Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog

Former atheist: "Ignatius Press is my publisher!!!!"

Prolific blogger and former atheist Jennifer Fulwiler posted this news yesterday on her Conversion Diary blog:

One thousand eight hundred and twenty days ago, I started writing my book, a memoir about going from atheism to belief. After three complete, from-a-blank-page rewrites; countless feedback sessions from Joe and my agent and brilliant fellow writers, each of which left me wondering whether I should perhaps just give up on the written word altogether; revisions that made me feel like my brain was melting; a reality show; three new babies; and a pitch process that almost sent me into cardiac arrest every time I saw my agent’s name in my inbox…I finally have a publisher.

I know I use this word too much, but there is no other way to describe the pitch process other than to say it was EPIC. When Ted, my agent, first told me that we had multiple offers from great publishers, I was thrilled. My excitement quickly melted into a vague sense of dread, however, when I realized that I could only pick one. I know, I know, good problem to have. But because my writer angst knows no bounds, I had these visions of making the wrong decision and ruining everyone’s life in the process, leaving some poor acquisitions editor so scarred that she’d spit on the ground any time she heard my name.

I prayed for direction, and to my great relief my prayers were answered. God made it clear which house would be the right fit for this project, probably because he knew that I’d turn this situation into too much of a hot mess if he didn’t intervene directly this time. Ted made some calls, we all signed some papers, and now I can finally tell you:

Ignatius Press is my publisher, and my book will probably be released either this Fall or next Spring! ...

I keep waiting for Mark Brumley to call and tell me delicately that there’s this professor with five PhDs named Jennifer Fullwider, and, long story short, a horrible mistake has been made. But that hasn’t happened yet, and I’ve given it a few weeks, so I guess I can officially say:

Ignatius Press is my publisher!!!!

Congratulations to Jennifer on this good news!

Pope Francis teaches that everyone is saved! Wow! (Hold on. Wait a second.)

by Carl E. Olson | CWR blog

By now you've heard about the Pope's astounding remark about the redemption of all men:

In the Holy Spirit, every individual and all people have become, through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, children of God, partakers in the divine nature and heirs to eternal life. All are redeemed and called to share in glory in Jesus Christ, without any distinction of language, race, nation or culture. The Good News which Christ proclaimed and which the Church continues to proclaim, in accordance with the Lord's will, must be preached "to all creation" and "to the ends of the earth".

Oops, sorry—that was actually Pope John Paul II, back in 1981 in Manila. Let's see. Hold on a second. Try this:

God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time. … For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men.

Whoops! That's the Apostle Paul, writing a couple of thousand years ago to Timothy and Titus (1 Tim 2:3-6; Tit 2:11). My apologies. Here goes:

But, if Christian precepts prevail, the respective classes will not only be united in the bonds of friendship, but also in those of brotherly love. For they will understand and feel that all men are children of the same common Father, who is God; that all have alike the same last end, which is God Himself, who alone can make either men or angels absolutely and perfectly happy; that each and all are redeemed and made sons of God, by Jesus Christ, "the first-born among many brethren"; that the blessings of nature and the gifts of grace belong to the whole human race in common, and that from none except the unworthy is withheld the inheritance of the kingdom of Heaven. "If sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and co-heirs with Christ."

No, no, no. Wrong pope! That was Pope Leo XIII, back in 1891. How embarrassing that I cannot get my quotes right. I'm doing my best, I really am.

By his glorious Cross Christ has won salvation for all men. He redeemed them from the sin that held them in bondage. … Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.

You're onto me: that was the Catechism of the Catholic Church (pars 1741, 1934). Ummm. Try this one:

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

Catholics, Atheists, and the “Digital Areopagus”

 

Catholics, Atheists, and the “Digital Areopagus” | CWR Staff | Catholic World Report

An interview with author and blogger Brandon Vogt about StrangeNotions.com

Brandon Vogt apparently does not sleep very much. He is an author, blogger, and speaker, as well as an engineer, husband, and father. His first book was titled The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet (Our Sunday Visitor, 2011), and included a Foreword by Cardinal Sean O'Malley and an Afterword by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Brandon’s most recent project is the site, StrangeNotions.com, which is “designed to be the central place of dialogue online between Catholics and atheists. Its implicit goal is to bring non-Catholics to faith--especially followers of the so-called New Atheism. As a 'digital Areopagus', the site will include intelligent articles, compelling video, and rich discussion through its comment boxes.” It is, Brandon says, “the first English apostolate dedicated solely to reaching atheists and agnostics.” He recently answered some questions put to him by Catholic World Report. 

CWR: There are countless Catholic websites, many of them dedicated to apologetics and evangelization. What is unique about StrangeNotions.com?

Brandon Vogt: Well, first the aim. Few other sites exclusively engage atheists. Most focus on Protestant apologetics, which is certainly needed, but the issues there are quite different than those relevant to non-believers. For example, at Strange Notions we don't really focus on Marian dogmas, purgatory, or the liturgy. We're concerned with more basic questions about God's existence, cosmology, morality, miracles, science, and the reliability of the Gospels. We must solidify these foundational issues before the second-level issues become important.

Second, the tone. We're all familiar with the typical online religious discussion. If not, just visit any secular newspaper site and scroll down to the comments. They're full of snark, shallowness, and slander. But Strange Notions is not like that. We've done several things to ensure the dialogue remains serious and charitable, and in the site's first weeks it seems to have worked. Our tight comment policy and several moderators have kept the discussions fair and on point.

