Post #67

Excerpt from BBC World: Belgian Cardinal Danneels condoned sex-abuse silence

Cardinal Godfried Danneels was questioned as a witness in Belgium's sex-abuse inquiry

The former head of the Catholic Church in Belgium tried to stop a victim of sex abuse from going public with their story, Church officials have confirmed.

During a meeting in April, Cardinal Godfried Danneels advised the victim to delay a public statement until the bishop who abused him had retired.

Bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who was also at the meeting, admitted to the abuse in April and resigned.

The victim recorded the meeting, and released the tape to Belgian media.

On the tape, the cardinal tells the abuse victim: "It might be better to wait for a date in the next year, when he is due to resign.  "I don't know if there will be much to gain from making a lot of noise about this, neither for you nor for him."

Church spokesman Jurgen Mettepenningen confirmed that the transcripts were correct.  A spokesman for the cardinal, Toon Osaer, said there had been no attempt to cover up the meeting, and that the cardinal had openly discussed it in April.

Cardinal Danneels retired in January and has been questioned as a witness in an investigation into sexual abuse by the Church in Belgium.

Sources include
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11123004
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_danneels_g_en.html
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/news/1.821630
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Vangheluwe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10431317
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8654789.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8676093.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8734850.stm

Post #66

Excerpt from National Post: Saint of The Gutters

by Fr. Raymond J. De Souza

On Aug. 26, 1910, Agnes Gonxha Bojakhiu was born of Albanian parents in the town of Skopje, Macedonia.

"By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus," is how she would describe herself.

Mother Teresa, as the world came to know her, is being honoured by millions today on the centenary of her birth. Not just by the Catholic Church, which already has declared her to be in heaven, and honoured with the title "blessed."

It would be hard to imagine a place farther from the glamour capitals of the world than the slums of Calcutta, where Mother Teresa began her care for the "poorest of the poor." Amongst the wretched of the Earth, she taught her sisters to see "Christ in the distressing disguise of the poor."

In 1952, Mother Teresa found a woman dying in the streets, half-eaten by rats and ants, with no one to care for her. She picked her up and took her to the hospital, but nothing could be done. Realizing that there were many others dying alone in the streets, Mother Teresa opened within days Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart), a home for the dying. In the first 20 years alone, over 20,000 people were brought there, half of whom died knowing the love of the Missionaries of Charity. Nirmal Hriday is where one dying man, lying in the arms of Mother Teresa after being plucked from the gutters and bathed and clothed and fed, told her, "I have lived like an animal, but now I am dying like an angel."

Mother Teresa knew that the true good cannot be found in systems or plans, no matter how clever or efficient, but in a person. She was not against the work of welfare agencies, but remarked that welfare was for a purpose, albeit a noble one, whilst love was for a person. Mother Teresa offered love. When criticized by those who accused her of not going to the root causes of problems, she would simply remind them what the true root cause was. "The greatest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody," she would explain. "The greatest evil is the lack of love and charity, the terrible indifference towards one's neighbour."

Mother Teresa never played to the crowd who wished to obscure the Gospel and reduce her to a humanitarian celebrity. She spoke out against abortion as the "greatest destroyer of peace" when in Oslo at the Nobel ceremony, and shocked the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington when she reminded them of the Christian tradition on the immorality of contraception. She insisted that she was in the gutters for one reason alone -- to bring the love of Christ to each of the souls abandoned there.

The world only knew her as diminutive and wizened, with a slight stoop and gnarled hands. Yet all who met her found her beautiful, for her eyes sparkled and her smile radiated joy.

