The Contemplative Catholic

A sneak preview from the Catholicism project

2010-11-19T20:36:00.002-05:00

Learn more Fr. Robert Barron's upcoming 10-part series at his website, Word On Fire.

Warning: Ugly vestments...

2010-11-17T22:53:00.000-05:00

...and bad theology go together.

Brought to you by the New York Times, your friendly neighborhood purveyor of anti-Catholic media, a story about dissident Belgium Catholics pretending to form their own parishes and be priests:

BUIZINGEN, Belgium — Willy Delsaert is a retired railroad employee with dyslexia who practiced intensively before facing the suburban Don Bosco Catholic parish to perform the Sunday Mass rituals he grew up with.

“Who takes this bread and eats,” he murmured, cracking a communion wafer with his wife at his side, “declares a desire for a new world.”

I'd love to know what "Sunday Mass rituals" include those meaningless and trite words.The reporter doesn't have a clue what she's writing about, does she?

At this sturdy brick church southwest of Brussels, men and women are trained as “conductors.” They preside over Masses and the landmarks of life: weddings and baptisms, funerals and last rites. Church members took charge more than a year ago when their pastor retired without a successor. In Belgium, about two-thirds of clergymen are over 55, and one-third older then 65.

"Conductors" drive trains and lead orchestras. Priests - men called by God and made into living icons of Christ through the sacrament of holy orders- have the authority and the responsibility to baptize, act as the Church's witness at a wedding, hear confessions, anoint the sick and dying, and celebrate Mass. Just FYI, folks, since you're apparently reeaaallly confused.

“We are resisting a little bit like Gandhi,” said Johan Veys, a married former priest who performs baptisms and recruits newcomers for other tasks at Don Bosco. “Our intention is not to criticize, but to live correctly. We press onward quietly without a lot of noise. It’s important to have a community where people feel at home and can find peace and inspiration.”

Interesting how their hero is Gandhi, and not a saint, isn't it? And that their focus is all about "living correctly" and "community" and "peace and inspiration", and not one word about worshiping, loving and serving God? But it gets even better. Here's the description of their "worship service":

Mr. Delsaert had no such qualms. He donned a rainbow sash — the church’s symbol of a worship leader — and carried his notes. “It’s the second time,” he said. “For me, it’s very intense. Reading is very difficult for me because I have dyslexia.”

Almost 150 people gathered around him for a service organized by teenage members who picked a theme of peace and music from John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Mr. Delsaert delivered a homespun sermon that drew on his years as a railroad worker, urging parishioners to wage peace by talking to people in their daily lives. By bidding hello to a daily commuter, Mr. Delsaert said, “the man opened up to talk about train delays.”

“He seemed much happier,” Mr. Delsaert said.

During services, teenage members surrounded the table while a parish statement was read aloud: “We regret the pain caused by priests and those responsible in the church. We regret the damages to the victims, to the community and our church.”

Then a young girl lighted a rainbow-colored candle in the center of the table. She watched the flame flicker in memory of the 475 Belgian victims of sexual abuse.

Those priests who committed unspeakable acts will tremble before God when they must accept responsibility for destroying lives and souls. May God grant their victims healing and peace.

But no act of evil ever justifies apostasy, schism or heresy, any more than the treachery of Judas justifies abandoning Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, I'm afraid that it wasn't the scandal that drove them out - though it certainly gives them a great excuse. I'm afraid that these folks lost their faith in the Lord and His Church a long time ago, when neither would condone today's trendy sins and become "relevant."

Or perhaps, due to the abysmal catechism of the past couple of generations, perhaps they were never taught the faith to begin with, and truly do not understand the nature of the priesthood, the Holy Eucharist, and the mission of Christ's Church.

I'm inclined to think it's a little of both, combined with the smoke of Satan, who delights in division and confusion.

St. Jude, exorcist, pray for us.

Congratulations, Archbishop Dolan!

2010-11-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan was elected president of the USCCB today.

The true treasures of the Church

2010-11-15T22:35:00.002-05:00

The 800 Martyrs of Otranto, who died rather than convert to Islam, honored by the Otranto Cathedral in Italy.

"..but the bones were preserved by the church, and held more precious than gold and diamonds." The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Antoninus Pius. a.d. 137-161.

Martyrs of Otranto, pray for us.

(Picture source.)

Hymn of the Week

2010-11-15T22:25:00.003-05:00

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Just once in my life, I want to sing this at Mass.

Perhaps someday the music director will realize that Haugen, Haas, Farrell and Schutte are sooo 1970s? And that its way cooler to be 370s? Or 1370s? Maybe?

Reasons 486 and 487 why American Catholics desperately need to be catechized:

2010-11-14T15:11:00.006-05:00

486. Cantors who announce before the start of Mass, "Let us all rise and sing [hymn] to greet Father."

I have to think that the angels surrounding the tabernacle are rolling their celestial eyes every time they hear this nonsense.

Of course, to be fair, it's not like the first hymn is really a hymn to God, anyway. "Gathering hymns" tend to be full of Hallmark-card sentiments masquerading as theological truths. And they rarely seem to be prayers to God - mostly we sing to each other about how great we are. No wonder the cantor is confused. It makes sense to assume we're greeting the priest with the song of our awesomeness.

See "Gather Us In", "Gather the People," "All Are Welcome", etc., etc., ad nauseam.

487. Hymns that deny central teachings of the Faith.

Exhibit A: "Here at This Table" by Janet Sullivan Whitaker and Max Whitaker:

Refrain
Come and be filled here at this table
Food for all who hunger
And drink for all who thirst.
Drink of his love, wine of salvation.
You shall live forever in Jesus Christ the Lord.

How many theological problems can you find in 5 lines? I see two, with an option for three.

1.) The presumption of salvation ("You shall life forever.."). Really? Last I checked, presumption is a sin.

2.) The denial of the Eucharist. We don't drink "wine" at Mass. Ever. The average second grader preparing for his First Holy Communion is aware of this fact. The songwriter is either dangerously ignorant of the Faith or denying the Eucharistic Lord. There's no lyrical reason to use "wine" rather than "blood". Both are 1 syllable words. Either the writer is ignorant of the Faith - in which case, why is he/she writing Catholic music? - or he/she doesn't believe in transubstantiation - in which case, why is he/she writing Catholic music?

Problem 3.) is more arguable (the emphasis on "table" rather than "altar") since the Eucharist is both a meal and a sacrifice. But since millions of American Catholics are ignorant of the sacrifice aspect, can we please stop singing about tables?

End rant. St. Cecilia, pray for us.

Christmas is coming...

2010-11-14T15:07:00.002-05:00

Reporting on the Pope

2010-09-17T19:14:00.005-04:00

You know you're doing your job as Pope when you create these kind of headlines:

Hindus denounce Pope for being offensive to atheists

Pope's speech deemed 'wily and cunning' but 'playing it safe'

Video Ian Paisley denounces Pope Benedicts visit to Scotland

Atheists: Apologize for Adolf Hitler's crimes

European Raelian Movement Sues Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict trip: Why move John Henry Newman toward sainthood?

Steve Bell on Pope Benedict XVI and gay rights

Christians are in the world, not of it. Such bile wouldn't be spewed if the Holy Father had embraced the values of the secular world.

May God grant him many more years.

Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedictus.

Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius. [Ps 40:3]

(Find the English translation here.)

Media Reaction to the Pope's Visit, in Cartoon

2010-09-17T19:09:00.004-04:00

cartoon source

A more subtle weapon of the culture of death?

2010-09-02T18:33:00.003-04:00

From the New York Times:

A Majority of Caesareans Precede Labor

by Denise Gradey
A new study suggests several reasons for the nation’s rising Caesarean section rate, including the increased use of drugs to induce labor, the tendency to give up on labor too soon and deliver babies surgically instead of waiting for nature to take its course, and the failure to allow women with previous Caesareans to try to give birth vaginally.

Thirty-two percent of all births in the United States — nearly 1 in 3 — now occur by Caesarean section. The operations have been increasing steadily since 1996, setting records year after year, and have become the most common surgery in American hospitals. About 1.4 million Caesareans were performed in 2007, the latest year for which figures are available. The increases have caused debate and concern.
...

Caesareans also increase the risk of dangerous abnormalities in the placenta during later pregnancies, which can cause hemorrhaging and lead to a hysterectomy. Repeated Caesareans can make it risky or even impossible to have a large family. In addition, costs for a Caesarean are nearly twice those for a vaginal delivery.

Hmm. More money and less babies. Call me cynical, but that has "culture of death" written all over it.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Reason 4,879 I'm grateful to be Catholic...

2010-09-01T21:32:00.004-04:00

...the thought would never occur to us to replace an altar with a coffee bar.

You know you're Catholic when...

2010-08-14T13:25:00.005-04:00

...stories like this from the Scranton Times Tribune make you shudder:

Carbondale Church descrated by theft
A golden container and the hosts for Holy Communion inside it were stolen during an overnight break-in Tuesday at St. Rose of Lima Church in Carbondale.

Called the ciborium, it was the only thing taken.

One has to hope that the thief a) only wanted the gold; b) had no idea that he/she was committing a huge act of sacrilege; and c) comes to repentance.

However,

Monsignor David L. Tressler, the church's pastor, described the Catholic community as stunned and hurt. There is a "real sense of violation," and it is all the more disheartening because the thief targeted the hosts, which are at the heart of the religion's identity, he said.
There were certainly more valuable items. "Once they were in the church, they could've had a field day," Monsignor Tressler said.

So it's very well possible that what happened at St. Rose of Lima wasn't merely a theft, but a very deliberate act by a person or persons who knew Who the ciborium held.

There's a reason satanists celebrate black masses and not twisted versions of other types of worship: the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ, and even the demons believe and tremble.

Mary Most Holy, Mother of the Eucharist, pray for us sinners.

Another point for the Culture of Death

2010-08-14T13:01:00.002-04:00

From the Washington Post:

FDA approves ella as 5-day-after emergency contraception

The Food and Drug Administration approved a controversial new form of emergency contraception Friday that can prevent a pregnancy as many as five days after sex.

The decision to allow the sale of the pill, which will be marketed under the brand name "ella," was welcomed by family-planning proponents as a crucial new option to prevent unwanted pregnancies. But critics condemned the decision, arguing that it was misleading to approve ella as a contraceptive because the drug could also be used to induce an abortion.

Ella can cut the chances of becoming pregnant by about two-thirds for at least 120 hours after a contraceptive failure or unprotected sex, studies have shown. The only other emergency contraceptive on the market, the so-called morning-after pill sold as Plan B, is significantly less effective, becomes less effectual with each passing day and will not work after 72 hours.
...
Ella, known generically as ulipristal acetate, works as a contraceptive by blocking progesterone's activity, delaying the ovaries from producing an egg. But progesterone is also needed to prepare the womb to accept a fertilized egg and to nurture a developing embryo. That's how RU-486 prevents a fertilized egg from implanting and dislodges growing embryos. Ella's chemical similarity to RU-486 raises the possibility that it might do the same thing, perhaps if taken at elevated doses. But no one knows for sure whether the drug would induce an abortion, because the drug has never been tested that way.

"Raises the possibility that it might do the same thing." Saints preserve us. They know it does the same thing. If it didn't, it wouldn't be as effective 5 days after sex. Moreover, the regular old daily birth control pill works very similarly, as demonstrated by the Physician Labeling for Yaz:

Combination oral contraceptives (COCs) act by suppression of gonadotropins. Although the primary mechanism of this action is inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include changes in the cervical mucus (which increases the difficulty of sperm entry into the uterus) and the endometrium (which reduces the likelihood of implantation).

Oddly enough (I guess they think women are stoopid or something), the patient labeling lacks this information. But hey, anything to make a buck and keep a few more babies out of the world, right? After all, studies show having children makes parents unhappy, and by golly, the pursuit of happiness trumps right to life any day.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us sinners who fail to recognize the precious gift of life.

Blasphemy

2010-06-13T22:34:00.001-04:00

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Was +Bishop Padovese a Martyr?

2010-06-09T21:19:00.007-04:00

From EWTN News/CNA:

Bishop Padovese canceled Cyprus trip to avoid assassination of Pope

An Italian Vatican expert is saying that Bishop Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia and President of the Turkish Bishops’ Conference, canceled his trip to Cyprus because he feared that his driver –who later confessed to killing the bishop- might attempt an attack on Pope Benedict XVI during his stay on the island.
Analyst Fr. Fillippo di Giacomo, who writes for publications such as L’Unitá and La Stampa, revealed that “hours before Padovese was killed, the Turkish Government called him to say that his driver, who they themselves had put in his service four years before, had gotten out of hand. That is to say, he had embraced the fundamentalist cause.”

Speaking to the Spanish daily El Pais, Fr. di Giacomo added that “knowing this, Padovese canceled the tickets he had reserved to Cyprus for himself and Altun (his driver). He preferred to stay home rather than to make the trip because he feared that his driver would take advantage of his proximity to the Pope and make an attempt on his life.”
....
During the celebration of Bishop Padovese’s funeral Mass, the Turkish TV station NTV announced that the 26 year-old driver, Murat Altun, had confessed to killing the bishop. He died after being stabbed 25 times, eight of them in his heart, and was almost completely decapitated by Altun, who said he murdered Bishop Padovese because he had received a “divine inspiration.”
NTV added that Altun shouted “Allahu Akbar” a number of times after the murder, despite having presented himself as a Catholic.

I never believed that +Bishop Padovese's faith was unrelated to his brutal murder. But to think that he died in the pope's place...

May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Simply Catholic

2010-05-10T16:15:00.002-04:00

From Spirit Juice Studios.

Simply beautiful.

Obama and Catholics

2010-01-08T17:23:00.004-05:00

President Obama has just renominated Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

Ms. Johnsen (along with other sadly misguided souls) actually tried to strip the Church of its tax-exempt status over its pro-life stances (see Abortion Rights Mobilization Inc v. A. Baker III and United States Catholic Conference v. Abortion Rights Mobilization).

