Attention All Catholics (Roman and Anglo)

My Roman tendencies are showing. While perusing the Catholic News Service site, a daily habit of mine, I found the announcement of the death of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., about which I have commented below. I also found the announcement of the publication of a new Instruction from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith on the subject of bioethics.

Allow me to step back one moment here to note to all those who are not in the know (wink, wink) that the C.D.F. is of course that office within the Vatican that ensures that the Magesterium knows and teaches the proper, approved Doctrine of the Church. Yes, friends, this is the office of the INQUISITION.

Now before you, dear friends, push back from your computers screaming epithets and questioning the marital relationship of my parents; please consider that the auto de fe is a thing of the past. The Grand Inquisitor is not about to descend from his tower and cast Jew and Gentile alike into the dungeon for a little quality time with the iron maiden or the rack (although the way my back feels right now, a little stretching might be good for me).

This is the newer, kinder Inquisition, and it serves a vital role in assuring that the Dogma and Doctrine of the Church are consistently understood by the Magesterium so that, in turn, they can instruct the faithful on the tenets of the Faith; especially those pesky teachings which are de fide (the things that you have to believe if you want to continue calling yourself a Roman Catholic).

Anyway……I just finished reading Dignitas Personae for the first time, and I’ve got to say that I am very impressed. This new Instruction updates Donum Vitae which was released 20 years ago and addresses the reality of modern medicine and all the new ways man has discovered to kill and manipulate the unborn. It is well reasoned and well written. The central theme, echoed time and time again throughout the document, is the value and dignity of human life. It begins, “The dignity of a person must be recognized in every human being from conception to natural death.”

And, in what I believe is a direct slap against certain highly placed and very powerful politicians who seem to have a problem remembering what the Church’s teaching on certain small matters like ABORTION are, there is this payoff statement: “Therefore, the Magisterium of the Church has ****consistently proclaimed**** the sacred and inviolable character of every human life from its conception until its natural end.” (Emphasis added so that morons like….oh, I don’t know….Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden will not miss this important part of the catechism again.)

Dignitas Personae is available on-line through the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website: http://www.usccb.org/comm/Dignitaspersonae/index2o.shtml. I hope and I pray that this supports the continued shift among the Roman Catholic leadership in this country toward holding politicians responsible to the religion that they profess. Unless of course those politicians are only fibbing about their adherence to the Faith; but I can’t believe that any politician would not really mean what they say.

Children, can we all say EXCOMMUNICATION!