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Saint Martin of Tours and the Search for Holiness

Saint Martin and the Search for Holiness | Régine Pernoud | Prologue to Martin of Tours

November 11 is now a red-letter day on the French civil calendar: in 1918 that date marked the end of the slaughter that was the First World War. But even before France was called France, that date, the eleventh of November, had been a date on the calendar used throughout Christendom because it commemorated the burial at Tours of the amazing individual whom we call Saint Martin.

He was an amazing and even a paradoxical man: he never accomplished what he had hoped to do, and yet his accomplishments surpassed all possible expectations. To begin with, this man, who had always tried to go unnoticed, enjoyed extraordinary popularity. He wanted to be a hermit, to flee the world and devote himself to ascetical practices; instead he was constantly surrounded by people, during his lifetime and after his death: the pilgrimage shrine of Saint Martin in Tours was once the most important after the three great pilgrimage sites of Christianity, Jerusalem, Rome, and, later on, Saint James of Compostela. He is remembered as a soldier, and indeed he was one, albeit entirely against his will. He had refused to be ordained a priest, considering himself unworthy, and yet he became a bishop. He had fled the world and sought a life of seclusion, but instead his biography was written while he was still living!

Thanks to those who discerned the extraordinary qualities in this rather reticent, unassuming man who resolutely practiced poverty, we know the story of his life. It spans the fourth century, in which the Church became free at last to live above ground, only to be torn by dissension so widespread that it almost brought her to ruin.

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Well, duh!

Someone over at the Los Angeles Times isn't thinking clearly:

The more stinging rebuff to Roman Catholic advocates of married priests is this rather mean-spirited provision of a companion document: "Those who have been previously ordained in the Catholic Church and subsequently have become Anglicans, may not exercise sacred ministry in the Ordinariate." In other words, if you left the Catholic Church and now want to return alongside other Anglican priests, you are treated worse than an Anglican priest who never belonged to the Catholic Church in the first place.

Let's compare Mr. Snivels to Mr. Jones shall we?

Mr. Snivels...

1. Was a Catholic.
2. Apparently discerned his vocation to the priesthood.
3. Went through a Catholic seminary.
4. Was ordained a Catholic priest.
5. Left the Catholic priesthood.
6. Left the Catholic Church.
7. Became an Anglican.
8. Became an Anglican priest.
9. Now wants to leave Anglicanism and re-enter the Catholic Church and...
10. ... be (re-)ordained a Catholic priest.

Mr. Jones...

1. Was an Angelican who...
2. ... became an Angelican priest and now...
3. ... wants to become Catholic.
4. He can, because of the personal ordinariate, be considered for ordination as a Catholic priest.

Are the drastic differences between the two not abundantly obvious? Maybe this clue will help.

On the plus side, it is so heartening to see the L.A. Times join the WaPo in going to the rack for marriage between a man and woman—again, albeit between an already ordained Catholic priest and a woman.

The opening pages of "Catherine of Siena," by Sigrid Undset

The opening pages of Catherine of Siena | by Sigrid Undset, the Nobel Prize winning author of Kristin Lavransdatter | Ignatius Insight

In the city-states of Tuscany the citizens—Popolani—businessmen, master craftsmen and the professional class had already in the Middle Ages demanded and won the right to take part in the government of the republic side by side with the nobles—the Gentiluomini. In Siena they had obtained a third of the seats in the High Council as early as the twelfth century. In spite of the fact that the different parties and rival groups within the parties were in constant and often violent disagreement, and in spite of the frequent wars with Florence, Siena's neighbour and most powerful competitor, prosperity reigned within the city walls. The Sienese were rich and proud of their city, so they filled it with beautiful churches and public buildings. Masons, sculptors, painters and smiths who made the exquisite lattices and lamps, were seldom out of work. Life was like a brightly coloured tissue, where violence and vanity, greed and uninhibited desire for sensual pleasure, the longing for power, and ambition, were woven together in a multitude of patterns. But through the tissue ran silver threads of Christian charity, deep and genuine piety in the monasteries and among the good priests, among the brethren and sisters who had dedicated themselves to a life of helping their neighbours. The well-to-do and the common people had to the best of their ability provided for the sick, the poor and the lonely with unstinted generosity. In every class of the community there were good people who lived a quiet, modest and beautiful family life of purity and faith.

The family of Jacopo Benincasa was one of these. By trade he was a wool-dyer, and he worked with his elder sons and apprentices while his wife, Lapa di Puccio di Piagente, firmly and surely ruled the large household, although her life was an almost unbroken cycle of pregnancy and childbirth—and almost half her children died while they were still quite small. It is uncertain how many of them grew up, but the names of thirteen children who lived are to be found on an old family tree of the Benincasas. Considering how terribly high the rate of infant mortality was at that time, Jacopo and Lapa were lucky in being able to bring up more than half the children they had brought into the world.

Jacopo Benincasa was a man of solid means when in 1346 he was able to rent a house in the Via dei Tintori, close to the Fonte Branda, one of the beautiful covered fountains which assured the town of a plentiful supply of fresh water. The old home of the Benincasas, which is still much as it was at that time, is, according to our ideas, a small house for such a big family. But in the Middle Ages people were not fussy about the question of housing, least of all the citizens of the fortified towns where people huddled together as best they could within the protection of the walls. Building space was expensive, and the city must have its open markets, churches and public buildings, which at any rate theoretically belonged to the entire population. The houses were crowded together in narrow, crooked streets. According to the ideas of that time the new home of the Benincasas was large and impressive.

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20% Off New Products from Ignatius Press!

Offer ends Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 12:00 midnight EST.
These prices are available online only through Ignatius.com

Ignatius Press has plenty of new releases and just in time for Christmas! What better way to get ahead on your Christmas shopping with some great gift ideas all at 20% off. From critically acclaimed biographer Sigrid Undset's Catherine of Siena to the beautiful new Christmas album by Andrea Bocelli, we have something for everyone.

Don't forget to check out our e-books and audio books for more great gift ideas!

Catherine of Siena
Sigrid Undset

Sigrid Undset’s Catherine of Siena is critically acclaimed as one of the best biographies of this well known, and amazing fourteenth-century saint.

Known for her historical fiction, which won her the Nobel Prize for literature in 1928, Undset based this factual work on primary sources, her own experiences living in Italy, and her profound understanding of the human heart.
 

Marriage
The Rock on Which Which The Family is Built
William May

In this revised and expanded edition of Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family is Built, internationally-renowned theologian William E. May makes the case for marriage’s foundational role for family, with marriage defined as the union of one man and one woman. Drawing on Pope John Paul II’s “theology of the body”, he explains the person-affirming, love-enabling, life-giving, and sanctifying nature of marriage. He shows how marriage is necessarily a complementary union of man and woman and how this rules out the idea of “same-sex” marriage.
 

A Song for Nagasaki
The Story of Takashi Nagai – Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb
Fr. Paul Glynn, S.M.

A Song for Nagasaki tells the moving story of this extraordinary man, beginning with his boyhood and the heroic tales and stoic virtues of his family’s Shinto religion. It reveals the inspiring story of Nagai’s remarkable spiritual journey from Shintoism to atheism to Catholicism. Mixed with interesting details about Japanese history and culture, the biography traces Nagai’s spiritual quest as he studied medicine at Nagasaki University, served as a medic with the Japanese army during its occupation of Manchuria, and returned to Nagasaki to dedicate himself to the science of radiology. The historic Catholic district of the city, where Nagai became a Catholic and began a family, was ground zero for the atomic bomb.
 

