Catholics Are From Earth, Dissidents From the Twlight Zone

A little while ago I was over at LarryD's blog reading a post about a wacko dissident, William Lindsey, who was extolling all the usual ways they want to destroy the Church. (Progressive Top Ten List To Destroy The Church) I won't go over the whole post, follow the link for Larry's disecting of where this guy is not only off the mark, he is off the planet. But I do want to look at 1 point that proves how far removed from reality he is.

But before I do, I should explain why. After reading Larry's post I went over to Joanna Bogle's blog & then LifeSiteNews. They both had a story about an event that caught my eye in light of 1 point this guy made.

OK now to the point he made. "8. Become accessible to the people of God. Walk among them. Listen to them. Do so without frou-frou and gravitas. Be a pastor. Take as your pastoral model Jesus, the good shepherd."

Compare that to this headline Joanna Bogle linked to: Thousands flock to Vatican to back pope over abuse. (Here's an encouraging story...) & the LifeSiteNews headline about the same event: 150,000 Rally at St. Peter’s Basilica to Show Support for Pope.

While Mr. Lindsey is trying to paint Papa Benedetto as being out of touch withw where the average Catholic in the pew, it looks like he is actually the 1 who is out of touch.

Joanna Bogle ends her post with the following very valid observation: "You didn't see this on TV did you? Bet you would have done if half a dozen disaffected Catholics had held a meeting in St Peter's Square saying they hated Papa B." She is absoulutely right. Mainly because the Main Stream Media is as out of touch with reality as Mr. Lindsey is.

Apparently the people there do think Papa Benedetto is taking Jesus as his model. 1 of the banners said "Don't be afraid, Jesus won out over evil." Other banners included “Together with the pope”, “Your holiness, you are not alone, the whole church is with you”, “Peter is here and we are with him”, & “One Heart and One Soul, [the town of] Rio Saliceto is With You". Many other groups also arrived with dozens of homemade signs & banners. The Vatican Police estimated there were more than 150,000 people there. They packed into St. Peter’s Piazza this Sunday for the pope’s weekly Regina Caeli prayers on order to show their support for & “solidarity” with Papa Benedetto. The rally was organized by a coalition of 68 lay organizations & Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the head of the Italian bishops conference.

As the Ap pointed out, large crowds like this are usually reserved for major holiday Masses & canonizations, not for Benedict's brief, 10-minute Sunday Angelus/ Regina Caeli blessings from his studio window. The crowd was clearly on the Pope's side. They interrupted Benedict frequently with applause & shouts of "Benedetto!"

Over a loudpeaker an official said “We have gathered here today because we want to be seen to stand in support of Pope Benedict XVI, just in the way that children would do with their father.”

Simone Pleticos, a 24-year-old student who traveled from Milan for the occasion told a reporter"We are here to show both to other people and to ourselves our solidarity with the church in this difficult time".

Mayor Gianni Alemanno was in the crowd, along with other pro-Vatican Italian officials. He told the AP: "We want to show our solidarity to the pope and transmit the message that single individuals make mistakes but institutions, faith and religion cannot be questioned. We will not allow this."

Luca Colussi, from the farmers' union Coldiretti, made it clear he feels the abuse allegations must be fully investigated. "But as far we're concerned, our members will always remain close to the Pope as we share the same values."

Clearly the "people of God" feel that Papa Benedetto IS in touch with them. & more importantly, that he is in touch with God & leading the Church in the direction God wants it to go. & it isn't the direction Mr. Lindsey wants to go.

"Thank you for your presence and trust," said Papa Benedetto. "All of Italy is here." He went on to say “It is wonderful to see this great crowd in St Peter’s Square, just as it was very moving for me to see the huge crowds at Fatima, a crowd which, at the school of Mary, prayed for the conversion of hearts."

“Today you show the great affection and profound closeness of the church and the Italian people to the pope and your priests ... because, in the commitment to spiritual and moral renewal, we can always do better.”

Repeating comments that he made on the way to Portugal last week, he added “The real enemy to fear and to fight is sin, spiritual evil – which at times, unfortunately, also infects members of the Church.”

To be accurate about where he is coming from, in Mr. Lindsey's mind the "People of God" he thinks the pope should listen to are those who think the same way he does. He really doesn't see the average person in the pew who believes what the Church teachings as a real "Spirit lead" "People of God". Had he been at the Vatican Sunday, he would have looked down his nose at these 150,000 + people as benighted & more worthy of pity than being listened to. The reality is that these people are expressing the true "sensus fidelium" & it isn't what Lindsey & his ilk say it is.

& it NEVER will be!!!!!

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PS Shout out to LarryD for putting me on to some good topics over the past few days. Mille grazie amico!