Post #73

Excerpt from the Daily Mail: "Cash for Pope claims: Multi-millionaires who funded the Pontiff's trip to Britain met him in private"

The Pope’s visit to Britain has come under fresh scrutiny after it was revealed that multi-millionaires funded a significant proportion of the trip and were granted a coveted private audience with the Pontiff. During the four-day visit, many of the donors met Benedict XVI at a series of gatherings, one of which took place just before Mass at Westminster Cathedral.

Costs for State events during the visit, including the Pope’s meeting with the Queen, were met by the taxpayer, but the Catholic Church was faced with a £10 million bill for staging religious events such as the Hyde Park prayer vigil. The Church still needs to raise another £3.5 million to cover this bill and it is set to approach many of the donors again to see if they are prepared to make up the shortfall.

A national collection in the parishes earlier this year raised only about £1 million. Catholics last night voiced their unease over the need to raise money from businessmen. One insider said: ‘It is always an uncomfortable place for the Church, cosying up to the rich. Some Catholics will feel distinctly queasy, especially as donors had the rare chance to meet and talk to the Pope face-to-face.’

Catholic theologian Tina Beattie, a prominent commentator on the visit, said she was ‘disappointed’ by the disclosures. Professor Beattie said that while the Pope may have had to shake hands with wealthy backers to pay for his visit, she did not believe they had influenced his overall message, which had included a sideswipe at reckless bankers.

A spokesman for the Church said it never confirmed the identity of donors and there was no understanding that benefactors would necessarily meet the Pope during the visit.

Sources include
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315281/Pope-hire-row-rich-pay-millions-meet-him.html
http://www.westminstercathedral.org.uk/
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Pope-Visit-Thousands-Gathering-In-Londons-Hyde-Park-For-Papal-Prayer-Vigil/Article/201009315734536?f=rss
http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/staff/TinaBeattie

Post #72

Excerpt from The Guardian: "Vatican bank chief investigated over money laundering claims"

The head of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, has formally been placed under investigation in an inquiry into a suspected violation of Italy's money-laundering laws, judicial sources said today.

At the same time, a judge in Rome ordered a freeze on €23m (£19.5m) held in an account opened by the Vatican bank, the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), at another financial institution in the Italian capital. It was thought to be the first time such action had been authorised against the IOR in Italy.

Since last September, the Bank of Italy has classified the Vatican bank as a non-EU institution whose dealings with other banks are thus subject to especially close scrutiny.

The sources said that last Wednesday, on the eve of Pope Benedict's departure for Britain, a unit of the Italian revenue guard alerted prosecutors to an anomaly in an account owned by the IOR at the Rome branch of Credito Artigiano, which has close historic ties to the Catholic church.

Of the €28m deposited, €23m was destined for transfer to JP Morgan in Frankfurt and another €3m to another Italian bank. But in neither case, it is alleged, had the Vatican's bankers supplied details of the individual or corporation for whom they were acting, as required by a 2007 legislative decree.

The sources said the president of the IOR, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and another senior executive were under investigation. It was not immediately clear whether there was any connection between this inquiry and another in which the Vatican bank has been named, which concerns suspect property dealings.

The Vatican has a long history of withholding co-operation from Italian investigators seeking access to its bank's books. The IOR was involved in a major scandal in 1982 arising from the fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano, then Italy's largest private bank.

Sources include
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/21/vatican-bank-chief-investigated-laundering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Works_of_Religion
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Gotti_Tedeschi
http://www.cattolici-liberali.com/organizzazione/persone/EttoreGottiTedeschi.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banco_Ambrosiano

Post #71

The following article appeared in the online version of the National Catholic Reporter on September 13, 2010 in response to an article by John L. Allen Jr. entitled “Fraternity of the disgraced keeps growing”. Sister Maureen Paul Turish asks the important question, “Will the institutional Church take ownership for the complicity of its leadership?”  Sr. Turish, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, is a victims' advocate and writes from New Castle, Delaware

Excerpt from the National Catholic Reporter

Clericalism has often been described as the pursuit of ecclesiastical power at the expense of the laity. It is viewed as an elite caste unaccountable to the People of God.

It is this mindset peculiar to bishops and priests that renders otherwise ordinary good men so insensitive to the moral depravity present in some of their fellows that they will go to any lengths to enable, protect and cover up for them even years after the fact and in the case of ordinary priests renders them incapable of challenging Church leadership in the face of such evil.

Failing to protect the innocent from childhood sexual abuse all those decades ago and enabling further abuse by becoming complicit in covering up for perpetrators makes one wonder whether or not church leaders believe the words of Jesus in the Gospel.

