Friday, August 30, 2013

Apologetics Professional Catholic Cruiser is Sinking

Edit: it's not just the large salaries drawn by Catholic Apologists on staff as reported by Michael Voris recently.  Actually, we were surprised that Raymond Arroyo was only compensated with 100,000 a year, as compared to say, Bill Donahue's 399,156, but it's striking that Catholic Answers are so well compensated as Professional Catholics, despite the fact that they do so much to attack those who have legitimate grievances against the way the Church is run. But what's really interesting is that Catholic Answers has cut wages as much as 25%. Could it be that they are still suffering from Pope Benedict's Summorum Pontificum of 2007, which really put a dent in their credibility, as they were fairly hostile as a whole to such a movement? Louis Verrecchio takes them to task:
In a CA blog post, (which you are invited to read in full there), one of their staff apologists, Michelle Arnold (pictured above), attempts to dismiss concerns that the recent decree contradicts the provisions set forth in Summorm Pontificum as nothing more than a “freak out in cyberspace” on the part of those whose “tendency is to treat every development that is not 100 percent positive in favor of Traditionalism as if the sky was falling.”
Of course, these Professional Catholics do come to the aid of their own, as Neocon Fr. Dwight Longenecker makes a simpering assault on Voris' recent attack. It's not necessarily the fact that they are well compensated, but that they are compensated so well for being mercenaries. Longenecker asks what's wrong with being a "Professional Catholic". Actually, the Pope himself explained the harm done by such mercenaries:

Vatican City, 8 May 2013 (VIS) – “The men and women of the Church who are careerists and social climbers, who 'use' people, the Church, their brothers and sisters—whom they should be serving—as a springboard for their own personal interests and ambitions … are doing great harm to the Church.” This is what Pope Francis asserted in his address to the participants in the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) whom he received in audience this morning. 
The pontiff spoke to the sisters of obedience, poverty, and chastity: “Obedience as listening to God's will, in the interior motion of the Holy Spirit authenticated by the Church, accepting that obedience also passes through human mediations. … Poverty, which teaches solidarity, sharing, and charity and which is also expressed in a soberness and joy of the essential, to put us on guard against the material idols that obscure the true meaning of life. Poverty, which is learned with the humble, the poor, the sick, and all those who are at the existential margins of life. Theoretical poverty doesn't do anything. Poverty is learned by touching the flesh of the poor Christ in the humble, the poor, the sick, and in children.”

33 comments:

Lynne said...

He, Louis Verrecchio is killing them because, unlike us awful rad-trads, he has been perceived as liking (or at least tolerating) Vatican II. His blog is amazing, unlike Patheos blowing-in-the-wind blogs.

Anonymous said...

And what of the harm that Voris and this site exemplify, the harm that jerk-evangelists (force-feeding the false gospel of "more Catholic than the Church Neener-Neener-Neener") can do to God's Church?! And then Voris and this blogger have the huevos to insult laymen who have devoted their professional and personal lives to strengthening people in the Faith! I'll take one Kresta or Akin or Shea to ten Vorises any day. I refuse to watch Church Militant (formerly "Real Catholic") TV, or follow a rising number of these sorts of blogs, simply on principle.

Furthermore, there is a profound difference between being a "mercenary" or climber and a Catholic professional. Our Lord said that we have a right to our pay, and the Church certainly supports laymen making an honest living. Finally this post does nothing to address Catholic priest (not "NeoCatholic" -- that old hateful fiction) Fr. Longenecker's larger point that we have _no idea_ if these men are in fact plowing most of their salaries right back into their ministries!

Kristen J -- profoundlycatholic.wordpress.com
(and former full-time paid Catholic reporter at Phoenix' The Catholic Sun)

Anonymous said...

Fr. Longnecker has alter boy girls. I mean alter girl boys.
I mean ugh...

Anonymous said...

Akin and Shea are Catholic?? Oh wait. Kristen J -- profoundlycatholic.wordpress.com
(and former full-time paid Catholic reporter at Phoenix' The Catholic Sun)

With all due respect to you, and all you professional catholics...you are about as Catholic as Minnie Mouse. Don't believe me? Compare your Sunday service to any Prot service and get back to me.

PS. As a Catholic who suffered under the diocese of Phoenix I find your credentials laughable.

PPS. Catholics do not have "ministries". They have apostolates. Sheesh!

Anonymous said...

