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the breakfast table
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from: Melinda Henneberger
to: Bill Turque

Authentic Catholics

Posted Wednesday, July 3, 2002, at 5:04 PM ET

Who are these people?

Bill,

Well, you old schismatic, you. The Catholic Church of America? I don't see that happening any time soon. First, many people both here and there would argue that's essentially what we've got now. It's sort of like some of these Italian marriages, where no one sees any particular need to make the divorce official because all parties do largely as they please already.

The people who would leave over the issues you mentioned have surely done so before now and are happy Episcopalians today. But the rest of us are a stubborn lot, as I don't have to tell you, and are not going anywhere when we think we're as authentically Catholic as any Roman prelate. Since what many of us cling to are the traditions and the roots of the faith, I don't see us collectively chucking our heritage under almost any circumstances.

Well, this exercise has certainly given us a new appreciation for the exertions of bloggers everywhere, hasn't it?

I see that a number of American Independence Day celebrations abroad have been canceled because of the State Department warning for us to stay away from any place where there might be a lot of Americans. (Note to State Department: It's summer in Europe, guys, so this pretty much rules out leaving the house.) Which of course only makes me feel more like going to a party packed with my countrymen. See you there.

Melinda

the breakfast table
entries
123456789101112
from: Melinda Henneberger
to: Bill Turque

Authentic Catholics

Posted Wednesday, July 3, 2002, at 5:04 PM ET
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Melinda Henneberger, a former New York Times reporter, is writing a book about a lost da Vinci fresco. Bill Turque is a former correspondent for Newsweek magazine and author of Inventing Al Gore: A Biography. They live in Rome with their 6-year-old twins.
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