Alcala 1958

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l

and he av en , fa ils , as fai l he mus t, in hi s ign ob le eff or t. He sho uld ha ve stop ped right the re, be cau se ea ch stat eme nt of his makes mat ters wo rse . Let me expla in br ief lyour Cath olic atti­ tude. Th e con fes sio nalbox to us sig ni fie s the fo rgiving Chr ist, the Good She pherd , the Goo d Sama rit anhe ali ngbod y and sou l. The Fr eudia n couc h sig ni fie s som eth ing ar tif ici al, some th ing ove rst uff ed, ove rlai d, expe ns ive ;lik e a so fa, man -inv ente dand ma n-f abr ica ted , no t God-c rea ted; lik e a sof a, it ma y have a back and arms and a pros trate bo dy , bu t no sou l. Th e de fin iti onof "co uch" in Web ste r's 8 apt ly an d ni ce ly de fin esthe Fr eud ianpsy­ cho analy tic al couc h. Web ste r's firs t de fin es cou ch as "a bed or stru ctur e fo r repose or sle ep" and, I migh t add, for dy ing too — bec ause I am cer tai n that som e day Freu - dianis mwil l d ieon its own cou ch . Seco nd ly, a couc h is de fin ed as "th e bur row of an otte r," an aq ua tic fish-e ati ngmammal tha t has we bbed an d clawe d fee t and dark- brown fur. Th ird ly,couc hha s an obs olet e mean ing tha t the Fr eud ian shave rev ive d in our tim e:"th e de n of a bea st." A bea st is an irr ati onal,and the refo rean irre sponsib le,anim al. And Fre udi ans say tha t ma n is an irr ati onalani ma l, that he doe s thi ngs unconsci ous ly,tha t he is not res pon sib le for hi s act s. Th e Fre udi ans have ma de of ma n a bea st. Web ste r's thi rd de fin iti onof "c ou ch "mos t apt ly applies to the Fre ud ianpsy cho analy tic al cou ch. What Fre ud ian sha ve ma de and thin k of man ! But, than k God , it is no t tru e. As for the confessi on al,we don 't den y it has a the rapeut icvalue . We empha tica lly aff irm it. In norma lcas es, the con fes siona l fre es ma n from sin an d guilt, a thi ng that the Freud ian swant to free ma n from but can 't. Th e con fessio na lha s a the rap eut ic, curati ve val ue un iqu elyits own. It can not be com pared with any oth er he ali ngde vic e, 8 We bst er' s New Co lle gia te Dic tion ary (Spr ing­ fie ld, Mas s.: Merr iam, 19 56 ). e , il , i le t. l i t t , se t t s . t i i fly li t i- t e. f si nal ifies t i i i , rd, t ritan h g l. dian ifies ing tificial, t ing uf ed, , nsive; -i e ted - ricated, ted; , t t , l. The definition of "couch" in Webster's tl l i es i - alytical c . ster's es t e l , t , g - s in i l ie o . Secondly, fi ed tt , tic ting m al e . i ly, e ing ians i i r e: tional, re i s o si le, al. ians t t tio al l, s iously, sible . ians t. ster's i ition o c " l t ian analytical couch. ians ! , . o ai tic . tically i l , i nal es t ians 't. f si nal eutic, ive i ely . g e, s ll giate ary - l , s.: i , ).

sin ce con fes sion is a sacrament of Chri st and ther efor e bel ong s to the supernatur al order, wh ich is aGod -cre atedrea lity denie d by the Fre udi ans . Ye t with the ir psycho ­ analy ses these God less Fre udi ans try to imi tat eand supp lant Chri st's sac ram entthat for giv essin and rest ores the pea ce of Chri st in the peniten t sou l. Wh en the Freud ian s do tha t, the y touc h a sac red th ing with irre ver entmin ds. An d that' s wh y I cal led their pit ifu lcar icat ureof Chris t's cons oli ng sac ram ent blas phemou s and sac ril egi ous. Wh ate verthe Fre udi anstouc h, the y tai nt. MAR GI E: Fath er Cikr it, what did fellow- travele rswith Freud thin k of the Fr eudia n the ory that eve ry rel igi on was an "ob ses­ sio na lne ur os is? " FR. C IKR IT : The bes t ans wer I can gi ve to you r que stio n, Ma rgi e, is that of Carl Gustav Jung , a Sw iss , born in Bas le in 18 75 , one of the fir st dis cip les of Fre ud , whom Freu d wanted to mak e hi s suc ces sor an d he ir. Jun g brok e away from Fre ud as di d mos t of Freud's ear ly dis cip les. Th ey cou ldn 't endure Fre ud' s ove rem phasi son se x, hi s pan sexu alism, as if the wh ole of ma n were not hin g els e than sex. In 19 36 , Jung made this sta tem ent : 9 "D ur ing the past thi rty yea rs, peo ple from all the civ iliz edcou ntr iesof the ear th ha ve con sulted me . I have trea ted many num ber s of patient s, the largest numb er be ing Prot esta nts, a sma ller numb er Jew s and not mor e than fiv e or six be lie vin g Cat hol ics. "Amo ng all my pat ien ts in the sec ond hal f of life —that is to sa y,ove r 35 — the re ha s not been one who se problem in the last reso rt was not that of fin din ga re lig ious outlo ok on lif e. It is sa fe to say that ev ery on e of them fell ill bec ause he had lost tha t wh ich the liv ing rel igi on sof eve ry ag eha ve give n to thei r follo wer s, and none of them ha s been real ly hea led wh o did no t re ga in hi s rel igi ou s outlo ok. " ®Mo dern Man in Sea rch of a Soul (New Yo rk: Harco urt, Brace , 19 36 ),p. 264. 27 sion f e s t al r , i te l t ians. - l ses l ians i it te e t t gives i t t t l. ians t, e t s. t ir ti l i re ling e t ous ilegious. t ver ians , . CIE: F i , t l rs i n i - l osis?" . IT: ti n, rgie, t , i , i , les , s . i t ' l les. 't 's phasis , s s alism, i g , t ent: ring , l ili ed ies . ers s, the i g t nts, s t t i g lics. ng i ts U f - t s y, - s l t i g l io s tl . i i io s i n t i s, l l i i io s outlo k." 9 d f : t, , ) , i f