Third, the contributors really differentiate this site from others. I've gathered the best-of-the-best Catholic intellects to contribute content including Dr. Peter Kreeft, Dr. Edward Feser, Fr. Robert Barron, Fr. Robert Spitzer, Dr. Benjamin Wiker, Dr. Christopher Kaczor, Dr. Janet Smith, Dr. Kevin Vost, Christopher West,  Jimmy Akin, Jennifer Fulwiler, Marc Barnes, Leah Libresco, Stacy Trascanos, Mark Shea, Tim Staples, Carl Olson, and many more. Right now we have over thirty contributors and we're continuing to add more. The hope is that this website becomes the definitive Catholic response to atheism--the best of our rich theological and philosophical tradition.

Finally, we have some exciting plans in the works to set the site apart, including interactive YouTube debates and video interviews with popular atheists and Catholics. So stay tuned!

CWR: Why the specific focus on atheism?

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

 







Catholic Radio: Faithful, Interactive, and Growing

Catholic Radio: Faithful, Interactive, and Growing | Jim Graves | Catholic World Report

Solid programming and improved technology have spurred the growth of Catholic radio networks

Catholic radio has had a slow start in the United States in comparison to the success of non-Catholic Christians on the airwaves, but in recent years it has come on strong with solid programming and improved technology which has enabled the message of the Gospel to reach throughout the globe.

In a previous article, “Proclaiming Christ Through Catholic Radio” (May 9, 2013), CWR interviewed Steve Gajdosik, president of the Catholic Radio Association. In this second article on Catholic radio, CWR spoke to several people involved in the industry to share their reflections on working with Catholic radio.

Mike Kendall is chief programming officer for Relevant Radio (www.relevantradio.com). Relevant Radio is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, produces its own programming, and airs it through 13 stations it owns and 20 with which it is affiliated. Most of its stations are in the Midwest, including Chicago. Through a contract with Arbitron, “the gold standard in measuring a radio audience,” Kendall believes its weekly Chicago audience is in the 60,000-70,000 range, and total audience 150,000-200,000.

“Our audience is engaged, and we’re a part of their daily lives,” Kendall said. “Our audience might be small compared to commercial radio stations, but they’re very committed. In fact, over 80% say Relevant Radio is their first choice in radio listening.”

Relevant Radio is funded primarily by donations, mostly smaller donors, and some traditional advertising. Their spring 2013 pledge raised $1.3 million, more than expected.

Listeners can hear programs on AM-FM stations in some markets, as well as through the Relevant Radio website or by downloading their free mobile app through any iPhone or Android device. Kendall noted that listeners from all over the world had reached out to the network to let them know they were listening.

Some of Relevant Radio’s most popular programs include Morning Air with Sean Herriott, The Drew Mariani Show and Go Ask Your Father (featuring different priests answering questions about the Faith). The network offers ten hours of live, interactive programming during weekdays.

“We find we’re successful when we address topics that impact the everyday lives of our listeners,” Kendall commented. “Radio’s strength is that it is live, interactive and ‘in the moment.’ We act as the town square where people can call in and express their opinions.”

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Solid programming and improved technology have spurred the growth of Catholic radio networks







Episcopalian leader Schori bashes on St. Paul, opposition to homosexual relationships

by Carl E. Olson | CWR Blog

The Anglican Ink site reports:

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has denounced the Apostle Paul as mean-spirited and bigoted for having released a slave girl from demonic bondage as reported in Acts 16:16-34 .

In her sermon delivered at All Saints Church in Curaçao in the diocese of Venezuela, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori condemned those who did not share her views as enemies of the Holy Spirit.

The presiding bishop opened her remarks with an observation on the Dutch slave past. “The history of this place tells some tragic stories about the inability of some to see the beauty in other skin colors or the treasure of cultures they didn’t value or understand,” she said.

She continued stating: “Human beings have a long history of discounting and devaluing difference, finding it offensive or even evil.  That kind of blindness is what leads to oppression, slavery, and often, war.  Yet there remains a holier impulse in human life toward freedom, dignity, and the full flourishing of those who have been kept apart or on the margins of human communities.”

Schori then states:

We live with the continuing tension between holier impulses that encourage us to see the image of God in all human beings and the reality that some of us choose not to see that glimpse of the divine, and instead use other people as means to an end.  We’re seeing something similar right now in the changing attitudes and laws about same-sex relationships, as many people come to recognize that different is not the same thing as wrong.  For many people, it can be difficult to see God at work in the world around us, particularly if God is doing something unexpected.

But if different is not the same thing as wrong, then how can views that are different from hers be wrong? Come to think of it, how can anything be wrong if it can simply be described as "different"? One might be taken aback at Schori's grasp of both epistemology and moral theology, but one is surely not impressed. The same holds for her exegetical skills, which are unleashed upon Acts 16:16ff:

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

New: "Pope Francis: His Life in His Own Words"

Now available through Ignatius Press:

Pope Francis: His Life in His Own Words

by Francesca Ambrogetti and Sergio Rubin

On March 13, 2013, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, longtime Archbishop of Buenos Aires, now Pope Francis, was elected to succeed Pope Benedict. He is the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope, and the first to take the name Francis, after St. Francis Assisi, the 13th century monk known for his charity and kindness.

Elected in one of the shortest conclaves in history, the former Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina reveals, in a series of extensive interviews conducted over the course of two years, the very image of a humble priest, inspired teacher, and wise and adroit cardinal. What emerges is a portrait of a man more interested in substance over style, a compassionate cleric and teacher who has shunned the spotlight. In spontaneous, intimate terms, Archbishop Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, covers topics as wide-ranging as his childhood, family life, and the importance of his first job to discovering his calling and his early days in the seminary. The former archbishop was a teacher of psychology and literature until John Paul II consecrated him as a cardinal. He befriended writers like Jorge Luis Borges and cites Homer, Cervantes, and German and Italian poets with ease and offers nuanced thoughts about teaching. Thoughtful, intelligent, and even witty, he names Babette's Feast as his favorite movie and Marc Chagall as his favorite painter.