Add her to the list of bigots that Obama has nominated or appointed. She joins:

Chai Feldblum, nominee for Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She has stated: "Sexual liberty should win in most cases. There can be a conflict between religious liberty and sexual liberty, but in almost all cases the sexual liberty should win because that's the only way that the dignity of gay people can be affirmed in any realistic manner." Ms. Feldblum also believes that the First Amendment should no longer be used to evaluate religious freedom claims: "...I want to suggest that the best framework for dealing with [the conflict between gay rights and religious liberty] is to analyze religious people's claims as belief liberty interests under the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, rather than as free exercise claims under the First Amendment."

Harry Knox, member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He called the denial of the Eucharist to a lesbian couple "spiritual and emotional violence" and said that the Knights of Columbus were "foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression."

Kevin Jennings, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Drug-Free Schools. In a speech to Marble Collegiate Church, he said: "We have to quit being afraif of the religious right. We also have to quit - I'm trying to find a way to say this. I'm trying not to s ay, '[F---] 'em!' which is what I want to say, because I don't care what they think.Drop dead!" Mr. Jennings is also a donating member of ACT UP, a homosexual, anti-AIDS, anti-Catholic Church organization which, in 1989, broke in St. Patrick's Cathedral, disrupted Mass, desecrated the Eucharist and posted obscene depictions of Cardinal O'Connor. Mr. Jennings was not a participant in the attack.

They say you can judge someone by the company they keep. Such company does not reassure me that Obama respects the Catholic faith. (We won't even go into the issue of multitude of lapsed Catholics he's appointed.)

Such nominees are especially troubling, considering that Belmont Abbey College is currently fighting a ruling by the EEOC over their health care policy, which does not cover abortion or contraceptives.

Reuben Daniels Jr., of the EEOC Charlotte District Office Director wrote“By denying prescription contraception drugs, Respondent (the college) is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral prescription contraceptives… By denying coverage, men are not affected, only women."

In other words, Catholic college aren't allowed to be Catholic if it interferes with "sexual liberty." Sounds like something Chai Feldblum would applaud.

Something is rotten in the District of Columbia...

God help us.

photo credit: Indiana University Law School

Benedictine Brides of Christ

2010-01-08T17:08:00.008-05:00

These four beautiful young women recently undertook investiture in the Benedictine habit. They are part of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles in the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph, MO.

Kansas Catholic has more Catholic eye candy of the ceremony, which was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form by Bishop Robert W. Finn.

It's so great to see young women accept Christ's call. May we always pray for more vocations.

HT to Fr. Z.

New contender for bishop of the year award

2009-12-16T17:11:00.005-05:00

Archbishop of Milwaukee, Jerome E. Listecki recently used his pastoral authority to let folks know in a news release that the organization Young Catholics for Choice may be young and ok with abortion, but they sure aren't Catholic.

Full text of the bishop's statement (with my emphases and comments):

"It has come to my attention that an organization calling itself “Young Catholics for Choice” has recently entered into collaboration with Family Planning HealthServices of Wausau. Through media advertising, “Young Catholics for Choice” is attempting to convey the message that Catholics can disregard Church teaching regarding contraception, abortion and human sexuality in general and remain Catholics in good standing. [Should we file this under 'catechesis FAIL' or 'secular outlook WIN'?]
Nothing could be further from the truth. [Now that's a bishop who knows how to bish!] While people can call themselves whatever they want, it is my duty as a bishop to state clearly and unequivocally that by professing and disseminating views in grave contradiction to Catholic teaching, members of organizations like “Young Catholics for Choice” in fact disown their Catholic heritage, tragically distancing themselves from that communion with the Church to which they are called. We pray that they may reconcile their position which is contrary to the Catholic Faith they claim to profess." ["Nothing could be further from the truth," "grave contradiction" "disown their Catholic heritage" " tragically distancing themselves, " "contrary to the Catholic Faith" - no mincing words here!]

Bravo to Bishop Listecki! May these misguided people come to know the truth that sets them free.

On a somewhat related note, as much as these "Catholic" groups annoy me to no end, they do kind of point out that the Catholic Church is the Church. I mean, it would be so very easy for these "Catholics" to simply become Episcopalian and have all these beliefs affirmed. Heck, they'd even get some liturgy, and women's ordination.

But that's not enough for them. I think, deep down, buried under several layers of "what-do-a-bunch-of-old-men-in-Rome-know-about-life?" scorn, they know that the Catholic Church is what she claims to be. And that scares them into staying. They continue to dissent, continue to try to change her, but they know that they cannot leave Jesus's Church.

So while they've leaped off the back of the Barque of Peter, they've still got a rope tied to the ship. They think they're doing the Church a favor by trying to tug her towards "modernity."

However, hopefully sooner rather than later, they'll realize that, while that ship has its barnacles, it has weathered the Albigensians and the Arians, the Manicheans and the Modernists, the Nestorians, Napoleon and the Nazis, the profilgate popes and the Protestants.

"Young Catholics for Choice" won't be able to budge her. With the pope at the helm, the Church will sail on, with the between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Eucharist as the guides, no matter what.

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Last minute gift idea

2009-12-16T17:07:00.003-05:00

Suitable for small children or that relative who thinks he's oh-so-punny.

From Allen's Brain.

Study uses African women like lab rats

2009-12-15T23:45:00.004-05:00

The Catholic Church gets a bad rep for promoting that the ways to prevent the spread of AIDS in Africa are abstinence and marital fidelity.

Somehow, the the bad rep persists, even though Uganda has experienced "the greatest decline in HIV presence of any country in the world" by promoting abstinence and fidelity to one's spouse as the best way to prevent HIV transmission.

Yeah, no one ever said anti-Catholicism was logical.

But what's worse is that some scientists are willing to let women die of HIV or AIDS. From Diogenes:

most unfortunate
by Diogenes
Hey folks, do your acquaintances include any consequentialist Safe-Sin ethicians of the type who argue that the Church is proved wrong by AIDS infection rates in Africa? Well round them up to take a look at this BBC report on field-testing their moral theology:

A major trial of a vaginal microbicide has produced no evidence that its use reduces the risk of HIV infection in women.

The gel, PRO 2000, is intended for use before sexual intercourse to help reduce HIV infection.

It was tested in a trial involving 9,385 women in four African countries.

The risk of HIV infection was not significantly different among women supplied with the gel than in women given a placebo gel.

Got that? In order to gauge the effectiveness of the trial microbicide some of the "participants" were given a substance with no medicinal properties whatsover -- a placebo -- with the instruction to begin or resume sexual relations in a population with a notoriously high incidence of HIV infection.

To put it bluntly, the "lab rats" in this experiment were human beings with human hopes, loves, fears, responsibilities. Keep in mind that the participants necessarily had to be uninfected women at the outset of the trial. It is undeniable that the researchers wanted the women to be inseminated by men infected with a lethal disease agent. The trial would be pointless otherwise.

We are not told how the women in question were induced to comply (it is reported that they got "free condoms and access to counseling about safe sex"). It is all but certain that they were not truly brought to understand and accept 1) what a placebo actually is, 2) what each woman's chances of using an inert and useless substance were, 3) what the range of likelihood was for the trial medicine's being effective or ineffective. It is hard to imagine that 9,000 volunteers could have been assembled without some blurring of the truth.

Well, it turns out that the trial gel has no discernible effect in reducing the transmission of HIV. The reaction?

Lead researcher Dr Sheena McCormack, of the Medical Research Council, which part-funded the study, said: "This result is disheartening."

Bully for you, Doc. I trust the women in the study whose subsequent infection helped you draw your conclusion are equally stoic about the results. Let me go further: did you, Dr. McCormack, "field test" the gel with your own body in the same sub-Saharan circumstances? Did you ask your research colleagues or their wives and daughters to do so as well, for the sake of scientific progress? If, on the other hand, you were unwilling to put your own European middle class professional immune systems on the line, do you not feel a certain uneasiness at the "asymmetry of consequence" between your clinical discouragement and the discouragement of your, ahem, test population?

And yet people try to claim that the Catholic Church is anti-woman.

The world really has turned upside down.

May God have mercy on these scientists and shower His grace upon these poor women.

Heaven kisses Earth

2009-12-15T12:55:00.003-05:00

Proof here.

Bishops say Equality Bill redefines who can be priest

2009-12-09T13:31:00.009-05:00

I love the British sense of humor, especially some of the Monty Python skits and of course, Mr. Bean.

It's a pity this isn't a joke:

English, Welsh bishops say Equality Bill redefines who can be priest

By Simon Caldwell
Catholic News Service

LONDON (CNS) -- The Catholic bishops of England and Wales said they could be at risk of prosecution under a proposed law unless they accept women, sexually active gays and transsexuals as candidates to the priesthood.

They made their claims in a briefing for Catholic members of the House of Lords [some of who think the title 'lord' should be capitalized, apparently...], Britain's upper political chamber, ahead of a scheduled Dec. 15 debate on the Equality Bill, which aims to stamp out discrimination in the workplace [by discriminating against the Catholic faith].

The bishops said the bill defines priests as employees rather than officeholders. [Up next: prosecuting the Church for violating minimum wage laws, since priests probably are paid much less than minimum wage, considering how many hours they work.] Under the terms of the bill, the church would be immune from prosecution only if priests spend more than 51 percent of their time in worship or explaining doctrine.

According to the briefing, a copy of which was obtained by Catholic News Service Dec. 8, the government definition will, in effect, make it "unlawful to require a Catholic priest to be male, unmarried or not in a civil partnership, etc., since no priest would be able to demonstrate that their time was wholly or mainly spent either leading liturgy or promoting and explaining doctrine."

"The bill fails to reflect the time priests spend in pastoral work, private prayer and study, administration, building maintenance, etc.," the briefing said.

"This contentious definition was drafted without consultation and has been maintained by the government despite the concerns of the bishops' conference and representations made by most religious bodies in the U.K.," the briefing added. [So it's an "equality" bill in that, all things being equal, all religions are being discriminated against.]

The bishops asked Catholic lords to try to either strike out the contentious definition or widen it to protect priests and lay employees "whose credibility ... would be fatally compromised if their personal lives were openly at variance with the church's teaching."[Call me a conspiracy theorist, but isn't this what many people want? To destroy the credibility of the Church, so that it can be ignored as irrelevant? Yes, the priest abuse scandals have already done incalculable damage on that front. But to have the government openly working against the Church?]

In a Dec. 8 statement given to CNS, a government spokesman rejected the claims of the bishops, saying that an exemption "covers ministers of religion such as Catholic priests."

An amendment to the bill to protect the liberty of the churches was voted down in the House of Commons in November. [Why? Because this bill doesn't intend to protect churches.] The bill is likely to become law early next year.

Richard Kornicki, the bishops' parliamentary coordinator, told CNS in a Dec. 8 telephone interview that the bishops believe it is not possible to meet the criteria of the government definition of a priest. [Since when is government allowed to define who is a priest? Shouldn't they be looking at the Catholic Church's definition of who is a priest? But, alas, perhaps this is part of the Henry VIII legacy in England?]

According to legal advice received by the bishops, he said, this could lead to legal actions for sex discrimination if the church rejected women, married men, gays in civil partnerships or transsexuals who asked to join the priesthood.

"The government is saying that the church cannot maintain its own beliefs in respect of its own priests," he said. [Bingo. And that's frightening.]

Neil Addison, a Catholic lawyer who heads the Thomas More Legal Centre, which specializes in religious discrimination law, said that in the worst-case scenario the church could not only be sued but bishops could face imprisonment and unlimited fines and church assets could be sequestered. [As awful as this sounds, I wonder if such open and active legal persecution would help people recognize what's going on here. And I wonder how many bishops are fantastic speakers who could use some pithy British wit to denounce these actions while they head off to gaol.] He said the bill would have the effect of making it impossible for the bishops to discipline clergy who wanted to live "alternative lifestyles."

Earlier, the bishops said the bill could force Catholic schools and health care institutions to remove crucifixes from their walls in case they offend non-Christian employees. [If you're "offended" by Catholicism, why oh why would you want to work for the Catholic Church in its schools or hospitals?]

First, secular culture decided that religion should stay inside the church, and that people shouldn't let their faith affect their day-to-day lives. Now we have the government trying to tell the bishops how to deal with intrachurch matters. How about that for a slippery slope?

What is particularly disturbing about this is that the U.S. is probably next; President Obama has nominated Chai Feldblum commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Feldblum has argued that "sexual liberty" should trump religious liberty, and that the First Amendment should no longer apply to religious liberty.

From her paper, Moral Conflicts and Liberty: Gay Rights and Religion:

“...I want to suggest that the best framework for dealing with this conflict is to analyze religious people’s claims as belief liberty interests under the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, rather than as free exercise claims under the First Amendment.” (p. 3)

From "Banned in Boston," in the Weekly Standard (5/15/2006)

“I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win."

“Sexual liberty should win in most cases. There can be a conflict between religious liberty and sexual liberty, but in almost all cases the sexual liberty should win because that’s the only way that the dignity of gay people can be affirmed in any realistic manner.”

I hope and pray that the Brits wake up and stop their government from discriminating against people of faith.

And that Americans take note and prepare for our own upcoming battles.

Patron Saint of the Day: St. Thomas More

St. Thomas More, Martyr (Patron of Lawyers) St. Thomas More was born at London in 1478...In 1534, with his close friend, St. John Fisher, he refused to render allegiance to the King as the Head of the Church of England and was confined to the Tower. Fifteen months later, and nine days after St. John Fisher's execution, he was tried and convicted of treason. He told the court that he could not go against his conscience and wished his judges that "we may yet hereafter in heaven merrily all meet together to everlasting salvation."

Fr. Barron: "I want Catholicism to be disturbing, unnerving..."

