The Society of Blessed John XXIII

Quitting

2010-08-06T17:57:00.001-07:00

So, Anne Rice is quitting Christianity. Given her reasons I cannot raise much objection. I have pretty much done the same thing. My family and I have taken to conducting Liturgy in our home, with a small worshiping community. It’s very informal and very “un-churchlike” - if by “Church” one means a lot of pomp and ceremony. I like to think that we are like the earliest communities of Christians, worshiping in small households, but without the threat of persecution. Who knows?

Probably not even close.

I quit for the same reasons she did:
“I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life.”

These are sound reasons. The breaking point for me was a letter from my diocesan bishop that said, in essence, that he wasn’t telling anyone how to vote, but as Catholics we were morally bound to vote only for candidates who opposed legal abortions. Yeah right. I have never voted for a Republican in my life. Nor have I ever voted for candidates based on one issue. That is ignorance in the extreme. A Catholic Bishop throwing down that particular gauntlet made me very, very angry. The sheer arrogance of it was deeply offensive.

So, I quit.

It was hard. My family's Roman Catholic roots are deep. My brother is a Dominican priest. I had three aunts who were Dominican Sisters. The halls of the Dominican Motherhouse in Adrian, Michigan still evoke a sense of mystical intrigue for me. The chanting of the liturgical hours still causes me to stop and look inside at my own mystical connection to the Creator of the Universe.

Unlike Anne, I have never been an atheist. I have had an ongoing internal dialogue with God going on for as long as I can remember. It is the most consistent part of a spiritual journey that has taken me from my humble little parish in Deerfield, Michigan (St. Alphonsus) to a Charismatic Christian Community to a very devout sojourn in the Antiochian Orthodox Church and finally back to Roman Catholicism. All along the way I was guided by that internal dialogue. I learned a lot. Life had it’s bumps and distractions; a divorce, a remarriage, three children with the first wife, an adopted son with my second (and last) wife. I have encountered trials and tribulations and exhilarating spiritual insights. Some of these insights originated from my religious devotion but most of them have come when I dared (often to the abhorrence of my “pastors”) to think “outside the box”.

Perhaps the most profound insight I have happened upon is that God DOES NOT have some “perfect plan” for my life. I am expected to make it up as I go - just like he does. This statement usually evokes outbursts of disbelief and/or accusations of “heresy” from those who have known me from my past religious sojourns. But it’s true. No Bishop, Pope or “pastoral guide” can prove me wrong.

I believe that this is the essence of what Anne has discovered. (She can correct me if I am wrong).
O Sensei, Morihei Uisheba may have said it best:

"One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train."

Much Love…Mitakuye Oyasin!

Papa Medicine Crow

Miracles and changing the world

2009-08-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

"Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature." Augustine of Hippo

I believe that we can affect matter, time and space with the power of thought and the assertion of our will...I pray...pretty much constantly. Prayer is thought and the assertion of the will. Whether "God" does it or my own thought and will is of little consequence to me...but I have experienced the power of it in some very practical and often subtle but powerful ways. The seemingly serendipitous coming together of opportunity and resources to some unanticipated (because it seemed impossible) fortunate turn of events.

Raging against systemic injustice is an exercise in futility. The world is not made up capitalists and socialists and communists and fundamentalists and atheists...(these are labels we use to dehumanize those we wish to hate)...it is made up of people...billions of individual people...caught up in the their own cycles of suffering, death and rebirth. I feel the burn of frustration at the intentional evil done in the name of wealth, power, religion etc.

When I quiet my mind and heart I realize that I am very. very small...but I possess tremendous power...I can change my thought process...I can choose to be compassionate in the face of greed...I can love the "unlovable"...I can endure any suffering...I can be joyful even in the depths of my own sorrow (Joy and sorrow are not opposites. Happiness and sorrow are because they are emotions...Joy is a state of being). The only way that systemic injustice will be defeated is through individual acts of justice...and Love. There are no short cuts.

God isn't coming down from the sky to set everything right...we've got to do it. We have the God given power to do it and we have the resources to do it. If we are created in the "image and likeness of God"...then we have the ability and the responsibility to BE Godlike and create a world worthy of a God of Love and Compassion...by being loving and compassionate.

"Great acts are made up of small deeds." Lao Tzu

Much Love...Mitakuye Oyasin!

