Vatican synod aims to rediscover 'original enthusiasm' of following Christ (Post #121)

Excerpt from Catholic News Agency: Vatican synod aims to rediscover 'original enthusiasm' of following Christ

(CNA/EWTN News).- The newly-released outline for 2012's Synod on the New Evangelization speaks of the Church's need to rediscover its “original enthusiasm” – by emphasizing society's need for God, and the possibility of a personal encounter with Christ.

On March 4, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, presented Pope Benedict XVI with a preparatory document for next year's synod. During the meeting, which will take place from Oct. 7-28, 2011, bishops and other participants from around the world will discuss the late Pope John Paul II's vision of proposing the Christian faith in new ways.

One goal of the new evangelization, according to the synod's new guidelines, is to revive an enthusiasm for the Christian faith among historically Catholic populations.
“The new evangelization,” the drafters wrote, “should aim to revive the original enthusiasm in Christians, a new mission that should involve all members of God's community.”

“The Gospel,” they explained, “is to be understood not as a book or a doctrine, but rather as a person: Jesus Christ, the definitive Word of God, who made himself a man.”
Archbishop Eterovic noted that the outline for the synod also draws an important distinction between two types of contemporary missionary activity.

On the one hand, there is the “regular activity of the Church,” intended for “those who do not yet know Jesus Christ.” But this mission, he explained, differs from “the new evangelization – which is directed toward those who have moved away from the Church, those who have been baptized but not sufficiently evangelized.”

In order to draw these people back, synod organizers believe that the Church must come to grips with a number of challenges posed to the Christian faith by today's “social and cultural context.”

In the document presented to the Pope, they listed a number of these challenges which will be discussed at the 2012 synod – including the secularization of society, the changing global economy, developments in science and technology, and the realm of politics.

The upcoming synod's work is closely connected with Pope Benedict XVI's recent creation of a Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, which will develop ways of re-proposing the Christian faith in places where it has been weakened.

In the October 2010 letter that established the new council, Pope Benedict said he hopes “that the entire Church, allowing herself to be regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit, may present herself to the contemporary world with a missionary impulse in order to promote the new evangelization.”

Sources include
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-synod-aims-to-rediscover-original-enthusiasm-of-following-christ/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicnewsagency%2Fdailynews+%28CNA+Daily+News%29
http://visnews-en.blogspot.com/2011/03/synod-guidelines-for-new-evangelization.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/beterovic.html
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_20050309_index-profile_en.html

Post #120

February 28, 2011

Excerpt from Western Catholic Reporter: Bill to make April 2 Pope John Paul II Day goes to Heritage Committee

OTTAWA — A bill that would make April 2 every year Pope John Paul II Day has been referred to the Heritage Committee, after passing a second reading vote in the House of Commons Feb. 14.

Liberal MP Andrew Kania, who represents the Brampton West riding, introduced Bill C-573, an act to establish Pope John Paul II Day, last year.

A Canadian of Polish extraction and a Roman Catholic, Kania told the House Nov. 16, during the bill’s first hour of debate, that he hoped the anniversary of the late pope’s death on April 2, 2005 would be “a day of memory” for Canadians. The bill would not make April 2 a statutory holiday.

Kania spoke of the role Pope John Paul played in the fall of communism. He and several other MPs also praised the late pope’s reaching out to other religious communities, especially Jews and Muslims. Members from all political parties spoke in favour of the bill.

On Feb. 14, Kania updated his speech. “Pope Benedict has declared that Pope John Paul II will be beatified on May 1 in Rome, a ceremony that millions of Catholics, including myself, are planning to attend,” Kania said. “That is of huge significance for the Roman Catholic Church and for the Polish community generally.”

Kania said thousands of Canadians mailed in cards in support of the bill.

Though the Bloc Quebecois supports the bill, Bloc MP Carole Lavallée used her time Nov. 16 to both praise the late pope “as a promoter of peace” and to criticize the Catholic Church.

“The Bloc Québécois would also like to acknowledge the contribution made by Catholics in building Quebec, despite abuses in the Church’s dogma concerning the rights of women and homosexuals and despite having hidden cases of pedophilia in the Church,” Lavallée said.

Sources include
http://www.wcr.ab.ca/WCRThisWeek/Stories/tabid/61/entryid/647/Default.aspx
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/ProfileMP.aspx?Key=128874
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/ProfileMP.aspx?Key=128139&Language=E
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeHome.aspx?Cmte=CHPC&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=3   

Post #119

Excerpt from the New York Times: Chilean Priest Found Guilty of Abusing Minors

February 18, 2011

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — After an internal investigation, the Vatican found the Rev. Fernando Karadima guilty of sexually abusing minors in Chile and ordered him to retire to a “life of prayer and penitence,” the archbishop of Santiago said Friday. The ruling, announced by the archbishop, Ricardo Ezzati, said that Rev. Karadima, 80, would be relocated to a place where he would have no contact with his former parishioners or “persons that have been spiritually guided by him.”