Who Needs God?
Christoph Cardinal Schoenborn and Barbara Stockl

Who needs God? What does God provide? Can we truly live without faith or the Church? Why does the Church so often seem not to understand us and our needs? These and many other questions posed to Christoph Cardinal Schönborn in this book are the questions asked today by many people who are searching for God and want to live the experience of faith.

The Scarlet and the Black
The True Story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, Hero of the Vatican Underground
J. P. Gallagher

It has all the hallmarks of a best-selling fictional thriller: espionage, conspiracy, a struggle against evil powers, undercover work by dark of night... but it's all true.

The Scarlet and the Black tells the astonishing and heroic true story of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, the man dubbed "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican" during World War II.
 

Leisure
The Basis of Culture
Josef Pieper

One of the most important philosophy titles published in the twentieth century, Josef Pieper’s Leisure, the Basis of Culture is more significant, even more crucial, today than it was when it first appeared more than fifty years ago.

This edition also includes his work The Philosophical Act.

DVDs

St. Teresa of the Andes

Starring actress Pauline Urrutia in an acclaimed performance as St. Teresa, and with excellent acting performances all around, this film shows Teresa as a normal young woman who was a well-rounded person with many interests, including being an excellent athlete, who had a winning personality and a profound love for God, her family and friends. She had a true contemplative spirit to match her outgoing personality, and when she entered Carmel she already had a deep spirituality and a strong prayer life.

Includes special documentary film on life & message of St. Teresa with Fr. Christopher La Rocca, OCD. Also includes a 16 page Collector’s Booklet.
 

Joseph of Nazareth
The Man Closest to Christ

Starring Tobias Moretti in a manly, appealing performance, we are shown the human, noble and the deeply spiritual aspects of Joseph the carpenter, son of David, servant of God and loving husband of Mary. He is presented as a man of faith who has to grapple greatly with the profound mysteries of the divine conception, virgin birth and the Incarnation of the Son of God, and the incredible challenges of protecting and raising Jesus amidst the threats on his life from the moment of His birth and beyond.

MUSIC

My Christmas
Andrea Bocelli

A stunningly beautiful new recording by the beloved tenor, his first Christmas album ever recorded with all songs sung in English. Co-produced by legendary music producer David Foster, this will be the major new Christmas album of the season for Christmas 2009. He sings many classical Christmas favorites on this album, that also includes duets with famous female singers Natalie Cole, Katherine Jenkins, Mary Blige, and also a fun duet recording of Jingle Bells with The Muppets. The album has a generous list of 14 Christmas songs, including Silent Night, What Child is This and many more.

Priestly celibacy: Why or why not?

There has been some interesting conversation in response to a post below about celibate priests, married priests, and the different disciplines in the East and West. I'm highlighting comments by LJ and an Eastern Catholic priest, Fr. Richard (full disclosure: he is my pastor and a good friend) because I think they help clarify some points that aren't always considered often or presented well. Here is a comment from LJ:

Fr. Richard,

I think that priestly celibacy in the West, at its root is more than cultural. Because it is a discipline and not a doctrine doesn't mean it doesn't have some serious theological background. I think that to follow St. Paul's teaching on this is to believe the state of celibacy to be superior for the purpose of the ministry in the Church.

In fact, St. Paul himself makes the marriage analogy that Subvet is pointing out, that a married man is thinking about how to please his wife and his attention is divided. Christ himself speaks of those who have the special grace of being "eunuchs" for the Kingdom.

There has been a long rich history of celibacy in the Church, as others have pointed out here, not just for priests but for Religious who are "consecrated" as celibates. It is also tradition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was one such consecrated virgin, which gives context to her question to Gabriel, "how can this be?" when told she would bear a child. So it was not unheard of in Jewish religious practice prior to the coming of Christ. I think that is why St. Paul could say that it is better not to marry if possible and I think that is the source of the development of the Roman Catholic practice.

There are misconceptions about the East as well. To say there are married priests is accurate but not the entire story. A married man can be ordained, but a priest cannot marry. Nor can a married priest become a Bishop. That is why there is a great flurry of weddings near the end of seminary, before ordination, because once ordained, that man's marital status is permanent.

So conceivably, the same scenario could take place in the East, whereby a celibate priest could decide he wants to marry and walks away from his commitment to Holy Mother Church. And I think that Subvet's case for infidelity to his vows, analogous to marital infidelity would hold true in such a case as well.

And Fr. Richard's response:

Fr. Robert Barron reviews "Capitalism: A Love Story"

Fr. Robert Barron of Word on Fire reviews Michael Moore's most recent movie and critiques it in light of authentic Catholic social teaching:



• Posts relating to Catholic social doctrine on Insight Scoop
• What Is Catholic Social Teaching? A Review Essay on An Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching | Mark Brumley

St. Paul's Gospel

St. Paul's Gospel | Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. | Homiletic & Pastoral Review | November 2009

On June 29 we concluded the year in honor of St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles and author of half of the books in the New Testament. Earlier this year, having noticed that Pope Benedict XVI was preaching regularly on St. Paul, I decided to do that same thing. So for seventeen weeks I preached on the letters of St. Paul.

I spent many hours preparing each sermon, in imitation of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, who said that he spent one hour of preparation for every minute of preaching. That study was most rewarding and gave me a few valuable insights into the thinking and theology of St. Paul.

It is clear that St. Paul is the most important theologian in the history of the Church, since he first gave expression to many truths that are the basis of the Creed and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The key to the theology of St. Paul is his personal encounter with the glorified Christ on his way to Damascus. That revelation, in which he was blinded for three days, changed Paul into a new man. The persecutor of Christ was changed into a zealous apostle to proclaim that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Christ, that he is Lord (Kyrios), and the Son of God. Because he saw the glorified Christ and listened to him he was transformed from a Jewish rabbi to a Christian rabbi. Paul saw Christ, he heard him, he was called by him and he was sent by him to convert the world. In carrying out his calling he was destined to suffer much for the sake of Christ—rejection, hatred, scourging, shipwreck, imprisonment and finally beheading by the Romans.

Christ is the key to St. Paul. His theology is Christocentric. The Gospel according to St. Paul is that the Son of God became man in Jesus Christ in order to reconcile all mankind to God the Father by his life, passion, death and resurrection. For Paul, Christ is the glorified Christ, now reigning gloriously in heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father.

Read the entire editorial...

Hollywood vs. Heroes

Salvo magazine has a very insightful interview with film critic Barbara Nicolosi (cleverly titled "Character Assassination") about "why the franchise hero has all but disappeared from Hollywood":

What’s the difference between a hero and a protagonist?

A good protagonist is simply one who is pushing the story events to happen; he doesn’t have to be a hero. Actually, no one in the movie business these days wants to say that his film has a hero. When you’re in pitch meetings, it’s considered quaint—and not in a good way—to talk about heroes. What you connote with the term “hero” is that some people are better than other people, and that’s not fair. Rather, it’s mean and judgmental. How dare you imply that? How dare you say that Patton was better than Goering? He wasn’t better. The two men just found themselves in different situations.

