Cardinal Wuerl Must Have Seen a “Call to Battle!”

~ onemadmomblog

This: http://cardinalsblog.adw.org/2015/12/at-the-service-of-the-truth-and-love-of-jesus-christ/  Please read while I’m putting my eyes back in my head, tongue back in my mouth, and getting my chin off the floor! What the heck?! Can we get more of THIS Cardinal Wuerl? Better yet, can he please write responses for the Pope on this issue?  Just a couple of months ago I was lamenting his ambiguous synod comments and now this?

 

First, any person who struggles in trying to live according to the revealed truth of Catholic teaching should know the Church recognizes his or her dignity as created by God and that the person need not face life’s challenges apart from the grace of the Lord and his Church, which seeks only the highest good for everyone.

The Church recognizes that we all need to grow in faith and in closeness to the Lord. Simply acting contrary to Church teaching on occasion would not preclude serving as a ministerial employee or volunteer. For us to acknowledge that we are sinners, as we do, is to admit that occasionally we too have at times not lived up to the truth. On those occasions, we are expected to acknowledge our failings and seek to amend our lives in Christ.

However, if one persists or effectively insists that they are right and the Church is wrong, in the face of such irreconcilable differences it is not discrimination or punishment to say that continued ministerial service is not possible. It is not a question of personal private activity, but the social consequences of conduct which undermines the Church’s ability to fulfill her mission. When there is the potential for scandal that might lead people astray regarding the Catholic faith, continued service becomes untenable. (Emphasis from here on out, all mine!)

<Snip for brevity – it’s all awesome though!>

“We all are at the service of the mission of Christ,” and particularly for those in ministerial positions, “no one can claim a right simultaneously to work for the Church and to work against her belief” (23). When a person involved in ministerial activity offers a counter-witness to Catholic teaching by words or public conduct, however earnest they may be, experience shows that it can lead people away from the truth and otherwise have an adverse effect on our mission. The Church not only must be free to then take corrective steps, it has an obligation in charity and truth to do so.

<snip>

And no official would ever continue to employ someone who in his off-hours publicly demonstrated that he was opposed to the official’s policies or campaigned for the official’s opponent.

That last line harkens back to Archbishop Cordileone’s comment during his handbook fight. It’s a big “Duh!” the liberals just don’t seem to get or it’s the double standard they want us to simply take with our mouths shut.

The Church we serve is not ours, but Christ’s. The greatest mercy of the Church is to be faithful witnesses of his truth and love. It is precisely through the witness of authentic Catholic teaching, which is the revealed truth of the Gospel, that the parishioners in the pews, the young people in our schools, the people served in our charitable ministries, and the world at large will find salvation.

This is kind of the perfect response I wish the Holy Father had given, rather than the “Who am I to judge?” response.  I think every cardinal and bishop should bookmark this one. No need to re-invent the wheel. Clear. Concise. No backpedaling and, most importantly, NO APOLOGIES for doing what the Church is supposed to do! Did I think I’d be giving kudos to Cardinal Wuerl twice in a year’s time? I’m not sure I thought I’d even do it once.  Here’s hoping 2016 sees that trend continue and here’s hoping our cardinals and bishops continue to focus on strengthening the mission of the Church in this new year!

 

 

39 thoughts on “Cardinal Wuerl Must Have Seen a “Call to Battle!””

    2. Ginnyfree, you don’t know what you are talking about. That silly rumor only started on the blogs. It’s totally false. You were not even alive when Cardinal Wuerl was in the seminary. You know nothing about his background, career, personality or accomplishments. It’s so pathetic how people get online and hide behind a username and pretend to be in the inner circle of the Church. Try to learn something other than from weblogs.

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    1. lol! Boys will be boys an will assign names. I don’t pay too much credence that. Plus, I’ve known priest to make some pretty radical transformations in their lifetimes. I don’t discount miracles happening!

      Regardless, it’s on the cardinal’s blog and it’s an excellent statement. I get weary of half-apologetic statements when they’ve done something right. I’ll take this!

