My comment on this post is a response to the bishop's letter at the end of the article:
My response to the Bishop's letter:
Dear Bishop,
"Bishops can and must, however, be faithful to their apostolic duty to preserve the unity of the Church in the service of the Truth."
Truth cannot and IS NOT served by preserving unity in areas where unity does not exist!
Dissent by its very definition means it is NOT in union with Church Teaching
Where there is dissent within the Church on Church Teaching and Doctrine, there is no unity to preserve. Or do you mean to preserve the 'appearance of unity'?
" I requested, as his Diocesan Ordinary, that Deacon Nick ‘PAUSE ALL POSTING on the Protect the Pope website so as to allow for a period of prayer and reflection upon his position as an ordained cleric with regards to Protect the Pope and his own duties towards unity, truth and charity."
Though you say that you did NOT close the blog down, telling someone to 'Pause' All Posting IS effectively closing the blog down , at least temporarily. But , I think that he thought that you meant for him not to post. It is only right for someone who has a popular blog to give an explanation if he is going to suddenly be absent. A truthful person will give a truthful explanation.
"I requested, as his Diocesan Ordinary, that Deacon Nick ‘pause’ all posting on the Protect the Pope website so as to allow for a period of prayer and reflection upon his position as an ordained cleric with regards to Protect the Pope and his own duties towards unity, truth and charity."
What does that mean? Did you give him specifics of what you were talking about because he has always been truthful and more charitable and fair that many, many faithful Catholics when confronted with dissent, especially by those in natural positions of authority where the laity is concerned by virtue of ordination!
"we must ‘always respond in charity and love’."
WITH TRUTH- We mush always respond WITH TRUTH in charity and love. Let's not leave out that part! BTW, charity IS love!
"I did not accept this request as the period of discernment had not yet concluded."
Oh! Did you have a time frame set? or was it open ended for you to decide at a later date? How was Nick to know whether or when it was concluded?
You see, dear bishop, It seems that you think he has been guilty of doing the things that you told him to be reflecting and praying about .But in this letter at least, you have only mentioned general ideas that I have not seen him be guilty of. Did you point out the specific instances to him where he fell short in these areas. Did you explain exactly what you had a problem with? I have no idea what you are talking about and I would not be so sure that he would know what you take exception to , either.
One last thing, dear Bishop. We want to use the media to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to spread the good news BUT we also use the media to DEFEND ThE FAITH. Is the problem how Nick goes about defending the faith?
'Opposing views' as you put it is fine in matters of opinion or prudential judgement. But , by definition, opposing views in matters of Church Doctrine is rejecting a part of the deposit of faith , Regardless of who has these opposing views, they must be defended against and countered with TRUTH. Charity and love must always be in the service of TRUTH! or it is nottrue charity and love...
If someone in authority is teaching or supporting dissent,Isn't that leading people astray? And isn't the right thing to do to point it out and tell what the true teaching of the Church is ? Or should we say nothing and just let people be led astray ?
====================================================================
Popular blog to close down after clash with bishop
By Madeleine Teahan on Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Deacon Nick's blog will end on Sunday
The blog Protect the Pope, written by Deacon Nick Donnelly, will close on Sunday May 4.
Deacon Donnelly announced that he would take an indefinite break from blogging in March, after his local bishop, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster, “requested that he undergo a period of ‘prayer and reflection”.
Deacon Donnelly’s wife, Martina, has run the website since but on Tuesday Deacon Donnelly announced the closure.
He said: “I am sad and disappointed that Bishop Campbell will not give his permission for me to return to running and posting on Protect the Pope.”
He continued: “On Protect the Pope I have only ever defended the Faith of the Church from dissent and disobedience.
“Though I do not understand the grounds on which Bishop Campbell has made his decision about Protect the Pope I will obey because I take seriously the promise I made when I was ordained. If I didn’t obey him I’d be no different from the dissenters who rebel against the doctrines of the Church and disobey her discipline.
“Therefore, Protect the Pope will cease to operate as a Catholic news service on Sunday May 4. I would like to thank members of the Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma for their support.
“Finally, I continue to encourage all faithful and loyal Catholics to take up the responsibility given us by Our Lord to safeguard, defend and teach the divine doctrines of the Church. Maybe some of you will even consider setting up your own versions of ‘Protect the Pope’. I’d be happy to give you advice about how to go about this.”
In a statement issued on May 2, Bishop Campbell insisted he did not close the blog.
He said: “Back in 2010 Deacon Nick Donnelly set up the Protect the Pope website/blog, as a direct response to the campaign of hostility and ridicule from sections of the media and lobby groups against Pope (Emeritus) Benedict XVI’s historic visit to the UK in September of that year.
