Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog

Shudder (from Down Under)

From The Australian, a description of "Mass" at the parish of wayward (and now dismissed) priest Peter Kennedy:

As mass begins at St Mary’s Catholic Church in South Brisbane, there is no sign of a priest. Peter Kennedy, who the Catholic Church calls the parish priest but who is called the “Mass presider” in the St Mary’s newsletter, is walking around, but there’s no dog collar, vestments, or any of the other orthodox trappings of a Catholic priest. On this muggy January day, Father Kennedy wears white trousers and a loose, short-sleeved white shirt.

The interior also looks different from most Catholic churches. Instead of sitting in rows of pews facing the altar, the congregation gathers around a central table, turning its back on the 19th century sanctuary at one end of the church, with its stained-glass windows, pictures of Mary and Jesus, and marble statues. In this church-in-the-round, the most eye-catching symbol is an Aboriginal flag.

When the service starts, it is led by a voice seldom heard in this role in the Catholic Church – that of a woman. She asks the congregation, which numbers about 200 on this Saturday evening, to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and the wrongs done to them by the newcomers to this land. Then she leads the congregation in prayer.

After the prayer comes Father Terry Fitzpatrick, another “Mass presider” of St Mary’s but not recognised as such by the Queensland division of the Catholic Church. His official archdiocese is the Darling Downs, but he has been attached to St Mary’s for more than 15 years. Tonight he talks to the congregation not of the Bible, but of meditation techniques. Then he rings a bell that signals the start of 12 minutes of contemplation, after which there is a reading. But this is not a reading from the Bible. It is, instead, from a letter by one of the congregation, although here, the congregation is called the St Mary’s community. “I don’t come to St Mary’s because it is a Catholic place of worship,” the letter reads. “I come because it has everything I seek in my own life – love, truth, authenticity, integrity, justice, unity, compassion, openness and friendship.”

After the reading there is a sermon, or homily, which is almost never given by Father Kennedy. Homilists in recent weeks have included Sean Leahy, the cartoonist at Brisbane’s The Courier Mail newspaper, who spoke about his previous (failed) experiences with religion before he found the spiritual nourishment he was looking for at St Mary’s, as well as indigenous activists Sam Watson and Dennis Walker, the son of the late, celebrated poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker).

For the first 45 minutes of the service the only connection with the standard Mass is a short Bible reading. For communion, there is no queue of people lining up to be given bread and wine by the priest in front of an altar. Instead, it’s a bit of a free-for-all, with parishioners gathering around to receive bread and wine from various lay people, while many of the congregation emulate the priests by waving their hands over the table.

Kennedy claims that these blatant liturgical abuses are somehow serving the needs of the "St. Mary's community." Further:

Here's a term you might be hearing more of...

... in the near future: scientific authoritarianism.

Hearing "Christian-based music groups" is an "unapproved religious activity"?

I wonder if driving by a church building also constitutes "exposing children to unapproved religious activities"? From The Christan Post, this insane story:

A veteran youth counselor is suing a California children's home after she was suspended without pay because teenagers under her supervision overheard Christian music.

In a suit filed on Feb. 13, Maureen Loya charged Orangewood Children's Home with religious discrimination for slapping her with a six-week suspension for "exposing children to unapproved religious activities."

In July 2006, the counselor took four teenage girls from the Orangewood Children's Home on an approved field trip to the Anaheim 5K run and then to the beach.

When the group went to Huntington Beach pier, they encountered the Surfrider Foundation's Celebrity Surf Jam, which featured a surfing competition and concert as part an effort to raise awareness and support for our nation's beach and coastal environments. The event's entertainment included Christian-based music groups Incubus and Switchfoot. According to the suit, the group overheard ten minutes of Christian music as they were eating. The girls also visited booths at the pier, some of which were selling Christian items.

I can see the concern if the music was by, say, early Whiteheart, Sandi Patti, Mortification, Horde, or something by these folks. But Switchfoot? That's just wrong.

