At least, that is what is printed in yesterday's LaCrosse Tribune article which quoted the eminent Dan Maguire, professor of moral theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
The illustrious professor goes on to say:
"He won't succeed. He's clearly an extremist."
And then proceeds with this insight: "You can gauge that by how many bishops follow him."
And yet there is still more: "It's perfectly legitimate to speak, but to use bully tactics by denying sacraments is a form of dictatorship."
And finally, Maguire said Burke is embarking on a dangerous revival of medieval thinking that church hierarchy should control both the church and state.
I would suggest that Mr. Maguire stick to moral theology since his understanding of a bishop's primarty duty is flawed, but then again I'm afraid that that might be questionable as well. I suppose I should make that suggestion only if he has requested and received a mandatum to teach theology. If not, may we safely assume that he is hesitant to teach what the Church teaches in this regard?
The LaCrosse Tribune should be ashamed that it appears to seek opinions from frustrated theologians whose time has come and gone. Many of us would like to hear from the "faithful" in Bishop Burke's diocese rather than from malcontents like Maguire. But such is the way of much of the media today, and to them we must not look, especially if we want facts and truth.
And then we have Ron Modras, who is a professor of theological studies at Saint Louis University. He says area Catholics should not prejudge Burke. But the next sentence seems to contradict his advice of not judging...unless he does not include himself in that admonition.
"That said, he comes with a reputation of not being middle of the road or concerned about unity and bridge building," Modras said. "He's identified with the radical right of the Catholic Church, not going with the rest of the bishops."
Bishop Burke is WHAT...radical right? What is the propensity for casting the Church as a political organization of left, right, and middle? How about orthodox & heterodox - faithful & unfaithful?
He (Modras) just hopes that doesn't alienate some Catholics.
Modras said sometimes bishops look the other way for the sake of the greater good.
Oh, and what is the greater good, pray tell - that scandal is allowed to infect the entire Church?
"We have a very divided church," he said. "Are we going to drive people out and make it more polarized?"
Dissenters have had so much time to poison the Church, yet they forget Christ's words that He will protect it always. The Church is divided precisely because these dissenters do not have the courage to leave and because far too many priests and bishops do nothing except confirm people in their sins.
We in St. Louis may once again breathe the wonderful air of orthodoxy and truth now that we have an Archbishop who is NOT afraid to stand up to evil.
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