Membership In The Church: Fundamental Questions

Membership in the Church: Fundamental Questions

by WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

FAITH AND REASON
Vol. 2, No. 3
Winter 1976
Christendom College

A pressing question before the Church today is precisely “Who is a member?” The importance of this matter, which seems on the surface to be rather obvious, stems from two scandalous but simple facts. First, the division of Christianity into competing sects has created the difficulty of defining the relationship of these sects to the true Church. Second, modern Catholics who deny even the most basic of Church teachings often confuse the issue by refusing to admit that they have left the Church. It is in this context, then, that F&R publishes the following rigorous, careful and technical treatment of Church membership by William H. Marshner. The argument demands and deserves careful reading and rereading with full attention to the notes. It is true that the casual reader will find certain traditional attitudes toward Church membership reinforced by the author’s conclusions. But the painstaking student of this article will find much more, for presented here are basic distinctions which go far toward ending the confusion about who is a member in good standing of the Catholic Church and who, in fact, is not.
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Towards A General Definition Of ‘Ideology’

Towards a General Definition of ‘Ideology’

W. H. Marshner

Any set of normative or programmatic beliefs about social matters is likely to be called an “ideology” in a neutral sense of the word. For in this sense, ‘ideology’ merely designates the ideas advanced by some social movement. With this sense of the term we have nothing more to do. Rather, we must try to define the stronger and pejorative sense in which some social programmes are called “ideologies” and some are not.
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Effectus Odit Quorum Amat Causas

W. H. MARSHNER

Triumph
Vol XI, No. 1
January 1976

Three things I take for granted. J. Fitzpatrick is 1) intelligent, 2) educated in Catholic matters, and 3) playing around with Hegel. Therefore, the following judgments seem in order.

The idea that Triumph magazine has deserted a country called America, like Tokyo Rose, shall we say, is too unreal to be taken seriously; and Fitzpatrick qua intelligent must know that.
Duty, honor and country are natural pieties not rejected but presupposed by Catholic politics, whether as conceived by Constantine, Philip II or L. Brent Bozell; and Fitzpatrick qua educated in Catholic matters must know that. Continue reading “Effectus Odit Quorum Amat Causas”

Principles Of Sufficient Reason: Selected Questions

Abstract

In graduate school at the University of Dallas, I was exposed to a school of phenomenologists who defend the principles of sufficient reason. This famous invention of Leibniz is an all-purpose replacement for the causal principles known and explored in the Middle Ages. It guarantees that every proposition, if true, and every fact has a sufficient reason why it is so and not otherwise. The crucial question is whether free choice is compatible with this “principle.” This essay explores several versions of it and argues that most of them are, indeed, incompatible with liberty and with several theological truths emphasized in the Thomist tradition. Continue reading “Principles Of Sufficient Reason: Selected Questions”

A Formula to End All Formulas

A Formula To End All Formulas

W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
September 4, 1975

A San Francisco novelty company has succeeded where yours truly and (I hate to say it, but) all the other Wanderer writers have consistently failed. This company has been able to put the entire problem of dogmatic relativism into 27 simple words. Here they are:

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Wanderer Forum Honors Boland, Mrs. Robinson, Marshner

THE WANDERER
July 10, 1975

Three persons received awards at the Eleventh National Wanderer Forum at an awards banquet on Saturday evening, June 28th, at the Hilton Hotel in St. Paul. The awards are given by the Wanderer Forum Foundation to Catholics who have defended Magisterial teachings in their work for the Faith.
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The Abortion Issue Intrudes On The Eucharistic Congress

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
July 3, 1975

John Cardinal Krol is preparing something unique for the bicentennial year, 1976. While other Americans are making fools of themselves by running around in powdered wigs reciting the speeches of long-dead patriots, the Cardinal is inviting Catholics and others who glory in the name of Christ to come to Philadelphia and adore the living God. From August 1st to 8th, 1976, Krol will host the 41st International Eucharistic Congress, an event dedicated to moral and spiritual renewal through devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

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Abortion Research: One Step Forward

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
June 26, 1975

WASHINGTON — Rep. Paul Rogers (D., Fla.), chairman of the powerful Health and Environment Subcommittee of the House, to which all health authorization bills are referred and to which, therefore, HEW, NIH, and all the rest of Washington’s vast medical- governmental complex must come with outstretched hands — Paul Rogers went on record Thursday, June 5th, as opposing the use of family planning research monies to develop or improve abortion techniques.