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  3. Thanks for this OMM. That’s surprising coming from Cardinal Wuerl considering his ambiguous statements at the synod. But what do I know…
    I’m still struggling to figure Pope Francis out. I watched a movie on St Peter (on formed.org, a Catholic Evangelization website) that focuses on his imperfections, the fact that he rejected Christ twice at the foot of the cross etc…The point was that Christ built his Church on an imperfect rock (Peter) but Peter will even with his imperfections live up to the great mission that Christ entrusted him with and he sure did. It made me feel more compassionate about all the confusion that Pope Francis is sowing around, to put it mildly. I am praying everyday that he lives up to the task that God entrusted him but it’s hard lately. I wish he would issue a document like this one by Wuerl or one written by Archbishop Cordileone.

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  4. I’ll join you in those prayers! Despite the silliness surrounding Rome at this moment and the Cupiches of the States, I am seeing some great things coming out of the Church in our country. Here’ hoping and praying!

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  5. Beware, he’s being exposed and probably felt he better do something that looked “shepherdy”. Check out Church Militant TV. The CMT crew have him, Cdl. Dolan and others in there sites. Seems “cover ups” are over.

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    1. Exactly! Personally the first time I ever saw a picture of the man, he creeped me out. Really. He doesn’t look right. I looked and thought, “there’s something not right about him, a little off and distracted.” He was and still is scary. And as it turns out, if they finally expose what goes on in his private little penthouse about his private little chapel on Embassy Row in the hot tub that is up there, well then, I’ll say, “Gee, I was right. Creep.” God bless. Ginnyfree.

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      1. God knows we certainly all have the right to judge the morality of someone we have never met based on how he strikes us in a photo and whether or not he has a hot tub in his apartment. Ginnyfree, if one of the most respected cardinals of the Church gives you the “creeps” I am happy to see you are so forthcoming and charitable with those unsubstantiated clairvoyant feelings of yours.

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  6. I’m betting Cardinal Wuerl sees the writing on the wall in regards to the declared war by Michael Voris of Church Militant on Cardinal Dolan and the homosexual clergy in the diocese of New York. Cardinal Wuerl is trying to do damage control because he fears the exposure of his diocese is next. I wouldn’t put it pass for him to compensate the fired cantor to keep things hush hush just in case. Too quick of conversion for him in my opinion. Not that it couldn’t happen but highly unlikely in my opinion. Maybe I’m too cynical. I have seen too much of the shenanigans and the “cloaks and daggers” of the homosexual Mafia out in a west coast diocese to last a life time.

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  7. A couple of thoughts.

    Speaking from personal experience (a shameful past I’d like to forget, but can’t), I can tell you that gay men invented the game of frivolously gossiping about who is and who is not gay–and from there it spreads. It is almost exclusively based on idle speculation, occasionally wishful thinking, and often sheer malice, but not facts. I have heard the same kinds of rumors about many prelates of the Catholic Church (not just Cardinal Wuerl) but I’ve rarely seen anything remotely resembling credible evidence. Truth be told, many in the so-called LGBT community assume anyone who is chaste and celibate must be gay. They simply cannot imagine anyone subordinating their lust to serve God, which is a really screwed up view of the world.

    As a practical matter, I doubt that there is a single good bishop in the history of the Catholic Church who hasn’t been the victim of scurrilous gossip and spiteful rumors. It is one of the devil’s favorite tactics, i.e., convincing the faithful to distrust and malign the leaders of the Church.

    My journey of faith started in earnest on March 13, 2013. Since then, Cardinal Wuerl has constantly informed my faith, along with Cardinal Raymond Burke, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Cardinal Francis George, as well as Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop José H. Gomez, and Archbishop Allen Vigneron. (To use a sports metaphor, the Church has a really deep bench.) I have read six of Cardinal Wuerl’s books, and more essays, interviews, homilies and letters than I could count. While Cardinal Wuerl is neither perfect nor the most outspoken prelate in the Church, every work of his that I’ve read is absolutely orthodox.

    Kudos onemadmom. Cardinal Wuerl needs our encouragement, support and prayers–as do all of our priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals.

