Just shut up.
All the Catholic news organizations and bloggers who are flipping their wigs over the upcoming synod need to just shut the hell up.
Who honestly cares what the synod says?
What possible difference can it make?
Either it will affirm Catholic teaching, in which case there is no news, or it will not affirm Catholic teaching, in which case the Pope will politely reject it or die trying.
Either way, it makes absolutely no difference to the Faith.
This whole synod "controversy" is just clickbait for Catholic news organizations and apologists trying to turn a buck.
Look, I understand how it happened. The last guy I know who actually read a diocesan newspaper just died and got buried this summer. Literally. Nice guy, I liked him a lot, but that's the readership age of diocesan newspaper subscribers, which is why pretty much all of them have stopped printing paper editions. Diocesan newspapers - the only source of Catholic news for generations - were nothing but feel-good organs created by the bishop that never reported on anything the bishop didn't want made public.
As electronic media took over, the diocesan paper died. But Catholic electronic media, the legions of amateur bloggers and journalists fresh out from under the wings of the bishops, soon discovered what secular media knew all along - "if it bleeds, it leads." They had to report controversy to keep the clicks and the revenues coming in. If there wasn't controversy, they had to invent it.
EWTN bought National Catholic Register just as the latter was going bankrupt. EWTN's viewership is well over 60. 10-15% of it's audience dies each year. EWTN needs new viewers, so Raymond Arroyo and company have finally become full-blown secular media whores pretending to be Catholic news reporters.
It is in NO ONE's interest for you to be confident in the synod and unconcerned about it's outcome. Indeed, it is in NO ONE's interest for you to be confident of the Church. Nobody clicks to find out more about a story when they know the ending. They only click when they are AFRAID.
Crisis rules the day. And if crisis does not exist, it MUST be manufactured.
So, Catholic media makes you afraid. The heretics make their heretic readers worry that the Pope won't be heretical, the "orthodox" make their "orthodox" readers worry that the Pope will be a heretic. And why do I put "orthodox" in quotes while I don't put "heretic" in quotes? Because the "orthodox" Catholics are stupid enough to actually buy this bilge.
Dude, this is a Church synod in a highly-communicative age. (1) Do you actually think a synod could or would try to fundamentally change Church doctrine?
Seriously?
And even if it did, (2) do you think an infallible Pope is going to sign off on the resulting assumptive heresies and try to make the changes legitimate?
SERIOUSLY?!?!???
Look, if you bought into EITHER of those propositions, you aren't orthodox, you're just stupid. I'm sorry to have to be blunt, but this doesn't even rise to the level of ignorance. Ignorance we can attribute to well-meaning pagans, but people who claim to be orthodox and still hold either of these positions? Yeah, that's stupid.
Despite what EWTN and other Catholic bloggers may be claiming, Christ didn't counsel us to "BE AFRAID! Be VERY Afraid!"
So just stop it.
Stop clicking on these stupid pundit whores who are writing click-bait controversies to generate ad revenue for their "irreplaceable" Catholic website and punditry. For the love of Christ, have a little Faith and stop acting like superstitious old women. Most of the "crisis" of the modern Church are manufactured by Catholics trying to sell their wares. Tell Raymond Arroyo and company to get behind thee. You don't have time for this nonsense. No one does.
UPDATE:
LifeSiteNews now admits that the Catholic press essentially fabricated the entire synod controversy.
Color me shocked.
What emerges from the summaries is a clear picture that most of the Synod Fathers were alarmed and perturbed at the publication of the mid-term report, which most had not seen prior to its being released to the press.
As South Africa Cardinal Wilfred Fox Napier told Vatican radio today, the mid-term report was “not to the liking of many Synod Fathers who were objecting that what was said by one or two people was largely presented (and was certainly being taken up by the media) as if it was the considered opinion of the whole synod.” (emphasis added)The fix is in. Catholics are being talked into acting like Protestants towards the Church by the very Catholic media that is supposed to be supporting and restoring their Faith. The document the synod produced wasn't the problem - the secular news media has neither the interest nor the staff to pay attention to the synod. When it comes to this synod, secular media has simply been reporting on what the Catholic media has trumpeted. Secular news stories on this synod are always hours/days after Catholic media reports and those stories always mimic Catholic media story structures. They're using Catholic media as their stringers. So when the synod's orthodox Catholic bishops decry the distortions introduced by "the press", those bishops are talking about "the (Catholic) press".
The Catholic media is dividing the Church, just as I foresaw eight years ago.
