Here are William Donohue’s comments on last night’s “Nothing Sacred.”
“Those Catholics who dutifully accept the Church’s teachings are so obsessed with the external manifestations of Catholicism that they sorely neglect its internal dimension. Give the traditionalists a church with lots of statues, stained glass windows and a good choir, and they will be as happy as a lark, saying by rote their daily prayers. It does not matter to them that they are so grossly insensitive to others that they are living a life that is anything but Christian. Quite naturally, the obverse is also true: those who are bright enough to challenge the Church’s teachings (especially on women and sexuality) are also noble enough to care about the poor. They don’t need ‘gilded crucifixes’ because they are living the life of Christ. That’s the political message of the show and that’s what came through again last night.
“What also came through last night is that Father Ray is Superpriest. He doesn’t need to abide by the antiquated rules of procedure regarding annulments, he simply invokes a prayer to ‘Mother’ asking her to ‘release’ the troubled couple from their marriage. True to form, Father Ray finds himself unable to provide counseling to the obviously distraught husband, just as he earlier did when confronted with the obviously distraught young woman contemplating abortion.
“Father Ray didn’t provide counseling for Rachel because he himself doesn’t accept the Church’s teaching on abortion. He couldn’t counsel Cabot last night against drinking and beating for a different reason: he decided that the marriage was as hopeless as were the Church’s teachings on divorce and that is why he spared the couple the agony of going through the annulment process.
“In short, Catholics who demonstrate compassion don’t need to follow the Catechism. All that is needed is good intentions and a Superpriest like Father Ray.”