Archbishop Dolan appointed to New York

From Catholic News Agency:

Today Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee to become the next Archbishop of New York, a see that the Vatican more than once has described as “the capital of the world.”

<snip>

He was installed as Milwaukee's 10th Archbishop on August 28, 2002, following the controversial leadership of Archbishop Rembert Weakland, whose resignation was accepted less than 24 hours after its submission to the Vatican, after he admitted having a sexual relationship with an adult man in the 80s.

During his years in Milwaukee, the Archbishop-elect of New York earned a reputation of a “fish-and-chips type of man" –as he described himself when appointed to Milwaukee, - capable of building a good relationship with the priests of the diocese, while at the same time restoring a sense of authority and fidelity to the teachings of the Church.

Read more.

And here is more from American Papist.

The New York Times begins its piece about the appointment, titled "A Genial Enforcer of Rome’s Doctrine", in predictably negative fashion:

For a few deeply unpleasant days, the Rev. David Cooper found himself in the crosshairs of the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

It was 2003, and the priest had opined to a reporter that women should be ordained. Faraway bishops rumbled about censure. Then he picked up the telephone and heard the baritone of Milwaukee’s archbishop, Timothy Michael Dolan. Father Cooper immediately offered to resign.

No, no, the archbishop replied, we just need to repair the damage. “He was very pastoral and caring,” Father Cooper recalled.

And how was it resolved? “Oh, I agreed to recant,” he said. “He effectively silenced me.”

Come to think of it, that really isn't so negative at all, is it?

Studying The Early Christians

Studying The Early Christians: The Introduction to We Look For the Kingdom: The Everyday Lives of the Early Christians | Carl J. Sommer

A common perception is that we live in an age indifferent or even hostile to the study of history. This perception is fed by the stereotype of the teenager bored with the endless memorization of dates and facts. But there are plenty of reasons to think that people are not really bored with history after all. A trip to the local bookseller will confirm one inescapable fact. Every bookstore has a large section devoted to history. There are always two or three people milling around in these sections, thumbing through thick tomes on who-knows-what obscure subject. And plenty of these people finally snap their books shut and stride purposefully over to the cash register with their new possession. The simple fact is there are plenty of people who love history and can't stop filling their bookshelves with books on every imaginable historical subject.

Why do we read history? I suppose there are three reasons. First, and most basically, we love a good story. We read history for the same reason our ancestors told stories around the campfire, with the youngsters hanging on every word. The second reason is related to the first; like the Greeks and Romans themselves, we read history for inspiration. The stories of great deeds from the past motivate us to try harder, to strive to do great deeds in our own time. The third reason is more spiritual in nature. It is trite but true to say that we read history to gain insight into our roots. By studying the past we learn who we are and how we came to be where we are, and, hopefully, how to chart out a wise course for the future.

This third reason, once the most widely cited of all reasons for studying history, is currently in question. In our day, one of the greatest debates among philosophers, theologians, historians, and social scientists has to do with the question of human nature. To put the matter plainly, the question is, is there such a thing as human nature? Are there any facts about man that are true of all people, in all times? To you and me, the answer to these questions might seem obvious, but, with some notable exceptions, most historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers today argue that there is no such thing as human nature.

Continue reading...

If I understand Douglas W. Kmiec's argument correctly...

... he is suggesting—in this February 20, 2009, piece for TIME magazine—that the Vatican's short statement about Pope Benedict XVI's fifteen-minute conversation with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was a potentially radical intrusion into the juridical system of the United States:

What was quite surprising, and overlooked, had to do with a different branch of the U.S. government. If you read it carefully, the statement is actually quite radical — perhaps unintentionally so. The brief message — just two short paragraphs — draws no distinction between the moral duties of Catholic policymakers and Catholic judges to work against abortion.

As a lifelong Catholic, Pelosi could not feign surprise at being called upon by the Church to use her gift for persuasion to restrict abortion legislatively, or at least not to be its advocate. But until now, the Church had not formally instructed judges in a similar fashion. As written, the Pope's statement has the potential, at least theoretically, to empty the U.S. Supreme Court of all five of its Catholic jurists and perhaps all other Catholics who sit on the bench in the lower federal and state courts.