A short list of crypto-Protestant blogs and news sites:
- Rorate Caeli,
- Pewsitter,
- WDTPRS,
- EWTN,
- The Catholic Thing,
- A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics,
- Voice of the Family,
- Insight Scoop
- Church Militant with Michael Voris
- etc.
In short, every Catholic blog/website that traditionalists and their co-travellers consider "Scriptural" has turned out to be filled with whores and thieves, people willing to distort a synod of the Church just to get a few extra clicks in their pockets.
This isn't my opinion: this is what the orthodox bishops of the synod themselves tell us (see above). The Catholic press deliberately blew this teapot into a tempest to line their own pockets. Only Lifesitenews, to their credit, bothered to tell us the bishops' opinion on this, and you'll notice that they buried the lede.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting words to something I've felt as well but coulden't put my finger on. I agree that it’s time for a moratorium on crisis-mode Catholicism. Just don’t click!
ReplyDeleteSt. Francis de Sales once said, "Every morning, before doing anything else, you must beg God to give you gentleness of spirit, and resolve for your part to exercise it particularly toward those persons to whom you owe the most." It is apparent that you failed to do that before writing this and quite a few of your recent posts here.
ReplyDeleteAh, what's wrong, Jordanes551? Is a Rorate Caeli contributor feeling put upon by being called out?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've made similar comments to Fr. Z, Rorate Caeli, A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics, EWTN and all the Catholic news outlets that are milking the synod for all the clicks they can, all of those news outlets sowing division all the while? Right?
Why, of course you have!
The analysis is spot-on and we both know it. The synod isn't going to be confirmed by the Pope unless it's orthodox. All those news outlets are deliberately creating a tempest in a teapot so as to raise revenue and readership.
Do you really think St. Francis de Sales would approve of the tactics? Seriously?
@Jordanes551
ReplyDeleteFrom reading his blog it seems Steve is a jerk to people & he probably shouldn't be & that is your point.
Of course I myself have no right to condemn him for that, since my reputation precedes me. ;-)
I am always angry and I am always a jerk.
It is my weakness one of many....
Might I suggest to you he has a point?
The Reactionaries and the Francis bashing crowd clearly haven't gotten the St. Francis de Sales' memo.
In fact they are IMHO objectively worst then they where during St John Paul II's day & they where pretty bad back then.
The hysteria over this synod among so called "conservatives, Traditionalist and orthodox" is out of control.
My one solace is some of the liberals are panicking that the Synod will not be the Catholic version of the Lambeth Conference circa 1930.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/12/the-vatican-s-same-sex-synod-the-bishops-hear-about-reality-do-they-listen.html
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/10/03/Signs-Emerge-that-Liberals-Love-of-Pope-Francis-Is-Flagging
So I am kind of with Steve on this.
However not to appear a brown nose I here and now repeat to you what I said over at Philip Blosser's blog.
I was rooting for you when you disagreed with Steve in the comments box on that entry last year regarding Messianic Jews and dietary law.
Steve pretty much got most or all of that wrong.
But oh well......;-)
PS Jordanes551 maintain that gentleness of spirit and don't be like me.
PSS Hello Steve I am Yachov Ben Yachov good to meet ya.
See, this is why I never delete comments. A good conversation, even if Yachov is wrong on the whole Messianic Jew thing. :)
ReplyDelete>See, this is why I never delete comments. A good conversation, even if Yachov is wrong on the whole Messianic Jew thing. :)
ReplyDeleteI will deal with you in time. Indeed I look forward to it.:-)
additional:
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify I hope that didn't sound omninous it was more of a friendly challenge.
As I posted a while ago on my facebook page - to all the fringes of left and right: In summation - would every one please (!!!) just tighten their sphincters and CALM DOWN. please...
ReplyDeleteAll this hand waving is tiresome.
Preach it, Father!
ReplyDeleteAs for Yachov, ve haf vays of makink you agree vith us...
"Is a Rorate Caeli contributor feeling put upon by being called out?"
ReplyDeleteNo. Just sincerely, deeply sorrowful for you, my brother.
God bless you, Yachov, and you, Steve.
ReplyDelete>As for Yachov, ve haf vays of makink you agree vith us...
ReplyDeleteUnless they involve facts and reason & you prove an equal to my practical and personal knowledge of Messianic Judaism(& the corresponding Hebrew Catholic Movement) good luck with that my brother.:-)
B'Shem HaAv v' Haben v' HaRuachHaKodesh, Elohim Echad!
Melka Miriam HaKodessah pray for us.
Love the update.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!!!
(I'm still going to tell you what you got wrong on that Messianic Jewish post when I get around to it but now I feel bad about it).
Cheers.
PS check out Pope Francis speech at the end of the Synod.