"It is...Our will that Catholics should abstain from certain appellations which have recently been brought into use to distinguish one group of Catholics from another. They are to be avoided not only as 'profane novelties of words,' out of harmony with both truth and justice, but also because they give rise to great trouble and confusion among Catholics. Such is the nature of Catholicism that it does not admit of more or less, but must be held as a whole or as a whole rejected: 'This is the Catholic faith, which unless a man believe faithfully and firmly; he cannot be saved' (Athanasian Creed). There is no need of adding any qualifying terms to the profession of Catholicism: it is quite enough for each one to proclaim 'Christian is my name and Catholic my surname,' only let him endeavour to be in reality what he calls himself." -- Pope Benedict XV, Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum 24 (1914)

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Richard Gaillardetz



Richard Gaillardetz
Richard Gaillardetz

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Socon or Bust


Inviting Dissent: The Gaillardetz Visit

Posted on October 7th, 2009 by Paycheck in Catholicism, CCCB

At their annual plenary assembly held in Cornwall, Ontario between October 19-23, 2009, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) – amid a firestorm of controversies including the Development & Peace Abortion Scandal and the charge against Bishop Raymond Lahey for possession of child pornography – invited dissenting theologian Richard Gaillardetz, a professor at the University of Toledo, to address them at the Plenary Assembly. Gaillardetz is noteworthy for his dissent on a number of core Catholic issues, most notably on contraception and the infallible status of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, John Paul II’s apostolic letter which infallibly declared that women could not be ordained to the priesthood. Socon or Bust’s Investigative report prompted the CCCB to seek a response from Gaillardetz. Gaillardetz’s letter to the CCCB precipitated a number of exchanges and blog entries on the subject of his problematic positions, and whether it was appropriate for the CCCB to invite a noted dissenter to address them at their Plenary Assembly. (09.10)

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Critique of the writings of Dr. Richard Gaillardetz, Chair of Catholic Studies, University of Toldeo

Robert Fastiggi, Ph.D. Professor of Systematic Theology, Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, MI

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An independent and grassroots forum for reflection, dialogue, and the exchange of ideas within the Catholic community of Minnesota and beyond

Richard Gaillardetz on the Need to "Wrestle with the Tradition"


The authority of church teaching places demands on all Catholics. The Canadian sociologist, David Lyon talks of the contemporary trend toward the "deregulation of religion." What he is describing is a larger societal tendency to be religious on our own terms, to define for ourselves what matters and what does not in matters of religious belief and practice. It encourages us, in other words, to become religious consumers and for the authentic practice of Catholicism, such an attitude is problematic.

Catholics are called to resist this cultural tendency. I am not talking about some unthinking obedience to what "Father says," or the bishop says, or even what the pope says. Postmodern religion has been profoundly influenced by our culture of choice. Within that culture we are tempted to see our tradition as a religious grab bag in which we are free to pull out whatever we find appealing. It is this consumer oriented view of the Catholic tradition that many have in mind when they speak disparagingly of "cafeteria Catholicism." For many church leaders, the default reaction to this situation is to return to the juridical paradigm of command and obey. Their solution is to insist on an uncritical and unswerving obedience to all church teaching. And so they enforce fidelity oaths on ministers and church employees. They micro-manage curricular and textbook decisions in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs.

But there is another way beyond the inadequacies of "cafeteria Catholicism"; it is to encourage a substantive and deliberate "wrestling with the tradition." To be part of a religious tradition requires that I take that tradition seriously, even when it troubles me, and even when, at the end of the day, I find that I cannot give an unqualified adherence to it.

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TIME TO JUNK THE NEW APOLOGETICS?
KARL KEATING'S E-LETTER
February 17, 2004

[Excerpt]

The new apologists, say Gaillardetz, are little better than the Fundamentalists they oppose because they use the Fundamentalist technique of prooftexting. What makes this worse is that the new apologists assume "an overly propositional view of revelation."

This, supposedly, is contrary to Vatican II, which "presented divine revelation as nothing less than the self-communication of God." This self-communication is not so much through propositions (defined beliefs) as through the person of Jesus Christ.

The new apologists, because of their propositional approach, end up giving false weight to magisterial pronouncements. They give too much authority to "non-dogmatic church teaching."

Another problem is that they "encourage a neo-triumphalism that can undermine ecumenical endeavors." This is seen especially in conversion stories, which leave people with the idea that everyone ought to become a Catholic.

Still another problem--and this is where I come back into the picture--is "the ahistorical presentation of the Catholic faith." My book "Catholicism and Fundamentalism" "is far too reluctant to acknowledge the historical difficulties with some traditional Catholic claims regarding the origin of the papacy (e.g., that Peter functioned as a residential 'bishop of Rome')."

There are other criticisms of the new apologists, but you get the drift.

I NEVER THOUGHT OF RICHARD McBRIEN AS AN APOLOGIST

We need a newer form of apologetics, Gaillardetz says. It will have five points.

First, it will be "passionate and positive." He has in mind the writing of such folks as Monika Hellwig, Thomas Rausch, and Richard McBrien. I can see the "passion" in their writings (Rausch was rather passionate when he gave a speech against me some years ago!), and certainly they are "positive" in what they write--but, so often, what they write is positively wrong.

[continued...]
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Home

The State of the Church, 2011: Reflections on the State of American Catholicism Today

Richard R. Gaillardetz, Ph.D.
Murray/Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies
University of Toledo

Richard R. Gaillardetz


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Catherine Clifford of St. Paul University in Ottawa and Richard R. Gaillardetz of the University of Toledo, Ohio, following their plenary address.
Den of Dissent organizer, Catherine Clifford & collaborator Richard Gaillardetz

Catherine Clifford




Conference titled Vatican II: For the Next Generation, will examine signs of today's times
                        
                                                     Catherine Clifford


By: Deborah Gyapong
Canadian Catholic News
OTTAWA (CCN)

A conference here Sept. 27-29 marking the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council will examine how to "hand on the Gospel today" in light of Vatican II's teachings, said Catherine Clifford, a Saint Paul University theology professor and an organizer of the conference.

"One of our goals is to promote the pastoral renewal of the Church," said Clifford. The conference will be titled "Vatican II: For the Next Generation."

Co-sponsored by the Vatican II and 21st Century Catholicism Research Centre at Saint Paul University and Novalis Publishing, the conference will begin a week before bishops from around the world gather in Rome for the Synod on the New Evangelization.

The conference line-up has drawn some controversy, however. The SoCon.ca blog has launched an online petition that blogger John Pacheco hopes will reach 200 names before he sends it at the end of June to Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana.

The letter urges the nuncio to advise Cardinal Peter Turkson, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who is to give a keynote address, to avoid the "scandal" of appearing at a conference of "dissenters."

"The world we live in today is very different from the world 50 years ago," Clifford said. Many of the questions are not the same questions the bishops were reflecting on from 1962-<0x2019>65 at the council."

