A Dust-up at Open Book

over Fr. Reese's resignation as editor of America Magazine

Related coverage at Against the Grain Catholic News Service. For a taste of the MSM coverage, click here

First, Wouldn't it be nice if we Foolishly awaited more information before rushing to judgement. I betcha prudence and Charity would both be served by restraint rather than piling-on. Oh, that's right. It's ComBox Warfare, where scoring cheap points and soaking in righteousness is more significant than acknowledging truth in Humility and Charity. It's all good. After all, we're orthodox Catholics that rise to defend the orthodoxy of the Faith, so the hell with orthopraxy if it gets in the way of a good smack-down. All in the service of Truth, dontchaknow!

I'm speaking particularly of this comment:

"It was subversive, was intended to be so, and even with the removal of the Leftist Reese, WILL CONTINUE TO BE SO. Nothing has changed, because nothing has been altered within the JESUITS. The Society of Jesus is the problem, and the answer is a purge the likes of which Stalin himself would be proud to call his own." (Emphasis mine.)

Sure. Christ really scolded 'em good, the way he had Peter and Andrew lay that Barbed wire down. And whoa! Who'd have thought that Thomas and the Jameses could pop a cap in those -----. Yeah, those were the good 'ol days, when the Spirit of God brought forth salvation by "kicking ass and taking names", to quote Mark Shea. Imagine, this is how we react with the drops of facts that we have.

I'm more inclined to sober reflection. Perhaps that's Foolish of me, perhaps not. Either way, Amy's point makes the most sense. If America is meant as a medium that at least in part speaks for the Jesuits, then it should conform to the Charism of the Jesuits. Since the Jesuits originated during the Counter-Reformation and make a special vow of obedience to the Holy Father, America's editorial stands and decisions should express this connection to the Magisterium. That many Jesuits, particularly in the US, do not hold to the Charism is irrelevent. America may be under a greater obligation to clearly proclaim the Church's mind on issues that it addresses. Failing to do so makes America a violation of Jesuit character, not an example of it. For this reason alone, the Jesuits may wish to clean house internally. The fact that they may have done so under pressure from the CDF speaks more to the troubles they face. It does not indicate that America has been a paragon of Catholic thinking that has been silenced by the Vatican for its lack of orthodoxy. America may have published viewpoints from a variety of perspectives that explored intersections between Catholicism and society. These views do not necessarily make America a publication that supports the Truth as revealed in Faith. I'm moved by Mark Brumley's take on this matter in particular:

>>By publishing, say, a pro-homosexual-marriage piece and a pro-Catholic-view-of-marriage piece side-by-side, AMERICA gives the impression that this is a subject up for legitimate debate within Catholicism and that AMERICA is the place to go to participate in that debate. Likewise, by publishing "moderate" proaborts side-by-side with people who embrace Catholic teaching on the right to life, AMERICA grabs the rhetorical middle ground and assumes the guise of defining what is acceptable discussion within Catholicism. By publishing "name" Catholic commentators who are orthodox, AMERICA can draw attention to itself as it says, "See, we give both sides their chance"--as if on many of the issues under discussion there are two legitimate sides within the Catholic Church, when in fact there aren't.<<

Bottom line, we all need to learn more before we set our opinions in stone. However, if America is a Jesuit magazine, it should behave like a Jesuit magazine. This means it should be more reflective of St. Ignatius and less of Fr. Charles Curran.