Today's Messages (off)
| Unanswered Messages (on)
| Forum: Liturgical Renewal and the Reforms of Vatican II |
|---|
| Topic: US Bishops health care reform |
|---|
| | Topic: NJ Bishops' message on marriage |
|---|
| NJ Bishops' message on marriage |
Fri, 28 August 2009 20:34 |
 japhy
Messages: 480
Registered: October 2008
Location: Princeton, NJ |
Senior Member |
|
|
The Call to Marriage is Woven Deeply into the Human Spirit
God who created man and woman out of love also calls him to love - the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is Himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator's eyes. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1604]
A recent study issued by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University identifies a broad cultural shift away from religion and social traditionalism and toward a belief in personal independence and tolerance for diverse life styles - otherwise known as "secular individualism."
The same report also indicates that "more children each year are not living in families that include their married, biological parents, which by all available empirical evidence is the gold standard for insuring optimal outcomes in a child's development."
One expression of this cultural shift toward "secular individualism" is the recent authorization of "marriage" between individuals of the same sex in a few states and the call for passage of a same sex "marriage" law in New Jersey.
As Catholics, we must not stand by in silence in the face of the many challenges that threaten marriage and, in turn, children and the public good. We must not shirk from our responsibility.
We must protect and promote marriage. We must not abandon the teaching of the Catholic Church on marriage and the complementarity of the sexes - a truth that is evident to right reason and recognized as such by the major cultures of the world.
We must pledge our support to all family members, including those who choose to remain single. We must help those entering marriage to prepare for the challenges, sacrifices and joys to come. We must reach out with the special compassion of Christ to those married couples and families experiencing difficulties, anxiety, and illness.
In these troubled times, we, the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey, offer here some basic truths to assist people in understanding Catholic teaching about marriage and to enable them to promote and support marriage and families.
What is the Catholic Church's Teaching on Marriage?
The Catholic Church teaches today and has always and everywhere taught for 2000 years that marriage is the union of one man and one woman as husband and wife.
"Marriage is not just any relationship between human beings. It was established by the Creator with its own nature, essential properties and purpose. No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman, who by mutual personal gift, proper and exclusive to themselves, tend toward the communion of their persons. In this way, they mutually perfect each other, in order to cooperate with God in the procreation and upbringing of new human lives." [Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, June 3, 2003]
This great truth about marriage is not some obscure doctrinal fine point but a fact of human nature, recognized from time immemorial by people of virtually every faith and culture. God made us male and female; only men and women cooperating in marital love together can truly become one flesh, and only marital unions further God's purpose of creating new life that is welcomed, loved, nurtured and educated by their mother and father.
The Church teaches that man and woman are equal. However, man and woman are different from each other but created for each other. This complementarity, including sexual difference, draws them together in a mutually loving union that always should be open to the procreation of children (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1602-1605).
These truths about marriage are present in the order of nature and can be perceived by the light of human reason and have been confirmed by divine Revelation in Sacred Scripture.
Why should the Church care about the state's definition of marriage?
God Himself is the author of marriage. Marriage as a union of man and woman existed long before any nation, religion, or law was established. The marital union is the human and social institution upon which civilization has always been structured. It is a gift that our Creator bestowed on all of humanity through the first man and the first woman.
Governments, therefore, have a duty to reinforce and protect this permanent institution and to pass it on to future generations, rather than attempt to redefine it arbitrarily for transitory political or social reasons.
The Church asks Catholics to care about the government's treatment of marriage because civil authorities are charged with protecting children and the common good, and marriage is indispensable to both purposes. As citizens, Catholics have the right and the responsibility to hold civil authorities accountable for their stewardship of the institution of marriage.
Catholics also have the right and responsibility to oppose laws and policies that unjustly target people as bigots or that subject them to charges of unlawful discrimination simply because they believe and teach that marriage is the union of man and a woman.
Why must marriages be treated differently than other voluntary relationships?
The marital union between a man and a woman is the foundation of the family and the family is the foundation of society. Marriage is singular in its importance as a public institution. No other voluntary relationship can be regarded as the equivalent of marriage, which is unique in its stability, the environment it provides for the development of families, and the protection it accords spouses and children. Marriage is not merely an article of the Catholic faith, but a foundational element of the common good.
Why should two individuals of the same sex be treated any differently than married couples who cannot conceive children?
Marriage benefits society by bringing men and women - the two complementary "halves" of the human race - together. Regardless of whether they can conceive children, a man and a woman united in marriage reinforce the importance of this ideal. By contrast, if the government insists that same-sex unions are "equal" to unions of husband and wife, the government will be teaching not only that mothers and fathers are no longer necessary for children, but also that uniting the sexes is no longer an important ideal.
Persons of same-sex orientation have the right to live as they choose but they do not have the right to redefine marriage for everyone by altering the civil law.
Don't single parents make a valuable contribution to family life? If so, why should samesex partners not be viewed the same way?
