Death penalty & dogma

In his essay, “Catholic Colleges and Tests of Faith,” Feb.12th, Mr. Gibson, as biographer of our present Pope, ought to bone up on the distinction between dogma and ‘teaching,’ which is another word for opinion. Mr. Gibson covers teaching in Catholic schools but fails to point this out. Even the late Pope John Paul II tended to allow followers to fall for this delusion. The opposition to abortion and euthanasia are basic Catholic dogmas. The Church teaches that a definition of marriage exclusively involves a man and woman and is not open to opinion. But opinions differ whether capital punishment should be abolished, higher taxes should be levied on the wealthy and the military spends too much and on appropriate methods to reduce pain and suffering and improve the human condition. A specific teaching from our Pope, a bishop or a priest necessitates analysis and evaluation. What Jesus would do today is not what Christians should have done in Roman times. Catholics’ opinions now differentiate along the lines of self-worth based upon self-sufficiency in contrast with satisfaction based upon a social justice system that attempts to force individuals to be as equal as possible with their neighbors. The free market system, for example, can best alleviate poverty, but not according to the opposition. Read liberal vs. conservative into this dichotomy if you wish, but I am one Catholic who sees this chasm as irremediable. Catholics don’t know or can’t agree on dogma, much less discern or intelligibly discuss a difference of opinion. When Mr. Gibson hopes for young Catholics to “birth a wider Catholic culture to better support their children,” I wonder what ‘teachings’ he has in mind.

Carolyn McLaughlin
90 Heath Lane
New Holland, OH 43145
1-740-495-9691