The following comes from an Oct. 7 story in The Valley Catholic from the San Jose diocese.
The month of October has been declared by the Vatican as Respect Life Month.
“This month brings a higher level of awareness of the dignity the Catholic Church has,” said diocese of San Jose director of social ministries Ruben Solorio. “Respect life is not just pro life or anti-abortion, but it is when we celebrate a life that respects and promotes the Gospel. This is an awesome opportunity for us. This is the ability to be able to hold on to someone throughout their entire life.”
Solorio said the focus of some in the respect life movement is abortion, but he emphasized it is so much more complex than that.
“It’s about children on the border and we want to end capital punishment,” he said. “It is about end of life issues that are so important.”
How important is respect life to the diocese of San Jose? Solorio, whose office is in charge with overseeing respect life activities in the diocese, said they are in the process of hiring a full-time respect life coordinator. He hopes to have the position filled by November 1. Solorio said the position is being funded due to the generosity of an anonymous donor.
“Among their job responsibilities will be chairing the newly formed respect life council,” he said. “They will also work with the parishes to engage them more as a way to build awareness of this ministry.”
The diocese of San Jose has several activities planned for October and respect life.
According to Solorio, 4 parishes (St. Lucy’s, St. Frances Cabrini and St. Mary’s, Los Gatos in October and St. Joseph Cupertino, November 18-19) are confirmed to host pro life ministries, bottle drives to raise money for their respect life ministries. In addition, the Knights of Columbus will host a breakfast or lunch before or after Mass at those parishes to raise money for respect life activities….
To read the entire story, click here.
Where does the San Jose Diocese get guys like Mr. Solorio? It is about abortion — about the killing of innocents, holy innocents. No, Mr. Solorio, “Respect Life Month” has nothing to do (and should have nothing to do) with other social issues, such as immigration.
His position is so much like what all LIberals do in anything that pushes against their openness to all sorts of disgusting sexual practices: let’s change the subject, or make the image so broad that it gets entirely fuzzy and subject to many interpretations. San Jose has the well-deserved reputation of being an extension of San Francisco when it comes to sexual license, and to general lawlessness when it comes to immigration.
But concern over open borders, or finding some “value” in the revolting sexual behavior of homosexuals, is offered up only to downgrade and disguise the Church’s proper role of stopping abortion, of eliminating murder. Unfortunately, many, many bishops will agree with Mr. Solorio. These same bishops are now in Rome wrecking havoc with centuries old Church teachings against a number of prohibitions regarding sexual ethics.
This guy needs to be fired.
Why do conservatives always believe everything revolves around homosexuality? And why are they so resistant to the teachings of the Bishops? One would think that conservative catholics would have more respect or the teaching office than liberals, but that sure doesn’t seem like it.
“Anonymous”, they do not. Traditionalists and whoever “conservatives” are, focus on Catholic sexual ethics, including homosexual sex, fornication, adultery, divorce/remarriage, and abortion. The center focus of homosexual sex is due to HomoFascists that demand that everything (whether it is education, giving blood, adoption, marriage, all of that) include them, and with praise.
You can see this in the truly revolting spectacle in Rome, in a Church with clergy so lost in its love of homosexuality that it might as well come out and embrace it. Wait, wait, why not start an order of Homosexual-Only priests, where homosexual sex is openly praised, practiced, and advocated? Why, this could be revolutionary.
You certainly know that Liberals simply cannot wait to water down almost all Church teachings by invoking the “seamless garment” nonsense of Cardinal Bernardin, beloved of the Vatican (and likely Francis, who is a very shrewd politician). The bishops do not so much “teach” anything, but advocate things, like “social justice” and “economic equality” that kind of stuff, which are far beyond their competencies. There is no need to listen to loons like Bishop Blaire, for example, prattle on about economic and social issues. Bishops are supposed to be interested in one thing: the salvation of souls, not whether we have a just immigration policy, or whether the tax policies of America are somehow unfair. Too bad that so few bishops know much about the Catholic Faith, and have little interest in fostering belief in it.