"We're called to read the signs of this time and to engage in that open dialogue in a spirit of humility with other Christians, other faiths, and contemporary society."

When Vatican II opened 50 years ago, it took place against the backdrop of the Cold War, less than 20 years after the end of World War II, said Clifford.



Since then there has been a marked shift to the global integration of societies and culture, she said. "The Internet is part of that."

"It's an era of an unprecedented migration of peoples," she said. "The population of the world has more than doubled; the population of the Catholic Church has more than doubled."

"The majority of Catholics live not in Europe and North America but in the southern hemisphere," she said. "We are a very different Church than we were 50 years ago."

The world is marked by more global structures such as the United Nations, she said. "There is still armed conflict and war but there is more consensus that violence is not the way to solve conflict but only a last resort."

Though poverty and social injustice remain challenges, "in some ways those issues are far more complex than they were 50 years ago," she said.

Another sign is the growing recognition of the dignity of the human person that is probably even stronger than it was 50 years ago, when the civil rights movement in the United States was gaining momentum, she said.

Cardinal Peter Turkson's keynote address will be titled, "Vatican II: A Council of Justice and Peace." He will receive an honorary doctorate at a convocation in the university chapel Sept. 28.

Other conference attendees include Christoph Theobald, SJ, a professor of dogmatic theology from the Centre Sevres in Paris, and Boston College systematic theology professor Richard Gaillardetz. The conference will feature a panel of bishops and advisers who participated in the Council, including Bishop Remi De Roo, a former bishop of Victoria; Bishop Gerard J. Deschamps of Daru-Kiunga, Papua New Guinea; and advisers Gregory Baum, a former Augustinian priest; and Father Leo Laberge, OMI.

The letter to be sent to the nuncio says, "The Holy Father has consistently maintained that the documents of the Vatican II must be understood and interpreted in light of our Catholic Tradition, in a 'hermeneutic of continuity,' to use his nomenclature."

"This is, of course, opposed to the 'hermeneutic of rupture or discontinuity' which the Holy Father has criticized and denounced as a break from our Holy Tradition," the letter said. "But it is very likely that many, if not even most, of the individuals at this conference are advocating positions not only against our Holy Father's vision of Vatican II, but also other positions which are seriously contrary to Catholic teaching."

The letter then critiques the stands of participants on a range of issues.

Clifford said things these theologians have said have been "taken out of context" and are "not a fair representation of the views of the people they are criticizing."

"I think they misrepresent the work and damage the reputations of these people," she said, describing them as "respected theologians and leaders who have given a life of service to the Church and I think in no way are disloyal to the Church and its teaching."

Clifford said the conference has received a high level of positive interest and registrations are flowing in. More information can be found at http://ustpaul.ca or from vaticancentre@ustpaul.ca .

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Home

Theologians focus on prophetic commitments

Jun. 21, 2010
By Thomas C. Fox
Catherine Clifford of St. Paul University in Ottawa and Richard R. Gaillardetz of the University of Toledo, Ohio, following their plenary address.
Catherine Clifford & Richard Gaillardetz

[Excerpt]

Clifford and Gaillardetz, noting that tradition and the word of God ground the church in faith, said that critical studies have shown that tradition “can distort as well as disclose, it can reveal and conceal aspects of the word and has at times been co-opted to convey the values of ideology and dominant self-interest.”

Drawing on the writings of the French Dominican and Second Vatican Council advisor Fr. Yves Congar, the authors said the baptized faithful, the theologians and the bishops all contribute to receiving the word and maintaining the truth. They all need to work together.

The critical role of the theologian, they said, is to preserve “the priority of the lived faith of the church over its doctrinal formulations.”

“The primary act of ecclesial reception is not that of the faithful obediently embracing the decrees of the magisterium, but the humble reception by the magisterium of the pluriform witness to the Gospel by the whole people of God.”

For the theologian, they said, this requires a deep sense of humility, one that recognizes that bishops, theologians and the entire Christian community need to engage in “respectful conversation, critical inquiry and mutual correction.”

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Catholics urge Vatican Cardinal to skip dissenting conference on Vatican II


BY PATRICK B. CRAINE

Mon Jul 23, 2012 14:30 EST

OTTAWA, Ontario, July 23, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic activists are urging a Vatican Cardinal to skip a controversial conference at Ottawa’s Saint Paul University this September that features numerous speakers strongly opposed to Catholic teaching.

The “Vatican II for the Next Generation” conference, to be hosted Sept. 27-30 by SPU’s Vatican II and 21st Century Catholicism Research Centre, is intended to honour the 50th anniversary of the Council’s opening.

Cardinal Turkson with Pope John Paul II

In addition to numerous speakers who question Catholic teachings on issues such as abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and women’s ordination, it will feature a keynote address by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Pro-life activist John Pacheco has launched an online petitionto Canada’s nuncio, Archbishop Pedro López Quintana, asking that he ensure Cardinal Turkson is aware of the speakers’ controversial views. It has 240 signatures so far.

“We would hope that a Cardinal of the Church and representative of His Holiness would avoid an occasion of scandal which would be caused by his appearance and participation,” it reads.

Among the controversial speakers is Prof. Richard Gaillardetz, a theologian at Boston College who was rebuked by his bishop in 2008 when he wrote an op-ed arguing that Barack Obama was the “pro-life candidate” in that year’s federal election because of his social policy on poverty and healthcare. He has also questioned the definitive status of Humanae vitae, in which Pope Paul VI reiterated the Church’s condemnation of contraception, and the Church’s teaching on the impossibility of women’s ordination.

The conference will also feature a panel of “witnesses” to the Council who participated in its proceedings fifty years ago, which includes Gregory Baum and Bishop Remi De Roo.

Bishop De Roo, a Council father, is a trained teacher of the new-age ‘Enneagram’ and has been a featured guest at conferences of Call to Action, a notorious dissenting organization which has been denounced by the Vatican for its opposition to Church teaching. He played a key role in the Canadian Bishops’ adoption of the Winnipeg Statement in 1968, in which they opposed Humanae vitae.

De Roo also celebrated a bizarre giant Puppet Mass, with liturgical dancers at a Nov. 6, 2008 Call to Action conference in Milwaukee.



Baum, a former priest, is particularly notorious for helping rally opposition to Humanae Vitae, and has been a prominent activist for same-sex “marriage.”

In a 2009 talk at Saint Paul University, Baum accused Pope Benedict XVI of undermining Vatican II. “A conservative movement, sponsored by the Vatican itself, remains attached to the old paradigm, overlooks the bold texts of the conciliar documents and tries to restore the Catholicism of yesterday,” he said. “Vatican II may suffer neglect for a certain time, but as an ecumenical council it cannot be invalidated.”

A plenary session will feature Fr. Gilles Routhier, a theologian at Laval University whose testimony in a 2009 trial over the Quebec government’s controversial Ethics and Religious Culture program led the judge to forbid parents from opting their children out.

