Friday 25 April 2014

Mgr Stock's response to ACTA



  You cannot see clearly through a broken window

Pope Frances wants a Window on the views and moral beliefs of Catholics
Mgr Marcus Stock (General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales) response on BBC Radio to A Call To Acton’s Jean Riordan regarding making known the results of the Consultation.
The BBC seem to make it their job to find Catholics who dissent from the Church’s teachings and give them air time. A case in point was giving the dissident group ACTA (A Call To Action) recently. For according to the BBC there is a ‘group’ who are calling for the Bishops of England and Wales to make known the results of the consultation regarding modern Catholics views on morality.  That the BBC should immediately assume that it was ACTA who are doing this is interesting. Could the BBC use this group to level pressure on the Catholic Church?

Our version of the ACTA logo
note the similarity to Lesbian Gay Bisexual
and Transgender (LGBT) rainbow flag 

The Radio 5 live presenter questioned the ACTA’s spokeswoman, Jean Riordan who seemed a little vague when asked was it them who are calling for this however, there was a knowing intonation in the conversation between the BBC’s presenter and Ms Riorden.
The Consultation which was posted on line by the Bishops conference was to listen as widely as possible to ordinary Catholics views on issues like contraception, same-sex marriage and divorce. Pope Francis has called the meeting of bishops for October 5-19, 2014, and the meeting will focus on Pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization. ACTA are well known for wanting change in Catholic teaching on moral issues to reflect modern trends and to abandon the time honoured teachings of the Church.

The BBC also had Mgr Stock on the programme to respond, and it is his responses that I found most interesting for example regarding consultation he stated.  “This is not just for Northern Europe” The implication is clear here and that ACTA are simply being arrogant when asserting that the Church should change its teaching to suit Western trends and fashions, Mgr Stock also went on to say that that “you cannot see clearly through a broken window.” Again the implication is clear that the window onto the views of Catholics in northern Europe is broken and cracked and you no longer see the Catholic faith. The Consultation is to include the whole world including African and Eastern Catholics who are far more faithful to the Churches moral leadership.
Pope Francis must be aware that most Catholic do not get their views, knowledge and beliefs through the teaching of the Catholic Church, which she has failed to teach fully in recent years – they get them through the media! If the Church changes it rules on its cornerstone moral teachings such as abortion, contraception, homosexual acts, same-sex marriage, adultery etc are intrinsically wrong it will estrange some of her strongest believers.

2 comments:

  1. The Church will not change it's teaching on these issues. Protesting catholics are free to join the Anglican church or any other Protestant church or just start their own church and make their own rules up to suit their sexual conduct. Do they really think Jesus came down to earth, suffered and died to affirm them to do whatsoever feels good at the time? Current Western trends and fashions are not in fact new - there is nothing new under the sun - sexual immorality is not a 20th century Western invention. People don't change - read Plato if you have any doubt about this.

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    Replies
    1. Yes quite so, they will attempt to sow discord though, and lead many astray just like the secular media.

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