The Catholic Dioceses need to fire all these social services / marxist types and only hire those who are true to the Faith in entirety as found in the Bible and CCC.
All these people they are hiring is insulting. Not only that but now we will have to quit donating to “respect for life” groups because they put ILLEGAL immigrants, the death penalty (which is permitted to save the life of others), all under one umbrella. And the Diocese to pay for this garbage will now raise dues to each parish because donations won’t last. More bureaucratic nonsense.
Not once did this guy mention euthanasia – which is just around the corner.
(If the unanimous donor wants to strart a social services business, let him start it himself without the Diocese.
The bureaucracies of the USCCB and now the Diocese should be cut by 50 % of today’s spending (excluding Federal Government Grants).
Remember that all these people get salaries, benefits including health care, and retirements.
Pope Benedict was very clear that ABORTION and EUTHANASIA are NOT
the SAME as the death penalty and social services work.
“Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles” –
In Synod-Related Effort, Homosexual-Rights Activists Target Eight U.S. Bishops
Solario does not know the Catholic Faith. And is trying to change the Faith to suit his own POLITICS.
When Bishops of US Diocese do not force all of their employees to be 100% TRUE to the Faith, and allow them to bring in their own political agenda (or even the personal political agenda of the Bishop),
people will leave the Faith or quit donating to anything.
Look at your own Diocese web site – to see the bureaucracies that are being created or are growing. I guess most Diocese have too much money.
My Stockton Diocese Bishop Blaire is hiring an “environmental justice outreach associate”, and even has its own Diocese Synod.
When the Bishop does not teach the Faith by asking people to read the Bible and CCC at home – what is wrong with this picture ?
Then the Synod in Rome does not understand why no one knows the Faith anymore.
Too much temporal, not enough eternal.
David, I am not from Stockton, but it is not unusual for a Diocese to have a Synod. Generally they are used to get input from parishioners about how to best meet the needs of the people in the Diocese. Some call it strategic planning. From these Synods the Bishop and his leadership team can figure out how to increase prayer life, improve participation in right-to-life issues, how to provide the best faith formation materials and training for teachers, etc., etc. Asking people to read the Bible and CCC at home is not an effective way to help people develop their faith. It might be one step, but that is all. If you or I were, for example, going to teach about Paul’s first letter to the Tessalonians, how would we do it? What Bible study material would we use? How would you compare his firs mission to his second mission? How would you train the people who are going to lead these small groups? How do you teach about Cyrus whom God called by name? What does God mean when He says ther is no other? How would you make sure that each of the schools in the Diocese had properly trained teachers, used appropriate text books, etc. It is not as simple as telling someone to read a book. We need leaders who are well trained.
Some great Catholic Bible studies that are available are from:
St. Paul Theological Center. https://www.salvationhistory.com/
But this is not required.
The various Diocese are supposed to have been training teachers for the past 50 years, since Vatican II,” Declartion Gravissimum Educationis”
and most Diocese Bishops have not done that either.
I guess Bob One calls all of our recent Popes LIARS,
because he personally does not like the Bible and CCC.
Make certain all educators in Catholic Schools sign a paper that they have read – from Cover to Cover the CCC, and the corresponding footnotes as part of their employment requirements.
And that they will live their public lives accordingly.
“….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)
“….. let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism, steadily approaching the Sacraments.” – Pope Francis, May 15, 2013.
The better Catholic high schools are using the Bible and CCC as required texts for grades 11 & 12.
“….. let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures, studying the Catechism, steadily approaching the Sacraments.” Pope Francis, May 15, 2013.
Bob One, you seem to forget that it is the PARENTS prime responsibility to teach their children the Faith, per V II documents, as well as the CCC.
If the Parents are ignorant in the Faith, so will be the children.
