ever taught.
The only teachings this blog pushes are abortion and anti-gay ideology. I have never seen a posting about self control, giving more of our gargantuan incomes to charity, or any other of the considerable sins that result in way more harms to society.
Anti-gay groups have labeled the term homophobia a slur because they don’t like being called homophobic. However, many people on this blog are very homophobic. They have an irrational fear that unless they oppose gay people in every way imaginable, there children will turn out gay and society will crumble. That *is* homophobia.
Also homophobic is the belief that one has a civil right to oppose treating gay people like everyone else. You are entitled to your views, you are not entitled to subjugate a class of people who cause no harm to others based on those views.
The rhetoric on this blog is deeply offensive to people who identify as lgbt. This kind of rhetoric leads to suicide and bullying. If you all got on with your own lives and didn’t attack the gay community so much, everyone would be better off.
If you don’t like the lessons taught in your children’s school, put them in a different school.
Anonymous, if you truly find CCD that disturbing, perhaps you should consider making alternate choices – much like you suggest for parents disgruntled with their children’s’ schools. For surely if you are offended by the rhetoric here, you must try to understand the disturbing aspects of LGBT rhetoric when it comes to attempting to change and or obfuscate what Catholics hold to be the truth with regard to the world of God and the transmission thereof to their children. (It is not the word of God simply because ‘Catholics’ believe it, but rather Catholics believe it because it is the word of God – that’s why certain issues are not up for debate or popular vote.)
Nobody is attempting to subjugate a ‘class of people.’ But so saying, Catholics have every right to be Catholic, too. And that is not a gift of the state, but rather a gift of God.
As for articles about self-control, you are mistaken if you believe that articles concerning abortion and homosexuality are not precisely that. That is the crux of it, Anonymous, self control. Choosing. For those who push abortion and the homosexual agenda are seemingly the same who are promoting the notion that people just can’t control themselves. But we can.
As for what you see written about most, there is also a system of triage. If you have a headache, yes, you may want an aspirin. But if your leg has been severed, you’ll pay most attention to not bleeding out in lieu of the aspirin. Not all injuries are equal and attention is due that which is the most dangerous to the body.
There are waaaay more grossly obese people in the Catholic Church than there are gay people. Your children see these grossly obese people in the pews, at school, taking communion, and they think it is a God-approved way to exist. But surely, it is an insidious lack of self control. There are so many obese children and the Catholic Church does nothing while they are lead away from God and his central command of self-control.
Being grossly obese is not a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance, Anonymous. And they’re not sticking the food up their noses and ears and other oraface whille calling it a-okay and natural. So, yes, Virginia, there’s a difference – a HUGE one.
Anonymous and YFC, you are on a Catholic blog site.
These are the facts not personal opinions regarding your concerns about homosexuality.
The DOCTRINE of the FAITH (which all Catholics are required to adhere to) is contained in the “CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, Second Edition”.
The doctrine on homosexuality are in paragraphs # 2357, 2358, 2359, & 2396.
Referenced in the footnotes are Bible passages: Gen 19:1-29; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10.
“On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” includes:
” No authentic pastoral programme will include organizations in which homosexual persons associate with each other without clearly stating that homosexual activity is immoral.
A truly pastoral approach will appreciate the need for homosexual persons to avoid the near occasions of sin. ”
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html
Code of Canon Law: “750 §2. Each and every thing which is proposed definitively by the magisterium of the Church concerning the doctrine of faith and morals, that is, each and every thing which is required to safeguard reverently and to expound faithfully the same deposit of faith, is also to be firmly embraced and retained;
therefore, one who rejects those propositions which are to be held definitively is opposed to the doctrine of the Catholic Church.”
Anyone aware of any Church program or activity that does not comply fully with these teachings, should report immediately to the appropriate Diocese Bishop (or the Vatican if necessary).
Anonymous writes:…”The only reason people send their students to them in the Bay Area is because of the quality of the education and the fact that it increases the college prospects for their children.”
While many feel this way, others do not, Anonymous. So saying, if folks are offended by Catholic teaching in word and deed at a Catholic School, they SHOULD send their children elsewhere. I’ll bet there are those parents, perhaps non-Catholic ones, that might delight in an institution standing up for their beliefs. It’s called integrity.
And it is just such integrity that put Catholic Schools on top with regard to academics in day’s gone by. Days before bending over backward to chase after ‘ecumenical’ dollars. If that, in your estimation, amounts to self-destruction, I can only interpret that is the destruction of self-willed, self-motivated agendas in favor of that which builds civilizations.
Saying NO to that which is sinful or scandalous isn’t fear, Anonymous, it is long term wisdom.
What is “disgusting” on this blog is the constant use of the word “homophobic.” The Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Psychiatry has several phobias listed for treatment, and “homophobia” is not one of them. The word was invented to attack and silence people who hold a viewpoint contrary to the homosexual/ist.
You don’t speak for me when you say people only send their children to Catholic school in the Bay Area for a better education and college prospects. My number one criterion, when deciding which school to send my child to, was for a faithful Catholic eduction. I guess I was duped by all the beautiful religious artwork and statuary around the place. The school is Catholic in name only. They pay lip service to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
So you don’t like being homophobic?
Now, maybe, you understand what it is like to be gay and constantly hear people compare you to alochics, drug addicts, pedophiles, and those who have sex with animals.
It’s kinda hurts, doesn’t it.
Anonymous, as I stated, homophobia doesn’t exist. In classic logic, name calling is called an abuse against the person, a logical fallacy, used when one has difficulty establishing one’s point in truth. One attacks the messenger rather than dealing with the message.
Studies have shown that many people who act out on same sex attraction are indeed addicted to drugs, alcohol and have more and more “risky” sex. (see CDC.gov)
In answering the cowardly Anonymous and his ilk, I have to first practice Anger control by pursed lip breathing.
