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How to Speak Minnesotan
Bishop John Nienstedt, recently-appointed bishop of New Ulm (in Minnesota) (I had to look it up too), has shaken up local Minnesotans by publicly taking to task his late predecessor (one Raymond Lucker) for doctrinal dissent. Lucker, a proud member of Call to Action and longtime dissenter, had a collection of his writings, a veritable manual on theological heterodoxy, published posthumously, just as Nienstedt took the reigns of the 'diocese on the prairie.' Nienstedt, not to be outdone, took it upon himself to make an official statement on the book and posted it on his diocesan webpage, lest anyone read it "as though it reflects Catholic thinking." The dissenting viewpoint promoted in Lucker's book, claims Nienstedt, "places one theologically in opposition to the church and spiritually in peril of losing eternal life." The National Catholic Reporter, the mouthpiece of American dissent, published two scathing articles (not yet available on the internet) in its May 5th edition, lionizing Lucker and demonizing Nienstedt, who is accused of 'maligning posthumously' his own episcopal predecessor. One article quotes local laity and clergy in New Ulm, who are essentially quaking in their boots, 'afraid to speak up' in the face of a bishop who is a 'top-down micromanager,' a 'scolder,' and someone who seems 'to enjoy being mean.' Once again, a sign that the Diocese of New Ulm . . . is in good hands.
# posted by Jamie : 9:19 AM |
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