Cleveland Commonweal Local Community Network

‘What Can You Do?’ Understanding Sinful Social Structures By Daniel K. Finn   September 20, 2018 " This insight (of Benedict XVI) is extended here in the claim that sinful social structures are sinful in the same way that original sin is sinful. Both influence our moral agency, and they do so in similar ways. No one is morally responsible for sins committed by an ancestor. The principal insight of the doctrine of original sin is that, whatever our efforts at virtue, we are sinners.   There are eight things we might note about original sin, presented here with little defense due to the constraints of space. All are analogously true of sinful social structures. “   Finn claims that  1) original sin has its effect through both one’s environment and one’s personal disposition, 2) we are already disordered when we reach an age of moral responsibility, 3) original sin is an inclination to evil,   4) original sin’s influence on our choices occurs through our freedom and not

Documentary Looks at Spiritual Damage of Church Closings Across the United States, changing demographics and a growing priest shortage mean many parishes have been losing members, and dioceses say this is forcing them to close down churches. This is presented as a painful, but necessary, reality. However, a new documentary looking at the phenomena says the process of closing churches is a “grave spiritual abuse.” “Closing a church is a tragic, heartbreaking and deeply sad phenomenon,” said Viktoria Somogyi, the producer and director of Foreclosing on Faith. First released in Oct. 2017, the film has been making the rounds of the film festival circuit. Last week, the film won Best Documentary, Best Producer, and Best Educational Film at the Christian Film Festival in Virginia. Somogyi is Hungarian, worked for a decade at the Hungarian section of Vatican Radio. She followed the news about the closing of beautiful, old, historical and hugely important churches for the Hunga

Meeting Place and Directions The Resurrection Room of Saint Noel Parish, 35200 Chardon Rd, Willoughby Hills, OH 44094. An overview of the Parish, and driving directions is provided by the following post: SAINT NOEL PARISH LOCATION Meeting Time and Format 6:00 pm Social hour for meeting new people or becoming reacquainted. During this period we will discuss the distribution of Commonweal subscribers in the area, and how we might serve them with our new blog. See the following  post for more information: COMMONWEAL  SUBSCRIBER  ZIPCODES 6:45 - 8:15 pm Topic: We will discuss the Letter of Pope Francis to the People of God.  See the following  post for overview, contexts, and links (the letter itself is only about four pages): SEXUAL ABUSE AND CLERICALISM (FRANCIS) The room is available until 9:00pm when the church closes. There are many eating places in the area for those who might wish to socialize afterwards. We welcome subscribers, readers and friends of Comm

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the People of God What is the letter about? "the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons" Francis sees that abuse has inflicted pain not only upon victims by also their families, and the larger community of believers, and non believers. Francis powerfully identifies the cry of the victims with the Magnificat: "The Lord heard that cry and once again showed us on which side he stands. Mary’s song is not mistaken and continues quietly to echo throughout history. For the Lord remembers the promise he made to our fathers: “he has scattered the proud in their conceit; he has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty” (Lk 1:51-53). What should be our response? "A solidarity that summons us

T here are about 165 Commonweal subscribers within a 30 mile radius of downtown Cleveland. The twenty people who have attended one or more of our meetings are spread around the whole metropolitan area and beyond. No matter what location we  could choose to meet, about a third of our members are going to be more than 20 miles away as the crow flies. That means a 30 to 40 minute drive back and forth to the meeting location.  In the past year we had between 5 and 10 people at a meeting. Dividing the group into two will not work. About four locations (East, West, somewhere near John Carrol, and Akron) are needed to have reasonable distances. That means about 50 total members to have reasonably sized small groups of between 8 and 16 people.  We will have to reach out to non-subscribers to get fifty members which is a good idea; however starting with as many subscribers as possible is also a good idea. Hence the reason for providing this information to all subscribers to considerable t