A learned and introspective man, he does not avoid the uncomfortable subjects: the declining numbers of priests and nuns; celibacy; the sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Church; and his opinions about and experience with the military dictatorship of his own crisis-riddled country. It also discusses the incredible role he played in the last conclave, where he is said to have been tied with Ratzinger in the second of three votes, and asked that the votes for him be transferred to Ratzinger.

Through his own words, we come to know a man whose actions and words reflect his deeply-rooted humility. The book concludes with the Pope's own writings and reflections, full of wisdom and inspiration.

Sergio Rubin was born in Santa Fe, Argentina. He is an award-winning author, journalist, and is currently chief of religious news for the Clarín newspaper as well as editor of the supplement Valores Religiosos (Religious Values). He covered over a dozen of John Paul II's trips, his funeral, and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Among many international figures, he has interviewed Mother Teresa.

Francesca Ambrogetti was born in Rome. She is a journalist and social psychologist, and currently teaches journalism. In 1982 she headed the Association for Foreign Press in Argentina and from 2000 to 2003, the Association of Foreign Correspondents. She collaborates with the international media such as the Vatican Radio.

The Charismatic Renewal and the Catholic Church

The Charismatic Renewal and the Catholic Church | Alessandra Nucci | Catholic World Report

A look at the history and future of the sometimes-controversial movement

When the newly elected Pope Francis appeared at the window before the cheering crowd in St Peter’s Square, and promptly bowed down asking the people to pray for him, most of the public at large was charmed, but puzzled. Pope Benedict too had asked the people to pray for him from the outset, but without the bowed head. To some spectators, however—including the members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and their counterparts in the Protestant and Orthodox worlds—the gesture came as something surprisingly familiar.  In the “charismatic” galaxy, prayer is offered and asked for in this way by people of all levels—specifically, prayer for a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

There is a photograph available on the Internet that shows Pope Francis, while still archbishop of Buenos Aires, on his knees with head bowed as a group of evangelical pastors and Catholic priests and laymen pray over him.  As Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Pope would celebrate Mass on a monthly basis for the Charismatic Renewal of Buenos Aires. And despite the conflicts between Catholics and Pentecostals in Latin America, word has it that Pentecostal pastors rejoiced at the election of the new Catholic pope.

Pope Francis’ frequent mentions of the Holy Spirit—whom he has described as someone who “annoys us” and “moves us, makes us walk, pushes the Church to move forward”—as well as his unprecedentedly frequent references to the devil (rather than to a generic “evil”), indicate his affinity for the Charismatic Renewal.  The election of such a back-to-basics man as Supreme Pontiff provides us with an opportunity to look at the road traveled by the Charismatic Renewal and to “hold on to what is good” (1 Thess 5:21).

Despite the openness of its approach, for many the Charismatic Renewal is either undecipherable or a clear-cut deviation into “modernism.” Having made its appearance in the Catholic world after Vatican Council II, with spectacular aspects such as prophecies and miracle-healings, it was obviously lumped in with the many other challenging and controversial novelties that surfaced at the time under the banner of “renewal.” Yet the Charismatic Renewal in its Catholic expression is generally painstaking in its strict adherence to the Church and to Catholic doctrine, a fact which, in itself, can cause controversy and sometimes alienates Pentecostal, Evangelical, non-denominational, or other ecumenical counterparts.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Three Births and the Third Person of the Trinity

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, May 19, 2013, Pentecost Sunday | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Acts 2:1-11
• Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
• 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Rom 8:8-17
• Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 14:15-16, 23b-26

He is silent, yet sounds like rushing wind; he is invisible, but appears as tongues of fire; he is constantly working and giving, but is often overlooked and underappreciated.

He is the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life, the third Person of the Trinity. He has many names in Scripture, including Advocate, Comforter, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of grace.

In the second chapter of the Acts of Apostle, the coming of the Holy Spirit is described as “a noise like a strong driving wind” and his presence as “tongues as of fire.” Notice how elusive the language is: the Holy Spirit is not a driving wind, but is like such a wind; he is not a tongue of fire, but appears as one. There is a paradox here, which is so often the case with the Holy Spirit: he is both very elusive and yet constantly active. It’s as though you see something or someone out of the corner of your eye, but no matter how quickly you turn, they are gone.

Isn’t this the sense conveyed by Jesus, who said to Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit” (Jn. 3:8)? The word “born” is deeply significant for there are three very important births, or creations, described in Scripture in which the Holy Spirit moves and acts, giving life.

These three births are closely connected. First, there is the birth of the cosmos and the creation of the world: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). There it is again: the Spirit was moving. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Dominum et vivificantem (Pentecost, 1986), further notes that the presence of the Spirit in creation not only pertains, of course, to the cosmos, but also to “man, who has been created in the image and likeness of God: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” (par. 12).

The second instance is the conception of the God-man, Jesus Christ. What did the angel say to Mary? “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). Once again, the Holy Spirit is active; he is coming with power. Once again, he is intimately involved in bringing about a man. In the first creation it was Adam; now, the new Adam.

The third birth, or creation, took place at Pentecost, fifty days after the death and resurrection of Christ. “The time of the Church began,” wrote John Paul II, “at the moment when the promises and predictions that so explicitly referred to the Counselor, the Spirit of truth, began to be fulfilled in complete power and clarity upon the Apostles, thus determining the birth of the Church” (DV, 25). At Pentecost, the Church—the family of God and the mystical body of Christ—is birthed by the Holy Spirit. And he is the soul of the Church. “What the soul is to the human body,” wrote St. Augustine, “the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 797).