Prof. Catherine Clifford, the conference organizer, told the Catholic Register that critics have taken the speakers’ views “out of context.” “I think they misrepresent the work and damage the reputations of these people,” she said.



“I think we’re at a point in the Church where the laity really need to make their voices heard,” Pacheco told LifeSiteNews. “Faithful Catholics who are loyal to the Magisterium need to have their concerns acted on by the hierarchy - no matter what the cost.”

Saint Paul University did not respond to LifeSiteNews.com by press time.

The online petition is available here.

Contrasting Two Bishops: Remi de Roo and Adam Exner





Contrasting two B.C. Catholic dioceses – De Roo and Exner


March 3, 2011.

{This backgrounder on retired Vancouver Island Bishop Remi de Roo links to a March 3, 2011 posting on a new book about him, titled The ‘Vindication of Remi de Roo.}


A tale of two dioceses
The Vancouver Sun ARCHIVES
Saturday, August 2, 1997
Page: E1 / FRONT
Byline: Douglas Todd

              
              Bishop Remi de Roo                                  Archbishop Adam Exner, OMI

Vancouver Archbishop Adam Exner is “a very intelligent, well-read, personal friend,” says Victoria Bishop Remi De Roo. But the longest-serving bishop in English-speaking Canada cannot resist adding, with a puckish smile on his lean, lined face, that Exner is “also inclined a little bit to be black and white.”

Like all bishops, De Roo and Exner, both Prairie-born farmboys, choose their words carefully. But De Roo, who has made an international name for himself as an advocate of social justice, is not meek. Speaking of Exner, a dedicated crusader against abortion, De Roo says: “You need not always agree with someone to respect someone.”

The Roman Catholic diocese of Victoria is known as the most radical and avant garde in Canada — an adventurous offspring of the emerging freedoms of the Vatican II Council; for putting much energy into advancing the role of women, denouncing oppression and encouraging what some Catholics think is too much diversity of ideas.


Bishop Remi de Roo and musician David Haas

On the other side of Georgia Strait, meanwhile, Vancouver has long been ranked among the most traditional of the dioceses overseeing Canada’s 13 million Catholics. Vancouver is seen as a dutiful servant of doctrinally strict Pope John Paul II, known for its lack of dissension and for rigorously enforcing Catholic bans on such things as abortion and homosexual activity.


Archbishop Adam Exner and Sister Mary Barbara Collins

This is a tale of the two dioceses.

Comparing Catholic dioceses is not applauded within the church. To do it in public is judged rude at best, disobedient at worst. More than 10 usually talkative Catholics, both liberals and conservatives, declined to go on the record, or say anything on the topic.

Exner, who is usually comfortable with the media, refused to cooperate for this article. His chancellor, Greg Smith, said Exner believes comparing the two dioceses “would serve no useful purpose.” As archbishop, Exner functions as the top Catholic in B.C., but does not have direct authority over De Roo or other bishops, who answer to Rome.

Even De Roo, who has taken part in hundreds of interviews, grew wary when asked to make explicit comparisons. “I think I’ll leave that up to you,” he said, although he was ready to explain his approach to leadership and issues.

In the 35 years De Roo has been the bishop for Vancouver Island, the relationship between the neighboring dioceses has been more testy than De Roo suggests it is now. From 1931 to 1964, Vancouver was run by archbishop William Duke, whom De Roo says “was known as the Iron Duke.” Duke practised the heavy-handed brand of leadership common to his era.

After a brief stint with Martin Johnson as Vancouver’s head Catholic, James Carney ruled as archbishop for 21 years until his death in 1990. De Roo believes Carney “was born and bred in the same environment” as Duke. When it’s suggested that Carney seemed to distrust the media, De Roo says, “I’m not sure he trusted anybody.”

Paul Burns, who retired from the active Catholic priesthood to teach religious studies at the University of B.C., says Carney, who was congenial in private, once confessed to him that he regretted that too many Catholics seemed to be drawn to his “dark side; his authoritarian side.”

Since Exner arrived in Vancouver in 1991, he has cautiously tried to put a slightly more human face on a diocese that has long felt a chill on free expression. Burns joins many observers in saying Exner, who describes himself as middle-of-the-road, has probably inherited many reactionary priests he would not have chosen himself.

Off the record, some Catholics say there has been a long practice in Vancouver of ultra-orthodox Catholics turning in church officials who appear to question the status quo. North Vancouver Catholic layman Pat Bell says any priest with threatening views is soon shoved out of the diocese. Yet Bell says Exner is more liberal than Carney; it would be impossible not to be.

Unlike Carney, Exner is as highly educated as De Roo. Exner has a PhD in moral philosophy; De Roo has a PhD in theology. Exner can speak six languages; De Roo can speak eight, has five honorary university degrees and four books to his name.

Both Exner and De Roo have worked among B.C.’s native Indians and sympathize with some of their causes. Both are outgoing. Exner, for example, plays accordion, and De Roo practises the psycho-spiritual techniques of the Enneagram. Exner is 68; De Roo is 73 (two years from mandatory retirement).

The gap between the two remains wide, however. It may explain why some Catholics in Vancouver have been unwilling to tolerate De Roo. In 1992, The B.C. Catholic newspaper refused to run ads for De Roo’s book, In The Eye of the Catholic Storm.

“[De Roo's] book gives a constant impression of undermining the church,” said Father Vincent Hawkswell, long-time editor of the official Catholic newspaper, which Exner oversees (there is no independent Catholic newspaper in Vancouver). Although Hawkswell said he had not consulted with Exner on the ad ban, Hawkswell insisted: “I have no qualms in saying the book is not worth reading.”

The differences between the dioceses are not usually revealed in such publicly blatant acts of confrontation, however.

Although observers believe Exner is more likely, in private, to toe the Vatican line on doctrine, De Roo also says he “refuses to play the dissident” for over-eager journalists or malcontents.

Any bishop knows that expressing bald disagreement with central Catholic teaching would require his resignation. As well, De Roo believes everything he does and says fits, in some way, with Catholic tradition, which, unlike many, he considers “flexible.”

The points of divergence between 35 years of De Roo in Victoria and 35 years of Duke, Johnson, Carney and now Exner in Vancouver can be found in their leadership styles — and in particular issues which each diocese has chosen to emphasize.

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De Roo’s career can be characterized by his life-long devotion to social and economic justice.

De Roo made arguably his biggest impact in Canada when he chaired the social affairs commission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which issued a 1983 report that infuriated then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

It declared chronic unemployment “a moral crisis” and said it, not inflation, was the economic catastrophe of the day. When Canada’s unemployment rate was just two points higher than today’s nine percent, De Roo criticized political and business leaders for spreading “propaganda” that high numbers of unemployed were unavoidable.

“That’s what we said then, and it’s all come true,” De Roo says. “Only it’s gotten worse.”

De Roo, who follows the Bible’s prophetic tradition of criticizing those in power, will tell anyone who will listen that society is headed for destruction because of unemployment, free-trade ideology, corporate greed and a widening chasm between rich and poor.

