English diocese cancels lecture by dissident theologian
CWN – September 12, 2012
An English diocese has cancelled a lecture by a theologian who has taken a public stand in favor of legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
The Diocese of Clifton announced that a scheduled lecture by Tina Beattie would not take place, as a result of controversy surrounding a letter that Beattie and 27 other people signed. The letter, which appeared in the London Times, said that it is “perfectly proper for Catholics, using fully informed consciences, to support the legal extension of civil marriage to same-sex couples.”
Beattie said that she accepted the decision, but said that she tries to “maintain a difficult but important balancing act” between upholding the teachings of the Church and “entering into reasoned and informed debates about issues of morality, society, and values which are contingent and capable to being adapted to different cultures and contexts.” Citing the final interview of the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Montini, she said that the Church needs more open debate, and asked whether “people are still listening to the advice of the Church regarding sexuality.”
The topic of Beattie’s scheduled lecture did not involve same-sex marriage of human sexuality. She had been slated to speak on the role of the Mother of God as explained by the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium.
Additional sources for this story: English bishop cancels lecture by theologian who argued for same-sex marriage (Catholic Herald) www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/09/11/bishop-cancels-lecture-by-liberal-theologian-who-argued-for-same-sex-marriage/
Gay Marriage and the Fully Formed Conscience
By Dr. Jeff Mirus | September 12, 2012
www.catholicculture.org/commentary/the-city-gates.cfm?id=406
Tina Beattie’s scheduled talk on Mary in the English Diocese of Clifton was cancelled because she signed a letter defending gay marriage. Beattie, a theologian, wrote that it was “perfectly proper for Catholics, using fully informed consciences, to support the legal extension of civil marriage to same-sex couples.”
The cancellation is another indication of a trend toward the enforcement of orthodoxy in official Catholic functions, and that is a very good trend indeed. But it is also important to note that Beattie is just plain wrong in her assessment of what Catholics can do “using fully informed consciences.”
Consider: If government decides it sees an advantage to the social order in recognizing gay couples as constituting a “household” for tax purposes, any such proposal would have to be argued on its merits with respect to the common good. There would certainly be a strong tendency by those who recognize the natural law to oppose the recognition of gay alliances as households, but the assignment of household status to gay couples is not intrinsically evil.
Therefore, a decision pro or con would depend on the circumstances. It is at least conceivable that there could be some social benefit to recognizing “households” of various types, perhaps (for example) for the purpose of encouraging a more efficient use of certain resources. I don’t pretend to think that this is likely under present circumstances, but it is not inconceivable.
But for government to extend anything called “marriage” to same-sex couples is intrinsically evil. In the first place, it is a lie. Such a measure denies the very nature of marriage as a potentially fruitful union between one man and one woman. It also arrogates to the State the right to redefine reality, undermining and replacing an immense spiritual, moral and social good with a counterfeit which mocks that good. And of course it is also a distortion of language to provide a political benefit which reality itself otherwise denies. Every aspect of this is intrinsically wrong.
And that is why, as any theologian ought to know, it is not possible for Catholics “to support the legal extension of civil marriage to same-sex couples” by “using fully informed consciences”. Rather, this can be accomplished only by resisting, denying and contradicting what a fully informed conscience will invariably guide us to do.
Tina Beattie is a favourite of the BBC on all matters Catholic, as with any other semi or fully dissenting so-called Catholics they can find. Last Sunday we had a +++Martini fest, complete with Modernist Bishop Conry. As for the Clifton Diocese, and I have resided therein, they allow dissenting clergy to criticise the Magisterium without let or hindrance. However, they do have several TLMs available.
I knew Declan Lang before he received the mitre and he is so liberal that I have no doubt he agrees with Beattie’s views on sodomitic unions.
However, there is a new wind blowing in England. The nuncio seems to be orthodox and he has just appointed a Catholic to take over from Lang’s mentor, Hollis, in Portsmouth. If Portsmouth can fall to a priest who supports the TLM and has never used “altar girls”, then the likes of Lang are probably starting to feel a little vulnerable.
If the nuncio makes similar appointments in the other sees coming vacant, there will be quite a massive shift in the make-up of the English hierarchy. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was he who leant on Lang to drop Beattie.