OK, here it goes, Cowardly Anonymous, please call me homophobic and I will call you what you are, a Sodomite!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Anonymous, I would like to congratulate you on your excellent use of Saul Alinsky’s 12 Rules for Radicals: Rule 5 – “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)
The Church focuses (or is starting to focus) on LGBT people for good reason. No other group that I know of has an agenda similar to theirs with regard to Catholicism. The agenda is to force the Church to recognize gay marriage, and other relationships that are contrary to its teachings. One only has to read about the lesbian couple in Argentina, recently lionized by the media. Their only purpose in having their child baptized was to help make the Church recognize their gay marriage. Gays and lesbians target Catholic institutions in this country for the same reason. They want to do an under the radar job of indoctrinating our young people with their ideas. It is disingenuous to do that and then come back complaining about “homophobia” and “witch hunts” when the Church takes action to defend her teaching and when Bishop Barber does what is plainly his duty. Quite frankly, we’ve had enough of it.
The Diocese of Oakland has not made regulations about fat people or drunks teaching in their schools simply because that is not a problem. There is no effort to stack the school system with such people in order to make the Church proclaim that gluttony or drunkenness is OK. Nor is there a widespread problem with gluttony or drunkenness among school staff. Unmarried couples, by which, I assume you mean couple living together without benefit of marriage, should be included in the regulations. And profanity, can in some situations be a reason for disciplining someone.
Catholic school for $30 K
Maybe HS but definitely NOT elementary
To an extent, this is like asking a United States Marine to be a marine. One would expect all the marines to be loyal to the corps; otherwise, why be a marine. If someone wants to teach in a Catholic school, it is expected that the person be a loyal and faithful Catholic. If that person is not a Catholic, than the person should know the truths concerning the Catholic Church, and must teach them correctly. This is common logic. But, what was once common and normal, is now considered outlandish and divisive. How did we let this happen? It did not occur overnight. It has taken over fifty years, and slowly but surely, like a frog put into cold water which is on a lighted stove, we did not take any notice of it until it has become almost too late. Just as the frog got used to the slowly changing water and then got cooked, so we got used to the minor innovations and changes happening in the Church until we realized it is NO LONGER the same Church. It is always easier to water something down, and create a more liberal atmosphere, then it is to enforce laws which have not been enforced or followed. This is a right step for the diocese of Oakland, but let us hope it is not too late for the souls of the children who are being educated.
The pressing concern will be whether the policy can withstand the legal challenges sure to come. Probably not.
retrospective,
Jesus’s teachings would not withstand the legal challenges of our corrupt judicial system, but he would not change His teachings and neither should Catholic Institutions. It is time that the people tell these Black Robed asses to go to Hell!
If you are an Attorney or a Judge, I will not apologize.
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
How about to the ladies in the room?
Give me a break. I’m the last person to suggest changing doctrinal teachings, and it’s not possible anyway. I stated a simple observation which is relevant to the discussion, maybe more so than many others being made here. The reality is that the courts are striking down laws and practices consistent with the Faith on the basis of discimination at an alarmingly accelerating rate, and you obviously recognize that yourself. You sound like you don’t think I should say that here. Personally, I don’t know how one tells the legal system to “GTH,” or what that accomplishes, but be my guest. The system is an integrated part of the socialist take down of this nation which is going on before our eyes. But I’m not your opponent. Maybe just a little more introspective. Maybe I should adjust my screen name to that. Good luck in all your efforts.
Maybe the fact that Michael McDermott would tell a judge to go to hell explains why he is not welcome in legal classrooms and courts of law. Look him up, and you will see that his antics get him into more trouble than they change any hearts and minds.
Having said that, retrospective, I think that those who believe that a school has a right to fire a teacher for teaching things against the school’s policy are more likely to win legal victories than not. There was an important case not long ago of a teacher in a Lutheran school who was fired, and the court found in the school’s favor.
Where this will come down to is not the right of a school to teach what it wants, but whether a government (federal/state/local) can withhold funds from a school that does so. That will be the more difficult battle for those schools. Money usually comes with strings, and courts are reluctant to cut those strings.
I think the comment I responded to in my second post came from Mr. Fisher, not Mr. McDermott. But the legal test is not consistency between the firing and the policy, it’s about the legality of the policy in the first place. The influence of legal precedent diminishes everyday. Courts rule what they want to. The fact that one court in one case found in favor of a religious school may mean nothing in a another case in another jurisdiction, at a different appellate level. Cases go both ways all the times in seemingly similar situations. Overall, the trend is against religious freedom. It’s tragic that the course of this country is set by those with power to appoint judges, when that power is vested in persons whose philosophies are hostile to the Faith.
Protect kids from this Friday’s ‘Day of Silence’ (Save California)
You can warn parents in your community about homosexual indoctrination
With this Friday’s immoral “Day of Silence” looming for public schools, SaveCalifornia.com is asking you to reach parents in your community so they can rescue their children.
Will you and perhaps a friend distribute our Action Flyer outside public schools in your community before Friday this week? Please exercise love, put on courage, and tell parents what the school district won’t.
You can also warn parents by forwarding this message via email, Facebook and Twitter.
What’s going on this Friday?
If you’ve been tracking with SaveCalifornia.com’s counter-protest against the perverse “Day of Silence” that further hijacks public schools for the homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda, you know that on Friday, April 11, government-run schools — especially high schools and junior highs — will be taken over by confused children and their confused supporters.
Children and teachers will “remain silent” all day in order to demonstrate — with pro-homosexuality T-shirts, buttons, flags, posters, and stickers — their destructive sexual and political lies to the rest of the students. Even some teachers and administrators will be supportive and allow this ridiculousness.