De Roo also emphasizes the Vatican’s often-overlooked endorsement of labor unions. That stood him in stark contrast to Carney, whose most contentious act, arguably, was closing down Marian Catholic high school in 1988 when its teachers tried to organize a union.

Carney also refrained during the 1980s from signing statements by De Roo and other top B.C. church leaders protesting the Social Credit government’s approach to the poor and unemployed.

While Burns says De Roo’s eventual dismissal as head of the bishops’ social affairs commission was a sign that he was too left-wing for Canada’s English-speaking bishops (though not the more progressive French-Canadians bishops), De Roo disagrees.

De Roo points to a statement issued by the current social affairs commission before this June’s federal election. He says it’s perfectly in line with what he’s been saying for years. The statement asked Catholics to vote for politicians who are dedicated to the common good, including protecting the poor, the environment and ensuring fair wages.

While Exner has occasionally made comments on behalf of the poor and unemployed, Burns says Exner has not taken stands on international economic justice. Instead, Exner has put much of his passion into personal moral issues.

Even before he came to Vancouver from bishoprics at Winnipeg and Kamloops, Exner had made a national name launching several anti-abortion marches. Exner continues to champion anti-abortion prayers and protests in Vancouver, which Burns says has appeared to give support to the Catholic right-wing.

On the other hand, De Roo, who makes a point of expanding his “pro-life” philosophy to include opposition to not only abortion, but capital punishment and war, has subtly criticized militant anti-abortionists as insensitive to women struggling with unwanted pregnancies.

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The striking contrast between the leadership styles of De Roo and his Vancouver counterparts may be just as revealing as their divergent approaches to specific topics of contention.

The reaction of De Roo and Exner to Catholics of Vision offers insights to the two dioceses’ characters. The headline-grabbing reform group is rattling the church this year by sending around a petition calling for married Catholic priests, female priests, elected bishops and greater freedom of thought.

“I advise you and exhort you not to cooperate with `Catholics of Vision,’ ” Exner told Catholics in a statement. “As Catholics we cannot support it. I see their petition as an expression of dissent and protest.” He went on to decry any attempt to “democratize” the Catholic church.

While Exner was one of many Canadian bishops trying to ostracize Catholics of Vision, De Roo has let it roll. He has allowed the Catholics of Vision statement to be discussed in full. The Vancouver Island Catholic News, which De Roo never censors, became the only Catholic newspaper in the country to run the full text of the Catholics of Vision statement, says staff member Pat Jamieson.

“Over the years Remi has spoken in favor of all the points made by Catholics of Vision,” Jamieson says. Like many island Catholics, Jamieson raves about how De Roo has instituted a long-term discussion forum, called a synod.

The synod is a startling notion to many in the Catholic church because it invites the entire community to offer ideas on how the church should be run. At the recent five-year anniversary of the first synod, De Roo proudly says he received more than 1,000 suggestions for improvements from parishioners.

While De Roo agrees with Exner that the church is not a political democracy, neither should it be a monarchy, he says. He refers to the church as a “sacramental people.” That means, he says, the church is called to follow the form of community of the early Christians – who met in a circle, considered each other equals and engaged in self-criticism.

“Every member of the church is equal in dignity and class,” De Roo says. “The only class is the class of Jesus.”

De Roo says he respects those who disagree with him. If a priest breaches Catholic discipline, De Roo says he will be told about it and expected to rectify it himself.

“I like to deal with people as adults, and respect their freedom within the limits of tradition, which I think is flexible,” De Roo says. “The church is a mysterious body moving through history; it will be here in 2,000 years. But that doesn’t mean we don’t criticize. The Pope has powerful influence, but the church is not a monolith. Popes can declare doctrines all they want. But the critical test of a doctrine is that the people receive it. ”

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The physical design of the central offices of the two dioceses seems to suggest their divergent ways of being.

The Victoria headquarters is in a new, airy building overlooking a Swan Lake, an urban forest and distant mountains. Wearing Birkenstock sandals, cardigan and grey woolen pants, De Roo showed how he had the staff room located in the best part of the building, where workers get a stunning view. This reflects De Roo’s belief that workers deserve dignity.

Meanwhile, the head office of the Vancouver archdiocese is in an old brick building downtown . The diocese isn’t wasting money on renovations at 150 Robson, but the building has a slightly gloomy atmosphere. The lobby to Exner’s office is formal and plain, with dark brown walls and the subtle smell of his cigarette smoke.

Diverging styles are also reflected in the prominence De Roo gives women in the church. While the Vancouver archdiocese struggled until recently, for example, over whether to allow altar girls (the Vatican has just clarified they are permissible), altar girls have been commonplace on Vancouver Island for more than 20 years.

Exner has posted women to some key committees, Burns says. But women do not serve mass at Vancouver’s Holy Rosary Cathedral, he says.

De Roo, on the other hand, has busily advanced the role of women since he began in 1962. He allows females (and male lay members) to perform almost every duty and sacrament usually reserved for priests.

University of Victoria Catholic chaplain Kate Fagan, 27, says she performs weddings and baptisms, preaches, presides at mass and counsels people (which comes close to hearing confession). The only thing Fagan leaves up to priests is consecration of the bread and wine.



Fagan, who was raised in the Vancouver diocese, says some Vancouver Catholics are frightened by the power De Roo allows women. “Remi teaches you have to decide whether you’re going to act from love or from fear. Victoria is refreshing because there’s no fear here. To some Catholics in Vancouver, he’s a terrible rebel bishop. But there are other Catholics who just drool when they hear about what he does.”

De Roo, for example, was the driving force behind the creation of the ecumenical, no-theological-holds barred Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. Director Harold Coward, a prominent Canadian religious scholar, said De Roo “is a visionary and a catalyst to make things happen. And he doesn’t get in the way of his vision by trying to control it.”

De Roo’s life has been transformed by another thing that many conservative Christians worry can get out of control: the Enneagram. The B.C. Catholic refuses to runs ads promoting Enneagram workshops, which some conservative Christians consider occult, or at least New Age.



The Enneagram, in which De Roo has become a certified trainer, is based on a personality-type system said to be rooted in mystical Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was largely introduced to North America by Jesuits. Through the Enneagram, De Roo has discovered he’s a “perfectionist.” He often feels guilty when he takes it easy — “and deep down there’s a little anger.” He’s trying to loosen up. “I’m allowing myself to be humanly imperfect, rather than perfectly inhuman,” he says.

Asked about Christian resistance to the Enneagram, De Roo acts as if he can no longer waste his time fretting over such things. “Most people,” he says, “don’t really want to know who they are.”

De Roo’s openness to fresh ways of exploring spirituality can partly be linked to how he is the only active bishop in English-speaking Canada who took part in Vatican Council II.

Many Catholics consider Vatican Council II, which met over three ye
ars in the early 1960s, the most significant religious event since the 16th-century Reformation. It was a dramatic effort to try to make the church’s hierarchical structure more flexible and open to differing views.

