Father Longenecker Dismantles the Jesuit, James Martin

 Read it all.


Fr James Martin has taken to Twitter again to whine and distort the truth in his usual subtle way. This time he is lamenting the request made by Fr Scott Nolan in Grand Rapids that Judge Smolenski refrain from presenting herself for communion.

Below are Fr Martin’s tweets with my replies.

James Martin: As with all these sad cases, the question is: Why are only married LGBT people being singled out? Is Communion denied to all parishioners who are not following church teachings? That is, married couples using birth control or IVF? Or young people engaging in pre-marital sex?

DL: LGBT people are not being “singled out” for not following church teachings.  Ms Smolenski was not denied communion because she is a lesbian. She is not even being denied communion for being in a lesbian relationship. She is being denied communion because she “married” another woman. This is not simply a matter of “not following church teachings.” By attempting a marriage with a woman Ms Smolenski publicly, formally and irremediably denied the Catholic teaching about marriage.

Marriage is a Catholic sacrament. It is one of the means of grace. For it to be a valid sacrament it requires proper form, minister and matter. The proper matter is the conjugal act. The proper ministers are the man and woman marrying one another. Therefore to attempt a same sex marriage is not simply “not following church teachings” it is rejecting church teachings and doing so formally and publicly. When a Catholic attempts a same sex marriage they are rejecting the Catholic teaching about the sacraments.

That Fr Martin does not admit this or teach this indicates either that he is very poorly educated (but he is a Jesuit so that can’t be the case) or he is deliberately misleading God’s people.
Attempting to marry a person of the same sex is not at the same level of commitment as a couple using birth control or IVF or someone committing fornication. All these sins are private sins and can be repented of. In a same sex marriage the person is not just “not following church teaching.” They are rejecting church teaching.  They are saying by their words and actions, “Gay sex is not a sin. It is something to be celebrated. It is something God blesses. The Catholic Church is wrong and I am publicly, formally declaring that I reject the Catholic Church’s teaching.”
In other words it is not breaking the rules it is rejecting the rules and in rejecting the rules rejecting the authority that sets those rules.

This distinction is something any eighth grade confirmation student could understand.

The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 80... Another James Martin Edition

James Martin, SJ‏Verified account @JamesMartinSJ

 

 Denying Communion to politicians, Democrat or Republican, is a bad idea. If you deny the sacrament to those who support abortion, then you must also deny it to those who support the death penalty. How about those who don't help the poor? How about "Laudato Si"? Where does it end?

Besides, a priest has no idea what the state of a person's soul is when the person presents himself or herself in the Communion line. As we were taught in theology studies, the person may have repented of any sins and gone to confession immediately before Mass. You have no idea.

Over to you, Father Z.


Leaving aside the dopey string of moral equivalences the Jesuit draws in the first part, and focusing on the second part, we have to conclude that either a) his formation was so bad that he doesn’t understand the simplest distinctions to be made about this Communion scenario, or b) he is purposely trying to deceive people.

I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I’ll go with option a).   Therefore, let’s explain the situation to him in basic terms.

Denial of Communion to a person under can. 915 is NOT based on a Communion minister’s estimation of the state of a person’s soul!

As I wrote to a commentator here the other day, a priest cannot know with certainty the state of the soul of another.  I suppose one might make a really good guess if the person is in the act of committing a grave sin while he is standing there waiting for Communion. Even then it might be hard to say what the person’s state is.

However,…

… can. 915 does not pertain to the state of soul of the person.

Can. 915 has to do with what is manifest and it has to do with scandal.

If a person has manifestly been committing grave sins, obstinately, in public (such as a politician who actively promotes abortion even though he has been instructed not to) then there is an open, public, manifest problem that must be openly and manifestly corrected before he can receive Communion.  He publicly committed scandal and that scandal must be redressed.

A priest doesn’t have to know the state of soul of the public person in front of him. If he knows that that public person, well known, has been doing very bad things without any move to correct the harm he caused, the priest, by can. 915, must deny him Communion.

On the other hand, there is can. 916 which pertains not to the priest but to the communicant.
Any person who knows himself to be in the state of sin is admonished by the Church not to present himself for Communion in the first place.

In short, can. 915 pertains to the minister of Communion and can. 916 pertains to the communicant. The priest judges open, public actions people know about at the time of Communion. The communicant judges his own state of soul, which is invisible to others.
The keys to reading the canon are the elements of obstinacy, perseverance, manifest character, gravity, and sinfulness.  Biden checked all those boxes.

I hope that clears it up for the Jesuit.

The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 79

Vatican City, Sep 30, 2019 / 09:20 am (CNA).- Pope Francis met Monday with Fr. James Martin, SJ, in a private audience in the apostolic palace inside the Vatican.

Meeting Called!

 
Martin said on Twitter Sept. 30, that his meeting with Pope Francis lasted 30 minutes, and that he shared with him “the joys and hopes, and the griefs and anxieties, of LGBT Catholics and LGBT people worldwide.”


Martin is the author of “Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity,” and speaks frequently on issues pertaining to homosexuality and Catholicism.

Earlier this month, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia urged caution about Martin’s message after the priest spoke at a Philadelphia university.