This doesn't make sense for a number of reasons, many of them spelled out by Fr. Z., who provides line-by-line commentary on Kmiec's piece. Fr. Z. points out that Kmiec appears to be misreading the term "jurist," which has a different meaning in the U.S. than it does in Europe. In the U.S. the term tends to be applied to judges, while in Europe it is used, generally speaking, in a much broader sense to refer to anyone with a degree in law—and not just lawyers, but also a legal assistant.

Even so—to my non-legally-trained/educated mind—Kmiec's aversion to judges who would take into consideration natural law and/or Church moral teaching is puzzling. What is most bothersome is Kmiec continues to act as though "Roe vs. Wade" is not only set in stone, it is nigh sacred. Yet it seems rather obvious that "Roe vs. Wade" is, according the Church's teachings, an unjust law:

"Primacy in Love": The Chair Altar of Saint Peter's in Rome

"Primacy in Love": The Chair Altar of Saint Peter's in Rome | Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger | From Images of Hope

Anyone who, after wandering through the massive nave of Saint Peter's Basilica, at last arrives at the final altar in the apse would probably expect here a triumphal depiction of Saint Peter, around whose tomb the church is built. But nothing of the kind is the case. The figure of the Apostle does not appear among the sculptures of this altar. Instead, we stand before an empty throne that almost seems to float but is supported by the four figures of the great Church teachers of the West and the East. The muted light over the throne emanates from the window surrounded by floating angels, who conduct the rays of light downward.

What is this whole composition trying to express? What does it tell us? It seems to me that a deep analysis of the essence of the Church lies hidden here, is contained here, an analysis of the office of Peter. Let us begin with the window, with its muted colors, which both gathers in to the center and opens outward and upward. It unites the Church with creation as a whole. It signifies through the dove of the Holy Spirit that God is the actual source of all light. But it tells us also something else) the Church herself is in essence, so to speak, a window, a place of contact between the other-worldly mystery of God and our world, the place where the world is permeable to the radiance of his light. The Church is not there for herself, she is not an end, but rather a point of departure beyond herself and us. The more transparent she becomes for the other, from whom she comes and to whom she leads, the more she fulfills her true essence. Through the window of her faith God enters this world and awakens in us the longing for what is greater. The Church is the place of encounter where God meets us and we find God. It is her task to open up a world closing in on itself, to give it the light without which it would be unlivable.

Continue reading...

What is a "Catholic denomination"?

Answer: Any group holding services that look "nearly identical to a traditional Roman Catholic mass" but aren't an actual Mass, whose "priests" are not validly ordained or recognized by the Catholic Church, which has rejected the papacy and the Magisterium, which supports and carries out the "ordination" of women, and—this is vital!—which aren't actually Catholic.

Just in case you were wondering.

This public service message brought to you by a non-denominational Catholic.

Was it "dialogue" or papal instruction about Church teaching?

Somehow, some way, I ended up on an e-mail list for Catholic Democrats, who sent out a cyber missive yesterday which states, "Catholic Democrats is applauding both Pope Benedict XVI and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
 Nancy Pelosi (D-California) for meeting and establishing a dialogue on critical
 issues facing the United Sates and the global community."

You'll recall (hey, it's been a couple of days) that the Vatican had released this rather curt statement following the Pope-Pelosi meeting:

"Following the general audience the Holy Father briefly greeted Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage.

"His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in co-operation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development".

Catholic Democrats have a slightly different, uh, take on the matter:

Baptist pastor in Berkeley sentenced to thirty days in jail...

... for violating Oakland's so-called "bubble law," more formally known as “Access to Reproductive Health Care Facilities Ordinance.” The story about Rev. Walter Hoye from California Catholic Daily:

In a courtroom jammed to capacity with spectators, a judge yesterday sentenced a Baptist pastor from Berkeley to 30 days in jail, fined him $1,130 and placed him on probation for three years for violating Oakland’s restrictive ‘bubble law,’ crafted to keep pro-life sidewalk counselors away from women entering abortion centers.