The accusations by former parishioners against Rev. Karadima last year stunned Chile, a conservative and predominantly Roman Catholic nation unaccustomed to questioning its priests, especially one as revered as Rev. Karadima. He had trained five bishops and dozens of priests, acting as a spiritual leader and father figure for young men who later accused him of molesting them.

The decision is a rare case of a powerful church figure being called to account for the charges of sexual abuse that have swept the Catholic world the past few years. The Vatican decision “is going to mark a before and after in the way the Chilean Catholic Church proceeds in cases like these, or at least it should,” said Rev. Antonio Delfau, a Jesuit priest in Santiago, the capital. “From now on, every case of sexual abuse must be treated with meticulous care and not be based on the gut feeling of a given church official.”

For the accusers, including at least four men who said Rev. Karadima abused them when they were young parishioners, the decision was a long-awaited vindication. One original accuser said the abuse began when he was 14. “At last the truth was revealed and acknowledged,” said an emotional Juan Carlos Cruz, 47. “This was like having a Rev. who abused you and a mother who slapped you in the face,” he said of the Catholic Church. “Now I feel like this mother has taken me in.”

Rev. Karadima has not been prosecuted criminally. A judge investigating the accusations against him closed the case late last year, ruling that there was not enough evidence to charge him. An appeals court in Santiago is still deciding whether to reopen the criminal investigation. It remains unclear whether the Vatican’s decision will prod the Chilean authorities to do so.

The Vatican ruling announced Friday said that Rev. Karadima was subject to “lifelong prohibition from the public exercise of any ministerial act, particularly confession and the spiritual guidance of any category of persons.” In consideration of his age, the Vatican deemed it appropriate “to impose on the accused his retirement to a life of prayer and penitence, also in reparation to the victims of his abuses,” said the ruling, read by Archbishop Ezzati. If he violates the conditions of the ruling, Rev. Karadima could face stricter sanctions, including removal from the priesthood, the archbishop said.

Juan Pablo Bulnes, Rev. Karadima’s lawyer, said the priest maintained his innocence and would appeal the Vatican’s decision. He said the priest, respecting the ruling, had already retired to a religious convent in Santiago, away from anyone in his El Bosque parish. The Chilean Catholic Church referred the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last June, sending a 700-page investigative report to the Vatican. Last month, the Vatican quietly issued its ruling and informed the Chilean church on Jan. 16. Archbishop Ezzati said he notified Rev. Karadima the next day and immediately identified a new residence for him.

Sources include
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/world/americas/19chile.html
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Karadima
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bezza.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/world/americas/28chile.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/world/americas/23chile.html?pagewanted=2
http://historiactiva.jesuitas.cl/entrevista_13/opinion.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/world/americas/26chile.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Chile
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/world/americas/21karadima.html
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_pro_14071997_en.html

Post #118

Excerpt from Catholic News Service: Visitator to report that Irish church is near collapse

DUBLIN (CNS) -- Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley reportedly will tell Pope Benedict XVI that the Catholic Church in Ireland is "on the edge" of collapse due to the fallout from clerical abuse scandals.

Cardinal O'Malley is one of several senior prelates charged by Pope Benedict with carrying out an apostolic visitation of the Irish Catholic Church following a series of highly critical judicial reports that revealed abuse by priests and a widespread culture of cover-up for decades among church leaders.

Father Tony Flannery, a leading member of the Association of Catholic Priests, revealed at a conference of laypeople Feb. 12 in the Irish capital that "Cardinal O'Malley told the association the Irish Church had a decade, at most, to avoid falling over the edge and becoming like other European countries where religion is marginal to society." Father Flannery said Cardinal O'Malley gave a commitment to the priests' association that he would deliver the frank assessment to the pope in a confidential report to be submitted later this year. Admitting to being previously skeptical about the apostolic visitation, Father Flannery said that in light of Cardinal O'Malley's undertaking, "there may be some gleam of hope."

In a mid-November statement, the Vatican said it would issue a comprehensive summary of the investigations' findings when they are completed.

Father Flannery said that while the association was ready to campaign for radical change, it was apprehensive that it would be viewed as "a new clericalism."  The association, which represents more than 400 of Ireland's 4,500 priests, was formed in 2010. It has proposed a re-evaluation of the church's teaching on sexuality and the inclusion of women at every level within the church. The first phase of the visitation should be completed by Easter, and it is likely the visitators will meet with senior officials of the Roman Curia in the spring to discuss what Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, described as the next phase of the "path to renewal."