All children are gifts from God and deserve our care and protection. The stable, life long loving relationship of a mother and father, found only in marriage, provides the ideal conditions for raising and socializing children. Marriage represents the way we teach and reinforce this ideal.
Of course, some children are raised in situations other than the traditional two-parent family, and responsible loving single parents, and other family members make important and valuable contributions to the welfare of these children. But supporting single-parent families, as a just and compassionate society must do, is far different than deliberately creating motherless and fatherless families and holding them out to be the same as marriages.
But isn't prohibiting same-sex "marriage" unjust discrimination?
No. We must always remember that every person has an inherent dignity because he or she is created in the image and likeness of God, and that God loves every person as a unique individual. Like all other human beings, our homosexual brothers and sisters are beloved children of God. As a result, the Catholic Church affirms that they "must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in this regard should be avoided" [Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 2358].
Thus the teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended, and that all of us must strive to eliminate any forms of injustice, oppression, or violence against homosexual persons.
But it is not "unjust discrimination" to treat different things differently. Same-sex unions are not, in fact, the same thing as the union of one man and one woman in marriage. One type of union may ever generate children, the other may never; one type of union respects and expresses the inherent complementarity of man and woman; the other does not.
Therefore, treating one type of union as "marriage," and the other not, is not only permitted, but required. Indeed, it is treating this differentiation as bigotry that constitutes an injustice.
Is same sex "marriage" a civil right?
In the Church's view same-sex "marriage" is not a civil right. A strong desire does not make a civil right. Every man and every woman has a right to enter into marriage, but marriage as an institution can only be between a man and a woman. Governments do not have the power to define marriage otherwise, because it is a permanent human institution that does not owe its existence to governments. Same-sex "marriage" is not a civil right because same-sex couples cannot fulfill the core public purpose of marriage: protecting children by bringing men and women into the only kind of union that can make new life and give children mothers and fathers.
This is not only the Church's view. Throughout all of human history marriage has been held to be a union of man and woman. Marriage has its roots in natural law, which transcends all manmade law. Marriage as a union of a man and a woman is a natural, universal human institution that unites mothers and fathers in the work of childrearing and family life. Same sex unions may represent a new and a different type of institution - but it is not marriage and should not be treated as marriage.
Would maintaining the definition of marriage as a union solely of one man and one woman deny hospital visitation privileges to civil union partners? Would defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman take away any benefits currently provided to civil union partners by employers?
No. In New Jersey, the Civil Union Act already provides practical rights, benefits, and protections for persons who choose to establish non-marital unions. As clearly stated in the Act:
Civil union couples shall have all of the same benefits, protections and responsibilities under law, whether they derive from statute, administrative or court rule, public policy, common law or any other source of civil law, as are granted to spouses in a marriage. [N.J. Statutes 37:1-31(a)]
The Act also provides that civil union couples are entitled to the benefits and protections of "laws relating to insurance, health and pension benefits." [N.J. Statutes 37:1-32(e)] In addition, the Act prohibits an array of unlawful employment practices by employers who do not fully implement the Act.
Civil Law, Church Law and Marriage
In their 2003 statement Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers about Marriage and Same-Sex Union", the Catholic Bishops of the United States addressed civil law, church law and marriage as follows:
Marriage is a basic human and social institution. Though it is regulated by civil laws and church laws, it did not originate from either the church or state, but from God. Therefore, neither church nor state can alter the basic meaning and structure of marriage.
Marriage, whose nature and purposes are established by God, can only be the union of a man and a woman and must remain such in law. In a manner unlike any other relationship, marriage makes a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the common good of society, especially through the procreation and education of children.
The union of husband and wife becomes, over a lifetime, a great good for themselves, their family, communities, and society. Marriage is a gift to be cherished and protected.
What Does All of This Mean?
In New Jersey, the debate about same sex marriage is not about benefits and rights. The Civil Union Act [N.J. Statutes 37:1-31(a)] settled that issue once and for all. In New Jersey, same sex couples have every benefit and right without exception that the State of New Jersey grants to heterosexual married couples. The same sex "marriage" initiative is an attempt to change the historic structure of marriage as a union only of a man and a woman. This initiative ignores human nature because throughout all of human history marriage has required the complementarity of man and woman.
Same sex civil unions may represent a new and a different type of institution, one in which government grants to same sex couples benefits and protections, but same sex unions are not marriage. Saint Paul in his letter to the Hebrews told us, "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching." In this time of strange teaching and conflict over the meaning of marriage, let us prayerfully reflect on the words of Jesus:
Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. [Matthew 19:5]
Most Reverend John J. Myers
Archbishop, Archdiocese of Newark
Most Reverend Paul G. Bootkoski
Bishop, Diocese of Metuchen
Most Reverend John M. Smith
Bishop, Diocese of Trenton
Most Reverend Joseph A. Galante
Bishop, Diocese of Camden
Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli
Bishop, Diocese of Paterson
Most Reverend William Skurla
Bishop, Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic
[Updated on: Fri, 28 August 2009 20:42]
My Blogs: Praying The Mass and The Cross Reference
|
|
| | Topic: TLM...interest is not widespread |
|---|
| | Topic: Assumption of Mary August 15 |
|---|
| Assumption of Mary August 15 |
Sat, 15 August 2009 07:04 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.