Or is it rather that some do not consider Jesus’ words binding if following the words of the Lord embarrass one, causing him to lose statute and authority in the church? Is it a choice between arresting one’s advancement in this highly clericalized system and speaking truth to power?

Is it for all of these reasons and more?

This latest example of the abuse of power and authority in the Roman Catholic Church by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, the former leader of the Belgian Church, puts the lie to statements made not so many years ago by members of the hierarchy that the sexual abuse of children by clergymen was uniquely an American phenomenon.

And probably not the half of what has been going on in the Belgian Church is really known at this time. This in a country that is approximately the size of the state of Maryland in square miles.

Here in the United States previously sealed depositions that church authorities never expected to be made public support the fact that attempts at containment know no national boundaries.

Crimes against humanity? No question.

As such they should be brought before the world court. After all, the Holy See is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child even though it has submitted none of the periodic compliance reports beyond the initial one.

Will the institutional Church take ownership for the complicity of its leadership in covering up for the actions of those who have preyed on the young and their own actions in putting so many more children in harm’s way?

Doubtful.

To date, have any complicit bishops in the U.S. been sanctioned for their actions? Rewarded, yes. Sanctioned, no.

The crisis continues worldwide while in the U.S. bishops and state Catholic Conferences continue to viciously oppose legislative reform in any state where bills addressing it have been introduced. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and Colorado are a few examples.

Certainly not what one expected when the bishops promised Accountability & Transparency in 2002.

Can the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church be blind to the fact that its actions in continuing on its present course are speeding up an already unprecedented erosion of credibility among the ordinary faithful who want to cling to the belief that church leadership is capable of telling the truth and being accountable for its failures in protecting children?

Is it not this hubris of leadership, this horrific abuse of power that has created the rough seas, that perfect storm in which the Barque of Peter now finds itself floundering?

Or did Jesus’ words mandating the protection of children, the most vulnerable among us, include the caveat that his words were binding only if in protecting the children the cost was not too high?

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims’ Advocate
New Castle, Delaware

Sources include
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/fraternity-disgraced-keeps-growing
http://www.companionsinhope.com/TheGarden/Advocates/SisterMaureen.htm
http://www.sndden.org/

Post #70

The Pope’s visit to Scotland and England enters its third day today. There has been mixed reaction to the visit. The political organizers of the visit were upset when the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland chose not to meet the Pope after an event in London.  The politicians are concerned that it puts a negative spin on their attempt to show a united Christian community.

Excerpt from the BBC: Irish Presbyterian Moderator defends his stance on the Pope

Dr Norman Hamilton will attend the service at Westminster Cathedral but will not meet the Pope. The Presbyterian Moderator has reiterated his choice not to meet the Pope after a service in London on Friday evening.   Dr. Hamilton has been invited to a special service in Westminster Cathedral on the second day of the Pope Benedict's visit.  He insisted his stance was not a snub to Catholics or Pope Benedict XVI.

The Presbyterian moderator explained why he was declining the invitation to meet the Pope after the service but denied there was any discourtesy involved.  "From where I stand, to be true to myself, I would want a meeting with the Pope to be substantive rather than a passing few courtesies because there are many things that trouble us over in Ireland so I am wanting to meet the Pope.  "I am wanting to have a proper engagement with him. I'm simply saying that the context of being presented to his holiness is not enough for us to help resolve some of the issues," he added.

Dr Hamilton said he would welcome the opportunity to have a "face to face" meeting with the Pope.  "I would welcome the opportunity to have a proper meeting with the Pope to sit down with him, man to man and discuss a number of troubling issues," he said.  "Some of those would be biblical and theological because we regard the Roman Catholic church as a church in error, others would be pastoral while others would be practical," he said.

Sources include
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11340154
http://www.presbyterianireland.org/assembly/moderator.html

Post #69

Excerpt from the BBC: Papal visit: Pope Benedict in London

The Pope has warned that religion - and Christianity in particular - is "being marginalised" around the world.

His comments came in his keynote speech to UK MPs, senior members of British society, and religious leaders at Westminster Hall in central London.  Pope Benedict XVI warned that there were some people who wanted to see "the voice of religion be silenced".  He called on those in attendance to seek ways to promote faith "at every level of national life".

BBC correspondent Peter Hunt described the speech as "a rallying call, and a plea - for religion not to be squeezed out by secular society".

In his speech, the Pope said: "I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance.  "There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere.  "There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none."