Sources include
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1100608.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se%C3%A1n_Patrick_O'Malley
http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/category/visitation-of-the-irish-church/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_visitation_to_Ireland
http://www.eskercommunity.org/tonyflannery.html
http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/

Post #117

Excerpt from the Essex Chronicle:  Roman Catholic switch is considered by seven Anglican priests in England

At least seven priests are poised to leave the Anglican Diocese of Chelmsford to become Roman Catholics, along with hundreds of members of their congregations.

Rev. Ivor Morris, of the Ascension Church in Maltese Road, Chelmsford, is one of the first rebel Anglo-Catholics from across the Chelmsford Diocese to speak publicly about the controversial switch, reported to be the largest movement of its kind.

Rev. Morris, who last year marked 25 years of ordination, has told his congregation that he is considering leaving to join the Ordinariate, which was set up by the Pope to welcome disaffected Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church.

Rev. Morris said those who joined the Ordinariate would be reunited with Catholic Christendom, but not be completely absorbed, maintaining an Anglican cultural ethos.

The switch stems from the Anglican priests' objections to the ordination of women priests, which they say is against scripture and tradition.

The seven priests – three married, one widowed and three single priests – come from parishes across the Chelmsford Diocese, which includes most of the county and east London.

Meanwhile, more than 30 parish churches in the Chelmsford Diocese have also signed up to Forward in Faith, a worldwide movement opposing the ordination of women, including parish churches in Cressing, Great Bardfield, Finchingfield, Thaxted and Kelvedon.

Another priest to speak openly about the switch is former Brentwood vicar Canon Bob White, who is now honorary assistant priest at St Peter and St Paul in Hockley.

"The General Synod over some years has made decisions that appear to be taking the Church of England away from the Catholic direction once held and because of that I feel unity with the Roman Catholic Church is not possible," he said.

"An offer has been made by the Pope and we have taken up that offer."

The controversial women bishops move has split the Church of England and it is believed more will follow the "pioneers" like Rev. Ivor and Mr White.

Chelmsford's Anglican Bishop Stephen Cottrell said in an open letter that it "pained" him that no agreement could be reached to allow Anglo Catholic priests to remain.

Bishop Cottrell and Brentwood's Catholic Bishop Thomas McMahon also issued a joint statement stating they were "painfully aware" of the divisions.

"We pray for the new life they will have and the gifts they will bring to the Catholic Church."

Sources include
http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/news/Papal-switch-considered-seven-priests/article-3168572-detail/article.html
http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/chelmsford-ascension/
http://www.forwardinfaith.com/
http://www.womenpriests.org/
http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/introducing-bishop-stephen.html

Post #116

Excerpt from AsiaNews: Benedict XVI ordains five new bishops

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "It is time for the mission," this is the mandate of Benedict XVI, entrusted now to five new bishops ordained in St Peter’s basilica this morning. A mission that brings to men “the light of truth that frees them from poverty of truth, which is real sadness and real poverty. Mission that brings them the Good News that is not only words, but an event: God, Himself, has come from us. "

Receiving the Gospel, ring, mitre and pastoral cross, signs of the Episcopal mission from the Pope this morning were; Mgr. Savio Hon Tai-Fai, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Mgr. Marcello Bartolucci, secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Mgr. Celso Morga Iruzubieta, secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Mgr. Antonio Guido Filipazzi, Apostolic Nuncio, and Mgr. Edgar Peña Parra, who is also an apostolic nuncio.

Their mission is to "cast the net of the Gospel in the rough seas of this time to obtain the adhesion of people to Christ" because "it may seem that large parts of the modern world, of the men of today, are turning away from God and consider faith a thing of the past – and yet there is still a yearning for justice, love, peace, to be finally established and poverty and suffering overcome, that people find joy. All this yearning is present in today's world, a yearning for all that is great, for all that is good. It is nostalgia for the Redeemer, God himself, even where he is denied. "

It is a 'great task', which in practical terms requires the four elements that have already been the theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the memory of how the early Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer"(Acts 2:42). They are "the fundamental elements of Christian communion in the Church of Jesus Christ," Benedict XVI traced his homily from the phrase” and they devoted themselves”. “Devotion, diligence, belongs to the essence of being a Christian and is fundamental to the pastors task as workers in the Lord's harvest. The Pastor should not be like chaff driven by the wind, a servant of the spirit of the time. Being intrepid, having the courage to oppose the trends of the time, is essential to the task of the pastor. He must not be chaff, but - according to the image of the first Psalm - he must be like a tree that has deep roots, upon which it is solid and well grounded. This has nothing to do with the rigidity or inflexibility. Only where there is stability is there also growth. Cardinal Newman, whose path was marked by three conversions, says that living means transforming oneself. But his three conversions and the transformations that took place in them are, however, one consistent journey: the journey of obedience to the truth, to God, the true journey of continuity which in this way brings about progress".

