The Ontological War

Frank L. Cocozzelli has written an interesting article, “The Politics of Schism in the Catholic Church,” in which he examines the church’s moving toward a more conservative, if not reactionary, direction.

For those of us who have been keeping up even slightly with what the Vatican and “traditional” Catholics have been up to lately, this shift is nothing new. A few of the incidents Cocozzelli mentions are

• The church’s embrace of SSPX
• Bishop Robert Finn, head of the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese, telling an audience, “We are at war.”
• Rev. C. John McCloskey’s homage to Edward Bellamy: “2030: Looking Backwards.” In “2030″ McCloskey describes a future time when America no longer exists and the Catholic church’s complete assimilation into the Culture of Alienation has narrowed its focus considerably. (Don’t tell anyone because no official announcement has yet been made, but this 5,000-word piece has probably earned Rev. C. John the next The Prof. L. Bernard Budlong Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Intellectual Defense of Ontological Alienation!)
• The Pope’s calling for a “leaner, smaller, purer church.”

At first glance, this schism may seem religious, and almost assuredly it does to traditional Catholics, but Bishop Finn is right, this schism is actually a war, and it is not a theological, religious, moral, or cultural war but an ontological war.

For whatever reasons, the Catholic church has decided to go in an increasingly alienated direction, and a quick review of traditional Catholic websites and blogs reveals that there are many ontologically festering Catholics who are happy to go along with the Vatican. But even though Pope Benedict, recent popes, and the church have, through their weakness and fear, failed at life doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to follow them.

The Pope wants a “leaner” Roman Catholic Church, and personally I’m all in favor of traditional Catholics standing in front of the door of “their” church on Sunday morning and physically preventing any Catholic who is for abortion, who uses contraceptives, who believes that gays should be treated equally, or who voted for Obama from entering “their” church. If the Vatican wants to make a concerted effort to become yet another outfit promoting alienation–and is wiling to trade its religious foundation in order to help bring about that change, which it is doing–my thought is let them do it.

Finally, I made a small graphic that represents the new Catholic church: The RCC INC. The new organization or outfit is welcome to use the graphic all it wants to help brand its new mission, and I won’t even charge them for it. Consider it my public service to humankind.