The Provincial Emails: The Church and Change

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

This column by Fr. Richard McBrien was published in the Catholic Herald of September 8, 2005. One topic is the importance of credentials.

He [Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)] never attended a Catholic college or university, having received a B.A. in Political Science from Penn State in 1980, an M.B.A. at the University of Pittsburgh, and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

One of his fellow Catholic senators, Susan Collins of Maine, has referred to him as a Catholic missionary in the Senate. She occasionally attends the study group he organized to promote more knowledge of the Catholic faith. Only Republicans are invited.

One is tempted to ask if this is one of those cases of the blind leading the blind (with apologies to anyone offended by the politically incorrect usage). Indeed, there is a book, Catholicism for Dummies, co-authored by two priests who also lack theological credentials. But they are "safe" enough to have a regular program on Mother Angelica's Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).

That is, the imporance of credentials for people on the other side of the Church from Fr. McBrien. If conservative, a layman needs a degree in theology before leading an office Bible-study, and a priest needs one to be qualified to answer questions about the Faith.

What about folks on Fr. McBrien's side?

Without benefit of advanced degrees in psychology, they recognize individuals who lack a healthy self-image, who are defensive and self-righteous, who are rigid and judgmental toward others, and who place undue emphasis on rules narrowly applied and on "orthodoxies" simplistically interpreted.

¶ 9/21/2005 07:05:00 AM

Comments:

Ahhh, yes. They can also discern "DIVISIVE!!" hissed, prissily, at the offender.

# posted by

Dad29 : 10:10 AM

"Rick Santorum (R-PA) never attended a Catholic college or university,"
Neither did St. Paul. Seriously though, with the state of how Catholiscm is treated at some such "Catholic" unviersites, this is almost a bonus.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:11 AM

"The lowly without M.S. or Ph.D. degrees shall bow down to thee who has studied and attended universities"... I know that is some where in the Bible...I'll look it up and come back later with the reference.

# posted by

dpt : 12:31 PM

dpt: pay, pray, obey. You STILL don't get it?

# posted by

Dad29 : 1:53 PM

Something tells me that the jibe at the mega-selling (and highly recommended) "Catholicism for Dummies" is Fr. McBrien's wallet talking. He knows as well as anyone that his magnum opus "Catholicism" is yesterday's news.

# posted by

Rich Leonardi : 3:13 PM

"Without benefit of advanced degrees in psychology, they recognize individuals who lack a healthy self-image, who are defensive and self-righteous, who are rigid and judgmental toward others, and who place undue emphasis on rules narrowly applied and on 'orthodoxies' simplistically interpreted."

Evidence yet again that the fundamental criteria for McBrien and his circle are psychological rather than theological, orthodox conviction being dismissable as nothing more than psychological rigidity.

As for 'simplistically interpreted' orthodoxy, anyone who spends any time in the writings of Papa Ratzinger (for one) will shortly be searching for another descriptor!

# posted by

Andy, OCDS : 3:20 PM

McBrien, Dan McGuire, and Mary Daly are reasons why my kid will never attend a Jesuit University.

I prefer Fulton Sheen's approach to keeping your children Catholic

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:06 AM

Recent Posts

About Me