Michael Iott
Society of Blessed John XXIII

"I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves."

2009-07-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

"Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you." Luke 10:3-6

We are not just hearing a call to renew the Church. We are hearing a call to further the mission of the Church. In fact - the latter is the primary call. The readings for Sunday July 11th in the Revised Common Lectionary (http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/) have David dancing before the Ark of The Covenant and being looked down upon by the daughter of Saul...who obviously thinks he is not living up to his stature as King. Then on to Amos who is told by Amaziah : "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom." To which Amos replies: "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

Our purpose is not, primarily to renew the Church. Our mission is to preach, teach and BE the Good News of Jesus to a world sorely in need of hearing and seeing it. While the Church carries on the purging of any who will not conform to her arcane doctrinal/dogmatic prescriptions, closing ranks as an exclusive club for the initiated "true believers" and telling the rest of us to go away, we must be about carrying on the the mission of the Church.

If we have any hope of "renewing" The Roman Catholic Church it will come only by carrying out her primary mission...with or without the blessing and/or approval of the Vatican. We are being called to dance before the "Ark of The Lord" like a bunch of crazy hippies (David danced in his underwear...not sure many of us could pull that off). We are not the upper crust of the ecclesiastical world...many of us are the modern equivalent of a herdsmen and the dressers of sycamore trees...but we are still being called to prophesy to the People of God. The fact that we are of no real consequence in the hierarchical "pecking order" gives us a freedom of action that those maintaining a sense of "ecclesiastical dignity" can only dream of.

"One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train." Morihei Ueshiba (O Sensei)

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." Francis of Assisi

Much Love...Mitakuye Oyasin!
Michael F. Iott
Society Of Blessed John XXIII

The Immaculate Conception and "Original Guilt"

2009-06-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

The Immaculate Conception and "Original Guilt"

Marian devotion is a very longstanding practice in the Catholic/Orthodox tradition. The Orthodox church honors Mary as the Theotokos (God Bearer) and has incorporated Marian devotion into the Liturgy and prayer life of the Church without elevating it to the level of Dogma. The Roman Church has made belief in the Immaculate Conception a Dogma (a belief that is required) while in Orthodoxy it has remained an honored tradition...but not a required belief. The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception rests on the Western Christian Doctrine of Original Sin...which I call "Original Guilt". According to St. Augustine (a not so recovered Manichean) we are all born already guilty of Adam's sin. In that scenario the Mother of God, in order to be "pure" enough to bear the Son of God would have had to be born without that original guilt.

This is the root issue standing in the way of reunification between the Eastern and Western Churches. The Orthodox Church considers Augustine's doctrine of Original Guilt a heresy. To the early Church and the the early Councils Original Sin was merely the observable fact of our human predisposition to sin and the inevitibility of it. But no one can be guilty of something someone else did. Alexander Komiakov (a Russian Orthodox theologian of the late nineteenth century) argued quite convincingly that most of the errors of the Protestant Reformation, especially Calvinism, are rooted in what he considers a vestage of the Manichean Heresy, from whence came Augustine and his peculiar twist on the obvious fact of Original Sin. According to the most ancient traditions of the Catholic/Orthodox Churches all that God created is essentially good. Augustine's Doctrine is Manichean in that it presumes that we are born morally depraved, and in fact all of physical creation is essentiually evil. Therfore we must be Baptised in order to be saved. This belief in our moral depravity is what makes room for the belief in such things a "purgatory" and "limbo" and the clergy as the only avenue that the ignorant and uneducated masses have to salvation...and down through the history of the Western Church to the selling of indulgences and the eventual "Dogma" of Papal Infallability. It's not about God or "tradition", now it's about control and power.

The "laity" are not just an important part of the Church the Laity IS the Church. The Clergy are servents, ideally raised up from among the Laity...not separate...not privilaged...and in every way accountable to the laity. No one has authority to govern anyone who does not consent to be governed by that person...regardless of who laid hands on him or her or how many crosses he or she puts in front of his or her name. That is an observable fact of our existence.

