Feast of Jesus the Divine Master

Blessed James Alberione gave to his followers the challenge to live and to give Jesus the Master who declared himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, indeed humanity's only way, truth and life. The Feast of Jesus Master is celebrated by the Pauline Family on the last Sunday of October. Here is a reflection recently given by Fr. Cantalamessa on Jesus the Teacher:

What does it mean that Jesus is the only master? It does not mean that this title cannot be used henceforth by anyone else, that no one has the right to have himself called master. It means that no one has the right to have himself called master with a capital letter, as if he were the ultimate owner of truth and taught, in his own name, the truth about God.

Jesus is the supreme and definitive revelation of God to men, who contains in himself all the partial revelatios that have existed before and after him. He did not limit himself to reveal to us who God is, he has also told us what God wants, what his will is for us. The man of today must be reminded of this, tempted by ethical relativism. Pope John Paul II did so in the encyclical "The Splendor of Truth," and his successor Benedict XVI does not cease to insist on it.

It is not about excluding a healthy pluralism of perspectives on questions that are still open or new problems that humanity faces, but of combating that form of absolute relativism that denies the possibility of sure and definitive truths.

Against this relativism the magisterium of the Church affirms that there is an absolute truth because God exists who is the gauge of truth. This essential truth, to be identified certainly with ever greater care, is imprinted on the conscience. But given that the conscience is blurred by sin, by harmful customs and examples, behold the role of Christ, who came to reveal this truth of God in a clear way; behold the role of the Church and of her magisterium, which explains this truth of Christ and applies it to the changing situations of life.

A personal result of today's reflection on the Gospel would be to rediscover what an honor, unheard of privilege, and "title of recommendation" it is, before God, to be disciples of Jesus of Nazareth; for us to put that also on the top of our "references." That any one who sees or hears us can say of us
what the woman said to Peter in the Sanhedrin's courtyard: "You are also one of his disciples. Your conduct betrays you" (Matthew 26:73). [Italian original published in Famiglia Cristiana; english translation by ZENIT.]

Benedict's First Encyclical?

The Inside the Vatican Newsflash reported today:

It was reported in Rome in mid-October that Pope Benedict has already written his first encyclical, that the topic is the personal relationship of individual believers with Jesus Christ, and that the publication date will be December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception. If true, this means that Benedict will use his first great "teaching moment" to direct the attention of all Catholics to the most central truth of the Christian faith: that to live fully is to be in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to "put on" Christ, to be "filled with Christ's Spirit"... to "become Christ." And it is precisely this process of "putting on Christ," of "becoming Christ," of "Christification" which is the essential purpose of that Christian community we call the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church.

Church recognizes the importance of the media

From Archbishop Foley regarding the important of the presence of the Church in the mass media.

Just as St. Paul went to the Areopagus of Athens, because public opinion and the consequent decisions were generated there, the Church is well aware now that the primary Areopagus is the mass media.

Thus the importance and mysticism of the Pauline apostolate founded by Blessed James Alberione who had already understood this in 1914 and 1915 when he founded the Society of St. Paul and the Daughters of St. Paul.

Bishops speak on Over the Counter Morning After Pill

In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, an official of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) opposed permitting over-the-counter sale of the Plan B “emergency contraception” pill to minors.

Mark E. Chopko, USCCB General Counsel, said the position of the bishops' conference is based on a number of considerations.

"First," he stated, "if Plan B became available over-the-counter, even if such availability were ostensibly limited to adults, it would as a practical matter make it easier for minors to obtain the drug without a physician's or parent's involvement.

"A minor could procure the drug indirectly through a non-parental adult, or might obtain it directly as a result of lax enforcement by the pharmacy, misrepresentation, or theft."

"Second, without parental involvement, and professional oversight, minors with access to Plan B may rely upon and use it to the detriment of their health," Chopko wrote. "It can be expected, for example, that many girls (indeed many adult women) will take Plan B multiple times rather than as recommended. …

"In our previous comments, we pointed out the significant health risks that would be occasioned by the absence of clinical oversight and monitoring. A child will not always appreciate these risks or necessarily understand where to turn when complications arise."

Undermining parents

He continued: "Third, over-the-counter availability will undermine efforts to encourage parents' participation in decisions affecting the health of their dependent minor children at a time when the [Bush] Administration … has been promoting and defending such efforts."

Chopko noted that the government has recently filed an amicus curiae brief in which it urges the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a New Hampshire law requiring parental notice for minors seeking an abortion.

"Fourth, over-the-counter availability has implications for whether consent will be truly informed," the general counsel stated. "Girls (and many adult women, for that matter) may be unaware that in some circumstances Plan B can have an abortifacient effect by interfering with the survival of a newly conceived human being.

"Over-the-counter use does nothing to educate potential users of Plan B in this regard -- indeed, Plan B has been widely promoted as not causing abortion -- and will only increase the likelihood of continued ignorance about the drug's mechanisms, which in turn affects whether consent to its use is truly informed.

