In this clip from Fox News, Fr. Thomas Euteneuer admonished Sean Hannity for being a professed Catholic in the public square while openly rejecting the doctrines of Catholicism.
The reaction that Hannity gave (as well as others) to Fr. Thomas' admonishment was the same reaction I received for this post about Mark Wahlberg's profession of the faith while cohabiting with his girlfriend, with whom he has two children.
First I would like to note that I received many un-charitable and un-Christian responses to that post which is why comments are now to be moderated. I would also like to take the time to acknowledge and thank Brian who disagreed with me and yet commented with civility and in a Christian manner.
The problem with Mr. Wahlberg and Mr. Hannity's claim to be serious and practicing Catholics is that they do not follow the Church's teachings and doctrines. In Hannity's case, he openly defies the Catholic Church's doctrines. Now if these people were ordinary private individuals, they would still need to think about their views on doctrine before calling themselves Catholics, but since they are in the public limelight, they are under a greater obligation to take the faith they profess seriously lest they cause scandal to the faithful.
To be perfectly clear, I am not in anyway attacking the character of these gentleman, I am merely stating that if a person is going to profess to be Catholic, especially in the public square, they must hold all the doctrines of the Catholic Church. For that is the very definition of being Catholic. As someone on the radio said, "Cafeteria Catholics have been around for hundreds of years....they are called 'Lutherans' or 'Anglicans' or 'Methodists.'"
Bravo to Fr. Thomas for taking his vocation seriously and defending the Faith!
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