Mother Teresa's relic heads for Europe

23 Jan 2009, 0225 hrs IST, Indrani Bagchi, TNN

NEW DELHI: Mother Teresa, who as the saint of Kolkata's slums, epitomized campassion and charity, is not only a treasure that Kolkata cherishes. Far away in Europe, Macedonia, wants a part of her too.

And it will get it. The foreign minister of Macedonia, Antonio Milososki, was in India last week for a couple of important things -- certainly to bond with India on a diplomatic level, but more important, to oversee the transfer of a Mother Teresa
relic.

A part of Mother Teresa -- some say her hand -- will be transported to Macedonia to be placed in her birthplace, Skopje, as a relic in a commemorative house that the government there has just built for her, said Milososki. The transfer has been done under established traditions closely supervised by the Roman Catholic Church, Milososki said.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje on August 27, 1910, when Macedonia was still under the Ottoman Empire. But at 18, she left home to join the Loreto Sisters and in 1931 she arrived in Calcutta. By 1948, she took special permission to work in the slums of Calcutta and lived and worked there till her death on September 5, 1997. She started her own order in 1980, Missionaries of Charity.

She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and the Bharat Ratna in 1980. She was one of two persons to become an honorary citizen of the US in her lifetime as well as featuring on a postage stamp while still alive.

But with a part of her body to be taken to Macedonia soon, in her birthplace, the government there hopes to turn Skopje into a place of pilgrimage. Mother Teresa is already on what is being called a fast track to sainthood in the Catholic Church. If she attains sainthood, it's likely that other churches would also want a part of her body in their reliquaries.

In a way it's like having the embalmed body of St Francis Xavier, whose body is embalmed in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa and is a huge draw for tourists and pilgrims alike. The right forearm, which Xavier used to bless and baptize his converts, was detached in 1614 and is displayed since in a silver reliquary at a Jesuit church in Rome.

Another Sister Leaves Mother Teresa's Community

SHE looks nothing like the nuns who taught me at St Joachim's, those good sisters who would all but fall to their knees at the approach of a priest.

Colette Livermore, however, spent 11 years within the physical and mental cloisters of religious life and discovered therein the shadows and demons which still torment her.

A gifted student who won a university scholarship to study medicine, she chose instead to follow Mother Teresa and joined the Sisters of Charity.

She now lives in coastal New South Wales and is in town for the day. We meet in the brasserie at the Stamford Hotel and she relates why she became a nun.

"When I was a kid, the Biafran famine was in the news. Kids were dying on the television set in front of you. I thought to myself that this couldn't be right and then I saw a Mother Teresa film and thought: 'That's the way to go! Get out there and do something!' I was very naive. I didn't appreciate the implications," she says.

It was not long before she realised that there were two sides to the saintly persona of Mother Teresa which the media had spun.

"Any organisation that demands you stick to a rigid timetable and do exactly what you're told is on the road to inhumanity, and I think and that was the problem," she says.

"Mother Teresa asked you to give up your brain, your will, everything. She asked for total surrender of the person.

"I grew up in Mossvale on the southern highlands of New South Wales and when I joined the order I went to Melbourne to the novitiate straight from school. I was just 18. It was a big change in life.

"Once you're within that sort of organisation, it's hard to get your bearings. You're off balance because Mother Teresa is a saintly person and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and all that sort of thing so you think that if you disagree with things, there must be something wrong with you rather than the organisation.

"We did our training and then I was sent to the Gulf province of New Guinea without any warning or preparation and nearly died of cerebral malaria.

"I was there for a few years and then transferred to Manila and worked in a garbage dump looking after people with tuberculosis. I wasn't even trained to the level of a barefoot doctor."

From Manila, Livermore was sent to Calcutta and it was there she tried and failed to leave the order. "You're always told that you're sinful and proud and all that sort of thing. It played with my mind. I realised things weren't right but I couldn't get any external bearings.