Film execs will talk about the subject of the movie. They’ll talk about the one driving the action. They’ll talk about the object of the action. But they’ll never mention the word “hero.” In one sense, this is good because it’s an acknowledgment that there’s nothing heroic happening in their movies. One of the reasons why the audience has turned away from the cinema is that what’s being sold as heroic isn’t at all heroic most of the time.

What do you mean?

Traditionally, the choices that define the hero have high stakes and provoke a change in the external world. Luke Skywalker gets his act together, turns off his guiding computer, and trusts the Force. Personally, he makes a huge leap from cynicism and doubt to faith. He becomes a trusting person, destroying the Death Star in the process and setting the Empire back hugely. There is a change in the external world because the character conquers an inner darkness—an inner demon.

Today, there is a tremendous cynicism about the capacity of the individual to impact the broader world, and the truth is that you probably can’t make that big of a difference. But storytelling has always been the terrain where someone could. We need someone who can level a mountain so that we can step over an anthill; storytelling should be hyperbolic for that reason. Now, however, our heroes have a lack of pastoral concern for the broader world. Why should I care about making things better? It all stinks anyway. This is the movie Garden State; everyone is just surviving the way he needs to, whether that’s through drugs or relationships or something else. Survival is the only goal. Indeed, the new goal of the hero is to develop the coping skills that will allow him to survive in whatever narcissistic way works. There’s just nothing there for the audience to care about. A narcissist just trying to cope is not compelling.

Read the entire interview. It calls to mind one of Walker Percy's brilliant essays, "How to be an American Novelist in Spite of Being Southern and Catholic" (from Signposts In a Strange Land [Noonday, 1991]), in which he observed the following:

The Christian ethos sustains the narrative enterprise in ways so familiar to us that they can be overlooked. It underwrites those very properties of a novel without which there is no novel: I am speaking of the mystery of human life, its sense of predicament, of something having gone wrong, of life as a wayfaring and a pilgrimage, of the density and linearity of time and the sacramental reality of things. The intervention of God in history through the Incarnation bestows a weight and value to the individual human narrative which is like money in the bank to the novelist. Original Sin is out of fashion, both with Christians and with Jews, let alone unbelievers. But any novelist who does not believe that his character finds himself in a predicament not entirely of his own making or of society's making is in trouble as a novelist. ... Another way of saying this is that I don't recall reading a good novel which was informed by a Marxist belief in an inexorable dialectic of history—and I've read plenty of bad ones—or a good novel informed by a preoccupation with the mechanisms of one's own psyche, or a good novel which was informed by a belief in the illusoriness of this here-and-now life in this here-and-now world. If the world is not real, why bother to write a novel about it or read a novel about it? ... Yet we are all familiar with a great literature going back at least as far as Dante informed by the tragedy and comedy of real people each embarked on a real pilgrimage for good and ill.

More on Percy, one of my all-time favorite authors and thinkers.

Four more new books from Ignatius Press

Now available!

From Aristotle To Darwin And Back Again: A Journey in Final Causality, Species and Evolution
by Étienne Gilson | Foreword by Christoph Cardinal Schönborn

Darwin’s theory of evolution remains controversial, even though most scientists, philosophers, and even theologians accept it, in some form, as an explanation for the variety of organisms. The controversy erupts when the theory is used to try to explain everything, including every aspect of human life, and to deny the role of a Creator or a purpose to life.

The overreaching of many scientists into matters beyond the self-imposed limits of scientific method is perhaps explained in part by the loss of two important ideas in modern thinking—final causality or purpose, and formal causality. Scientists understandably bracket the idea out of their scientific thinking because they seek explanations on the level of material and efficient causes only. Yet many of them wrongly conclude from their selective study of the world that final and formal causes do not exist at all and that they have no place in the rational study of life. Likewise, many erroneously assume that philosophy cannot draw upon scientific findings, in light of final and formal causality, to better understand the world and man.

The great philosopher and historian of philosophy, Étienne Gilson, sets out to show that final causality or purposiveness and formal causality are principles for those who think hard and carefully about the world, including the world of biology. Gilson insists that a completely rational understanding of organisms and biological systems requires the philosophical notion of teleology, the idea that certain kinds of things exist and have ends or purposes the fulfillment of which are linked to their natures—in other words, formal and final causes. His approach relies on philosophical reflection on the facts of science, not upon theology or an appeal to religious authorities such as the Church or the Bible.

A Song For Nagasaki: The Story of Takashi Nagai – Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb
by Fr. Paul Glynn, S.M.

On August 9, 1945, an American B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people in the blink of an eye, while fatally injuring and poisoning thousands more. Among the survivors was Takashi Nagai, a pioneer in radiology research and a convert to the Catholic Faith. Living in the rubble of the ruined city and suffering from leukemia caused by over-exposure to radiation, Nagai lived out the remainder of his remarkable life by bringing physical and spiritual healing to his war-weary people.

A Song for Nagasaki tells the moving story of this extraordinary man, beginning with his boyhood and the heroic tales and stoic virtues of his family’s Shinto religion. It reveals the inspiring story of Nagai’s remarkable spiritual journey from Shintoism to atheism to Catholicism. Mixed with interesting details about Japanese history and culture, the biography traces Nagai’s spiritual quest as he studied medicine at Nagasaki University, served as a medic with the Japanese army during its occupation of Manchuria, and returned to Nagasaki to dedicate himself to the science of radiology. The historic Catholic district of the city, where Nagai became a Catholic and began a family, was ground zero for the atomic bomb.

After the bomb disaster that killed thousands, including Nagai’s beloved wife, Nagai, then Dean of Radiology at Nagasaki University, threw himself into service to the countless victims of the bomb explosion, even though it meant deadly exposure to the radiation which eventually would cause his own death. While dying, he also wrote powerful books that became best-sellers in Japan. These included The Bells of Nagasaki, which resonated deeply with the Japanese people in their great suffering as it explores the Christian message of love and forgiveness. Nagai became a highly revered man and is considered a saint by many Japanese people.

The Scarlet And The Black: The True Story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, Hero of the Vatican Underground
by J. P. Gallagher

It has all the hallmarks of a best-selling fictional thriller: espionage, conspiracy, a struggle against evil powers, undercover work by dark of night... but it's all true. The Scarlet and the Black tells the astonishing and heroic true story of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, the man dubbed "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican" during World War II.

Born in Killarney, Ireland, Hugh O’Flaherty was an avid athlete—becoming a formidable boxer, handball player, hurler, and golfer. From an early age, however, he knew his calling was to the priesthood. After his ordination, he served first as an Apostolic Delegate in Egypt, Haiti, Santo Domingo, and Czechoslovakia, then in Rome at the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). It was here in Rome that his greatest work began. After the surrender of Italy in 1943, Rome came under the command of Nazi Colonel Herbert Kappler of the dreaded SS, who began the deportation of Italian Jews to Auschwitz. Kappler was a notorious hater of the Jews, persecuting them at every turn. As a top man in the Vatican Holy Office, Msgr. O’Flaherty sprang into action, organizing a sophisticated team that included men and women of many nationalities, religions, and political views. There was one goal—to save Jews and POWs from the Nazi machine. Despite Kappler’s numerous attempts to assassinate him, O’Flaherty persisted, and his efforts saved thousands of Jews and POWs.

