Posted by Charlie10 on May 25, 1999 at 12:31:46:
In Reply to: Re: "A New Hermeneutics: Progressive Catholics as Gift...." posted by Anne Ward on May 24, 1999 at 13:39:21:
>>>>So, now I ask johnboy to define, for this lil ole country girl and in plain english HIS definition of "progressive" and HIS definition of "conservative"<<<<
i will explicate what i meant when i wrote:
+++To me, my conservatism is a charism when I seek to preserve the Truth, Beauty and Justice expressed in the doctrines, rituals and ethics born of my rich Catholic heritage and Tradition, all in the service of love. To me, my progressivism is a charism when, again, in the service of love, I seek to renew the Truth, Beauty, and Justice obscured by dogmatism, ritualism and legalism . The dichotomy that is most disturbing, my dear friends and family, is not really that of conservative versus progressive (only a useful distinction in discerning my particular charism or gift)+++
a picture being worth a thousand words, i'll reply this way:
John Paul II has the gift of conservatism and so did Paul VI and so does Mother Angelica and so do many of the leaders in the Charismatic Renewal and most of the Roman Curia and St.Thomas More and many other saints. I honor their gift.
Karl Rahner and John XXIII had the gift of progressivism and so does Hans Kung and so did Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Catherine of Siena and many other saints. I honor their gift.
otherwise, i pretty much would agree with any good consensus definition from the authors of the articles which might be found under an alta-vista web search for "progressive catholics"
and no, it won't likely be found in a Catholic Encyclopedia until many years after my death
shalom,
St. Johnboy
ps my recollection is that when i wrote that article, my thoughts and feelings resonated mostly with our beloved late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin and his efforts to establish "common ground"; personally, i think his writings were more inspired by the Holy Spirit than johnboy's