"Perseverance to the teaching of the Apostles", then, means to remember that "faith has a concrete content. Spirituality is not a vague, indefinable feeling for transcendence. God has acted and He truly spoke. He has really done something and he actually said something. Certainly, faith is, at first, trusting in God, a living relationship with God But the God in whom we place our trust has a face and gave us His word. We can count on the stability of His word. "

The second “pillar of the life of the Church” is communion. "Communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 1:1-4). God made himself visible and tangible for us and so has created a real communion with himself. We enter into communion through this belief and live together with those whom have been touched by Him. With them and through, we to in a certain way, see and touch the God who became close for us. Thus the horizontal and vertical are here inextricably intertwined with each other. By being in communion with the Apostles, by standing with them in faith, we ourselves are in contact with the living God.

Dear friends, the purpose of the ministry of Bishops is that this chain of communion is not interrupted. This is the essence of apostolic succession: to preserve communion with those who have met the Lord in a visible and tangible way, and so keep Heaven open, God's presence among us. Only through communion with the Successors of the Apostles are we also in contact with the incarnate God. But the reverse is also true: only through communion with God, only through communion with Jesus Christ this chain of witnesses, stays together. One is never a Bishops on his won, says Vatican II, but always only in the College of Bishops. Therefore he cannot lock himself up in the time of his generation. The intertwining of all generations, the living Church of every age belongs to collegiality. You dear Brothers - he continued, turning to the soon to be ordained – have the mission of preserving this Catholic communion. You know that the Lord has appointed St. Peter and his successors to be the centre of that community, the guarantors of being in the totality of apostolic communion and His faith. Offer your help so the joy of the great unity of the Church, the communion of all the places and times, so the community of faith that embraces the heavens and the earth remains alive".

Third "fundamental element of the Church's" is the breaking of bread. "The Holy Eucharist is the centre of the Church must be the centre of our being Christians and our priestly life." "Breaking bread - along with what is also expressed in sharing, transmitting our love with others. The social dimension, sharing is not a moral appendix which is added an to the Eucharist, rather it is part of it. This is clear from his verse in Acts which follows the one quoted above: "... All the believers had everything in common," says Luke (2:44). We must be careful that faith is always expressed in love and justice of one towards another and that our social practice is inspired by faith, that faith is lived in love. "

"The last pillar of the Church's, is prayer. "Prayer, on the one hand, must be very personal, a joining of my deepest self with God. It must be my battle with Him, my search for Him, my thanks to Him and my joy in Him. However, it is never simply a private matter of my "individual self”, which does not affect others. Praying is always essentially also praying in the "we" of God's children. Only in this "we" are we the children of our Father, which the Lord has taught us to pray. Only this "we" gives us access to the Father. On the one hand, our prayer must become more personal touch and penetrate more deeply the core of our self. On the other, we must always be fed by prayerful communion, unity of the Body of Christ, to truly shape myself beginning with love of God. Thus praying, ultimately, is not one activity among others, a certain corner of my time. Praying is the answer to the imperative that is at the beginning of the Canon in the Eucharistic celebration: Sursum corda - Lift up your hearts! It is the ascending of my existence on high to God. "

"In this regard, St. Gregory the Great points out that John the Baptist called Jesus a "burning and shining lamp" (Jn 5:35) and he continues: by saying that "ardent with Celestial desire, resplendent with the word. So that the veracity of the proclamation be preserved, the height of life must be preserved”. The height, the high standard of life, which today is so essential to witness in favour of Jesus Christ, we can find it in prayer only when we allow ourselves to be constantly pulled by Him toward His height. "

Sources include
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pope-tells-new-bishops-its-time-for-mission,-because-even-today-the-world-seeks-God-20699.html#
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCX67Y07yU3-Fri0rlOh6KePHZsIQcolHZEQ6kzO9GHCcynAaYBAaWN8kGfu7ehv02oX1pzIcM6_IldV7RyHbgpJtkalDhrSrGD4ORB3LvDX69s3IAYUTg_RFiqBwVI-bpONgC4MOxUeWm/s1600/b16bor2.jpg
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bhontf.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bbartolum.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmorgai.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bfilipaz.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpenaper.html

Post #115

Halifax Archbishop says behaviour of priests accused of assault "immoral and shameful"

Yet another Roman Catholic diocese, this time the Diocese of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse by priests. There have been ongoing meditation efforts in an attempt to keep the matter out of the courts and settled privately. The Yarmouth diocese has agreed to pay $1.5 million, to be divided among six victims who were sexually abused by priests Adolphe LeBlanc and Eddie Theriault. The abuse took place in the 1950s and 1960s and the victims were between the ages of three and 16 at the time. Both men are now dead.

It means that, yet again, Catholic parishioners are being forced to pay for the sins of their former priests in what many learned observers call an unfair process. In a letter to the people of the Yarmouth diocese on January 24, 2011, Halifax Archbishop Anthony Mancini, who is the Pope-appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Yarmouth diocese attempts to explain why the people have to pay for the sins of their priests. It’s up to each reader to decide for him/herself if Mancini succeeds in making the case in his letter reprinted below. Your comments are welcome.