We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However, by the thirteenth century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names (Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption) from at least the fifth or sixth century.
Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testament, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.
Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20 Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to belief in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven.
|
|
| | Topic: update Father Roy Bourgeois |
|---|
| update Father Roy Bourgeois |
Tue, 11 August 2009 16:52 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
http://lohud.com/article/2009908080342
"The exclusion of women is a grave injustice and a sin," the 70-year-old priest told me. "This is a movement whose time has come. It's not going away."
A sin. Strong words from a guy walking an ecclesiastical plank.
|
|
| | Topic: A nun could get whiplash these days |
|---|
| | Topic: ninth US ambassador to the Vatican |
|---|
| ninth US ambassador to the Vatican |
Wed, 05 August 2009 11:09 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Cuban-American confirmed as ninth US ambassador to the Vatican
By Catholic News Service
"I am honored to be given the responsibility of representing the people of the United States to the Holy See," he said in the statement posted on the Web site of St. John's University. "I very much appreciate the support of all those who have reached out to me and to my family with their prayers and best wishes during this process."
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0903529.htm
|
|
| | Topic: Teaching the 'golden thread' of Gospel nonviolence |
|---|
| | Topic: the Vatican only seems to hear male voices |
|---|
| the Vatican only seems to hear male voices |
Tue, 14 July 2009 07:30 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Here is a comment that crossed my mind as well:
While, as a Catholic, I'm obliged to respect the 'office' of the bishop, it is becoming increasingly difficult over the past decade to respect some of the men who hold the office, and who simultaneously seem to have a strangle-hold on their own group of bishops and the USCCB voice. It's a good thing this isn't fifteenth century France; these strong 'upstart women' might also meet the fate of St. Joan of Arc. As I recall, there was also a discussion of suitable clothing during that "investigation".
Women religious leadership conference has been faithful to its mission
http://ncronline.org/blogs/essays-theology/women-religious-l eadership-conference-has-been-faithful-its-mission
|
|
| | Topic: Do you believe in miracles? |
|---|
| | Topic: A voice of reason in a maelstrom of condemnations |
|---|
| A voice of reason in a maelstrom of condemnations |
Fri, 03 July 2009 12:31 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Jul. 02, 2009
By Joan Chittister
* Politics
Commentary
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/voice-reason-maelstrom-co ndemnations
We are, after all, the church of the Medicis and the Borgias, the Papal States and the Avignon Papacy, the Documents of Discovery and anti-Modernism, the condemnation of "mixed" marriages and the rejection of the U.S. policy of separation of church and state. It may behoove us to be a bit more compassionate in our condemnations and a bit more humble in our attempts at political dialogue.
|
|
| | Topic: tone down the rhetoric and stop the demonizing |
|---|
| tone down the rhetoric and stop the demonizing |
Tue, 16 June 2009 11:58 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
an editorial from America Magazine
St. Ignatius Loyola suggests that in any exchange, “it is necessary to suppose that every good Christian is more ready to put a good interpretation on another’s statement than to condemn it as false.” To this call for charity, St. Ignatius added that if correction is necessary, it ought to be delivered with respect and kindness. Those qualities of respect and kindness have at times been hard to find in many of the heated arguments in which American Catholics have found themselves embroiled over the past 12 tumultuous months.
Can a Catholic in good conscience vote for Barack Obama? For John McCain? May pro-choice politicians be given Communion? Should the legal fight to overturn Roe v. Wade bear the full weight of Catholic political energy; or are there other, more effective strategies for combating the culture of death? Should the University of Notre Dame award an honorary degree to President Obama, or even invite him at all? Should there be more frequent celebrations of the liturgy in Latin; and if so, what version of the Mass texts should be used? Issues like these have always sparked much discussion in the Catholic community, but they are now often dominated by a tone that is decidedly dangerous—harsh and often lacking in respect or courtesy.
This rhetoric has threatened the credibility of the church, as the Catholic tradition of trust and toleration has been de-emphasized. Even a few bishops have made statements like “We are at war” and “Tolerance is not a Christian virtue,” suggesting that any notion of the common good has given way to a sharply defined “us versus them” mentality. Such rhetoric also subtly undermines the Catholic principle of subsidiarity first put forth by Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno, according to which a pluralistic social structure allows and encourages constructive input from a variety of groups on the grass-roots level.
This polarization must stop; otherwise our identity as a faith community will be torn asunder and Catholicism will cease to be an elevating force for change. How can we decrease the polarization? A vital first step is to seek out our common ground in the major civic areas where almost all Catholics agree: religious liberty; the sacredness of all human life; the goal of reducing and eventually eliminating abortion; support for social programs that provide a safety net for the poor; the elimination of segregation, racism and discrimination; and respect for differing religious and social traditions and diverse cultures. Few are the Catholics who do not share these principles, which provide a ready-made common ground.