Are the literate people in your Diocese really that stupid, that they can not understand the CCC ?
One can get plenty of materials from EWTN, Ignatius Press and Catholic Answers for such programs for those who are truly interested. The crux of the matter is that some people are not interested in changing. As the saying goes, “You can take a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.”
Oscar, if you don’t believe that Pro-Life means pro life, then you may have a wrong impression about the teachings of the Catholic Church. If you are pro life, you are pro life about everything. The Church is pro life, not just anti abortion. It is anti killing of innocent people and guilty people except in very unusual circumstances. It is anti way except when justified. It is pro environment because we are all expected to care for God’s creation. That is not politics, that is the teachings of the Popes over the years. Any of us who don’t except those teachings should consider joining a church that doesn’t care about those issues.
Bob One, did you not read: “Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion, General Principles” by Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict) ?
Try reading it again, and tell me “everything” is all pro-life.
https://www.priestsforlife.org/magisterium/bishops/04-07ratzingerommunion.htm
Or are you merely trying to lump social services with murder of the innocent ?
I find it most amusing that Bob One does not want to encourage all literate persons to read the Bible either – since the Catholic Church gives a plenary indulgence to all those who read an approved Bible for 30 minutes with the other normal requirements.
Per the Apostolic Pententiary.
I don’t consider Bob One a faithful Catholic.
Faithful Catholics would not want to deprive others of the truth of our Faith contained in Bible and CCC, in favor of Diocese bureaucracies that are merely social services.
In the US, the State and Federal Governments do a good enough job with social services.
The USCCB and Diocese do not need to duplicate social services.
However, there is no one teaching the Faith.
Go to your own Diocese and see if the Bishop is encouraging people to read the Bible and CCC.
When was the last time your parish Priest encouraged this from the pulpit or your parish bulletin ?
On April 8, 2014, Pope Francis gave out free Bibles.
Was the Pope wrong to do this, Bob One ?
Did the Pope assume like Bob One does that literate persons are too stupid to understand what they are reading ?
Bob One, consider this. You will go to Hell if you continue to discourage or deprive people from knowing the truth about God and His Church.
Your own pride that you know best is a sin also.
“Bob One”: You simply must stop conflating everything into one or two principles. No, it is not the same to be anti-abortion and “pro life” in the way that you — and all Liberals — demand to define it. Environmentalism is not the same as saving the unborn (among many other examples).
The reason that you, and all Liberals, do this is a profound opposition to any controls on sexual expression. Liberals, and you, use any excuse to have unfettered access to victimless sex. Of course, there is often a victim, isn’t there?
And, by the way, Popes have not taught your kind of moral relativism at all, notwithstanding the demand by Fornicators-For-All that this is the case. The focus is solely on a woman that refuses to comply with her responsibility to bring her unborn child to term, and on the money-making empire of Planned Parenthood that makes taking a life so easy.
Many in the Church do not believe that abortion is that bad a thing, for a variety of reasons. And, when pressed, they give a variety of reasons: immigration, unfair taxes, the wars in the world, the success of Israel against the beastly Muslims, and all that, to also be equally on the plate of concern in their Church. Mr. Solorio is likely in this camp; anything to say that woman having sex is not victimless, and has responsibilities. Boo-hoo, how cruel, how unjust, how unpastoral.
No surprise here. It is the left leaning Bishops of California and throughout the US who are THE PROBLEM. My solution is to no longer provide any financial support to diocese special collections. I realize that around 20% of the money that I give to my parish goes to the diocese, and that if my parish does not meet the budget given to it by our Bishop for the annual Diocesan Development Fund that the Bishop will simply take it from regular parish contributions. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything about that but I can refuse to give to our Bishop’s numerous leftist agencies.