Children need protection from this brainwashing. This is what SaveCalifornia.com’s Walkout campaign is all about. School districts that allow this immoral-agenda “silence” need to be rebuked by lose of Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funds. Consider that this pro-perversity “silence” is in addition to the 10 sexual indoctrination laws already on the California books.
This guy opposes peaceful protest. So much for civil liberties!
Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals: Rule RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)
Go bishop!!!
PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!
Are you listening Convent of the Sacred Heart, Stuart Hall, Notre Dame Belmont and Woodside Priory???
Maybe those of us who disagree with the “beliefs” and “practices” of homosexuals should proudly and unabashedly seek employment in queer bars across our great nation! We, of course, would not be discriminated from working there, now would we! Next, we should speak out boldly at our new places of employment about how we believe that homosexual sex is discussing. I imagine we would be unable to find a job working with a more tolerant group of people than we would find there! :)
How about applying and let us all determine whether you have the qualifications?
YFC, let’s just suppose that I can mix drinks better than the best of bar tender out there. Now respond. Can I work in a queer bar and tout my beliefs all with the assurance that I will be accepted and tolerated by the “tolerant” queer patrons? :)
No, probably not. If you preach that gays are disgusting, then you are not tolerant.
Of course you wouldn’t be accepted at the queer bar, Tracy. But add perhaps that you were at say a juice bar for the children of ‘gay’ couples and then all heck would break lose. Especially if you had a facebook, twitter, and/or blog page that the kids knew about that promoted the reality that there is no same-sex marriage.
You’d be hammered for promoting *hate* and harming children – which is what happens to heterosexuals speaking the truth about natural law already. And with increasing regularity no matter what profession.
It’s a war of words and thoughts as you’ve pointed out before. Sodomy is now ‘gay.’ The sin of Sodom is now supposed to be believed as a lack of hospitality. Hate is speaking the truth or stating reality (guess Jesus was a real Hater). Pro-choice is the watch word for killing another because you can get away with it. And now pro-life is being smeared as merely being pro-birth only as if the Catholic Church wasn’t the one who spearheaded such things as hospitals, adoption centers (another baddie), and quality schools.
God help us all.
How many here have been willing to put their actions with their words and have canceled Mozilla? I did so yesterday and I told them why!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Tracy – Employers have the right, and usually insist, on regulating the speech of people who work for them. You witness this all the time: Walk into an Apple store, and employees use micro-scripts about how to talk to customers. Telemarketers and customer service agents follow scripts. Even certain factories regulate what can be said on the shop floor. So yes, I think if you thought that being employed by a bar entitled to insult the customers, you would be wrong, and you would get fired. The same thing would happen if you went to work at McDonald’s and told everyone in line that they were headed for a life of obesity and diabetes for eating BigMacs and Fries. Tolerance does not mean that an employer must put up with employees who want to be intolerant of their customers and who go about insulting them with all kinds of accusations and epithets.
Please stop with this 1984-ish twisting of words to mean exactly the opposite of what they mean. Tolerance is about how we treat people who look, think, or act differently than we do. If you are being intolerant of others, which is what you do every single day, don’t then go and ask for tolerance of your intolerance. You make yourself look rather silly, frankly. You are like the kid that picks a fight and then complains to the parent that the other guy hit him. So just stop picking fights already!
The Catholic Church really does not talk about tolerance of gays. It talks about acceptance, respect, compassion and sensitivity. (And it is weird that it talks about that. It must be an area where people are particularly challenged in the command to love one another.) Tolerance is kind of an attitude of elevation of self. No one is any better than any one else. The saints who’s writings we have all believed they were the most despicable, sorriest sinners.
YFC writes: “…You make yourself look rather silly, frankly.” You do that with every posting you make, YFC, as you consistently attempt to twist what it means to be Catholic. Same goes for labeling other people supposedly silly for trying to point out the obvious to you.
The same goes for those who sign on board to teach at a Catholic School and then get pushed out of joint for not teaching – and that goes right along with lifestyle as actions do speak louder than words, YFC. It’s a picking for a fight, YFC, and that’s the problem.
YFC, “Please stop with this 1984-ish twisting of words to mean exactly the opposite of what they mean”?!!! I’d be more than happy to lend you a mirror. :)
Oh and thank you for the “you make yourself look rather silly” comment. I will take it as a compliment coming from you.
Tracy, for your analogy to work, you would have to assume gay teachers are telling Catholic students that straight sex is disgusting. Has this been a wide ranging problem in the Catholic Schools of California? Has this even happened once?
Actually, it’s also strange that your analogy is one that compares a gay bar with the Catholic Church. Why not mention the Metropolitan Community Church, a gay affirming Protestant church whose mission is to preach the Gospel to queers who have been rejected from their own churches. I’m sure you could find plenty of faults in them to ridicule. Is it because you don’t really think that that Catholic Church is anything more than a social club?
Finally, the clause says nothing, absolutely nothing, about being gay or with having sex with someone of the same sex. This clause sets up a rule in which the schools can fire anyone for any of their sins. The only one not at risk would, I presume, be Jesus and his mom. If you were a teacher, even you could be fired if they were to discover your sins.
St. Peter, my analogy works if you see that some teachers in Catholic schools think they have a right to say that homosexual sex is “loving” in opposition to the views of the organization, i.e. the Catholic Church who they work for, without fear of reprisal.
While I agree with you that the clause refers to all of Catholic teaching, it is the homosexual activist on this site who are concerned about how this clause will affect them. As such I used the “queer bar” example.
“…Is it because you don’t really think that that Catholic Church is anything more than a social club?”
You should ask yourself that “St. Peter.” Catholics did not make up and/or vote on issues of morality. As for setting up teachers to be fired if their sins were to be discovered, oftentimes that is necessary as Monkey-see-Monkey-do is the baseline for teaching anything. Even as the college level and beyond we seek to model our teachers as actions speak louder than words.