“Protect the Pope was particularly successful at this time in articulating a strong defence of the Petrine Office, the Catholic Church, and its teachings against certain secularist and anti-Catholic activists. In the last couple of years, however, Protect the Pope appears to have shifted its objective from a defence of Church teaching from those outside the Church to alleged internal dissent within the Church. With this shift, Protect the Pope has come to see itself as a ‘doctrinal watchdog’ over the writings and sayings of individuals, that is, of bishops, clergy and theologians in England and Wales and throughout the Catholic world.
“Protect the Pope makes it clear that the site is a private initiative and is in no way officially affiliated with the Diocese of Lancaster. The fact, however, that its creator and author is a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Lancaster and holding some responsibility here fosters in the minds of some people that Deacon Nick Donnelly is somehow reporting the views of the diocese.
“It is my view that bishops, priests and deacons of the Church – ordained and ‘public’ persons – are free to express themselves and their personal views, but never in a way that divides the community of the Church, ie through ad hominem and personal challenges.
“Increasingly I have felt that Protect the Pope, authored as it is by a public person holding ecclesiastical office (an ordained deacon), has, at times, taken this approach its own posts – but has also allowed for this by facilitating those who comment online.
“I note that Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, speaking at a media conference in Rome on April 29, said: ‘We adhere to the best and highest standards’, indicating that
this doesn’t only pertain to the latest in technological advancements, which are ‘critically important’, but also to ‘the way we use that technology’, because ‘how we say
something is just as important as what we say’.
“Cardinal Dolan also noted the importance of never caricaturing or stereotyping those who oppose the Magisterium. He exhorted that even when confronted with those who
attempt to distort what the Church says, or who issue ‘mean, vicious, and outward attacks’, we must ‘always respond in charity and love’.
“On several occasions, I asked Deacon Nick, through my staff, for Protect the Pope to continue its good work in promoting and teaching the Catholic Faith, but to be careful not to take on individuals in the Church of opposing views through ad hominem and personal challenges. Unfortunately, this was not taken on board.
“Consequently, as a last resort, on March 3 and in a personal meeting with Deacon Nick Donnelly, I requested, as his Diocesan Ordinary, that Deacon Nick ‘pause’ all posting on the Protect the Pope website so as to allow for a period of prayer and reflection upon his position as an ordained cleric with regards to Protect the Pope and his own duties towards unity, truth and charity.
“The fact that this decision and our personal dialogue was made public on the Protect the Pope site and then misinterpreted by third parties is a matter of great regret. In fact, new posts continued on the site after this date – the site being handed over and administered/moderated in this period by Deacon Nick’s wife, Martina.
“On April 13 Deacon Nick requested in writing that he be allowed to resume posting again from the date: Monday April 21. I did not accept this request as the period of discernment had not yet concluded.
“Again, the fact that this decision was forced, misinterpreted and then released publicly on the site – and miscommunicated by certain media outlets and blogs – claiming that I had effectively ‘closed’, ‘supressed’ or ‘gagged’ Protect the Pope was regrettable and does not represent the truth of this situation. To be clear: I have not closed down Protect the Pope.
“I am certainly aware of the need of the Church and the Diocese of Lancaster to engage positively with the new media, social media, blogs, and the internet for the sake of spreading the Gospel to the people of our age. Indeed, our Diocese has a good track record of such engagement in reaching out to a much wider audience through our active use of the new communication technologies. I have a weekly blog myself.
“I am, of course, also conscious, that no bishop can ever ‘close down’ or supress blogs and websites – such a claim would be absurd. Bishops can and must, however, be faithful to their apostolic duty to preserve the unity of the Church in the service of the Truth. They must ensure that ordained clergy under their care serve that unity in close communion with them and through the gift of their public office: preaching the Truth always – but always in love.”
Deacon Donnelly announced that he would take an indefinite break from blogging in March, after his local bishop, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster, “requested that he undergo a period of ‘prayer and reflection”.
Deacon Donnelly’s wife, Martina, has run the website since but on Tuesday Deacon Donnelly announced the closure.
He said: “I am sad and disappointed that Bishop Campbell will not give his permission for me to return to running and posting on Protect the Pope.”
He continued: “On Protect the Pope I have only ever defended the Faith of the Church from dissent and disobedience.
“Though I do not understand the grounds on which Bishop Campbell has made his decision about Protect the Pope I will obey because I take seriously the promise I made when I was ordained. If I didn’t obey him I’d be no different from the dissenters who rebel against the doctrines of the Church and disobey her discipline.