Sources include
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/Saint+gutters/3443731/story.html
http://fatherdesouza.ca/?page_id=5
http://www.motherteresa.org/layout.html
http://www.marypages.com/Theresa.htm
http://www.cmswr.org/member_communities/MC.htm
http://www.mcpriests.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalighat_Home_for_the_Dying
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1986/february/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19860203_nirmal-hriday_en.html

Post #65

Excerpt from Irish Times: Pope retains bishops

DECISION by Pope Benedict XVI not to accept the resignations of Dublin auxiliary bishops Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field will shock many people. It sends the most contradictory of messages to the faithful about the church’s willingness to reform and is a slap in the face to the man most closely identified with it, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

Both bishops, who clearly unwillingly tendered their resignations last Christmas, had protested their innocence vigorously, and supporters have pictured them as scapegoats, sacrificed to a media campaign. It is true they came out of the Murphy report, if not unsullied, certainly less tainted than most of their brothers. Dr Field, a bishop since 1997, gets a passing mild rebuke over one case, and Dr Walsh, auxiliary since 1990, has hinted that his attempts to report crimes to the civil authorities were in some way thwarted by the diocese. But, as he appeared to be referring to a case absent from the Murphy report, it is difficult to verify what happened.

Yet what emerged most clearly from Murphy, beyond the tragedy of individual cases and their cover-up, was the collective institutional failure of the diocese and its managers, a failure for which individual cogs in the machine, however lowly, must take individual responsibility. And both bishops participated at the regular diocesan meetings at which abuse cases were discussed.

On resigning last December the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin James Moriarty argued rightly that: “The Murphy report covers far more than what individual bishops did or did not do. Fundamentally it is about how the leadership of the archdiocese failed over many decades to respond properly to criminal acts against children ... With the benefit of hindsight, I accept that, from the time I became an auxiliary bishop, I should have challenged the prevailing culture”.

It was a point addressed most emphatically by Dr Martin in a speech to the Knights of Columbanus in May last year. He had been “struck by the level of disassociation by people from any sense of responsibility”. In addition, “while people rightly question the concept of collective responsibility, this does not mean that one is not responsible for one’s personal share in the decisions of the collective structures to which one was part”.

Unfortunately these are benchmarks the Pope has decided not to live up to – yet why then was Dr Moriarty’s resignation accepted? The decision will only cause further disillusionment among the faithful and undermine the authority of the much-admired Dr Martin.

Sources include
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0812/1224276632328.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy_Report
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bwalsheo.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bfieldr.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmoriarty.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmartind.html
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/why-rome-scorns-resignations-and-great-week-wonks

Post #64

There’s no question that the Roman Catholic Church is going through enormous upheaval. The sex scandals have shaken the faith foundations of the church and at one point even threatened to implicate Pope Joseph Ratzinger. If some Americans proceed with their plan to sue the Vatican, it will become far more complex opening the traditional barriers between the spiritual leadership of the Catholic Church and the church administration by the Holy See, a sovereign state with the Pope as head of state and apparently claiming diplomatic immunity.

In the light of this, there is an “apostolic visitation” being conducted by a Vatican-appointed nun to look at whether women religious in the USA have strayed from the party line and how far they have strayed. There are many in the Vatican who would prefer to see women religious back in habits, cloistered in their convents.

It is in this atmosphere that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the USA is meeting in Dallas, Texas. Richard Gaillardetz, Murray/Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Toledo, was a keynote speaker at the conference on Thursday and he said what American women’s religious communities are experiencing today have implications for all Catholics. Similarly, how the women respond have important implications, perhaps even offering a vision of how to go forward as a church comprised of members with varied ministries.

Excerpt from National Catholic Reporter: 'Women religious experiences have implications for entire church'

Offering guidance, Gaillardetz drew upon what he said are six elements of the Vatican council’s emerging ecclesiological vision.

1. The priority of baptism which replaces a pre-conciliar “hierocratic view of the church.” “Baptism called Christians to their most basic and primal identity within the life of the church, more basic than any identity conferred by either ordination or public consecration.” The council, he said, described the church as a society of equals. “In a church in which many of our leaders are still addressed as ‘your Holiness,’ ‘your Eminence,’ ‘your Grace’ and ‘your Excellency,’ we can be forgiven for wondering whether anyone is taking this teaching seriously!”