"You're cut off. You can't listen to the radio or read the newspapers or talk to friends. You have very little contact with your family. Your mind is only hearing one opinion. There's only one voice speaking. It's difficult to leave when Mother Teresa is telling you that it's to do with the devil."

Livermore's disaffection with Mother Teresa peaked when she clashed with her superiors over a decision not to treat sick children on a holy day.

"A ruling was made that on this recollection day, this day of prayer, children were not to be admitted to the Home for the Children.

"This really sick child came in with stick arms, breathing really fast and dehydrated and I was told he couldn't stay. I had this internal conflict and eventually the child was admitted but only after I'd had a big fight.

"These sorts of things happened time and time again because there was this rigid obedience and timetable, so I wrote to Calcutta and said: 'This can't be right.'

Mother Teresa's reply was not the one Livermore had hoped for. "She said that just as Our Lady watched Jesus die, I should be able to accept the death of a child if obedience asked it of me.

"Then I said: 'That's against the gospel' and they said that even the devil could quote scripture."

Livermore's portrait of Mother Teresa is of a woman tortured by her own spirituality.

"It led her to some pretty dark places," she says. "She talked about her inner emptiness and misery. She said 'Empty yourself of all that's not God.' She just felt depleted and that's what happened to all of us too."

Livermore's mother, who had been opposed to her joining the order, knew nothing of this. "My family wasn't aware because you weren't supposed to tell anyone. It was a secret.

"Mum was disappointed I'd thrown away the chance to do medicine because our family struggled. My father had left us and she was struggling to support four kids and for her eldest to take off was hard."

Livermore eventually wrote to Mother Teresa telling her she could no longer cope.

"She said she thought it was the devil, the Father of Lies, trying to rob me of my vocation and get me off the track but I couldn't do it any more. It was screwing my head around. I was 30 and I'd been in there 11 years."

Livermore describes the order as a sect and has written a book, Hope Endures, chronicling her experiences.

Mother Teresa's mistake, says Livermore, was in thinking that obedience was more important than compassion.

"That's not something that's widely known and not part of what the media says about her. It was dictatorial. I should have got out sooner," she says, shaking her head.

When she finally left, she turned to the medical degree she had spurned when she joined the sisters and became a doctor, working in Timor, the Northern Territory, the Congo, Sudan and Darfur.

One casualty of her time with Mother Teresa was her religion.

" I ended up an agnostic," she says. "I just couldn't believe it any more but if, as when I was in Timor from 2000-2003, you can do something for the kids, then for some people at least, you can make a difference."

Livermore blames no one but herself for what happened.

"After all," she says, smiling, "no one handcuffed me. It was my own silly choice. My mother told me I was a drongo but once I was in there, I couldn't get free.

"That's part of the reason I wrote the book - to tell religious people not to give up that inner compass that they have. You can't live your life with all these excluding rules."

She says the problems within the order are exemplified by the nuns' practice of self-flagellation, whipping themselves to try to imitate Christ's suffering.

"Suffering comes your way and you have to put up with it but," she says, "but it's sort of warped to go looking for it."

* Hope Endures by Colette Livermore, William Heinemann Australia, $34.95

Bulldog and the Rude Show, My Interview on WOCM-FM 98.1 in Ocean City, MD

On Monday, Dec. 1, 2008, I was invited to be on the Bulldog and The Rude Awakening Show at 9:40am for a 10 minute interview. I when on at 9:43am and was off by 9:47am. What happened!? It seems that David Rothner (Bulldog) did not the subject of my book. I can image that many radio hosts have on guests who present subjects that are not their cup of tea. Still, those hosts hear the guest out as a matter of professional courtesy unless the guest is behaving in an unprofessional manner. Nowhere in the four minutes and seventeen seconds that I was on the air did I give cause to be cut off. It was Mr. Rothner’s responsibility to look over the guests the producer booked and any information associated with those guests. This he obviously did not do. That Mr. Rothner could not endure a polite guest explaining basic Christian doctrine for 10 minutes demonstrates an intolerance and an unprofessionalism that astounds me. I was trying to move on to points relating to psychology and sociology when Mr. Rothner ended the interview.

