The anti-Catholic New Times

By Fr. Alphonse de Valk
Issue: April 2005

The Catholic New Times (CNT from here on in) has irritated many people for quite some time, but none more so than during the last year and a half. Its leading articles over this period of time have broken the last bonds which restrained it from falling out completely with the Church whose ideals it originally claimed to champion. On moral-marital-family issues its contributors now find fault with almost everything Catholic Church leaders say or do, while the positions they hold in opposition to them cannot be classified as Catholic. The editors fully approve of this public dissent from Catholic teaching.

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Conclusion
The evidence is clear. This is no longer a Catholic paper. CNT rejects the Church’s marital-sexual-moral teaching across the board. It also defies the solemnly-defined (May 1995) ordination of men only, and ridicules the 1900-year-old discipline of celibacy. It mocks Pope, bishops, priests and the faithful.

Is it any wonder that Catholics across the country are wondering—or perhaps despairing—why, first, this newspaper continues to carry the title “Catholic,” and second, why it continues to be promoted in Catholic churches and parishes?

Financially, CNT is doing well. The Feb. 13, 2005 edition carries a brief financial report: subscriptions brought in $130,000; advertising $68,000; and donations $82,000, enough to cover costs and leave something left over.

Intellectually and morally, CNT is spreading confusion and false teaching among Catholics. But does the local bishop know this? Does he ever read this newspaper? If so, why does he continue to allow it in the churches? If not, should parishioners not draw his attention to it?

Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B. is a priest of the Congregation of St. Basil and the editor of Catholic Insight magazine.

P.S. Please, see also Letters to the Editor, pages, 4 and 5. It is permitted to photocopy this article or reprint it for wider distribution.

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