But whereas folks used to opt to keep their ‘sins’ hidden due to a certain level of shame involved because one has failed to maintain that which they knew they should: continence, sobriety, the speed limit, whatever, the new mindset is PRIDE and advertising one’s sinful actions or inclinations. ‘Celebrate’ them. That is scandalous, St. Peter, as it leads to something worse than getting fired, that is corrupting youth, in this case, to dismiss God’s law.
Thank goodness the Oakland Diocese has taken this step to put souls first.
Actually, Catholics did, in part, invent morality. Until the 1970’s it was common belief among Christian’s in the US that life did not begin at conception. It is quite well documented. The culture war and the narrative about life at conception started as a result of Roe v. Wade. The narrative was started by a coalition of evangelical leaders lead by Jerry Falwell.
When else would it start?
Did humans ‘invent’ the truths behind mathematics, Anonymous? Did we invent the sun? Did we invent the world being round? Did we invent the depth of the ocean or the fact that there are living creatures we never knew about before down there?
You seem to confuse belief in something as the criteria that makes it true. That is wrong. Catholics believe as they do because what they believe is true. Truth calls for belief.
Advances in science are now helping folks to SEE the truth. That is life begins at conception. It’s what one does with that reality that is either moral or immoral. Attempting to reword truth, deny it, reshape it etc will never make truth go away.
If an embryo isn’t human life, what is it?
The classic answer given by Aquinas is that ensoulment begins at “quickening”.
A classic answer sounds great, YFC, but reality is life begins at conception because the cells are multiplying and the DNA is there long before the mother ‘feels’ the movement of the baby.
In response to Anonymous’s
April 8, 2014, 11:28 pm post:
The Declaration of Geneva (Physician’s Oath) was adopted by the General Assembly of the World Medical Association at Geneva in 1948.
This universal Declaration of Physicians states:
“I will maintain the utmost respect for human life, from the time of its CONCEPTION, even under threat. I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity”.
The declaration was drafted as a direct result of the Nazi medical atrocities which were soundly condemned at the Nuremberg Medical Trials.
The false term “pre-embryo” was invented by Clifford Grobstein and Richard McCormick, S.J., in 1979.
https://www.prolife.com/life_begins.html
Another ‘champion of abortion’ becomes defender of life: the story of Stojan Adasevic
Madrid, Spain, Nov 12, 2008 / 09:21 pm (CNA).- The Spanish daily “La Razon” has published an article on the pro-life conversion of a former “champion of abortion.” Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country.
“The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue,” the newspaper reported. “Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares.”
In describing his conversion, Adasevic “dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. ‘My name is Thomas Aquinas,’ the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint. He didn’t recognize the name”
“Why don’t you ask me who these children are?” St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.
“They are the ones you killed with your abortions,’ St. Thomas told him.
“Adasevic awoke in amazement and decided not to perform any more abortions,” the article stated.
cont.
Continued from April 10, 2014 10:42
“That same day a cousin came to the hospital with his four months-pregnant girlfriend, who wanted to get her ninth abortion—something quite frequent in the countries of the Soviet bloc. The doctor agreed. Instead of removing the fetus piece by piece, he decided to chop it up and remove it as a mass. However, the baby’s heart came out still beating. Adasevic realized then that he had killed a human being,”
After this experience, Adasevic “told the hospital he would no longer perform abortions. Never before had a doctor in Communist Yugoslavia refused to do so. They cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.”
After years of pressure and on the verge of giving up, he had another dream about St. Thomas.
“You are my good friend, keep going,’ the man in black and white told him. Adasevic became involved in the pro-life movement and was able to get Yugoslav television to air the film ‘The Silent Scream,’ by Doctor Bernard Nathanson, two times.”
So called St. Peter,
When Catholic Schools were really Catholic, sodomy was not really an issue, but we were taught about the sinfulness of sex outside of Sacramental Marriage, so put that in your sodomite pipe and smoke it!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Bishop Vasa already tried this in Santa Rosa a while ago – and got a lot of flack for it and it was not abandoned –but postponed…
Perhaps the Trend will Grow – particularly if the Bishops are Getting Together Behind it – and Catholic Teaching Schools will come up to standard themselves.
For too long it was difficult in the extreme to get past the Gaystapo guardians of the system – and even get a credential, let alone a job in the Catholic Schools.
Education itself is changing – and the old ways were part of the old days – let us Keep what is good, Update what needs to be made better – and Bring the Holy Spirit to its proper place in the Classroom…
Where Jesus is the True Teacher.
Praise be to God! When Bishop Vasa asked this of his teachers in the Catholic schools in the Santa Rosa Diocese, the teachers revolted. Bishop Vasa, I believe,
said that he would try again, next year. Maybe now, it will happen in the Santa Rosa Catholic schools.
The Press Democrat reported that Ms. Laura Held the new president of Cardinal Newman High School told Bishop Vasa that they could work on the morals document together. Now, her name was listed as a person to contract in the Archdiocese office to send concern about the outrageously pro homosexual teachers at catholic schools in the Bay Area on this web site. What did she know about the school situation in the Archdiocese and what is her opinion of the situation. We will see what happens.
As usual, Bishop Barber acts quietly to fix things while Cordileone, Gomez, et al, go on issuing tons of words but not fixing anything.
So true. Bp. Barber shows that significant steps can be taken. In his short time in Oakland he’s already done far more then when Bp. Cordileone was here.
I’m not sure Bp. Barber has really done anything yet, as his office is down playing the whole thing. The schools are really as mess in the Oakland Diocese. There is a popular saying in the Diocese: If you want your child not to be Catholic, just send then to a Catholic school. A good place to start would be getting rid of the “Gay/Straight Allience Clubs” at the High Schools.