Emile Mersch, S.J., in The Theology of the Mystical Body (Herder, 1952), wrote: “The Holy Spirit is continually being sent, and Pentecost never comes to an end.” The Acts of the Apostles reveals the Holy Spirit “ceaselessly coming down into the world, no longer under the form of fiery tongues, but through the intermediary of the apostles and their preaching.”

He is still coming, filling, moving, and giving life. Let’s pay attention!

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the May 23, 2010, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

Falsely Accused, Wrongly Imprisoned, Truly Set Free

Falsely Accused, Wrongly Imprisoned, Truly Set Free | CWR Staff | Catholic World Report

An interview with author, apologist, evangelist, convert, and former prisoner Russell Ford

Russell Ford’s testimony is captivating, surprising, sobering, and, at times, rather humorous. The following interview is much longer than most CWR features, but we think readers will find his story, perspective, and insights both challenging and encouraging. Also, Russell's recent appearance on EWTN's "The Journey Home" can be viewed on the EWTN website.

CWR: For those who might not be familiar with your background, let’s go back to the mid-1980s. Prior to going to prison, were you a Catholic? What were you doing prior to being imprisoned?

Ford: No, I wasn’t a Catholic. I hunted bounty after I got out of the army. Between my time in the military and as a bounty hunter (the more politically correct term these days being “independent fugitive recovery agent”), I was shot twice, stabbed twice, poisoned, run over by a car, fell off the side of a car at 70 miles per hour, and beaten almost to death. So when I got tired of being other people’s punching bag, I left bounty work to get into the slower life of business. I eventually made some major errors, because I’d gotten too big for my britches, and lost everything. I decided to go to Alabama, where I’d done part of my military training, because I recalled how well I was treated there. I came to realize quickly, however, that I’d been treated well before because I was in the military. What I discovered was that anyone who was from any place other than Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, or Louisiana was considered to be a Yankee… and Yankees are hated there. I’d only lived in Alabama for a few months when I found myself in a mess of trouble.

CWR: Why were you arrested and sentenced to prison? And when were you released from prison? How did that come about?

Ford: This series of questions are considered a major social blunder in the joint. Indeed, for a convict to ask these questions it is potentially deadly. You never ask a convict why he’s in prison, how much time he has to build, or when he gets out. However, this may be an opportunity to finally explain things fully and correctly.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

The Cardinal and the Taoiseach

The Cardinal and the Taoiseach | Michael Coren | CWR

Cardinal O’Malley’s boycott of Boston College’s graduation is both welcome and momentous.

By the grace of God, the recent decision by Cardinal SeÁn Patrick O'Malley could be a turning point in Catholic history, a collective epiphany on the road to Boston College. He has made it entirely clear that he will not be attending the university’s annual commencement, at which Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will be speaking. Boston College’s decision to invite the Taoiseach was provocative and was supposed to be so. Frankly, it’s a childish and petty thing to have done but entirely in character with the modern approach of liberal or even post-Catholic institutions of higher education. Give a metaphorical finger to those horrible old grassroots Catholics who still believe in the faith, and to the Magisterium and episcopacy who insist on making it difficult for teachers from Boston College or Notre Dame or Georgetown to be invited onto talk shows and to fashionable dinner parties.

Ireland is in the midst of a culture war. It is the country that in spite of—perhaps even because of—occupation, oppression, starvation, and dispersion, remained true to the Church. It was the epicenter for English-speaking Catholics and Catholicism, and Irish Catholics fuelled English and Scottish Catholicism and became the beating heart of the Church in the United States.

Today the kulturkampf concerns a triumphant secular and modernist government declaring virtual war on Church prestige and standing, and challenging Catholic teaching on life, sexuality, and morality. Kenny wants to change Ireland’s abortion laws. He claims it is a minor reform, but he knows that is not the case; the legislation is not only in itself a major departure, but will open a door to a room full of frightful eugenics. If you don’t believe me, read the editorials and columns from his supporters in the Irish media.

None of us were sure what Cardinal O’Malley would do. He is an orthodox man, of course, and a fine and good Catholic priest and bishop, but he had assisted at the funeral mass of Sen. Ted Kennedy, an individual with a worrying personal record, and an execrable public one. Kennedy had opposed the Church on most of its moral teaching around life issues, often leading campaigns to introduce and extend abortion, same-sex marriage, and other related subjects. O’Malley led a prayer at the Mass, explaining, “as archbishop of Boston, I considered it appropriate to represent the Church at this liturgy out of respect for the Senator, his family, those who attended the Mass and all those who were praying for the Senator and his family at this difficult time.”

This time, however, the reaction was fundamentally different.

Continue reading at www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

"Morning after" pills and the loss of moral bearings

by Russell Shaw | Catholic World Report

"Is Traditional Marriage Toast?" That question recently caught my attention as the heading of an article in the neo-conservative Weekly Standard. The answer was either "very possibly" (a subhead attached to the piece) or "probably not" (an objective reading would suggest that). Take your pick.

Be not afraid. Marriage and family life won't vanish, given that they correspond to fundamental human interests and needs. But marriage and family are indeed in serious trouble in America. And many--most?--public policy solutions to this crisis are wrongheaded, to say the least.

Repeatedly operative here is an unarticulated value system that concerned Americans have a right to insist be brought to light and debated. Take the current dispute over whether to give very young teenagers unrestricted access to morning-after pills. Partisans on both sides of this argument evidently take for granted (and some perhaps even welcome) a degree of social breakdown that their preferred policy approaches would not just confirm but make worse.

After all, wouldn't sensible policy-makers go after the root of the problem--teenage sexual activity, that is? Foolish ones water the roots. Which, to change the metaphor, is like trying to fix a cracked teacup by banging on it with a hammer.

