Dear Father ----------------:

As befits a milquetoast mutineer, you did not directly address me, but instead wrote of your displeasure in my columns which you described as "irrelevant orthodoxy," directly to the Chancery in Portland. How sweet it is!

In this blast of tired rhetoric you accused me of the following crimes against your brand of "Catholicism:"

1. Having "no credentials."

For starters, I have nothing against academic credentials, but every time I make an attempt to establish some, I discover the so-called "credential" can only be obtained either by deceit [pretending to be an apostate] or by enduring a demolition derby wherein the Creed is dismantled line by line, subtly or overtly.

Secondly, many of my favorite Saints had no "degrees" either, for instance, the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, the first Pontiff, St. Gertrude, Lily of the Sacred Heart and apostle for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, St. Theresa of Lisieux, newest Doctor of the Church, among others. Not that I compare myself to Saints, for I am but a woeful sinner, always one step away from damnation but for the Sacrament of Penance; however, I refer to them to establish them as eminent examples for emulation. The "degree" tactic is a favorite ploy of you dissenters and malcontents who cannot debate issues credibly, arguing the merits of each case in its own right, so you resort to marginalization, using intellectual snobbery as a sword for intimidation or dismissal; sorry, Father, the tactic fails with this old warrior.

Thirdly, there are at least three ways to acquire and savor the Heavenly incense of saving Catholic truth: reading, reading, and reading, the Magisterium, the Doctors and Apostles and Fathers of the Church, sound Catholic periodicals. I own, through the mercy and grace of God a solid Catholic [as in orthodoxy] library, and I am its best patron. While some of you are playing bridge and golf, vacationing in the islands or on Southern beaches for three weeks at a clip, taking shopping trips with your parishioners to Quebec and Atlantic City or even Las Vegas, I am either reading or writing about what I have read. I will match my "credentials" against yours any day.

Fourthly, there is experience, you know, that sacred phenomenon you and your ilk claim as a necessary credential for decision-making. Apparently the only experience that counts with you is your own.

Lastly, Canon 212, §3, states that the faithful have the duty to make known their concerns to the sacred pastors ... I note carefully that this canon does not stipulate that this sacred duty applies only to those with doctorates from CUA or in only one format.

2. You accuse me of the unholy crime of being "divisive."

This is hypocritical, anyway you slice it. I cannot think of a more divisive paper than the Church World [now blessedly defunct], that den of pirates and thieves who plunder the Deposit of Faith with impunity, shielded and abetted by the editor and the Bishop who is complicit in the deed. I cannot tell you how many calls I receive from Catholics all over the diocese, who are grateful that someone is speaking out, precisely because they find the CW so divisive.

The charge of "divisiveness" is another ploy used ad nauseam by dissenters-----it's meant to "kill the messenger" because they don't like the sting of the message! Tough, Father, but this is a war we wage, the battle for the Truth, for the heart and soul of the Mystical Body of Christ, that unblemished but battered Bride of His, Her reputation sullied, and She, treated like a harlot by the friends of Antichrist. It is they who divide so as to conquer. To acknowledge that this is what is happening is not to be "divisive," but simply to warn that the barbarians are at the gate of the citadel and within her very walls. My columns have as one their goals, that precious unity of Faith, that Unity that can only be restored and preserved through reverence for the Holy Mass and the Sacred Magisterium and both in abject humility out of supreme charity for God. Where every dissenter is his or her own "pope," there is no unity.

It is also quite funny actually-----here we have all this high-minded talk about "diversity," then, when a little of it reveals itself, that is Truth and in a diverse form of the press, my columns here and there, why diversity is to be squelched, the offending Truth silenced. How hypocritical!

3. I am accused of the 'mortal sin' of deciding on matters of orthodoxy for myself, supposedly I am opposed to the kind of "orthodoxy" that Father finds so ennobling. But it is you, Father, who is deciding what is orthodox by your own standards. There is no dogma by Fongemie, there is only Magisterium by Magisterium. I am merely privileged in my small way to publish it. By their fruits you shall know them: and we call the shots as we see them about what is going on. Some people who call themselves Catholic are living a lie as there is more to being a Catholic than paying lip service to a cultural sentimentality.

4. I am accused of the most curious crime of all, being both "orthodox" and "irrelevant," meaning that orthodoxy  is "irrelevant" and thus the relevant must be "unorthodox."

Let's examine this charge:
First, the Truth, by definition is always relevant for those who love God, Who is always all Truth. Second, the matter of relevance, is quite literally, irrelevant or relative itself. It all depends on one's point of view and thereby your charge is irrelevant to us here. Touché, Father, touché.

Why do you not come into the light of day and address me directly, or do you fear that you shall be ahoist on your own petard? But thanks for contacting the Chancery for me, it was so thoughtful of you. My brigand, I beat you at your own game because I had already sent a copy of the "offensive" column to the Chancery, as I am sometimes given to do. I fear you not. This ship is trim and tidy, the bilge has no bile, and the Magisterium mans the helm. Our rudder Tradition, the Scriptures our charts, the Saints our stars for navigational points. The current seas may be surging with the waves of heresy and apostasy crashing down all around us, but we are intrepid, if not ancient mariners, for we sail with our Master, Christ our King and Lord, and our bountiful Mistress, her Majesty, our Lady, and on that valiant vessel herself, the Barque of Peter, Holy Mother Church.

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 www.catholictradition.org/Essays/twilight4.htm