Following is a letter from Dr. James Likoudis, president emeritus of Catholics United for the Faith, writing to the Buffalo News reminding them that dissenting views do not constitute official Catholic Teachings.

November 30,1995

BUFFALO NEWS

Dear Sir:

Thomas C. Fox's "Viewpoints" article expressing the views of so-called "reform minded Catholics" who reject the Catholic Church's doctrine on birth control, homosexuality, abortion, and women's ordination and who continue to agitate against the discipline of clerical celibacy, is a fine example of the schismatic tendencies at work in the Church the last 30 years. Certainly, the "National Catholic Reporter" which he edits has been in the vanguard of the "anti-Roman complex" it has sought to promote among priests, religious and laity.

One can still recall the 20,000 nuns and sisters who were avid readers of the gnostic radical feminism fostered by the "National Catholic Reporter" and who have left their religious orders or the Church. The Buffalo diocesan priests who take their steady diet of "liberal views" from the pages of Mr. Fox's newspaper never profited from Bishop Charles H. Heimsing of Kansas City -St. Joseph's early October 16, 1968, condemnation of the National Catholic Reporter "for its disregard and denial of the most sacred values of our Catholic Faith".

Interestingly, Mr. Fox's latest book "Sexuality and Catholicism" blatantly rejects Catholic sexual morality. No wonder it has been hailed by leading anti-Papal dissenters. It is also apparent that his difficulties with Catholic doctrine are rooted in a total misconception of the scope of the Church's infallibility. The latest Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church (Vatican II) in no. 25 of its "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" clearly invoked infallibility for the Pope when he "expounds and defends the teaching of the Catholic Faith as the supreme teacher of the Universal Church in whom the Church's charism of infallibility is present in a singular way."

Lastly, if there be "schism" from the Catholic Church over female priests, it will not come from Catholics faithful to the teaching and government of the Catholic Church.

Serviam's Note: The Buffalo' Diocesan paper did not see fit to publish this either.

About Dr. James Likoudis
James Likoudis is an expert in Catholic apologetics. He is the author of several books dealing with Catholic-Eastern Orthodox relations, including his most recent "The Divine Primacy of the Bishop of Rome and Modern Eastern Orthodoxy: Letters to a Greek Orthodox on the Unity of the Church." He has written many articles published by various religious papers and magazines.
He can be reached at:  jameslikoudis1@gmail.com, or visit  Dr. James Likoudis' Homepage