In April, a federal district judge held that the government should allow children of any age to buy so-called emergency contraceptives without a prescription. The Obama administration has ordered the Justice Department to appeal this ruling on the grounds that the judge exceeded his competence. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has reacted by setting 15 as the earliest age for over-the-counter purchases.

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

What is Social Justice? (Part Two)

What is Social Justice? (Part Two) | J. J. Ziegler | Catholic World Report

The teachings of Vatican II, Paul VI, John Paul II, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church

“Social justice,” a term coined by the Italian Jesuit Father Luigi Taparelli D’Azeglio (1793-1862), appeared in an 1894 curial document and a 1904 encyclical. Later, Pope Pius XI (1922-39) made it part and parcel of Catholic social doctrine.

In perhaps the most succinct description of the virtue, Pope Pius wrote in 1937 that “it is [the essence] of social justice to demand from individuals everything that is necessary for the common good.” Venerable Pius XII (1939-58) and Blessed John XXIII (1958-63) made Pope Pius XI’s teaching their own as they urged Catholics to cultivate the virtue of social justice. The former wrote in 1952 that society “ought to be renewed according to principles of charity and social justice,” while the latter prayed in 1960 that Christians might “offer to fellow citizens examples of all virtues, in the first place social justice and charity.”

The three decades following John XXIII’s death witnessed further developments in Catholic teaching on social justice. In 1992, Catholic doctrine on social justice was set forth with particular authority when Blessed John Paul II promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Vatican II

The term “social justice” appeared three times in the documents of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (1962-65). In Nostra Aetate (1965), the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, the Council Fathers exhorted Christians and Muslims to “preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom” (no. 3).

Six weeks later, in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), the Council Fathers observed that “excessive economic and social differences between the members of the one human family or population groups cause scandal and militate against social justice, equity, the dignity of the human person, as well as social and international peace” (no. 29). The Council Fathers called for the creation of an “organism of the universal Church” whose role would be “to stimulate the Catholic community to promote progress in needy regions and international social justice”—in the original Latin, “social justice among nations.” Venerable Paul VI established that organism, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in 1967.

The three conciliar references to social justice use the term in the context of “all mankind,” the “one human family,” and “among nations.”

Continue reading on the CWR site.

In Ireland, the political fight over abortion rages on

In Ireland, the political fight over abortion rages on | Michael Kelly | Catholic World Report

Proposed legislation would legalize abortion when the mother’s life is at risk. But the measure is medically unnecessary, many Irish doctors say.

Ireland’s coalition government is pushing ahead with controversial plans to legalize abortion despite growing opposition from within the medical community.

Pro-life campaigners have also dismissed claims by Prime Minister Enda Kenny that the draft law is limited in scope, saying it will lead to widespread abortion.

Ireland and Malta are currently the only countries in Europe where abortion is still illegal.

A draft of the so-called Protection of Life in Pregnancy legislation was published after protracted negotiations between the center-right Fine Gael and leftist Labor party. It will now be debated before the parliamentary health committee.

Campaigners are furious because Fine Gael—the senior party in Government—made a promise before the 2011 general election not to legalize abortion. The Labor party, on the other hand, has had a long-standing pro-abortion stance.

The draft law provides for abortion when there is a substantial risk to the life, as opposed to the health, of the mother. This would include situations in which a woman says the continuation of the pregnancy leads to suicidal thoughts. The law would also provide for jail terms of up to 14 years for those performing abortions in circumstances other that permitted by the new law.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny has claimed that the legislation will not change Ireland’s law on abortion in other circumstances. He said that an abortion can only be legally permitted where doctors have unanimously decided that it is the only treatment that will avert a risk to the life of a mother.

However, Caroline Simons, a spokesperson for the Pro-Life Campaign (PLC) dismissed the claims. She says the Government has “been talking up the proposal as very restrictive. But, in reality, these reassuring noises are empty and misleading.”

“What matters is what’s contained in the bill and what’s in the bill is dangerous,” said Simons. “For the first time an Irish Government is proposing to introduce a law that provides for the direct intentional targeting of the life of the unborn child.”

Simons said that “talk of the legislation being ‘life-saving’ is simply dishonest. There is no evidence that abortion ever helps women’s mental health and in fact it may damage women.”

Leading psychiatrists have also dismissed claims that abortion can ever be a treatment for suicidal ideation.

Continue reading on the CWR site.

New: "In Him Only is Our Hope: The Church According to the Heart of Pope Francis"

Available May 15th from Ignatius Press:

In Him Only is Our Hope: The Church According to the Heart of Pope Francis

by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio

And suddenly a great silence envelops the crowd as the successor to Benedict XVI is announced....

Astonishment: Who is it? Where is he from? The commentators are stunned, tongue-tied. Then,upon hearing his first words, the crowd stirs, followed by ripples and then waves of enthusiasm-what freshness, what inspiration, what beautiful Gospel simplicity!

"Called from the end of the world," is he the shepherd who will lead the Church, confronted by the challenges of the postmodern world, along the pathway to renewal? Already his humble witness has made a powerful impact, giving us a glimpse of what is essential about him.... But deep down, who is this man? What does he think? Toward what shores will he steer the barque of Peter?

In this book, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio answers these questions himself as he preaches a retreat to the bishops of Spain. Following the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, he meditates upon the crucial issues at stake in the vocation of a bishop. In so doing, he offers us his vision of the Church, setting forth the outlines of what could well be the reform program of Pope Francis.

It is a rich, captivating text with a strong, uncompromising message. In short, it's a spiritual page turner you won't want to put down!

An excerpt from In Him Only Is Our Hope by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio: 

"The Lord sends us into spiritual combat. It is a fight to the death that he himself has undertaken, and one that we too are invited to identify as our own ultimate battleground, conscious that it is God's war. For it is a war waged ‘against the enemy of human nature,' that is, in the language of Saint Ignatius, the devil. It is also the war waged by ‘the friend of human nature,' the Lord Jesus, who wants to win us for God and to gather up into himself all that is good in creation in order to offer it to the Father, to the praise of his glory.

