“I pick and choose”
California’s First Lady says she’s ‘a Cafeteria Catholic’
“I start every one of my days praying,” says Maria Shriver, wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I go to church every week. I went to Catholic schools my entire life.” But, says Shriver, when it comes to Church teachings, “I pick and choose… I think I’m probably a ‘Cafeteria Catholic.’”
Shriver’s comments came during a lengthy interview on the Washington Post’s video blog ‘On Faith,’ taped during an Oct. 22 women’s conference at the Long Beach Convention Center. Shriver, wearing a rosary around her neck, was interviewed by Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn and co-host Jon Meacham of Newsweek. Portions of the interview were posted Nov. 17 on “wowOwow,” a web site that says it is “run and written by Lesley Stahl, Peggy Noonan, Liz Smith, Joni Evans, Mary Wells, Sheila Nevins, Joan Juliet Buck, Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Reed, Joan Ganz Cooney, Judith Martin, Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner, and Marlo Thomas.”
Shriver and the governor are members of St. Monica’s parish in Santa Monica, and she told Quinn and Meacham during the interview, “My pastor (Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson) is a huge part of my life.” But her closeness to her pastor, her regular church attendance and her Catholic education don’t seem to have discouraged her from taking positions distinctly at odds with the magisterium. “I have a dispute with a lot of the Catholic Church,” said Shriver in the interview. “Even though I consider myself a Catholic in good standing, I disagree with a lot of the teachings of the Church.”
Shriver spelled out some of her disagreements: “I don’t believe that if someone’s divorced they shouldn’t get Communion; I don’t believe that people who are gay shouldn’t be accepted into the Church… I’m pro-choice, I believe women should have that right.” She also said “women should have a larger role in the Catholic Church.”
What she does like about Catholicism, said Shriver, are its teachings on “compassion” and “social justice.”
Ok, first of all a rosary is NOT jewelry!!
Second of all, Gays and divorced people are VERY welcome in the Catholic Church....just not living in the flesh, but in the spirit.
Third, Women have an AMAZING role in the Church, she as with her Chittister fans just don't have any clue how powerful it is......
Fourth, being a Catholic means taking Christ and His teachings in as a whole package, not part and particle.
Fifth,......oh, I give up!! She just wants to "wear" the brand without being converted to it.
Interesting that she is a member of St. Monica's parish.....St. Monica, pray for her conversion!
11 comments:
I think she has been sitting out in that California sun too long! Could you get any wackier?!
It is a shame she belongs to a parish in LA and not in Sacramento. Bishop Mahoney is not going to say anything to her, but the incoming bishop of Sacramento, Bishop Soto, would probably speak up and correct her. Pray for her and for all such "Cafeteria Catholics".
Brilliant rebuttal!
Amazing that she went to Catholic schools her whole life and never heard a sister say that rosary is not jewelry...or maybe she did hear it and decided she would do otherwise. In any case, that seems to be the least of the problems with her brand of Catholicism. I guess she doesn't realize that "cafeteria Catholic" is a derogatory term. At least I consider it so. Maybe others don't.
Do we need more teaching on what it means to be a Catholic in good standing? Maybe I don't understand. I should think it would mean that you were a believer in what the Catholic Church presents as the truth. No?
These Catholic public figures expressing opposition to Church teaching drive me nuts (like my own Governor Granholm)
Thanks for the interesting post
Ebeth,
After some prayerful reflection, I wrote a letter to Archbishop Wuerl imploring him to speak out about this interview. He is stated in the past that he feels it is the duty of one's "home bishop" to correct errors. However, since the Washington Post is published in his diocese, I think he has a duty to address the errors Ms. Shriver promulgates. If anyone else would like to offer Archbishop Wuerl words of encouragement to publicly correct the idea that one can be a "Cafeteria Catholic" you can email him at chancery@adw.org. In my letter, I stated there is a big difference between struggling with a Church teaching and discarding a Church teaching. We all find some teachings more difficult than others. Yet we are not free to ignore those we find hard. In any case, pray for all our bishops.
Catholic Mom, THanks for the address, I am going to work on a letter to mail as well. This kind of nonsense has to stop, I mean, why be Catholic...What is being a Catholic mean??
“Even though I consider myself a Catholic in good standing, I disagree with a lot of the teachings of the Church.”
Huh???
I have said this over and over as people call themselves Catholic and many of us cringe, why say you are Catholic if you aren't really Catholic. Either you are or you are not, and if there are some teachings you are personally struggling with,(we all have from time to time) it's okay not to tell the press that you are struggling, just tell your priest when you go to confession.
....and #6 is getting divorced does not mean you can't receive communion. Getting re-married without a proper Church annulment is what needs to take place for that to happen. And she went to Catholic Schools and doesn't know that?????
Thanks for this, Ebeth. I attended a Women's Conference in Detroit recently and one of the speakers, actually performers, Sr. Nancy Murray, went on about all the great things Maria Shriver was doing (as she -- Sr. Nancy -- performed a one-woman show as St. Catherine of Siena.) I had a bad feeling about it -- many things at the conference gave me a bad feeling -- but I couldn't find much about Shriver.
It all makes sense now.
I so wish that Catholics who don't follow Church teaching would have the integrity to leave the Church. There are plenty of protestant denominations that support their beliefs. They could live honest lives instead of ones of hypocrisy.
hi Ebeth ~ I really enjoy your Blog, just signed on as a follower (finally!)
I agree with you 100% ~ the term "cafeteria Catholic" is NOT a compliment...does she realize how ignorant she makes herself sound here? I wonder...
I also wanted to pass on the MEME award to you; just go to my Blog (linked in my name) and see the rules. :) Since you seem to be quite a reader (like myself) I thought you might enjoy this one...
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