    God Bless.

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    1. Well, if you have both Wuerl and Burke informing your faith, then you know the two are archenemies and that Wuerl is doing much to damage Burke. To me Burke is a living Saint. I’m not alone in thinking this either.

      Meantime, welcome to the Church. May God let His face shine upon you and yours and give you His peace and may Mary, the Mother of God obtain all the graces you need to live your call to be a Christian in its fullest. God bless. Ginnyfree

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      1. LOL!!!
        Ginny, NO cardinal is the “archenemy” of any other cardinal! The Church hierarchy is not a Malachi Martin novel! Your simplicity of expression reveals an incredibly shallow understanding of Catholic reality as a cartoon about good guys and bad guys. The defining characteristic of these extremely intelligent and powerful men is subtlety. Maybe to your naive view they seem to be “enemies” but I assure you they are playing on the same team, and both love the Church. Yes they have some different views, opinions and styles, different goals for themselves and their own flocks, even some peculiar traits. But every cardinal, bishop and priest are first and foremost, even in anger and hatred, even in disagreement and turmoil, on the same team. That is the “cardinal” rule, so to speak, you don’t abandon your brothers. They would get a good laugh out of your posts.

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        2. Well, Joan three insulting attacks in a row! What brings on this decidedly unchristian like barrage of nastiness? Good thing God doesn’t judge me the way you do! God bless. Ginnyfree.

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  8. People! Let’s just enjoy the well crafted, in line with the Church statement for once! It was a gift to the Church here in the U.S. no matter what the reason. Maybe it was done to misdirect, or maybe a broken clock is right at least twice a day or maybe it even for a more positive reason. Whatever! It is a joyful occasion. Revel in it and send it to all of your liberal friends as a New Year’s gift!

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    1. On that count MadMom, yes it is true a broken clock can be right twice a day. But I can counter with Martin Luther was also right about a few things and sometimes actually spoke vehemently about the Truth. People looked and said, “well, he’s right about a bunch of stuff, so how can he be wrong about the rest?” Then they swallowed the rest, hook, line and sinker. See what I mean? I little wrong is still too wrong to be trusted with your eternal destiny. God bless. Ginnyfree.

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      1. Ahhhh, but, people like us don’t buy things hook line and sinker and there’s those that trust him no matter what he says and always will. All we can say is that this is a GREAT statement. Maybe if we extoll THIS Cardinal Wuerl, We’ll get more of it which is only helpful to our cause.

        Isn’t it kind of awesome to be able to whip this out when the contrary people try to bring up an NcR piece??? I mean, if those types love him as much as you think then this one is going to have their head spinning. Give credit where credit is due. This is a HUGE statement. Something we already knew, of course. Makes it a no brainer when Wuerl writes it too.

        We need to learn to be strategic. We can’t simply rail against the message simply because of the sender. Also, we really shouldn’t be dealing with theories and feelings about the man. That gets us absolutely nowhere. We can say he lives lavishly but I’m reasonably sure nobody has the goods on anything other than that or they would have nailed him for it long ago. The rest is conjecture. Could be right or could be wrong but I’m reasonably sure it’s not a good idea to say what’s not in public record.

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  9. Has nothing to do with the message. Like I said, even Martin Luther had a few things right. I don’t think cheering him on either by you or by me is going to turn the frog into a prince at this point. As powerful as he is and the position he holds, what he has stated in this statement is what is expected of him. The fact that you’ve noticed the change that you have speaks volumes. It is a little bit too late. The issues involved are very black and white. You are employed by a church and your personal life must be above reproach. Any church be it the Salvation Army, the Evangelical Lutheran church down the street or the Buddhist Temple at the airport! If you misbehave, folks will notice and be scandalized. They expect those in any ministry to behave in a certain way and that way is usually above the usual. What is so great about a man who has sworn to uphold the Church’s teaching to point of shedding his own blood, speaking as he should about these issues? What am I missing? God bless. Ginnyfree.

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    1. Black and white for right minded people. Not so much for the NcR fans who have been floating “Who am I to judge?” for forever now.