"Fifth, over-the-counter availability will likely compound the pressure already being placed upon health care providers and professionals to violate their conscience. Even now there are published reports in some jurisdictions of efforts to require pharmacies and pharmacists to carry Plan B and make it available notwithstanding their conscientious objection to the drug, and that effort has already resulted in litigation."

Chopko urged: "We ask the FDA to reject the current application, and any subsequent application, to make Plan B available over the counter either generally or to any subpopulation."

What is a saint?

Benedict XVI at his homily for the closing of the year of the Eucharist wrote this masterful definition:

The saint is he who is so fascinated by the beauty of God and by his perfect truth to be progressively transformed by it. Because of this beauty and truth, he is ready to renounce everything, even himself. The love of God is enough, which he experiences in the humble and disinterested service to the neighbor, especially to those who cannot give back in return.

Popular Lives of Saints
Charles de Foucauld--To Be Beatified November 13
Bernadette Speaks--A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words
Clare and Her Sisters--Lovers of the Poor Christ
Saint Gianna Berretta Molla--A Woman's Life

Benedict XVI--Six Month Review

Chiesa.com has put together a six-month report on the pontificate of Benedict XVI. Excerpts under different headings follow:

Benedict XVI and silent prayer before the Eucharist:

Benedict XVI wrote that the big bang of the divine revolution – “the ultimate end of which is the transformation of the world” – is in the fragile, white, consecrated host, the sacrament of the real presence of Jesus, who is God and man.

The image of Benedict XVI kneeling silently before the Eucharist has become the key image of this pontificate.

This was the image he presented in August before a million young people in Cologne. And in mid-October, with the 100,000 children celebrating their first communion in St. Peter’s Square. And with the 250 bishops and cardinals gathered in Rome for the synod, in the austere Eucharistic adoration on Monday, October 17….

Few had believed it when, during his first trip outside Rome, to Bari at the end of May, pope Joseph Ratzinger re-proposed the motto of the martyrs of ancient Rome: “Sine dominico non possumus”; we cannot live without the Mass on the Lord’s day.

And yet it was the Eucharist that distinguished the first Christians right from the beginning in the pagans’ eyes. The Eucharist was the reason they faced martyrdom. For saint Benedict and pope Gregory the Great, celebrating the liturgy and building up civilization were all of a piece.
…Benedict XVI is doing nothing other than taking seriously – very, very seriously – this foundational reality of Christian life.

Numbers of people attending Wednesday General Audiences:

But if one looks at the attendance figures for the Wednesday audience at the Vatican and the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, the new pope is seeing twice the numbers of his predecessor.

From May to September of 2004, 194,000 persons attended the audiences of John Paul II. During those same months in 2005, 410,000 have attended those of Benedict XVI.

It’s the same for the Angelus: 262,000 were present over five months for those of pope Karol Wojtlya, and 600,000 over the same months in 2005 for the new pope.

The Appointment of Bishops:

Ratzinger wants to take charge personally of the nomination of new bishops. He has a first-rate knowledge of the worldwide body of bishops, which he has obtained thanks to the fact that any bishop visiting the Vatican also came to see him when he was the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. And he maintains that a rebirth of the Church, and its purification, must come from a new generation of more motivated and energetic bishops. During the reign of John Paul II, the cardinal prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Giovanni Battista Re, had carte blanche on almost all of the new nominations. Not anymore, with Benedict XVI.

The Reform of the Clergy:

In the synod this October, many of the bishops complained of the scarcity of priests, which in many areas makes it difficult to celebrate Sunday Mass everywhere it is needed. But almost no one proposed the ordination of married men as a remedy. Lebanese Maronite patriarch Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, many of whose clergy are married according to the custom in the Eastern Churches, also spoke out against the extension of this discipline to the Latin Church: with the strength of his own experience, he exposed the serious disadvantages of the idea.

In effect, the great phases of reform in the history of the Western Church have always coincided with a reinforcement of clerical celibacy. For Benedict XVI, the same must hold true today. The challenges of the twenty-first century demand free and strong priests, entirely dedicated to their cause, totally at the service of a single family, the Church.

And in order to forge a clergy equal to the challenge, Benedict XVI has begun by occupying himself with recruitment. In Cologne, he dedicated a special meeting to seminarians. In the United States, which is still in shock from sex scandals, he has seen to the beginning of an “apostolic visitation” of the 229 seminaries and a widespread campaign for new vocations. A forthcoming document from the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education will ask all the dioceses not to admit young men who are incapable of remaining chaste, or with pronounced homosexual tendencies. The statistics confirm that vocations flourish where the Church is demanding, while they plummet in lax dioceses.

New Research Shows Possible Ethical Alternative to Embryo Destructive Research

The quest to find a moral means of obtaining embryonic–like stem cells took a giant leap forward this week when a team of scientists announced that they had successfully generated pluripotent stem cells from mice using a process know as altered nuclear transfer (ANT). Though some Catholic ethicists caution that in its present form the procedure may be immoral, even those ethicists are heartened by the news and say it shows that a morally acceptable version of ANT could be developed.