This is the direct result of V2 as there are no longer religious teaching orders in our Catholic schools. There is no control anymore. I fear many good teachers will be leaving.
If they do not believe in the teachings of the Church and do not care enough to be well versed in those teachings and support physicians and other professionals who back those teachings, then they are NOT good Catholic teachers, now are they? At least not the best. They might be “good” at something else but not good Catholic teachers. A good Jewish teacher in an Orthodox Jewish school would not be a good Orthodox Jewish teacher if he told his students, “Eat all the pork and shell fish you want. It does not matter.” By the way, Kosher Law on food and drink was God’s way of reminding the Jewish people that they should be a holy people, set apart to bring God’s laws for holiness to the pagan nations that practiced, and some still practice, immoral behavior. In other words, it is a discipline that sets them apart from those who pay no attention to the Commandments, and disciplines them to keep the Commandments, even the ones against fornication, adultery, incest sodomy and bestiality. It is unnecessary for Christians now to keep Kosher since we have other disciplines to set us apart, but it is necessary for truly orthodox Jews. I have noticed when Jewish people no longer keep Kosher they begin to get lax on some of the other Commandments. One can go too far either way, as some of the Pharisees did, but one can become too lax also, until one is just a pagan and neither a Jew nor a Christian no matter what one calls oneself.
Some of the Kosher Laws were for health reasons also, as pigs were fed garbage back then and in some places now and carried Trichinosis, and the meat had to be thoroughly cooked or one would get the disease, but the Kosher Laws were mainly to set the Israelite people apart as being holy to the Lord.
Good for what, Ryan. It may be better for their souls if they leave a Catholic high school rather that face judgement at their death for teaching against Catholic doctrine or withholding the Truth. Jesus warns that those who teach have a greater responsibility. You teach with your whole mind and body. How you present your words, actions, and yes your personal life does witness to either the Truth or not.
Why are there “Catholics” who post on this site that advocate sin?
John Feeney, they demand the same independence Protestants claim apart from the Catholic Church all the while refusing to leave the Catholic pew.
Tracy,
Very well put!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Another factor, how many science teachers who break Catholic teaching will break and teach the breaking of Catholic teaching on cloning, the use of stem cells from aborted babies, etc.?
Anne T.:
As a Catholic school science teacher for 33 years, I am not clear on what you mean. As history teachers must discuss evil events of which they (hopefully) do not approve, like slavery or the Holocaust, so science teachers must sometimes explain evil uses of technology. We can add the Church’s condemnation and explain our reasons, but if we say nothing then the world will give these kids its own explanations and our silence will be interpreted as indifference or complicity.
Anonymous, truthful history must always be taught in all Catholic Schools.
Teachers in Catholic schools and Universities must comply with the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.
Anonymous, Anne T. used the phrase “and teach the BREAKING OF Catholic teaching on cloning…….” Maybe you missed the words “breaking of”. To me, the meaning of Anne’s message was clear.
being a “decorator” by profession, i don’t have dog in this fight…asking these teachers to comport themselves as practicing catholics is like asking a bear to defecate in a toilet bowl…don’t hold your breath…
Then fire them.
They must live up to their employment contracts.
They can find jobs where they are more comfortable elsewhere. We will all be happier. :)
Glad to see the Bishop holding the out of control Oakland Diocese schools for the first time in decades. The religion of the Church in its schools has been replaced with a watered down ambiguous general spirituality of self interpretation. No one is forced to be Catholic. So if someone doesn’t like what the Church says, they are free to watch Joel Osteen on TV. The Church needs to clean up all the radically leftist, militantly liberal misguided staff in its schools and at the Diocese. They are misrepresenting the Church and bringing scandal to the Church. I don’t understand why the radically left wing liberals keep trying to infiltrate the Church. They have a religion. It’s called the democrat party. I guess that just isn’t enough for them. But, it should be.
It’s not the militant leftists bringing scandal. It’s the quiet leaders who have shown no regard for gods law who engage in sexual abuse of children. It’s also the pious leaders who covered up this horrible acts for decades.
Anonymous, “gods law”? How many gods do you believe in anyway? I guess that is a silly question since you credit “militant leftist” with moral superiority. :(
The Diocese needs to place cameras in all the employees bedrooms and also in their closets! It is essential that color film be used in order to receive the full effect of the non compliant behavior! This film could be worthy of an Oscar and the Academy will greatly appreciate this new introduction to film and to the Academy Awards!
Don’t be silly. What people KEEP in the privacy of their own homes is their own business. They can also choose Hell if they so desire.
Public scandal is not permitted.
Teaching relativism is not permitted.
Publically violating Church teaching should never be tolerated.
I’m not a teacher, but if they want to put a camera in my bedroom they can go right ahead, but let me replace my ratty flannel nightgown first!
Ryan, I know for a fact that many good teachers are being forced to leave their teaching positions, or are basically fired. One teacher, who is a loyal son of the church has been blackballed because he taught orthodox Catholic beliefs. I think the last principal got him fired because he was having his class memorize elementary Catholic prayers. Before V2 most all schools had sisters teaching all the grades. Now there are none (pun intended) left. While the sisters practically taught for peanuts, today’s lay teachers have to earn a living wage. Because most dioceses have a disastrous religion education program, this filters down into the schools as well as into RCIA. If knowledge is power, then the Catholic Church is on life support system in an I.C.U..
Anyone who chooses to publically violate teachings of the Church in any way, should find employment elsewhere. You are not wanted or needed. There are many looking for work.
Parents are paying tuition for their children to get a Catholic education, not a pagan one.
Well, we don’t really know that for sure, do we? As an example, witness the flack over Sister Jane Dominic teaching Catholic theology of the body at Charlotte Catholic High School.
I think you’d be surprised if you asked why most parents send their kids to Catholic schools.