-------------------------------------------

Diocese de/of Yarmouth

43, Rue Albert St., Yarmouth, N.-É./N.S. B5A 3N1
January 24, 2011

To all the faithful of the Catholic Church of Yarmouth,

Greetings and best wishes to you, as we enter into a new year with all the challenges which it will bring.

I write to you to share with you my concern for our faith and for the future of our community of faith. My hope is that together, we will be able to face with strength the obstacles which could cause us to be discouraged. To support us in our trial, we must draw on the example of our ancestors in the faith, who were able to face adversity and overcome great obstacles with great heart.

“... the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” (Acts 4:32)

I am calling on this same faith of the Church of Yarmouth, to see us through to better days because our faith, when it is based on the Church’s one foundation, Jesus Christ, can withstand many hardships.

I say this because for some time now, we have been struggling with the impact of sexual abuse on the lives of victims, and on the life of the community. Many have been and continue to be shocked and shamed by the behaviour of some priests. The behaviour of these priests and their failures are criminal, immoral and shameful. There is no excuse for it and there is not much that can be done to change what has happened.

What we can do and must do is try to right the wrongs and make financial settlements as best we can with those who have suffered the effects of sexual abuse. This is what we are trying to do through the process of legal mediations in which we have entered and about which you have heard in the media.

So far this process has proven to be very difficult, yet successful in arriving at what the concerned parties negotiated and freely accepted as compensation. Whether or not this process and its outcome is ultimately viewed as fair, just and proper, only time will tell.

Nevertheless, to have settled a significant number of cases is a relief for everyone even if all the cases are not yet resolved. It is my sincere hope that the outstanding cases can be also thus decided and allow all concerned to move on, the victims with their lives and the whole Church with the purpose and mission for which we exist - which is forgiveness, reconciliation and new life after darkness and death. This will require time for healing and lots of prayer.

Legal settlements of course cost money, money which all of you have generously contributed for the upkeep of our church and the gospel which is ours to proclaim. No one feels good about having to pay out settlements – yet that is the cost for the sins of our past. I wish it were otherwise, but the structure we have and the legal systems with which we must function must be respected and followed so that our legal obligations to victims of abuse can be met.

This means that as a church, we will be stretched to the limits of our capacity to pay out settlements. We hope to survive, poorer yes, but alive nevertheless. No doubt it will be necessary to find alternative ways of financing the next few years and we have competent persons who are generously giving their time and talent to help us through this present state of affairs.

Let me reassure you, that I am doing all I can with the collaboration of all the diocesan staff of the Yarmouth Diocese to steer our church through this stormy period and I count on all of you who are of good will and resolved to stay the course with us.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be discussing with you, your pastors and with those in diocesan leadership, how we can best go forward. If we need to make sacrifices and we will, let us do so with conviction and courage. The church is much more than its failures. It is an assembly of saints as well as sinners and we must not let ourselves be defined solely by sins of sexual abuse. Surely our sins must be faced clearly, confessed truthfully and whatever can be done to amend our behaviour and practices must be done. From our penance and purification will come the re-foundation of our church.

May the Lord stand with us as we face our future and may we go forward in the spirit of our fathers and mothers in the faith as reported in the Acts of the Apostles (2: 42-47) where we are told that they remained faithful to the teachings of the Apostles; faithful to the fellowship of their community by looking after each other; faithful to the breaking of the bread and faithful to the prayers.

Sincerely,
†Anthony Mancini
Apostolic Administrator of Yarmouth

Sources include
http://www.dioceseyarmouth.org/pdf/20110124.pdf
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/archbishop-says-behaviour-of-priests-accused-of-assault-immoral-and-shameful-115187334.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/01/31/ns-mancini-letter.html
http://www.dioceseyarmouth.org/
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmancini.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Administrator

Post #114

Excerpt from the National Catholic Reporter: Beatification of John Paul II leaves many Catholics cold by Eugene Kennedy

One of the most common metaphors applied to the soon-to-be-beatified Pope John Paul II tells us more than the hagiographic musings of such apologists as George Weigel, who, as a biographer with books to sell, has a conflict of interest as big as a redwood in his eye.

The late pope -- whose heroic stands as a cardinal archbishop against Polish Communism undoubtedly changed history by pulling the bricks out of the crumbling universe of the Soviet Union -- has been lionized as the coolest of cold warriors.

The metaphor that spontaneously arose to describe him as a pope, however, is “rock star.” Stand back as, like rock fans everywhere, John Paul II’s followers stampede for tickets to his beatification ceremony.