ANT was originally proposed by William Hurlbut, a medical doctor, a consulting professor in human biology at Stanford University and a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. Hurlbut contends that this He believed ANT might provide a way around the moral objections to embryo destructive research. According to his proposal, the nucleus of a human egg is removed and replaced with cells from another person, such as in cloning. But unlike cloning, in Hurlbut's proposal the gene responsible for creating the placenta is turned off. prevents an embryo from being created. But like traditional cloning, the egg still generates inner cell mass, or the "blank" cells, that some scientist believe have the greatest research potential. ANT was the subject of much controversy in conservative circles because some thought it would result in the creation and destruction of deformed embryos.

The research that moved ANT from mere theory to the world of the possible was carried out by scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research which is associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The purpose of our study was to provide a scientific basis for the ethical debate," said Rudolf Jaenisch, lead author on the paper that was published in the online edition of the journal Nature. "Our work is the first proof-of-principle study to show that altered nuclear transfer not only works but is extremely efficient." Jaenisch is widely considered the world's leading researcher on embryonic stem cells. Because he favors embryo destructive research, his work on behalf of an ethical alternative is considered especially significant.

Father Thomas Berg, executive director of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person, says the new research is good news. "I think that the pro-life community should welcome this research. I think it does bring us closer to a possible solution toward getting these kinds of cells in ways that don't destroy embryos," he said. Father Berg was among a gathering of more than 30 scientists, ethicists and philosophers that took place in July. They produced a proposal for a form of ANT called oocyte assisted reprogramming (OAR) which they believe addresses ethical concerns surrounding ANT. Father Berg said that the next step should be testing the OAR proposal on primates.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, said he was pleased with the results of Whitehead study because he believes it may pave the way to successfully implementing OAR. But Father Pacholczyk was wary of ANT in its current form. "The altered nuclear transfer itself as done [in this study] in my opinion does not resolve the moral question. The evidence is fairly convincing in my opinion that what's generated is an embryo with certain defects," he said. Father Berg disagrees. "What I am hearing is there seems to be a considerable amount of information that might suggest to us that this product was not a mouse embryo," he said. "The point is that we are not at a place yet where we can say one way or the other."

Culture of Life Foundation
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Hopes from the Synod

Zenit reported an article that stated that the Bishops had written 50 propositions as a result of their discussions together. Though these are not going to be made public, in order to leave Benedict XVI freedom in writing the postsynodal apostolic exhortation based on the propositions, some statements at the press briefing follow:

"To enter a church should not be a question of genuflecting, standing and leaving; but to enter into the profound, so that the faithful's personal life enters into the Eucharistic mystery" of the real presence of Christ.

The synod hopes that the faithful's life "will be a prolonged Mass and that the Mass will affect the whole of life."

Notes from the Synod

The theological expert at the Synod from the US is Fr. Francis J. Moloney, an internationally recognized scripture scholar. He has been on the International Theological Commission for 18 years and is now the the Katharine Drexel Professor at the Catholic University of America and dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the university.

“The Church,” he said in an interview with CNA before the Synod, “is not just a body of believers brought together, but rather, a Eucharistic people.... My dream for the synod is that the focus of the Eucharist will be the grandeur of our lives.”

For Moloney, one of the key questions is: How Is Jesus Present in the Eucharist?

The question has two answers, he stated: in the memorial and the sacrifice. The memorial is not a memory but as "a recalling today and now" and the sacrifice is not a repetition of the unique sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary but a memorial, now, of this sacrifice.

The NOW is what Catholics are often unaware of. In her book Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard challenges the commonplaces of our worship in her own way:

I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible, aware, of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blindly invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children, playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.

Father Moloney gave the Raymond Brown Lecture at the Lay Center, a facility in Rome, during the Synod. He posed the question: What did Jesus mean with the phrase "You do this." "Who are these 'you'?" and "What is this 'this'?" he asked.

For him, "it primarily means that you break your bodies and spread your blood in memory of Me," indicating that the Eucharist has direct implications in the life of those who take part in it."

Aidan Cavanaugh states this in a more gripping way in his book On Liturgical Theology:

It is risky to sit at the Lord's table, and there is absolutely no certainty that one will not end up on it with one's own body broken, one's own blood poured out. But it is plausible in faith that one might risk the whole thing and even be the better for it.

Fr. Moloney stated with a bit of humor that when the Vatican approached him and asked him to be one of two Americans from the U.S. present at the Synod, he had to confess, “I’m not an American…I’m Australian.”

Brief Bios of Men Ordained to the Priesthood in 2005

It does your heart good to read quickly through the short bios of men from dioceses all over the country who are being ordained to the priesthood in 2005. Click the link above and enjoy.

Our attitude towards secularization
must be more qualified.

In fact, there are seeds of the Word
in our world of today.

The Eucharist may meet
the thirsts and hope of our times.