Observers said as many as 150 people were outside the courtroom, which seats only about 60, before the 1:30 p.m. hearing began. Some of the standing-room-only crowd were there to support the embattled pro-lifer, while others showed up to back the abortion clinic.

Alameda Superior Court Judge Stuart Hing sentenced the Rev. Walter Hoye amidst what one attorney close to the case called “total chaos, procedurally speaking” after Hoye refused to accept as a condition of probation an order that he stay away from the Oakland abortion clinic where he was arrested. Hing said Rev. Hoye could serve his jail time “by alternative means,” which defense attorney Dana Cody said would “likely mean some kind of community service.”

From the Catholics for the Common Good website:

One of Walter’s attorneys, Mike Millen, made the point that there was a "conspicuous absence" of clients at the trial that Rev Hoye was alleged to have harassed.

Despite the lack of any evidence or a victim, Hoye was inexplicably convicted of something he did not do on January 15. This was a grave injustice.

In protest of the sentence, supporters of Walter Hoye, led by black pastors, left the courtroom singing “We shall overcome”. I spoke with several black pastors who told me that this was a wake up call. Thanks to Walter Hoye’s efforts and this incident, they are now starting to understand how black women and their babies have been targeted, and the impact abortion is having on their community.

Well over 100 people came to support Walter. About 80 people remained in the corridor just outside the courtroom praying on their knees. It was beautiful.

A number of abortion clinic workers and their allies tried to disrupt prayers and hymns before the doors of the courtroom opened. Crassly, they started chanting, “Separate church and state, women will decide their fate.” They don’t get it. They also used their power to somehow convince the judge to change normal procedures for public access to the courtroom, giving them preferential treatment over many of Hoye’s friends and supporters that had been waiting in line for hours.

Video showing how Hoye was hounded by abortion clinic workers who tried to cover up his sign can be viewed on this page.

Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, has commented on the case.

Returning for a moment to the “Access to Reproductive Health Care Facilities Ordinance," it's worth noting upon what basis the ordinance is constructed:

The City Council finds that every person in the City of Oakland has a basic and fundamental right to privacy protected by the United States Constitution and explicitly guaranteed in California’s Constitution, Article 1, Section 1, including the right to seek and obtain all health care services permitted under the laws of this State.

Once again, the apparently timeless and all-encompassing "right to privacy" is used to support, defend, protect, and promote the culture of death. Once again, I highly recommend Dr. Janet Smith's excellent little book, The Right to Privacy, which clearly demonstrates how this recent legal creation has been, in many ways, at the heart of the pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, and pro-homosexual movements of the past several decades.

Canon 915...

... is short and to the point:

Can.  915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.

It is also hotly debated, and has been for some time, especially regarding pro-abortion Catholic politicians who continue to receive Holy Communion despite publicly supporting "pro-choice" legislation, funding, and so forth. Now PewSitter.com has put forth an online petition "to withhold Holy Communion" from "prominent Catholics":

Whereas I, YOUR NAME, a faithful Catholic residing within the diocese of YOUR DIOCESE do find the reception of Holy Communion by these prominent Catholics to be scandalous; I fear that it sets an example that will undoubtedly mislead others into participating, condoning and justifying these same immoral activities.

Whereas, Canon 212 '3, states that the Catholic faithful have ..the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church.

Be it therefore resolved in accordance with Canon 212 '3 , that I, YOUR NAME, do petition my Bishop, YOUR BISHOP, to extinguish this scandal by publicly disciplining such prominent Catholics that reside within his diocese, through the withholding of the Holy Communion, as stipulated in Canon 915, until such time as they have been reconciled with the Church.

Read the entire petition. Dr. Ed Peters comments:

The petition calls for withholding of holy Communion under Canon 915 and in this regard it avoids the highly contentious, and I think erroneous, claim that certain politicians should be subject to excommunication for their actions. Moreover, the petition avoids identifying specific politicians for action under Canon 915, even though a strong case can be made for such action in the case of, say, Nancy Pelosi. Each politician's situation, as I have said, needs to be examined individually by competent experts; this is by no means an impossible task, but it is not one best conducted in the blogosphere.