“I was appointed in the euphoria of that ecumenical movement,” De Roo says. He insists he is not disappointed that Vatican II has not yet been fully realized under Pope John Paul. “I’m just realistic. There was bound to be a counter-reaction. It’s sometimes said it takes 100 years for a council to be lived.”

One wonders if he’s thinking of Exner when he again says: “Some people are obsessed by yesterday’s certainty. Some people want it all black and white.”

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Yet, despite discordance, De Roo and Exner have struggled together, on similar wavelengths, through some complex moral and social issues.

The native decor throughout De Roo’s office and home hints at his long history of action on native Indian causes. He has stood with native chiefs on Parliament Hill. De Roo, along with Exner, signed a statement two years ago supporting the creation of land treaties with natives.

And despite, or perhaps because of, his radical reputation, De Roo has publicly expressed more reservations than Exner about how native are trying to achieve their political goals. To De Roo, justice for natives definitely needs to be seen in shades of grey.

Exner — who became highly sensitized to abuse issues because he led a national Catholic panel to combat priestly sex transgressions — publicly apologized, with all the sincerity he could muster, for the abuse of teenage female residential-school students by former Prince George bishop Hubert O’Connor.

But De Roo, who has been offering O’Connor pastoral support in Duncan, has taken a tougher line. He says he’s disturbed many natives have capitalized on sexual abuse at church-run residential schools to blame all their problems on Christianity and the federal government. De Roo criticizes native leaders who playing up cases of sex abuse in the defunct residential school system “to the hilt.” Some native leaders, De Roo charges, are promoting a “victim” identity for natives to further their land claims.

Similarly, despite his progressive tag, De Roo sees moral ambiguities in legislation passed in July by the B.C. government that gives same-sex partners full legal rights as “spouses.” With Exner organizing an all-out push to stop the legislation, De Roo signed a joint statement by B.C.’s Catholic bishops, which said that calling same-sex partners “spouses” undermines “the sacredness and indispensible social role of marriage and the family.”

But both De Roo and Exner insist they continue to believe in full rights for homosexuals. And De Roo softened the blow of the joint statement further by issuing his own conciliatory letter to the homosexual community, suggesting its goals could be furthered by conversation with Catholics and by being sensitive to the church’s traditional heterosexual understanding of “spouse.”

The differences between the two dioceses grows similarly murky on other awkward points of sexual ethics.

While Carney’s office often reiterated the Catholic church’s stand against artificial birth control, sex outside marriage, homosexual activity and masturbation, Exner has not made a display of publicly re-emphasizing Vatican opposition to these hot-button issues, which polls show most Canadian Catholics don’t accept.

A Catholic does not become or remain a bishop through recklessness. Like corporate managers and politicians, like anyone running a powerful, multi-faceted organization, bishops know how to balance interests by providing indirect answers to blunt questions. Their true beliefs often lie as much in what they don’t say, as in what they say.

When De Roo is asked his views on such things as sex outside marriage and artificial contraception, he tends to say, “Catholic teaching is very clear” on them. Asked if he personally accepts such Catholic restrictions on sex, De Roo responds that many people are caught in the culture of individualism and instant gratification, which leads them to become addicted to easy sex, as well as drugs, alcohol, food, sports, TV or movies.

But De Roo opens the window for some value other than the rule of law to decide such sensitive matters when he adds: “My pastoral concern is for the spiritual well-being of the total human person. There are three key things in the gospel tradition: We have to pursue truth as we know it, we have to love one another, we have to practice compassion. Those are the gospel fundamentals. They don’t change.”

Exner is more prudent than his audacious Victoria counterpart. But Exner — who likes to remind people that he is often criticized for being both too liberal and too conservative — also appears more human-centred than his predecessors, and committed to forgiveness. If Exner had allowed himself to be interviewed for this article, it’s easy to believe he would not have disagreed with his colleague across the water that love, in the end, is ultimate.

What is a bishop?

Role and responsibilities of the office:

– The chief authority in his diocese for explaining the faith, shepherding the flock, performing blessings and ordaining priests.

– Is selected by the Pope and answers to the Pope (usually through the Pope’s national representative), but is ultimately considered a vicar of Jesus Christ himself.

– A member of the college of bishops, which exercises supreme authority in the church when it acts under the direction of the pope. The college includes:

– six active bishops in B.C.

– more than 70 active bishops in Canada — several thousand bishops around the world.

The House of Bishops is responsible for almost one billion Roman Catholics.

– HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism

CATHOLIC PROFILE

Archdiocese of Vancouver

– Has about 340,000 self-described Roman Catholics, according to census figures. Geographically, it includes Greater Vancouver as it stretches from Hope to Powell River.

Diocese of Victoria

Has about 90,000 self-described Catholics. Geographically, the diocese includes all of Vancouver Island.



In Canada, polls suggest about one-third of Catholics are active, one-third are marginally involved and one-third have cut ties.)


Bishop Remi de Roo and ex-priest Gregory Baum

RePost: Vatican III & The Theologian Kings


Petition published by John Pacheco on Apr 22, 2012




Target: Catholics
Region: Canada
Web site: www.socon.ca

Sign the petition
Sponsor 


Petition Background (Preamble):
A petition to the Nuncio in Canada to ask Cardinal Peter Turkson to decline his invitation to the "Vatican II for the Next Generation" Conference at St. Paul's University in Ottawa, scheduled for September 27-29, 2012.
_____________

Note: GoPetition permits you to post your full name and address without it being displayed publicly. Just follow the instructions on the signature page to select the anonymous option, if you wish. The petition will be presented to the Nuncio at the most opportune time.

Petition:
Most Rev. Pedro López Quintana
Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, Apostolic Nunciature
724 Manor Ave. Ottawa, ON K1M 0E3

cc. Most Rev. Terrence Prendergast, Archbishop of Ottawa


Your Excellency,

This coming September 27-29, St. Paul's University will be hosting a Conference on the Second Vatican Council. We believe it is incumbent upon us to alert your Excellency regarding some of the individuals who will be participating at this event, their doctrinal positions, and even some of their personal histories.

Cardinal Peter Turkson is also scheduled to appear at this Conference. We are therefore respectfully asking you to inform His Eminence of the problematic nature of the Conference, considering the dissenting positions held by its participants. We would hope that a Cardinal of the Church and representative of His Holiness would avoid an occasion of scandal which would be caused by his appearance and participation.

As you are no doubt aware, your Excellency, the Holy Father has consistently maintained that the documents of the Vatican II must be understood and interpreted in light of our Catholic Tradition, in a "hermeneutic of continuity", to use his nomenclature. This is, of course, opposed to the "hermeneutic of rupture or discontinuity" which the Holy Father has criticised and denounced as a break from our Holy Tradition.