Judge for yourself if I did anything wrong.

Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity?

Marking 20th anniversary of its foundation the Faculty of the Sciences of Communication is organizing a conference by Dr. Gezim Alpion on his book Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity at the Salesian Pontifical University Rome.

The conference scheduled for Thursday 20th November will be in English with Italian translation. Open to all, the program will start at 4.30 pm and will conclude at 6.45 pm.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was undoubtedly one of the great personalities of the twentieth century. The author explores her significance to the mass media, to celebrity culture, to the church and to various political and national groups.

Albanian born Gezim Alpion currently director of Research Postgraduate Studies, Department of Sociology (Birmingham University) received a PhD from the University of Durham, UK, in 1997. His works include Vouchers (2001), Foreigner Complex (2002), If Only the Dead Could Listen (2006), and Encounters with Civilizations (2008).


My Comment:

I have not read this book but the title is provocative enough. It would be fun to go to the conference but I cannot afford the travel expenses. I read the reviews on Amazon and the book does not seem all that unique in substance.

Mother Teresa and the 2008 Election

It seems that Mother Teresa has found the 2008 presidential election so important that she going to make an endorsement (from the grave). So many people ask me why they should care if Mother Teresa is thought of as a Saint. The article below is another example to add to the pile. So much for W.W.J.D? (What Would Jesus Do?) The new slogan is W.W.M.T.D? (What Would Mother Teresa Do?).

Who Would Mother Teresa Endorse - McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden?


Mother Teresa died September 5, 1997, but if she were alive today, the following might have happened:

John McCain and Sarah Palin sat on one side of the conference table, and Barack Obama and Joseph Biden sat opposite them on the other side. No other people were in the small hotel meeting room. There was no small-talk amongst the four. Their eyes were focused on a side door.

Then, Mother Teresa walked through the door and made her way to the head of the table. The four people stood and introductions were made all around. Mother Teresa motioned for the group to sit down.

“Thanks for coming today,” she said. They nodded.

“As you know, I have decided to endorse a candidate for president of the United States in the 2008 election. A formal announcement will be made at a press conference later this afternoon. But I felt it was important to personally let you know my decision ahead of time,” she said. Nervous smiles revealed the tensions felt by each politician.

Mother Teresa slowly looked around the table. “I am endorsing John McCain and Sarah Palin.”

McCain and Palin blew out deep sighs of relief. Their faces lit up. “Thank you, Mother Teresa,” said McCain.

“But Mother?” said Barack Obama in a disappointed voice.

“Yes, Senator Obama.”

Obama shrugged. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Just like you, I have worked with poor people and the have-not’s all my life. So, why did you choose McCain and Palin over Joe and me?”

“Senator, your words have encouraged thousands of people, but I am not moved by a politician’s words,” she said. “I study their actions and their votes before I -”

“But I have - ” Obama interrupted her. Mother Teresa raised her hand and Obama nodded his head. “Sorry, Mother,” he said.

“My life and ministry is dedicated to helping and caring for ‘the least of these’ among us, just as Jesus commanded us in Matthew 25.” Tears streamed down her face. “And who are ‘the least of these’, right?”

Mother Teresa turned to Sarah Palin and touched her face with a gnarled finger. “Unborn babies, and especially Down Syndrome babies.”

And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (Matthew 25:40)

An Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI Regarding the Cause for Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Today is the eleventh anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. With the publishing of her private writings, on the same date last year, a more intense interest in her life arose. Below is an open letter I recently sent to Pope Benedict XVI. Also, the letter was sent to the Catholic bishops, Catholic media, and the media here and abroad.

"Fiat justitia ruat caelum."

Thank you for your consideration,

Mark M. Zima
--author of Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause

An Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI
Regarding the Cause for Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta


Your Holiness:

One year ago, on the tenth anniversary of her death, Fr. Kolodiejchuk released Mother Teresa’s private letters. Since their release, her letters have led to a global questioning of her spiritual state. The popular interpretation of her words, by Catholics, is that she experienced the dark night of the soul. Those who hold that position base it on the presupposition that she was holy. Therefore, her “dark night” is interpreted as a true sanctifying dark night of a Saint. But is their judgment correct?