“Rock star” is also applied to former President Bill Clinton and to others who, by their demanding charismatic style, suck all the air out of any room or space that they enter. “Rock stars” need neither an introduction nor an opening act to prepare the audience for their appearance.

They are, however, a lot of work. You have to pay so much undivided attention to them while they are on stage that you may feel your own reserves of energy being drained away as you are called upon to fill and to re-fill the swimming pool-size tanks of the “rock stars’” own need.

What is that need exactly? It isn’t for you as a person, but for them as personalities that run on unquestioned loyalty and unconditional love. “Rock stars” gleam attractively, giving their audiences the equivalent of a double cheeseburger with fries on the side. But it won’t last for take-out; they have to eat it there.

Was John Paul II acclaimed as a “rock star” by accident or did it express the sensus fidelium, the natural judgment of believers, about this pope who stood so tall as he smiled so enigmatically at the crowds that stretched to the horizon about him?

The metaphor suggests other questions. If John Paul knew how to make himself -- or part of himself -- present to a crowd, how much of himself did he ever really reveal to anybody? How well did you know the real man, Karol Wojtyla?

Are there unanswered questions about this pope who may have dazzled but seemed to exude so little real warmth for the believers at whom, above his Slavic smile, he never seemed to look directly?

What was the inner man -- for this must be the testing point for the blessed -- like when, claiming to be a champion for personalism, he preached of human personality as divided rather than united? What was he like when, in his romantic but self-contained reflections on human sexuality, he spoke so abstractly but with such certainty that abstaining from sex was the highest ideal even for married couples?

Who was this man who sang the glories of the Blessed Mother but who kept real women beyond the end of his wagging finger and was determined, as if the fate of the world depended on it, to keep them out of the priesthood? Who was this man who always defended Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, but who absented himself from the final vote of the Vatican II commission that recommended a broadening of the church’s position on birth control?

Who was this man who looked away from the burgeoning sex abuse scandal of his clergy while he sheltered and defended the godfather of all sex abusers, Marcial Maciel Degollado? Who was he when he welcomed Cardinal Law to a Roman sinecure after Law was forced to resign from the archbishopric of Boston for his manner of dealing with sex abusing priests?

There is no doubt that John Paul II was a great man, but he leaves too great a void of coolness about his personality to hurry his beatification. He probably ranks with such other great world saving figures of the 20th century as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, each of whom was a “rock star” in his own time.

The personality of each, as is true of many great men, bore a rich inlay of narcissism, marked by a self-absorption and need for constant adulation that exhausted everyone around them, including their families.

Perhaps Pope John Paul II leaves many cold because the elements of narcissism within his own personality telegraph themselves invisibly to others.

Should this keep him from being beatified? Probably not, but perhaps it should prompt second thoughts about fast tracking his canonization.

Pope Benedict might ponder his predecessor’s enormous self-absorption, his actor’s sense of timing and his arranging that nobody ever stood next to him when the picture was taken, and wonder why, great or not, he still leaves many Catholics cold.

Narcissists shine brightly but cast a cold shadow. Perhaps that is why so many believers ruefully conclude, “Johnny, we hardly knew ye.”

Sources include
http://ncronline.org/blogs/bulletins-human-side/beatification-john-paul-ii-leaves-many-catholics-cold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II
http://georgeweigel.blogspot.com/
http://www.ewtn.com/library/theology/wojtlahv.htm
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Francis_Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism

Post 113

Excerpt from National Catholic Reporter:  Vatican announces May 1 beatification for John Paul II

From a column written by John. L. Allen, Jr.

The miracle approved by Benedict XVI concerns a 49-year-old French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease in 2001 and whose order prayed to John Paul II after his death in 2005 for help. Reportedly, after writing the late pope’s name on a piece of paper one night in June 2005, Sister Marie-Simone awoke the next morning cured and was able to resume her work as a maternity nurse.

Earlier this year, media reports implied that the French sister had fallen ill again and that at least one physician questioned the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, suggesting it may have been some other nervous disorder. It would seem that the Vatican resolved those doubts to its satisfaction, however, as the miracle has been approved by both the Vatican’s medical and theological consulters, as well as the cardinals and bishops who make up the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the pope himself.

Momentum to declare John Paul a saint began almost at the moment of his death.

In the run-up to the conclave that elected Benedict XVI to the papacy in April 2005, some cardinals signed a petition requesting that the next pope move immediately to opening a sainthood process for John Paul II. During his funeral Mass, mourners held signs and chanted “Santo Subito!”, meaning “Sainthood Now!”

Shortly after his election, Benedict waived the waiting period but otherwise held that the usual procedure should be followed.

Among church insiders, it’s taken for granted that John Paul II’s cause will not stall at beatification, but that he will fairly quickly also be canonized and declared a saint.

Given John Paul’s popularity and high public profile, news of his beatification is certain to be a major news event. There are, however, also three persistent strains of criticism likely to resurface in coming days.