(Synod of Bishops, 2005, French Working Group)

Report of the English Working Group at the Synod on the Eucharist

- RELATION OF THE WORKING GROUP ANGLICUS B: H.Exc. Most. Rev. Msg. Donald William WUERL, Bishop of Pittsburgh (U.S.A) (From the Vatican Web Site)

We recognize that we are essentially a faith community whose members believe in the Lord Jesus and thus we have an identity that is ours in and through the Church which itself is rooted in the Eucharist. For this reason we take very seriously our need and duty to pass on our witness to Christ and our understanding of the Mystery of Divine Revelation.

In discussing the need to celebrate the Eucharist in the circumstances of our day, we recognize a number of values at issue. First and most significant is the fact that the Eucharist is essential to the Church. It forms the source and summit of her life and mission. Yet we must also take into account the seriousness of the shortage of priests in so many parts of the world. We also recognize the place of married clergy in the Eastern Churches.

Our discussion highlighted that celibacy is not the principal and certainly not the sole reason for this shortage. In fact the culture of today is in crisis in a number of other areas including the nature, duration and vitality of marriage. The lack of lifelong commitment seems to be a fundamental "leit motif' throughout our reflections on much of modem life.

The shortage of priests is expressed in many ways. We recognize the existence of scattered small faith communities and the almost impossibility of providing the Eucharist for them on any regular short-term basis. Even in areas where there are larger closely clustered faith communities there is a stress on the availability of priests. In the light of this actual situation the question becomes are there alternative measures.

In looking at the situation we must now provide some observations on how to deal with it. A number of reflections surfaced. First was the obvious need to encourage vocations to priestly ministry. An indigenous clergy is the expected result of the Church's presence in a region. However, local churches should be open to sharing priests. Just as in the early apostolic days and throughout her history, the Church has encouraged a missionary spirit that enriches life and outreach.

Under the term "solidarity of personnel" falls the matter of sharing priests, of providing in a just manner for the support of priests as they move from area to area.

The permanent diaconate offers some assistance. It needs to be developed to meet today's needs, especially in relieving the priest of many administrative, educational and service ministries.

Finally we faced the issue of Eucharistic Services that now often take the place of Mass. We highlighted the theological reality of the Paschal Mystery as completely and qualitatively distinct from any other religious service employed in the absence of a priest and the imperative that this distinction not be blurred.

Our reflections reinforced the need to find some more clearly definable religious service in place of the Mass where this is necessary. We also appreciated that in some areas this has been done in creative and helpful ways.

The liturgies of the Eastern Churches were recognized for their sense of sacredness as we attempt to find the proper balance in liturgy between the sense of action involving us, the so-called horizontal dimension, and the action that bring our attention to God, the vertical dimension.

We concluded that programs for priests, deacons and the laity on good liturgy are not only helpful but necessary. The involvement of well-prepared laity and parish liturgical formation programs was encouraged.

Finally we supported the concept of a sense of stability in the liturgy so that the false impression is not created that everything involved in worship is either in flux or depends on individual personality.

When we turned our attention to the criteria for correct inculturation we were aware of the documents encouraging and guiding it such as “Ecclesia in Africa”, “Ecclesia in Asia”, and “Ecclesia in Oceania”. We encourage their implementation.

In conclusion, we express appreciation for the role of contemplative communities of women and men who quietly bear witness to the transcendent realm made present to us in the Eucharist.

For the reports of other working groups see:
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_21_xi-ordinaria-2005/02_inglese/b22_02.html#♦_SEVENTEENTH_GENERAL_CONGREGATION_(FRIDAY,_14_OCTOBER_2005_-_AFTERNOON)

Interview with Bishop William Skylstad on the Synod Deliberations

In the John Allen Report, Allen shares excerpts from an interview at the Synod with Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The opening week of the Synod is over, that week when everyone speaks freely and ideas and concerns are laid on the table. Those who have been following the Synod, as reported in an earlier blog entry here at Catholic News and Views, noted that many of the ideas that have been floated in the US Church these past years were brought up: married clergy, interreligious communion, communion for divorced and remarried Catholics. The interview reflects on these suggestions that were made at the Synod and the conclusions that were come to by the Fathers. The Working Group is proposing 19 Propositions which are agreed to and amended by the other Synod Fathers. These Propositions then go to Benedict XVI.

Is it fair to say the synod is unlikely to support married priests?

I think that's right. I've not heard a strong call supporting it. Even Eastern churches that have married priests have expressed caution.

Yet the synod has also bluntly acknowledged the problems created by the priest shortage. If a married priesthood is not the answer, what is?
In Washington, D.C., on Friday, there will be a press conference to present a project called "Fishers of Men," which reflects an increased effort on the part of the bishops to look at vocational recruitment. When there is a sensitivity to vocations, and a strong effort on calling people to ministry in the church, the results can be surprising....

Has the sexual abuse crisis in the United States taken a toll on vocations to the priesthood?

My impression is that it hasn't. Times of challenge do not necessarily produce a negative atmosphere in terms of people's response to the gospel and to the church. I think people tend to look at the church and what it can become. Many experience the pain and suffering, but some also ask, how can I help God's people as an instrument of God? Beyond that, I also think people tend to identify very strongly with their local parish priest. If they see him working hard, but happy and fulfilled, that has a lot of impact....

