NCR on Reese’s ouster

The National Cathlic Reporter has a blistering editorial on Thomas Reese’s ouster from America. An excerpt:

"The damaging effects of removing Reese go well beyond the individual. In one bullying move, the congregation has compromised a journal that has been a centerpiece of Catholic intellectual life in the United States. A forum for rational discussion, debate and exchange of ideas now has to look over its shoulder to make sure that Rome will not be offended. Such forced “orthodoxy” serves no one, particularly not the interest of the church.

The reality, of course, is that ordinary Catholics regularly talk about all the “hot-button” issues. No decree is going to stop the conversation and questioning, even as ordinary Catholics go on praying, receiving the sacraments, living ordinary lives of holiness and often performing extraordinary acts of justice and compassion.

Sadly, there will now be fewer Catholic venues in which the debate can be entertained and monitored, fewer religious orders willing to publish material that would set them on a collision course with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Some applaud the decision, saying it brings clarity to how a Catholic publication should conduct itself. What the Vatican move against Reese conveys, however, is fear, not clarity or certainty.

This was not an act to defend truth, for truth was never in danger in the pages of America. This was an act fearful that the truth cannot withstand the challenges that come its way. It’s a debilitating fear for a church to exhibit."