How we govern ourselves is not the mark of our Catholicism...it is the seven Sacraments and the historical continuity of Apostolic Succession. The laying on of hands does not turn a lay person into a Priest or Bishop...the community does that...and the laying on of hands affirms that choice in a physical, historical continuity going back to hands of Jesus himself. When we celebrate the Eucharist the bread doesn't become God because some guy in fancy vestmerts says some magic words....God becomes bread in the context of the Community Worship...because the Community has called God forth in the words of institution at the hands of the Celebrant. The Church is not "Clergy" and "Laity"...the church is the community...the entire community, from the youngest to the oldest.

Michael F. Iott
Society of Blessed John XXIII

Dogmatic Dictatorship

2009-06-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Reading the news coming out of Iran has set me to thinking. The similarities between the unrest in Iran and the unrest in the Roman Catholic Church are striking. Iran’s ruling theocrats have the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militias, and the Vatican has Opus Dei, CUF, ETWN and other, so called, “conservative” groups. The ruling clerics in Iran are clamping down in a knee jerk reaction to the aspirations of faithful Muslims who long to be freed from the tyranny of their Islamic Theocracy to embrace the ideal of the Islamic Republic that showed such promise after the fall of the Shah in 1979. In like manner the Vatican is engaged in active suppression of Roman Catholics looking to leave the medieval monarchy of the pre-Vatican II church behind and reclaim the consensus community model of church that characterized her first three centuries.

The Vatican is in much the same place as the mullah’s in Iran in trying to put the “genie back into the bottle” . Of course (thankfully) the hierarchy of the Roman Church no longer has the temporal power to put dissidents to “the torch” or literally beat us into submission. They are, however engaged in an active program of marginalizing the progressive elements in the Church and putting forth the threat of excommunication toward any who even question the Church’s stand on priestly celibacy or the ordination of women. The irony is that while one priest can molest children in parish after parish and be treated with “compassion” and discretion, a priest advocating the ordination of women or married men is threatened with excommunication.

The “threat” to the Church is not women aspiring to serve the Church in ordained ministry, or male priests being forced to choose between a healthy sexual relationship and ordained ministry. The greatest threat facing the Roman Catholic Church is irrelevancy. Since Blessed John XXIII “opened the windows” to let the fresh air (and the Holy Spirit) in, “pew sitting” Catholics have been actively engaged in their Faith journey. We have discovered that there are no “cookie cutter” solutions to the problems we face on that journey. I can acknowledge that abortion is a sin, but is making it illegal (as a matter of secular law) the most life-giving response? We have begun to place a value on faith as a verb, something active and dynamic and are no longer content with merely ascribing to “The Faith” as dictated by the hierarchy. If we are continually told to just sit in the pew and do as we are told, we will eventually exit the pew altogether and find a way to serve God outside of the decaying edifice of the Roman Church.

In both the case of the reformers in Iran and those within the Catholic Church, the goal is distant and beset with many obstacles. But in both cases there is no going back. The theocratic dictatorship of the Iranian mullahs and the dogmatic dictatorship of the Roman Catholic hierarchy are both destined to be jettisoned as those they are trying to control and suppress become more insistent on exercising the freedom and responsibilities we have as Children of God.

Michael F. Iott
Society of Blessed John XXIII

Statement of Intent

2009-06-18T08:18:00.001-07:00

The Society of Blessed John XXIII is an international society of Roman Catholics who wish to live their faith in the full Spirit of the Second Vatican Council, which was called by Pope John XXIII and convened from 1962 to 1965.

Some of us are Roman Catholics who have for years been working for reform within the structure of the Church and, having been frustrated in that attempt, wish to quietly live out our Vatican II faith while letting the rest of the Church peacefully go their own way. While we have not given up the hope that some day the whole Church will adopt the reforms needed to fully implement the documents of Vatican II in the Spirit of Blessed John XXIII, we have accepted the fact that the current bent of the hierarchy means that it will not happen in our lifetimes. Not wishing conflict with others in the Church, we intend to cease our attempts at reform, and simply proceed to live our faith as best we can within the Church as it is.

Others of us left the Roman Catholic Church and joined other churches whose doctrine and practice were more in line with our conception of what the Church should be. Most of us became Old Catholics or Independent Catholics. Some of us even became Protestants for a while. Some dropped out entirely and became unchurched. Gradually we have come back to the Roman Church, attending Mass at a progressive parish (if we could find one). But hierarchical pressures on even the best of parishes have made this almost impossible. We now intend to create our own parishes, missions, and intentional communities under the protection of the Society, remaining fully Roman Catholic, while operating free of the rigid dictates of hierarchical interference.