Is it also fair to say that the synod does not seem likely to propose changing the rules on admission of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to communion?

don't see a move in that direction. We don't want to trivialize the marriage bond. We have to take that bond seriously as something sacred, permanent. At the same time, we have to be realistic about where people are....

As an American bishop, you must feel some vindication to hear the much-vilified American tribunal system, sometimes criticized as factory for churning out annulments, now held up at the synod as a model of pastoral sensitivity?

Sure, there's some of that. Obviously we have to take the permanence of marriage seriously, but when that marriage, which is supposed to be a community of life, has become destructive, then something's not right. I think we've become more realistic. It's not just a matter of the tribunals, but also our approach to marriage preparation. We want people to go into it with their eyes open. But there are ways we can tell people that when a community of life hasn't developed, there are things we can do to make it possible for them to enter into another relationship. We spend a lot of money on the tribunal process. It's not that we take the canons lightly, but we also have to be realistic about trying to help people.

Are you struck by the fact that no one in the synod has discussed wider use of the old Mass?

It just hasn't come up. What we've heard is a very strong affirmation of what happened after Vatican II in the reform of the liturgy. A couple of people even said, "Thank God for the reforms." There has been some indirect mention of issues such as greater use of the organ, of Latin, and of Gregorian chant, but there's certainly no desire to go back on the reforms. Overwhelmingly, the fathers seem to be concerned with how to implement well what we have now. Some bishops have expressed concern with abuses, but I have the sense that the guys in general don't feel that way.

Read the whole interview at: http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/word101405.htm

Pope Benedict meets 100,000 First Communicants

This afternoon, Saturday 15 October 2005 will take place the Audience of the Supreme Pontiff for the children for their First Communion The Bread from Heaven: a completely Eucharistic title gives the name to the event which will bring into St. Peter’s Square 100,000 children for their First Communion, coming from all over the world to meet Pope Benedict XVI.The Eucharistic meeting wanted by the Holy Father has been included in the schedule of appointments envisaged for the Year of the Eucharist. Pope Benedict XVI will join the children in prayer and will help them on reflection with a catechesis and answer their questions. At the end of the catechesis, Adoration and Eucharistic Benediction will take place. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m., and will be broadcast live in the Holy See Press Office.

From his conversation with the kids:

The highlight of the day was their conversation with Benedict XVI who responded to seven of the children, seated close to him, who asked him questions about the Eucharist.

One of the girls, Andrea, asked the Holy Father about his first Communion.

It was "a beautiful Sunday in March 1935," he said, "69 years ago."

"It was a sunny day, the church was very beautiful, there was music," said the Pontiff with a broad smile. "I promised the Lord, in the measure possible: 'I want to be always with you' and I said to him: 'But you must always be with me.'"

Regular confession

Another of the first communicants, Livia, asked him why she should go to confession before going to Communion when she always commits the same sins. The Pope laughed when he heard the question.

"It's true, in general our sins are always the same, but we clean our house, our room, at least every week, although the dirt is always the same," he said.

Confession is necessary "only in the case of grave sin," he explained. "But it is very useful to go to confession regularly to cultivate cleanliness and beauty of soul, and to mature little by little in life."

To Giulia, who asked what she should do if her parents do not go to Mass on Sunday, he responded that she should speak to them "with great love, with great respect."

"Tell them," he said, "'Dear mommy, dear daddy, do you know that there is something very important for all of us, and even for you? We will meet with Jesus.'"

Before the Pope arrived, around 6 p.m., the children participated in a music festival, in which Amii Stewart, among others, took part.

The meeting ended with adoration and Benediction with the Eucharist. (Zenit)

History:
During his Angelus audience on June 12, Pope Benedict issued an invitation to all the First Communicants of Rome, together with their parents and their teachers, to visit him at the Vatican. He said that the meeting would be an opportune time "to reinforce the essential role that the sacrament of the Eucharist holds in the formation of the spiritual understanding of children."

Vatican II--"Will History Judge It a Success or Failure"

These months we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the closing of Vatican II. John Paul II has called Vatican II a gift of the Spirit to the Church. Others wish it would go away--wanting to turn back the pages of history, reinstating the Tridentine Mass. (Some in fact thought that the Synod on the Eucharist currently underway would be the stage on which the Tridentine Mass would be reinstated, however Cardinal Arinze stated that no one brought up the topic--"it is not a priority.")

In the annals of history we can find Councils that succeeds and others that failed. Archbishop Charles Chaput from Denver offered this reflection on Vatican Council II's legacy (posted at the Archdiocesan website: www.archden.org):

Reflections on the anniversary of Vatican II

December marks the 40th anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council. So these final months of 2005 are a good time to reflect on the needs of the Church in today's world and our own commitment to Catholic discipleship.

