Reprimanding & Reconciling



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Please note that all email submitted to Catholic Exchange or its authors (regarding articles published at CE) become the property of Catholic Exchange and may be published in this space. Published letters may be edited for length and clarity. Names and cities of letter writers may also be published. Email addresses of viewers will not normally be published.

The 'Joshua' Movie

Dear Catholic Exchange:

I was sorry to see the review [“Joshua Keeps on Preaching”] of the upcoming movie “Joshua.”

The review does not clearly warn Catholics that the book that the movie is based on strays from authentic Catholic teaching, as do much of Father Girzone's beliefs. He engages in warm, fuzzy, tolerant thought. At a time when Catholics need solid material so they can adequately defend their faith, alternatives should have been suggested. I certainly hope that seeing this piece on Catholic Exchange will not give the impression that the books are OK. As the owner of a Catholic Book Store that does not carry Fr. Girzone's writings I pray that I do not start getting requests for them.

I would also like to point out to the editor, that Terry Mattingly wrote a column in the Tacoma News Tribune (“Mothers are Changing the Face of Priesthood”, Saturday March 16, 2002 page B4) in which he gives much space and credibility to the book “The Changing Face of the Priesthood” by Donald Cozzens calling it an “influential” book.

Sincerely,

Becky Steffan

Aquinas Catholic Books

Dear Ms. Steffan:

Thanks for your feedback. The appearance of Professor Mattingly's article does not mean we endorse the “Joshua” novels' theology. Mr. Girzone is a dissenting ex-priest whose books we do not recommend. But this article is about the movie, not the books. The movie has been produced by a reputable production company (Crusader Entertainment) that has reportedly extracted the anti-Catholic elements from what is otherwise a fascinating modern-day story about Jesus' return. We feel the story is newsworthy as a Christian cultural event and therefore bring it to the attention of our viewers.

Nevertheless, on your recommendation I have added an editor's note to the article clarifying our position on the books.

Here is a recent piece we ran on the Cozzens book: “Another Face of the Priesthood.

In Christ,

Tom Allen

Editor & President

Catholic Exchange

The Arab/Isreali Conflict

Dear Catholic Exchange:

I am amazed at the latent anti-Semitism displayed in the statements of the Holy See in the current battle between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We have gone for months with no substantive statement about the horrific suicide attacks by these savages against Israeli innocents. There has never been a condemnation of the treatment of Palestinians at the hands of their Muslim and Arab brothers. Nothing came from the Holy See about the active persecution and murder of Christians by Muslims around the world.

Now the Holy See attacks Israel for carrying the battle directly to Yassar Arafat and his murdering thugs? Shame on the Church for this hypocrisy and display of feeble moral equivalence between those fighting for their very existence against immoral thugs.

Richard Ptak

Dear Mr. Ptak:

I share your sentiments to a point but you are being extreme. It seems to me there is enough evil going on in the world that the Vatican would have to issue condemnations all day long, every day to satisfy everyone. The Pope has condemned violence and terrorism very strongly; should he do so every single time? Besides, the popular press has not always been fair in what it reports from the Vatican — unless it wants to emphasize its own agenda.

Keep in mind also that sometimes there are reprisals. When the Maronite Patriarch along with the Pope condemned Syria's injustice against the Lebanese, the Syrians rounded up dozens of Lebanese Christian young men and tortured them for days and killed some. It never made the press. No one cared, no one became angry.

What about the 2 million Sudanese slaughtered by Moslem fundamentalists? Where is the outcry? Injustices there were condemned by the Vatican. Did anyone listen? Terrorism happens on a daily basis world-wide. We only hear a minute amount.

The older generation in the church leadership knows the grave injustices committed by Israel in the past that went on for many years. Many Palestinian villages forcefully emptied, some whole-sale slaughtering of entire areas. Those who fled in fear were never allowed to return. In those days Palestine was still 40% Christian. Now very few are left and this has hurt the church very much. I think that memories of such atrocities have dulled the willingness of the Vatican to speak out against the Palestinians when they should do so. This is not the same as anti-Semitism.

Besides, the few Christians who are left in the Palestinian areas will have to live under the rule of the Moslem fundamentalists. What do you think will happen to them if their bishops say anything? They are the ones who will have to live with them. Do you think Israel will come to their aid? Or the United Nations?

Fr. Antoine Bakh

Priest Advisor

Catholic Exchange

Andrew Sullivan & Appropriate Language

Dear Catholic Exchange:

As a regular visitor to Catholic Exchange, I was surprised when I saw the following in the article by Edward B. Driscoll Jr [“ The New, New Journalism — Birth of The ‘Me-Zine’ Decade”]:

And some of those men and women, such as Virginia Postrel on her page, The Scene, and Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.com, spent the day keeping the nation, hell, the world, just as informed as the traditional news sites people couldn’t get into.


This kind of language, though acceptable to some, did not seem to fit in with the theme and tone of your site. I was also dismayed that a link was provided to Andrew Sullivan's site:

She started her Web log after being inspired by Mickey Kaus, Andrew Sullivan and Virginia Postrel (all three of whom were part of the first generation of bloggers, dating back to the Jurassic blogging days of the late 1990s.)


Andrew Sullivan is a homosexual self-proclaimed Catholic. Although more conservative than most homosexuals he has recently been quoted with some comments that are against the teachings of the Church on sexual issues. I don't think it is appropriate to provide a link to his site and provide it with more “hits.” I cannot comment on the other links in the article as I have not visited them, but I do know of Andrew Sullivan.

I just wanted to bring this to your attention.

Thank you and God bless!

Carol Contreras

Dear Ms. Contreras:

Thanks for your feedback. Sorry for not changing “hell” to “heck” (though, come to think of it, “hell” is not an altogether uncommon word on this or any other Catholic site).

As for Andrew Sullivan, how are we supposed to reach a wayward Catholic like him with our message of love and truth if we do not know what he's saying and where he resides? He's a good man who just happens to be zealously guarding and nurturing a pet sin such that he can't quite see straight on certain issues. More than anything, he needs our prayers, not our disdain. And besides, it was appropriate to link to his site given the context of Mr. Driscoll's story.

Here, by the way, is an article by Mark Shea that appeared in the Edge space that clearly reflects Catholic Exchange's stance on Mr. Sullivan: [“Squaring the Circle“]

In JMJ,

Tom Allen

Editor & President

Catholic Exchange

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