The loss of Faith and Morals, as well as the loss of the traditional Mass, sacraments, devotions, and Catholic culture, of the disoriented, diabolically permissive, filthy, near-Godless post-Vatican II era, has destroyed the Church. Almost all Catholic churches, schools, universities, seminaries, charities, and institutions, have been destroyed beyond recognition, and can no longer be truly called “Catholic,” or even “Christian!” A HORROR, before Almighty God! Today’s Catholic Faithful generally have no idea of what it truly means, to be a good, practicing Catholic, or even a true Christian follower of Christ! Bishop Barber seems to be one of the very few bishops trying to slowly reclaim Christ’s holy Church! However, all Church leaders, since the permissive policies of Vatican II went into effect many years ago — tragically no longer have the support of the Pope and Vatican, for the True Faith. Our Church leaders have all become near-suicidal, in upholding the beliefs, teaching and practice of our holy Church’s Faith and Morals! This desperately needs to change, or else our Church will have very little hope of future success, for Christ!
This is not true. Pope’s JP II, Benedict, and Francis have all tried to get the Laity to read the Bible and the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” at home.
It’s many Diocese Bishops and the Priests under them who do not actively and prominently encourage the Laity to do this on a regular basis. So Catholics do not know their Faith.
We’ve even had the Year of Faith 2012 where an indulgence was granted regarding the CCC. Most people never even heard of it.
Ask our Bishops why they do not want the literate Laity to study the Bible and CCC at home.
Ask them what their problem is, and what they intend to do about it.
The CCC is intended even for non-Catholics to read, so why disregard it for Catholics ?
“….the CATECHISM has raised throughout the world, even among non-Christians, and confirms its purpose of being presented as a full, complete exposition of Catholic doctrine, enabling everyone to know what the Church professes, celebrates, lives, and prays in her daily life.” – Pope John Paul II (CCC pg xiv)
For more quotes from all 3 Popes on the net go to: “What Catholics REALLY Believe SOURCE” .
https://whatcatholicsreallybelieve.com/
I think most of us see the problem.
The question is: what are we going to do about it ? Sit on our hands?
This is like seeing a starving person and merely saying “isn’t this terrible” without taking action.
People are starving for knowledge, whether they know it or not.
CCC: ” 2835 This petition, with the responsibility it involves, also applies to another hunger from which men are perishing: “Man does not live by bread alone, but . . . by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” that is, by the Word he speaks and the Spirit he breathes forth. Christians must make every effort to proclaim the good news to the poor.
There is a famine on earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
For this reason the specifically Christian sense of this fourth petition concerns the Bread of Life: The Word of God accepted in faith, the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist.”
We each must ask ourselves what we have done to help those poor in knowledge that is constructive.
Contact the Bishop and/or Vatican as appropriate.
Good observations and insight Maddie.
Since Vaticn II, it was decided by the leaders of the Catholic Church, that no longer would Catholic teaching, belief, morality, and religious practices, be administrated and upheld, by the Church leaders, themselves. Everything would be mostly on a voluntary basis, with local decisions made, at local levels, only. So-called “religious freedoms,” and “freedom of conscience,” were to be fully allowed. The Popes would be only required to uphold the Magisterium, of course. But overall, even a Pope would no longer “interfere” with local, personal Church decisions! Even Pope John Paul II did not use his very own revised Code of Canon Law! He seemed to almost disregard it completely! He staunchly proclaimed “upholding the dignity of the human person,” in his own form of well-meaning “humanistic-oriented” religion. So– as a result, in our Faith, there is no longer uniform teaching, preaching, and religious practice! It is all on a voluntary basis, mainly, with few exceptions! Church leaders have said they fear the blunders of cruel, misused Church authority of the past, so they refuse to use their own God-given authority, in today’s troubled world! Professor James Hitchcock has written some excellent books, on this subject. But overall, just talk to your Bishop, and he will inform you properly, as I was myself informed, after the Council, when clergy were struggling terribly, with Church problems!
Maddie,
Thanks to the gradual (Frog Principle) infiltration of the Church Hierarchy (so called Collegiality played a big role in this), it is really difficult to find a bishop who will even listen! CRCOA, Inc. has tried for years and we have succeeded with many of the laity, but not with the hierarchy!
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Having previously attended a conference at Holy Names College, where the president in his opening remarks used as his model that true Icon of Catholic Education (No – Not the ‘J’ word, who got no mention – probably too controversial) but rather Saul Alinsky.
Aside from the ‘evolution’ display case outside a ckassroom featuring a replica skull of ‘Piltdown Man’ ((A Hoax long ago exposed – but perhaps kept as an ironic reminder of the Many Hoaxes ‘educrats’ depend on for their PHD – Piled Higher & Deeper salaries) – the most notable feature of the classrooms at Holy Names was the Absence of the Cross.
Of course if you looked closely you could see the nail hole where the Cross used to hang, and a faint outline on the paint where the fading wasn’t as deep.
So much for the depths of Catholicism at a ‘catholic’ (small ‘c’) kollege – where we are presumably to find Catholic Teachers who are Actually Believe in Catholic Teachings – like the Magisterium.
BTW – there is a program known as ‘CBEST’ – CA Basic Educational Skills Test, whereby those with degrees can get Substitute Teacher standing – and help the system out that way.
Whether it be as a stepping stone to actual full time teaching (many started out as subs and upped their degrees) or simply a way to assist your local Parish schools – at little or no cost (Particularly if we are making Teaching a Ministry)…
Many of you out there can actually do something positive for Catholic Education, aside from dropping a few bucks in the collection basket – by actually Donating Time & Skills in Support of True Catholic Education – even if only to give a break to the full time staff,
The old system is increasingly more difficult to sustain – in the old ways; but with technology and shared resources aiding the Faithful – who are willing to step forward, even if only part time, We can accomplish much together.