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The Vatican’s Declaration On Procured Abortion

The Vatican’s Declaration On Procured Abortion… A Charter For Political Action

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
June 19, 1975

Editor’s Note: With a few notable exceptions, Catholics in this Country have given little attention to the Vatican’s Declaration on Procured Abortion, issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last November. In the following commentary on this landmark document, Mr. Marshner demonstrates that the Declaration is more than a moral exhortation against abortion; it is a call for Catholics and all men of goodwill to take the offensive against all those who seek to institutionalize — in the name of the common good—this most heinous of crimes.

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Was I Never In Cincinnati?

By W.H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
June 12, 1975

EDITOR’S NOTE: We publish herein a commentary by contributing editor W.H. Marshner in which he reviews the recent series published in THE WANDERER (2-20, 2-27, and 3-6, 1975, issues) about the Archdiocese of Cincinnati with respect to the state of religious education and catechetics in that See. Mr. Marshner also responds to the criticism made of the articles by Most Reverend Joseph L. Bernardin, Archbishop of Cincinnati, who asserted the reports were “unfair” and constituted unjust criticism and ridicule of “innocent people.” We discussed our intention to publish Mr. Marshner’s response with Archbishop Bernardin and invited his Excellency to submit whatever commentary he might wish to make for concurrent publication. Elsewhere on this page we publish Archbishop Bernardin’s reply.
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The Orphans Of Jerry Ford

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
May 29, 1975

Mr. Ford’s highly touted rescue of the Mayaguez and its crew from Koh Tang Island contains an element of bitter irony. The operation brought scores of U.S. naval vessels and hundreds of U.S. aircraft within 40 miles of another island, where there is something much more important to rescue.

The other island is Phu Quoc. On it are 42,000 refugees from Communist aggression, two-thirds of them Roman Catholics. Many are orphan children. At least three hundred of them are nuns. Some of the priests there are the very ones who 20 years ago led their congregations in toto, on foot, from Hanoi to the South, seeking safety. This Spring, when Hue and Da Nang fell, the same congregations moved again to Phu Quoc, sometimes with the help of U.S. naval vessels. Now the same vessels steam by and ignore them.

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HEW Stops Condom Program

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
(Special to The Wanderer)
May 22, 1975

WASHINGTON, C.C. — The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) has quietly terminated a program that mailed unsolicited sex information and “condom stamps” in unmarked envelopes to teen-age boys.

These stamps, subsidized with the taxpayers’ money, read as follows: “Condom information service: worth $1 on purchase of one dozen condoms. … Write brand name here.”

In other words, HEW was setting up shop as the world’s largest drugstore and at the same time drumming up business by offering what was supposed to become the Green Stamps of the sexual revolution.

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NOW’s Day Of Outrage More Of A Whine

“NOW’s” Day Off Outrage More Of A Whine

By WILLIAM H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
May 22, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Members of the National Organization for Women (NOW), the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the so-called Catholics for a Free Choice staged a three-hour protest march in front of the residence of the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Jean Jadot, on Sunday, May 11th — Mother’s Day.

The purpose of the march was to celebrate a mother’s legal right to kill her unborn children and to attack the Roman Catholic Church for its alleged role in seeking to restrict this “right.”

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Abortionists Linked To Baby Black Market

By W.H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
May 15, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Abortion referral agencies across America are tied into a lucrative, black- market adoption racket, according to testimony presented Monday, April 28th, before Sen. Walter Mondale’s (D., Minn.) Subcommittee on Children and Youth.

Robert J. McAuley, a reporter with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, testified on the results of a month-long investigation carried out by himself and three other reporters. The investigation uncovered “a national network, with Cleveland as one of the hubs, in which babies were channeled into the hands of couples willing to pay as much as $25,000 to adopt them.”

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Reds Engaging In Massive “Liquidation” In S. Vietnam

By W.H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
Our Second Century of Lay Apostolate
April 24, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eyewitness reports reaching the State Department and the White House in recent weeks indicate that massive “liquidation” is taking place behind Communist lines in South Vietnam, a slaughter in which Roman Catholic priests and bishops are among the targets.

At Ban Me Thuot, for example, the Viet Cong (VC) established a “public tribunal” which immediately summoned the local Catholic bishop and two priests. The three men were executed without further ado, shot in the back of the head. All of the area’s school teachers, 450 men and women were taken out of town and executed.

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Senate Defeats Bartlett Amendment

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
(Special to The Wanderer)
April 17, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Shortly before The Wanderer went to press (April 10th) we received the report that, after several hours of debate, the U.S. Senate had just voted 54 to 36 to table the Bartlett Amendment to S. 66. (For text and discussion, see The Wanderer, April 3rd, 1975, p. 4).