What is at stake in this war? It is whether in my heart, as well as in the heart of the Church and of humanity itself, the Kingdom of Heaven will be established, with his law of love and the Lord's way of life: poverty, humility, and service. Or whether the kingdom of this world will triumph, with its laws and values of wealth, vanity, and pride."

The Controversy Over the Third Secret: Objections and Responses

The Controversy Over the Third Secret: Objections and Responses | Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R. | Appendix D from Fatima For Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope

The Third Secret has been dealt with in two chapters in this book. Chapter 8 presented the content of the Third Secret as Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta saw it revealed to them. Chapter 16 presented how Sister Lucia wrote the Third Secret on a separate manuscript and then placed it in a sealed envelope. The chapter also traces what popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II did after reading it.

The Third Secret was first made public at the Beatification Mass of Francisco and Jacinta Marto on May 13, 2000, in the Cova da Iria where the secret was originally revealed to the three children on July 13, 1917. Unfortunately, controversy created by certain objections surrounded the Third Secret almost from the moment it became public. We will look at each main objection separately, and offer a response to each.

Objection: The original Third Secret was written on one sheet of paper.

Many clerics who were familiar with the original text, including bishops who worked with popes John XXIII and Paul VI, said that the Third Secret was written on a single sheet of paper (e.g., Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, who read the Third Secret with Pope John XXIII). [1]

The controversy came about when on June 26, 2000, the Vatican released a copy of Sister Lucia's handwritten text in a four-page format. [2] Though there are several possible ways a single sheet of paper can be turned into more than one page (written on both sides, folded and written on multiple sides, etc.) or copied onto more than one page, some critics said that the Vatican copy could not have been made from the authentic text and that some other document exists that contains the real Third Secret.

The Vatican copy of Sister Lucia's handwritten manuscript appears in the document The Message of Fatima prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In the introduction, the secretary of the Congregation at the time, Archbishop Bertone, stated: "There is only one manuscript, which is here reproduced photostatically." Sister Lucia herself confirmed the validity of the Vatican text. Archbishop Bertone and Bishop Seraphim de Sousa of Leiria met with Sister Lucia at her Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, on April 27, 2000. The Archbishop presented two envelopes to Sister Lucia. The first or outer envelope contained the second envelope, which held the Third Secret. Touching it with her fingers, Sister Lucia said, "This is my letter." Then, while reading it, she said, "This is my writing." [3] When asked if this document was the one and only Third Secret, Sister Lucia answered, "Yes, this is the Third Secret, and I never wrote any other." [4]

We have additional proof from Sister Lucia that the photocopy of the Third Secret was authentic. She met again with Archbishop Bertone on November 17, 2001. A communique about that meeting carried this most important point:

With reference to the third part of the secret of Fatima, [Sister Lucia] affirmed that she had attentively read and meditated upon the booklet published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [The Message of Fatima] and confirmed everything that was written there. To whoever imagines that some part of the secret has been hidden, she replied: "everything has been published; no secret remains." To those who speak and write of new revelations, she said: "There is no truth in this. If I had received new revelations, I would have told no one, but I would have communicated them directly to the Holy Father." [5]

Objection: The text of the Third Secret released by the Vatican contains no words attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The message of the Third Secret was not conveyed in words by our Lady, but in the various visions the children saw. Our Lady spoke simply by her actions, as when she prevented the fire from the flaming sword of the angel from touching the earth and consuming it. Archbishop Bertone explained:

The part of the text where the Virgin speaks in the first person wasn't censored, for the simple reason that it never existed. The text these people talk about just doesn't exist. I am not toeing some party line here. I'm basing my statement on Sister Lucia's own direct confirmation that the Third Secret is none other than the text that was published in the year 2000. [6]

Objection: The Vatican's copy of the Third Secret contains no information about a nuclear holocaust, a great apostasy, or the satanic infiltration of the Catholic Church.

Carl's Cuts for May 11, 2013

by Carl E. Olson | CWR blog

For every lengthy and (hopefully) in-depth blog post I write from time to time, there are countless posts I never get around to writing. In fact, I estimate that for every post I do end up writing, I read or skim through five or six dozen articles, essays, reviews, and such. The biggest challenge is simply time, but I also try to avoid simply posting something just to have "something up there". And then there are little stories or miscellaneous items that don't really warrant a full post, but might be of interest to some readers.

In years past, when blogging exclusively on Insight Scoop, I'd occasionally produce a round-up post, with several links, some with little or no commentary and a few with a bit more. That helped clear out the "in box", so to speak, and so I'm going to use the same approach once a week or so here on the CWR blog, under the title, "Carl's Cuts". The word "cuts" is used in a multi-facted way; I'll let you figure out the specific intentions as we move along here.

Some of these links have been around a few weeks. Perhaps you've already seen some of these stories. Whatever the case, they have made the cut for "Carl's Cuts". 

• Educatiional Quote: "If you happen to be Catholic, you can expect to be treated as a curious and repellent heretic, unenlightened about the latest word in sexual politics." It works well as a general summary of the state of things in the West, but it is from a recent New Criterion article, "The case of Bowdoin College", about a $60,000-a-year liberal arts college in Maine that is the poster-college, if you will, for the legacy of the Sixties. Not for the faint of heart, but certainly important reading for the sturdy of mind and soul.