We also need to find a way to foster civil debate and dialogue on how to incorporate and share our values in a pluralistic society. Recognizing the distinction between moral principles and their application, we can disagree in good conscience on the way such principles are prudentially applied in the public sphere. Even when disagreeing over the concrete applications of moral principles, we also must respect the good will of those with whom we disagree. Tolerance, charity and respect are not “weasel words,” nor are they excuses to paper over legitimate differences among Catholics. Rather, they are essential elements for a church in which members work together toward common goals, by supposing, as St. Ignatius wrote, that everyone is striving to act for the greater good.
Our bishops must take the lead in this conversation in the Catholic community. As the Second Vatican Council noted: “Bishops should make it their special care to approach men and initiate and promote dialogue with them. These discussions on religious matters should be marked by charity of expression as well as by humility and courtesy, so that truth may be combined with charity, and understanding with love.” As many have noted, our bishops also need to be careful that they do not overstep their bounds when they prescribe specific policy recommendations, lest they sacrifice their spiritual authority by appearing to be partisan political figures.
In his book Models of the Church, the late Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., highlighted the image of the church as a “community of disciples.” This image from the early church (Acts 6:1-2) sees every Christian united in learning from and following Christ. Here the church is always a learning church led by the Spirit, not yet in full possession of the truth. A disciple is by definition one who has not yet arrived, but is on the way to full conversion. This more humble view of a pilgrim church always in need of purification and improvement may help to tone down the rhetoric and encourage Catholics to work together in addressing the great issues of our day, especially those involving the culture of life. True dialogue, as Cardinal Dulles noted, enables the church “to understand its teaching better, to present it more persuasively and to implement it in a pastoral way.”
|
|
| | Topic: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ |
|---|
| The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ |
Thu, 11 June 2009 07:25 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Exodus 24:3-8
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18
Hebrews 9:11-15
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
A reflection by Tom Shanahan, S.J.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, traditionally called the feast of Corpus Christi. In so celebrating, we acknowledge the wonderful gift of Holy Communion and its implication for our daily nourishment by God’s love in giving his Son, Jesus Christ, to and for us. This feast underscores the grand desire on the part of Jesus to remain with us even after his death to be the life-giving presence that we count on.
The very last words of St. Matthew’s gospel are Jesus’ compelling words, “I am with you always to the very end of the age (NIV, Mt. 28: 20).” And these words hearken back to the very beginning of Matthew’s gospel, “and they will call him Immanuel – which means, ‘God is with us’ (NIV Mt. 1: 23).” The implication is that God desires to be present to us permanently in the person of Jesus our redeemer. The words imply that the life-giving presence of Jesus is the very heart of Matthew’s gospel.
We experience that presence each day as we share in Holy Communion, the unique sacramental presence of Christ received as nourishment in the form of bread and wine, our spiritual food. That presence is enhanced in the daily lives of those whose baptism (and communion-nourishment) impels them to live the Christ-life within them by going out in service to the needs of others, especially the poor. Thus Christ continues to live vibrantly in the Risen Body (us), His People present and active in our world.
The past three Sundays have had us contemplating the presence of the Holy Spirit in the feast of Pentecost, reflecting on the reality of the Trinity and its role in our Christian lives, and now the Body of Christ as the sign of the Covenant (a new covenant) in the blood of Jesus shed for us.
These are profound mysteries that express fundamental realities about how God relates to us. God cares for us, God loves us, God forgives us, God invites us into life, and God invites us to make a difference in our world (just some of the many ways of expressing it!) Today we are invited to see our lives modeled on Jesus’ giving over of his body and blood FOR US.
|
|
| | Topic: Pope 'visibly upset' at horror uncovered by Ryan inquiry |
|---|
| Pope 'visibly upset' at horror uncovered by Ryan inquiry |
Tue, 09 June 2009 14:45 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
I'm hoping he was upset because he knew about it and never said anything. There were documents in the Ryan Report that came directly from the Vatican. He dealt with sex abuse cases while in the CDF. He must have come across this stuff. He knew the abusers stayed in ministry.
By ED CARTY and JOHN COONEY
Tuesday June 09 2009
POPE Benedict was "visibly upset" by horrific revelations of sexual, physical and emotional torture of children uncovered by the Ryan inquiry, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin revealed yesterday.
The Pontiff also told Ireland's two most senior Catholic clerics that the victims of abuse must get justice.
In a Vatican meeting with Cardinal Brady and Archbishop Martin last Friday, Pope Benedict reiterated his call for the Church hierarchy to make amends to the thousands of children who suffered at the hands of abusive priests, brothers and nuns.
"He (the Pope) was very visibly upset to hear of some of the things told in the Ryan report and how the children had suffered from the very opposite of the expression of a love of God," the Archbishop said.