2009-12-08T16:02:00.001-05:00

Another gem from Fr. Robert Barron, discussing his book, "The Strangest Way":

How not to report about the Pope

2009-12-08T14:47:00.007-05:00

From the AP, as published in the New York Times:

Pope Keeps Spanish Steps Tradition in Rome

ROME (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday lamented what he described as a steady diet of news about evil in the world, saying it hardens hearts, as he prayed at the Spanish Steps in a Christmas season tradition. [Ok, so one would expect, from the headline and this lead, that we're going to learn about what this tradition means.]

Shoppers who jammed the narrow streets, including Via Condotti with its posh shops, paused from buying Christmas gifts to catch a glimpse of Benedict as he was driven in a glass-sided popemobile to the square below the Spanish Steps. [What are the Spanish Steps and why are they a Christmas season tradition?]

''Every day, through the newspapers, television, radio, evil is reported, repeated, amplified, making us used to horrible things, making us become insensitive, and, in some way, poisoning us,'' the pope said after kneeling in prayer before a statue of the Virgin Mary to mark the Dec. 8 Catholic feast day in her honor. [Which is...? Surely what feast day is pertinent information.]

''Hearts harden and thoughts darken,'' Benedict said.

He also complained that the mass media ''tend to make us feel like spectators, as if evil regards only others and certain things could never happen to us.''

Instead, Benedict said, ''we are all actors, and for better or worse, our behavior has an influence on others.''

An aide held a white umbrella over the 82-year-old pontiff in a drizzle at dusk. Benedict wore an ermine-trimmed, crimson cape to guard against the chill. [Ok, so let me get the straight: what the Pope wore is more of a story than what he was doing and why?]

Benedict's next major public holiday appointment is Christmas Eve Mass, which he will celebrate at 10 p.m. instead of the traditional starting hour of midnight in St. Peter's Basilica.

The announcement by the Vatican that the pope had agreed with his aides to move up the appointment by two hours raised some concern about the pontiff's health.

But Vatican officials have insisted his health is fine, and that Benedict had agreed with aides to have more time to rest before a noon appearance to crowds in St. Peter's Square on Christmas Day.

Although Benedict at the start of his papacy ventured that he would travel far less than his globe-trotting predecessor, John Paul II, did in his 26-year-long pontificate, the German-born theologian has been making several international and domestic trips each year.

On Tuesday, church officials announced that Benedict would make several Italian pilgrimages in 2010, including a visit in October to Sicily, where the local church has been speaking out against organized crime. Other trips include a visit in May to Turin to see the famed Shroud and a journey in July to the central town of Sulmona, the spiritual home of the 13th-century hermit pope, Celestine V, the only pontiff to have resigned. [I wonder how many journalists hope Pope Benedict also resigns. ;-) ]

At least two foreign trips have been announced for next year: separate pilgrimages to the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Cyprus. Britain and Fatima, Portugal, are possibilities for other trips.

So, the reporter failed to include:

1. What the Spanish Steps are
2. Why the Spanish Steps are a Christmas tradition and
3. What feast day is December 8th (the Immaculate Conception, just FYI, AP).

But he/she did remember to include a description of the pope's hat. Gee, thanks.

Either the writer is a frustrated fashionista, stuck reporting real news when he/she would rather be covering the catwalk or some editor seriously forgot everything she learned in journalism school when she approved this for publication.

Regardless, this is a case of serious religion reporter FAIL.

God in the Streets of New York City

2009-11-23T12:00:00.001-05:00

Another great one from Grassroots Media:

You know you're Catholic when this video gives you goosebumps...

Bishop Tobin wasn't kidding, Kennedy

2009-11-23T11:09:00.004-05:00

I wonder if Kennedy has yet regretted opening Pandora's box...

RI bishop asked Kennedy in 2007 to avoid Communion
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer – Sun Nov 22, 6:05 pm ET
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A month of harsh words between Rep. Patrick Kennedy and a strident critic, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin, escalated Sunday when the bishop acknowledged asking Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion because of the Democratic lawmaker's support for abortion rights.

The bishop's attempt to publicly shame Kennedy on his abortion stance comes just a few months after the death of his father, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Tobin told The Associated Press that the younger Kennedy, who has been in and out of treatment for substance abuse, has been acting "erratically." [Deciding to take on the U.S. bishops is kind of erratic. However, did Tobin tell the AP about substance abuse? I doubt it. Which makes that indirect quote kind of weird.]

Their dispute began in October when Kennedy criticized the nation's Catholic bishops for threatening to oppose an overhaul of the nation's health care system unless lawmakers included tighter restrictions on abortion, which have since been added to the House version of the bill. Tobin said he felt [I don't think he said 'felt'] Kennedy made an unprovoked attack on the church and demanded an apology.

"The point is, because of his obstinate ... public support of abortion, which is clearly contrary to an essential teaching of the church of a matter of critical morality ... he is then not properly prepared to receive Holy Communion," Tobin said in an interview Sunday. "No one has a right to receive Holy Communion." [Amen.]

The feud escalated after Kennedy told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Tobin instructed him not to receive Communion. Kennedy also claimed the bishop had told diocesan priests not to give him communion, an allegation that Tobin denied. [Remember this: Tobin tried to correct Kennedy privately first, like any good shepherd. Kennedy took it public. Therefore, what right does Kennedy have to complain about public statements that Tobin makes?]

....

Tobin said he wrote Kennedy in February 2007 and asked him not to receive Communion because of his voting record supporting abortion rights.[Sooo, it's not like Kennedy has been unaware of the Church's beliefs.]

The bishop said his letter was prompted by a statement two months earlier from the nation's Catholic bishops. They said that believers who knowingly and consistently break with church teachings on moral issues such as abortion should refrain from Communion, the focus of Roman Catholic worship.

Abortion is a major concern for the Catholic bishops because opposition to the procedure is based on the church's earliest teachings on preserving human life, which have not changed. By comparison, church teaching on the death penalty is not as definitive and has changed over time, making it difficult for church leaders to demand that Catholic lawmakers agree.[Where did the AP come up with this!? The Catechism states:
2267 Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."]

Only a few U.S. bishops have said they would outright deny Holy Communion to a Catholic lawmaker who supports policies that violate church teaching. A larger number of prelates have publicly asked a Catholic politician to voluntarily abstain from the sacrament.

For example, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Diocese of Kansas City in Kansas had repeatedly said publicly that former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic Democrat who supports abortion rights, should stop taking Communion until she changes her stance. Sebelius is now President Barack Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services.
.....

Kudos to Tobin. Decent article by the AP, although the contrast between abortion and the death penalty was just plain weird. Where did they come up with the distinction?

Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

2009-11-20T16:18:00.003-05:00

Today might just be a watershed moment: 148 Catholics, Evangelicals and Orthodox signed a joint statement calling for protection of life, marriage and religious freedom.

The Catholic signatories included Archbishops Charles Chaput of Denver and Timothy "I'm not holding my breath" Dolan of New York City and Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., among others.

You can (and should!) read the whole declaration at First Things. But I think the most important section of the document is the last three paragraphs (with my emphases):

As Christians, we take seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in authority. We believe in law and in the rule of law. We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral. The biblical purpose of law is to preserve order and serve justice and the common good; yet laws that are unjust—and especially laws that purport to compel citizens to do what is unjust—undermine the common good, rather than serve it.

Going back to the earliest days of the church, Christians have refused to compromise their proclamation of the gospel. In Acts 4, Peter and John were ordered to stop preaching. Their answer was, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Through the centuries, Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required. There is no more eloquent defense of the rights and duties of religious conscience than the one offered by Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Writing from an explicitly Christian perspective, and citing Christian writers such as Augustine and Aquinas, King taught that just laws elevate and ennoble human beings because they are rooted in the moral law whose ultimate source is God Himself. Unjust laws degrade human beings. Inasmuch as they can claim no authority beyond sheer human will, they lack any power to bind in conscience. King’s willingness to go to jail, rather than comply with legal injustice, was exemplary and inspiring.

Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.

Did you get that? We have 148 Christian leaders who will not give in to government and cultural pressures to turn a blind eye to the evils of abortion, celebrate the undermining of marriage or accept restrictions on religious freedom.

They have made the statement that they are willing to exercise civil disobedience rather than obey unjust laws.

How many of them will end up living out these words?

My bet is definitely more than a few.

Thank God for the gift of these leaders.

Not one cent to the CCHD

2009-11-20T13:54:00.002-05:00

This week there will be a second collection for the "Catholic" Campaign for Human Development.

Don't support them.

Fr. Barron on "2012"

2009-11-18T17:07:00.001-05:00

Definitely worth watching.

Wherein the Boston Globe shows its illiteracy

2009-11-12T16:00:00.003-05:00

Scripture and Catholic illiteracy, that is. Find the Boston Globe article here.

With my [comments] and emphases.

Verbally, bishop isn't turning cheek
[Aside from the fact that the Scripture is totally taken out of context - Matthew 5:39 has nothing to do with a bishop correcting an errant member - note how this headline sets the tone that the bishop isn't acting like Jesus. Jesus, in the Gospel according to Globe, wouldn't correct Kennedy.]
R.I.'s Tobin welcomes tussles with politicians [Because opposition to abortion is political, not moral, not religious. Note how this is also a popular angle for coverage.]

by Noah Bierman
Globe Staff/November 12, 2009

PROVIDENCE - The bishop from America’s most Catholic state, and increasingly one of the church’s most provocative prelates, has provided a rather concise explanation for his willingness to clash with politicians: Christians are not supposed to be nice, at least not all the time.

“In confronting moral evil, Jesus wasn’t nice, kind, gentle, and sweet,’’ Thomas J. Tobin, the bishop of Providence, wrote in his diocesan newspaper column earlier this year. “He lived in a rough and tumble world and He took His message to the streets.’’

Tobin has followed his interpretation [um...has this journalist ever read the story of the temple moneychangers? Has he read what Jesus called the Pharisees?] of Jesus’ demeanor most devoutly, and he is quickly positioning himself at the national forefront of a renewed debate over the role of Catholic orthodoxy in the public square, most recently in a very personal feud [Again, this wording tries to marginalize what's going on. If Kennedy is acting in the public square, his views may be personal, but they are not private.] with Representative Patrick Kennedy. As the abortion issue has taken on prominence in the national health care debate, Tobin has insisted Catholics get involved in the rough world of politics [because it's only political, not moral, not religious]- even if it means tangling with prochoice Catholic [a contradiction in terms] legislators. And he has led by example.

Since his installation in 2005, he has challenged the Republican governor’s crackdown on illegal immigration, inserted himself into last year’s Republican presidential primary with a rebuke of Rudolph Giuliani on the abortion issue (in which he addressed him familiarly as “Rudy’’ in a commentary), and took on President Obama in a mock interview published in another of his columns (in which he facetiously quotes Obama advancing the rights of foreigners “to kill their children and use abortion as a form of birth control.’’) [If the shoe fits...]

His commentary, published regularly in the Rhode Island Catholic, is titled, not surprisingly, “Without a Doubt.’’ [Can we at least pretend to be objective?]

“He speaks his mind. He has his convictions,’’ said Beverley Smith, a 59-year-old nurse who attended lunchtime Mass at the gold-accented [relevant because..?] downtown cathedral in Providence yesterday.

Tobin and Kennedy, a member of one of America’s most prominent Catholic families, have been exchanging fiery words for weeks. But the rhetoric may have reached a climax in Tobin’s most recent column, in which he disputes Kennedy’s contention that disagreeing with church hierarchy makes him no less of a Catholic. [It's not just Tobin's opinion, though. It's what the Church teaches.]

“Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does,’’ Tobin wrote. “Your position is unacceptable to the church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the church.’’

A planned meeting between the men, scheduled for today, has been postponed indefinitely. According to the diocese, it was by mutual agreement. In a news conference Tuesday, Kennedy said he was willing to meet with Tobin but not willing to discuss his faith in public anymore. [In other words, Kennedy knows that this is a fight he cannot win, but he refuses to admit his errors.]

“I had initially agreed on a meeting with him, provided that we not debate this in public, in terms of my personal faith or things of that sort,’’ Kennedy said, according to the Associated Press. “And, unfortunately, he hasn’t kept to that agreement. And that’s been very disconcerting to me.’’ [Mr. Kennedy, millions of Catholics find it disconcerting that you are willing to ignore the Church's constant and ancient teaching about abortion, and willfully disregard the rebuke of your bishop.]

Earlier, Kennedy had questioned why church leaders would oppose the opportunity to insure millions of poor Americans because the bill could possibly provide [read: would] coverage for abortions. [Never mind that the Catholic Church leads the world in charitable giving.]

“You mean to tell me the Catholic Church is going to be denying those people life-saving health care?’’ Kennedy told the Catholic News Service last month. [Red herring. Note also that the reporter also fails to report any facts about what health care the Catholic Church provides or the fact that Catholic bishops have long advocated for reform of the health care system.] A health care bill was passed by the US House of Representatives over the weekend, with a controversial amendment restricting federal funding for abortion - considered a major victory for the nation’s Catholic bishops and other abortion opponents. Kennedy voted against the amendment [Thereby demonstrating that he is not acting as a Catholic should.] but supported the final bill.

Kennedy, through a spokesman, declined an interview request for this article. Tobin’s spokesman could not make him available, but the bishop said in a radio interview yesterday that it was Kennedy who started the fight [I wonder if those were Tobin's words. I somehow doubt it.] by making an unfortunate and ill-advised attack on church leadership.

But Tobin, a 61-year-old from Pittsburgh, has entered the debate with apparent relish.[Because it's all political and he's just enjoying his moment in the spotlight.] His office has been quick to send out responses and commentary as the debate has continued. His folksy yet pointed writing was singled out for praise by the Catholic Press Association in 2000, for columns he wrote for his former diocese in Youngstown, Ohio.