Using private homes and apartments, churches and monasteries, the effort was all orchestrated by Msgr. O’Flaherty. Each day his familiar figure would stand on the steps of St. Peter’s - neutral ground that even the Nazis wouldn’t violate - to welcome any fugitives who might be sent his way. All told, of 9,700 Roman Jews, most were saved, with 1,007 shipped to Auschwitz. The rest were hidden, 5,000 of them by the official Church - 3,000 at the Pope’s Castel Gandolfo, 200 or 400 (estimates vary) as "members" of the Palatine Guard, and some 1,500 in monasteries, convents and colleges. The remaining 3,700 were hidden in private homes, including Msgr. O'Flaherty's network of apartments. After the war, O’Flaherty was honored by various Allied countries with awards and decorations for his heroic acts to save Jews and POWs.

Catherine Of Siena
by Sigrid Undset

Sigrid Undset’s Catherine of Siena is critically acclaimed as one of the best biographies of this well known, and amazing fourteenth-century saint. Known for her historical fiction, which won her the Nobel Prize for literature in 1928, Undset based this factual work on primary sources, her own experiences living in Italy, and her profound understanding of the human heart.

One of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century, Undset was no stranger to hagiography. Her meticulous research of medieval times, which bore such fruit in her multi-volume masterpieces Kristin Lavransdatter and The Master of Hestviken, acquainted her with some of the holy men and women produced by the Age of Faith. Their exemplary lives left a deep impression upon the author, an impression Undset credited as one of her reasons for entering the Church in 1924.

Catherine of Siena was a particular favorite of Undset, who also was a Third Order Dominican. An extraordinarily active, intelligent, and courageous woman, Catherine at an early age devoted herself to the love of God. The intensity of her prayer, sacrifice, and service to the poor won her a reputation for holiness and wisdom, and she was called upon to make peace between warring nobles. Believing that peace in Italy could be achieved only if the Pope, then living in France, returned to Rome, Catherine boldly traveled to Avignon to meet with Pope Gregory XI.

With sensitivity to the zealous love of God and man that permeated the life of Saint Catherine, Undset presents a most moving and memorable portrait of one of the greatest women of all time.

"The fall of the Berlin Wall was nothing more than a symbol of the collapse of a spiritual wall..."

On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, A little bit of history from the document, "A 25-Year Pontificate At the Service of Peace", written by then-Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, and released in October 2003:

2. In a Bipolar World

At the beginning of his Pontificate, John Paul II found the world still divided between different spheres of influence, as had already been decided at Yalta on the banks of the Black Sea, in February of 1945, by the work of the victorious Powers of the Second World War. As is well known, very soon after that tragic conflict, the two great victors - the United States and the Soviet Union - began to mutually accuse each other of not respecting the agreements of Yalta. The U.S.S.R. and its allies barricaded themselves behind what Churchill described as the "Iron Curtain".

Then, in 1948, came "the Strike of Prague" and the Berlin Wall. A new tension was beginning, which the well-known American journalist Walter Lippman began to designate with the term "Cold War". It was a "Cold War" that was to last until 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the return to new democratic governments in Central and Eastern European countries.

The first 11 years of the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II unfolded in this way in a bipolar world, still tested by deep-seated rivalries. It is true that already in 1978 the terrifying sight of the atomic bomb had passed, but there still remained "the equilibrium of terror". Several local conflicts were nothing but a war by means of representatives from the two empires. In that situation, the work of the Pope showed itself to be most necessary for calling those in charge of international life back to the urgent need of respect for human rights and of the necessity of justice in order to obtain an age of peace.

3. Fall of Communist Regimes

This was an insistent and courageous work of delving into the lives of people and into the consciences of men and women and of preparing the same fall of Communism with the advent of a new age of liberty and interior peace for many Nations which, until then, were laid prostrate under the yoke of implacable dictatorships.

The fall of the Berlin Wall was nothing more than a symbol of the collapse of a spiritual wall, which was much larger than that material one. The material wall had divided the same German capital into two with a barrier of 154 kilometres, but the spiritual wall was much more vast, which was knocked down also thanks to the constant work of John Paul II, who never ceased to denounce the absurdity of that system and to champion the people's rights to liberty, and, consequently, to social peace.

By now many historians have recognized the work of Pope John Paul II in favour of peace in Central and Eastern Europe; and such a work remains one of the greatest merits of the present Pontificate.

Read the entire document.

The Apostolic Constitution "Anglicanorum Coetibus" and...

... Complimentary Norms for the document were released this morning. Here is the introduction to the Apostolic Constitution:

In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately. The Apostolic See has responded favorably to such petitions. Indeed, the successor of Peter, mandated by the Lord Jesus to guarantee the unity of the episcopate and to preside over and safeguard the universal communion of all the Churches,[1] could not fail to make available the means necessary to bring this holy desire to realization.

The Church, a people gathered into the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,[2] was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, as “a sacrament – a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all people.”[3] Every division among the baptized in Jesus Christ wounds that which the Church is and that for which the Church exists; in fact, “such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages that most holy cause, the preaching the Gospel to every creature.”[4] Precisely for this reason, before shedding his blood for the salvation of the world, the Lord Jesus prayed to the Father for the unity of his disciples.[5]

It is the Holy Spirit, the principle of unity, which establishes the Church as a communion.[6] He is the principle of the unity of the faithful in the teaching of the Apostles, in the breaking of the bread and in prayer.[7] The Church, however, analogous to the mystery of the Incarnate Word, is not only an invisible spiritual communion, but is also visible;[8] in fact, “the society structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, the visible society and the spiritual community, the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches, are not to be thought of as two realities. On the contrary, they form one complex reality formed from a two-fold element, human and divine.”[9] The communion of the baptized in the teaching of the Apostles and in the breaking of the eucharistic bread is visibly manifested in the bonds of the profession of the faith in its entirety, of the celebration of all of the sacraments instituted by Christ, and of the governance of the College of Bishops united with its head, the Roman Pontiff.[10] 

This single Church of Christ, which we profess in the Creed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic “subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside her visible confines. Since these are gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling towards Catholic unity.”[11]

In the light of these ecclesiological principles, this Apostolic Constitution provides the general normative structure for regulating the institution and life of Personal Ordinariates for those Anglican faithful who desire to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in a corporate manner. This Constitution is completed by Complementary Norms issued by the Apostolic See.

Read the entire document on the Vatican website. And here are the Complimentary Norms, which includes this:

The Clergy

Article 6

§1. In order to admit candidates to Holy Orders the Ordinary must obtain the consent of the Governing Council. In consideration of Anglican ecclesial tradition and practice, the Ordinary may present to the Holy Father a request for the admission of married men to the presbyterate in the Ordinariate, after a process of discernment based on objective criteria and the needs of the Ordinariate. These objective criteria are determined by the Ordinary in consultation with the local Episcopal Conference and must be approved by the Holy See.

§2. Those who have been previously ordained in the Catholic Church and subsequently have become Anglicans, may not exercise sacred ministry in the Ordinariate. Anglican clergy who are in irregular marriage situations may not be accepted for Holy Orders in the Ordinariate.

§3. Presbyters incardinated in the Ordinariate receive the necessary faculties from the Ordinary.

More to follow...

Mainstream media defends marriage between man and woman!

But only as long as the groom is already a Catholic priest:

One of the hardest things Ed Donaghy has ever done was leave his ministry as a Catholic priest. For months, he agonized over his conflicting desires to have a family and serve as a priest in the Sacramento Diocese.

In the end, Donaghy felt he had no choice. The priest, who served in Woodland, Calif., told his bishop that he had to leave.