We have valid Catholic bishops in apostolic succession who have agreed to assist us in this endeavor. Some of our clergy are Roman Catholic priests who, having left active ministry for various reasons are returning to serve the Society's parishes. Others are validly ordained clergy from the Old Catholic/ Independent Catholic movement who have joined us. If additional clergy are needed, they will be raised up from within the laity, elected by the people, and ordained by our bishops in apostolic succession.

Because we are “conservative” and “traditional” Roman Catholics (in the true sense of those words), we will be returning to some practices of the Early Church which have long been neglected, but which are in the Spirit of Vatican II. Among these practices are the election of bishops by the people, ordination without regard to marital status, gender, or sexual orientation, and ownership of property by the people rather than by the hierarchy.

It is our hope that, having gone through the painful separation from and reconciliation with the Society of St. Pius X, the Church will not pressure us or threaten us with excommunication. We do not condemn or denigrate any other part of the Church. (Nor do we condemn or denigrate Christians who are not Roman Catholic.) We wish only to be allowed to practice our faith within the Church in accord with the dictates of our conscience.

Most Rev. Dr. Robert M. Bowman, COSF
Fr. Jerry Brohl, COSF
Michael F. Iott,
Society of Blessed John XXIII

A Formula for Change in the Church

2009-06-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Robert Blair Kaiser's novel Cardinal Mahony. It's an easy read which clearly maps a plan for changing the church.

1. Find a RC cardinal or ordinary who has had a dramatic and radical conversion experience. That means he has seen the error of his ways and prefers being a minister of Jesus rather than a front man for the Vatican.

2. Hook him up with a progressive Vatican II canon lawyer, a sexy social activist love interest (to keep him human & on track), a hardened, experienced community organizer, and an effective PR/media person.

3. Let him know he is loved but not trusted

4. Present him with the notion of autochthony

5. Ask God to gift him wth large, brass balls.

Jerry, COSF

Don’t tell the pope - by Nicole Sotelo NCR 06/11/09

2009-06-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

Don’t tell the pope
by Nicole Sotelo on Jun. 11, 2009

Pope Benedict has declared June 19 as the beginning of the Year of the Priest. He has proclaimed that “without priestly ministry, there would be no Eucharist, no mission and even no church.” I hate to be the one to inform him, but Eucharist, mission and church existed long before the rise of priesthood.

According to the Gospels, Jesus was not a priest, nor were his disciples. We do see reference to Jesus as a priest in the Letter to the Hebrews. The author uses the word to refer to Jesus as the new and last “High Priest,” ending a long line of Jewish leaders. The author claims that priests are no longer necessary because no more sacrifices are needed. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and is our final high priest.

Perhaps the pope has forgotten that Jesus was not focused on priesthood. He was focused on ministry. He called people to minister alongside him, regardless of their status in society. He called out to fishermen and tax collectors and the woman with seven demons. Everyone was responsible for engendering the kingdom of God.

All were invited to minister and they did so with various titles given to them by the community based on their gifts. Some were called prophet, others teacher and still others apostle. It was only later that we begin to see the emergence of a formal ministry structure and corresponding terminology as the followers of Jesus were influenced and integrated into the Roman Empire. It is not until 215 A.D. that we have evidence of an ordination ritual for bishop, priest and deacon.

The emergence of the clerical structure eventually led to a division of the Christian faithful into “clergy” and “laity.” In the early years of Christianity’s emergence, however, Paul reminded Jesus’ followers, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

After the rise of ordination and priesthood, there develops a hierarchical order among the faithful. The word “ordination” derives from the Latin “ordinare” which means “to create order.” It developed from the Roman usage of the words “ordines” that referred to the classes of people in Rome according to their eligibility for government positions.

The laity became “dis-ordered” from the clergy. The word “laity” originates from the word “laikoi” that referred to those in Greco-Roman society who were not “ordered,” or “ordained” within the established political structure. The word “clergy” comes from the word “kleros,” meaning “a group apart.”

While many Christians continued to minister within the church and even some women carried the titles of deacon, priest and bishop, most carrying this title were part of a limited group of men commissioned within the context of a particular socio-political and religious order.

