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The following exchange occurred after Catholic Exchange editor and president Tom Allen posted a note in What’s New entitled “Mormonism Presented as Christian Religion on NBC's Olympics.”
Dear Tom Allen:
You have taken this site to a place I had hoped to see it never go. That is to in simple words bashing another religion (Mormons). I happen to be a lifelong Catholic living in Arizona where many Mormons live including my wife. Yes I am married to a Mormon and have been for 21 years now. Something my wife has believed and I have always told here, we (Catholics) are a tolerant people who do not go out and bash or try to discredit someone else's faith or believe system. I feel you should go back and see what our Holy Father has to say on this topic (your behavior is not very Catholic).
I feel you owe the readers of this site an apology and to make sure all the readers of this site understand the Church does not support your personal views. I will be bring this subject to the attention of our parish, and will make sure next week during my RCIA class talk, that the Church does not support these types of views.
If you refuse to issue a public apology on your web site this will not stop with my letter, I will make a point of getting our local Bishop involved in this matter which I really don't think you want to happen.
Christopher S. Carney
Dear Mr. Carney:
I must take issue with your characterization of the information I provided our users at the conclusion of the Olympic Games as having “bashed” Mormons. It did nothing of the sort. The resources I provided simply established the fact that the LDS church is not a Christian church. This is not my “personal view”; it is the view of the Catholic Church. Clearly this is a hot button issue for you which is clouding your judgment.
To be Christian it is necessary to be Trinitarian. Mormonism is, in its doctrinal statements, not Trinitarian but tritheistic (worshipping three gods). While there had been a certain amount of ambiguity in the Church's understanding of the validity of Mormon baptism in the past, the fact is that Mormon baptism was recently removed from the Catholic Church's “approved baptism” list. Thus, should your wife wish to join the Catholic Church, she would have to be baptized into the faith, as her Mormon baptism is regarded by the Church as invalid.
Here are a few more resources which I would urge you to read:
http://www.petersnet.net/research/retrieve.cfm?RecNum=2972
http://www.petersnet.net/research/retrieve.cfm?RecNum=1330
In Christ,
Tom Allen
Editor
Catholic Exchange
Tom:
Once again you are speaking for the Church. It is not the official position of the Church, if you read the Bishops’ statement they only take issue with the matter of baptism. Our Church took a stand on a sacrament which we as Catholics have the right to do.
What we don't have a right to do, is judge another person’s or group’s belief system. A belief system and sacrament are two separate items. Our Church has made a judgment call on the sacrament of baptism only, and has never made a statement on a particular belief system. If you can show me a statement from an official of the Church saying any particular group is Christian or not Christian I would like to see it. My problem with your web posting had to do with shedding of a negative light on a group of people, and if you look at your references, that is what is happening. It is purely negative, and what is a hot button for me as you so well put it, is placing that negative light on a group of people. They could have been Muslim or Hindu, it would have made no difference.
The only reason it caught my eye so fast was the snipe this time was at the Mormons. I feel as Catholics we should be setting the example, not the ones casting the negative light. Living in the society we live in these days, we need all the allies we can get to fight the wrongs of the world. Being married to a Mormon I know for a fact they are a good people albeit a little misguided in my opinion, and I am sure you feel the same. But we don't want to lose them as allies in the areas we all battle daily in our religious lives, birth control, same sex marriage, abortion, homosexuality just to name a few. I did not need the added links you sent me either. I have read it all. Once again it was to cast that negative shadow.
My question to you is WHY? It could have been much more productive to list a few of the good things they do for their communities they live in or the positive influence they had on the Olympic games. Christ showed us the true spirit of love, not how to degrade what a person believes, yes it is them (Mormons) who believe they are Christians. Once again we need to remember they have the right to call themselves what they want. Yes I agree we have the right to reject any sacrament we deem as not fitting to our doctrinal standards, but we do not have the right to strip them of their beliefs. Nor is it right to cast a shadow on any group of people that don't meet our standards, we need to love them all, and pray one day they all return home to the Church. This applies to all others that are not in perfect union with the Church. We will win many more back with love than we will with negative action and thoughts.
Sincerely your brother in Christ.
Christopher S. Carney
Dear Christopher:
While I do not have a document that states that the Mormon church is not Christian, we do know that the Vatican has declared Mormon baptism invalid (see this CWN news article) and can therefore deduce that Mormons are not Christian from the fact that, to be a Christian, one must be baptized. You made the same type of deduction from my original posting, which did not explicitly state that Mormons were not Christian. So I know you will agree this is a valid deduction.
I am not judging Mormons, Christopher. The person doing the judging here is you by accusing me of “shedding a negative light” on Mormons, “degrading” what they believe, “stripping them of their beliefs,” “casting shadows,” etc. I did none of this. I was simply pointing out, for the sake of truth in advertising, the contrasts between the Mormon faith and Catholicism and offering a critique of their false claim from a Biblical perspective. It is our job as Catholic Christians to defend Christ's true Church, you realize. And when there are other groups trying to lure people out of our churches with false claims, we need to try to prevent that by fortifying our people with factual information.
I am well aware that Mormons are good people, by the way, and I have a number of Mormon friends. There is much about the way Mormons conduct themselves as individuals and as a faith group that we would be wise to imitate. And yes, they do have the right to call themselves what they want. But when they falsely claim to be Christian, even if it's out of ignorance, we have the responsibility as a faithful Catholic website to set the record straight.
Your Brother in Christ,
Tom Allen
Editor & President
Catholic Exchange
