Quote of the Day

“Holding everyone and everything together in unity is another way of saying 'Catholic.' Unity with God is sanctity. Unity with believers in Christ is called ecclesial communion, church. Unity among bishops is called collegiality. Unity between husband and wife for the sake of their children is called family. Unity with fellow citizens who love a common homeland is called patriotism. Unity with those with whom we share similar values is called fraternity, friendship.

A Catholic way of life is unified as a way of life when it is based on assent to revealed truth and on obedience to appointed pastors, both of which together create the unity of faith and of community that Jesus himself wishes us to enjoy.

The Church’s unity today is severely strained, as we all know, and alternative Catholicisms are claiming authenticity, even sometimes against the Holy Father and bishops. Even Bishops and priests have sometimes been less than worthy of their calling, and lay groups have sometimes come together to create a Church in their image and likeness rather than Christ’s. Political interference in many countries, including our own, and the hostility of some in the media and entertainment industries, the self-righteousness of some on both the right and the left, various pressure groups with their own agendas, have created a situation full of danger for the Church’s unity, a situation the bishops now want to explicitly address in this country.

How to stitch up the Church where her unity is torn, how to use the authority given by Christ to the apostles without wounding the faithful who are already hurting is a project that begins with the bishops’ own submission to Christ and our own self-examination in the light of God’s word that lasts forever.”

--Cardinal Francis George OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Address at the Knights of Columbus' States Dinner
Phoenix, 4 August 2009

...and now, by the looks of it, the "project" is off and running.

Pan-flash... or Pendulum-shift? Only time will tell.

As always, stay tuned.

PHOTO: Nancy Wiechec/CNS

-30-