Before her community was approved, in her letters, Mother Teresa declares, “There are millions who live in Indian cities and villages in ignorance of God and of Christ, in abominable sinfulness. We shall bring them to Christ and Christ to them” (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, 116). But when her community was approved, she taught, “I convert you to be a better Hindu, a better Catholic, Muslim, Jain, or Buddhist” (Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 4). There are some who argue that she did not mean what she said and she wanted to convert those she met. There is some truth to their claim. Nevertheless, her words are misleading to the hearer and the reader.

Mother Teresa said, “We never try to convert those who receive [aid from Missionaries of Charity] to Christianity but in our work we bear witness to the love of God’s presence and if Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, or agnostics become for this better men—simply better—we will be satisfied” (Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 47). In 1990, she spoke at the Vatican. She told an audience of priests, “We call baptism the ticket for St. Peter. She said, “Not one has died without the ticket for St. Peter. We call baptism the ticket for St. Peter because He [God] won’t let them go to heaven without that ticket” (Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 126). Clearly, Mother Teresa was not “satisfied” that these people did not “convert.”

Mother Teresa wanted to preach, “The Kingdom must be preached to all” (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, 133). But the kingdom she preached was, “I love all religions but I am in love with my own. If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there. They come closer and closer to God. When they come closer, they have to choose” (Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 47).

Contradiction was a state of life for Mother Teresa. She was afraid of the loss of souls, “Souls are being lost in the slums and in the streets, the Sacred Heart of Jesus is more and more suffering—and here I am waiting” (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, 119). But she taught, “When we die we are going to be with God, and with all those we have known who have gone before us; our family and our friends will be there waiting for us. Heaven must be a beautiful place” (Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 115). The first rule of the Missionaries of Charity was to instruct in ”Christian Doctrine” the poor, the abandoned, the sick, the infirmed, and the dying (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, 139). Did she teach ”Christian Doctrine” when she taught, “I’ve always said we should help a Hindu become a better Hindu, a Muslim become a better Muslim, a Catholic become a better Catholic” (Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 29)?

Mother Teresa said, “There is so much contradiction in my soul.—Such deep longing for God—so deep that it is painful—a suffering continual—and yet not wanted by God—repulsed—empty—no faith—no love—no zeal” (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, 169-70). Sad words, but what in these words forces the reader to conclude that Mother Teresa suffered through the dark night of the soul? If the reader interprets these words of Mother Teresa to the exclusion of all that she said and did they are demonstrating their bias not Mother Teresa’s dark night. The Church’s teaching regarding the dark night of the soul is being distorted by many who think it is a suffering of any kind.

In his book, The Dark Night of The Soul, St. John of the Cross taught, “This dark night is an inflowing of God into the soul, which purges it from its ignorances and imperfections, habitual natural and spiritual, and which is called by contemplatives infused contemplation, or mystical theology. Herein God secretly teaches the soul and instructs it in perfection of love without its doing anything, or understanding of what manner is this infused contemplation. Inasmuch as it is the loving wisdom of God, God produces striking effects in the soul for, by purging and illumining it, He prepares it for the union of love with God. Wherefore the same loving wisdom that purges the blessed spirits and enlightens them is that which here purges the soul and illumines it” (bk. II, ch. 5, sec. 1).

Are the faithful being asked to believe that a Saint teaches ”Christian Doctrine” when they “help” a “Hindu become a better Hindu”? Are the faithful being asked to believe that Mother Teresa was purged and illuminated by God to “convert” Buddhists into “better” Buddhists? Was Mother Teresa purged from essential “ignorances and imperfections” relating to the faith?