Cardinal Brady and Archbishop Martin briefed the country's bishops in Maynooth on the 45-minute meeting with the Pontiff and on separate talks with seven cardinals in the Holy See last week.
The two archbishops outlined to the Catholic leaders the devastating findings of the report along with the subsequent fallout and criticisms of 18 religious orders.
Cardinal Brady said: "He (the Pope) listened very attentively, very sympathetically to what we had to say and he said in reply that this was a time for deep examination of life here in Ireland and the Church."
The Cardinal, Primate of All-Ireland, said the Pope also discussed the steps needed to respond to the harrowing catalogue of abuse.
"Establish what is the truth of what happened -- and the Ryan report is an important part of that -- to ensure that justice is done for all; and put in place the measures that will prevent these events ever happening again with a view to healing -- healing the hurt suffered by survivors," the cardinal said yesterday.
"He (Pope Benedict) listened very attentively to everything we had to say."
The Conference of Religious in Ireland was briefed on the Vatican meetings last night.
"The message again we bring back with us, we have to listen to the victims, we have to listen to the survivors. They are the ones who have gone through this," Archbishop Martin said.
"It is to listen and learn from what's in the report and do a little bit of deep soul searching of what way the Church will look in Ireland in the years to come."
The Archbishop also signalled talks with senior Vatican officials on the damning Ryan inquiry will continue.
Tomorrow survivors of abusive Church-run institutions will march in silence on Leinster House where representatives of 18 disgraced religious orders named in the Ryan inquiry have been invited to accept a petition ahead of a wreath-laying ceremony.
The demonstration is being organised by Survivors of Institutional Abuse Ireland, Christine Buckley of Aislinn, Survivors of Child Abuse in Ireland, Right of Place and Michael O'Brien, former Clonmel mayor.
A Dail debate on the Ryan report is expected on Thursday.
|
|
| | Topic: Bill Extending Time to File Child-Abuse Suits |
|---|
| | Topic: Pupils Abused For Decades in Irish Schools |
|---|
| Pupils Abused For Decades in Irish Schools |
Sun, 24 May 2009 07:40 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
The commission said documents found at the Vatican showed that religious orders knew of numerous abuse complaints but covered them up, worried more about scandal than about protecting children.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05 /20/AR2009052003809.html
The closest the United States has come to a similar accounting was a 2004 report commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It found that 5,000 priests -- more than 4 percent of all those who had served in the United States since 1950 -- had been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors. More than 12,000 Americans have reported being abused by priests, and a deluge of lawsuits has cost the church more than $1 billion, bankrupting several U.S. dioceses.
|
|
| | Topic: Memorial Day |
|---|
| Memorial Day |
Sat, 23 May 2009 07:09 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Wishing everyone an enjoyable relaxing weekend.
Memorial Day will include a parade for us. My Dad,a Pearl Harbor survivor, is the parade's Chief Marshall in my home city.
|
|
| | Topic: The church will submerge before any emergence |
|---|
| The church will submerge before any emergence |
Tue, 19 May 2009 13:36 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
http://ncronline.org/news/church-will-submerge-any-emergence
"Let me say that before I see the church emerging into new forms, it actually is going to do some submerging," he said. "A good percentage of the church is grieving right now. We're closing parishes. We're consolidating parishes. Fewer people are going to Mass on Sunday," he said, also mentioning the declining number of priests and nuns.
...Father Donald Cozzens
|
|
| | Topic: Grim News/Pew Forum |
|---|
| Grim News/Pew Forum |
Sat, 02 May 2009 08:50 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Have you read this?
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=411
While the ranks of the unaffiliated have grown the most due to changes in religious affiliation, the Catholic Church has lost the most members in the same process; this is the case even though Catholicism's retention rate of childhood members (68%) is far greater than the retention rate of the unaffiliated and is comparable with or better than the retention rates of other religious groups. Those who have left Catholicism outnumber those who have joined the Catholic Church by nearly a four-to-one margin. Overall, one-in-ten American adults (10.1%) have left the Catholic Church after having been raised Catholic, while only 2.6% of adults have become Catholic after having been raised something other than Catholic.
One in ten American adults are former Catholics. Not good news for the Church. Who can be blamed if not the leaders of the church in America trying to force Catholics to the right? Also,a leadership (or lack of) in Rome who seem to have a dismantling of Vatican II as the agenda.
|
|
| | Topic: Obama and Sermon on the Mount |
|---|
| | Topic: Young Voices- Healing the Wounds |
|---|
| | Topic: Protection for Haitians |
|---|
| Protection for Haitians |
Wed, 15 April 2009 13:36 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Editorial from recent America
Thirty thousand Haitians in Florida face deportation back to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The United States should grant them temporary protected status—which allows people from a designated nation to reside here legally and qualify for work authorization—until the country recovers from four back-to-back hurricanes and tropical storms that ravaged it last summer. These killed 800 people and left nearly one million homeless, with crops wiped out and an estimated $1 billion in damages. Increased costs for food and fuel led to riots a year ago. For children, the consequences have been especially dire. Many eat so-called mud cookies, made from dirt, salt and vegetable shortening. According to Unicef, Haiti has the highest rates in the Western Hemisphere of mortality of infants, children under 5 and mothers. Suspending the deportations, moreover, would allow remittances to continue to flow from Haitians in the United States. Remittances account for approximately a quarter of Haiti’s gross domestic product.