But it is very likely that many, if not even most, of the individuals at this Conference are advocating positions not only against our Holy Father's vision of Vatican II, but also other positions which are seriously contrary to Catholic teaching. After a brief perusal of the speakers and panelists of this upcoming Conference, we wish to bring to your attention the problematic positions of many of its participants:

Gregory Baum - ex-priest who married a former nun then proceeded to "divorce" her; dissenter from Humanae Vitae and supporter of the infamous Winnipeg Statement; supporter of same-sex "marriage".

Bishop Remi De Roo - certified Enneagram teacher; associated with dissident groups International Federation of Married Catholic Priests and Call to Action.

Both Baum and +De Roo are advocates of the hermeneutics of rupture:

“…the continued implementation of the Council is being undermined by Conservative Catholics, aided by the Vatican, [Baum] said. “A conservative movement, sponsored by the Vatican itself, remains attached to the old paradigm, overlooks the bold texts of the conciliar documents and tries to restore the Catholicism of yesterday,” he claimed. “Vatican II may suffer neglect for a certain time, but as an ecumenical council it cannot be invalidated.” He says that as pope, Benedict XVI has been “inconsistent,” emphasizing ‘proclamation’ at certain points and ‘dialogue’ at others. While the late Pope John Paul II focused on dialogue in dealing with other religions, said Baum, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger emphasized “proclamation” against relativism. “Will the Pope change his mind again?” he asked. “On this issue the magisterium is presently inconsistent.” (Source)
Dick Gaillardetz - dissenter on the infallible nature Ordinatio Sacerdotalisdissenter on the Church's absolute prohibition of contraceptive acts; holds many other problematic doctrinal positionscriticized by his own bishop for his position on legalized abortionmember of Obama's "Catholic" Advisory Council

According to the National Post, Gaillardetz called the Pope's action to lift the excommunication of the SSPX bishops "an abysmal decision". Indicating that Pope Benedict does not have an appreciation for "the symbolic gesture" as John Paul II did, he stated, "[Benedict] doesn't think about or consider ... the larger consequences of his actions." He said, further, "many of us in the Catholic Church have become accustomed to putting the best face on some politically ill-considered moves by the Vatican."

Catherine Clifford - Clifford has complained that theologians labor under “episcopal suspicion” and asserted that theologians “exhibit loyalty to the magisterium only insofar as the magisterium exhibits its own proper service to God’s word,” a formula that allows theologians the final judgment as to what constitutes God’s word....Clifford and Gaillardetz defined the role of the theologian as that of preserving “the priority of the lived faith of the Church over its doctrinal formulations,” implying that the two are incompatible. But, having excluded both hierarchical authority and “popular opinion,” the two theologians seemed by default to leave the professionals as the people uniquely qualified to determine what is or is not “lived faith.” (Source)

Sister Joan Cronin, Executive Director of Institute of Catholic Education - deficient position on homosexual orientation and its relation to Catholic education.

Gilles Routhier, priest-professor, theologian - problematic role in the remarkable betrayal of the fundamental right of Catholic parents to determine their children’s religious formation.

Dr. Margaret Lavin, Assistant Professor, Contextual Theology, Regis College (UofT) - advocates demotion of Catholic hierarchical understanding of the Church; clear advocate of the hermeneutic of rupture; one of Lavin's books calls for a new way of "being church" and "sets an agenda for Vatican III".

Your Excellency, the Church is in crisis, in part, because our spiritual fathers in authority have not taken action against the dissent which has infiltrated the Church. The children of the Church have a right to be taught true doctrine and teaching in harmony with the Church's magisterium and the Holy Father's vision of the Church. We hope that you will agree with us that the time of laxity and permissiveness on the part of those in authority in the Church is now over, and it is high time that some correction and discipline be imposed on those who seek their own agendas and how to "be Church". Otherwise, your Excellency - and we want to stress this point in particular - the principles of "Communion", "fidelity", and even "scandal" become meaningless words that have no significance to anyone, neither to the dissenters nor to Faithful Catholics. It all becomes one rather large bowl of salad in the unfortunate cafeteria of relativistic religion.

For the past 40 years, your Excellency, the Faithful laity have seen the disastrous effects of what happens to the Church when those in authority eschew the Cross of Our Lord and instead seek the respect of the world, the unbalanced, the perverse, the clever, and the proud.

We, the undersigned, therefore lift our voices to the Church to ask for what is our right as Catholics to have a faithful witness to the Truth of the Gospel and loyalty to the Roman Pontiff. And we have a right, your Excellency, for those in authority (like yourself and Cardinal Turkson) to respect that right and do whatever is in their power to ensure that scandal is neither fostered nor tolerated. A message needs to be sent to correct those in error.

Now suppose one of your fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? - Luke 11:11

Let the answer to Jesus' question to the long- suffering Faithful be a resounding "no", your Excellency...for a change.

Rest assured of our prayers for your ministry in serving the Holy Father here in Canada.

Sign the petition

--------------------------------------------------------

The Vatican III and the Theologian Kings petition to Catholics was written by John Pacheco and is in the category Religion at GoPetition. Contact author here. Petition tags: catholicvatican ii,dissent

Monday, July 30, 2012

Major League Soccer All-Star Rediscovers Beauty of Catholic Faith



Columbus Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven pursues soccer career with proper perspective.
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by TRENT BEATTIE 07/25/2012


Eddie Gaven holds newly baptized son while St. Joseph looks on.

– Courtesy of Eddie Gaven


Eddie Gaven is in his 10th season of Major League Soccer. His career includes an MLS All-Star Game appearance in 2004 and an MLS Cup victory with the Columbus Crew in 2008. These are impressive accomplishments for anyone, but what makes them even more so is that Gaven is only 25.

In 2003, the Hamilton Township, N.J., native was the youngest player up to that point to sign an MLS contract. He was only 16 at the time. While Gaven’s soccer career was pursued with youthful zeal, his Catholic faith was left to decay.

The restoration of his faith started when his beloved game of soccer was briefly taken away from him. He was out with an injury, which left him with plenty of time to think about where he was headed.

While Gaven still plays soccer with great enthusiasm, he now realizes where his greatest treasure is: in the Catholic Church. He appreciates many things about the Church, but most especially Mass.

Gaven spoke with Register correspondent Trent Beattie about his soccer career and re-conversion in anticipation of the MLS All-Star Game, which takes place July 25 at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.



Most 16-year-olds would be happy to make the varsity team in high school. How did you get to sign with a major-league team at that age?

I was exposed to the Olympic Development Program, commonly known as the ODP, early on. Any kid can try out for the program, and I went for it. You start playing locally and then move on to state, national and even international play. I was fortunate to play on the national team for those under 14 years of age, or the U 14 Team, as they call it. That was an opportunity for some MLS coaches to see me, which led to a tryout, and then a contract.

Ultimately, I think it was God’s grace that enabled me to play at a high level at such a young age. I had a God-given ability to play, and that’s what made it all possible. You have to go back to God to see the source of any ability you have to do anything.