“Therefore, Protect the Pope will cease to operate as a Catholic news service on Sunday May 4. I would like to thank members of the Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma for their support.
“Finally, I continue to encourage all faithful and loyal Catholics to take up the responsibility given us by Our Lord to safeguard, defend and teach the divine doctrines of the Church. Maybe some of you will even consider setting up your own versions of ‘Protect the Pope’. I’d be happy to give you advice about how to go about this.”
In a statement issued on May 2, Bishop Campbell insisted he did not close the blog.
He said: “Back in 2010 Deacon Nick Donnelly set up the Protect the Pope website/blog, as a direct response to the campaign of hostility and ridicule from sections of the media and lobby groups against Pope (Emeritus) Benedict XVI’s historic visit to the UK in September of that year.
“Protect the Pope was particularly successful at this time in articulating a strong defence of the Petrine Office, the Catholic Church, and its teachings against certain secularist and anti-Catholic activists. In the last couple of years, however, Protect the Pope appears to have shifted its objective from a defence of Church teaching from those outside the Church to alleged internal dissent within the Church. With this shift, Protect the Pope has come to see itself as a ‘doctrinal watchdog’ over the writings and sayings of individuals, that is, of bishops, clergy and theologians in England and Wales and throughout the Catholic world.
“Protect the Pope makes it clear that the site is a private initiative and is in no way officially affiliated with the Diocese of Lancaster. The fact, however, that its creator and author is a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Lancaster and holding some responsibility here fosters in the minds of some people that Deacon Nick Donnelly is somehow reporting the views of the diocese.
“It is my view that bishops, priests and deacons of the Church – ordained and ‘public’ persons – are free to express themselves and their personal views, but never in a way that divides the community of the Church, ie through ad hominem and personal challenges.
“Increasingly I have felt that Protect the Pope, authored as it is by a public person holding ecclesiastical office (an ordained deacon), has, at times, taken this approach its own posts – but has also allowed for this by facilitating those who comment online.
“I note that Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, speaking at a media conference in Rome on April 29, said: ‘We adhere to the best and highest standards’, indicating that
this doesn’t only pertain to the latest in technological advancements, which are ‘critically important’, but also to ‘the way we use that technology’, because ‘how we say
something is just as important as what we say’.
“Cardinal Dolan also noted the importance of never caricaturing or stereotyping those who oppose the Magisterium. He exhorted that even when confronted with those who
attempt to distort what the Church says, or who issue ‘mean, vicious, and outward attacks’, we must ‘always respond in charity and love’.
“On several occasions, I asked Deacon Nick, through my staff, for Protect the Pope to continue its good work in promoting and teaching the Catholic Faith, but to be careful not to take on individuals in the Church of opposing views through ad hominem and personal challenges. Unfortunately, this was not taken on board.
“Consequently, as a last resort, on March 3 and in a personal meeting with Deacon Nick Donnelly, I requested, as his Diocesan Ordinary, that Deacon Nick ‘pause’ all posting on the Protect the Pope website so as to allow for a period of prayer and reflection upon his position as an ordained cleric with regards to Protect the Pope and his own duties towards unity, truth and charity.
“The fact that this decision and our personal dialogue was made public on the Protect the Pope site and then misinterpreted by third parties is a matter of great regret. In fact, new posts continued on the site after this date – the site being handed over and administered/moderated in this period by Deacon Nick’s wife, Martina.
“On April 13 Deacon Nick requested in writing that he be allowed to resume posting again from the date: Monday April 21. I did not accept this request as the period of discernment had not yet concluded.
“Again, the fact that this decision was forced, misinterpreted and then released publicly on the site – and miscommunicated by certain media outlets and blogs – claiming that I had effectively ‘closed’, ‘supressed’ or ‘gagged’ Protect the Pope was regrettable and does not represent the truth of this situation. To be clear: I have not closed down Protect the Pope.
“I am certainly aware of the need of the Church and the Diocese of Lancaster to engage positively with the new media, social media, blogs, and the internet for the sake of spreading the Gospel to the people of our age. Indeed, our Diocese has a good track record of such engagement in reaching out to a much wider audience through our active use of the new communication technologies. I have a weekly blog myself.
“I am, of course, also conscious, that no bishop can ever ‘close down’ or supress blogs and websites – such a claim would be absurd. Bishops can and must, however, be faithful to their apostolic duty to preserve the unity of the Church in the service of the Truth. They must ensure that ordained clergy under their care serve that unity in close communion with them and through the gift of their public office: preaching the Truth always – but always in love.”
No comments:
Post a Comment