2. A view of the church constituted by the Holy Spirit and built up by gifts “both hierarchic and charismatic.” This “theology of charism,” he said, provides the basis for a new understanding of apostolic religious communities. “Professed religious life is not an auxiliary to hierarchical office but rather participates in a charismatic ecclesial economy.” He explained that in this view “the bishops are to be shepherds and custodians of the apostolic faith, but their office exists not for its own sake but in service of the church’s mission.”

3. The sense of the faithful, which holds that Word of God is addressed not just to the hierarchy, but to the whole church. The theologian explained that once Catholics believed that revelation was channeled exclusively through the magisterium; now the council taught that the Word of God is addressed to the whole church. Although the bishops play a unique role as custodians of the apostolic faith, the entire church is called to listen to God’s Word.

4. Conciliar humility in which the church was called to collaborate with all humanity. “The church guards the heritage of God’s word and draws from it moral and religious principles without always having at hand the solution to particular problems.”

5. An eschatological vision of the church always needing reform. Said Gaillardetz: “Vatican II taught that the church, although accompanied by the Holy Spirit, is nevertheless a human institution which is far from perfect. Indeed the council admitted that the church will achieve its perfection ‘only in the glory of heaven.’ The church is a pilgrim community that, like all pilgrims, has a sense of where it is headed but has not yet arrived.”

6. The church as missionary in nature, meaning, Gaillardetz said, that it is not of ultimate importance - its mission is. The council, he said, “oriented the church toward service of God’s reign in the world.

Sources include

http://ncronline.org/news/women-religious/women-religious-experiences-have-implications-entire-church

http://www.utoledo.edu/as/philosophy/religious/gaillardetz.html

http://www.lcwr.org/

http://www.apostolicvisitation.org/en/index.html

Post #63

There have been many commentaries, by many learned theologians in the last several months about the status of the Catholic church in the world.  One of the most focused is a recent statement by Redemptorist Bishop Kevin Dowling of the Diocese of Rustenburg, South Africa.  In it, the Bishop comments on developments in the church since Vatican II and then links that to Catholic social teaching.  What follows is an excerpt from a talk given by Bishop Dowling.  (You also may be interested in reading Fr. James Martin's commentary on Bishop Dowling's remarks)

Excerpt from National Catholic Reporter: Catholic social teaching finds church leadership lacking 

The Southern Cross [South Africa's weekly Catholic newspaper] about 3 or 4 weeks ago published a picture of Bishop Slattery with his "cappa magna". For me, such a display of what amounts to triumphalism in a church torn apart by the sexual abuse scandal, is most unfortunate. What happened there bore the marks of a medieval royal court, not the humble, servant leadership modeled by Jesus. But it seems to me that this is also a symbol of what has been happening in the church especially since pope John Paul II became the Bishop of Rome and up till today -- and that is "restorationism," the carefully planned dismantling of the theology, ecclesiology, pastoral vision, indeed the "opening of the windows" of Vatican II -- in order to "restore" a previous, or more controllable model of church through an increasingly centralized power structure; a structure which now controls everything in the life of the church through a network of Vatican congregations led by cardinals who ensure strict compliance with what is deemed by them to be "orthodox." Those who do not comply face censure and punishment, e.g. theologians who are forbidden to teach in Catholic faculties.

Lest we do not highlight sufficiently this important fact. Vatican II was an ecumenical council, i.e., a solemn exercise of the magisterium of the church, i.e. the college of bishops gathered together with the bishop of Rome and exercising a teaching function for the whole church. In other words, its vision, its principles and the direction it gave are to be followed and implemented by all, from the pope to the peasant farmer in the fields of Honduras.

