Worship Times

One, holy, catholic and apostolic

Can you call your website "Catholic?" That's a concern of the U.S. Catholic Conference Committee on Communications in a resolution they released in September. "Our principle concern," says the resolution, "is that what is presented on the Internet and elsewhere as 'Catholic' be authentically so and that truly Catholic sites not be linked to sites which contradict church teaching and practice." The committee suggests checking to see if canon law can be used by diocesan bishops to de-Catholicize offending sites. They also suggest setting up diocesan watchdog offices to see that everybody is following yet-to-be-established criteria. And, harkening back to the old index-of-forbidden-books days, they suggest setting up an approved list of "reliably Catholic sites on the Internet."

Future faith

Archbishop Rembert Weakland listed five lessons in faith for the new millennium in a homily he gave last fall. The homily was reprinted in the Oct. 9, 1997, issue of Origins.
1. The millennium will seek to strengthen our image of Christ, emphasizing that Christ is Lord of history.
2. The changing of the millennium will help us recover the sense of urgency and excitement about Christ's coming.
3. The new millennium will help us see that we cannot find fulfillment through human reason. Only Christ can bring about total fulfillment.
4. The new millenniumcan be used for a new vision of church -- a vision that shows the importance of the church in God's plan and that reveals the church as a place for the presence of Christ to shine forth.
5. The new millennium teaches us patient endurance as we live hope-filled lives in the end times.

Lay ministry affirmed

"It's worse than wrong -- it's stupid," said theologian Fr. Michael J. Himes about the recently issued Vatican instruction on lay ministry (Worship Times, ML 25:1). Himes, a teacher at Boston College, was speaking at the Parish Services Symposium sponsored by the National Pastoral Life Center in New York last January. The document, released on Nov. 13, has reiterated restrictions on lay ministry, including forbidding lay people to use titles such as chaplain. In a report in the Jan. 23 National Catholic Reporter, Himes called the release of the document an "obstructionist" action that contributed to anti-institutional attitudes in America.

God goes cable

ML wonders what the church bureaucracy might have to say about cable TV programs that label themselves Catholic. EWTN's Mother Angelica may be able to fit under the broad umbrella of the term, but Bridget Mary Meehan doesn't think she represents all Catholics. Meehan, a member of the Sister for Christian Community and a Call to Action Virginia board member, is the host of a half-hour public access cable show called Godtalk. Meehan takes the discussion of current topics (e.g., inclusive language, homosexuality, women in the Bible) to the opposite end of the Catholic spectrum. Mother A's viewers would probably have a hard time letting Godtalk share the Catholic label, but Meehan says, "I love Catholicism. We're not walking away." Meehan hopes to soon get national distribution of the show, which can currently be seen only in the Washington area. A review of the program, written by Raymond Schroth, appears in the Jan. 23 National Catholic Reporter.

Statistics released on the church in Europe

The Pontifical Work for Ecclesiastical Vocations, whose president is Cardinal Pio Laghi, recently released statistics on the state of the church in 45 European countries as part of the press conference to present the Vatican publication, "New Vocations for a New Europe," according to the Vatican Information Service.
The statistics were taken from the latest volume of the Statistical Yearbook of the Church and cover the years 1978-1995.
Population
1978: 673,360,000
1995: 711,497,000
Catholics
1978: 275,684,000
1995: 288,953,000
Bishops
1978: 1,253
1995: 1,453
Median Age of Bishops
1978: 65.2 years
1995: 68.5
Priests
1978: 251,033
1995: 217,275
Ordinations
1978: 1,805
1995: 2,475
Deaths: Diocesan Priests
1978: 3,250
1995: 3,457
Priesthood Candidates
1978: 23,915
1995: 29,351

Professionalism

"I am always amazed at just how unprofessional church musicians can be," writes John Romeri, director of music and organist at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Mo. Romeri suggests musicians be more diligent about everything from returning phone calls to dressing professionally. He also suggests that workspaces be kept orderly, that rehearsal spaces be prepared before the choir arrives, that schedules be typed and prepared well in advance, and that the musicians meet weekly or monthly with the pastor for honest discussion and evaluation. Romeri's comments appeared in the January 1998 issue of The American Organist.