AP, Phila. Inquirer Label Fired Gay Professor as Member of 'Branch of Catholicism Not Associated with the Vatican'
The secular mainstream media often do a shoddy job of accurately reporting on religious news, but this takes the cake.
Writing about how the Rev. James St. George was terminated earlier this month from his post as part-time professor at Chestnut Hill College, the Associated Press insisted the openly gay man "belong[s] to a branch of Catholicism not associated with the Vatican that has different views on gay issues."
The church where St. George is a pastor is "affiliated with the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of America, which vows no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and performs commitment ceremonies for gays and lesbians," the Associated Press reported.
Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Bonnie Cook similarly noted that St. George "belonged to a branch of Catholicism that is not associated with the Vatican and allows priests to be actively gay."
But is the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of America (OCACA) really a "branch" of Catholicism, despite its lack of communion with Rome. In a word no, and the OCACA website is pretty clear on that matter in its FAQ section:
Are you in communion with the Roman Catholic Church?
No. The Old Catholic Churches separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the late 19th century over the refusal to accept the dogma of Papal Infallibility.
OCACA is no more a "branch" of Catholicism than are Lutheran or Reformed churches or Orthodox churches.
It may have many of the same smells and bells, aesthetically calling to mind the Catholic tradition, but OCACA is not a Catholic church and it notes as much on its website.
Is it too much to ask of MSM reporters to do a little bit of homework before publishing a story such as this?
- Ken Shepherd's blog
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Comments
Is it too much to ask of MSM
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 1:16pm.
Is it too much to ask of MSM reporters to do a little bit of homework before publishing a story such as this?
Yes, of course it is.
They are just so excited about discovering another dissenting Catholic, and that's all they need to jump in head first without checking the depth of the water.
It's "fake but accurate" I guess.
We aren't all "Catholics" around here
Submitted by NC Boy on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 1:20pm.
To really draw a distinction, I suggest you use "Roman Catholic" to describe the main branch/root or whatever you see it as. I happen to be Baptist and my denomination doesn't get to say that nobody else can use that word.
I'm not a capital-C Catholic
Submitted by Ken Shepherd on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 1:29pm.
I'm not a capital-C Catholic either. However when the term Catholic Church is used it is understood to mean those churches in communion with the Pope.
Yes, but that's Catholic with
Submitted by Thoreau on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 1:45pm.
Yes, but that's Catholic with a capital C- or whatever you are doing there.
It's called Roman Catholic to be exact. Which also means Universal. This isn't a democracy or up to your opinion. You either uphold Catholic Canon or you don't. If your Church thinks St. George slaying dragons was an allusion to hairy cock, then you aren't Catholic. I promise.
"small c" catholics belong to
Submitted by TruthMonger on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 2:01pm.
"small c" catholics belong to protestant denomintatiions like my Lutheran Church - the Apostles Creed that we recite each week pledges to it - we are catholics - in the universal sense of God's church
http://www.creeds.net/ancient/apostles.htm
Congratulations Jimmy Carter!
NC Boy
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 1:33pm.
So when someone is referred to as "Catholic" you don't assume they belong to the religion headed by Rome and the Pope?
Radical1979
Submitted by NC Boy on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 1:50pm.
I assume that "Catholics" are "Roman Catholics" unless there is an added description, which there was in this case. I suppose that Ken Shepherd is reacting to the use of the word "branch", which the media chose.
NC Boy
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 5:56pm.
I think that was Ken's point. The article made it sound as if this priest had some association with Roman Catholicism, on purpose. There is no "branch" of Roman Catholicism in which homosexual behavior is not a sin.
"Catholic" is commonly used
Submitted by lotr on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 2:57pm.
"Catholic" is commonly used shorthand for "Roman Catholic" -- just as "Orthodox" is for "Eastern Orthodox."
Religion & Economics - Topics
Submitted by Edhenry on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 1:29pm.
Religion & Economics - Topics where the BS media is ignorant. They just dont know enough to report accurately.
Worse than that...
Submitted by ledurchi on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 2:02pm.
It is worse than ignorance in the case of religion - particularly Roman Catholicism. The leftist press pretend that the leftist pretend "Catholics" represent a groundswell of dissent in America. What passes for a catholic in junk journalism often would be more accurately a secular humanist fond of ritual but lacking belief. Since the pretend version of catholic is more appealing to the pretend journalists, their narrative will always reflect the pretense.
NC Boy, just an FYI
Submitted by GW on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:39pm.
I'm just trying to clarify a little here:
There are actually 12 different 'Rites' within the Catholic Church, the largest of which is the Latin Rite, which is commonly called the Roman Catholic Church. But the other 11 Rites also profess unity with the Pope and are also considered Catholic.
More specifically...
Submitted by Mike Bratton on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 3:59pm.
...the so-called "Old Catholic Church" isn't affiliated with Christianity, much less the Catholic denomination.
More than its lack of "communion" with Roman Catholicism, it lack a relationship with Christianity as a whole.
That's the root problem.
--Mike
That's like saying that some
Submitted by jcollins9 on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 5:47pm.
That's like saying that some wacked out militia is a
"Branch of the military not associated with the pentagon"
Or that NBC News is a
"Branch of the administration not associated with Obama"
Thanks for the Clarifications!
Submitted by NC Boy on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 6:15pm.
I liked this quote, "the pretend version of catholic is more appealing to the pretend journalists, their narrative will always reflect the pretense."
And also the analogy to a military not associated with the Pentagon!
Sometimes it does seem that the "owners" of Newsbusters assume that we are all Roman Catholics and understand all this stuff. My somewhat equivalent frustration is that every time there is a major world disaster, the media runs to Jerry Falwell, knowing that he will say something stupid. He always obliges, and that is presented as the Evangelical position.
It would be hard for the
Submitted by Ken Shepherd on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 7:05pm.
It would be hard for the media to run to Jerry Falwell for comment since he's dead.
Aaargh!
Submitted by NC Boy on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 7:27pm.
I guess I know less about Baptists than Catholics! I meant Pat Robertson. I suppose after he dies the media will say that the head of the Westboro Baptist Church speaks for all Baptists!
Who hired him?
Submitted by kiwikit on Tue, 03/01/2011 - 6:57am.
Wasn't his parish known to be non-Roman Catholic? Why would a Roman Catholic college hire a non-Roman Catholic (one could say anti-Roman Catholic) to teach Bible studies? There must be more to this than has come out so far but as an alumna of CHC, from the days before it and so many other formerly traditional Roman Catholic institutions became dedicated to being politically correct, I'm disappointed in this person having been accepted as a teacher from the onset.
Catholic
Submitted by LaVallette on Tue, 03/01/2011 - 7:07am.
I am an Australian who belongs to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. There is nothing Roman about me except that the Pope is the Bishop of Rome. There are lots of other Rites in the Catholic Church, such as Maronite, Greek, Chaldean, etc. all integral parts of the Catholic (universal) Church and all owing allegiance to the Pope,
So I am an Australian Catholic and not a Roman Catholic. The term Roman Catholic was popularized at the time of the Reformation in England to allow the Anglicans to refer to themselves the the branch of the Catholic Church in England or more correctly what they still call the "Anglican Branch of the church catholic"
interesting
Submitted by lotr on Tue, 03/01/2011 - 1:59pm.
Great points -- I was not even aware of where and when the term "Roman Catholic" originated, but it does make complete sense, as the Church had never referrred to itself as such. In fact, I'm now curious as to when the term "Catholic" (with a capital "C") even came into being....