That was four decades ago.

"It would have been wonderful to be married and be a priest," said Donaghy, 73, now retired as an insurance agent. "I loved the work and would have continued."

Donaghy is one of more than 75 men in the Sacramento area who have left active ministry in the priesthood to marry. Many of them, Donaghy said, "would have returned in a minute if the rules changed." That is not likely to happen soon.

One second while I cry my heart out, blow my nose, and play a few licks on my violin. Okay, it only took .000000002 of a second. Or less. Some obvious question WaPo didn't bother to ask:

1. Did Mr. Donaghy enter the priesthood with the understanding that once he was ordained, he couldn't marry? Yes or no? Well?
2. Why did Mr. Donaghy "feel" as though he had "no choice"? And what do feelings have to do with it?
3. Why does Mr. Donaghy think that he and other priests who left the priesthood to be married deserve some sort of retroactive rule change?
4. If he "loved the work," why did he abandon that "love"? Is "love" really love when you leave it for another love?

Long-time readers know that I've going over the issue of vows a number of times (see links below). What strikes me, in almost all of these situations, is the apparent immaturity and narcissism of these men. It's all about them, their needs, their desires, their wants, their situations, etc. What about the Church? Their vows? Their bishop? Oh, and their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? What about Him?

• "Make your vows to the LORD your God, and perform them" (May 7, 2009)
• How about vows against stupidity? (May 11, 2009)
• The priesthood is not "an occupational choice or career path..." (May 15, 2009)
• "Padre Oprah" (aka, Fr. Cutie) is leaving the Catholic Church... (May 28, 2009)

In defense of "Joseph of Nazareth"

The movie Joseph of Nazareth: The Story of the Man Closest to Christ is now available from Ignatius Press, who is distributing the movie in North America. I designed the collector's booklet and also wrote an essay, "Joseph in the Gospels," for the booklet, which also includes an essay by Sandra Miesel, "St. Joseph's Long March to Fame," and a collection of quotes of popes about St. Joseph, "Holy Fathers on the Foster Father of Christ."

An anonymous critic, "Customer," recently posted a very unfair and misleading "review" of the DVD on Amazon.com, titling the review, "Bad Anti-Catholic film!":

This film is actually the same film that is put out by a Protestant company in a series entitled Close to Jesus. I have no IDEA why Ignatius (a "Catholic" company) would want to re-market this film, due to its blasphemous content:

1. in this film, St. Joseph doubts the Blessed Virgin's "virginity"
2. in the above mentioned scene, St Joseph looses control of his temper and violently smashes objects nearby (he also looses control of his temper in a couple of other scenes)
3. the Blessed Virgin is shown to have labor pains
4. the Blessed Virgin rebukes St. Joseph for putting "false hopes" into the child Jesus about ever returning to Nazareth
5. St. Joseph claims to be worried about his foster-son and has his doubts about Him.
6. St. Joseph does not pay attention to the sacrifice in Jerusalem, as he is too busy thinking about the problems with his son.
7. the Blessed Virgin Mary is shown to 'despair' when she and Joseph loose their son when leaving the Temple.

Now, to a Protestant, none of the above will mean much. But to ALL Catholics, this should be considered serious reasons as to why they should not view this film. I am not going to explain why the above should set off warning bells -- but if anyone would like to know the answer then I suggest they talked to a holy and learned priest, and meditate on the issue.

I posted a response/review of my own yesterday. Here it is:

Unintentionally revealing sentence of the day

Courtesy of The New York Times, which is, I gather, slightly left of center when it comes to politics and such:

It was late Friday night and lawmakers were stalling for time. In a committee room, they yammered away, delaying a procedural vote on the historic health care legislation. Down one floor, in her office, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi desperately tried to deal with an issue that has bedeviled Democrats for more than a generation — abortion.

After hours of heated talks, the people she was trying to convince — some of her closest allies — burst angrily out of her office.

Her attempts at winning them over had failed, and Ms. Pelosi, the first woman speaker and an ardent defender of abortion rights, had no choice but to do the unthinkable. To save the health care bill she had to give in to abortion opponents in her party and allow them to propose tight restrictions barring any insurance plan that is purchased with government subsidies from covering abortions. [Emphasis added for sake of my headline]

Yes, "bedeviled." As in "bedevil":

–verb (used with object), -iled, -il⋅ing or (especially British) -illed, -il⋅ling.

1.    to torment or harass maliciously or diabolically, as with doubts, distractions, or worries.
2.    to possess, as with a devil; bewitch.
3.    to cause confusion or doubt in; muddle; confound: an issue bedeviled by prejudices.

Insert dry, knowing remark about selling souls and making deals with the devil here...

Generous, yet misunderstood and misrepresented...

... the Holy Father is defended and his creation of the personal ordinariate explained by Russell Shaw:

For me at least, the most dismaying thing about criticism of Pope Benedict’s plan for easing the way for Anglicans who seek to enter the Roman Catholic Church is the critics’ apparent indifference to the spiritual welfare of these Anglicans. As a consequence, a compassionate gesture by Rome is smeared as something sinister.

Clueless as usual where Catholicism is concerned, the secular media have tended to treat Benedict XVI’s action in political terms, as a power grab. This interpretation ignores the fact that the Anglican traditionalists most likely to take advantage of the new provision for “personal ordinariates” have been pleading for something like this for years. The Pope has simply responded to those pleas. ...

As to Anglican “division”: the departure of Anglicans who’ve anguished for a long time over the direction of their fractured communion is much more likely to restore a semblance of unity to that deeply troubled body than it is to create more division. ...

Several years ago an American woman—a contented member of the Episcopal Church—told me an anecdote concerning an Episcopal clergyman which she insisted was true. It seems that this gentleman, in a fit of whimsy, was seen one day to give communion to a dog. The lady seemed to think that was just fine. I was appalled—at what had happened, at her approval of it, and at what it disclosed concerning the state of Episcopalian belief in the Eucharist.

A man who’d been an Episcopalian for years but finally came over to Rome once shared a useful insight with me. “The trouble with those people,” he said of his former co-religionists, “is that they’re sentimental.”

Read the entire Catholic Exchange essay. G. K. Chesterton weighs in on the last point:

The Sentimentalist, roughly speaking, is the man who wants to eat his cake and have it. He has no sense of honour about ideas; he will not see that one must pay for an idea as for anything else. He will not see that any worthy idea, like any honest woman, can only be won on its own terms, and with its logical chain of loyalty. One idea attracts him; another idea really inspires him; a third idea flatters him; a fourth idea pays him. He will have them all at once in one wild intellectual harem, no matter how much they quarrel and contradict each other. ... This is the essence of the Sentimentalist: that he seeks to enjoy every idea without its sequence, and every pleasure without its consequence.

More. Such a great phrase: "one wild intellectual harem." Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that a "bestselling author and Anglican priest has launched an outspoken attack on the Church of England and revealed that he is converting to Catholicism."

GP Taylor, whose children's book Shadowmancer became an international bestseller and is being turned into a film, accused the church of sinking "into a liberal pit that was no earthly use and offered no hope, no love and no grace".

Writing in the Yorkshire Post, Taylor said the decision had been "heart-breaking". He concluded: "Like so many other Anglicans, I am at that place where I feel I must desert a sinking ship."

The former vicar of Cloughton, North Yorkshire, added: "The church I once loved has, on the whole, become the spiritual arm of New Labour. What the rank and file believes is truly not the same as the leadership."