And, who gives you the right to judge _anyone's_ Catholicity, nameless?! I affirm and attempt to follow all of the teachings of the Church and the popes, which is what a Catholic does, so I am a Catholic. It's quite simple. It's very sad that you are arrogant enough to think to judge a perfect stranger who disagrees with you as not being Catholic. Also, you think that you were the only Catholic who suffered in Phoenix in the pre-Olmsted days? And, yes, "apostolates" is a better word. You got me there! -- Kristen J

TH2 said...

Yes, the Neo-Cat ship is sinking. Very apt title and photo for the post.

As Neo-Catholicism more and more manifests its collapse as time passes (e.g. just the other day former First Things editor Mr. Bottum - or is that Bottom? -submitted to the sodomites), more and more over time are we going to read and hear Neo-Cat superstars (e.g. Longenecker) and those with establishment church connections (e.g. Ms. Kristen J., as commenting above) whine and complain about Traditional Catholics, let alone their vilification and ostracization of the Trads over the last few decades.

Post-Vatican II playtime is over. Let them sweat for a little while, I say. See what it's like.

Tancred said...

Oh, I'm honored by a visit from the Apologetics Mafia, thanks!

susan said...

"It's very sad that you are arrogant enough to think to judge a perfect stranger who disagrees with you as not being Catholic."

look in a mirror much Kristen J?

christine said...

"A house divided cannot stand" hope I quoted that correctly, I am a catholic in training from my infancy.
Lord may we correct each other with truth and charity, and may we accept criticism with humility. Recommend frequent confession.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Kristen: You and your ilk are just about over.

Did you see the latest -- a picture of Bishop Francis of Rome bowing to the Queen of Jordan? That should warm the cockles of your feminist heart.

Sean North

Connecticut Catholic Corner said...

Excellent points - and quotes!
Since I posted the link about the hornets nest from Kathy Schiffer's Patheos blog onto Creative Minority Reports, I felt the need to speak up on this issue as well: http://connecticutcatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2013/08/frlongnecker-vs-michael-voris.html
I don't think Voris did anything wrong, but Fr. Longenecker came out swinging anyway. Sad.

Supertradmum said...

Voris is attacking two things-the living off of the poor and institution think.

Americans should live in Europe awhile to see a really impoverished Church. Some priests live on the half the American priestly salaries. I know this for a fact.

One, many pensioners who hardly ever eat meat and even poor families on ramen noodle diets are good Catholics who give money to these charities thinking is it necessary money. Now, I worked for years as THE bread winner in the family in Catholic institutions and never made more than 35k. It was very hard-no vacations, buying clothes at the second hand shops mostly, etc.

It is a sacrifice to keep the Church going, or should be.

Second point is that we need independent prophetic voices. The prophets of old were not part of any system, did not get paid by the Sanhedrin, and were stoned, usually. Sadly, when one becomes part of an institution, one falls into institution think....a huge blow to the prophetic voice. We need all our Catholic bloggers and Catholic media people, but we do need more truth.

Most of the real horror stories have not been told by anyone, even Voris. Either we are vigilant or not and I for one need Voris myself in order not to be complacent, and I am one of those poor pensioners...

Unknown said...

that's what was so great about St. Francis and St. Clare...they went POOR. Which means relying on GOD to actually FEED, CLOTHE, and HOUSE you, and yours. Which is exactly what Jesus - that radical - said in the Sermon On The Mount. I laugh every time I hear it read: "And Jesus said, 'Who's image is on this coin?'" hahaha, it's Caesars! duh. Oh well, (what did Jesus do with the coin? Put it in his pocket? Give it back to the Pharisee? Hand it to Judas for the purse? Or toss it to the crowd?) "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to GOD what is God's" hahahaha What is Caesars??!!

Tancred said...

I really don't mind these guys earning money to feed their families, but what are they doing to get it?

Anonymous said...

dear Supertradmum, Thank you for your voice. God's Blessings.

Anonymous said...

To be or not to be? That is the question.

Anonymous said...

Your wages in U.S.A. are dream-wages in comparison to Italy
and Europe.As an example ,clergy's wages in the Dioceses of
Novara (Italy)are :for a young priest USD 12,000 - 15,000 a year ;a Bishop USD 39,000 ;a teacher of religion in high schools , USD 18,000.Average prices of food ,cars ,houses are often higher than in U.S.A.
I think that you're very lucky to have a Voris :in European
Union we have no freedom of speech,and no first amendments.

Juan Oskar said...