• Signs of the Apocalypse: Prospect Magazine recently conducted a most thoughtful poll: "After more than 10,000 votes from over 100 countries, the results of Prospect’s world thinkers 2013 poll are in. Online polls often throw up curious results, but this top 10 offers a snapshot of the intellectual trends that dominate our age." And the winner is: Richard Dawkins. That does not bode well for the theory of evolution. Among Dawkins' brilliant achievements, the article proffers, is the coining of the term "meme", as well as being "prolific on Twitter." If making up words and using social media are the main criteria for intellectual greatness, we can rejoice in knowing that millions of geniuses are currently in their teens and early adulthood all around the world. Really, what does it say that over half of the top 65 picks are economists, sociologists, political scientists, activists, statisticians, and investment strategists? Nothing very good—and let me statistically analyze the ways and whys.

• Russell Shaw argues that "Leo XIII’s critique [of Americanism] is more substantial than apologists for Americanism care to admit. Much of it, in fact, is pertinent to conditions in American Catholicism today." Indeed, most pertinent.

• Believe it or not, blogger and author Brandon Vogt recently launched a website, StrangeNotions.com, focused on addressing atheism and skepticism. One of my articles, "Did Paul Invent Christianity?" (originally published in This Rock magazine) is on the site. Here is a list of contributors to the site.

• Rev. Robert A. Gahl, Jr., an associate professor of ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, has written an essay for The Washington Post that asks the question, "Can Pope Francis finish the job that Benedict began?" He writes that in the 1990s, "Ratzinger was leading the curial push to decisively deal with perpetrators who were still a threat because of some weak-minded administrators and their policy to move criminals first to treatment and then back into ministry." He also writes:

Ratzinger did not aim for a middle place between the competing interests of the victims and of the accused, but to ascertain the truth, reach a verdict, and impose a just penalty, all while doing everything possible to heal the victims and repair the damage done to the church and society. After noting my concern for judicial due process, he indicated his unshakeable commitment to do everything possible to root out abusive clergy, fully cognizant that he could be criticized by canon lawyers for eliminating traditional steps in ecclesiastical trials designed to protect the rights of the accused.

He concludes, "All signs point to a Pope Francis ready to keep cleaning the house of God." So far, it appears, so good. 

• Do you live in the one of the "20 Most Well-Read Cities" in the United States? ...

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

The Rise, Fall and Future of Catholicism in the U.S.

The Rise, Fall and Future of Catholicism in the U.S. | CWR Staff

An interview with Russell Shaw, author of American Church.

Author and journalist Russell Shaw has written over twenty books, including To Hunt, To Shoot, To Entertain: Clericalism and the Catholic Laity and Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic Church. For 18 years, Shaw directed media relations for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference. From 1987 to 1997 he oversaw media relations for the Knights of Columbus. Since resigning from that position, he has worked full time as a freelance writer. His most recent book, American Church: The Remarkable Rise, Meteoric Fall, and Uncertain Future of Catholicism in America (Ignatius Press, 2013), has been widely praised as an incisive examination of the recent history of the Catholic Church in the United States. “If you want to understand the Church in the United States and the challenges she now faces,” states Abp. Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia, “American Church should be on the short list of books you need to read.” Shaw recently answered some questions from CWR about his book and the past, present, and future of Catholicism in the United States.

CWR: How and why was James Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore such a key figure in the story of the Catholic Church in the U.S.?

Shaw: Cardinal Gibbons was Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death in 1921. That's 44 crucial years in American Catholic history during which he was the leader of the American hierarchy, recognized as such by Rome and by his episcopal colleagues. He also was leader of the Americanizing bishops—the members of the hierarchy who advocated rapid and total integration of immigrant Catholics into American culture.

The group included some who were more flamboyant, like Archbishop John Ireland of Saint Paul, and others who were more intellectual, like Bishop John Lancaster Spalding of Peoria, but the patient, prudent, diplomatic Gibbons was the most effective of them all, trusted by the Holy See and widely respected at home. By the time of his death, he was one of the most admired public figures in the country, and his policy of Americanization was the policy of the Church in the United States. I have no hesitation saying his impact on American Catholicism was greater than that of any bishop before or since..

CWR: You describe Orestes Brownson as "the most distinguished (and very nearly only) American Catholic public intellectual of his day." How did Brownson's view of the relationship between Catholicism and the American experiment change or develop? How accurate were his mostly negative assessment of that relationship?

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Proclaiming Christ Through Catholic Radio

Proclaiming Christ Through Catholic Radio | Jim Graves | Catholic World Report

An interview with Steve Gajdosik, president of the Catholic Radio Association

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City calls it “a bishop’s best friend.”  Bishop of Birmingham Robert Baker says it is an “indispensable tool.”  Archbishop of Denver Samuel Aquila refers to it as “a blessing which helps us to learn our faith and transform our hearts.”

Catholic radio is currently available on AM-FM radio to about 170 million Americans, or a little over half the nation, through about 250 Catholic radio stations. This may sound impressive, but it is dwarfed by the presence of non-Catholic Christian radio programming, which is delivered by 1,700 non-Catholic Christian stations. Additionally, there are still many major media markets—Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, and Memphis, to name a few—that do not have Catholic radio.

As compared to Protestants, Catholics have been slow to discover the importance of radio in evangelization. Nonetheless, Catholic presence on the airwaves has been steadily increasing in recent years, and, according to Steve Gajdosik, president of the Catholic Radio Association, a unique opportunity to grow that presence has arisen. The CRA is a support organization of Catholic radio network owner-operators, and has the end-goal of helping to “push the growth of Catholic radio” in the United States.

Gajdosik recently spoke with CWR about Catholic radio, its success as an evangelization tool and opportunities to expand its reach in the future.

CWR: Although 170 million Americans have access to Catholic programming via AM-FM radio stations, is there any way to know exactly how many are listening?