In his book, Ascent of Mount Carmel, St. John of the Cross also taught, “Two contraries (even as philosophy teaches us) cannot coexist in one person; and that darkness, which is affection set upon the creatures, and light, which is God, are contrary to each other, and have no likeness or accord between one another, even as Saint Paul taught the Corinthians, saying: ‘Quoe conventio luci ad tenebras?’ That is to say: ‘What communion can there be between light and darkness?’ Hence it is that the light of Divine union cannot dwell in the soul if these affections first flee not away from it. In order that we may the better prove what has been said, it must be known that the affection and attachment which the soul has for creatures renders the soul like to these creatures; and, the greater is its affection, the closer is the equality and likeness between them; for love creates a likeness between that which loves and that which is loved” (Quoted in Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 175).

“Two contraries cannot coexist in one person.” Mother Teresa’s statements are not paradoxical; they are contradictory. The Church and the world should praise Mother Teresa’s corporal works of mercy, but if St. John of the Cross or any other Saint read the above quoted words of Mother Teresa do you believe that they would conclude that her words were those of a Saint who experienced the dark night of the soul (Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause, 24)? Mother Teresa said, “If there is hell—this must be one. How terrible it is to be without God—no prayer—no faith—no love” (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, 250). Do you believe that the Saints would find this quote indicative of a Saint who experienced the dark night of the soul or a soul who experienced a dark night?

In canonizing, the Church seeks to honor “the holy and undivided Trinity,” exalt “the Catholic faith,” and cultivate “the Christian religion.” The candidate for canonization must be someone who possessed and demonstrated heroic faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. How were these virtues heroically fulfilled by Mother Teresa?

I am aware that you have a great respect for Mother Teresa (Deus Caritas Est, 18, 36, 40) and I am aware that what I am saying may be causing you some pain, but I beg you to reflect on this letter before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Please ask yourself, “If anyone else who was not Mother Teresa said and did these things, what would I think? How would I respond?”

St. Thomas Aquinas said, “the lover is not satisfied with a superficial apprehension of the beloved, but strives to gain an intimate knowledge of everything pertaining to the beloved, so as to penetrate into his very soul” (Summ. Theol., la. 2ae., q. 28, a. 2). Accordingly, anyone who loves Mother Teresa cannot desire to represent her other than who she really was. The proper interpretation of Mother Teresa’s true spiritual reality is the next step in the story of a woman who has become a religious icon for the Church and the world. I believe that you will conclude that the common presupposition of Mother Teresa’s “dark night” must give way to a new interpretation of her person.

Mother Teresa’s cause is complex because it is a high-profile case. For this reason, it is imperative her case is settled promptly, so that the errors surrounding her life are ended and scandal abated. Silence does not save souls but it will lead them astray. Failure to act now ensures a more difficult case for the Church to correct in the future. If Mother Teresa is a Saint, no one can take away the canonization God has already bestowed upon her. However, if she is not a Saint, then those who love her must expose the truth so multitudes do not pray for her intercession, but instead intercede for her soul.


Your son in the faith,

Mark M. Zima
author of Mother Teresa: The Case for The Cause

“Why does it matter if I believe Mother Teresa is a Saint?”

“Why does it matter if I believe Mother Teresa is a Saint?”

The reasons are different for a Christian than a non-Christian, but both Christians and non-Christians share some principles relating to this subject.

1. A standard for their worldview
a. A standard of right and wrong they apply to themselves.
b. A standard of right and wrong they apply to others.

2. The affect of public opinion
a. Both Christians and non-Christians recognize the affect that public opinion can have on themselves and those around them.

The principles applied to the non-Christian.

Why is it so that a professed Catholic Sister is believed by most non-Christians as a saint of God? What is the common root that a non-Christian has with Mother Teresa? I argue in my book that the non-Christian perceived Mother Teresa sharing his or her work and the worldview on two levels.

1. She practiced the corporal works of mercy.
a. Feeding the hungry, Giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, Harboring the homeless, Visiting the sick, Ransoming the captive, and Burying the dead.

2. She did what she thought was right.

By these standards, Mother Teresa did not want to be judged. Even so, if a poll were taken these would be the reasons why her name is a household word for saint.