Read his entire post, which also addresses the claim, made on the America blog, that "the 'No Communion' policy is a radical innovation that should be resisted" and that it "requires applying the canons in ways that are novel and dubious."

• Excommunication! | An interview with canon lawyer Dr. Edward Peters | Ignatius Insight

Cardinal Arinze to lead Pope's 2009 Lenten retreat

Francis Cardinal Arinze, the recently retired prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacrament, will be leading Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 Lenten retreat, reports CNS. "During the March 1-7 retreat, the 76-year-old cardinal will focus on the theme 'The Priest Encounters Jesus and Follows Him.'" Here is more of the story.

And here are some related Ignatius Insight book excerpts:

C.S. Lewis, enslaved and tortured...

... for thirty years by a woman twenty years his senior. The true story, told by Alice von Hildebrand (ht: "The Daily Kraken").

How's The View?

I don't watch it, but it appears to be a completely insane talk show featuring the sort of silly, petty, stupid, mean, and downright bizarre "commentary" that you might expect on a "reality show." Not that reality has much to do with "The View." At least that's how I see it.

The rotten fruits of cultural Catholicism

Or: A short vignette describing what happens when young, poorly catechized Catholics rely on emotions and the MSM to form their "thoughts" about things they should know something about, but—alas!—do not.

The opinion editor of The Orion, the student newspaper of California State University, carefully outlines her credentials as critic of matters Catholic and papal:

For those of you who don't know, when you're Italian you're kind of Catholic by heritage. You don't really get a choice, and even if you aren't practicing, you're Catholic. If you're not Catholic, you're not Italian.

Here's the catch: I think the Pope is absolutely ridiculous. I suppose that makes me a heretic but I can't help it.

She can't help it? So, is it fate that has caused her to arrive at such a thoughtless position, or simply a nascent desire to rebuke her (apparently ardently nominal) Catholic heritage, combined with knee-jerk, unthinking chugalugging from a keg of Benedict bashing? I think you know my choice; it is amply supported by comments such as this one:

I remember watching the Pope, Joseph Ratzinger get elected in 2005, and my immediate thought was, "oh my God, they picked the creepiest looking guy in the running." The next thing I heard was a rumor that he was part of the Nazi Youth.

Awesome, a creepy-looking ex-Nazi Pope in ornate robes and a huge funny hat.

Having shown herself shallow, she then shows herself callow, demonstrating that while she didn't choose to be Catholic, she has chosen to be clueless about Catholicism:

Williamson should not have been rehabilitated in the first place, but now that he has been, he should be excommunicated again. Especially because the Pope says his beliefs are intolerable.

Strict Catholics believe the Pope is infallible. This is where I get confused. Maybe I'm just crazy, but I think directly contradicting yourself by saying particular views are "intolerable" and then rehabilitating someone who holds those views is a mistake. Therefore, he seems very fallible.

The whole Papal position to me seems a little outdated and a lot ridiculous. What does this guy do other than ride around in the Pope-mobile, condemn good people, forgive bad ones and offend believers and non-believers alike?

In this modern age, I don't think many people care too much about the Pope anyway. Even so, he should still be able to make basic value judgments and think critically about the people he chooses to rehabilitate.

One laughs. One cries. But wait, consider something she wrote shortly before the November 2008 elections:

Ignorant voters are undermining democracy and should consider educating themselves on the issues or keeping their opinions to themselves until they do. While there is no inherent problem with rallying the youth of the nation to vote, there should be a qualifier attached to the phrase: educate yourself, then vote.

People who vote without being properly educated on the issues are just stupid. This is where young voters come in. Young people are encouraged to vote, but most don't take the time to learn about the issues, since politics is less interesting than the latest episode of "Grey's Anatomy."