      What are you missing? Hmmm…Let me try this example. If you had a child or a sibling who was a bit off track and they found a pearl of wisdom to share, would you say “Sorry, you’ve been screwing up so long, nobody should listen?” or would you encourage them when they finally have it right. Also, would you keep that pearl of wisdom away from others simply because they had screwed up for so long or would you say “Hey, listen to this great thing my daughter, sister, whoever came up with? Who knows? This little tidbit from the Cardinal might very well clarify things for the middle of the roaders who trust him.

      He said something great – period. I don’t feel the need to add qualifiers or admonitions to it. I’m going to use it as far as I can. Quite frankly, this is probably THE strongest statement I’ve seen ANY of the American bishops/cardinals put out on the subject. I’m not sure why it’s so complicated to say it but it seems it is. This has been the most eloquent and clear one I’ve seen and there are a lot of great cardinals/bishops out there.

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      1. Well, actually my child is not responsible before God and men for millions of souls.

        So, if I had a child and he or she was a scr—up and lived that way for 15 years and then did a 180 degree turn and found God and finally started to get it right, I’d say yippie! Then the glow would wear off a bit and we’d have to talk about some amends to her or his other family members for those last fifteen years of mistakes. Now, Cardinal Wuerl is very well educated about the Pearl of Great Price and has pretty much faked having it for most of his ecclesial life. Even if he did a 180, genuine contrition is usually well accompanied by tears and wailing and antics that generally disturb most of the people surrounding the person so affected. When a person turns from evil to do good, they usually do so with much fear and trembling. Um, the Church has been in the business of conversions for two thousand years and knows the genuine article when they see it and are also very familiar with crocodile tears as well.

        Now, about calling what he said “great.” It isn’t. He is expected to speak with the voice of the Church all the time, not some of the time or when it really matters. And you don’t even know he said it. Trust me on this, he’s had help writing his blog and probably lets someone else write it, he checks and gives it the nod so it can bear his name.

        Now about the actual issue. SSA and SSM are impossible to reconcile with living a genuine Christian life. Under the OT, they were stoned to death. Remember the story of Sodom? That is God’s opinion of homosexuals and their society. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. We cannot give tolerance to something God considers intolerable. If a person has committed those sins, he or she must give them up and be reconciled to God. It is a lie to pretend that God can be merciful while they are living that way. It’s like saying that God can be forgiving of the abusive husband while he persists in abusing the wife because it is more likely he’ll stop if you keep forgiving it blindly and blankly, without any sorrow over the sins committed nor any firm purpose of amendment, that is even a small desire to stop sinning in that regard. Oh and the wife, well, she’ll of course be expected to tolerate it no matter what harm it causes her, right? Homosexual behaviors do grave harms to individuals and society as a whole. I don’t care if you find 3,000 shrinks and social workers who say otherwise. They’re wrong. Most of this is a no-brainer for those of us who do believe what we are supposed to believe in order to receive the Eucharist worthily.

        What I find shocking is that you find it “great” that a Cardinal is actually saying what he’s supposed to say about such things. I am ashamed of the fact that any Catholic school, from elementary to college would have to be told to let someone go who is a practicing homosexual. Does that shock you? It shouldn’t. But we’ve been so stupefied as of late to not really expect to hear the Truth being spoken loudly and boldly by those very men Ordained to be and bring Jesus Christ to the world! Hello? When was the last time you heard Jesus speak in Mass during the homily? Or are you so used to making polite excuses for a lack of holiness in your local parish priests that when you do hear the Truth spoken, it comes as a shock to you and you cry out “GREAT!” Great. Yeah. See what I mean?

        You are supposed to hear the Truth boldly proclaimed each and every time a priest speaks in front of the congregation and whenever a Cardinal talks publicly, either in writing or orally. It shouldn’t surprise you to finally hear it. That is my point. In season and out of season. That’s how often they are supposed to speak of these things.

        Sorry if I offend but this is just my own two cents and it is worth every penny you just paid to hear it.

        God bless. Ginnyfree.