If a non-Christian found out that Mother Teresa did not follow the standards they thought she practiced so faithfully, would it matter to the non-Christian? Do lies concern non-Christians? It is for this reason that some non-Christians do not regard Mother Teresa as a saint.

Suppose for a moment that a non-Christian discovered that Mother Teresa did not practice what she preached and did not follow what she thought was right but most of the world was deceived by her. If true, would this discovery disturb most non-Christians? The answer is clearly yes. Hypothetically, if Mother Teresa did not practice what she preached the following would apply and should concern a non-Christian:

1. She is held up as a model person to emulate.
2. Millions of dollars are given to her community yearly to perpetuate her work.
3. Children and adults and encouraged to learn more about her words and works which have led some non-Christians to embrace them.
4. When men adopt a certain ethic, they apply that ethic to all areas of their lives and Mother Teresa can influence the living from the grave, for example, Eileen Egan in her book, Such a Vision of the Street: Mother Teresa-The Spirit and the Work (p. 414) tells a story of a interviewer asking Mother Teresa about just war. The interviewer asked, “Your Church teaches there can be a just war.” Mother Teresa shook her head in the negative. “I can’t understand it,” she said. The interviewer continued, “Catholics have to believe that teaching.” Mother Teresa looked at the interviewer with a vehemence rare to her and asked him, “Then I am not a Catholic?”
5. She would be a fraud.
6. The moral she taught the world was the end justifies the means.
7. The message she sent the world is there is no right and wrong, a person can do wrong in the name of what is right to get what they believe is right.

The principles applied to the Christian.

I believe Mother Teresa practiced the corporal works of mercy but did not follow her conscience. I argue in my book that Mother Teresa’s work and the worldview are very different than the Christian. First principles for right and wrong for the Christian starts with the word of God. The Catholics and Orthodox follow the oral and written word of God. The Protestant follows only the written. All agree that if Mother Teresa’s faith was the following, she was not a practicing Christian.

1. Her gospel was not Christian.
2. The god she worshipped was not God.
3. She practiced the corporal works of mercy but not the spiritual works of mercy.
a. Counseling the doubtful, Instructing the ignorant, Admonishing the sinner, Comforting the afflicted, Forgiving offenses, Bearing wrongs patiently, and Praying for the living and the dead.
4. She is held up by Catholics and non-Catholics as the model Christian in belief and practice.
5. The world believes she was the model Christian in faith and morals.
6. Christians trying to evangelize the world today are judged and compared to her words and deeds.
7. Because she so exalted as an archetypal Christian, she defines Christianity and Christians in her image.
8. She is redefining the word saint in her image.
9. She made meaningless the life and death of her professed Lord.
10. She undermined the fall, the sin nature of man, the necessity of faith for union God, and the true nature of holiness.

“Why does it matter if I believe Mother Teresa is a Saint?”

You have your answer but what you do with it will say more about your character than Mother Teresa’s.

Fr. Angelo's Straw Man II

Point Two:

“I do not attack Pope John Paul II in my book but actually use his teachings as a defense of my position.”

I do indict the Congregation for The Causes of Saints in my book for not doing its job and many have complained that since the revisions of the canonization process (Divinus Perfectionis Magister) there is question if some individuals were granted the titles of Blessed and Saint through a flawed and bias process. In the minds of these Catholics, an infallible assurance that the canonized is a Saint cannot be held if the Church ordained process has not been applied. I am not arguing the virtues or vices of their position at this time but I am arguing that Mother Teresa’s virtues and vices exclude her from canonization. I am morally bound to hope for her salvation. Equally, I am morally bound to hope that she is not canonized.

In chapter one of my book, I quote the 1983 Code of Canon Law:

Canon 212 § 2—The Christian faithful are free to make known their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires to the pastors of the Church.

Canon 212 § 3—In accord with the knowledge, competence and preeminence which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard for the integrity of the faith and morals and reverence toward their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons.