Hmmm. Let's try it again, but with a couple of changes:

Ignorant Catholics are undermining Catholicism and should consider educating themselves on the issues or keeping their opinions to themselves until they do. While there is no inherent problem with rallying the youth of the nation to have opinions, there should be a qualifier attached to the phrase: educate yourself, then express your opinion.

People who vent their opinion without being properly educated on the issues are just stupid. This is where young people come in. Young people are encouraged to have opinions, but most don't take the time to learn about the issues, since Catholicism is less interesting than the latest episode of "Grey's Anatomy."

Here's hoping the young lady decides to actually hunt for the truth as she continues writing for The Orion...

Pelosi's spokesman: Meeting with Niederauer "went well"

From Valerie Schmalz and Our Sunday Visitor:

“It went well,” Daly said. “They both thought it was productive and agreed they would meet in the future at some point.” Daly said they did not set a date.

Daly said that the meeting did not sway Pelosi's stance on life issues. “She is not changing her position on abortion,” he said.

Read the entire post.

Thoughts, background on the Pope and Pelosi story

Not surprisingly, there are many news pieces and a deluge of opinion pieces about the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Good round-ups can be found on "The Anchoress" blog and at "Hot Air".

One question that has interested me since it was learned that Pelosi would be meeting the Pope was: "What does she hope to accomplish?" Did she think that by meeting with Benedict she could create the impression, which she has long cultivated, that she is a good and loyal Catholic whose beliefs are not in conflict with Church teaching? I'm inclined to think so. George Weigel, writing of the meeting, remarks,

Charity requires that one concede the possibility that genuine piety was a part of Pelosi’s (rather boorish, and certainly irregular) insistence on being given a private moment with the pope during her current taxpayer-funded junket to Rome. But her office’s statement on today’s meeting makes it clear something else was afoot: that Pelosi, who shamelessly trumpets her “ardent” Catholicism while leading congressional Democrats in a continuing assault on what the Catholic Church regards as the inalienable human rights of the unborn, was trying to recruit Benedict XVI (“Joseph Ratzinger, D., Bavaria”?) to Team Nancy.

The Holy Father, as Weigel notes, wasn't buying it. Put in more blunt terms, he wasn't going to be a tool or PR prop for Pelosi's hubristic attempts to both spin her positions and ignore clear Church teaching. And if it is true, as is now being reported, that Pelosi actually did meet, on February 8th, with Archbishop George Niederauer and still refused to reconsider her stance on abortion, you can be sure one wonders if Benedict knew about it and, if so, took it into serious consideration as to how he would approach her.

On a related note, Cathy Lynn Grossman of USA Today's "Faith and Reason" blog wrote this about the meeting:

Pelosi no doubt knows more people may see a photo of her audience with the pontiff, than will pay attention to whether she's "with" Church teachings. That's how President Bush played his visit to the late Pope John Paul II, who strongly opposed the invasion of Iraq. All the world saw the two together while few noted the pope's critical comments.

That last sentence didn't sound right to me (especially since I've read so many stories about John Paul II (and Benedict XVI), President Bush, and the Iraqi War, so I did a few Google searches and found the following:

• "Pope John Paul II raises Iraq issue in meeting with Bush" (USA Today, June 4, 2004)
• "Bush takes a tongue-lashing from the Pope over Iraq" (The Guardian, June 5, 2004)
• "Vatican to Bush: Iraq war would be 'disaster'" (CNN.com, March 6, 2003)
• "Vatican Stands Firm Against Iraq War" (NBC News, Feb. 28, 2003)
• "Pope condemns war in Iraq" (BBC News, Jan. 13, 2003)
• "Pope fears Iraq war could mean religious catastrophe" (ABC [Australia] News, Mar. 30, 2003)
• "Pope Presses Bush on Iraq Violence" (The Washington Post, June 4, 2004)
• "A pope of peace and Bush's war" (The Boston Globe, April 6, 2005)

And a few more, but about Benedict XVI and Bush:

• "Pope Shares Iraq Concerns in Meeting With Bush" (New York Times, June 10, 2007)
• "On Iraq, pope’s message to Bush is quiet but firm" (Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2007)
• "A Rift Over Iraq Between President and Pope" (U.S. News and World Report, April 16, 2008)
• "POPE ON IRAQ: ENOUGH WITH THE BLOODSHED" (Zenit, Mar. 16, 2008)

Few noted? Really?