History is a powerful teacher. While all true ecumenical councils are important in the life of the Church, some failed to achieve their goals. The Council of Florence failed in the 15th century because the Western Church was badly divided and the Greek Church could not accept a union. The Fifth Lateran Council failed in the 16th century because it focused on the wrong issues. It did too little too late to change the conditions that led to the Protestant Reformation.

We need to ask ourselves this fall, as we consider the goals that the Second Vatican Council set for itself: Will history judge it a success or a failure? In opening Vatican II, Blessed Pope John XXIII said that, "the council now beginning rises in the Church like daybreak, a forerunner of most splendid light." Pope John Paul II, who attended the council as a bishop, spoke many times about "crossing the threshold of hope" and a rebirth of Christian faith in the new millennium.

So far the evidence is mixed. One in every three new children born in "Christian Europe" today is Muslim. Except for Islam, religious belief and practice are declining across the continent. So are fertility rates. Pope Benedict XVI told a gathering of Italian priests recently that the "so-called traditional Churches look like they're dying." In fact, in Europe's wealth and selfishness and refusal to have children, an entire civilization seems to be choosing to die.

Last month, Pope Benedict urged a group of new bishops to pray for "a humble trust in God and for the apostolic courage born of faith." In 2002, the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said that "a bishop must do as Christ did: precede his flock, being the first to do what he calls others to do and, first of all, being the one who stands against the wolves who come to steal the sheep."

Whether history judges Vatican II as a success or a failure finally depends on us -- bishops, clergy, religious and laypeople alike -- and how zealously we live our faith; how deeply we believe; and how much apostolic courage we show to an unbelieving world that urgently needs Jesus Christ.

We've been here before. Seventeen centuries ago, the great Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) could have failed. In reaffirming God's Trinitarian nature and the reality of the Incarnation, Nicaea deeply influenced not only the faith of the Church but the course of Western civilization. But that council, and all the long history that followed it, could have turned out very differently. It didn't, because of one man -- a young deacon and scholar at Nicaea named Athanasius of Alexandria, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Athanasius fought for the true Catholic faith at Nicaea and throughout his entire career. Hostile bishops excommunicated him. Emperors resented him. His enemies falsely accused him of cruelty, sorcery and even murder. He was exiled five times. And in the face of it all, he became the single most articulate voice defending the orthodox Catholic faith, which is why even today we remember him as "Athanasius contra mundum": "Athanasius against the world."

He never gave up. He had courage. He had the truth. And the truth won. He became one of the best-loved bishops and greatest saints and Doctors of the Church -- and the faith we take for granted today, we owe largely to God's work through him.

Now, that's my idea of a leader. That's my idea of a Catholic believer fully alive in Jesus Christ. And if bishops and their people choose to live that same apostolic courage once again -- beginning here and now -- then John XXIII's hopes for the council as a new dawn for Christian life really will rise in the Church as a light to the nations.

LA Clerical Abuse

Last night I watched the news. In between the devastating pictures of Pakistan quake victims and information on whooping cough and children in day care, there was once more the ghost that haunts the Catholic Church these days: clerical sex abuse. Here is an excellent reflection on the issue by Ronald Rolheiser. Though it is written in 2003, it still offers guidance today:

...In effect, this is a "dark night of the soul" and, like most dark nights of the soul, it wounds at a particularly vulnerable spot. It's easy to be scandalized, especially religiously, when sex is involved.

And if this is a dark night of the soul, and it is, we will learn its lesson and undergo its purification only if we are clear on some things:

1) A dark night of the soul comes from God.

God doesn't cause accidents, spread viruses, induce depression, break legs, have people die prematurely or abuse innocent children. A conspiracy of accidents (brute history, human freedom and sin) does that. But God speaks through all of this. For the authors of Scripture, there are no pure accidents, God's finger is in everything. If Israel loses a war it's not because the Assyrians have a superior army. No. She loses because she's been unfaithful and God is purifying her.

Like every dark night it's meant to stretch the heart.That's true too in the present situation. Put biblically, it's not the press that's causing this scandal. God's hand is behind this, humbling and purifying us. The real issue is not inflated, anti-clerical press-coverage, but our infidelity and God's pruning hand.

2) Contending with a dark night is not a distraction to our ministry, it is our real ministry.

...Carrying this scandal properly is something that the Church is invited to do for the sake of the world. Jesus said, "My flesh is food for the life of the world." The Church exists for the sake of the world and we must keep that in mind as we face this crisis. What does that mean?

Put simply: Right now priests represent less than one per cent of the overall problem of sexual abuse, yet they are on the front pages of the newspapers and the issue is very much focused on the Church. While this is painful, it can also be fruitful. The fact that priests and the Church are (in a way) being scapegoated is not necessarily a bad thing. If our being scapegoated helps society to bring the issue of sexual abuse and its devastation of the human soul more into the open, then we are precisely offering ourselves as "food for the life of the world."

There are few things that we are doing as Christian communities today that are more important than helping the world deal with this issue. If the price tag is humiliation and a drain on our resources, so be it. Crucifixions are never easy.

3) A dark night asks us to "sing a new song."

