A point of clarification

Last night I was reading MOJ and enjoyed Prof. Julian Velasco’s comments about the discussion some of us have been having regarding ecclesial issues. While I am in large agreement with many of his fine points, I did not say, imply, or in anyway suggest in any of my postings that would support the statement: “at some point, rejection of Vatican teachings separates one from the Church. Have most American Catholics already done so according to Father Araujo?” I have written to Prof. Velasco to inform him of this misattribution. In reading earlier postings, I noticed that Prof. Steve Shiffrin introduced this point in his posting entitled “What Does It Mean to Be Catholic? I” upon which Prof. Velasco relied. To clarify this confusion, I state for the record that I have not said, implied, or suggested that most American Catholics have rejected “Vatican teachings.” Indeed, people can and do separate themselves from the Church by the actions they take and the views they convey, but I have not quantified this by expressing the view that most American Catholics have separated themselves from the Church. If someone thinks that this is my thinking, then their thinking is mistaken.   RJA sj