This endured until 1964 when the Second Vatican Council reminded the church that the role of minister, or priest, was not limited to the ordained, but was a call to all the baptized. The document, Lumen Gentium, proclaimed that the laity were “made sharers in the priestly, prophetical and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world” (31).

Priesthood, which arose out of the foundation of the early ministries of Jesus’ followers, was now returned to all Jesus’ faithful. All people are called to ministry again. All Christians are meant to share in the prophetic, sovereign and, yes, even priestly roles within the mission of the church.

So while the pope is exhorting ordained priests to reflection in this Year of the Priest, the call goes out to all of us to reflect on how we are living out our ministry in the church and world.

I wouldn’t worry about telling the pope that Eucharist, mission and church existed long before the priesthood, nor that the Year of the Priest should really be a year dedicated to all the laity. Instead, we need to understand this ourselves.

The Year of the Priest is an opportunity for the entire Christian faithful to reflect on priestly ministry, and in so doing, to claim our own.

Nicole Sotelo is the author of Women Healing from Abuse: Meditations for Finding Peace, published by Paulist Press, and coordinates www.WomenHealing.com. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, she currently works at Call To Action.

Come out, come out...

2009-06-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

The Society of Blessed John XXIII wants you!

We know you are out there, you progressive/liberal Roman Catholics, married Roman priests, unchurched/fed-up/disappointed Romans!

Together, we can make a difference.

Check out our web site www.ourchurch.com/member/c/catholic2, then join us!

WE NEED YOU NOW !

Blessings, Fr. Jerry, COSF

Letter of Departure

2009-06-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

From: John Chuchman
http://www.torchlake.com/poetman/main.html
Sent: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 11:47:55 AM
Subject: Letter of Departure

The author gave me permission to share.
Love,
John

Dear John,

Here’s a message I sent to my friends at my parish and in my family just after Easter this year;
I received lots of wonderful support and understanding:

I’ve been thinking and praying about this for quite some time – in good conscience I simply can no longer support the Catholic Church as an institution. Recently, I decided to stay through Easter. So now, I will rely more than ever on the Spirit to guide my faith journey.

There are many ominous signs in the Church that have been present for some time: the marginalization of women; two successive socially conservative Popes over the last 30 years leading to an ever expanding degree of conservatism in the ranks of bishops and priests; the narrow focus by some American bishops and priests on a few select issues - abortion, embryonic stem cell research and gay marriage - in a thinly veiled attempt to manipulate Catholics to support right-wing candidates; denial of the Eucharist by certain bishops and priests for political purposes; the sex abuse scandal and its cover up over decades; the emphasis on large suburban parishes with money while schools and poor, inner-city parishes are closed; the failure to confront militarism and American wars in light of the Gospel; the silence of the current group of US Catholic bishops on nuclear weapons, in contrast with those who developed the 1983 “peace pastoral;” the attempt to silence prophetic voices (Tom Gumbleton, Jeannine Gramick, Agnes Mansour, Edwina Gately, Robert Nugent); the December 2008 Vatican decision to oppose a UN resolution calling for de-criminalization of homosexuality; and, intertwined with all of this, the persistent efforts of conservative elements in the Church to roll back Vatican II.

My decision to stop supporting the church means that I am leaving a good parish with some wonderful people. Membership at any other parish however, involves a responsibility to provide monetary and other forms of support, and implies consent for the broader organization - the Church itself - which is where I have significant differences.

I think you all know this, but (just in case) I want to make it clear: this does not mean I am rejecting any of you!! Just because I’ve come to a decision at this time, based on my own conscience does not mean that anyone who remains a practicing Catholic has all of a sudden been diminished in my eyes. After all, I’ve had these doubts about the Church for years, and have nevertheless continued on in spite of them. And, I’ve been a practicing Catholic myself for darn near 60 years.

I will continue to support many outstanding Catholic organizations: Pax Christi, NETWORK, Call to Action, Groundwork, and so forth. I also hope to receive the sacraments when possible (perhaps at 6:30 Mass prior to our meetings; perhaps at an Episcopal Church, a community I intend to check out … they have a female “rector” who is active in peace and anti-racism efforts in her church).

I intend to search for another faith community, and take whatever time is necessary to feel comfortable – in an institution with values I can support.

Finally, I’ve been strengthened in this recently by a prayer from Thomas Merton:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you
and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this,
you will lead me by the right road although I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear,
for you are ever with me
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Peace!