First, some Catholic liberals who saw John Paul II as overly conservative have suggested that his cause is being fast-tracked in order to score political points in internal Catholic debates. This constituency has wondered, for example, why John Paul II is being beatified so quickly, when the late Pope John XXIII, who launched a period of reform in Catholicism by calling the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), has not yet been canonized following his own beatification in 2000.

Second, some traditional Catholics may object to the apparent haste in John Paul’s cause, arguing that it risks cheapening the canonization process if there’s a perception that a particular candidate is being moved forward too hastily. Perceptions that the usual process has been “short-circuited,” some warn, may suggest that other church teachings and disciplines can be massaged or set aside. They add that according to Catholic theology, the church has no power to “make” a saint – it can simply ratify that a particular figure is already in Heaven. By that logic, there’s no rush, since if John Paul is indeed a saint, formal beatification and canonization won’t add anything.

Third, some victims of clerical sexual abuse and their advocates believe that John Paul’s record on the crisis is not worthy of sainthood, or at least that beatifying him now risks giving offense to victims who associate the late pope with a mixed response to the crisis. Some have argued that the study of John Paul’s life and legacy as part of the sainthood process did not give sufficient weight to his handling of the sexual abuse crisis, such as the case of the late founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Mexican Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, a longtime favorite during John Paul’s papacy who was later disgraced as the Legionaries acknowledged he was guilty of various forms of sexual misconduct.

Even before the formal Vatican announcement, the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests issued a statement asserting that the hierarchy is “rubbing more salt into the wounds” of victims with a “hasty drive to confer sainthood on the pontiff under whose reign most of the widely-documented clergy sex crimes and cover ups took place.”

Vatican officials did not offer any response to substantive criticism of John Paul II, but in past cases when popes have been moved along the sainthood track, they generally insist that beatifying or canonizing a pope is not tantamount to endorsing every policy choice of his pontificate. Instead, they say, it’s a declaration that this pope lived a holy life worthy of emulation, despite whatever failings may have occurred during his lifetime – including his reign as pope.

Sources include
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/vatican-announces-may-1-beatification-john-paul-ii
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/sister_marie_simonpierre_speaks_of_miraculous_cure_at_press_conference/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/05/nun-cured-pope-parkinsons-ill
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_pro_20051996_en.html
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000903_john-xxiii_en.html
http://www.snapnetwork.org/

Post #112

Excerpt from the Associated Press: Pope to Catholics online: It's not just about hits

January 24, 2011

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI told Catholic bloggers and Facebook and YouTube users Monday to be respectful of others when spreading the Gospel online and not to see their ultimate goal as getting as many online hits as possible.

Echoing concerns in the U.S. about the need to root out online vitriol, Benedict called for the faithful to adopt a "Christian style presence" online that is responsible, honest and discreet

"We must be aware that the truth which we long to share does not derive its worth from its 'popularity' or from the amount of attention it receives," Benedict wrote in his annual message for the church's World Day of Social Communications.

"The proclamation of the Gospel requires a communication which is at once respectful and sensitive."

Benedict didn't name names, but the head of the Vatican's social communications office, Archbishop Claudio Celli, said it was certainly correct to direct the pope's exhortation to some conservative Catholic blogs, YouTube channels and sites which, with some vehemence, criticize bishops, public officials and policies they consider not Catholic enough.

"The risk is there, there's no doubt," Celli said in response to a question. He confirmed that the Pontifical Council for Social Communications was working on a set of guidelines with recommendations for appropriate style and behavior for Catholics online.

"I don't love such things, but I think we can define some points of reference for behavior," he said, adding that he hoped such a document would come out as soon as possible.

The Vatican's concern comes at a time when incendiary rhetoric — in the media and online — has come under increasing fire; even U.S. President Barack Obama has urged greater civility in political discourse following the attempted assassination of a U.S. congresswoman.

In his message, Benedict echoed many of the same themes he has voiced in years past about the benefits and dangers of the digital age, saying social networks are a wonderful way to build relationships and community. But he warned against replacing real friendships with virtual ones and warned against the temptation to create artificial public profiles rather than authentic ones.

"There exists a Christian way of communication which is honest and open, responsible and respectful of others," he wrote. "To proclaim the Gospel through the new media means not only to insert expressly religious content into different media platforms, but also to witness consistently, in one's own digital profile and in the way one communicates choices, preference and judgments that are fully consistent with the Gospel."

The 83-year-old Benedict is no techno wizard: He writes longhand and has admitted to a certain lack of Internet savvy within the Vatican.

But under Benedict, the Holy See has greatly increased its presence online: It has a dedicated YouTube channel, and its Pope2You.net portal gives news on the pontiff's trips and speeches and features I-Phone and Facebook applications that allow users to send postcards with photos of Benedict and excerpts from his messages to their friends.

