Ha! Vindicated! Also, some cojones…

‘Scuse my Spanish.

So, in this article, we find that even the secular secularists think that Catholic colleges are too secular.  It’s like, totally, duh, man.  This is a legal question, about whether labor unions can have a place at secular universities.  I find it fascinating that the original intent of the 1979 lawsuit was to keep unions out of Catholic schools, because it made the institution subject to a third-party authority (thereby undermining the religious integrity of the school).  In the last 15 years or so, Catholic schools have been worshipping at the altar of the federal government, seeking accolades such as “National School of Excellence”, in order to boost both their enrollment power as well as the ol’ changepurse.  Bah.  Now we’ve come full circle—unions are disrupting the ol’ changepurse, but the Church can’t keep them out because their institutions simply aren’t Catholic enough.  It’s biting them in the behind.  I TOLD you there were serious issues with these colleges, and that Peter Kreeft is a little on the wonky side.

On the brighter side of ecclesial life this weekend, we see the New York bishops firing max charges in the general direction of the [majority-Republican, spineless, gutless, money mongering] New York state legislature.  (Just in case you’re wondering, there wasn’t any ambiguity about their statement, as a local, secular news source proves.)  In Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s statement, he clearly states:

We strongly uphold the Catholic Church’s clear teaching that we always treat our homosexual brothers and sisters with respect, dignity and love. But we just as strongly affirm that marriage is the joining of one man and one woman in a lifelong, loving union that is open to children, ordered for the good of those children and the spouses themselves. This definition cannot change…

Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio went so far as to say that in legalizing same-sex marriage, Gov. Cuomo and the state legislature have "deconstructed the single most important institution in human history."  Needless to say, all manner of rhetoric and defamation is being hurled at the bishops now.  That comes as no surprise, and expectation of such is even part of Dolan’s text.  But where I’m feeling disappointed is in Catholics themselves.  Why is this not a MAJOR news story right now?  Here we have a chance to see bishops in action, doing something positive, showing real fortitude and manliness and unapologetic strength for the faith…and this was on New Advent for two days, and that’s it.  I know people who are probably sitting around going, “Meh.  It’s their job anyway.  If the bishops weren’t such losers, this wouldn’t even have been news at all.”

Come on, people!  Support your bishops when they’re right!  No wonder catechists quit, priests get burned out, bishops fail in their duties.  You have to get fired up about supporting priests when they are in the right, applauding them for going above and beyond what society has come to expect.  It’s counter-productive (and lazy) to sit there and grunt noncommittally, thinking “that’s their job anyway.”  That’s like grunting noncommittally every time the fire department puts out a fire.  “Meh.  It’s their job anyway.”

Stop grunting.