Then I took that ability and really worked with it. That was due to the guidance of my father, who played soccer four years at Rutgers University. He was my coach from the earliest days until I got onto the advanced teams. He taught me well and inspired me to really put everything I had into the game.

I would play every day — and while doing so would imagine myself playing in the World Cup against the players I’d see on TV. It was more than me just kicking a soccer ball in my own backyard; it was playing in a different place through my imagination.



When you finally did get to play against the best players in reality, what was that like?

It’s a dream come true to play Major League Soccer. Some people don’t like their jobs, and others don’t even have jobs, so I’m incredibly blessed to do what I do and get paid for it. Not many people can say that, so I just want to be grateful for that and keep playing as long as possible.

I was able to play in the MLS All-Star Game in 2004, and that was one of the highlights of my career. I was only 17-years-old at the time, and I was playing against those guys I had seen on TV. It was a lot of fun to play with such top-level competition.

The biggest highlight of my career so far was winning the MLS Cup in 2008. I had been traded by the New York Metro Stars to the Columbus Crew in 2006, and we actually ended up playing against my old team (after they’d changed their name to the Red Bulls) in the final. The whole season was really great for our team. From start to finish, we played very well.



While things were going well on the field, how were they off the field?

By 2008, things were going well off the field, but I couldn’t say the same thing a few years before that. I was very much into soccer, not just as a career, but as an idol. I didn’t take my faith as seriously as I should have, despite the fact that I grew up in a solid home. We went to Mass every Sunday and said prayers before meals, but in my later teen years, I just didn’t take the faith that seriously.

I was caught up in the ways of the world, but what really got me out of that was an injury. I had to have hernia surgery and couldn’t play soccer for about a month. This was the first time I could ever remember being without soccer, so while in the hospital and recovering at home, there was a lot of time to think. I started to see things more clearly and realized that while soccer is fun, it won’t last forever. What will last forever is heaven or hell.

I read from St. Alphonsus Liguori that: “He who prays is certainly saved. He who prays not is certainly damned.” Unfortunately for me, at the time I would have fallen into the second category of people. This was enough motivation for me jump-start my prayer life.

I picked up one of those blue Pieta prayer booklets, which contained the 15 prayers of St. Bridget of Sweden. There are 20 promises that go along with saying the prayers for a year, and so I prayed them every day for a whole year.

I found that as my prayer life grew, so did how seriously I took the faith. The more I prayed, the more I wanted to attend Mass, go to the sacrament of penance and live out the virtues in everyday life. This was in contrast to how I lived previously — not going to Mass or penance and just being overly concerned about soccer all day. The conversion was certainly tied to praying more and better than I had previously.

Here’s a natural comparison that shows how reasonable prayer is. If you’re interested in a girl and think there is potential for marriage, you want to talk with her. You want to spend time with her and communicate with her. What kind of relationship would it be if you had little or no desire to communicate? It would be a trivial relationship or no relationship at all.

The same is true with God. It’s not enough to mentally acknowledge his existence; if you really want to love him more, you have to communicate with him. While communication is necessary in the natural order, it’s even more essential in the supernatural order. There are certain graces God will only grant through prayer.



How did your spiritual life progress from your initial conversion to your married life today?



As a teenager, my mother wanted me to go to a Protestant youth group, where she hoped I would meet other young people who took their faith seriously. I didn’t really want to go, but went just to please her.

Well, at this youth group, I met a beautiful girl who was very dedicated to her Protestant religion. As time went by and I considered the possibility of marrying her, I realized that we really needed to be on the same page spiritually — and at times, it seemed we weren’t even in the same book.

We would discuss things a lot over the phone. I would tell her about the evidence I had found about why the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ and why we believe what we do, and she would come back with arguments for being Protestant. We were both very much entrenched in our own sides, so it was a tough, drawn-out discussion.

Tears were shed and prayers were said, and, by the grace of God, Paula saw the light about the beauty of our Catholic faith. Today, she and I both know not only what the Church teaches, but why the Church teaches it. This is a huge blessing, and I really don’t think we’d have the marriage we do today without the same beliefs. It just wouldn’t work out.



What is your favorite part of being a father?

Our first child, a boy, is 13-months-old, and I love to watch him grow. Every day when I come home various things change, so it’s fun to see what he’s interested in and what he can do that he wasn’t previously able to do. He hasn’t started using words yet, but he does make sounds and gestures.

The simplest things catch his attention, and he takes joy in them, so that’s something we as adults can learn from. His innocence and joy for life are refreshing. It’s easy to lose that simplicity as we get older — becoming more sophisticated and yet more unhappy — so we can definitely do well to imitate kids in their simplicity.

I try to be a good husband, father and worker by imitating St. Joseph, who is the perfect model we have for those three things. He did everything for Christ; his whole life was filled by grace, and he was completely united with the will of God. He’s a model for any man who wants to grow in virtue.



What is your favorite aspect of Catholicism?

Well, three aspects really stand out. The first one is the Rosary, which is an incredible prayer or series of prayers. It has had a deep impact on my life and has renewed the faith in my heart. It’s a very calming experience to pray the Rosary because you’ve come into Christ’s presence through the heart of Our Lady.

The second one — Eucharistic adoration — is closely related to the first. You go from one type of Christ’s presence that you can experience anywhere into another type that you can only experience in a sacramental way. That is, you’ve placed yourself before the tabernacle or monstrance in the church where Our Lord resides under the appearance of bread.

We usually go as a family to adoration once a week. This is in addition to attending Sunday Mass and then daily Mass as often as possible. Eucharistic adoration is an extension of the worship we give to Our Lord in the Mass.

That brings me to the third aspect of Catholicism that I appreciate so much: holy Mass. No tongue can express the power of the Mass because it’s the same sacrifice as Calvary. We should see it that way and act accordingly, but, oftentimes, there’s irreverence.

I grew up with the Novus Ordo Mass, unaware of the Latin Mass. However, when I started looking into the faith more seriously, I came across the Latin Mass, which was quite an experience to see for the first time. It was beyond anything I’d ever dreamed of. There’s so much reverence in the Latin Mass, which I attend regularly now.

I’m very thankful to Pope Benedict for making the “extraordinary form” more widely available through his motu proprio five years ago. I enjoy sharing the Latin Mass with others and often invite teammates to attend with me. It truly is, as many have said before, the most beautiful thing outside of heaven.

Register correspondent Trent Beattie writes from Seattle.
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/mls-all-star-rediscovers-beauty-of-catholic-faith/#ixzz226sF83EX

Key Words "active homosexuals"




A still very serious problem in the Catholic Church that needs to be dealt with


BY STEVE JALSEVAC

Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:05 EST


Why do we report so much about Catholic Church developments?

What is a significant factor causing the current weakness in the Church’s moral and spiritual leadership?

Much of the world looks to the Catholic Church, the largest religious denomination in the world, to provide leadership in the struggle to defend innocent human life increasingly endangered by an advancing culture of death. They also look to the Church to provide strong leadership to defend the natural family from a dictatorial and vicious movement to force acceptance of alternative sexual lifestyles.

