What New York's New Archbishop Means for American Catholicism

Reader Comments
Back to article

Your intimidating words also have power which displeases me greatly. We don't live in a Big Brother state where we look over each other's shoulder to make sure we are doing and saying the right thing. We live in America where we are guaranteed the right to free speech, not Nazi Germany. You worry about your behavior and let the rest of us worry about ours, please

Rain39 of TX 11:33PM February 24, 2009

In the first part of the book of Revelation, there is mention of several churches that make up the body of believers of Christ.
My Bible is a red letter edition, so this means the messages to the churches are from Jesus Himself.
Since the Roman Catholic Church is a church of Rome, it stands to reason that the United States, being a separate seat of government, is of a different church. (Many have said the US is the extension of the church of Philidelphia since populations has expanded around the world)
Since all the churches together in Christ are the full Church, we come to the mandate from God that says His church is of Israel.
That eliminates the Roman Catholic Church as the overall Christian church. Consequently though, since many of the churches mentioned in Revelation do not today know who they are, the known church of Rome moves in to uphold the hand of the Christian church in these times.
But, the church of Rome, still does not have legitimate jurisdiction in this country of the United States of America simply because it is a foriegn governmental power. This is primarily where the battle of "church and state", and whether there is a separation of the two, causes confusion.

Mart of KS 6:33PM February 24, 2009

February 23, 09
I have built friendships and relationships in my own community with people of various faiths that uphold Judeo-Christian values. We have worked together on various committees and in the public schools. Before these past elections I was blocked from voicing my public support for an excellent program that the Catholic Charities, Youth Front, and some different church organizations put on before the start of the school year. It was encouraging to see so many groups find some common ground on making a stand regarding moral issues. The program featured a lady that had aids. She told the young people that they traced the aids back to her first sexual partner. She showed the young people the cup of medicine she takes each day to stay alive. She introduced her husband who was a 27 year old virgin when she married him. They had an excellent and encouraging testimony that really held the interest of the young people. I sincerely believe if they could repeatedly get those type of assemblies and programs into public schools they could really "Turn the Tide" for the next generation. It is the educators that deal with so much of the break down in stability in many of the young people's families. They certainly need encouragement. Pretending that the prisons are not filled to capacity in every state will not change the issue. I also believe we have all learned the importance of bringing sexual abuse, especially of children, to light so that there can be healing and accountability that helps us not to repeat the same mistakes with the next generation. There is also debate about the fact that some states have successfully implemented school voucher programs. I have always considered myself pro-life and believed in inspiring a respect for God given human life. I have also always believed it is between a married couple and God whether they use contraceptives or not, or whether they ever get a tubal ligation or vasectomy. I don't mind saying that for those of us that believe life begins at conception, women being able to now acquire a tubal ligation in a simple visit to the Doctor's office instead of going for surgery in the hospital like it used to be, should be a help in family planning depending on a married couple's conviction about this issue. In my opinion, there is no reason that a vast majority of people cannot come together on centrist economic policies, encouraging families with a father and mother, although single parents also need encouragement in their task of parenting, realizing that people have the right to have hunting guns but common sense tells us there is no sense in citizens having weapons like machine guns et cetera, implementing reasonable laws to stop drunken driving, and stop the flow of pornography and hard core violence that turns some people into predators. I pray that God will give Archbishop Dolan and others wisdom to work together to "Turn the Tide" for the next generation.

Deborah Solomon of MO 7:42PM February 23, 2009

There is no such thing as the American Catholic Church. That is part of the problem with The Roman Catholic Church in this moral relativisim infected society in the United States.
"In the beginning was The Word..." If you missed the point, words have power so watch what and how you type.

Richard T. Schoenling of GA 3:33PM February 23, 2009

The word pope is only capitalized before a name, as in Pope John II.

Lee of GA 3:22PM February 23, 2009

In your articke, you failed to capitalize Pope. It is very disrepectful to diminuize the office or the person of the Papacy. "The Pope" should be capitalized.
From yuor article: "which can edit the "list—and then passed along to the pope, "

Richard of MO 3:08PM February 23, 2009