Since Vatican II there has been no such similar exercise of teaching authority by the magisterium. Instead, a series of decrees, pronouncements and decisions which have been given various "labels" stating, for example, that they must be firmly held to with "internal assent" by the Catholic faithful, but in reality are simply the theological or pastoral interpretations or opinions of those who have power at the centre of the church. They have not been solemnly defined as belonging to the "deposit of the faith" to be believed and followed, therefore, by all Catholics, as with other solemnly proclaimed dogmas. For example, the issues of celibacy for the priesthood and the ordination of women, withdrawn even from the realm of discussion. Therefore, such pronouncements are open to scrutiny -- to discern whether they are in accord, for example, with the fundamental theological vision of Vatican II, or whether there is indeed a case to be made for a different interpretation or opinion.

When I worked internationally from my religious congregation's base in Rome from 1985 to 1990 [Dowling is a Redemptorist] before I came back here as bishop of Rustenburg, one of my responsibilities was the building up of young adult ministry with our communities in the countries of Europe where so many of the young people were alienated from the church. I developed relationships with many hundreds of sincere, searching Catholic young adults, very open to issues of injustice, poverty and misery in the world, aware of structural injustice in the political and economic systems which dominated the world, but who increasingly felt that the "official" church was not only out of touch with reality, but a counter-witness to the aspirations of thinking and aware Catholics who sought a different experience of church. In other words, an experience which enabled them to believe that the church they belonged to had something relevant to say and to witness to in the very challenging world in which they lived. Many, many of these young adults have since left the church entirely.

On the other hand, it has to be recognized that for a significant number of young Catholics, adult Catholics, priests and religious around the world, the "restorationist" model of church which has been implemented over the past 30-40 years is sought after and valued; it meets a need in them; it gives them a feeling of belonging to something with very clear parameters and guidelines for living, thus giving them a sense of security and clarity about what is truth and what is morally right or wrong, because there is a clear and strong authority structure which decides definitively on all such questions, and which they trust absolutely as being of divine origin.

The rise of conservative groups and organizations in the church over the past 40 years and more, which attract significant numbers of adherents, has led to a phenomenon which I find difficult to deal with, viz. an inward looking church, fearful of if not antagonistic towards a secularist world with its concomitant danger of relativism especially in terms of truth and morality -- frequently referred to by pope Benedict XVI; a church which gives an impression of "retreating behind the wagons," and relying on a strong central authority to ensure unity through uniformity in belief and praxis in the face of such dangers. The fear is that without such supervision and control, and that if any freedom in decision-making is allowed, even in less important matters, this will open the door to division and a breakdown in the unity of the church.

This is all about a fundamentally different "vision" in the church and "vision" of the church. Where today can we find the great theological leaders and thinkers of the past, like Cardinal [Joseph] Frings of Cologne, Germany] and [Bernard Jan ] Alfrink [Utrecht, Netherlands] in Europe, and the great prophetic bishops whose voice and witness was a clarion call to justice, human rights and a global community of equitable sharing -- the witness of Archbishop [Oscar] Romero of El Salvador, the voices of Cardinals [Paulo Evaristo] Arns and [Aloísio Leo Arlindo ] Lorscheider, and Bishops [Dom] Helder Camara and [Pedro] Casadaliga of Brazil? Again, who in today's world "out there" even listens to, much less appreciates and allows themselves to be challenged by the leadership of the church at the present time? I think the moral authority of the church's leadership today has never been weaker. It is, therefore, important in my view that church leadership, instead of giving an impression of its power, privilege and prestige, should rather be experienced as a humble, searching ministry together with its people in order to discern the most appropriate or viable responses which can be made to complex ethical and moral questions -- a leadership, therefore, which does not presume to have all the answers all the time.

Sources include
http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/catholic-social-teaching-finds-church-leadership-lacking
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3098
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdowk.html
http://www.sacbc.org.za/Site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=37
http://www.scross.co.za/
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/bishop-slatterys-homily-dc-what-does-obedience-look

Post #62

Excerpt from The San Diego Union-Tribune: California Congregation ordains Catholic female pastor

Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community ordained a female pastor Saturday, risking excommunication despite assertions that it represents the true roots of Roman Catholicism.

