Conservatives in a Lather

With regard to Weigel's commentary (I haven't read the others you link to), I suggest you have missed his point.

A fair reading demonstrates he is NOT "denouncing" the Council's document. He is denouncing the interpretations that, he says, much of the media, left-wing politicians, and self-styled progressives have placed on the document, especially in holding it up as authoritative.

One example of Weigel's point is the coverage by the UK's The Telegraph. Here's the headline: "Vatican sides with anti-capitalist protesters and attacks global financial system." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8846595/Vatican-sides...

Weigels point is: the "Vatican" did no such thing.

The Telegraph story goes on to attribute to Fr. Thomas J. Reese the following: "Thomas J Reese, a Vatican analyst at Georgetown University in the US, said the 'radical' proposals put forward on Monday aligned the Holy See with the Occupy Wall Street movement and meant that the Vatican's views on the economic crisis were 'to the Left of every politician in the United States.'"

He may hope that. But to inflate the council document to *the* representation of the "Vatican's views" on something as broad and complex as "the economic crisis" is also to reduce it to a mere policy statement. And just as obviously, the document does not "align" the "Holy See" with the OWS movement.

Any rational starting point for discussing the document surely has to include an understanding of what the document is, and what it is not. As Weigel says, "To suggest, as most of the immediate reporting and commentary did, that the Catholic Church was endorsing one or another set of proposals for re-ordering international finance, and was doing so as a matter of exercising its doctrinal authority, was a very bad category mistake...." And a very basic one.

Does this mean that Weigel is a "cafeteria Catholic?" How many times have the Trads ranted about not being able to pick and chose which Church teachings you must obey. This is quite amusing.

MSW is so jealous of George Weigel as to be incoherent in his presence. He either lacks the capacity to comprehend a well-written essay or the capacity to pen a worthy response. So he accuses him of being predictably disingenuous. One hopes that NCR will be able to afford someone more accomplished, and less boorish, one day soon.

They tried to spin away Caritas in Veritate, as if whatever spin they put on reflects the reality in God's eyes. They are trying to bluff their own consciences. That won't help them.

Michael,   you got a nod from Daniel Maguire over at Religion Dispatches Org.

"New Vatican Document Good News for Poor, Bad News for Tea Party"

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/guest_bloggers/5321/new_vat...

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No,   the Vatican prelates have no special charism for economics,   and neither do they have a special charism for practicing OB-GYN medicine,   ...but that hasn't stopped them from trying :))
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It is a little comical that some of the ultra-conservative more-Catholic-than-the-pope folks are just fine with popes and bishops harping endlessly on pelvic issues of every sort,   BUT,   mess with their deregulated,   free market,   privatize everything,   neoliberalism economics and they are shocked...   shocked! .     Then they say that the Vatican has stopped its preachin' and gone to meddlin' :))
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