“Father Martin has sought in a dedicated way to accompany and support people with same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria. Many of his efforts have been laudable, and we need to join him in stressing the dignity of persons in such situations,” Archbishop Charles Chaput wrote in a Sept. 19 column published on his archdiocesan website.

“At the same time, a pattern of ambiguity in his teachings tends to undermine his stated aims, alienating people from the very support they need for authentic human flourishing. Due to the confusion caused by his statements and activities regarding same-sex related (LGBT) issues, I find it necessary to emphasize that Father Martin does not speak with authority on behalf of the Church, and to caution the faithful about some of his claims,” Chaput added.

One More Thing About Those Covington Boys...SPOILER ALERT

 The spoiler is that James Martin is mentioned so you know it will be stupid...

What about your school and your Church, charged with protecting your wellbeing and your souls, respectively? Rather than wait for the facts, school and diocese quickly issued a joint statement denouncing you in the strongest terms. So did the March for Life, though they later re-assessed.
A number of prominent Catholics brought their own pitchforks to the scene. Mollie O’Reilly, a Commonweal editor, tweeted: “You don’t let your kid wear a MAGA hat, and then act offended when they get taken for a racist.” Celebrity Jesuit Fr James Martin said he was “disgusted” and even questioned your integrity as Catholics: “These actions are not Catholic… Would that these students fully understood the dignity of all human life.” Fr Martin later apologised, though retractions and apologies rarely garner as much attention as the original fulminations.

The Trouble With Jesuits (and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), Part 72

On Christmas Day, Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) repeated the old liberal canard that because Jesus was a refugee, attempts to secure the U.S. border and limit illegal immigration are anti-Christmas. While Jesus was a refugee, Christmas has nothing to do with immigration policy. Furthermore, the very baby-killing event Jesus was fleeing has a tragic echo in abortion clinics today.

"Joy to the World! Merry Christmas everyone - here’s to a holiday filled with happiness, family, and love for all people (Including refugee babies in mangers + their parents.)," socialist darling Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

 The self-declared democratic socialist went on to share an article from Jesuit activist Fr. James Martin arguing that Jesus was indeed a refugee. She claimed this argument was "for all the anti-immigrant pundits uncomfortable with and denying that Christ’s family were refugees, too."

Whitey Bulger and the Catholic Church

 Whitey Bulger was given a Catholic funeral in the Diocese of Boston recently.

Whitey, a notorious gangster, was murdered in prison recently.
 
 From Wikipedia:

Bulger's trial began on June 12, 2013. He was tried on 32 counts of racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and weapons charges, including complicity in 19 murders. On August 12, Bulger was found guilty on 31 counts, including both racketeering charges, and was found to have been involved in 11 murders. On November 14, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus five years for his crimes by U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper. Bulger was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida.

Why? Canon Law says:


1983 CIC 1184. § 1. Unless they gave some signs of repentance before death, the following must be deprived of ecclesiastical funerals: 1º notorious apostates, heretics, and schismatics; 2º those who chose the cremation of their bodies for reasons contrary to Christian faith; 3º other manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the faithful. § 2. If any doubt occurs, the local ordinary is to be consulted, and his judgment must be followed.

 If Pope Francis wants to change the canon law forbidding ecclesiastical funeral rites for “manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without scandal” (1983 CIC 1184 § 1 n. 1) he can do so. Till then Church law forbidding such funerals, a law that dates back many centuries, remains in effect, and its apparent gross violation last week by clergy of the Archdiocese of Boston, who (seemingly with approval from the chancery), granted notorious mob murderer James “Whitey” Bulger a Catholic funeral Mass, hardly justifies granting Church funerals to other “manifest sinners” who do not give “some signs of repentance before death”—which no one claims Bulger gave—not that that fact gave James Martin, sj, any pause before tweeting Bulger’s funeral as preemptive justification for Church funerals for “LGBT person[s even though] they are married”.

The Ohio Paprocki

Father Z passes this along:

 The Archbishop. sent out a note distancing the Church from an upcoming homosexualist event featuring homosexualist activists Jesuit James Martin, Sr. Jeannine Gramick (silenced by the Holy See and by her own congregation) and Jamie Manson (open lesbian writer for the Fishwrap with a coveted MDiv, tutored by the dreadful Margaret Farley).

March 9, 2018

Dear Fathers and Deacons,

You may hear from some parishioners about an upcoming event at the University of Cincinnati subtitled, “A Dialogue on Faith, Catholicism, and the LGBTQ Community.” To be very clear, despite its billing, the event is in no way sponsored by, sanctioned by, or associated with the Catholic Church. In fact, one of the scheduled speakers has been ordered to not speak on behalf of the Catholic Church in the United States due to the grave error of her teaching..The Code of Canon Law (Can. 216) states in part that “no undertaking shall assume the name Catholic unless the consent of the competent ecclesiastical authority is given.” My permission was not sought in this case, nor would it have been given.

If you receive any media inquiries regarding this event, please direct them without comment to our Communications Department: […]
Fraternally in Christ,
Archbishop Schnurr

Find the Catholic:

Martin

Pope B-16 and Bishop Schnurr

The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 67

That's right, YOGA. In the SANCTUARY of a Catholic Church (St. Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan) And promoted by the insufferable James Martin, SJ.