California may just be a state which will no longer tolerate Catholic beliefs. I predict teachers will sign these contracts with the “morals” clauses in them, they will violate them and then dare the diocese to fire them. When they’re fired they will sue for discrimination. When that happens I will put my money on the plaintiffs winning, especially if they are homosexual, in any California court.
CONTRACT LAW- signed and entered into by both parties will be upheld.
The contract language must be clear, not vague.
This has already been ruled on by the local and US Supreme Courts.
A contract can be a condition of employment and is common across the USA.
Hopefully the Diocese has a good lawyer drawing up the contracts.
CA LAW:
” 1625. The execution of a contract in writing, whether the law requires it to be written or not, supersedes all the negotiations or stipulations concerning its matter which preceded or accompanied the execution of the instrument. ”
” School employees were encouraged to read the new contract carefully.”
and
“In both the TEACHER’S personal and professional life, the TEACHER is expected to model and promote behavior in conformity with the teaching of the Roman Catholic faith in matters of faith and morals, and to do nothing that tends to bring discredit to the SCHOOL or to the Diocese of Oakland.”
Teaching of the Church is legally cast in concrete in the CCC.
Sinning against God, and HIS TEN COMMANDMENTS is a much greater sin than the so called sin of homophobia. Today we are all concerned about hurting someone’s feelings, and want to be politically correct, but we have absolutely NO remorse about offending Almighty God. Yes, we must love our neighbors as ourselves, but the GREATEST COMMANDMENT is to LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL THINGS! We have forgotten that. Every sin is an offense against God, but deliberately ignoring HIM and spreading falsehoods about the divinity is a sin against HIM as well. As the popular hymn goes, ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness.’
Jesus made no mention of the Ten Commandments. He merely said to keep *his* commandments.
My how you can twist the Holy Bible, Anonymous. St. Paul said there would be those who did so to their own destruction. His Commandments WERE the Ten Commandments.
No, His commandments were quite different. He did away with the old law, including the Ten Commandments, and imposed a new Law based on loving God. The old laws resulted in the mess that lead to Jesus to earth.
The Ten Commandments is like Sunday school Catholicism for the k-8 crowd. I invite you to crack open the New Testament and have a read.
No Anonymous, Jesus did not do away with God’s/His 10 Commandments. (Ex 20:1-17)
Jesus specifically stated: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.
For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. (Mt 5:17-18)
Regarding Jesus words: ” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. ”
(Mt 22:37-40)
You must have missed the last sentence. The first several of the 10 Commandments are regarding God; the last several are regarding our neighbor.
It all fits perfectly together.
You can find out more about this in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” which has many more Bible references in the footnotes relating to this.
See paragraphs #2052 – 2557.
Matthew 19:16-22 And behold, one came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?”
And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
and
Matthew 5:17-20 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
For those who wish to support the Bishop in this important matter, please give him a call of support: (510) 893 – 4711 and ask for his office!
And PRAY for him for continued courage and strength for a very large ship he must turn around.
I just called, and his Secretary, a Latin man, was very appreciative and promised to pass on my message of support and prayers to the Bishop!
Thanks Elizabeth for the phone number.
May God have mercy on an amoral Amerika!
Viva Cristo Rey!
Yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Kenneth,
You are quite welcome! I believe we all must support our Shepherds when they are being TRUE SHEPHERDS, they need to know that their flock is behind them 100%!!!
Teaching in the Catholic Schools should be seen as a Ministry of the Church, and non-believers are simply not fit to serve as Ministers of the Church.
This means We need to put much more effort in to forming Catholic Teaching Ministries amongst the Lay Members of the Church, as the ranks of Nuns & Brothers are no longer enough to fill the positions needed.
SEE
Dioceses Revise Contracts, Expect Teachers to Uphold Catholic Teaching
April 8, 2014, at 10:49 AM | By Matthew Archbold |
In response to a number of high profile firings and resignations of teachers in Catholic schools for varying incidents involving same-sex marriages, in-vitro fertilization, or abortion advocacy, a few dioceses are now including language specifying violations of Catholic doctrine that would be deemed fire-able offenses.
– See more at:
https://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/3176/Dioceses-Revise-Contracts-Expect-Teachers-to-Uphold-Catholic-Teaching.aspx#sthash.xXI9Y4rX.L93eWD26.dpuf
If someone does not wish to teach in a Catholic, or Muslim, or Lutheran, or other religious school, then they can simply find a job elsewhere.
Catholic Education is a Ministry of the Catholic Church –
Code of Canon Law – see “EDUCATION” # 792 -814
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM
Contracts are an excellent way to make certain that everyone – employer and employee understand the agreed upon terms of employment.
If someone can not or will not meet the needs/requirements of the employer, they should not be hired, and if hired under false pretenses of lying – should be fired.
When Christ told His disciples to keep His commandments, He was referring to the Ten Commandments, because He also said the Ten Commandments can be summed up by 2: Loving God above everything, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Our Lord did NOT change one iota of the Ten Commandments, but He did add to their meaning. As an example: If a man looks at a woman with adultery in mind, he has already committed the sin. He also strengthened the meaning of marriage, and condemned divorce.
The Diocese of Oakland has it right. Sure there are “life style” sins other than homosexuality. And, the literature is pretty full of examples of administrators, teachers, etc., being reprimanded, and dismissed, for failures to meet expected moral codes. See, e.g., the sad story of a recent, and now fired, President of Mary Washington University that could not stay away from the bottle, and from the wheel (at the same time). As to adulterous and fornicating persons, it seems that homosexual sexualists have a good argument: except that adulterous and fornicating teachers and administrators are not likely to sing rhapsodic in class about their recent “partner.” If they do, well, they also need to be addressed. And that is the problem: everything is a platform for homosexual sexualists from which to preach about their normalcy and isn’t it awful about how people just don’t accept them the way that they are, blah, blah, blah. This self-absorbed behavior is a central reason why homosexual sexual persons are not like racial minorities. Celibate homosexuals will not have to be concerned at all with a “Catholic morals” clause; it is only homosexual sexualists that will be alarmed, in that their platform will not be eliminated. Good for Bishop Barber.