“I admit it; I’m a political junkie,’’ Tobin wrote in a column this month. “I follow political news pretty closely and if I weren’t a cleric, I’d probably run for something or other. In His wisdom, though, and perhaps to protect the public, the Lord has led me down a different path.’’ [Say it with me now: it's all political.]

Even in Rhode Island, where church estimates put the Catholic population at 58 percent of the state, bishops have not always entered the public sphere so readily. [The implication being that they need to stay in their churches.] The church was chastened by its effort in 1986 to pass a nonbinding referendum that called for severe restrictions on abortion. Much to everyone’s surprise, it failed miserably, said Maureen Moakley, a University of Rhode Island political scientist.

“After that defeat, the church kind of stepped back, and the next bishop was this live-and-let-live’’ leader [perhaps this was part of the problem - past bishops failing to govern their flocks] when it came to the political [always 'political'] establishment, Moakley said. “But the arrival of Tobin has been a very different attitude, a willingness to be confrontational about issues.’’

Moakley said the political impact remains a question that will not be settled until Kennedy and other members of the delegation face reelection. Tobin also has something at stake: a test of the church’s clout in a modern world [as opposed to the medieval world where faithful Catholics live?] where many in the flock disagree about abortion, gay marriage, and other social issues in which the leadership has taken an uncompromising stance.[Is it really so hard for journalists to understand that a.)the 'leadership' is not making it up as they go along and b.)the leadership doesn't have the authority to suddenly say that abortion and same-sex marriage are ok? Really? Is it so hard to comprehend that not everything can be negotiated away, that sometimes things are simply right or wrong?]

On the streets of Providence yesterday, opinions seemed divided on the Tobin/Kennedy issue, though some self-identified Catholics said they had little knowledge of Tobin or his commentaries. [IOW, Tobin is irrelevant.]

“He was ordained to uphold the Catholic doctrine. That’s what he’s doing,’’ said Fran Whitworth, the 42-year-old owner of Old World Cigar on Federal Hill.

But Janelle Ploude, who said she attends Mass weekly and keeps a large portrait of Jesus near her station at a downtown beauty parlor [wherein the reporter establishes her credentials], said Tobin has taken things too far.

“I feel like church and state should be two totally different things,’’ said Ploude, 31. [Aarrrgh. How many times must we point out that abortion isn't a political issue alone - it's a moral issue as well, and the Church has an obligation to weigh in on moral issues.]

Still others managed to find a middle ground [always a happy buzz word in a relativistic world] in a debate many find irreconcilable. [And for good reason: Tobin can't declare abortion morally permissable, and Kennedy probably won't admit his errors.]

“I can see both sides,’’ said Jim Aceto, a 59-year-old accountant from North Providence.

The bishop, who needs to set a tone for all Catholics, had no choice but to address the actions of a congressman who holds himself out as a Catholic, Aceto said. But the congressman, Aceto noted, needs to represent more than one group of people in his public role. [Not an excuse. In the early years, Catholics died rather than offer a speck of incense to a Roman god or be complicit in moral evils. Kennedy, like any good politician, should be willing to risk his seat in Congress to do what is right. It's a much lesser martyrdom than being torn apart by wild animals.]

“Abortion’s always a topic of discussion,’’ [except that Rome locuta est - Causa finita est. No room for nuances. Abortion is intrinsically evil.] said Aceto, who does not support Kennedy. “I know some very good Catholics that feel the way Kennedy does.’’ [By definition, however, they are no longer "very good Catholics" if they support abortion.]

It's also worth pointing out how this article is structured in its final paragraphs. By ending on that quote, the reporter is making sure that the reader's last thought is that one can be a "very good Catholic" while agreeing with Kennedy - which is untrue. The article would have a whole different feel if the reporter pointed that out, or ended on Fran Whitworth's quote.

It's a shame the reporter didn't bother to a.) check the relevant Scriptures and b.) learn a thing or two about the Catholic Church before writing this article.

It's also a shame that bishops acting with conviction are so newsworthy. In this Year of the Priest, pray for them, that they might have the courage to be vastly unpopular for the sake of Jesus and His Church.

Bishop Tobin takes off the gloves

2009-11-10T20:58:00.004-05:00

Bishop Tobin - my favorite bishop of the week - is not letting Rep. Patrick Kennedy get away with his antics. (Click here for the backstory, and here for continuing coverage.)

Tobin took the opportunity to school the congressman - and his flock - in a piece in The Rhode Island Catholic.

WITHOUT A DOUBT
Dear Congressman Kennedy
by BISHOP THOMAS J. TOBIN

Dear Congressman Kennedy:

“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)
Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they might be instructive to other Catholics, including those in prominent positions of leadership.

For the moment I’d like to set aside the discussion of health care reform, as important and relevant as it is, and focus on one statement contained in your letter of October 29, 2009, in which you write, “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” That sentence certainly caught my attention and deserves a public response, lest it go unchallenged and lead others to believe it’s true. And it raises an important question: What does it mean to be a Catholic?

“The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” Well, in fact, Congressman, in a way it does. Although I wouldn’t choose those particular words, when someone rejects the teachings of the Church, especially on a grave matter, a life-and-death issue like abortion, it certainly does diminish their ecclesial communion, their unity with the Church. This principle is based on the Sacred Scripture and Tradition of the Church and is made more explicit in recent documents.

For example, the “Code of Canon Law” says, “Lay persons are bound by an obligation and possess the right to acquire a knowledge of Christian doctrine adapted to their capacity and condition so that they can live in accord with that doctrine.” (Canon 229, #1)

The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” says this: “Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles, ‘He who hears you, hears me,’ the faithful receive with docility the teaching and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.” (#87)

Or consider this statement of the Church: “It would be a mistake to confuse the proper autonomy exercised by Catholics in political life with the claim of a principle that prescinds from the moral and social teaching of the Church.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2002)

There’s lots of canonical and theological verbiage there, Congressman, but what it means is that if you don’t accept the teachings of the Church your communion with the Church is flawed, or in your own words, makes you “less of a Catholic.”

But let’s get down to a more practical question; let’s approach it this way: What does it mean, really, to be a Catholic? After all, being a Catholic has to mean something, right?

Well, in simple terms – and here I refer only to those more visible, structural elements of Church membership – being a Catholic means that you’re part of a faith community that possesses a clearly defined authority and doctrine, obligations and expectations. It means that you believe and accept the teachings of the Church, especially on essential matters of faith and morals; that you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish; that you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly; that you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially.

Congressman, I’m not sure whether or not you fulfill the basic requirements of being a Catholic, so let me ask: Do you accept the teachings of the Church on essential matters of faith and morals, including our stance on abortion? Do you belong to a local Catholic community, a parish? Do you attend Mass on Sundays and receive the sacraments regularly? Do you support the Church, personally, publicly, spiritually and financially?

In your letter you say that you “embrace your faith.” Terrific. But if you don’t fulfill the basic requirements of membership, what is it exactly that makes you a Catholic? Your baptism as an infant? Your family ties? Your cultural heritage?

Your letter also says that your faith “acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity.” Absolutely true. But in confronting your rejection of the Church’s teaching, we’re not dealing just with “an imperfect humanity” – as we do when we wrestle with sins such as anger, pride, greed, impurity or dishonesty. We all struggle with those things, and often fail.

Your rejection of the Church’s teaching on abortion falls into a different category – it’s a deliberate and obstinate act of the will; a conscious decision that you’ve re-affirmed on many occasions. Sorry, you can’t chalk it up to an “imperfect humanity.” Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your communion with the Church.

Congressman Kennedy, I write these words not to embarrass you or to judge the state of your conscience or soul. That’s ultimately between you and God. But your description of your relationship with the Church is now a matter of public record, and it needs to be challenged. I invite you, as your bishop and brother in Christ, to enter into a sincere process of discernment, conversion and repentance. It’s not too late for you to repair your relationship with the Church, redeem your public image, and emerge as an authentic “profile in courage,” especially by defending the sanctity of human life for all people, including unborn children. And if I can ever be of assistance as you travel the road of faith, I would be honored and happy to do so.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas J. Tobin

Bishop of Providence

St. Ambrose - who had experience with politicians connected to the brutal murders of children - would be proud.

Pray for Rep. Kennedy, that like Theodosius, he too might repent, do public penance and sin no more.

Texas abortionist: "Am I killing? Yes, I am. I know that."

2009-11-06T15:33:00.002-05:00

Kyrie eleison.

Excuse me while I vomit.

HT to Creative Minority Report.

Worth reading

2009-11-03T10:24:00.002-05:00

Check out these great posts from around the web:

Jill Stanek's blog: "Catholic Bishops frighten Planned Parenthood CEO" (It's always a good day when that happens.)
Creative Minority Report: "We Are Not a Pro-Life Nation" (It's heartbreaking.)
American Papist: "Update: Dominican sister caught volunteering at abortion clinic censured by congregation"

Euro court bans crucifixes in Italy's schools

2009-11-03T10:03:00.003-05:00

Apparently, the European Court of Human Rights has far, far too much time on its hands.From BBC News:

The Strasbourg court found that: "The compulsory display of a symbol of a given confession in premises used by the public authorities... restricted the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions."

It also restricted the "right of children to believe or not to believe", the seven judges ruling on the case said in a statement quoted by AFP news agency.

How exactly does it do that?Italian mother Soile Lautsi - who brought the case - is not prevented in any way from educating her children. Her children have the right to become diehard Catholics or diehard atheists or whatever else they choose. The Italian schools were not mandating that the children pray before the crucifix or making them memorize the Catechism.

But apparently even the presence of a crucifix offends. Hmm. So I guess one of two things will happen next:

1. The European Court of Human Rights will start banning children from wearing crucifixes in the classroom. Because, well, peer pressure, you know. That might interfere with the kid's choices.

2. We'll learn that Italy - and indeed, much of Europe - is suffering from a high rate of vampirism.

The first is a lot more likely, but the second makes so much more sense.

USCCB: Contact your representatives

2009-11-02T16:47:00.005-05:00

The House and Senate need to hear from you about the health care bill. Voting might start this week.

[Ad from LifeSiteNews.com]

The op-ed the New York Times wouldn't print

2009-11-02T12:16:00.004-05:00

Remember Maureen Dowd's anti-Catholic screed?

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who rocks, wrote to the New York Times. They didn't publish it. Shocking, I know.

So here it is - because we can't take this anti-Catholic attitude lying down:

FOUL BALL!
By Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
Archbishop of New York

October is the month we relish the highpoint of our national pastime, especially when one of our own New York teams is in the World Series!

Sadly, America has another national pastime, this one not pleasant at all: anti-catholicism.

It is not hyperbole to call prejudice against the Catholic Church a national pastime. Scholars such as Arthur Schlesinger Sr. referred to it as “the deepest bias in the history of the American people,” while John Higham described it as “the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history.” “The anti-semitism of the left,” is how Paul Viereck reads it, and Professor Philip Jenkins sub-titles his book on the topic “the last acceptable prejudice.”

If you want recent evidence of this unfairness against the Catholic Church, look no further than a few of these following examples of occurrences over the last couple weeks:
On October 14, in the pages of the New York Times, reporter Paul Vitello exposed the sad extent of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. According to the article, there were forty cases of such abuse in this tiny community last year alone. Yet the Times did not demand what it has called for incessantly when addressing the same kind of abuse by a tiny minority of priests: release of names of abusers, rollback of statute of limitations, external investigations, release of all records, and total transparency. Instead, an attorney is quoted urging law enforcement officials to recognize “religious sensitivities,” and no criticism was offered of the DA’s office for allowing Orthodox rabbis to settle these cases “internally.” Given the Catholic Church’s own recent horrible experience, I am hardly in any position to criticize our Orthodox Jewish neighbors, and have no wish to do so . . . but I can criticize this kind of “selective outrage.”

Of course, this selective outrage probably should not surprise us at all, as we have seen many other examples of the phenomenon in recent years when it comes to the issue of sexual abuse. To cite but two: In 2004, Professor Carol Shakeshaft documented the wide-spread problem of sexual abuse of minors in our nation’s public schools (the study can be found here). In 2007, the Associated Press issued a series of investigative reports that also showed the numerous examples of sexual abuse by educators against public school students. Both the Shakeshaft study and the AP reports were essentially ignored, as papers such as the New York Times only seem to have priests in their crosshairs.

On October 16, Laurie Goodstein of the Times offered a front page, above-the-fold story on the sad episode of a Franciscan priest who had fathered a child. Even taking into account that the relationship with the mother was consensual and between two adults, and that the Franciscans have attempted to deal justly with the errant priest’s responsibilities to his son, this action is still sinful, scandalous, and indefensible. However, one still has to wonder why a quarter-century old story of a sin by a priest is now suddenly more pressing and newsworthy than the war in Afghanistan, health care, and starvation–genocide in Sudan. No other cleric from religions other than Catholic ever seems to merit such attention.

Five days later, October 21, the Times gave its major headline to the decision by the Vatican to welcome Anglicans who had requested union with Rome. Fair enough. Unfair, though, was the article’s observation that the Holy See lured and bid for the Anglicans. Of course, the reality is simply that for years thousands of Anglicans have been asking Rome to be accepted into the Catholic Church with a special sensitivity for their own tradition. As Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican’s chief ecumenist, observed, “We are not fishing in the Anglican pond.” Not enough for the Times; for them, this was another case of the conniving Vatican luring and bidding unsuspecting, good people, greedily capitalizing on the current internal tensions in Anglicanism.

Finally, the most combustible example of all came Sunday with an intemperate and scurrilous piece by Maureen Dowd on the opinion pages of the Times. In a diatribe that rightly never would have passed muster with the editors had it so criticized an Islamic, Jewish, or African-American religious issue, she digs deep into the nativist handbook to use every anti-Catholic caricature possible, from the Inquisition to the Holocaust, condoms, obsession with sex, pedophile priests, and oppression of women, all the while slashing Pope Benedict XVI for his shoes, his forced conscription -- along with every other German teenage boy -- into the German army, his outreach to former Catholics, and his recent welcome to Anglicans.