After the storms, Haitian president René Préval asked President George W. Bush to grant temporary protected status. Congress approved this in 1990 for foreign nationals fleeing in the wake of civil war and natural disasters like Hurricane Mitch in 2004. Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador have all received regular 18-month increments of this status, and now Haiti should receive it too. Writing on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Francis George said in a letter to President Bush dated Oct. 8, 2008, that “Haiti meets the standards of T.P.S. because it had experienced political turmoil, four natural disasters and severe food shortages in the previous eight months alone.” The letter also pointed out that conditions there were comparable to or worse than those in countries that received the designation. In mid-March the cardinal wrote again, calling temporary protected status “a mantle of protection...the United States can make toward alleviating the suffering of the Haitian people.”
Fears that granting T.P.S. would bring a large exodus from Haiti to U.S. shores are groundless. It would be available only to people who are already here. Nevertheless, the former Homeland Security Department secretary, Michael Chertoff, denied Mr. Préval’s request, and the new secretary, Janet Napolitano, has not addressed the Haitian deportation issue apart from a Feb. 25 letter from the department’s director of policy, Susan Cullen, stating that the department planned “to continue to coordinate the removal of Haitian nationals to Haiti.”
Deportations also lead to the breakup of families. One recent example concerns a 35-year-old undocumented Haitian mother, Vialine Jean Paul. She married a U.S. citizen in the United States and had a child who, being born here, is also a U.S. citizen. The case is on appeal. Family breakup has long been a major concern of the U.S.C.C.B. and is a major motivation for immigrant advocates’ efforts toward comprehensive immigration reform.
Over the past decades, people on Haiti’s neighbor island, Cuba, received far more generous treatment from the United States. Through a lottery program, 20,000 Cubans receive visas annually to emigrate here through the Special Cuban Migration Program of 1994. Other Cubans who manage to reach U.S. shores by sea can remain if they touch land—the so-called wet foot, dry foot policy. Once on U.S. soil, Cubans are automatically eligible for asylum.
By contrast, the policy toward Haiti has been harsh, marked by mandatory detention and lack of access to counsel. There is a double standard, with Haitians treated as economic migrants and generally deported back home in a blatantly exclusionary manner. Cheryl Little, an attorney who is executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, told America that the inequity “represents the two extremes of our immigration policy.” She added, “I don’t know of any other group that has been singled out for discriminatory treatment decade after decade.” To its credit, Canada has imposed a moratorium on the deportation of Haitians.
So far, Haiti’s plight has not appeared on Mr. Obama’s radar screen. Until it does, members of families like Ms. Jean Paul’s will continue to face separation. Temporary protected status is the humane way to prevent deportations that would not only unravel family bonds but would also create an influx of Haitians back into a desperately poor country that even before the four disastrous storms of last year was unable to provide basic food and shelter for its people. The new administration ought to show its humanitarian side by granting Haiti temporary protected status, sparing Haitians in the United States from deportation back to a country ill-prepared to receive them.
|
|
| | Topic: To our Jewish brothers and sisters |
|---|
| To our Jewish brothers and sisters |
Wed, 08 April 2009 13:49 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Happy Passover!
And this day shall become a memorial for you, and you shall observe it as a festival for the L-RD, for your generations, as an eternal decree shall you observe it. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove the leaven from your homes ... you shall guard the unleavened bread, because on this very day I will take you out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day for your generations as an eternal decree. - Exodus 12:14-17
Passover begins tonight at sundown and ends April 16.
|
|
| | Topic: Scripture for Triduum and Easter Sunday |
|---|
| | Topic: Three Days |
|---|
| Three Days |
Sat, 04 April 2009 16:24 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
For three days Esther fasted and Judith kept vigil, the exiles came home to Jerusalem and the Hebrews marched to the waters of Marah.
For three days darkness afflicted the Egyptians, Hezekiah lay mortally ill, Jonah was entombed in the belly of a fish, and Paul waited in
blindness.
On the third day Abraham offered his firstborn son, God came down in fire and wind upon Sinai, the boy Jesus was found "in his Father's
house," and the man Jesus "performed the first of his signs at Cana in Galilee." Echoing the words of Hosea, Jesus announced the
three-day passover of his death, rest, and resurrection.
The Paschal Triduum, the "Three Days of Passover," are for us days of death, rest, and resurrection. We march to the waters of baptism.
We keep watch for light and for liberation. For three days we climb Mount Moria, Mount Sinai, and Mount Golgotha. Those who were
lost are found, and those who were exiled come home.