Bob

A 2004 Article - By Dr. Patrick Treacy

2009-06-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

The Catholic Church's Influence Over the HIV Plague

By Patrick Treacy

Reprinted with author's permission

I have often stood alone, especially in my battle against the pseudo-science of Peter Duesberg and Thabo Mbeki and it was indeed gratifying to be invited to the recent UN Humanitarian Awards regarding my position on this issue. I have always openly said that it is morally wrong to force a HIV/AIDS infected partner to sleep with another human being in the knowledge that the sexual act will in all probability cause the death of the innocent person. In 2001, a group of Catholic Bishops from Southern Africa condemned the use of condoms to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Bishop Michael Coleman stated, "their use is immoral and dangerous and the promotion of condoms is a misguided weapon in our battle against HIV/AIDS". He then continued, "condoms don't make a difference...this country is saturated with condoms yet we have the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world". This again, is pseudo-science masquerading itself as scientific fact. Dr. Halpenny states "apart from the fact that condoms has done nothing to halt the spread of AIDS" and unwittingly falls into this propaganda trap flouted by the Catholic Church in Africa to promote the policies of the Humanae Vitae doctrine. On this basis, I will deal with the scientific issue first.

The WHO has recently condemned the Catholic Church's views, saying: "These incorrect statements about condoms and HIV are dangerous when we are facing a global pandemic which has already killed more than 20 million people, and currently affects at least 42 million." The United Nations have also recently been profoundly disturbed by propaganda from the Catholic Church telling people in HIV/AIDS stricken countries not to use condoms because they have tiny holes in them through which HIV can pass. The Church is making these claims across four continents despite a widespread scientific consensus that condoms are impermeable to HIV. A senior Vatican spokesman, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, backs the claims about permeable condoms, despite assurances by the World Health Organisation that they are false. Scientific research by a group including the US National Institutes of Health and the WHO found "intact condoms... are essentially impermeable to particles the size of STD pathogens including the smallest sexually transmitted virus... condoms provide a highly effective barrier to transmission of particles of similar size to those of the smallest STD viruses".

Things get worse, in Lwak, near Lake Victoria, Gordon Wambi, the director of HIV/AIDS in the area has gone on record stating that local priests in the region are telling the populous "that condoms are laced with HIV/Aids." In Kenya (where an estimated 20% of people have HIV) the Archbishop of Nairobi, Raphael Ndingi Nzeki has gone of record stating, "the Catholic Church condemns condoms for promoting promiscuity and the rise of HIV/AIDS in that country. He also repeats the claim about permeability. So why would the ecclesiastical authorities openly tell lies against scientific fact and try to spread false propaganda to the distressed and diseased people of the plague stricken African nation.

Thankfully, the days of Galileo (who proclaimed the truth of the Copernican doctrine) where the Holy See believed itself to be the supreme authority in all matters of science are now behind us. In order to withstand the perceived wrath of the Catholic Church which states that the doctrines of Humanae Vitae "are contained in the Word of God, written or handed down, and defined with a solemn judgment as divinely revealed truths either by the Roman Pontiff when he speaks 'ex cathedra,' or by the College of Bishops gathered in council, or infallibly proposed for belief by the ordinary and universal Magisterium", I am going to use the intellectual argument of "licit dissent" to challenge the respective canons of the Codes of Canon Law. It is recognised by the Catholic Church that, as long as the disagreement against Humanae Vitae is well founded and respectfully stated, and as long as the Church's official teaching is properly con veyed alongside the theologian's expressed doubts, such theological dissent can be classified as "licit."

To be fair, neither Blessed John XXIII nor his successor Paul VI foresaw the conflagration of public dissent that occurred following the issuance of the encyclical Humanae Vitae in July of 1968. The majority of Catholic professors teaching theology in North America and many others worldwide at the time-publicly dissented from the doctrines of Humanae Vitae and this opposition has lasted up to the present day.

The problems started when Pope Paul VI attempted to clarify the Catholic Church's ancient teaching on artificial contraception following the Protestant church's reversal on the ancient prohibition of birth control during the Lambeth conference of 1930. Doctrine relating to the regulation of birth and the prohibition against artificial contraception was defined in doctrines, dating back to the Council of Nicea, (Canon 1) AD 325. The Church's teaching that the procreative element cannot be removed from the act of sex without incurring grave sin and violating the sanctity of marriage was largely influenced by theologians like St. Augustine, who we should remember prior to his conversion to Christianity, was a lustful youth who lived for years with a woman who bore him a son. This theologian was also enamoured with a dualistic philosophy called Manichaeism, which viewed matter as an evil opposed to spirit.