He accused bishops of spending "more time preaching about climate change" than teaching the Gospel and also hit out at Dr Rowan Williams for how he had dealt with splits within the church: "Stupidly, the archbishop of Canterbury has tried to paper over the cracks and keep the church together. He should have had the courage to allow the church to become disestablished and split. The evangelicals, traditionalists and Anglo-Catholics could go one way and the Liberals the other."

The author, who lives in Whitby, North Yorkshire, said he was drawn to the Catholic church because of its "sense of identity and purpose".

Here's the rest. And, finally, an evangelical Anglican in Australia ponders the lack of identity among Anglicans:

This was confirmed by casual conversations with Moore students. I asked them ‘how do you understand your identity as an Anglican?’ – and was met with baffled looks and shrugs. The denomination is a ‘good boat to fish from’, mostly, but there is (it seems to me) no great passion for Anglicanism itself and no great commitment to study its formularies and its history.

Perhaps it is because the international controversies have become wearisome and even a source of embarrassment. Perhaps it is because the denomination changes at glacial speed – and we in our time are addicted to change, even for its own sake. Perhaps we are also in the grip of the ‘lone ranger’ vision of the brave church planter, unencumbered by denominational vagaries. Perhaps the baby-boomer generation have so scrubbed away any outward signs of Anglican distinctiveness that it is hard to see what it is anymore.

Read it all on the Sydney Anglicans site.

Prophet, Priest, King—and the Fall of the Wall

Dr. Bradley J. Birzer, Associate Professor of History at Hillsdale College and  author of Sanctifying the World: The Augustinian Life and Mind of Christopher Dawson and other works, reflects on the fall of the Berlin Wall:

On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, that great and horrific symbol of the inhumane and brutal ideologies of the modern world, three men deserve special recognition: Alexandr Solzhenitsyn; Pope John Paul II; and President Ronald Reagan.  A Russian Orthodox, a Roman Catholic; and a Protestant respectively, each fought not with weapons and aggressive violence, but rather with the convictions that history, a transcendent morality, and True Love will eventually conquer all evils.  A prophet, a priest, and a king, the three represented the sublime offices of Christ.

A former Communist, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn witnessed first hand the brutality of the Gulag state.  Though faced with severe reprisals from the state, the betrayal of his wife to the Soviet government, eventual exile from his beloved though tortured homeland, he recorded the tyranny perpetuated by the Soviet ideologues in a number of deeply meaningful works, including the one frequently cited above, The Gulag Archipelago.  More than any other work, the Gulag forced western journalists and academics to confront the monstrous realities of the Soviet Union—not just under Stalin’s Cult of Personality dictatorship, but the wretched evil that pervades the entire system.  The system ran on the blood of those who deviated.  From the very beginning of the Soviet takeover of Russia, the revolutionaries established the ideologically-driven police, militia, army, courts, and jails.  Even the labor camps—the Gulag—began in embryo form only a month into the revolution. The parasitic Soviets craved blood from 1917 to 1991; such bloodletting was an inherent part of the system.  Solzhenitsyn claims that the Gulag state murdered 66 million just between 1917 and 1956.

No mere anti-communist, Solzhenitsyn has attacked not just the ideological regimes of Russia and its former communist allies in Eastern Europe, but he has attacked all of modernity—in the East and the West.  Western consumerism, he warns, will destroy the West by mechanizing its citizens in a more efficient and attractive manner than communism could.  “Dragged along the whole of the Western bourgeois-industrial and Marxist path,” Solzhenitsyn warned,

“A dozen maggots can’t go on and on gnawing the same apple forever; that if the earth is a finite object, then its expanses and resources are finite also, and the endless, infinite progress dinned into our heads by the dreamers of the Enlightenment cannot be accomplished on it . . . All that ‘endless progress’ turned out to be an insane, ill-considered, furious dash into a blind alley.  A civilization greedy for ‘perpetual progress’ has now choked and is on its last legs."

Read the entire essay over on the De Regno Christi blog.

• On Keeping People In: The Berlin Wall and the Shortness of Political Memory | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• Will To Truth: On the Death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.
• The Comprehensive Claim of Marxism | Peter Kreeft

Apoplectic abortion pusher: "Why are the [Catholic] Bishops running the country?"

How dare Catholics influence political decisions?! Who do they think they are—American citizens with a right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in the public square?

Tonight, with the aide of some 60 Democrats, women's rights were effectively negated by the US Congress as the House passed the Stupak amendment to HR 3200, the Affordable Health Care Act of 2009.
More in-depth analysis of how we got here is forthcoming.  But one thing is clear: The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) apparently is running the US government, aided by a cadre of "faith-based advocacy groups," the House Democratic leadership, the White House and members of the Senate. ...

Again, I have to ask: Why when millions of women need basic sexual and reproductive health care is it important for the USCCB to be "working out" any plan?  What does Henry Waxman, Nancy Pelosi or any other member of Congress owe the Catholic Bishops that they do not owe the majority of women in this country?  What does Obama owe the Bishops that he does not owe you and me, for example, most of those of us who gave money and time and our lives to his campaign?

Um, it seems fairly obvious to anyone paying attention that neither Speaker Pelosi (despite touting her devout Catholic faith) or President Obama (portrayed as über-Catholic by Kmiec and crowd), have been acting as if they "owe" the USCCB, the Catholic bishops, or Catholics anything at all. Please. I don't care if you want to expose your intelligence, but stop insulting mine.

Do we live in a theocracy? Honestly: I would like an answer. From the White House.  From the House Leadership.  And you should want one too. ...

I want to know...why are the Bishops running the country?

And have you had enough yet of Democrats that you elect selling you down the river?  Are you angry enough? What are we going to do about it?

Apparently you're going to rant and rave like blood-thirsty lunatics. Nice to see your true colors coming to the fore. Speaking of true colors, the group "Catholics for Choice" (aka, "Poseurs for Pelosi" and "The NARAL Wolf Pack") also did some frothing and foaming:

With the final House vote on healthcare reform nearing, antichoice extremists are holding the entire bill hostage to further their antiabortion agenda. They are demanding that the bill go far beyond the status quo restrictions on abortion that had been incorporated into the original bill.  In an outrageous amendment, which is expected to be voted on early Saturday afternoon, antichoice Democrats are demanding explicit and unequivocal exclusion of any coverage for abortion, even in private health plans in the proposed health insurance exchange. Women would lose coverage under this proposal.

Or, more accurately, fewer babies would lose their lives to the barbarous practice of abortion.

“Catholics support healthcare reform and support coverage for reproductive healthcare services in that reform. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has been on Capitol Hill claiming to speak for America’s Catholics. They do not do so with any legitimacy. Poll after poll has shown that the American public, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, does not want to see Congress play politics with women’s healthcare.

“American Catholics will not forget who held their healthcare hostage, and allowed it to be held hostage, when the elections come around in 2010.”

Oh goodie, I can hardly wait. 2010 cannot come fast enough.

The Ambiguity of Islam

The Ambiguity of Islam | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. | Homiletic & Pastoral Review | November 2009

“When some fanatics kill children, women, and men in the name of pure and authentic Islam, or in the name of the Qur’an or of the Muslim tradition, nobody can tell them: ‘You are not true and authentic Muslims.’ All they can say is: ‘Your reading of Islam is not ours.’ And this is the ambiguity of Islam, from its beginning to our present day: violence is a part of it, although it is also possible to choose tolerance; tolerance is a part of it, but it is also possible to choose violence.”