Related Insight Scoop posts:

• Speaker Pelosi keeps polluting the waters... (Aug. 7, 2008)
• Archbishop Chaput chastises and catechizes Speaker Pelosi (Aug. 25, 2008)
• Bishops respond to Speaker Pelosi, self-described "ardent Catholic" (Aug. 26, 2008)
• Biden: "My views are totally consistent with Catholic social doctrine..." (Aug. 27, 2008)
• L.A. Times columnist misuses Jesuit Murray to defend Senator Biden (August 27, 2008)
• Further rebuke and lessons for Pelosi (Aug. 28, 2008)
• More bishops respond to Speaker Pelosi's remarks on abortion (Sept. 1, 2008)
• USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities responds further to Pelosi (Sept. 2, 2008)
• Cardinal George: Abortion is evil and contrary to the common good (Sept. 4, 2008)
• Archbishop Niederauer "invites" Pelosi "into a conversation" about abortion (Sept. 5, 2008)
• Bishop Robert Vasa: Pelosi "is not formed by either Augustine or the Catholic Church" (Sept. 5, 2008)
• Pelosi OKs talk with SF bishop on church teachings (Sept. 6, 2008)
• Biden pulls a Pelosi? Sure looks like it (Sept. 7, 2008)
• Archbishop Chaput comments on Senator Biden's comments (Sept. 8, 2008)
• Catholics who are shamelessly clueless about the Bible (April 25, 2008)
• Catholicism, Pelosi style (Jan. 26, 2007)

Benedict reflects on life, work of St. Bede the Venerable

From Vatican Information Service:

VENERABLE BEDE: SAINT AND SCHOLAR

VATICAN CITY, 18 FEB 2009 (VIS) - In the general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 15,000 people, Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to St. Bede the Venerable.

 Bede was born around the year 672 in the English region of Northumbria. When he was seven years old his family entrusted his education to the abbot of a nearby Benedictine monastery and he became, the Holy Father explained, "one of the most outstanding scholars of the early Middle Ages. ... His teaching and the fame of his writings brought him many friends among the principal personages of his day, who encouraged him to continue his work, which brought benefits to so many people".

 "Sacred Scripture was the constant source of Bede's theological reflections". He considered "the events of the Old and New Testaments jointly" as "a way towards Christ", a testament to the same faith, "though expressed using different signs and institutions".

 As an example of this, Benedict XVI mentioned Bede's interpretation of the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem: "Just as pagans also helped to build the ancient Temple by supplying materials and the technical experience of their master builders, so the edification of the Church involved apostles and masters who came not just from the ancient Hebrew, Greek or Latin peoples, but also from the new peoples, among whom Bede mentions the Irish Celts and the Anglo-Saxons".

 The Pope then dwelt upon some of the saint's written works, such as the "'Chronica Maiora' in which he establishes a chronology which would become the basis of the universal calendar 'ab incarnatione Domini', ... and his 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', for which he is known as the father of English historiography.

 "The characteristic traits of the Church which Bede sought to underline are: catholicity, seen as faithfulness to tradition while remaining open to historical developments, and as the search for 'unity in diversity', ... and apostolicity and 'Romanitas'. In this context Bede considered it vitally important to convince the Churches of the Celts and the Picts to celebrate Easter together, in accordance with the Roman calendar".

 "Bede was also a great master of liturgical theology, ... educating the faithful to celebrate the mysteries of the faith with joy, and to reflect those mysteries coherently in their lives while awaiting their full manifestation in the return of Christ".