Nancy Corran was ordained by roughly 150 parishioners rather than a bishop. The ceremony at a rented church in Serra Mesa hearkened back to ancient communities that called forth and ordained women, some religious scholars said. Corran holds a masters in divinity from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and studied theology and biblical languages in Switzerland.

The ordination of Corran, 37, dramatically revealed the state of moral disorder in the Vatican, Pastor Rev. Jane Via said.  “Tonight, we claim the priesthood of believers for all the baptized,” said Via, the county’s first female priest. “We claim the ability and authority to govern ourselves on behalf of the whole church.”

The parish called for Corran to lead amid Via’s battle with breast cancer.

The pomp and circumstance came two weeks after the Vatican referred to the movement for the ordination of women as a “grave crime,” listed in the hierarchy of offenses alongside pedophilia. The ordination was under a strict embargo for fear of protesters, and some in the church would not give their identity because of possible reprisal.

While the San Diego Diocese declined to comment on the independent church, a Roman Catholic canon states that only baptized men may be ordained.  “A woman is not an appropriate subject of the sacrament of priestly ordination and therefore she cannot receive it,” said Sister Sara Butler, a teacher of dogmatic theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and the author of “The Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church.” “The people who adopt that point of view have departed from church teaching and therefore no longer accept the authority of the Catholic Church.”

The movement to ordain Catholic female priests begun in Europe where a bishop ordained seven women in 2002. The organization Roman Catholic Womenpriests, which preaches equality by allowing woman into the priesthood while downplaying allegiance to the pope, has 78 female candidates, deacons, priests and bishops in 23 states, and more than 100 worldwide.

One of its founders, Victoria Rue, said female priests are ordained in apostolic succession, the same way as men, in order to claim equality and validity of orders. Rue, a lecturer at San Jose State University and a priest at Sophia in Trinity in San Francisco, called on the organization to accept the ordination.

“There are many ways to be ordained. And we certainly consider [Saturday’s ceremony] a valid ordination,” said Bridget Mary Meehan, one of five bishops in the national movement and an excommunicated nun. “Actually, it’s quite historic.”

Leading up to the 12th century, women served as deacons and priests and were chosen by their local church communities, said Gary Macy, a theology professor at Santa Clara University. Female priests and deacons heard confessions, preached and did the liturgy, Macy said.

“The best scenario, of course, would be if the bishop of San Diego would recognize and do this ordination. Their beliefs, apart from the ordination of women, are very similar,” said Macy, author of “The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination: Female Clergy in the Medieval West.”  “Under rather difficult circumstances, the church community is doing the best they can. They’re aware of their options and they consciously made this decision.”

Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community, led by Via and Stephens, promotes itself as “A new way to be Roman Catholic.” The parish’s 150 members, 80 of whom attend weekly services at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, reach out to those who feel marginalized by traditional services.

Via, a county prosecutor, said the parish is committed to equality through “radically inclusive” language, worship and ministry.  “Ordained leaders of the Roman Catholic Church have just lost touch with the basic gospel message to love all, give all, forgive all and judge no one but yourself,” she said.

Sources include:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/01/congregation-ordains-catholic-female-pastor
http://www.mcarronwebdesign.com/mmacc
http://www.diocese-sdiego.org/
http://www.archny.org/seminary/st-josephs-seminary-dunwoodie/administration/sister-sara-butler
http://www.archny.org/seminary/st-josephs-seminary-dunwoodie
http://www.ltp.org/p-1514-the-catholic-priesthood-and-women-a-guide-to-the-teaching-of-the-church.aspx
http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/
http://www.victoriarue.com/
http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/
www.scu.edu/cas/religiousstudies/facultystaff/macy.cfm
http://www.ebookee.com/Gary-Macy-The-Hidden-History-of-Women-s-Ordination-Female-Clergy-in-the-Medieval-West_326463.html
http://www.scu.edu/
http://www.gethsemanesd.org/
http://www.gtu.edu/