—Samir Khalil Samir, S.J., 111 Questions on Islam

“Real problems were raised by the Christian encounter with Islam as a socio-political system, which followed the politicization of religion. Since then there has been a tendency in the Muslim tradition of imposing its domination. This tendency derives from the Muslim conviction that they have a monopoly on the truth and that the Qur’an is the perfect and ultimate revelation.”

—Samir, 111 Questions on Islam

Many books on the meaning and apparently sudden rise of Islam have been published since September 11, 2001. For overall insight, it is still difficult to surpass Belloc’s chapter on “The Great and Enduring Heresy of Mohammed” in his 1938 book Great Heresies. But books such as Laurent Murawiec’s The Mind of Jihad, Reza Aslan’s No god but God, Roger Scruton’s The West and the Rest, Tawfik Hamid’s Inside Jihad, Matthias Küntzel’s Jihad and Jew-Hatred, and Bat Ye’or’s Eurabia are just a few.

Several books on this pressing topic are especially of interest to Catholics: Jacques Jomier’s The Bible and the Qur’an, Daniel Ali and Robert Spencer’s Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics: 100 Questions and Answers, Thomas Madden’s New Concise History of the Crusades, and, most recently, Samir Khalil Samir, S.J.’s 111 Questions on Islam, a book originally written in Italian. My own Regensburg Lecture is also pertinent here.

It is the Samir book about which I wish to comment. Father Samir is an Egyptian Jesuit, an advisor in the Holy See, with roots in Cairo, Beirut and Rome. An essay of his in the Asia News (April 2006) is entitled “When Civilizations Meet: How Joseph Ratzinger Sees Islam.”

Read the entire essay...

Faulty Dichotomies: Fort Hood and Reverse Racism

Faulty Dichotomies: Fort Hood and Reverse Racism | Dr. Jose Yulo | November 7, 2009 | Ignatius Insight

For neither Man nor Angel can discern
Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks
Invisible, except to God alone,
By his permissive will, through Heav'n and Earth. — John Milton

"By liberalism I mean false liberty of thought, or the exercise of thought upon matters, in which, from the constitution of the human mind, cannot be brought to any successful issue, and therefore is out of place" — Cardinal John Henry Newman


It is a mere twenty-four hours since the news broke on the attack by a gunman on an army base in Texas. With the appropriate reserve owed to an event of such severity, various media outlets were hesitant at first to speculate on the identity and ethnic origin of the assailant, not wanting to foment irrational fears and reactions.

The motivation behind the massacre still remains mysterious. What is intriguing, however, was the quickness with which some news organizations began the narrative of a soldier ridiculed because of his ethnicity, ultimately cracking and lashing out in a rage against his perceived persecution. Making matters more interesting was the possibility of the murders carried out because of post-traumatic stress, an unusual possibility to say the least since, by latest account, the attacker had not yet been deployed overseas and therefore had yet to experience the fire of combat.

Perhaps unknown to its various authors, the roots of this narrative run deep and parallel to the precedents set forth by certain philosophical schools in the last century. Paramount here is the dichotomous worldview ham-fistedly established by Marx and perennially finding converts among cultural elites. The dialectical clash between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is often chameleon-like, assuming the suitable color and hue to fit the assigned socio-political context.

Reading the entire essay...

Death of a False Prophet

From the October 16, 2009, edition of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle (MT):

Elizabeth Clare Prophet, longtime spiritual leader of the controversial Church Universal and Triumphant, died Thursday evening at her apartment in Bozeman. She was 70.

She suffered from advanced Alzheimer’s disease and died with her daughter, Moira, and granddaughter by her side, her daughter, Erin Prophet, said Friday.

As the charismatic leader of the New Age sect that many considered cult-like, Prophet led her followers along a path that over the years included apocalyptic predictions, run-ins with local environmental groups, legal trouble and even a late-in-life “miracle” pregnancy that resulted in the birth of her fifth child when she was 55 years old.

Prophet retired from the church in 1999, but her followers still call her “Mother” and listen faithfully to the dictations she recorded while channeling messages from the “Ascended Masters” over the years. A much smaller CUT than the one Prophet moved from California to Montana in the mid-1980s continues to operate from its headquarters on the Royal Teton Ranch in Corwin Springs.

Reading this bit of news brought back some curious memories of growing up in western Montana. No, I never met Prophet, nor was I member of the Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT). But I knew people who were, notably the music teacher at my high school. And Prophet and CUT were often in the news while I was in high school in the late-1980s. While CUT, which now usually goes by "The Summit Lighthouse", was supposedly all about light and peace and cosmic harmony, it made headlines for its cultish activities and apocalyptic obsessions, especially the accumulation of a large cache of weapons (you know it had to be large to garner attention in Montana), predictions the world was going to end in nuclear holocaust in 1990, and the construction of bomb shelters.

Prophet claimed to be  "the servant of the light in all students of the ascended masters and in all people" who was able to channel messages from "masters" such as Jesus, Paul the Venetian, and Saint Germain. Her approach was syncretistic to the hilt and her personality quite charismatic—and more than a little creepy, as you can see in this 1992 video. But, as is often the case with apocalyptic date-setters who are obsessed with impending global doom and who make irrational and potentially destructive demands on their paranoid followers, lives were seriously damaged, even destroyed. My high school's music teacher and his wife eventually moved to the CUT complex. Their only daughter, who was a classmate of mine, refused to go along, and I heard that she eventually broke off all contact with them.

What is especially interesting is to see how heavily Prophet drew upon specifically Catholic language and concepts in concocting her skewed spiritual brew. For example:

I loved devotion. I loved Jesus. I loved the saints. I loved God. ...

We regard the saints in heaven as those who have graduated from earth’s schoolroom, whom God has received. They are the other stones—"lively stones."

We call them Ascended Masters, whereas Christians call them saints. We do not worship the Ascended Masters but we recognize that they are our elder brothers and sisters and that they can help us on the path of life. ...

We believe in the communion of saints, here below as Above.

But, of course, Prophet's teachings actually undermined and denied essential doctrines of orthodox Christianity. She taught that Jesus was only one of many great teachers or avatars, and that he had told her directly that Christian churches "had not been given the full teaching that he had given and that this teaching must be brought forth again in this time, 2,000 years later." Her cosmology, anthropology, and soteriology were all standard New Age fare, consisting of a veneer of western, Christian language coated over eastern, monistic concepts, and served on a neo-gnostic plate: "So I see our divine plan outpicturing itself in succeeding episodes and I see the bodies we wear simply as coats. And when the coat gets worn out, that doesn’t necessarily mean that our mission is through." In other words:

1. Jesus is great!
2. But...
3. ... he isn't enough.
4. I have the full teachings of Jesus and several other teachers.
5. I have been given Jesus' authority. Don't ask for proof. Just do whatever I tell you.
6. Give me your life, your money, your mind, your soul, your future.