True enough, the matter that triggered her spasm -- the current visitation of women religious by Vatican representatives -- is well-worth discussing, and hardly exempt from legitimate questioning. But her prejudice, while maybe appropriate for the Know-Nothing newspaper of the 1850’s, the Menace, has no place in a major publication today.

I do not mean to suggest that anti-catholicism is confined to the pages New York Times. Unfortunately, abundant examples can be found in many different venues. I will not even begin to try and list the many cases of anti-catholicism in the so-called entertainment media, as they are so prevalent they sometimes seem almost routine and obligatory. Elsewhere, last week, Representative Patrick Kennedy made some incredibly inaccurate and uncalled-for remarks concerning the Catholic bishops, as mentioned in this blog on Monday. Also, the New York State Legislature has levied a special payroll tax to help the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fund its deficit. This legislation calls for the public schools to be reimbursed the cost of the tax; Catholic schools, and other private schools, will not receive the reimbursement, costing each of the schools thousands – in some cases tens of thousands – of dollars, money that the parents and schools can hardly afford. (Nor can the archdiocese, which already underwrites the schools by $30 million annually.) Is it not an issue of basic fairness for ALL school-children and their parents to be treated equally?

The Catholic Church is not above criticism. We Catholics do a fair amount of it ourselves. We welcome and expect it. All we ask is that such critique be fair, rational, and accurate, what we would expect for anybody. The suspicion and bias against the Church is a national pastime that should be “rained out” for good.

I guess my own background in American history should caution me not to hold my breath.

Then again, yesterday was the Feast of Saint Jude, the patron saint of impossible causes.

We need more bishops like him. Kudos to Pope Benedict XVI, for appointing him to the New York diocese.

Planned Parenthood executive director converts

2009-11-02T11:33:00.004-05:00

Great news out of Bryan, Texas.

Planned Parenthood Director Leaves, Has Change of Heart

by Ashley Sigman, KBTX.com

Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson's life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. [Wow. No wonder Planned Parenthood hates ultrasound requirements.]

"I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Jonhson.
She handed in her resignation October 6. Johnson worked as the Bryan Planned Parenthood Director for two years.

According to Johnson, the non-profit was struggling under the weight of a tough economy, and changing it's business model from one that pushed prevention, to one that focused on abortion.[How about that? Planned Parenthood wants women to have abortion. Amazing.]

"It seemed like maybe that's not what a lot of people were believing any more because that's not where the money was. The money wasn't in family planning, the money wasn't in prevention, the money was in abortion and so I had a problem with that," said Johnson. [Yep. It's all about the money.]

Johnson said she was told to bring in more women who wanted abortions, something the Episcopalian church goer recently became convicted about.

"I feel so pure in heart (since leaving). I don't have this guilt, I don't have this burden on me anymore that's how I know this conversion was a spiritual conversion."

Johnson is now part of Coalition for Life, a pro-life group located near the Planned Barrenhood facility.

Planned Barrenhood is really unhappy about this:

On Friday both Johnson and the Coalition For Life were issued temporary restraining orders filed by Planned Parenthood.

Rochelle Tafolla, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson issued the following statement: "We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff, however, in this instance it is absolutely necessary."

The temporary restraining order contends that Planned Parenthood would be irreparably harmed by the disclosure of certain information, but does not bar Johnson or Coalition For Life volunteers from the premises. [Like...the information that Planned Parenthood pushes abortions because they make $$$ from them?]

This is why 40 Days for Life is so awesome. And why Planned Barrenhood is so despicable.

They claim they want abortion to be rare, but it's so profitable that they don't really mean it. According to their website, 1st trimester abortion costs $350-900.

HT to the Creative Minority Report for the great news.

Kennedy's non-apology apology

2009-10-29T16:31:00.003-04:00

Remember this story last week, in with Rep. Patrick Kennedy slammed the Church (rather ignorantly) about opposing the health care bill because of abortion?

Good news is he's going to meet with Bishop Tobin.

Bad news is he hasn't really apologized. From the AP:

Kennedy, who is Catholic, says that he never meant to slight the church and that it has every right to promote its beliefs.

But he says the issue facing Congress is, in his words, "access to health care and nothing else."

Right. Because saying

“I thought they were pro-life. If the church is pro-life, then they ought to be for health care reform because it’s going to provide health care that are going to keep people alive. So this is an absolute red herring and I don’t think that it does anything but to fan the flames of dissent and discord and I don’t think it’s productive at all.”

certainly doesn't indicate a desire to slight the Catholic Church. Give me a break, Kennedy.

Not to mention (say it with me now): "Abortion is not health care."

If this is truly about "access to health care" then work to ensure that true health care is provided. If this is truly about "access to health care" then work to ensure that babies in the womb get health care, not vaccuumed to death or ripped limb from limb. If this is truly about "access to health care" help people with morals work in health care, knowing that their conscience rights are protected.

But it's not about "access to health care."

It's about extending the culture of death, because hey, it's certainly profitable.

Bishop Tobin, I could think of a few good uses for that crozier of yours...

Bishops step up opposition to health care bill

2009-10-29T11:36:00.001-04:00

Apparently, the USCCB wants every parish in America to put this insert in their Sunday bulletin.

I, for one, am impressed. It's so great to see bishops acting as bishops.

Go do your part and contact your congressional leaders.

Check out the American Papist for more information about the urgent campaign.

The 13th Day trailer

2009-10-28T20:01:00.002-04:00

Trailer from the new Fatima movie, The 13th Day:

I really want to see this.

Thanks God for the gift of Our Lady of Fatima.

[Learn more about Our Lady of Fatima here.]

Another one bites the dust

2009-10-28T19:18:00.002-04:00

May the pro-life principles of Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) rest in peace. (HT to Creative Minority Report and Larry D).

From the Oct. 27 News/Talk 760 interview with Frank Beckmann:

"The president said there'd be no public funding for abortion, so we're just trying to hold him to his word...And we don't want to see abortion in the health care bill. It's not U.S. law and we don't want to change the law."

Beckmann asks him how tough it is to be a pro-life Democrat.

"Well, it's not easy, especially right now...My job is not to vote for legislation that has public funding for abortion." [emphasis mine]

But, in a Oct. 23 town hall meeting, he said he'll vote for the health care bill if it pays for abortion:

"Ok, if everything I want in a bill, the final bill, I like everything in the bill, except the public funding for abortion, and we have a chance to run our amendment and we lost. Ok, I voted my conscience, stayed true to my principles, stayed true to the beliefs of this district - would i vote for health care? Yes, I still would."

Sing it with me now:

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

Reason 4,781 to be Catholic

2009-10-28T14:24:00.002-04:00

Changing the meaning of Catholic

2009-10-28T13:51:00.003-04:00

Anthony Stevens-Arroyo, who writes for the On Faith blog of the Washington Post, recently argued that Michael Moore should be considered as "Catholic of the Year."

Should Michael Moore be named "Catholic of the Year"? Some people love his films and some hate them: but his newest film, "Capitalism: A Love Story," provokes such passion on either side that -- on that count alone -- it becomes a tribute to his skill as filmmaker. Avoiding a film review here, let me offer reasons for considering "Capitalism" a special kind of Catholic achievement.

I haven't seen the film. The only Michael Moore film I've seen was "Fahrenheit 9/11", which I liked.

However, it seems to me that to be "Catholic of the Year," to be upheld as a role model, one should be in full communion with the Church - not a cafeteria Catholic. And Moore is indeed, a Cafeteria Catholic:

Moore supports the "right" to abortion, calling Roe v. Wade "a great victory."
Moore denies that birth control is a sin and believes women should be priests.
Moore also seems to support gay marriage.

"You cannot be Catholic and pro-choice!"as Fr. Corapi likes to say.

A better nominee would be Mary Ann Glendon, who refused the Notre Dame Laetare Medal because Notre Dame refused to act like a Catholic university.

Bishop Tobin: 1, Rep. Patrick Kennedy: 0

2009-10-26T17:49:00.002-04:00

Rep. Patrick Kennedy makes an idiot of himself:

But, Bishop Thomas Tobin won't let him get away with it. From the Diocese of Providence website (with my emphases and comments):

“Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s statement about the Catholic Church’s position on health care reform is irresponsible and ignorant of the facts. But the Congressman is correct in stating that “he can’t understand.” He got that part right. [Oooh, Bishop Tobin, takin' off the gloves.]

As I wrote to Congressman Kennedy and other members of the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation recently, the Bishops of the United States are indeed in favor of comprehensive health care reform and have been for many years. But we are adamantly opposed to health care legislation that threatens the life of unborn children, requires taxpayers to pay for abortion, rations health care, or compromises the conscience of individuals.

Congressman Kennedy continues to be a disappointment to the Catholic Church [No mincing words here!] and to the citizens of the State of Rhode Island. I believe the Congressman owes us an apology for his irresponsible comments. It is my fervent hope and prayer that he will find a way to provide more effective and morally responsible leadership for our state.”

How's that for some effective, orthodox, take-no-prisoners leadership? It's so nice to see bishops laying down the law.

I'm sending him a thank you letter. Anyone else want to join me?

Could the Russian Orthodox be next?

2009-10-25T15:12:00.003-04:00

This interesting tidbit comes courtesy of the head of the Traditional Anglican Communion, Primate John Hepworth, in an interview with The Australian:

Already there are stories circulating that the Patriarch of Moscow has urged his ecumenical negotiators in the Vatican to hurry in order that the Anglicans do not get too far ahead. They're probably apocryphal, but we do know that the Russian Orthodox Church is very close to achieving unity with Rome. It is the largest of the Orthodox churches of the East. We also know that the Orthodox are watching the Anglican process very closely to try to assess the extent to which Rome is serious about tolerating many different traditions of Christianity within the scope of the Catholic Church. I have had conversations with members of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church about the parallels between their conversations with Rome and ours. Christian unity throughout the world is at a very similar moment. Conversation and co-operation are beginning to evolve into forms of organic unity that still protect diverse Christian traditions of worship and spirituality.

This would be utterly amazing. It's almost unbelievable.

And yet...

"The Anglican experiment is over."

2009-10-25T15:03:00.004-04:00

The Telegraph reported that the Bishop of Chichester, Rev. John Hind, is considering the Vatican's offer to join the Church.

This is monumental because Rev. Hind is a bishop of the Church of England - not a smaller group like the TAC.

Now Bishop Hind, the most senior traditionalist in the Church of England, has confirmed that he is willing to sacrifice his salary and palace residence to defect to the Catholic Church.

"This is a remarkable new step from the Vatican," he said. "At long last there are some choices for Catholics in the Church of England. I'd be happy to be reordained into the Catholic Church."

While the bishop stressed that this would depend on his previous ministry being recognised, he said that the divisions in the Anglican Communion could make it impossible to stay.

"How can the Church exist if bishops are not in full communion with each other," he said.

Conservative archbishops and bishops have broken ties with their liberal counterparts following the US Episcopal Church's consecration of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop.

Bishop Broadhurst said that the Pope has made his offer in response to the pleas of Anglicans who despair at the disintegration of their Church.

"Anglicanism has become a joke because it has singularly failed to deal with any of its contentious issues," said the bishop, who is chairman of Forward in Faith, the Anglo-Catholic network that represents around 1,000 traditionalist priests.

"There is widespread dissent across the [Anglican] Communion. We are divided in major ways on major issues and the Communion has unravelled.

"I believed in the Church I joined, but it has been revealed to have no doctrine of its own.

"I personally think it has gone past the point of no return. The Anglican experiment is over."

It will be interesting to see how many members of the flock will be following their clergy. Gloria in excesis Deo!

And they wonder why the Vatican is investigating them

2009-10-23T15:25:00.004-04:00

From LifeSiteNews.com, with my emphases and comments:

Nun Volunteering as Abortion Clinic Escort in Illinois>
By Kathleen Gilbert
HINSDALE, Illinois, October 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Dominican nun has been seen frequenting an abortion facility in Illinois recently - but not, as one might expect, to pray for an end to abortion or to counsel women seeking abortions, but to volunteer as a clinic escort.[???!]
Local pro-life activists say that they recognized the escort at the ACU Health Center as Sr. Donna Quinn, a nun outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, after seeing her photo in a Chicago Tribune article.
"I've called her sister several times, and she never responded," local pro-lifer John Bray told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). "But it's her."
Amy Keane, a pro-life witness for 11 years, says Quinn has acted as escort for "six years, at least." [Where are her superiors? How are they letting this happen? Where is her bishop?] Keane described one incident in which Quinn began shouting at the pro-lifers as they spoke to a woman about to enter the abortion facility.
"[Quinn] was so angry, and burst out very loudly so everyone could hear: 'Look at these men, telling these women what to do with their bodies!'" [I love how people like Sr. Quinn probably think they are the 'freethinkers' - and yet this is an old, tired, cliche and factually incorrect argument.] said Keane. "She was so angry, that it really took all of us aback." Keane says that the group was peaceful, and that the men present were not among those engaging the woman.
"For those of us who are Catholic, to have a member of a religious order so blatantly - it is so disheartening. It really is," said Keane. "She's participating actively in abortion. That is what is so disturbing for us." [Could you imagine this happening 50 years ago? Me neither. Sisters were actually - gasp! - orthodox then.]
Sr. Donna Quinn, OP, is renowned in the Chicago area as an advocate for legalized abortion and other liberal issues.[Sooo...her bishop knows. Her superiors know. And nothing is being done about it. What's that quote about the road to hell being paved with bishops skulls?]
In 1974 she co-founded the organization Chicago Catholic Women, which lobbied the USCCB on a feminist platform before it dissolved in 2000. She is now a coordinator of the radically liberal National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN), which stands in opposition against the Catholic Church's position on abortion, homosexuality, contraception, and the male priesthood. [Stuff like this makes me wonder why oh why excommunication is so rare.]
While LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) was unable to reach Sr. Quinn for comment, NCAN's Sr. Beth Rindler confirmed to LSN that Quinn is still a member of their group, which favors unrestricted legalized abortion and disagrees with the teaching that abortion is intrinsically evil. "We respect women, and believe that they make moral decision, and so we respect their decisions," Rindler explained. [Nonsense.]
In a 2002 address to the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School, Sr. Quinn described how she came to view the teachings of her Church as "immoral": "I used to say: 'This is my Church, and I will work to change it, because I love it,'" she said. "Then later I said, 'This church is immoral, and if I am to identify with it I'd better work to change it.' More recently, I am saying, 'All organized religions are immoral in their gender discriminations.'" [Soo...is she even Christians anymore?!]
Quinn called gender discrimination "the root cause of evil in the Church, and thus in the world," and said she remained in the Dominican community simply for "the sisterhood."
Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, OP, Quinn's Prioress at the Sinsinawa Dominican community, said in an email response to LSN that the nun sees her volunteer activity as "accompanying women who are verbally abused by protestors. Her stance is that if the protestors were not abusive, she would not be there." [Baloney. Lying is sin, Sister. You do still believe in sin, right?]