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    1. And somehow I’m reasonably sure Burke isn’t saying one negative thing about Wuerl’s post. In fact, I imagine he’s rejoicing too.

      Don’t worry about offending. I simply don’t agree. Neither of us know Wuerl’s interior. All we can do is judge his actions and I choose to judge them one at a time. When they’re good, I’ll say it. When they’re bad, I’ll say that too.

      As far as the greatness goes…I just addressed that. Most of the great bishops haven’t made such a clear and concise statements. They’ve done other wonderful things and wrote similar statements but I think this one the best so far. Many of them seem to be timidly or apologetically done. This one the perfect blend of loving but stern. It’s just my opinion.

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  11. Yes, Wuerl’s statement is a well-phrased but pedantic explanation that any bishop would make. But also yes, it’s impressive coming from Wuerl after his very recent garbled and confusing reaction to the Supreme Court decision and his perhaps less-than-stringent past utterances that so dismay “black and white” thinkers. None of these perceptions means the other is not also the case. It is a great and dignified statement. It also is what every bishop should freely declare. You are both right.

    The real thing you’re getting at is Wuerl, the man, the mystery. Cunning, clever, charming, elegant, erudite, brilliant, mercurial, valiant, and like all great leaders, keeps his foes guessing. He is 75 and still in the ascendency. He and McCarrick put Bergoglio on the throne, with their group. Bergoglio can give a nod in favor of Wuerl and he would likely be the next pope. Probably it will be one of the other papal satellites, it’s almost impossible it would be an American and others better suit the new church ideal.

    But Wuerl surely will not miss any chance to win points in his favor, and he needs both “sides” to think he is suited, this statement throws a bone to the Burkesque players. One thing’s for sure about Wuerl, despite the unlikelihood of this outcome, he dreams of stepping out onto that balcony in resplendent white. Damn if he wouldn’t look good too.

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    1. BTW, this isn’t the first firing of a gay employee. I’ve yet to see such and eloquent explanation of why it had to have happened. If there are others, let’s pull them out so I can keep them at the ready.

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  12. That rather describes perfectly how I’ve always imagined Cardinal Wuerl – a career man. Neither really good or really bad (too many ahead of him to get that award) just advancing the career. That said, firing the cantor isn’t going to win him any friends in that world. It’ll probably get him about as many as the “dissenting” comment got him in ours.

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  14. For some it does. Regardless, Wuerl’s statement is the Church’s which everyone else has said. Some don’t see why it’s a big deal because it’s simply a “duh” moment. Sadly, some don’t know enough of the Church’s teaching so that’s why this statement is important.

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  15. Dear All:

    First of all, let me compliment all of you for being, for the most part, reasonable and avoiding nasty, ad hominem attacks on one another when discussing a subject as volatile this one.
    Allow me to posit the possibility that we are all possibly missing the really big picture; the indestructibility of Christ’s Church. Just as when Pope Paul VI responded to advice, by lay and clergy alike, to ease up on abortion and birth control by issuing Humanae Vitae, perhaps statements like Cardinal Wuerl’s are providing verification of our faith. Cardinal Wuerl has never been a favorite of mine. His ouster of Father Marcel Guarnizo (the priest who refused communion to an admitted Buddhist living in a lesbian relationship) was particularly disturbing. I appreciate Thomas in Michigan’s relating his positive experience with reading books penned by Cardinal Wuerl. Lastly, the moderator of this site is obviously well grounded in theology and very adept at keeping the discussion on a high intellectual and charitable level. I stumbled upon this site and you all made my day. God bless you all.

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    1. As a couple of your readers reacted viscerally to Cardinal Wuerl, I am guilty of that when it comes to Michael Sean Winters. I continue to wonder why he doesn’t just get it over with and join the Episcopalian or Metropolitan Community Church, instead of working ceaselessly to turn the Roman Catholic Church into one of those monstrosities. (Rainbow liturgical colors, homosexual palooza, condoms as confirmation gifts, and who knows what else. From what I can see, NcR’s ideal church looks like a scene from the last days of Caligula.)

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