Peter Mazar
May you all have a most sacred and blessed Triduum.
|
|
| | Topic: A Significant Anniversary |
|---|
| A Significant Anniversary |
Fri, 03 April 2009 15:26 |
M Anon
Messages: 1251
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
The <a href=" http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitution s/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19690403_missale-romanum_en.html"> Pauline Missal</a>, or at least the promulgation thereof, is 40 years old today.
How is the aesthetic of that era holding up otherwise?
Best-selling novels, Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth,
The Godfather by Mario Puzo, and The Love Machine by Jacqueline Susann.
Fashions? http://retro-fashion-history.com/html/1969_fashion.html
Poetry? Rod McKuen
Singles, Get Back, Honkey-tonk Woman, In the Year 2525, Sugar Sugar.
I think the Archie's may have played for 1st communions at my parish...
|
|
| | Topic: More thoughts on Ruth Kolpack |
|---|
| More thoughts on Ruth Kolpack |
Thu, 02 April 2009 11:39 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
She was summoned for a 10 minute meeting with the bishop and was never given an opportunity to defend her paper. Instead she was told to renounce the ideas expressed in her paper and to take an oath of loyalty and orthodoxy.
In fact the bishop was asking her to renounce her conscience. Catholics are bound to follow their God given conscience but the hierarchy never will bring up that fact in a situation like this. Where is the justice especially for someone who loved her work and did so much good for God's people in her ministry?
The concepts that Ruth spoke of in her thesis are nothing new. In fact noted theologians are cited as sources. They were not silenced by the Church. Also, I'm pretty sure that Bishop Morlino has heard these ideas before. So that cannot be the reason he fired her.
I witnessed a similar hurtful incident to a friend. I think Bishop Morlino may have been frightened by someone who quoted Ruth, most likely a parishioner who did not understand a comment. Maybe it was as simple as Ruth challenging them about opening their minds to a broader understanding of God. Then, they decided to "tattle" on her. How sad and scary if that was all it was about. Bishops don't want to cause a scandal now do they?  especially when an intelligent woman is involved.
|
|
| | Topic: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion B |
|---|
| | Topic: "Subjectivism" and "Relativism" |
|---|
| "Subjectivism" and "Relativism" |
Sun, 29 March 2009 14:45 |
M Anon
Messages: 1251
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
In the papal preacher's homily he decries a tendency toward subjectivism (appointing oneself the ultimate authority? is that a reasonable definition?)
The Pop [correction:pope,] often speaks of an unfortunate "relativism" in our time, (the error that all opinions, even when contradictory can be equally true -- is that a reasonable but succinct way to define that?)
Do you think these two errors, these two heresies, are related?
[Updated on: Sun, 29 March 2009 14:58]
|
|
| | Topic: Fr Federico Lombardi |
|---|
| Fr Federico Lombardi |
Sun, 29 March 2009 09:29 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
The Pope's communications problem is not Fr Lombardi
Posted at: 2009-03-29 11:45:50.0 America blog
Author: Austen Ivereigh
There are rumours on a German traditionalist blog that Fr Federico Lombardi, the Pope's communications chief, will stand down after the Pope's Holy Land trip in May. I have no idea if they are true. But I do know that, whatever the Jesuit's limitations, the Pope's communications problem is not Fr Lombardi.
The key problem under Pope Benedict XVI is that Fr Lombardi is not part of his decision-making cabinet. The exact opposite prevailed under John Paul II: former comms director Joaquin Navarro-Valls was one of the key papal advisers -- to the constant annoyance of the Secretariat of State.
With Benedict XVI's election and the retirement of Navarro-Valls, the notoriously clunky and out-of-touch State -- which best exemplifies the managerial culture panned by George Weigel in an interesting new essay, 'The Pope versus the Vatican', in Standpoint - moved to reassert its traditional role as executor of the papal will. With Communications relegated to a technical, transmission-belt function, the consequences, time after time, have been disastrous, as curial departments have marched the Pope into the PR disaster zone and left him there, leaving Fr Lombardi to arrive on the scene late and out of breath.
As Weigel notes:
"Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, Navarro-Valls's successor, was sadly unprepared for the informal press briefing he gave the day the story [about Bishop Williamson] broke, because he hadn't been brought into whatever deliberations there had been about lifting the Lefebvrist excommunications."
I met Fr Lombardi in 2007, and he was clearly struggling back then to have a voice in the decision-making process. I have grown more and more sorry for him since. Communications is not what you do with the policy. In the Church, above all, it IS the policy; and in Pope Benedict, who is a brilliant conceptual communicator, it is also the man.
If -- after Regensburg, Maciel, Bishop Williamson and countless other eruptions great and small -- Pope Benedict does not realise by now that communications must be part of his decision-making, then he is not as innocent of these disasters as Weigel claims. If he does realise, and is unable to do anything about it, then he is a prisoner of the Vatican.