Unquestionably, these experiences coloured his views on marriage and sexuality and questionably still have some part to play in the deaths of HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. We should also remember that theologically the Bible has virtually nothing to say about birth control per se. The closest we get to this is the story of Onan (Gn 38: 1-11) being condemned to death for practicing coitus interruptus and this pertains more to his refusal to father children for his deceased brother (as Jewish Law required) than the practice of a form of birth control.

Eventually in 1964, Pope Paul VI created the Papal Commission on Population and Birth Control. The commission consisted of two parts, one of 64 lay persons, the other of 15 clerics, and they met from 1964 to 1966. One of the clerics was Pope John Paul II, then a Polish cardinal. Unfortunately, Pope Paul VI gave the Commission only one mission, not to review the moral doctrines relating to birth control but rather to determine how the Church could change its position on the issue without undermining papal authority. In 1966, the Commission concluded that it was not possible to make this change without undermining papal authority. They also stated that the Church should make the changes anyway because it was the right thing to do! In fact, the lay members voted 60 to 4 for change, and the clerics, 9 to 6 for change. Of more interest is the fact that the co-author of one report Karol Wojtyla (who is now Pope John Paul II) stated:

"If it should be declared that contraception is not evil in itself, then we should have to concede frankly that the Holy Spirit had been on the side of the Protestant churches in 1930. It should likewise have to be admitted that for a half century the Spirit failed to protect Pius XI, Pius XII, and a large part of the Catholic hierarchy from a very serious error".

In 1968, Pope Paul V1 issued the controversial Humanae Vitae encyclical to the protests of Catholics around the world. Following the massive public dissent registered against the encyclical, theologians loyal to the Church's magisterium, claimed that the teaching was both true and even infallible. I think I am write in stating that, Pope Paul VI himself never made this lat ter claim, indeed, his theological spokesman at the time the encyclical was issued, Fernando Lambru schini, specifically remarked that the encyclical's teach ing was not infallible. Hans Kung, the renowned Swiss Catholic theologian stated that a highly credible argument against infallibity could be made on the ba sis of the virtual unanimity with which the popes and the bishops had always maintained over the centuries that contraception was an evil. In June 1978, this argument was furthered by two moral theologians: the late Father John Ford, SJ, (an advisor of Pope Paul VI on the subject), and a layman, Professor Germain Grisez in an arti cle entitled "Contraception and the Infallibility of the Ordinary Magisterium". Hans Kung further stated that it was not possible to solve the problem "relating to contraception/condoms until we solve the problem of infallibility. We should remember that the Pope only became infallible in July 1870, the same year as the loss of the Papal States. Catholic historian Bernhard Hasler considers in his book, "How the Pope Became Infallible" that for more than a millennium, the Vatican had possessed temporal power that ensured its survival. With the loss of the Papal States, it appeared all but certain that a strong papacy would simply disappear and Pope Pius IX enacted the decree to consolidate the power of the Vatican.

Either way, millions of children go to bed each night without parents each night in Africa. If Dr. Halpenny can tell me where the evidence of "respect for human life and dignity" exists in this situation, I would certainly be glad to listen. I would also question whether in reality the proponents of this flawed theory would actually allow their HIV infected partner to have sexual intercourse with them if they that they were positive. They certainly would be showing little respect for one life ..their own!. The other theological argument relating to whether a clone could actually have a soul is not vacuous but certainly will mean that the Church will eventually have to redefine it doctrinal wording relating to the actual situation when God gives a soul to a body. However, that can wait for another day.

Dr. Patrick Treacy is Medical Director of Ailesbury Clinics Ltd and the Cosmetic Medical Group. He is also Medical Director of OnboardSpa Ltd. He is Chairman of the Irish Association of Cosmetic Doctors and is Irish Regional Representative of the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors. He is European Medical Advisor to Network Lipolysis and the UK's largest cosmetic website Consulting Rooms. He practices cosmetic medicine in his clinics in Dublin, Cork, London and the Middle East.