Though Sr. Mulcahey claimed that her sisters "support the teachings of the Catholic Church," [Lying is sin] she declined to comment on Quinn's public protest of Catholic Church teaching. [Can you imagine what St. Dominic would say? Kyrie eleison.]
Joe Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League says Quinn came in contact with his own office in 1982, when she and a group of other pro-aborts picketed his building on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
"She figures it's part of her religion to take these women in and protect them, and get them abortions," said Scheidler of Quinn's recent activity. "Something dreadful has happened to make a Catholic nun become an escort at an abortion clinic - that's the lowest form you can reach, where you escort a woman with a living child in her into a place to have the child killed, and to ruin that woman's soul." [That says it in a nutshell.]
"If I didn't even believe in the humanity of the child - which of course would be crazy - even if I didn't, I would fight abortion for the sake of the women," Scheidler added. "They miss that baby, and they can't get it back. They never can."

I hope Sr. Quinn comes to her senses. God have mercy on her - and on the leaders who are failing to try to save her soul [*cough, cough* Dominicans, *cough, cough* Francis Cardinal George].

Randall Balmer: Vatican's cynical and opportunistic overture

2009-10-22T17:20:00.007-04:00

Because, of course, not everybody is thrilled with the Pope right now.

From Randall Balmer, an Episcopalian priest, in a blog post on the Washington Post's On Faith blog (with my Fr. Z-style emphases and comments):

Vatican's cynical and opportunistic overture

The Vatican's sudden overture to disaffected Anglicans strikes me as both cynical and opportunistic. Cynical in that the concession effectively to allow congregations to continue using Anglican hymns and liturgies seems to undermine decades of ecumenical discussions [because reunion is so anti-ecumenical]by suddenly removing these issues as impediments to union. [So...the pope removed " impediments to union", and thus undermined ecumenism, which has the goal of reunion? And this is a bad thing? Heck, that's not even logical.]

The move is opportunistic in that Rome is making the overture at what might be viewed as a moment of crisis or weakness in the Anglican Communion. [I think the better comparison might be catastrophe.] The Vatican apparently is seeking to harvest those disaffected by the ordination of women and gays and by support for same-sex unions. [Harvest, poach - why does everyone seem to miss that the Pope is responding to the request of hundreds of Anglicans?]

A cynical action calls for a cynical interpretation: Perhaps the Vatican is hoping to lure Anglican parishes - and their property - to compensate for its financial losses in the priestly pedophilia scandals. [Yeah...you knew it was coming. Gotta be a sinister ulterior motive.]

I have no doubt that some disaffected Anglicans will see this as an attractive offer. At the same time, I wasn't aware that Christians opposed to homosexuality or to women's ordination were underserved in the religious marketplace. [Hmm. Is it me or is he being downright snippy here?]

Apparently it's inconceivable ("Inconceivable!") that Catholics actually believe that everyone should be Catholic.

Which tells you something about the state of ecumenical relations over the last forty years or so. Our ecumenists must have been giving off the impression that Catholic ecumenism doesn't have the goal of getting everyone to be Catholic. Apparently they must have been giving off the impression that the goal of ecumenism is to write nice joint papers and smile at each other while dialoguing ad nauseaum.

Not that I'm against doing those things, mind you. The world needs more smiles. But that can't be the end goal - only the means of obtaining the end goal: all Christians united in the Catholic Church.

Alas, some people just don't get it. At least not right now. But I'm hopeful, that as more and more Episcopalians and other Anglicans get fed up with priests who claim to be both Christian and Muslim, a bishop who denies the Resurrection, and their presiding bishop denying that Jesus is the only way to salvation, it might become clear to people like Balmer.

At least, I certainly hope so.

Update: For more sour grapes on the On Faith blog, see Susan K. Smith:

When I heard the news about this move of the Vatican, and then read about it, I found myself wondering two things: What would Jesus say? And what would Mary, the mother of the Christ, say?

I am at a loss.

Oh, that's easy. :-)

Jesus would say, "Father, may they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:22b)

And the Blessed Virgin would say, "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)

Update: More sour grapes from a retired Episcopalian bishop (who also denies the resurrection, incidentally):

Ecclesiastical kindergarten games

In the recent communication between the Pope, Benedict XVI, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, which will allow Anglicans to become Roman Catholics with an "Anglican Twist," we have a sad picture of how out-of-date and irrelevant institutional Christianity has become. Here we have two unimpressive Christian leaders, rooted deeply in yesterday, jockeying publicly to see who can be the most prejudiced about the role of women and the place of homosexual people in the life of the Christian Church.

Pray for this man. He needs it.

Mandatory reading for journalists: John 17

2009-10-21T13:34:00.005-04:00

Seriously.

Because the "oh-the-Catholic-Church-is-just-a-bunch-of-women-haters-and-gay-bashers-and-that's-why-they-want-to-add-conservative-Anglicans-to-their-ranks" storyline is getting a bit wearisome. See, for example, the New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor, with the headline, "Will Vatican lure Africa's Anglican anti-gay bishops to Catholic church?"

Or this gem from the blog of the ostensibly Catholic magazine, America:

But, I worry, too, that some of these newcomers will also be nostalgists, anti-feminists, and anti-gay bigots. The ordaining of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire is not something I would have advised, but after all these centuries of schism, I am not sure why that should have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Look, folks, the Catholic Church's mission isn't political - it's all about Matthew 28:19-20. It's all about bringing all Christians back into full communion with the Church. It's all about standing for the increasingly unpopular truth - because Jesus is "the Way, the Truth and the Light."

Got it?

Good. Now show some initiative and write an article or two about what a reunited Christianity could mean for the world. Your editor will think you're clever.

History in the making: The Anglican bridge

2009-10-20T19:47:00.001-04:00

Ok, here's even more great coverage:

Creative Minority Report: Traditional Anglicans Come Home!

Te Deum Laudamus!

One more step towards unity

2009-10-20T19:24:00.004-04:00

Pope Benedict XVI - being the completely awesome man of God that he is - has established a way to incorporate Anglicans into the Catholic Church. (Check out Fr. Z's and Damien Thompson's coverage, too, for more fascinating information.)

I have to imagine that C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien and Hilaire Belloc are drinking a pint together in heaven in celebration of this one step closer to Christian unity.

Let us pray together this ancient hymn in celebration:

Te Deum

We praise thee, O God :
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee :
the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud :
the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim :
continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy :
Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty :
of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world :
doth acknowledge thee;
The Father : of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true : and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man :
thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death :
thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants :
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save thy people :
and bless thine heritage.
Govern them : and lift them up for ever.
Day by day : we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name : ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us :
as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted :
let me never be confounded.

Anglican-Catholic press conference tomorrow

2009-10-19T20:50:00.004-04:00

Bulletin from the Vatican Press:

“We inform accredited journalists that tomorrow, Tuesday, 20 October 2009, at 11 a.m., in the John Paul II Hall of the Press Office of the Holy See, a briefing will be held on a theme pertaining to the relationship with the Anglicans, at which His Eminence Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and His Excellency Msgr. Joseph Augustine Di Noia OP, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will take part."

Reliable sources - Fr. Z, as well as Damien Thompson of the London Telegraph and the UK Catholic Herald - seem to believe that this press conference pertains to the reunion of the Traditional Anglican Communion with the Catholic Church.

Especially because another press conference has been announced: Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster and Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury at 10 a.m., October 20, at 39 Eccleston Square, London.

Coincidence? Highly unlikely.

<---You know you're Catholic when... the prospect of such a reunion makes you positively giddy.

Notre Shame, Pt. 2

2009-10-19T20:28:00.004-04:00

Sooo, you would think that, oh, being a faithful Catholic would be a requirement to be a priest and president of a major Catholic university.

And you would be wrong.

The University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees reelected Fr. Jenkins to a second term.

It apparently doesn't matter that he supports these violations of Catholic teaching. It doesn't matter that he sits on the board of Millenium Promise, an anti-poverty group which supports the use of contraception and encourages abortion. It doesn't matter that he ignored the local bishop's teaching on Ex corde Ecclesiae.

No, according to Chairman Richard C. Notebaert: "The vision and leadership that Father Jenkins has demonstrated in his first four years in office have been inspiring and innovative."

Inspiring and innovative? Sure. If you mean that he's inspiring dissidence and his ways of dismissing Ex corde Ecclesiae are innovative.

Notebaert continued, “Building upon the foundation set by his Holy Cross predecessors, he is making the aspirations of this University a reality. The Fellows and Trustees look forward to continuing our work with him in service to Our Lady’s University.”

I'm a bit frightened about the aspirations he's talking about. And I'm certain that Our Lady ain't too happy about what's going on in Indiana.

Sancta Maria, ora pro those misguided people.

So much for free speech

2009-10-19T20:11:00.005-04:00

40 Days for Life, Fresno, California.

Victor Fierro, director of Latinos4Life is protesting.

See what happens next (Warning-very offensive language):

The woman ended up cutting his arm in the assault.

So...

How many of you think this story made the evening news?

According to Right to Life of Central California, not one local TV station covered it yesterday. Apparently, "chocolate-covered bacon" and "a man who believes he sees the virgin Mary on a rock" were much more important stories.

Shame on them.

40 Days for Life

2009-10-16T14:48:00.003-04:00

Stop today and offer up some prayers for all those who are praying in front of abortion mills and check out 40 Days for Life to see if you can support the movement in your part of the country.

This video was recorded outside Dr. Emily’s Women’s Health Center in The Bronx, New York — one of the country’s busiest abortion facilities.

God bless them for their witness.

It's official: Bishop R. Walker Nickless is awesome

2009-10-16T12:18:00.006-04:00

Proof?

Ecclesia Semper Reformanda - his first pastoral letter published yesterday.

Some favorites:

"It is crucial that we all grasp that the hermeneutic or interpretation of discontinuity or rupture, which many think is the settled and even official position, is not the true meaning of the Council. This interpretation sees the pre-conciliar and post-conciliar Church almost as two different churches. It sees the Second Vatican Council as a radical break with the past. There can be no split, however, between the Church and her faith before and after the Council. We must stop speaking of the 'Pre-Vatican II' and 'Post-Vatican II' Church, and stop seeing various characteristics of the Church as 'pre' and 'post' Vatican II. Instead, we must evaluate them according to their intrinsic value and pastoral effectiveness in this day and age."

And,

"It seems to me that in many areas of the Church’s life the 'hermeneutic of discontinuity' has triumphed. It has manifested itself in a sort of dualism, an either/or mentality and insistence in various areas of the Church’s life: either fidelity to doctrine or social justice work, either Latin or English, either our personal conscience or the authority of the Church, either chant or contemporary music, either tradition or progress, either liturgy or popular piety, either conservative or liberal, either Mass or Adoration, either the Magisterium or theologians, either ecumenism or evangelization, either rubrics or personalization, either the Baltimore Catechism or 'experience'; and the list goes on and on! We have always been a 'both/and' people: intrinsically traditional and conservative in what pertains to the faith, and creative in pastoral ministry and engaging the world."

My brothers and sisters, let me say this clearly: The 'hermeneutic of discontinuity' is a false interpretation and implementation of the Council and the Catholic Faith. It emphasizes the 'engagement with the world' to the exclusion of the deposit of faith. This has wreaked havoc on the Church, systematically dismantling the Catholic Faith to please the world, watering down what is distinctively Catholic, and ironically becoming completely irrelevant and impotent for the mission of the Church in the world. The Church that seeks simply what works or is 'useful' in the end becomes useless."

He also seeks to:

1. "renew our reverence, love, adoration and devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament, within and outside of Mass,"

2. "strengthen catechesis, beginning with and focusing on adults."

3. "protect, build up and foster holy families"

4. "foster a culture where young people can more readily respond to the radical calls of ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life."

5. "embrace the missionary character of the Catholic Faith and the vocation of all Catholics to be, not only disciples, but also apostles."

Read the whole thing, folks. It's good, as in "Dear Lord, please make this man a cardinal" good.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

2009-10-16T10:33:00.006-04:00

Happy feast day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, through whom Jesus gave us the Sacred Heart devotion.

Our Lord:"Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this sacrament of love.... I come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament" (Third apparition).

Padre Pio's Sacred Heart Novena

O my Jesus, You said "verily I say to You, ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you", behold I knock, I seek and I ask for the grace of...

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.
Sacred Heart of Jesus I put all my trust in Thee.O my Jesus, You said, "verily I say to You, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you", behold in your name I ask the Father for the grace of...