That is why LifeSiteNews reports so much on Catholic news developments. But there are serious problems that remain unresolved in the Church before it can once again be the force for social and other good that it has been at various times in the past.

Before I continue from here let me emphasize that there are more good priests being formed and ordained and courageous and faithful bishops being selected in the Church today. This has been in large part due to the cleaning up of many seminaries and much greater attention being giving in Rome to the appointment of faithful bishops.

Not all the appointments are good for sure, but the batting average of solid bishops being appointed seems to have gone way up. Many dramatic changes for good in the US conference of Catholic Bishops are also worth praising, as are many other trends.

Pope Benedict has taken many actions to decrease the influence of the powerful distorters of the Second Vatican Council who have ravaged and weakened the Church in so many ways.

But serious problems remain. Some have been partially dealt with since the explosion of the sex abuse scandals, but the work needed to eliminate this cancer within the Church is far from finished.

The cancer I’m referring to is the presence within the Church of numerous active homosexuals among the clergy at all levels, within many of the orders and among the laity in many Catholic institutions. It also includes a rebellious acceptance of homosexuality by many non-homosexual Catholics in positions of influence within the Church. This has been and still is a much greater problem than the vast majority of Catholics realize.

LifeSiteNews recognized this very difficult to discuss reality long ago. It is ugly, disturbing and not something that most people want to hear about. It involves tales of infiltration, seduction, rape, and other abuses, rampant use of porn, sordid encounters and frequent blackmail. It is nasty stuff, not for the faint of heart and holds the potential to threaten faith.

The late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus also wrote about this sordid situation in the Church. He was blunt that homosexuality among the clergy was a grave problem that was in many ways being ignored and not being acted upon as it should. He wrote a series of articles in First Things in 2002 (Part I, Part II,Part III) documenting some of the shameful lack of action by the bishops to acknowledge and rid the Church of this crippling sickness within the clerical ranks. He saw it as the primary cause of the sex abuses.

Several thoroughly documented and lengthy books have been written over the past few decades about the ugly scandal, perhaps one of the worst, if not the worst in Church history, beginning with Fr. Enrique T. Rueda’s 1982 massive The Homosexual Network. These books all included reams of documented evidence and interviews and naming of names and places and specific incidents.

They were written in the main by courageous and faithful Catholics who experienced all their work being deliberately ignored by Church authorities. They were also subjected to vicious personal attacks on their character and credibility, the same as many victims of clergy sex abuse experienced when they told Church authorizes about their abusers. These authors suffered for their fidelity.

The books that these whistle blowers wrote are excruciatingly difficult to read. I have a few in my office. I can’t read them. Even for me, they are too disturbing and yet, I don’t doubt the validity of much of what is revealed in the books and other documents that have been sent to us.

LifeSiteNews began a Feature Page on the Clergy sexual abuse scandals in 2002. After 2 years of continuously adding updates to the pages in the section we stopped the updating. There was just too much.

To emphasize again, there have been many positive changes in recent years, but as Michael Voris of Church Militant TV relates in a recent broadcast, the influence of networks of homosexual clergy within the Church is still very strong. They are still an obstacle to strengthening of the Church for the great spiritual and cultural war which is building.


Sunday, July 29, 2012

Encouraging Extraordinary Form News



Posted on 21 July 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf



For your “Brick By Brick” file.


My old friend His Excellency Most Rev. Alexander Sample, Bishop by the Grace of God and the Apostolic See of Marquette in Michigan, recently ordained deacons and subdeacons for the Institute of Christ the King.

His Excellency has a Facebook page HERE. The ICK has photos HERE.

Dressing the bishop…





The bishop dressed:



The bishop ordaining:



The bishop and friends:



Lot’s of photos over there.

Encouraging!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
New Liturgical Movement


FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012

Newly Ordained Jesuit's First EF Mass

BY SHAWN TRIBE

A reader sends in the following news:

Fr. William V. Blazek, S.J., newly ordained for the Jesuit Chicago-Detroit province, celebrated his first Solemn High Mass (Extraordinary Form) on June 24 (Nativity of St. John the Baptist) at Mary Immaculate of Lourdes in Newton, MA. Serving as deacon was Fr. Charles J. Higgins of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor of Mary Immaculate of Lourdes. Serving as sub-deacon was Fr. John Rizzo, FSSP, visiting from his assignment in Australia.

The music for the Mass included Mozart's Missa Brevis in C KV 220 ("Spatzenmesse") and full Gregorian chant propers.


Our congratulations go out to Fr. Blazek. Here are some photos from the happy event:









For more photos: 
www.flickr.com/photos/maryblessedmother/
http://dominenonsumdignus.minus.com/mtkwBkXaS/1g

QUAERITUR: Tired of outdated liberal liturgy, bad doctrine, no TLM. What do we do?


Posted on 20 July 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf



From a reader:


"I’m a 28 year old, white, married, male with 3 children, a decent job, two degrees in Theology and an ever-growing chip on my shoulder. I know enough to know that there is always a “storm period” after Mother Church meets for ecumenical councils and that we are presently in the midst of our own.

Great encouragement and hope comes from the new, young and faithful bishops, priests and seminarians. Perhaps the winds have shifted?

Nevertheless, I am still all but forced to sing terrible ‘80s folk music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; Overzealous, more-than-middle-aged, short-haired, skirt-suit-wearing, professional church ladies continue trying to tell me a) that the Old Testament episodes are stories and b) when my children can receive the Sacraments; priests do not use the Sign of the Cross at funeral Masses because there “might be non-Catholics there”; I must “filter” seemingly every homily I hear. I won’t go on since I’m sure you understand.

TLM has not returned [HERE] as of yet. I am growing fatigued by the current state of affairs and while my faith is in no danger, my charity and patience certainly are. Besides prayer and waiting for this “rebellion in the nursing home” – Card. Schonborn’s words – to die, what ought we to do?"


I do understand.

You can move. You can stay put and suffer and wait. You can try to effect a change.

Perhaps you could organize a group of like-minded people who want the older form of Mass. Then pick a parish where the priest is most likely to be sympathetic, and then make the formal petitions for what you want. Be sure that you include pledges to cover all the expenses for the changes you want and the promise to be involved with the life of the parish.

In many places changes have been brought about by lay people who take initiative.

Also, begin to pray and take on mortifications such as fasting, asking Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, to intercede with her Son the Eternal Priest to move the hearts of the priests you deal with to greater fidelity and flexibility.

You can pray to St. Joseph too, perhaps using the Bux Protocol.

In the meantime, pray for and promote vocations to the priesthood. See if there is a local Serra Club chapter. Work with the Knights of Columbus. Do something to promote and support sound vocations to the priesthood!

God helps those who help themselves and there is strength in numbers.
-------------------------------------------
KWTC NOTE: You contact Una Voce International to find your local chapter.  If there isn't one...start it.