Celli said the Holy See was working on a new multimedia portal that would be the point of reference for the whole Vatican that he hoped would be operational by Easter. It would start out in English and Italian, with other languages added later.

Currently, the Vatican website http://www.vatican.va/ has links to the Vatican newspaper, the Vatican Museums and other Vatican departments, but it's clunky and out of date.

Celli acknowledged that the pope's annual message — which is full of technical jargon — is not his alone. Celli's office prepares a draft and the pope then makes changes. Celli said he didn't know if Benedict had ever been on Facebook, but said he expected one of his aides had probably shown him around.

Sources include
http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/078cb2e3ddf040899e2ea4ce560c257a/Article_2011-01-24-Vatican%20Social%20Networks/id-e6aeec02a13f48a7b8b6b1f1b32ad50c
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20110124_45th-world-communications-day_en.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Maria_Celli
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_pro_14101999_en.html
http://www.pope2you.net/
http://www.vatican.va/

Post #111

Excerpt from CBC News: Newfoundland, Canada church wants police probe of missing $500K

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's says it will ask the police to investigate the disappearance of more than $500,000.

The archdiocese alleges its own investigation found a former business manager paid the money to himself and his pension account.

"This review uncovered significant discrepancies in the operating account of the archdiocese," the archdiocese said in a news release Monday morning. "We determined that our former comptroller and business manager made unauthorized payments to himself, and to his pension account, throughout this period."

Archbishop Martin Currie told CBC News the archdiocese will ask the police Monday to investigate.

"It's a shock for everybody, because he's been with the archdiocese for roughly 38 years, and everybody had given him their complete trust. He was trusted fully you know, and he's broken that trust. That's what's saddest more than anything," Currie told CBC News.

"We have reason to believe that it may have started in 1997, because of payments having been made into other accounts."

The archdiocese said it hired an auditing company last year to review its books going back to 2003.

Bill Power, the archdiocese business manager, resigned from the church last fall.

Donated money is used to fund chaplaincy services in hospitals such as the Janeway, St. Clare's, the Health Sciences Centre, the Burin Peninsula Health Care Centre and the Miller Centre, and in seniors homes and long-term care facilities.

"We will pursue every appropriate means to recoup as much of the loss as possible, and thus to ensure that the pastoral services of this archdiocese may continue and, through them, that the most vulnerable of our church and society are served and assisted," the release said.

Last October, priests read a letter to parishioners at churches in eastern Newfoundland saying a business manager with the organization had resigned recently and an independent auditor had been hired to investigate the churches' finances.

Sources include
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2011/01/24/nl-archdiocese-money-124.html#ixzz1BzkxGML2
http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2011-01-24/article-2165404/RC-archdiocese-releases-details-of-unauthorized-payments/1
http://www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca/
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcurrie.html

Post #110

Excerpt from National Catholic Reporter: King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' still challenges us

by Father John Dear SJ

Every year for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I reread his writings to glean insight, courage and strength for the year ahead.

This past week, while visiting Nags Head, North Carolina, I’ve been studying his famous 1963 “Letter from the Birmingham Jail.” It was written after his Good Friday arrest for marching to break unjust segregation laws without a permit.

One of the great documents in our history, this letter was composed in his darkest hour, just as the nonviolent movement for civil rights was on the verge of total collapse. And yet, the letter is filled with faith, hope, and love -- enough to enlighten us in our own dark times.

Exhortations on nonviolence and civil disobedience might be expected from King. But the remainder of the letter takes on a surprising topic: King’s deep disappointment with the church. Such talk is rare.

We know little of the disappointment of St. Francis, Franz Jagerstatter, Dorothy Day or Oscar Romero -- though they must have been profoundly hurt by the church leaders of their day. We can barely imagine Jesus’ anguished disappointment with the religious leaders of his day.

Like us, King had hoped that church leaders would lead the struggle for racial equality, justice and peace. He presumed that anyone who claimed to follow the nonviolent Jesus would seek the fullness of God’s reign, promote its consistent ethic of nonviolence, and advocate for the disenfranchized.

Alas, King learned the hard the way, as we are learning, that church leaders rarely join -- much less lead -- the struggle. Too often they stand in the way.

"I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions, [but] I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of their stained-glass windows… So here we are moving toward the exit of the twentieth century with a religious community largely adjusted to the status quo, standing as a taillight behind other community agencies rather than a headlight leading people to higher levels of justice.

I have wept over the laxity of the church. But my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love…Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ, but oh! how we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and fear of being nonconformists.

The contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I am meeting young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust."

An irrelevant social club. Today millions dismiss our church leaders as far worse. Outright disgust is commonplace. Yet despite his disappointment, King remains in the struggle precisely as a church person.

Sources include
http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/kings-letter-birmingham-jail-still-challenges-us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
http://www.fatherjohndear.org/