I'll be at St. Clarence tonight at the Sister Mary McCormick presentation
Here are the remaining events, per the Cleveland Diocese's page on the topic.
Thursday, September 27, 2012, 7:00 p.m. - St. Clarence Parish (Special Presentation on Conscience Formation by Sister Mary McCormick, OSU and not a panel presentation) 30106 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, OH.
Thursday, October 11, 2012, 7:00 p.m. - St. Mary Parish, 250 Kraft Street, Berea, OH.
The Bishop's secretary did call me back with this information. I was glad I called, not just because I learned that they had been inundated with calls on this matter, but it helped give me insight on how the Diocese reacts to pro-life activism. Many of the Catholic Pro-lifers I've encountered simply say these folks are pro-abortion. I don't claim to know that, and it's classic overstatement (a tendency for which Catholic conservatives always need to be wary), however the fact is that they simply aren't too exercised about the travesty of abortion. This might be due to their own over-reaction to certain extreme aspects of the pro-life movement, both perceived and actual.
And that's what I'm guessing I'll detect more than any blatant heretical material in the presentation at St. Clarence tonight. Maybe there will be balance and proportionality in the discussion, and maybe the speaker will demonstrate wisdom, insight and relevance. We will just have to wait and see.
VERY balanced and fair-minded assessment. As one who attended one of those forums and heard utter contradictions to clear Church teaching about intrinsic evil, I very much appreciate your stories and insights into the progress being made in these presentations. I'm afraid most of the damage has already been done, but it looks like the complaints are being taken seriously even though the letter on the diocesan website suggested that the complaints were not valid.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 10,000 % that pro-lifers need to measure their words carefully or credibility is lost. Inflammatory tones or misrepresentation of the facts does far more harm than good.
Thanks for your kind words. I posted a follow up to this here and when I get some time, I am going to post more of my insights and critiques under the category Faithful Citizenship forum.
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