...It's too easy. Anyone, Jesus says, can live the virtue of strict justice at a certain level. A paraphrase of Jesus might read like this: Anyone can be nice to those who are nice to them, can forgive those who forgive them, and can love those who love them. But can we love those who hate us? Can we be gracious to those who curse us?

That's the litmus test of Christian orthodoxy and it's what's being asked of us in this scandal: Can we love, forgive, reach out and be empathic in a new way? Can we have compassion for both the victim and the perpetrator? Can we have compassion for some of our Church leaders who made mistakes? Can we give of our money when it seems we are paying for someone else's sin? Can we help carry something that doesn't make us feel good and clean?

This is a dark night of the soul. Like every dark night it's meant to stretch the heart. This is always painful and our normal impulse is to do something to end the pain. But it won't go away until we learn what it's meant to teach us. And what is that, beyond a new humility?

That there is a terrible pain within the culture today, a soul devastation caused by sexual abuse, and we, the Church, are being asked, like Christ, to have our flesh be food for the life of the world so that this wound might be opened to healing.

Diary of the First Nine Days of Discussion at the Synod

The 21st Synod of Bishops, which runs from Oct. 2 to Oct. 23 is dedicated to the theme of the Eucharist. It may be worth recalling that historically, the first week and a half is often the most interesting period during a Synod of Bishops.

In the early days of the synod, when participants can talk about anything they like, they have the chance to start conversations, to break taboos and to send signals to the wider church, the impact of which may far outlive the synod itself.

Sandra Magister at chiesa.com offers a diary of the topics discussed at the first nine days of the Synod: http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=40308&eng=y

Here are some highlights from her article:

Taking the Eucharist as a defining image of the Church – as also happened for early Christianity, in the eyes of pagan observers – some of the synod fathers have found positive signs in it, and others negative. Cardinal Edmund Szoka, for example, went so far as to decry the fact that “some of our priests, and even some bishops, have lost their faith in the Holy Eucharist, an celebrate Holy Mass as if it were simply a professional duty.”

The result, as other European and Western synod fathers in particular have complained, is a dramatic decline in Mass attendance.

But others have said that there is a very lively celebration of the Eucharist in their respective countries.

Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo of India has attributed to the Eucharist, celebrated with great participation, “one of the best success stories of the Catholic Church's mission. In just 130 years, [my] archdiocese of Ranchi has given birth to 12 dioceses, and produced 23 bishops, hundreds of priests, and thousands of religious.”

The Eucharist, he explained, has an extraordinarily liberating effect: “Our Christian tribals today have full confidence that Jesus' saving death and resurrection has stripped the sovereignties and ruling forces of the universe and destroyed their power (Col 2:14-15). In this faith experience of our people, the Eucharist has brought about a paradigm shift from their former blood-sacrifices with which they tried to placate so called evil spirits, and reoriented them to the new and eternal covenant established in Jesus Christ.”
....

In Vietnam, bishop Pierre Tran Dinh Tu said, “about 80% attend Mass on Sundays, and 15% during week days. On important feasts, such as Christmas and Easter, the number may reach 96%.

But cardinal Cláudio Hummes of San Paolo in Brazil said he was more concerned: “The number of Brazilians who declare themselves Catholics has diminished rapidly, on an average of 1% a year. In 1991 Catholic Brazilians were nearly 83%, today and according to new studies, they are barely 67%. We wonder with anxiety: how long will Brazil remain a Catholic country?
....

Without a doubt, the number of priests has fallen. In 1978, the first year of John Paul II’s pontificate, there was one priest for every 1,797 faithful in the Catholic Church. In 2003, there was one for every 2,677.

Various persons on various occasions have suggested that the shortage of priests be addressed by ordaining married men in the Latin Rite Church, as is already done in the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. However, only one bishop raised this hypothesis during the first nine days of this synod: cardinal Angelo Scola, who brought it up during his introductory address to the synod.

Instead of the ordination of married men, Scola suggested “a more adequate distribution of the clergy throughout the world.” During the discussion, many of the bishops supported this proposal, while a generic suggestion to reconsider the discipline of clerical celibacy was advanced by just a few bishops from Great Britain and New Zealand.

Curiously, the most serious criticisms of ordaining married men came from exponents of the Eastern Rite Churches, in which married priesthood is the norm. Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, patriarch of the Maronites of Lebanon, said:

“Half of our diocesan priests are married. However, we must admit that the marriage of priests, even if resolving one problem, also creates other serious problems. A married priest has the duty of taking care of his wife and children, to ensure their education, to secure for them a certain social standing. The priesthood was also a means of social promotion in Lebanon. Another problem arises for a married priest, that of not having misunderstandings with the parishioners. Despite this, it can be the case that the bishop cannot transfer him, due to the impossibility of his family to move with him.”
....

In some countries, the impediment to communion concerns a large number of the faithful. In the United States, for example, it is estimated that there are between 6 and 8 million divorced and remarried Catholics. Of these, about 10 percent have had their first marriage recognized as invalid. So those in an irregular position, those unable to receive communion, would number between 5 and 7 million.