 "Thanks to his approach to theology - which involved a combination of the Bible, liturgy and history - Bede has a modern message for the various 'states' of Christian life", said the Pope. "He reminds scholars of two essential tasks: scrutinising the marvels of the Word of God so as to present them in a manner attractive to the faithful, and explaining dogmatic truths while avoiding heretical complications and keeping to 'Catholic simplicity', with the attitude of the meek and humble to whom it pleases God to reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom".

 For their part, pastors "must give priority to preaching, not only through sermons and hagiographies, but also by using icons, processions and pilgrimages". To consecrated people, "Bede recommends focus on the apostolate, both by collaborating with bishops in various kinds of pastoral activities in support of young Christian communities, and by offering themselves for evangelising missions".

 The scholar saint also affirmed that Christ "wants an industrious Church, ... one intent on cultivating other fields and vineyards, .... in other words on introducing the Gospel into the social fabric and cultural institutions". He also "exhorted the lay faithful to be assiduous in their religious education, ... He taught them how to pray continuously, ... offering all their actions as a spiritual sacrifice in union with Christ".

 The Venerable Bede died in May of the year 735. "It is a fact", Pope Benedict concluded, "that with his works he made an effective contribution to the construction of a Christian Europe".

Related, from Ignatius Press:

Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine
Pope Benedict XVI

Following his best selling book, Jesus of Nazareth, and his talks published in Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church, Pope Benedict's Church Fathers presents these important figures of early Christianity in all their evangelical vitality, spiritual profundity, and uncompromising love of God. Benedict tells the true story of Christianity's against-all-odds triumph in the face of fierce Roman hostility and persecution. He does this by exploring the lives and the ideas of the early Christian writers, pastors, and martyrs, men so important to the spread of Christianity that history remembers them as "the Fathers of the Church".

This rich and engrossing survey of the early Church includes those churchmen who immediately succeeded the Apostles, the "Apostolic Fathers": Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyon. Benedict also discusses such great Christian figures as Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian of Carthage, the Cappadocian Fathers, as well as the giants John Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine. This book is a wonderful way to get to know the Church Fathers and the tremendous spiritually rich patrimony they have bequeathed to us. Continue reading...

The Pope and Pelosi

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday told U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, that Catholic politicians have a duty to protect life "at all stages of its development," the Vatican said.

More here.

Here is the Vatican summary:

"Following the general audience the Holy Father briefly greeted Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage.

"His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in co-operation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development".

All Catholics, and esp. legislators.

Here is Pelosi's comment:

"It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI today.

"In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel.

"I was proud to show his Holiness a photograph of my family's Papal visit in the 1950s, as well as a recent picture of our children and grandchildren."

 

 

A Delectable Fruit of the Cactus for the Eagle

A Delectable Fruit of the Cactus for the Eagle | Paul Badde | Chapter One of María of Guadalupe: Shaper of History, Shaper of Hearts

With wood from the Santa Marla, Christopher Columbus built the first house in America. Hernán Cortés conquered Mexico. The growling of dogs on the beach and the dawn of the modern era lie heavy over the cities of New World and Old.

On the morning of August 3, 1492, sails billowing in the first wind, Columbus sailed from Andalusia in the Santa María, together with the Niña and the Pinta, in order, as he confides in the ship's log, to search for a westerly sea route to Jerusalem. If the names of his ships had been listed in another  way, they would have made the phrase "Holy Mary (Santa María) paints (pinta) the girl (niña)". In itself, this would have been striking. However, this was only the beginning of the incredible story of the dark Lady, who, five hundred years after the discovery of America, still waits to be discovered by Europe, Asia, Africa and other parts of the world.

Historians say that, on Christmas night, 1492, the Santa María ran aground on a sandbar off of Haiti. Columbus decided to dismantle the grounded flagship and "build a fort out of what was salvaged". However, some years ago on the docks of the port of Barcelona, I saw an exact reproduction of the caravel Santa María. I doubt that with the planks and masts of this nutshell anyone could have managed to construct a fort. Two or three huts, perhaps, or a house—or even a small barricaded chapel. There was not enough material for more. The one thing that seems sure is that from the remains of the Santa María the first European house was raised in the New World. A year later it was pulled down and reduced to ashes.

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