Xavier, your comment was jarring. I went to the web site of five diocese in California. On each one, I reviewed what they outlined for ministries, mission statements, overarching goals when given, statements from the Bishop, etc. You get the idea. I found something different than you explain. Their ministries are all very Catholic in nature: faith formation, pre-marriage programs, NFP, Walk for Life, Catholic schools, service to the migrants, liturgy development in many languages, charities, etc. I was not able to identify any of these as left leaning ministries. Please help all of us get better educated by pointing out what we are missing, at least some of us. Which ministry is leftist and why? Which should we stop doing? What should we add? Your comments would be very helpful. Thanks.
Bob One, did you find anything that teaches the complete Faith to the Laity ?
Such as encouragement to read BOTH the Bible and the CCC at home ?
Oscar, yes. That was my point. Each of the Dioceses works at teaching faith formation, living a good Catholic life, Catholic education, etc. Just because it doesn’t have a separate section that says “read the Bible and the CCC” doesn’t mean that it doesn’t encourage those actions in its programs. In fact, I find mostly that they teach how to live our CCC and the teachings of the Bible.
Andrew, you wrote: I guess Bob One calls all of our recent Popes LIARS,
because he personally does not like the Bible and CCC.
Pete, you wrote: I don’t consider Bob One a faithful Catholic.
Both of those statements meet the legal definition of libel. This is a site for discussion, not accusations.
I have never said that people should not read the Bible or CCC. I have never said that I am against people having them. What I did say, was that asking people to read the Bible and the CCC is only a first step. I have read the CCC several time from cover to cover ( you pretty much have to on this site since it is referenced so much) and I have read all of the New Testament several times, and the Old Testament nearly in its entirety. But so what? What I tried to point out was that the Diocese needs to help parish priest learn which materials to use in their faith formation courses, help with training people to teach those programs, etc. But the point was, again, that if you are going to teach people about the faith, you need good learning materials and it takes in depth effort to understand. Depending on which version of the Bible you read, it can be an easy read of a very hard one. The Catechism is certainly not written in modern English like that used by the younger generation. But none of that matters if all the reading doesn’t help us on our faith journey.
Well Bob One, if you truly believe that reading the Bible and CCC are the “first step”, get off your duff and in your Diocese and postings and actively encourage people to read the Bible and CCC.
Most Catholics have not taken that first step.
You assume every literate person Is stupid over age 15?
If your children can read and understand the likes of Harry Potter, they can certainly understand the CCC.
There would be no need for the Synod in Rome if all Catholic Bishops and their Priests actively and prominently had pushed reading of the Bible and CCC at home.
The answer to every single thing they are discussing is contained therein.
If anyone has a specific question about their at home reading of the Bible or CCC – that is what Priests are for. They are supposed to be able to answer questions accurately.
“….. let us ask ourselves if we have actually taken a few steps to get to know Christ and the truths of faith more, by reading and meditating on the Scriptures,
studying the Catechism,
steadily approaching the Sacraments.” – Pope Francis, May 15, 2013.
Beverly, I agree with some of your statements and not others. Let me explain. The Synod in Rome is not about the “content” of our religion as much as the pastoral needs of our church to help families. I know a lot of priest who can tell you what the rules are, but is has a terrible approach to telling you or relating to your problems. The rules are pretty clear. Marriage is indissoluble. But what about the spouse who is abandoned? What about the spouse that is a dug addict and is harming the children? You just can’t be an effective counselor to those folks if you only read them the rules. How do we use the examples of really successful marriages to help the priest counsel those who are having trouble? How do we use the rules to increase our faith, increase our personal relationship with Christ, become a better member of the faith community? Most Dioceses have whole departments that are working daily, weekly, yearly to help people better know the Bible and the CCC. Check the web sites. Oh, by the way, I have been off my duff for decades trying to help as I can.
Bob One this entire Synod has been exposed for what it is. An attempt to weaken the teachings of the Church and was met head on by a cadre of conservative bishops, thanks due in part to the internet. And to paraphrase Cardinal Burke the Pope has done great damage to the Church. I miss you Pope Benedict