From: nuge@ct.med.ge.com (James A. Nugent)
Subject: Re: Forwarded mail, and comments
Organization: GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 92 21:29:17 GMT

In article <9212291649.AA74351@evolving.com> "John W. Woolley"
<jww@EVOLVING.COM> writes:

> I'm posting this for someone who can't (yet) post directly; she asked
> that I forward it to the group, and not include her address.

> ***********************************

> Hi.  I'm new to the net, so forgive me if this topic has been covered
> before and tell me to (groan) shut up if it has.  I really want some
> feedback, though.

	....

> I just passed my first Christmas since leaving the Church.  With
> very great regret, I left New Year's Eve of last year.  I simply
> couldn't take the pain any longer.  The Anglican communion is the
> true sacrament and they don't mind ministering to sinners.  But I
> still, and always will, miss the Church.  For the record, some of
> the people who love the Church the most can be found kneeling next
> to me on Sundays.

Colleen,

        It's easy to see why you would become alienated. Your pain
comes across very clearly. As I'm sure sure you know by now, you have
a lot of company. Most, like you, are not completely happy with the
"solution" they've worked out. They long to be a part of the Church
again, and feel shut out. FWIW marriage situations are probably the
biggest contributor to the astounding number of inactive/alienated
Catholics.

        What you really need to find is a Program for outreach to
inactive/alienated catholics. These programs are run by a combination
of priests and lay peopele (many of whom were themselves alienated at
one time) who will be good at listening and empathizing, and easing
the healing process. These people are themselves active Catholics, and
their goal is to facilitate coming back into the church. Because
divorce is a common theme with Catholics who have become alienated,
there is always a team member who is REALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE about
options open to people in situations like yours.

        These programs aren't all that common yet; St.
Paul/Minneapolis and Tucson and a few other cities have them. One is
being started near here in Racine WI by Fr. Martin Pable, a Capuchin
priest who taught a class in Evangelization I just completed.
(Inactive catholics were the biggest single focus in that class).

        Since I don't know where you live, I can't be of any more help
at this point, but feel free to email me (be persistent, I think our
outside email may be broken but should be fixed soon!).  It may be
possible to inquire and to direct you to a an evanglizing parish with
the means to help you.

You may spot a newspaper ad like this:

"CATHOLICS: Inactive? Alienated? Retired? If you've parted company
with the church over new changes, old rules, a marriage situation,
hurt feelings or other reasons, why not join us for an open meeting at
___ on ___." 

       That is how the programs often spread the word. Some parishes
run them right after Christmas/Easter, knowing that's the time a lot
of inactive Catholics will return. 

	If you're into reading, get a copy of _Catholics Coming Home_
by Carrie Kemp and Donald Pologruto. While mainly a "handbook for
churches reaching out to inactive catholics," it is appropriate
reading for someone in your position. 

	You may find the following excerpt from that book interesting:

	"A good deal of misinformation about church teaching has to be
        clarified on these issues [divorce and remarriage] before any
        attempt can be made to reconcile with the church. Council of
        Baltimore in 1843 did place excommunication upon divorce, but
        forty one years later, seeing that this was far too severe,
        the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore of 1884 withdrew the
        censure. The removal of this censure is one of the church's
        best kept secrets! It is another false assumption that
        Catholics who remarry are excommunicated; that excommunication
        was rescinded by the American Bishops in 1977. The late Father
        James Young, C.S.P, clarified the relationship of remarried
        Catholics to the church: Catholics who marry a second time
        without the church's approval are told that they're
        excommunicated. Nothing could be further from the truth. No
        matter what happens to the marriage of two Catholics, no
        matter how many times they get divorced or remarried, they
        remain Catholics.

		The church teaches that marrriage is a sacrament, a
        covenant that cannot be broken. Implied in that teaching is
        that those who have divorced and remarried without annulment
        are unworthy of receiving the Eucharist. The phrase once used
        was "living in sin," and remarried Catholics are painfully
        aware that the label is still part of Catholic vocabularies.
        Too often divorced and remarried CAtholics have been told only
        the stern reality of their legal status. They are unaware of
        the the church's emphasis on compassion and understanding
        toward those in difficulty. In 1981 Pope John Paul II stated,
        "I earnestly call upon pastors and the whole community of the
        faithful to help the divorced, andand with solicitous care to
        make sure that they do not consider themselves as separated
        from the church, for as baptized persons, they can, and indeed
        must, share in her life...Let the church pray for them,
        encourage them, and show herself a merciful mother, and thus
        sustain them in faith and hope."

        Carrie Kemp and Donald Pologruto, _Catholics Coming Home_,
	Harper, San Francisco, 1990, ISBN 0-06-066657-9, p. 141

	If you email me and tell me where you live, I may be able to
be of a little more help. I will pray for you.
--
Jim Nugent

nuge@ct.med.ge.com

nugentj@ct.med.ge.com
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: (no subject given)