And this is especially diabolical: "And we believe that this communion comes through the agency of the Holy Spirit and through the Sacred Heart of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and that it is ordained." Satan is not the father of lies because he flatly denies the truth, but because he misuses and abuses the truth. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

UPDATE (Oct. 7, 2009): I came across the following this morning; apparently the late Prophet and novelist/pop spirituality guru/grand historical researcher Dan Brown share some core beliefs:

Prophet affirms belief in Jesus Christ and labels herself a Christian; but is clearly a gnostic version of Christianity. She contends that in the ancient battle between gnosticism and Christian orthodoxy, the wrong side won. The orthodox Christians, she says, were just seeking power for the clergy, so they repressed the true teachings of Jesus that require no clergy to actualize. She says church leaders hid the mystical sayings of Jesus from the people by excluding them from Scripture. She claims that when church leaders chose which books were to be accepted as Holy Scripture and included in the Bible, they were merely using those choices to consolidate their own power. (The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue (Eerdmans, 1998), by John P. Newport, p. 179).

No mention of what Prophet may have thought or taught about the Masons...

Here's one way to eliminate the human factor...

... from sporting events and athletic competition:

China plans for humanoid Olympics

The games will only be open to humanoid robots

China is planning to hold a robot Olympics in 2010. The international event will be held in the city of Harbin and will see robots take part in 16 different events.

Robots will be able to compete in familiar Olympic sports such as athletics as well as those more suited to machines such as cleaning. Entry to the competition will be restricted to robots resembling humans. They must possess two arms and legs. Wheels are banned.

The organisers of the games expect from more than 100 universities from around the world to send competitors to the event.

The plus side of this seems evident: no overpaid athletes, no whining or surly athletes, no athletes on steroids, and no sweaty uniforms and apparel to wash. On the negative side, is anyone going to buy sports drinks, cereal, and shaving cream endorsed by a robot? (Phone calls made to Nike, Adidas, and Wheaties were not returned by the time this important news item was posted.)

Pope John Paul II's "guardian angel"

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece—an obituary, actually—about Camillo Cibin, who was a bodyguard for six popes, organized security during the Second Vatican Council, and saved the life of John Paul II:

For almost 60 years, Camillo Cibin was the silent shadow of six popes, a broad-shouldered but discreet presence as their chief bodyguard and the Vatican's head of security.

Mr. Cibin, who died Oct. 25 at the age of 83, came to wider attention, much to his dismay, only in 1981 when there was an attempt to assassinate John Paul II. On May 13, Mr. Cibin was at his usual post by the driver's side of the pope's open vehicle as the pontiff greeted crowds in St. Peter's Square. Among them was Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish militant, who fired six shots at the vehicle. The pope was hit four times, twice in the stomach. Two spectators also were wounded.

The director of the Italian police squad in the square leapt on top of John Paul, while Mr. Cibin vaulted the crowd barricades, and, with the help of bystanders, apprehended Mr. Agca. The gunman served 19 years in prison before being released, having been forgiven by the pope, and is now serving a sentence in Turkey for a previous political murder.

Once John Paul II recovered -- having lost three-quarters of his blood in the attack -- Mr. Cibin offered to resign. The pope rejected the offer.

Read the entire article. May God grant eternal peace to a man who quietly dedicated his life to protecting the lives of others.

Frank talk, direct challenges...

... from Fr. Larry Richards, author of Be a Man! Becoming the Man God Created You to Be:

“Jesus Christ Himself reveals to us what it is to be a man,” Fr. Richards said. “It is about taking the one life that God has given us and give it away. When men are invited to die for others, they put others’ needs above their own. To be like Christ, and like all great men, will cost men their very lives.”

“There is a difference in the way men and women were created,” he remarked. “Men are not called to be women and vice versa. We are different – not better, but different – and men are called to be fully men. This needs to be dealt with up front because it’s a problem – in the Catholic Church and in the world itself.”

Fr. Richards said he encourages men to become men of “true love and wisdom” and to pursue holiness and find strength in faith and love. Each chapter of his book ends with a list of tasks that must be accomplished and questions for discussion and reflection.

“Read the book. Accomplish the tasks at the end of each chapter, no matter how hard or how “hokey” you may think them to be,” Fr. Richards urged. “I guarantee that if a man commits himself to each task and challenge, in the end his life will be changed forever!”

Read the entire piece from Catholic News Agency.

And listen to my recent audio interview with Fr. Richards:

The dissenters are back, working to "create a new Church"

They're Back! | Anne Hendershott | Catholic World Report  

Dissenters, now calling themselves the American Catholic Council, plan a 2011 conference in Detroit “to create a new Church.

Claiming that they are attempting to address the “serious deterioration of the US Church today,” organizers of a new Catholic reform organization are planning a national conclave in 2011 called the American Catholic Council. In what is being billed as a kind of off-site Vatican Council, the proposed gathering promises “thoughtful discussion” of scholarly papers and presentations by Catholic theologians, scholars, and activists—all directed toward the goal of creating a new Church that is “fully in tune with the authentic Gospel message.”

Promising that the American Catholic Council will “recapture the universal call to ministry,” organizers claim to have launched the call for the national council in an effort to create a more responsive, accountable Church that “calls on the active participation of its people and more closely models the American experience.”

Although council leaders have denied that they are attempting to create their own church, the American Catholic Council website states their mission clearly: “We seek nothing short of a personal conversion of all to create a new Church.” And, while the organizers of the proposed council have appropriated the language and trappings of an authentic Catholic council, the reality is that the American Catholic Council will be conducted entirely outside the purview of the Church, flouting canon law, and ignoring input from current Church leaders.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of what organizers view as the “unfulfilled promise” of the Second Vatican Council, the American Catholic Council is scheduled to be held in Detroit in the fall of 2011. Detroit was selected because it was the site of the 1976 Call to Action Conference—a conference that Joseph Bottum, editor of First Things, has described as the “low point in post-Vatican II American Catholic unity.” Bottum recalled that the 1976 conference began by calling upon the Church to fight “chronic racism, sexism, militarism, and poverty in modern society.” But, by the conclusion of the conference, Call to Action participants demanded that the Church change its positions on celibacy, male clergy, homosexuality, birth control, and Communion for the divorced and remarried—with further decisions to be made by majority votes of laypeople.

Read the entire article...

Put this pet phrase in the doghouse

Here it is: "pet-centric services".

Not "services" as in veterinarian services, grooming services, or obedience services. Worship services:

The weekly dog service at Covenant Presbyterian is part of a growing trend among churches nationwide to address the spirituality of pets and the deeply felt bonds that owners form with their animals.

Traditionally, conventional Christians believe that only humans have redeemable souls, said Laura Hobgood-Oster, a religion professor at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

But a growing number of congregations from Massachusetts to Texas to California are challenging that assertion with regular pet blessings and, increasingly, pet-centric services, said Hobgood-Oster, who studies the role of animals in Christian tradition.

She recently did a survey that found more than 500 blessings for animals at churches nationwide and has heard of a half-dozen congregations holding worship services like Eggebeen's, including one in a Boston suburb called Woof 'n Worship.

"It's the changing family structure, where pets are really central and religious communities are starting to recognize that people need various kinds of rituals that include their pets," she said. "More and more people in mainline Christianity are considering them to have some kind of soul."

Credit reporter Gillian Flaccus for this line: "The pooches who showed up at Covenant Presbyterian on Sunday didn't seem very interested in dogma." Well, let's be fair: many people who go to Church aren't interested in dogma either. By the way, blessings of animals (and food, plants, cars, and lots of other things) is perfectly fine. And, as a pet owner, I'm all for treating pets well. But "canine prayers", worship services centered on pets, and "the spirituality of pets"? That's for the birds. So to speak.