The Pope then visited Westminster Abbey for a celebration of evening prayer.

Earlier, he met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at Lambeth Palace.  It comes at a time when Anglican moves towards appointing women bishops have unsettled relations with Rome.  But the Pope said he wanted to focus on the "deep friendship" between the two churches rather than their differences.

The Lambeth Palace meeting marked the first time a Pope has met the Archbishop at his official residence.  It was viewed as an important event more than 40 years after official talks began about possible reunification of the two churches.  Divisions remain over Roman Catholic opposition to the ordination of women priests. Meanwhile the Church of England's General Synod left the way open for appointing women bishops at its meeting in July.  The Vatican angered many supporters of women's ordination by describing it as a "grave crime" to be dealt with in the same process as sex abuse, though it denied it was equating the two.

Sources include
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11347073
http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambeth_Palace

Post #68

In this blogger’s humble opinion, one of the best commentators about things Catholic is Eugene Cullen Kennedy, the emeritus professor of psychology at Loyola University, Chicago. He writes regularly in the National Catholic Reporter in the USA and captures the essence of the situation regarding the sex abuse scandals in this recent article entitled “Now we know what the bishops 'don't get'.” The following is an excerpt from Kennedy’s article. Please pay special note to his comments at the end about the pastoral inexperience of so many current bishops.

Excerpt from National Catholic Reporter: “Now we know what the bishops 'don't get'.”

That sex abuse was a crime was certainly not a revelation to those who had suffered the assaults but were told to keep quiet about them or, in the fashion of making the raped person into the provocateur, were rebuked for having made a story up about Father -- whom everybody knows is a good guy and you just misunderstood him when he played those games with you on those camping trips. Why do you want to make trouble for him?

Maybe we can concede a few things to the bishops who also called on a group of distinguished lay Catholics to look into the problem on their behalf, supplying the old blue ribbon committee ploy used reflexively by politicians to dodge big problems. They delegate threatening issues to a first class panel and then -- as the bishops did with their lay committee -- ignore their findings and criticize their work and motivation.

And maybe we can concede that they reacted just like other social groupings primarily interested in preserving themselves and their assets. Like Hollywood producers protecting moneymaking stars by sending them for rehab just to get a letter from the doctor allowing them to go back to work, the bishops sent their sex abusing priests for rehab and got them back to work. Yes, that was the prevailing response for all professional groups in the years before America began to understand the plight of the largely forgotten victims.

Even allowing for their high roller customs, the bishops did not get that they were not Hollywood producers, bankers, or the industrialists who solved their problem at the Bhopal, India chemical explosion but walked away from the people whose lives were permanently altered by the disaster. The bishops were and are religious leaders who have no excuse for allowing lawyers and insurers to persuade them to solve the sex abuse scandal by fighting anybody seeking information and any victim seeking legal recompense.

Now, thanks to Belgium’s once highly regarded Cardinal Godfried Danneels, we understand what bishops really don’t get. The cardinal now says that he was naïve in urging the nephew of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe to remain silent about the fact that the bishop had sexually abused him from the time he was five until he was 18.

"The bishop," Danneels urged -- like a pastor who knows best rather than a prelate doing his worst -- in audio recordings from April leaked to the Belgian media this weekend, "will resign next year, so actually it would be better for you to wait. ... I don’t think you’d do yourself or him a favor by shouting this from the rooftops…to drag his name through the mud."

The cardinal cannot seem to hear the victim’s anguished response.

"He has dragged my whole life through the mud," the nephew said. "Why do you feel so sorry for him and not for me?"

What the bishops don’t get is the human suffering that sex abusers inflict on their victims. They have missed -- with a few exceptions such as New York’s Timothy Dolan when he was archbishop of Milwaukee -- the pastoral challenge to respond to the wounds beyond words. And to describe what these clerical Doctor Jekylls -- those ‘good guys everybody likes’ -- inflicted on the innocent when, devoured by the half-developed Mr. Hydes within them, they devoured the innocents in their care.

Perhaps we are finally paying the price for the years of selecting candidates for the episcopacy who had no pastoral experience -- and spent most of their lives inside diocesan offices trying not to blot their copy paper so as not to stunt their careers. Maybe they don’t get it because they haven’t sat at the bedsides of enough dying people, haven’t been the ones to break the news that a child has been killed, haven’t embraced enough of the broken-hearted, and haven’t suffered with their people through any of the other commonplace sorrows of life.

Source:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/bulletins-human-side/now-we-know-what-bishops-dont-get
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Kennedy

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/