Intersting that I stumbled across this thread. I am leading the Mission at our parish in September. I sent the links of the articles to a Msgr. friend and want some input from him before I make any more noise. Is this Renew 2000, the same one being done in parishes today?

I studied the "Why Catholic: Profession of Faith" book for a few weeks with a group that I met with this past Spring. (All good friends and family that are solidly Catholic.) We only got through maybe two sections in the book, and it seemed okay to me. I've never been a part of Renew, but I saw nothing questionable in the content of the studies. Usually I can find red flags (new age, protestant, etc...) pretty quickly in the content I read, but I can't remember this happening with "Why Catholic". Our group had scheduling conflicts, and we unfortunately ended up disbanding. (I never had my own book, so I don't have a reference.) Have you tried to contact your Diocesan office? A lot of times, a Diocese will have to (should) approve this content before it is used by it's parishes. Or, are there other parishes in the Diocese that have used it that you can talk to? OH! I just checked out the site, and you can get a sample session with a click. Here's the link. http://www.whycatholic.org/books_1.htm Perhaps that will help?

True. Our archbishop has approved the program for use in the parishes. Having rigorously studied the books with my priest, I found nothing that indicated we should not be using this program. My priest, who knows the Catechism like the back of his hand, agreees with me. As there doesn't seem to be a conflict here with Church teaching, our program will go forward.

These ending posts sure don't go along with the beginning ones--what has happened? What is Doug's thoughts on this? Still seems very questionable to me. Why not stick with the catechism?

The Catechism is part of the program as well, bejo. The books just make things easier to follow. I will have my Catechism by my side at all meetings.

I am very upset at the apparent timidity of the Church when it comes to hitting down on heresies, liturgical abuses etc. Don't know anything about the programmes discussed in the above, and therefore do not want to comment on them, but it seems some priests, religious and writers in Catholic magazines are allowed to get away with spiritual murder, so to speak. We have a right to have the Church's teachings transmitted to us without having to be super vigilant at all times. Is it any wonder such a large part of the laity are confused, and think the Church should "modernise".

As a convert, I love and admire the Church for her uncompromising attitude to the world, unfailingly transmitting God's truth through its magisterium, but why are some bishops, priest etc allowed more or less openly to subvert the beauty of our beloved Church's teaching? It makes me very upset indeed. Because of this, some Catholics and non-Catholics alike are encouraged in their belief that God's truth should be subject to a democratic vote.

Thank God for His protection of the teaching authority of the Church, and His promise that the gates of hell shall never prevail against His Church. Without this, it would be very easy to despair. And thank God also for the succession of amazing popes he gave us in the last century, and not least for the first pope in this. And thank God not least for the power of priestly ordination, providing us unfailingly with his precious presence in the Blessed Sacrament, even at the hands of priests who seem to have gone astray one way or the other. And thank God for all the good priests, religious and defenders of the faith among the laity who are out there ceaselessly working for the good of the Church.

Thanks N'Blue for the good post.
I just returned from Bible Study, and shake my head over some of the statements made that are so questionable from the priest. It is so frustrating and sad. Thank God for those like you.

Any takes on this one:
http://www.presentationministries.com/c ... munity.asp

We have a representative that comes from time to time to talk, but there is always something that gives me the impression of senstivity training. I can see the small groups "communities" if they are praying and having a Bible Study. Easier to talk in small groups. What is the point otherwise?

In the FWIW category,

I have been asked by my Priest to attend an informational meeting, and partcipate in the "Why Catholic" program. The meeting is tonight, which if I understood everything correctly is when all of the materials will be distributed. I'm kind of going into this somewhat blindly and in an act of obedience to my Priests request. But I will do my best to keep you posted. And also asked for help in clarifying any points of confusion.

This is the Rockford Diocese, (Bishop Doran) so I would think that it has been researched fairly well. But I guess we'll see.

In Peace
Dan

We had our first small-group discussion last evening. From what I gathered, there is nothing to worry about as far as the structure and content is concerned. A great majority of the discussion was taken directly from the Catechism. There were many questions, also, that were just for opinionated discussion. It was a good time, and I learned much I hadn't known before.

That's good to hear. I couldn't tell by quickly reading through the first 3 pages of posts if the criticisms were aimed at "Why Catholic" or "Renew"

In Peace
Dan

Quote:Doug C
First "Disciples In Mission", now "Why Catholic". If its from the Renew crowd STAY AWAY. Disciples In Mission was a watered down version of Renew, which had some pagan prayers and practices in it. Why Catholic would probably be the same thing. If its associated with Renew in ANY way, stay away, no matter how good it sounds.

Bonaventure
I second this recommendation. If it is from the Renew crowd it would be better to err on the side of caution. Just because someone says they are expounding the catechism doesn't mean that they really are. Scripture is twisted by many people.....the catechism can be twisted as well.

Their thoughts on Renew and Why Catholic. So, Wilco, what do you think about the class now that you are taking it?
bejo

As I posted above, I saw nothing wrong with the content of the class. The vast majority of our discussion was taken directly from the Catechism. Sure, there were also some opinion-based questions, but hardly anything that would do damage to the Catholic faith.

I know the Renew crowd can be a little funny, but this program appears to be solid. Should that change, I'll let you all know.

Had our first meeting (diocese-wide) last night, and one of the issues brought up was that one of unfortunate off shoots of the original RENEW (although never its intent) was a development of an attitude of "indifferentism".

The Why Catholic Program/s attempt/s (or at least in initial appearance) to address this very problem. Like Wilco98 I am initially hopeful that it can help do this.

Personally I find myself a bit overwhelmed by my new task/s at hand, as there is a lot to do in the next 3 to 4 months.

What specifically were the errors "taught" by renew in the past? Or what do I need to keep an eye out for?

In peace
Dan

My dh & I were involved in Renew at our parish back in the 90s. As I understand it, the first Renew wasn't a problem. It was the second Renew program that had all the garbage in it. IIRC, we didn't find anything in the first Renew that was not orthodox. Of course, neither dh nor I knew as much as we do now, although we still have a long way to go.

Peace,
Linda

and the Priest was talking about Why Catholic in his sermon. Is it some kind of bible study or something? I don't know what RENEW was so I can't really base it on that ....

It's actually more like a study of the Catechism. Each session does incorporate the Bible into it. The group I'm in incorporates the Bible pretty heavily.

Hello Linda,

Actually there were some problematic areas in the original program and the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Doctrine issued a statement on the program. The problems that they found were:



and the following:



U.S. Bishops' Critique of the original Renew

God grant you peace
Michael Francis

I think that the concern over the 'Why Catholic' program being a product of the Renew organization are valid concerns. The only way to know for sure as to the orthodoxy of the program is to get the books and check out the content for catch phrases such as "Liturgical Gathering" etc.. I would also recomend checking out any authors that might be mentioned. Ourladyswarriors.org has a good listing of dissenters not to mention an entire section devoted to the Renew program.

One last thing, if Anthony DeMello, S.J. is mentioned at all, run away, far away. His writings have been condemned by the Church as being dangerous and harmful to the faith.

After the completing the first six week section, I would have to give a "fair" or "high C".

The plus side, at least two of the 12 people have really caught the bug to want to no more.

It is nice to get to know more closely some of the people of the Parish.

The Down side: It can be a bit "mamby-pamby" and it is difficult to get into conversations of "depth" and still try to stay on time.

We were fortunate enough to have some theologically fairly strong people in our group, without that, it could easily become a "nightmare" but with that, it can be become very beneficial.

I'd have to say, that all in all, it's worth a shot.

In Peace
Dan