From The Catholic Dictionary:
BLASPHEMY. Speech, writings, gestures or thoughts which show contumely to or contempt for God or detract from his honor whether such contumely, contempt or dishonour be intended or not. Intentional blasphemy is always a grave sin against religion; and efforts should be made if necessary to eliminate unintentional blasphemy from one’s speech, etc. Blasphemy against God is committed indirectly by speech, etc., showing contumely and dishonour to or contempt for his Church, the saints or sacred things; the gravity of this sin depends on the kind of blasphemy.
This is what I rise to this morning.
Biretta tip to CMR for this Chicago Tribune story about pro-abortion "Catholic" … Sinsiawa Dominican Sister Donna Quinn, who helps women overcome their fears at abortion clinics, so that they will go through with it. [We have written about her before, as I am sure some of you remember.]
Full Disclosure: I have never met a Sinsinawa Domincan who wasn’t an off-the-rails man-hating…. xxxxx. I and several of my friends suffered under one of these, who ran our lives in my US seminary. When I see the word "Sinsinawa", I cannot help but make the association. There may be wonderful sisters in that community. I have never met one. Their founder’s cause for beatification has been proposed, FWIW. I believe a decree of heroic virtue was given for Ven. Fr. Samuel Mazzucchelli, OP. That said…
Pro-choice nun still fighting for women’s care [Be wary of something. First, don’t accept the premise that abortion rights are part of "health care". Abortion must be a separate issue. Second, don’t accept that abortion is exclusively a "women’s rights" issue. It affects everyone.]
December 08, 2009
By Manya Brachear
Despite a public reprimand from her religious order last month, Chicago’s pro-choice Roman Catholic nun, Sister Donna Quinn, is not backing down from her support of abortion rights, applauding the defeat of an amendment today that would have added restrictions to the health care bill for women seeking abortions.
On the day the church honors the Immaculate Conception, or conception of the Virgin Mary, Quinn sent a thank you note to those who lobbied their senators to vote against the Nelson-Hatch Amendment, [sick] which lost in a 54-45 Senate vote earlier today.
The amendment would have prohibited funds authorized or appropriated under the health care bill, including the tax credits used to help individuals purchase health coverage, from being used for abortions, or for benefits packages that include abortion. America’s Catholic bishops had pushed for the amendment.
“The Amendment lost today but now the work will be to take this Bill and come out with the same good news when the Senate and House work together,” Quinn said.
Citing a poem about the Virgin Mary, Quinn noted the providential [What the…?!?] date of the amendment’s defeat.
“I was reminded of being with men and women from the Unitarian faith tradition last year [Who I am sure would welcome her into their community.] as they celebrated Mary who by her [ascent], they believed, was one of the first women in the New Testament to express Choice,” Quinn said. [Let’s get this straight. Sr. Quinn, Sinsinawa Dominican, is associating the Blessed Virgin Mary with a pro-abortion view. Mary = pro-choice = pro-abortion. That’s it, right? If that is right, isn’t that blasphemy?]
She also referenced the Vatican’s crackdown on dissenting voices, citing an article in the magazine "Conscience" published by the organization Catholics for Choice. [Why am I not surprised they raise their ugly heads here.]
Quoting writer Jeannine Gramick, [of "New Ways Ministry" which affirms homosexual acts] Quinn wrote: “Faithful and respectful dissent is vital to the life of the church. It enables the church community to think, to deliberate, to debate and to grow in relationship to one another and in relationship to God. We cannot afford to let our dissenters be silenced. [They see themselves as prophetic.] They are a gift to our church." [That keeps on giving.]
Last month, Quinn’s Wisconsin-based Sinsinawa Dominican order announced that she had been rebuked for escorting patients into a Hinsdale clinic that provides abortions. Quinn said patients needed her protection because of the threat posed by anti-abortion protesters.
A few weeks later, a previously approved "bubble zone" ordinance went into effect in Chicago, creating 8-foot zones around people within 50 feet of a medical facility.
What do you think? Do dissenters like Quinn strengthen the church?
See what Sister Anne Flanagan says about the bubble zone ordinance in Bubble Trouble?
This is what I think.
I think that Donna Quinn – bad apple – should enter into a prophetic discussion with both her superior, of the Sinsinawa Dominicans, as well as the local diocesan bishop, who is – I think – Cardinal George of Chicago.
CMR posted contact information for the Prioress of the Sinsinawa Dominicans. Don’t be stupid or nasty if you write. Be brief and matter of fact, without over-the-top language.
Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, OP
E-mail: Spatmul@aol.com