I believe no state government worker should make more than the governor. If a governor makes $100,000 a year a school superintendent or city manager shouldn’t make $400.000 a year. Same with the feds. No fed worker should be paid more than the president because they are civil servants. You’re not supposed to go into government to line your pockets.

When employed by a Church Diocese, no salary should be more than that of a priest. I don’t care if you’re a music minister, school principal, or the bishop’s lawyer. You are doing a service and ministry for Christ. There are too many Catholics endowed with material wealth that have done it on the back of the Gospel. Wanna’ get rich? Invent a better ball point pen, or open a hamburger shop.

Anonymous said...

Money is the "root" of evil. Money systems dictate nearly all things. In a fallen world the precept proves to be true.
It is very hard to fight the system. The Church has the responsibility to lead by example. We need more Michael Voris'. Most men in 1st world countries who are in the 40 ish thousand bracket are obscure, have 0 voice in the larger culture. The only power they possess is a vote in essentially a one-party system. The essentially Jewish system.

Supertradmum said...

EF you might like this

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/09/some-of-us-just-cant.html

Anonymous said...

Since you raised the comparison between lay workers in the apostolate and the pope speaking to largely clerical and religious curial officials and reminding them of their obligations, such as poverty (canon law tells even secular clergy to strive for evangelical simplicity in their lives), how is your practice of poverty?

Personally, I'm pretty sure the Pope wasn't rescinding Catholic social teaching on a living wage for people with spouses and/or children, EVEN if working for the Church directly or in religious non-profits, so mine was largely a rhetorical question.

Tancred said...

Look, stop trying to divert the issue. Let's stop ignoring the fact that these Judas' get a lot of money to destroy people's reputations and cover for the mismanagement going on in the Church today. (Comparitively speaking, they get more than 20 shekels.)

jpct said...

huevos?

Tancred said...

Urr... 30

Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosque said...

The advent of the death of the conservative catholic collective has been noted for the past year or so and it is now anon.

Thankfully; I mean, how many CPAs (Converts from Protestantism Apologists) does it take to cook the ecclesiastical books and tell us that we are well in the black:

How many CPAs can make a living writing books about their conversion stories or why they used to cringe over The Blessed Virgin Mary?;

How many CPAs does it take to blacken the reputation of a traditionalist by calling him an anti semite every time he cites the Gospel of John (OK, Bishop Emeritus Ratzinger says that it was some presbyter named, John, not Saint John, who wrote that Gospel) or a Doctor of the Church, Saint John Chrysostom?

How many CPAs can eke-out a meager living giving Parish Missions about their personal exegesis of the Bible? ;

How many CPAs can continue to get away with telling all and sundry that the Real Mass and The Lil' Licit Liturgy are the same Rite? ;

How any CPAs can survive with their reputations as Catholics intact after they have defended everything from Assisi to The Real Church and the Heretical Hive Joint Declaration on Justification? ;

How can the CPAs continue to mouth the party line about continuity when the church just continues to get weirder and weirder? :

If, during a presser onboard a plane, the Pope declares that Sam the Sham really was a Pharoah, will there be even one CPA who will not labor to prove that is not what he said?

LCG said...

May I please draw attention back to Michael Voris' point, which was not the income of "professional Catholics" but their silence about the deterioration of the institutional Church, more specifically the failure of leadership in the hierarchy. We have no way of knowing how much of his high salary a particular person may contribute to the Church, nor what his financial obligations may be. Paul Volcker, formerly Chairman of the Federal Reserve and President of the New York Federal Reserve, had a high salary but lived relatively simply because he had to support a special needs child. It is pointless to wail about salaries. What is important is that, whatever their salaries, professional Catholics have largely not earned them because they won't call out failures of leadership in the hierarchy to whom they are beholden.

Tancred said...

By all means, but their crime isn't just their silence, but the fact that they detract and calumniate anyone who draws attention to any of the problems.

gtaylor said...

Thank God for Michael Voris and his tireless hard work for Our Lord and Our Lady.

Anonymous said...

Amen!

allandan500 said...

Kristen J, it is difficult to believe you actually watched the Voris videos in question because you are not speaking to what Voris said, but rather what you assume he said. But as you say, you refuse to watch Voris and their ilk "on principle". It would be much more principled to only speak about what you know.




Anonymous said...

Are Jimmy Akin and Mark Shea on board that ship in the picture thus causing it to sink?

Signed,

Charitable Rad-Trad

Tancred said...

Truly worthy of Red Fox. Thank you for that.

Neo Neo Catholic said...

Aiken should sell his beard, it can't be easy for balding gingers to hair replacement.