He was amongst the first doctors worldwide to use the permanent facial endoprosthesis BioAlcamid for HIV Lipodystrophy patients. He was also the first person to introduce many techniques such as Radiofrequency assisted lasers, Fibroblast transplant and Contour Threads to Irish patients.

A Call to Action

2009-06-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Progressive and liberal Roman Catholics have an obligation to the Body of Christ, the People of God.

Our obligation is to live and proclaim our faith openly and honestly even if we must suffer the wrath of the hierarchy.

We are frustrating the urgings of the Holy Spirit when we hide in the pew or the sanctuary. We claim numbers in parishes, rectories and chancery buildings some say even the conference of bishops but where are these folks when they are needed.

We claim to BE the church. But, are we being the church when we cower under the glare of hierarchical scrutiny? Are we being the church when we hide in the safety of our small eucharistic communities? Are we being the church when we contribute to the marginalization of those who do stand up by our silence and inactivity?

Haven't we admired those who took to the battlefield and fought the good fight for their cause? What about 16th century Reformers, 19th century Old Catholics, Dorothy Day, John Kennedy, John XXIII, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr, Hans Kung, and on and on and on! The Holy Spirit has given us our heroes and models.

NOW it's our turn!

If we allow the pope and the hierarchy to set the agenda, define the rules of engagement, and pick the battlefields, we set ourselves up for defeat. We must step outside of their sphere of influence. That is why I believe we need an Independent Roman Catholic Church. That is why I believe we must identify ourselves as ROMAN Catholics.

Most independent Catholic jurisdictions I have known over the last seven years, and that's quite a few, say they don't care what the Roman church thinks or does. Ok, I'm fine with that for them. But, I do care. I am ROMAN Catholic and proud of it. I am not going to allow the hierarchy to deprive me of my rights as a ROMAN Catholic.

If you believe you have rights as a ROMAN Catholic and are being denied those rights then you MUST rise up against that kind of tyranny no matter how benignly it may present itself. Benign tyranny perpetrated on the People of God, the Body of Christ, by those who claim to be His anointed ministers is the most insidious and heinous of all spiritual crimes that I can imagine. This is second only to those of us who know what's going on and do not stand up publicly and definitively against it!

NOW is the time!

These are not deluded or misguided old men. These are intelligent, committed, and powerful people who are on a mission. They know what they believe. They know what they want. They know how to get it. And they are about the business of accomplishing their mission. To think otherwise is to bury your head in the sand while the church sinks deeper and deeper into an exclusive cult.

The Roman Catholic church of today's Vatican is not the community of faith that Jesus intended.

It is our obligation to recruit others to join us in non-violently establishing a place in the Roman Catholic church for progressives and liberals. It's our right to belong!

That's where I stand.

Jerry Brohl, COSF
Society of Blessed John XXIII

Outlawing Abortion

2009-06-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

Outlawing abortion will not stop them from occurring anymore than outlawing alcohol stopped people from drinking and outlawing drugs have stopped people from getting high. A woman has a de-facto right to choose regardless of what laws are or are not enacted. It's really that simple.

Anyone who honestly examines the biology of human reproduction can see that a unique human life begins at conception. As a true human being trying to follow in the footsteps of the Master I hold that life to be as sacred at conception as at any point on the journey from conception to death. I will not aid in the act of abortion. I will offer alternatives to it. I will also minister to any who have chosen that path in whatever manner seems the most life-giving. I will not pass judgment....That responsibility is way above my pay grade.

I believe that punishing personal sin as an act of public policy is inherently corrupting of both secular government and the the Church. This has been demonstrated to be true over the long history of the Christian experience.

Public policy is enacted to establish stability in civil societies. Public laws must be enforced with objectivity and without favoritism. When Civil governments are called upon to enforce Christian morality the, foundation of Christian morality - Mercy - is discarded and the only thing left is a harsh, oppressive severity, devoid of Love and thereby, devoid of God.

Michael Iott

Society of Blessed John XXIII

Greetings

2009-06-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a blog for the Society of Blessed John XXIII

Providing a place for Liberal/Progressive Roman Catholics to pursue reform of the Roman Catholic Church in the spirit of joy and openness that characterized Blessed John's vision in calling the Second Vatican Council.

Much Love...

Michael Iott
Society of Blessed John XXIII