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

Sacred Heart of Jesus I put all my trust in Thee. O my Jesus, You said, "verily I say to You, heaven and earth shall pass away but My words shall not pass away", behold I encouraged by your infallible words, now ask for the grace of...

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

Sacred Heart of Jesus I put all my trust in Thee.O sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom one thing alone is impossible, namely, not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of Thee through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your and our tender Mother.

Say the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) and add, St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.

Top 10 "scientific explanations" for Fatima

2009-10-14T14:21:00.003-04:00

From the always witty Creative Minority Report:

Top Ten Scientific Explanations of Miracle of Sun at Fatima

The Miracle of the Dancing Sun at Fatima which was seen by 70,000 people on October 13th, 1917 has been written about often. But many people continually attempt to explain away the vision of the sun dancing in the sky at a foretold time.
Avelino de Almeida, wrote articles for O Século, Portugal's most widely-circulated and influential newspaper, which was pro-government and anti-clerical at the time. Almeida's previous articles had been to satirize the previously reported events at Fatima but here's what he wrote that day:
"Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws — the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of the people."
But secularists have amassed an enormous amount of explanations as to why we should not believe our own eyes. Here are the astounding reasons they've amassed so we should believe nothing at all special happened in Portugal that great day.

1. Stratospheric Dust. Steuart Campbell, writing for the 1989 edition of Journal of Meteorology, postulated that a cloud of stratospheric dust changed the appearance of the sun on 13 October, making it easy to look at, and causing it to appear yellow, blue, and violet and to spin. In support of his hypothesis, Mr. Campbell reports that a blue and reddened sun was reported in China as documented in 1983.

2. ESP! (Always my favorite) Author Lisa Schwebel claims that the event was a supernatural (but non-miraculous) extra-sensory phenomenon. Schwebel notes that the solar phenomenon reported at Fátima is not unique - there have been several reported cases of high pitched religious gatherings culminating in the sudden and mysterious appearance of lights in the sky.

3. Mock-Sun. Didn't even know this existed but it's worth a listen. Joe Nickell, a skeptic and investigator of paranormal phenomena, claims that the position of the phenomenon, as described by the various witnesses, is at the wrong azimuth and elevation to have been the sun. He suggests the cause may have been a sundog. Sometimes referred to as a parhelion or "mock sun", a sundog is an atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with the reflection/refraction of sunlight by the numerous small ice crystals that make up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. A sundog is, however, a stationary phenomenon, and would not explain the reported appearance of the "dancing sun". So Nickell further suggests an explanation for this phenomena may lie in temporary retinal distortion, caused by staring at the intense light and/or the effect of darting the eyes to and fro so as to avoid completely fixed gazing (thus combining image, afterimage and movement). So the people shook their heads and though a mock-sun was dancing. All 70,000? Prety ridiculous, huh?

4. Dust cloud! Paul Simons, in an article entitled "Weather Secrets of Miracle at Fatima", states that he believes it possible that some of the optical effects at Fatima may have been caused by a cloud of dust from the Sahara.

5. Ye ol mass hallucination theory. Author Kevin McClure claims that the crowd at Cova da Iria may have been expecting to see signs in the sun, as similar phenomena had been reported in the weeks leading up to the miracle. On this basis he believes that the crowd saw what it wanted to see. (Yeah because that happens all the time.) But McClure's account fails to explain similar reports of people miles away, who by their own testimony were not even thinking of the event at the time, or the sudden drying of people's sodden, rain-soaked clothes.

6. UFO! It has been argued that the Fatima phenomenon was an alien craft. Of course, either that craft happened to come on the day that the three little children said a miracle would occur. Or the apparitions were all the works of little green men. This all sounds a lot more real than the Church's explanation.

7. Solar Storm. A gigantic coronal mass ejection (CME) occurred. Every eleven years our sun goes through a period of solar storms and these storms have been with us for
centuries of recorded history. Solar flares emit high-speed particles that
cause the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. Well that explains it all right there. Because we all know the Northern Lights look exactly like the Sun dancing. Or not.

8. Peer pressure. Among a uniform people sharing a particular religious belief, it is very easy for individuals to feel social pressure to conform to whatever is seen as a part of "how things should be", for "true believers". 70,000 people. That's pretty strong peer pressure especially for the people who saw it 20 miles away.

9. Not everyone saw it. Astronomers noticed no dancing in the sky from all over the world. The dancing sun was a regional event thus disproving it. A quick question would be the fact that it was a regional event should prove that something out of the ordinary happened. If it happened worldwide it would be written off as simply an astronomical event because the whole world saw it.

10. An Eclipse. These fellas don't mind contradicting themselves. This would be a very very regional eclipse. Wouldn't astronomers have noted the eclipse?

Bonus Reason:
11. Evolution. This is sadly from Institute of Physics, Catholic Univeristy of Louvain. Evolution has provided us with the infamous “zoom and loom effect”. It tends to appear when the brain is confronted with the two-dimensional retinal image of an object thatis situated at some unknown distance. The brain will then consider the possibility that it could come closer, by performing an illusory mental zoom, where the apparent size of the object isprogressively increased. This results from the fact that evolution preserved the tendency to take into account the possibility of a dangerous approach: a rapid evasive action could bebeneficial for survival. When the “idea” of an approach does not lead to any real danger, theperceived object returns to its normal place. Thus the dancing sun. Amazing. 70,000 people thought the Sun was a predator coming to eat them. When they realized the Sun had no teeth they "zoomed and loomed" it back to where it belonged. That might just be my favorite one.

So after listening to these level-headed scientists(?) explain away Fatima hasn't it convinced you to join the Richard Dawkins fan club? Me neither.

Kudos to Creative Minority Report for a good laugh.

Notre Shame

2009-10-14T13:02:00.002-04:00

First, the university hosts the V. Monologues, which are hardly compatible with Catholic womanhood.

Next, the university bestows a honorary law degree on a pro-abortion president in direct defiance of their local ordinary.

Then, the university has pro-life protesters arrested, including elderly Fr. Norman Weslin, and refuses to drop the charges --although Fr. Jenkins, university president, will attend the "March for Life."

And now, the Notre Dame Student Activities office gives five students funds to attend the recent gay rights protest in Washington, D.C., a protest sponsored by a pro-gay marriage organization.

Our Lady must be appalled.

There must be something that the U.S. bishops or the Vatican can do about this. Notre Dame has clearly dropped their Catholic identity. They should no longer be allowed to identify as Catholic - I don't care how many times they celebrate Mass on campus or how beautiful their chapels are. At this point in our history, being Catholic means standing up for the truth, even - especially - when it is unpopular, not politically correct or inconvenient.

Off the soapbox now.

Pray it with me:

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those poor misguided folks at Notre Dame.

Amen.

Steve Harvey introduces Jesus Christ

2009-10-14T12:57:00.001-04:00

This is just fantastic. Gave me goosebumps:

Amen.

Possible Eucharistic miracle in Poland?

2009-10-14T11:59:00.004-04:00

From a Polish news website:

Religious miracle in eastern Poland?

12.10.2009 15:01

A special Catholic church commission is expected to present its opinion shortly on whether or not a possible miracle has occurred at a church in Sokolka, eastern Poland.

The holy host, dropped by a priest at a Catholic mass, was placed in a special vessel, in which it later changed into a red substance. Tests conducted by medical specialists showed it was human heart tissue.

The matter was kept secret for several months and has only recently been picked up by the media.

The church commission, appointed by Archbishop Edward Ozorkowski, metropolitan, is to declare whether the event can be classified as a miracle. Its members include three professors from a seminary in Bialystok.

“They are to rule out an intervention of third persons. We have to be morally certain that no one had placed the host on the floor before or had changed it, when it was in the vessels in water, and that all the witnesses speak the truth,” a spokesman of the curia in Bialystok, Andrzej Debski, stated.

When the commission presents its opinion, the metropolitan will decide whether to notify the Vatican or not.

Last Sunday, a special mass was celebrated at St Anthony’s church in Sokolka in the intention of the miracle. Meanwhile, the Polish Rationalists Society has turned to prosecutors to launch a probe into the incident. Its representatives say the heart tissue may have belonged to a person who has died only recently and argue that it is necessary to establish its identity to rule out murder.

Kind of sounds like the miracle at Lanciano, Italy.

Wouldn't it be great if a member of the Polish Rationalists Society converted? Perhaps this - if it is a miracle - will lead more people to rediscover the Eucharistic Lord. While the number of Catholic Poles who attend Mass every Sunday remains higher than Catholic Americans, their attendance is still low.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners.

Litany of Saints for the unemployed

2009-10-13T23:33:00.005-04:00

The official unemployment rate stands at 9.5%.

St. Cajetan, patron saint of the unemployed, pray for us.

St. Joseph, patron saint of husbands and fathers, pray for us.

Blessed Virgin Mary, patron saint of wives and mothers, pray for us.

St. Homobonus, patron saint of business people, pray for us.

St. Jude, patron saint of impossible cases, pray for us.

St. Martin of Porres, patron saint of the poor, pray for us.

Lord God, through the intercession of your holy saints, may all those who seek work find it.

Amen.

The Catholic news story of the day

2009-10-13T22:34:00.003-04:00

...is that Suri Cruise will be attending Catholic school. She is the daughter of Katie Holmes (raised Catholic) and Tom Cruise (currently a Scientologist, God love the poor misguided man.)

Run a Google news search for 'Catholic' and that's the first story that pops up.

I mean, I'm glad that the media is concerned about the state of the child's soul and all, but it seems to me there are lots of other great stories they could be covering.

The Hyde Amendment...and the health care bill

2009-10-09T09:46:00.002-04:00

At Wednesday's press briefing, a reporter from CNSnews.com read an excerpt from this Sept. 30 statement from the bishops. Then the reporter asked, “Is that statement wrong?”

Watch the reply:

But CNSnews.com, in a must-read article points out the truth:

Gibbs was referring to the Hyde Amendment, which has been included in each year’s annual Health and Human Services Appropriation since fiscal 1977. This amendment prohibits funding of abortion only in that particular fiscal year and only among funds appropriated through that particular bill.

The programs being set up by the health-care bill under consideration in Congress would not be funded through the annual HHS appropriations bill and would not be subject to the Hyde amendment [!!!!]--even if Congress deems to include the Hyde Amendment in future-year HHS appropriations bills.

So, folks, there you have it.

But, hey, what can you expect from this administration? After all, the president did tell Planned Parenthood that he "would not yield" to those who opposed "choice." See for yourself:

Catholic Bishops: Fix the health care bill

2009-10-09T09:02:00.004-04:00

Today the bishops sent a letter to House leaders, to express their "disappointment that progress has not been made on the three priority criteria for health care reform."

The letter:

On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we are writing to express our disappointment that progress has not been made on the three priority criteria for health care reform that we have conveyed previously to Congress. In fact, the Senate Finance Committee rejected a conscience rights amendment [!] accepted earlier by the House Energy and Commerce Committee [So...President Obama... how about that conscience clause you promised at Notre Dame? When is that going to happen?]. If final legislation does not meet our principles, we will have no choice but to oppose the bill. [Now that is some language with teeth in it!]We remain committed to working with the Administration,Congressional leadership, and our allies to produce final health reform legislation that will reflect our principles.

We continue to urge you to

1. Exclude mandated coverage for abortion, and incorporate longstanding policies against abortion funding and in favor of conscience rights. No one should be required to pay for or participate in abortion. It is essential that the legislation clearly apply to this new program longstanding and widely supported federal restrictions on abortion funding and mandates, and protections for rights of conscience. [In other words, 'We're not kidding, guys. We really, really mean it and we're not going away.'] No current bill meets this test.

2. Adopt measures that protect and improve people’s health care. Reform should make quality health care affordable and accessible to everyone, particularly those who are vulnerable and those who live at or near the poverty level. [I would imagine that the vulnerable include those with disabilities, the elderly, etc. - all those pesky people who need health care and shouldn't have their access limited.]

3. Include effective measures to safeguard the health of immigrants, their children and all of society. Ensure that legal immigrants and their family members have comprehensive, affordable, and timely access to health care coverage. Maintain an adequate safety net for those who remain uncovered. [Because immigrants are people, too.]

We sincerely hope that the legislation will not fall short of our criteria. However, we remain apprehensive when [1]amendments protecting freedom of conscience and [2] ensuring no taxpayer money for abortion are defeated in committee votes. If acceptable language in these areas cannot be found, we will have to oppose the health care bill vigorously. [Bravo! Not only are they announcing opposition, they are also doing it in very clear, very stronglanguage. I'm impressed. ] Catholic moral tradition teaches that health care is a basic human right, essential to protecting human life and dignity. Much-needed reform of our health care system must be pursued in ways that serve the life and dignity of all, never in ways that undermine or violate these fundamental values. We will work tirelessly to remedy these central problems and help pass real reform that clearly protects the life, dignity and health of all.

Sincerely,

Bishop William F. Murphy
Diocese of Rockville Centre
Chairman
Committee on Domestic Justice & Human Development

Cardinal Justin Rigali
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Chairman
Committee on Pro-Life Activities

Bishop John Wester
Diocese of Salt Lake City
Chairman
Committee on Migration

Kudos to the bishops for standing up and making their voices heard.

Thanks to American Papist for the tip.

CNS interviews Miguel Diaz, new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican

2009-10-08T15:24:00.008-04:00

This CNS article, from an interview with Miguel Diaz, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, deserves a fisk, Fr. Z-style:

"As ambassador, I know there are areas where the Holy See and the United States are not in complete agreement. [Like, oh, say, the sanctity of life? Areas like that?] But I seek to be a bridge-builder [as opposed to a boat-rocker?], and to underscore that we can work together in multiple areas," Diaz said in an interview with Catholic News Service Oct. 7. [I have never understood this: who is arguing that we can't work together? No one. It's a red herring, repeated over and over again to make it look like we're finding some ground-breaking common ground, when in fact, nothing's changed.]