Last July 25, while speaking to the priests of the diocese of Aosta, Benedict XVI said he wanted to reconsider the case of those who married in church without actually believing, and then, having been separated and remarried, have come to the faith. If their first marriage were recognized as invalid, the pope said, they would no longer be in an irregular condition, and so there would no longer be an impediment to communion.
...

Another question discussed at the synod is that of “intercommunion,” or the sharing of the Eucharist between Catholic Christians and those of other denominations, which is generally permitted only in exceptional cases.

Separation of Church and State

As we prepare for another round of Senate hearings for a nomination to the Supreme Court, we will be facing again the question over what exactly does the separation of Church and state mean. The cry, “That violates the separation of church and state!” has been the centerpiece of the secularist drive to marginalize Christianity in the public sphere since the 1940s. The real—and often neglected—question is what precisely that separation means and how it should be interpreted and applied. Read an excellent article by John Rossomando.

He writes: "In recent years, we have seen groups such as the ACLU, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State; Web sites such as Infidels.org; and leftist publications such as the Nation come out of the woodwork with attempts to refute the notion that America was ever a Christian nation. Instead, they recast the founders as anti-clericalists in the mold of the French evolutionaries.

"Nothing could be further from the truth.

"Like all historical documents, the Bill of Rights must be read within the context of what its framers meant when they penned the establishment clause."

Rossomando's article is careful study of the history of the interpetration and application of this clause in American history. http://www.crisismagazine.com/feature2.htm

He concludes: "In practice, the founders’ intent to keep government away from mandating popular adherence on matters of theology did not extend to the expression of Christian sentiments by public officials, nor through statutes aimed at preserving public morality. The 1890s polygamy cases should be considered precedent for our current debates over “gay rights,” abortion, euthanasia, etc., because the court acknowledged that Christian morality was part of our common law. (And, of course, those cases have never been overturned.)

"Our founders never mandated a complete exclusion of Christianity from the public square because they wanted to foster a marketplace of ideas wherein Christianity would remain vibrant. In contrast, secularists try to undermine that same marketplace and reduce traditional Christians to the status of second-class citizens. "

New Paradigm for Rebuilding After Katrina

Today I received information on the Center for Economic and Social Justice. It for those who are searching for a truly new paradigm of economics and development. Their site is a portal to a new economic vision of the future, which they call the "Just Third Way." To turn vision into reality, CESJ offers capital homesteading ideas and strategies for structural reform of economies, and justice-based management concepts for building organizational cultures of ownership, servant leadership, and justice.

Michael Greaney, the Director of Research, wrote in an e-mail:

"Our current project is a proposal to finance the rebuilding of the areas affected by Katrina and Rita in a manner consistent with Catholic social teaching and without putting everything on the backs of the taxpayers:
http://www.cesj.org/homestead/strategies/regional-global/katrinaplan050907.html
The proposal is based on principles detailed in our book, Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen, available as a free download from the web site. Capital homesteading is derived from the social doctrine of Pius XI, particularly as found in Quadragesimo Anno and Divini Redemptoris, and the economic justice ideas of Louis Kelso and Mortimer Adler in their books, The Capitalist Manifesto (1958) and The New Capitalists (1961). Despite the latter titles, what Kelso and Adler discuss is the antithesis of both capitalism and socialism.

"We believe that capital homesteading, especially as applied to the Katrina and Rita situations, offers a built-in preferential option for the poor -- everyone gets treated the same, but, frankly, capital credit means much more to people who could never get it before than it does to those who already have a signficant private property stake. Capital homesteading, based on work done by CESJ in which we were encouraged by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, has the most potential of any program discussed to date to break the circle of poverty."

Other informative links on the site:

Excerpts from the book: Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen.

A New Model for Nation-Building in Iraq

--Sr. Kathryn James, fsp

Christ in our Present Pain

This past week-end's news has been awash with much sadness: mudslides and earthquakes have hit Guatemala and Pakistan-Afghanistan-India, not to mention those who have died in war. Perhaps we are a bit more attune to the human cost of natural disasters after Katrina and Rita. I thought that a few words of the Jesuit theologian, Karl Rahner, might bring us light this day:

"Christ is in the history of the earth, the blind course of which in all victories and all breakdowns is moving with uncanny precision toward his day, the day on which his glory, transforming all things, will break forth from its own depth. He is in all tears and in all death as hidden rejoicing and as the life which triumphs by appearing to die. Since he has entered into it forever by his death and resurrection, its misery is merely temporary and simply a test of our faith in its innermost mystery - which is the Risen Christ."

Sr. Kathryn James, fsp

Feast of St. Francis

Today is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who is probably the most popular of all Catholic saints after the Blessed Mother. The above link takes you to a site that has information about the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi and a picture of it. There's also an interesting view of the ruins of a Roman temple.

Synod on the Eucharist

The bishops are meeting now in Rome for the Synod on the Eucharist. The above link will take you to the Vatican News Service, where you can find excertps of some of the speeches so far.