St. Christopher. A church that fires Catholic administrators because they are in long term committed relationships shows itself to be hypocritical so long as it retains, protects, and shields from legal consequences those priests who committed atrocious acts of violence against the most innocent.
YFC, you have just demonstrated the greatest hoax being played on faithful Catholics. First accept numerous sexual deviants to the Catholic Priesthood. Next perpetually cover up their atrocities. Next, give those same sexual deviants authority over all Catholic institutions, most especially Catholic education. Finally, label all who decry this widespread corruption within the Church infrastructure, hypocrites. :(
Tracy, your accusations against me are preposterous. I didn’t accept ANYONE into the Catholic Priesthood. How would I even do that? And I don’t think those who did screen applicants, did so thinking they were hiring molestors. Nobody. Covering up atrocities. When have I covered up any atrocity? It is the Church and her Bishops who have done this for decades even till today.
Your post is beyond insulting. You hurl vicious accusations at me that you very well know are not true. And you consider yourself a faithful Catholic Christian?
YFC, Tracy said you demonstrated the hoax not that you perpetrated anything.
Ann, thanks for having my back. I apparently missed YFC’s response to me.
YFC, if you actually read and understand what I post, it would sure save you a lot of time and outrage!
Demonstrate — to manifest or reveal.
YFC, I might add, by conveniently mis-interpreting my April 10, 2014 2:20 pm post, thus setting up an opportunity to berate me, you have successfully demonstrated Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals Rule #5; “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”
Tracy – So who – exactly which church officials – knowingly accepted “numerous sexual deviants into the ministry”. Who are you accusing this of? Whether you hurl false accusations against me or others, it is just as egregious. Who would create such a soup-to-nuts hoax? Who are you accusing? As much as I think the Church has done way too much to cover up the sex abusers and move them from parish to parish, I would never pretend to think that a vocations director or a seminary rector or a bishop would knowing bring these folks into the church for some obscene reason.
The misread is intentional, Tracy, to facilitate the feigned outrage and make the other person look unreasonable, outrageous, vicious, or uncharitable. There are no dummies on CCD. And YFC might just be on the top of the sharp cookies list.
YFC, as the expression goes, “The closer to the truth — The closer to the nerve”!
But just in case your latest raging ridicule of me succeeds in raising doubts in the minds and hearts of some CCD readers, I post this article titled, “Homosexual Orientation Among Catholic Seminarian Students”.
https://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_rcc1.htm
One evil act does not give permission for more evil, YFC. Do you actually serve God with that kind of logic or just the human rationalization for sin. That being: my sin isn’t as bad as his so let’s celebrate it.
As for pointing out hypocrisy, yes, there is that when others are allowed to sin at will. So let’s agitate to get rid of all, not add more to the lot.
Every member of the Catholic Church and all of its employees are sinners. Sinners who will not repent of their sin are not suitable to be employees of the Church and while they are still members of the Church, are not worthy to receive the Sacraments.
“Your Fellow Catholic”: Your conclusory comment is wrong, as you know that it is wrong. You raise, in effect, several issues, all intended to obfuscate a clear focus on an obvious truth: those that refuse, by their actions, to adhere to established Catholic truths and requirements cannot, and should not expect to, work for Catholic institutions. Following is limited discussion on the issues you raise: First, the Catholic Church has a right to establish, as part its employment contract with teachers and staff in Catholic schools, the requirement that they act in their private lives consistent with Church teachings. Of course, some courts quibble with this, but, on balance, unequivocally stated employment requirements in this regard will be upheld (and should be). Second, the phrase “long term committed relationship” has no moral value, has no standing among Catholic ethical and moral teachings and requirements, and has no legal value to trump the Church’s insistence that such relationships usurp all extant Catholic moral values. Third, priests, bishops, and cardinals who directly molest, or enable those that do molest children should be subject to the full force of secular law and its sanctions, when proven guilty. No Catholic seriously objects to this result. Fourth, no connection exists, or can exist, between the Church’s right to demand adherence to its moral requirements as a condition of employment, and the arguable failures of the Church to sanction largely homosexual clergy that molest, or have molested, children (almost all male, pre-pubescent children).
Over a hundred comments on this issue; Wow! The Bishop has the right to insist that all teachers sign a contract. Done. The Bishop can dictate the contents of the contract. Done. The teachers can, however, choose to be represented by a union. Then, the negotiated contract prevails. Even with a contract, it is good to remember that California is an “at-will” state. That means that the employer or the employee can terminate employment for any reason or no reason. It’s done every day, unless the HR/Employee handbook says otherwise. In the absence of a union contract, the HR manual and/or Employee Handbook is the contract. That said, it is important for the Diocese to have consistent rules. If it is against the rules for same sex partners to live together, it must be against the rules for mixed sex partners to live together. If it is against the rules for the children of same sex unions to attend Catholic schools, it must be against the rules for the children of mixed sex unions to attend Catholic schools. You get the point! Above and beyond that, why do we have non-Catholics teaching in Catholic schools? Why don’t we pay competitive wages so that credentialed teachers can afford to teach in Catholic schools? Why isn’t being Catholic more important than academics in a Catholic school? Of course you can have both, but I doubt that a good Christian Baptist is going to do a very good job teaching from the Catholic Catechism. How does one teach the Catholic faith if they don’t believe it themselves? If this Bishop is fair and consistent in application, he may be on the right track to bring things back for the once proud Catholic School.