Continuing on:

The Oct. 14-16 conference on pediatric HIV/AIDS will feature key Vatican participants as well as medical experts and church workers in the field.

"I think this is precisely an example that shows that, while there may not be total agreement on all points regarding a specific issue [i.e. combating AIDS through moral vs. immoral means], there are possibilities for people of good will to come together for the sake of, in this case, children," Diaz said.[What about unborn children? How about coming together for their sake?...and the crickets chirp..]

And this part is especially crucial:

In his speech to the new ambassador, Pope Benedict underlined the church's teaching on respect for life, from the moment of conception to natural [Reason 1,782 why Pope Benedict rocks]-- a teaching that has relevance in the current debate over health care reform in the United States.[Get it right, once and for all, folks.]

Diaz, a Catholic theologian [!], said the health care debate touched on very important issues. [Perhaps so important that they're above his paygrade? Wait for it...] But he cautioned against assuming that he would be entering into that debate on a diplomatic level, or acting as a spokesperson for the church's positions. [And so JFK syndrome - my faith won't affect my political life - rears its ugly head.]

"There are a number of domestic issues that are very important, but I think my role as U.S. ambassador is to represent the United States on the level of policy," Diaz said. [Kind of like good old Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on her pro-choice record: "I feel that my actions as a parishioner are different than my actions as a public official and that the people who elected me in Kansas had a right to expect me to uphold their rights and their beliefs even if they did not have the same religious beliefs that I had." JFK syndrome, once again. Amazing how contagious that is among Catholic politicians...] "When differences emerge relative to those policies, then it is my role to engage in the kind of bridge-building that is necessary in diplomacy." [There is no bridge between "abortion rights" and "abortion is intrinsically evil."]

He added that while theology remains extremely important to him, "I am fully conscious that I am not here ... in the capacity of a theologian to do theology, but to do diplomatic activity." [Again, the concept that he can simply turn on and off his Catholic faith as it suits him. 'Ok, now I'm a theologian - I believe abortion is evil. Ok, now I'm a diplomat. I believe abortion is a very important issue and I can act as a bridgebuilder.' Didn't Jesus say something about being lukewarm?]

For the record, JFK Syndrome is not limited to politicians. Most people fall victim to the temptation to compartmentalize their faith. It's especially tempting when society isn't exactly supportive of being a devout Christian. So I don't mean to pick on politicians, as if they are the only hypocrites.

But a Catholic theologian, of all people, should know better than to tap dance around the severity and enormity of the abortion issue.

End of story.

What if Roman Polanski Were a Priest?

2009-10-02T10:43:00.000-04:00

Fr. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., does an excellent job of pointing out the hypocrisy in the article, "Father Polanski Would Go to Jail."

I remain shocked at how much support Mr. Polanski has. Is not what he did a terrible, terrible crime?

His sister-in-law claims that since it was "consensual" (the girl was 13 - not old enough to consent!) it wasn't "really" rape and argues that Polanski won't get a fair trial.

Legal scholar Harvey Weinstein asked "every U.S. filmmaker to lobby against any move to bring Polanski back to the U.S.," because "whatever you think of the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time."

Whoopi Goldberg: "I know it wasn't rape-rape."

Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen are also supporters.

Polanski should go to prison for a very, very long time. Along with every other rapist. That's justice.

But Justice, despite her artistic depiction, is not blind. What a crazy, messed up world we live in.

Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us.

On a mission from God

2009-09-28T20:53:00.000-04:00

On a mission from God, and way cooler than the Blues Brothers:

"Ask yourselves, young people, about the love of Christ. Acknowledge His voice resounding in the temple of your heart. Return His bright and penetrating glance which opens the paths of your life to the horizons of the Church’s mission. It is a taxing mission, today more than ever, to teach men the truth about themselves, about their end, their destiny, and to show faithful souls the unspeakable riches of the love of Christ. Do not be afraid of the radicalness of His demands, because Jesus, who loved us first, is prepared to give Himself to you, as well as asking of you. If He asks much of you, it is because He knows you can give much."

— Pope John Paul II (The Meaning of Vocation)

A Poster Woman for the 40 Days for Life

2009-09-24T15:50:00.001-04:00

40 Days for Life kicked off yesterday ago. If you haven't already, think about fasting, praying and getting involved with community outreach for this worthwhile pro-life movement.

In particular, think about adding certain politicians to your prayer list. Like U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was publicly admonished by her bishop to refrain from communion because of her support for abortion. Sebelius has called the bishop's order "one of the most painful things I have ever experienced," according to a recent interview.

Hmm. Is that kind of like the pain an unborn child feels when she's ripped limb from limb, Kathleen?

(In that same interview, she also dodged the question of whether she has received the Eucharist in spite of that order. Kyrie eleison.)

Sebelius, should the health care reform bill pass, will have incredible power to determine what is health care. Barring an amendment, she will be the one to decide if American tax dollars fund abortion.

As Fr. Corapi likes to say, "You can't be Catholic and pro-choice. Get it right, once and for all!"

Pray for her change of heart.

Article: Is Catholic-Orthodox Unity in Sight?

2009-09-24T15:37:00.000-04:00

From the National Catholic Register:

The Catholic Archbishop of Moscow has given a remarkably upbeat assessment of relations with the Orthodox Church, saying unity between Catholics and Orthodox could be achieved “within a few months.”

In an interview today in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said the miracle of reunification “is possible, indeed it has never been so close.” The archbishop added that Catholic-Orthodox reunification, the end of the historic schism that has divided them for a millennium, and spiritual communion between the two churches “could happen soon, also within a few months.” [more]

If unification happens, there better be one heck of a party, complete with borscht, pierogis, pasta and dancing in the streets.

All you holy saints and angels, pray for us.

Call Me a Poorly-Educated Catholic, Then

2009-09-08T20:26:00.001-04:00

From Fr. Richard McBrien (Kyrie eleison) in a recent National Catholic Reporter column:

The practice of eucharistic adoration began in the 12th century, when the Real Presence of Christ was widely rejected by heretics or misunderstood by poorly educated Catholics. The church saw eucharistic adoration as a way of reaffirming its faith in the Real Presence and of promoting renewed devotion to it.

However, as time went on, eucharistic devotions, including adoration, drifted further and further away from their liturgical grounding in the Mass itself.

Notwithstanding Pope Benedict XVI's personal endorsement of eucharistic adoration and the sporadic restoration of the practice in the archdiocese of Boston and elsewhere, it is difficult to speak favorably about the devotion today.

Now that most Catholics are literate and even well-educated, the Mass is in the language of the people (i.e, the vernacular), and its rituals are relatively easy to understand and follow, there is little or no need for extraneous eucharistic devotions. The Mass itself provides all that a Catholic needs sacramentally and spiritually.

Eucharistic adoration, perpetual or not, is a doctrinal, theological, and spiritual step backward, not forward.

Hmm. I guess I must be one of those "poorly educated Catholics." I used to have a weekly Adoration hour at my old parish. Oddly enough, those people who spent that time with the Lord were also the ones who always showed up for Mass on Sunday. Wonder if there's a connection there.

This line of thinking also reminds me of Bishop Kate Schori's infamous answers in a New York Times article:

How many members of the Episcopal Church are there in this country?

About 2.2 million. It used to be larger percentage wise, but Episcopalians tend to be better-educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than some other denominations. Roman Catholics and Mormons both have theological reasons for producing lots of children.

Episcopalians aren’t interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?

No. It’s probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion.

I guess the good news is that us "poorly educated Catholics" will eventually have enough babies, take over the world and institute perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in every parish.

A Sesame Street Mass?

2009-09-08T19:57:00.000-04:00

About a week ago, I blogged about the divisiveness of competing spiritualities at Mass (LifeTeen vs. Charismatic vs. Folk vs. Traditional Latin). Read it here.

Apparently, I missed one: Puppet Masses. I wish I was making this up.

From the bulletin at St. Agatha Parish, Milton, MA:

"Fr. Charlie and his friends from Puppetville have returned from their summer vacation! They are preparing for a Puppet Parable which will be on Sunday,September 20th at the 9:00am Family Mass. Join us for a special message as we begin our 6th season together!"

Yes, because the Mass is really about entertainment and having fun and not about falling on your knees in front of the God who died on the cross and loved us so much that He gives us His own Body and Blood in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

*rolls eyes*

Maranantha!

A Prayer from a True Contemplative

2009-09-05T00:34:00.000-04:00

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton

Catholics, Come Home!

2009-09-05T00:18:00.000-04:00

The apostolate, Catholics Come Home, Inc. has teamed up with the Archdiocese of Chicago to run 6 weeks of these type of commercials starting December 10, as noted in a recent article.

Thank God for this apostolate. May it bear much fruit.

Ordination 2009 in New York City

2009-09-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

Because this is nothing short of beautiful. Archbishop Dolan rocks.

Thank God for the gift of holy priests.

Check out this website for more information.

God loves you...and love is tough

2009-08-31T22:02:00.000-04:00

Like 9.7 percent of the U.S. population, I am currently unemployed. Unlike many other people, I am blessed to be unemployed at a time when I don't have numerous dependents or outstanding debts. And I have the comfort of knowing that there is a plan, and someday, perhaps not until judgment day, someday, I will understand why.

However, if one more person tells me that "I just know God has big plans for you" or "Don't worry, everything's going to turn out great" or dismisses the thought that maybe God wants me to be unemployed, I might just go all St. Jerome on them (and I don't mean translating the Bible into Latin).

I don't doubt for an instant that God loves me. As Fr. John Corapi likes to say, "If you don't know about love, then you had better look at a crucifix fast."

But being a Christian does not mean that you are exempt from suffering.

Look at the saints. Hasn't their testimony been that the closer you get to Christ crucified, the more you suffer? Didn't Jesus say "take up your cross and follow me"? Doesn't the Bible mention something like "But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ..."

So please, folks, stop offering me empty assurances of earthly delights as a sign of God's love. Tell me that my financial instability is a gift, because it means I have to cling to Him. Tell me that I can offer up my mental anguish for the souls in purgatory. Tell me that things might not work out as I hope, that I might end up with a job I hate.

Just don't confuse God's will with what I might want. I have a hard enough time dealing with that on my own.

If you want to encourage me, tell me you're praying for me. It'll inspire me to do the same.

Can't we all just be Catholic?

2009-08-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

For the record, I do understand that 'Catholic' means universal - which in and of itself implies a certain level of diversity. That's why we have so many religious orders, so many different schools of spirituality (like Carmelite, Dominican, Jesuit, etc, etc).

But unfortunately, it seems like that diversity has made the Mass - the summit of our Christian worship - divisive, which is not a good thing. At least not to me.

Once upon a time, Latin rite Catholics had unity. There was the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, prayed in Latin. Sure, it had the possibility for abuse; a priest could hurry through the prayers, etc, etc. But all Latin-rite Catholics - regardless of whether they identified with Franciscan spirituality or Augustinian - all came together on Sunday for united worship.

Today, that's not the case. We have Folk Masses, LifeTeen Masses, Charismatic Masses, regular Novus Ordo Masses and, thanks to the Moto Proprio, Extraordinary Form (i.e. Latin) Masses. Today, people want their personal spirituality to be reflected in the Mass, rather than have one type of Mass that all people can unite behind.

As a result, we have division and in-fighting and people who think they're holier or "more Catholic" because they speak in tongues or can recite the rosary in Latin or whatever.

I just don't think that we can continue on the way we are, with the teenagers at LifeTeen Mass on Sunday nights, the charismatics at their own Mass at noon, the traditionalists driving 45 minutes to find an EF Mass and the other folks either loving - or gritting their teeth - through yet another Marty Haugen tune.

Now, I've only been to three EF Masses in my life, all of them Low Masses. I'm not necessarily arguing for a wholesale reform of the reform. There are some things I really like about the Novus Ordo. But the EF was the Mass for over 500 years and a heck of a lot of saints turned out just fine...

Something's got to give. And even Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) might agree:

"Nevertheless I believe that in the long term the Roman church once again must have only one Roman rite. In practice, the existence of two official rites would be difficult for bishops and priests to ‘manage.’ The Roman rite of the future should be one, celebrated in Latin or in the vernacular, but completely in the tradition of the rite that was handed down to us. This could include some new elements that have been experienced as valid such as the new feasts, some new prefaces for Mass, an extended lectionary — with more choices than before, but not too many — a ‘oratio fidelium,’ that is, a fixed litany of intercessions that follow the ‘Oremus’ before the offertory, which is where it had been placed."

(from a letter to Heinz-Lothar Barth, a classics professor at the University of Bonn, Germany, in 2003)

Granted, I don't expect change overnight. That only confused and upset people in the post-Vatican II era. And I also think that a variety of spiritualities is a good thing - as long as the end result is not 4 different Masses and four different groups of people who don't worship together.

So I think change has to come, slowly but surely.

At least, that's my prayer today.

Servant of the Servants of God - and Comedian

2009-08-26T17:18:00.000-04:00

It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.
--Blessed Pope John XXII

Charisms...and unemployment

2009-08-25T17:51:00.000-04:00

So it occurred to me today, as I contemplate job hunting, that inherent in unemployment are the charisms, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Not all 24 of the most common charisms, of course. But enough to make you stop and go hmm.

Like poverty, for instance. I am getting more broke by the day. :)

Writing: hence this blog, and of course, cover letters.

Service: I'm interning for a Catholic organization.

Knowledge: I have tons of time to read, browse the internet, etc.

Celibacy: I can't afford to get married unless I have a job.

Faith: You've got to trust in the Lord, even - especially - when the going gets tough.

And finally, intercessory prayer: thanks to the knowledge charism, I now know that Sts. Cajetan and Joseph (pray for us!) are the patron saints of job-seekers.

Thanks be to God, from whom all blessings flow.

Now back to the cover letters...