Earlier, the U.S. Catholic Conference, on April 7th, had advised members of the U.S. Senate that the Conference had decided to support the Bartlett Amendment.

The decision was announced in a letter circulated among the senatorial offices by Mr. James L. Robinson, head of the USCC Office of Government Liaison. The text of the letter follows.

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Reds Executing S. Vietnam’s Clergy

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
(Special to The Wanderer)
April 17, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Communist insurgents who captured two-thirds of South Vietnam’s provinces in the past month, have already begun executing religious leaders, according to Fr. Raymond deJaegher, a Belgium- born priest working here on Vietnamese refugee problems.

Bishop Nguyen Huy Mai of Ban Me Phuot, the capital of Darlac province, and at least two “and probably more” priests have been shot by the Communists, Fr. DeJaegher told The Wanderer April 9th. In addition, the Bishop of the new diocese of Phan Thiet and seven priests are also known to have been executed.

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Senator Jesse Helms… Appeals To President For Massive Evacuation Of S. Vietnamese

Senator Jesse Helms … Appeals To President For Massive Evacuation Of S. Vietnamese

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
(Special to The Wanderer)
April 17, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the face of a possible collapse of resistance of South Vietnamese forces against the current Communist onslaught, Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.) has appealed to President Ford to utilize the U.S. Seventh Fleet to evacuate two million or more S. Vietnamese to safe haven. Sen. Helms sent the following telegram to the President on April 3rd:

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An End To Federal Abortion Research?

By W.H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
April 10, 1975

As soon as Congress returns from the Easter recess, pro-life forces on Capitol Hill will introduce an amendment to the Family Planning and Population Research Act of 1975 (S. 66 and H.R. 4925). This amendment will bring economic hardship to mad scientists all over America and save the lives of human babies who would otherwise perish in the course of “research.”
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Helms Rejects NC News Story

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
Our Second Century of Lay Apostolate
April 3, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.) has moved to dispel what he called “a number of erroneous impressions” created by a National Catholic News Service (NC) story disseminated on March 10th. The story dealt with Helms’ oral testimony on that date before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, which is currently holding hearings on anti-abortion measures.

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Byrn Upholds HLA Workability At Bayh Hearings

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
April 3, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Robert M. Byrn, a specialist on criminal law and a professor at the Fordham University Law School, presented to the Bayh Subcommittee March 10th hearings what almost amounted to a small encyclopedia on the question of the legal consequences of a Federal abortion prohibition. With a wealth of argumentation drawn from State and Federal court decisions, Byrn attacked the feasibility of a States’ rights amendment, then zeroed in on the consequences of a mandatory amendment of the type proposed by Buckley, Helms, or the National Right to Life Committee. The fundamental question at issue was this:
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Bartlett Changes His Amendment: A New Action Imperative

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
April 3, 1975

Sen. Dewey Bartlett (R., Okla.), on March 11th, 1975, introduced an anti-abortion amendment to the Family Planning and Population Research Act of 1975 (a part of S. 66 — see The Wanderer, March 20th, p. 4). As a result of criticism from colleagues, however, Bartlett decided to abandon that amendment in favor of a new, more specific one.

The older amendment has not been withdrawn but will not be called up for a vote. The new amendment was introduced on March 26th, with the cosponsorship of Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.).

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New Slant In Bayh Hearings

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
March 27, 1975

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate hearings on the human life amendments resumed Monday, March 10th, under the gavel of Sen. Birch Bayh (D., Ind.), and under the shadow of the Edelin verdict. Bayh, who has been studiously noncommittal throughout the yearlong inquest, dropped hints for the first time that an amendment protecting fetal life “after viability” would probably enjoy his support. Reference to the Edelin case was made by all five of the morning’s witnesses: Senators Buckley (R., N.Y.), Packwood (R., Ore.), and Helms (R., N.C.), followed by lawyers Robert Byrn and Harriet Pilpel.

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Time To Close An Abortion Loophole

By W.H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
March 20, 1975

Did you ever hear of the Dingell Amendment? It prevents Federal funds from being used by HEW to pay for abortions under the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act, to which it was attached in 1970. It is still on the books. It says, ‘‘None of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”

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Hugh Scott Moves To “Restrict” Abortion

By W. H. MARSHNER

THE WANDERER
(Special to The Wanderer)
March 13, 1975

WASHINGTON – Hugh Scott (R., Pa.), Minority Leader of the Senate since 1969 and one of the most powerful allies of Planned Parenthood in Washington, has begun drafting a constitutional amendment to “restrict” abortion.

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