More Conspin

Just when you thought it was safe, the people John Allen describes as the "self-appointed 'orthodoxy police'" are back on the beat, doing everything they exhort the unpure masses not to do -- i.e. exploiting the Holy See to fit their worldview, causing confusion and baptizing unjust characterizations in the name of power and paranoia.

In my (admittedly) beloved "News Bytes," CWNews is blaring the appointment of Fr. Neal Quartier as rector of the Cathedral of Syracuse. Quartier has attracted conrage over statements from 2002 which underscore the reality that homosexuality is not one and the same thing as pedophilia.

Rational people might find themselves scratching their heads, asking "And...?" And they're right. It's just that the cons have more hang-ups than Oprah Winfrey's closet.

But the best of this gripefest is the headline spin: "Syracuse bishop appoints as cathedral rector a critic of Navarro-Valls over gay seminarians."

First off, I have to ask: Since when did the cons rally around Navarro-Valls? Just a couple weeks ago, they were demonizing him for something so inane even I forget why. But now that he (unwillingly) plays into their fantasies of dominion, they're all friends again. How Christian.

But let's break this down and give some reality to it. Last time I checked, Joaquin Navarro-Valls (amazing though he is) is NOT the doctrinal authority of the Roman Catholic church. That post now belongs to one Archbishop William Levada, who the CWNews Tribunal and its allies are already on-record as deeming a heretic, repudiating B16 for giving him the post of Grand Inquisitor. Again, anyone who conflates Levada with Hans Kung is capable of delusions of the highest order.

As one Lawlerite -- who calls himself "Truth Over Sentiment" -- threatened,

"Watch for [Arinze] to be the next leader of the Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith after Archbishop Levada's background is exposed and he CHOOSES to retire."

This guy might just have to change his alias to "Sentiment Over Intelligence." But oh well.

So Quartier advanced that homosexuality and pedophilia are not inextricably linked. And -- GASP! -- this is precisely the same scientific evidence under which the Holy See is operating in its understanding of abuse cases. There was a whole conference on this in Rome in November, 2002. (Cons out of line with the Vatican? Never....)

The status quo in the church, at least at present, does not (and, editorially, should not) preclude the admission of celibate gay men to our seminaries. Don't jump to accusations -- this is the very same perspective of that raving progressive Justin Rigali, known to his faithful as "Pharaoh." You can find him on EWTN -- he does a show.

Bottom line: this is just another instance of conservative principles attempting to hijack Catholicism. Happens all the time. If you're not completely appalled, you haven't been paying attention.

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