Gajdosik: No, we don’t have a direct way to measure the size of our audiences.  Most Catholic stations don’t subscribe to Arbitron [a consumer research company that collects listener data on radio audiences], so we don’t have a lot of data available to us.  One exception, however, is Relevant Radio, a Catholic network that operates in the Midwest.  They subscribe to Arbitron.  The most recent numbers they had for the Chicago market were out of this world.  People were tuning in to the station and staying with it.

CWR: How is Catholic radio programming produced?

Continue reading on the CWR site.

Pope Francis, Romans 8, and the theme of theosis

by Carl E. Olson | Catholic World Report blog

Pope Francis made some waves today when he spoke to the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) about "men and women of the Church who are careerists and social climbers, who 'use' people, the Church, their brothers and sisters—whom they should be serving—as a springboard for their own personal interests and ambitions." It was another example of how the Holy Father—pick a cliché—pulls no punches and wastes no words.

We'll have more about that particular address and related matters soon, but I want to reflect a moment on Francis's general audience today, which focused on the work of the Holy Spirit, the gift of divine life, and the mystery of divine sonship. These are topics and themes that he has touched on several times already in the first weeks of his pontificate. A month ago, in his April 10th general audience, Francis asked, "What does the Resurrection mean for our life?" His answer, in part, is that the Resurrection (as the Apostle Paul explained) is not just freedom from, but freedom for: "we are set free from the slavery of sin and become children of God; that is, we are born to new life." This freedom is received in and through the sacrament of Baptism. Having received the sacrament,

the baptized person emerged from the basin and put on a new robe, the white one; in other words, by immersing himself in the death and Resurrection of Christ he was born to new life. He had become a son of God. In his Letter to the Romans St Paul wrote: “you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry ‘Abba! Father! it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:15-16).

It is the Spirit himself whom we received in Baptism who teaches us, who spurs us to say to God: “Father” or, rather, “Abba!”, which means “papa” or [“dad”]. Our God is like this: he is a dad to us. The Holy Spirit creates within us this new condition as children of God. And this is the greatest gift we have received from the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. Moreover God treats us as children, he understands us, he forgives us, he embraces us, he loves us even when we err. In the Old Testament, the Prophet Isaiah was already affirming that even if a mother could forget her child, God never forgets us at any moment (cf. 49:15). And this is beautiful!

This gift of supernatural filiation goes by many names, including divinization, deification, and theosis, as it is widely known in the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox churches. It is a teaching that has long interested me. It was a key reason for becoming Catholic many years ago, and it is the focus of a book I am co-editing with Fr. David Meconi, SJ, editor of Homiletic & Pastoral Review and assistant professor of theological studies at Saint Louis University, whose doctoral dissertation was on St. Augustine’s use of deification. The book has fifteen chapters by fourteen contributors (as well as a Foreword by Dr. Scott Hahn) and it covers two thousand years of Catholic teaching on the topic of theosis, beginning with Scripture and concluding with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and recent papal documents. This week, I am finishing up the final section of the opening chapter, co-authored with Fr. Meconi, on theosis in Sacred Scripture.

And so today's audience by Francis caught my attention, as he returns to the same themes as he highlighted a month ago. For example:

Continue reading on the CWR blog.

The Glorious Chant of "Angels and Saints at Ephesus"

The Glorious Chant of "Angels and Saints at Ephesus" | Christopher S. Morrissey | Catholic World Report

A beautiful new album from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, helps us make room in our lives for truth.

Everybody likes singing Sisters. I remember as a child hearing the music that my mother liked to play. They were vinyl records and sometimes my memory can still recreate the voices of those women religious.

Today the delivery method has changed. Direct digital downloads are now possible. Recently, some liturgical chants have been finding their way out from the Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus and into the world by way of the digital path.

The Sisters there live a life of union with God in prayer according to the Rule of St. Benedict. They have a love for the traditional liturgy and devote themselves in a special way to prayerfully interceding for the sacred priesthood and to making vestments and altar linens. Founded in 1995, this young, monastic order of Sisters sings together eight times a day, chanting the Divine Office in Latin.

Their previous album with De Montfort Music and Decca Records, Advent at Ephesus, was a big hit last year. This week, their new album, Angels and Saints at Ephesus, is released. It contains a nice selection of hymns and chants from various liturgical occasions.

Nine-time International Grammy-winning producer Christopher Alder (from Germany) and two-time Grammy-winning engineer Mark Donahue worked together to capture the sound of the Sisters in their contemplative environment. Because the music comes forth from the genuine liturgical life lived by the Sisters, it has an authenticity and purity that gives it a special charm.

I think that if we make a deliberate effort to integrate this sort of music into our own daily practices, we can, when we listen to it, create a space in our lives that helps us replace ugliness with beauty. We can thereby dwell in a place where we become better able to contemplate truth and to grow in our understanding of truth.

The reason I emphasize this link between beauty and truth is because Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, when he was still a cardinal, made a very important speech on this theme. It was called, “Wounded By the Arrow of Beauty,” and it is still available in a book from Ignatius Press.

“The encounter with beauty can become the wound of the arrow that strikes the soul and thus makes it see clearly, so that henceforth it has criteria, based on what it has experienced, and can now weigh the arguments correctly,” said then-Cardinal Ratzinger.

Beauty thus serves a great purpose. It educates our perceptions in order that we may proceed to grasp truth better. As Ratzinger explained it, beauty “brings us into contact with the power of truth.” The danger, however, is that an album such as Angels and Saints at Ephesus becomes just another commodity in the marketplace. And if we are honest, we will observe that such has often been the case with previous instances of hit records of sacred music. (Anyone remember the Gregorian chant craze from a while back?)

The problem is that people sample an exotic new thing only for a while. They enter into its spirit only in a superficial way. They soon move on to something else that becomes a newer source of distraction or excitement in their lives.

Continue reading on the CWR site.