Pope John Paul II promulgated this code of canon law. I am following these canons, Fr. Angelo is not.

In chapter two of my book, I quote Pope John Paul II and offer a challenge:

Man is no longer convinced that only in the truth can he find salvation (Veritatis Splendor, 84).

I offer this challenge:

“Did Mother Teresa believe and consistently teach that only in truth can man find salvation?”

How did I go against the pope in using the pope to make my arguments?

Fr. Angelo's Straw Man I

Point one:

Fr. Angelo assumes any action taken by the Holy Father’s subordinates and rubber-stamped by him is an action that cannot be questioned by the faithful.

Let us expand upon on what I said in “Sandal to me or scandal to you?”. Whom do you think appointed most of the bishops, archbishops, and cardinals who moved priests around and turned a blind eye to the corruption of the youth? If you guessed Pope John Paul II, you are correct. This is the moral problem of evil applied to the office of the papacy.

The moral problem of evil is built on the view that there is an all-powerful and sovereign God who directs the universe. “How a good God could allow evil?” atheists argue to discount God. What the atheists fail to consider is that if there is no God there is no evil. The point is evident when reversed. The details surrounding the moral problem of evil are vast and not part of this post. Confusion on this issue resides in a misunderstanding of creation, the fall, free agency, and mystified metaphysics. There is evil and God is not its author, Satan is (I John 3:8). However, God (Causa Prima) directs all things (Causa Secundae) to serve His sovereign will (Vatican I, Dz 1784).

The moral problem of evil merited response from God (Job 38) and Church (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica I, 49, 2). However, this problem does not apply to the papacy unless you think the pope has the power of God and is the first cause who directs all secondary causes in the Church. Sadly, such a view is unconsciously common among today’s Catholics. The hierarchy are unconscious of giving themselves divine attributes and the laity are unconscious of giving the hierarchy divine attributes.

If you consistently apply Fr. Angelo’s position you would lay all that has gone wrong in the Church over the last 40+ years at the feet of the popes. Much of the evils in the Church are the sins of the councilor and post-councilor popes, but not everything. This also explains why there was such a loss of faith after the Church fell into hard times. In the laity’s minds, the hierarchy was the faith. When the hierarchy changes, so does the faith. There is nothing divine about such a faith. Here again, Fr. Angelo’s doctrine is philosophically and theologically un-Catholic.

On the practical side, Fr. Angelo’s argument shows a gross misunderstanding on how the Church operates. When a pope makes an appointment of bishop or some office in the curia he does not micro-manage the decisions of his officers. If the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recommends that so-and-so be beatified, the pope does not personally research all the details of the case, he just accepts the decision of the prefect. To question a rubber-stamp act of the pope is not to “express…opinions contrary to the teaching of the Holy Father.”

Fr. Angelo’s Straw Man

In the science of informal logic there is a fallacy known as “the straw man fallacy.” A person commits the straw man fallacy when he or she misrepresents their opponent's position intentially or unintentially.

Fr. Angelo made this accusation:

“I am sorry that you, a Catholic, have chosen a public forum like this to express your opinions contrary to the teaching of the Holy Father.”

Fr. Angelo whole argument is that my book is an opinion “contrary to the teaching of the Holy Father.” Fr. Angelo’s assertion is fallacious for the following reasons:

1. Fr. Angelo assumes any action taken by the Holy Father’s subordinates and rubber-stamped by him is an act that cannot be questioned by the faithful.

2. I do not attack Pope John Paul II in my book but actually use his teachings as a defense of my position.

3. The reason why there is a canonization process (Servant of God, Blessed, Saint) is so there is not a mistake in canonizing someone who is not fit for the title. Fr. Angelo is treating Mother Teresa as a canonized Saint not as a candidate for canonization.

4. No Catholic scholar since the canonization process started in the Catholic Church ever argued that anything short of canonization was an infallible act the Roman Pontiff. Mother Teresa has not been canonized so the act of beatifying her was not an infallible act.

I will expand on each point in the next blog.