Prominent feminist speaker surprisingly dropped from lecture at English Catholic diocese
by Hilary White
www.lifesitenews.com/news/surprise-prominent-feminist-speaker-dropped-from-lecture-at-english-catholi
BRISTOL, September 12, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a surprise move, the bishop of the English diocese of Clifton, Declan Lang, has cancelled a lecture by a theology professor because of her support for “same-sex marriage”. Tina Beattie is a popular liberal-feminist professor at the Digby Stuart Research Centre for Catholic Studies at Roehampton University, and was to deliver a lecture this month titled, “Mary: Mother of God and a model of a pilgrim people – Lumen Gentium”.
The diocese said that Beattie was dropped because she had signed a letter, published in the Times August 13, supporting the government’s plans to create “gay marriage”.
“In the light of the controversy over a recent letter which appeared in the Times, signed by Professor Beattie and 27 others, about proposals to extend marriage to same-sex partnerships, in discussion with Professor Beattie, Clifton Diocese has decided to cancel the lecture,” the diocese said. The lecture was part of a series put on by the diocese to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
Beattie responded that she is “deeply saddened” at the decision to cancel the lecture. The lecture was cancelled, she said, after “representations were made” to Bishop Lang. “I deeply regret any personal embarrassment I may have caused Bishop Declan,” she said. “He is a wise and pastorally sensitive leader who has earned the respect of many of us in his diocese.
Beattie continued, saying she hopes she will “be able to continue to contribute towards the educational life of the diocese as I have for many years.”
She defended the letter – that was also signed by a who’s-who list of leaders of the English Catholic Church’s homosexualist movement – saying she stands by it and that it did not take a position either way about “gay marriage.”
Beattie has never hesitated to publicly oppose Catholic teaching and disciplines on most of the usual topics close to the heart of the left within the Church, including female ordination, homosexuality and contraception. She writes regularly on religious topics for Britain’s left-leaning daily newspaper the Guardian and is a contributor and director of the Tablet, the country’s leading liberal Catholic magazine. She has heavily criticised Pope Benedict, calling his encyclical Caritas in Veritate, a “culpably naive approach to the problem of over-population.”
Beattie’s baffled response to being dropped for her public dissent from Catholic teaching is unsurprising, since it is the first time she has been publicly admonished by a member of the English Catholic hierarchy, particularly Bishop Lang with whom she maintains close relations.
In September 2010, following the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain, Beattie said on a BBC television programme that the decision by the Anglican Communion to ordain women priests was “prophetic”. She claimed that it is inevitable the Catholic Church will follow suit, despite the statement by the late pope John Paul II that the Church has no power to do so. Appearing on the programme with her was the Catholic bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Keiran Conry, who said nothing to correct her. Conry responded, “Well, according to Pope John Paul II, this was a definitive statement, wasn’t it, so I couldn’t possibly comment.”
The letter to the Times, signed by 27 prominent dissenting Catholics, said, “Not all Catholics share their hierarchy’s stated views against proposals to extend civil marriage to same-sex couples.”
It continued, “In 1997 Cardinal Hume wrote that love between two persons, whether of the same sex, or of a different sex, is to be treasured and respected. This respect demands that such loving relationships be afforded social recognition according to social justice principles.”
“We suggest that it is perfectly proper for Catholics, using fully informed consciences, to support the legal extension of civil marriage to same-sex couples.”
Beattie’s teaching topics include the “theologies and theories of gender,” theology and the arts, and religion and human rights. Her books include “God’s Mother, Eve’s Advocate” (2002) and “New Catholic Feminism: Theology and Theory” and she is currently working on a book, “Nature, God and Gender after Postmodernity”. An early article was titled, “‘Mary, the Virgin Priest?”
As a spokesman for the Catholic Church, she is popular with the mainstream media and appears regularly on radio and television programmes by the BBC, Sky News and Al Jazeera, Radio 4, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and RTE (Ireland).
In August last year, Telegraph columnist and longtime critic of the English bishops, Damian Thompson wrote about the “ubiquitous” Beattie’s scheduled appearance in Clifton for the lecture series, saying there is a “double standard” at work within the English Catholic Church.
“Attacks on papal policies from the Left count as debate whereas the invocation of conservative papal documents counts as troublemaking.”
She is not a theologian. She is a nut case.