If neither of these statements is true, Fr Lombardi will soon be brought into the papal decision-making process -- and Catholics can stop apologising for their Church's communications disasters. But if the blogs are right, and Fr Lombardi is to stand down, then I fear he is being scapegoated for ills which lie deep in the heart of the Vatican Curia. We shall see.
|
|
| | Topic: A Prayer for Holy Thursday |
|---|
| A Prayer for Holy Thursday |
Sun, 29 March 2009 08:08 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
We know that we come together for the Lord's Supper in a world where one is hungry and another is drunk;
where we ourselves are well-fed, secure, and articulate;
where success and wealth are worshiped, and the cross of Christ is folly and a scandal;
where there are divisions we recognize and those we still fail to see.
Let us wait for one another before we eat and drink, and bring these divisions with us.
Let us wait for the hungry and the dispossessed,remembering those we have met, and in whom we have seen the face of God.
Let us wait for those who, in their struggle for justice, have challenged us and and changed us.
Let us wait for those who, with nothing to give, have greeted us as guests and shown us the generosity of God.
Let us wait for those whom we oppose, who actively undermine the poor, or in their apathy support injustice.
Let us bring to this table those with whom we long to share, and those we disapprove of; and in or dividedness, let us proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Janet Morley
|
|
| | Topic: Married Catholic priests gain acceptance |
|---|
| | Topic: Boston Archdiocese new web site |
|---|
| | Topic: Fourth Sunday of Lent |
|---|
| | Topic: Happy St Patrick's Day!! |
|---|
| | Topic: Mass for the sick |
|---|
| Mass for the sick |
Mon, 16 March 2009 08:37 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Do any of your parishes plan special liturgies for the sick and the home bound/shut-ins?
Do you schedule this at a normal Sunday mass?
If so do you use the votive mass for the sick or stick with readings etc for that Sunday?
Some parishioners are asking that we plan this. I have never been involved in such a plan and it all seems overwhelming given the transportation issues and health care issues involved.
What is your experience?
|
|
| | Topic: Second Sunday of Lent year B |
|---|
| Second Sunday of Lent year B |
Mon, 02 March 2009 15:27 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
March 8, 2009
http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/030809.shtml#reading2
It took me a long time to understand this first reading story. Why would God ask Abraham to sacrifice his son?
Here's what a friend told me about this ancient practice. In Abraham's day religious people believed in human sacrifice. People believed that with a sacrifice eventually life would be renewed. God tested Abraham who lived with such practices, and then gave him (and all of us) hope for the future. God would be providing the sacrifice.
|
|
| | Topic: LENTEN FASTING |
|---|
| LENTEN FASTING |
Mon, 02 March 2009 13:23 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
...is not the same thing in those lands
where people always eat well as is Lent among our Third
World peoples, undernourished as they are. They live in a
perpetual Lent, always fasting. For those who eat well,
Lent is a call to austerity, a call to give away in order to
share with those in need. But in poor lands, in homes
where there is hunger, Lent should be observed in order to
give to the sacrifice of the everyday the meaning of the
cross.
But it should not be taken out of a mistaken notion of
resignation. God does not want that. Rather, feeling in
one’s own flesh the consequences of sin and injustice, one
is stimulated to work for social justice and a genuine love
of the poor. Our Lent should awaken a sense of social
justice.
BISHOP OSCAR ROMERO
|
|
| | Topic: Umbert |
|---|
| Umbert |
Mon, 02 March 2009 06:58 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
Well, I'm all for Catholic social teaching and teaching that the unborn have value. This is just too weird for me though.
http://www.umberttheunborn.com/
|
|
| | Topic: a new form of religious life |
|---|
| a new form of religious life |
Sun, 01 March 2009 06:30 |
Anne
Messages: 3816
Registered: April 2004 |
Senior Member |
|
|
http://ncronline.org/news/women/we-have-given-birth-new-form -religious-life
"We are ministerial Religious. Ministry is integral to our identity and vocation. It arises from our baptism specified by profession, discerned with our Congregational leadership and effected according to the charism of our Congregation, not by delegation from the hierarchy."
"On the subject of the Stonehill "symposium" [held at Stonehill College, 2008, and very critical of LCWR-type Congregations] - it wasn't a symposium where people come together to share diverse views in the effort to reach greater truth. It was a pep rally for those convinced they are right and can only be right if people not like them are wrong. They were listening to themselves. That's fine -- provided they don't go after other people. We are not after them. This is a fake war being stirred up by the Vatican at the instigation of the frightened. Let's not get into it. Also, what is the worst thing that can happen from this investigation? They are surely not going to shut down 95 % of the Religious Congregatons in this country, even if they'd like to, any more than they closed all the seminaries that were not teaching 19th century moral theology or buying the official line that the clergy sex abuse scandal was caused, not by corrupt bishops protecting pedophile priests, but by homosexuals in seminaries."
|
|
|
Pages (13): [ 4 ]
Current Time: Thu May 23 18:23:42 PDT 2013
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.83478 seconds
|
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
