‘Free Pussy Riot’ scrawled in blood at murder scene as wave of anti-Christian attacks sweep Russia

BY MATTHEW CULLINAN HOFFMAN

Thu Aug 30, 2012 15:32 EST

Tags: Hate Crimes, Orthodox Church, Pussy Riot, Russia





August 30, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) - Russia is reeling in horror as crosses are cut down, relics are stolen from churches, and a mother and daughter are found murdered in their apartment with the words “Free Pussy Riot” scrawled on the wall in what appears to be their blood, following the conviction of the leftist “punk rock” band for an obscenity-laden protest in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral earlier this month.

The attacks have even spilled over into Ukraine, where the visiting Patriarch of Moscow was attacked and a cross commemorating the victims of communism was chainsawed in broad daylight, in both cases by bare-breasted pro-abortion feminists with “Free Pussy Riot” written on their chests.

“Pussy Riot” supporters have even taken their disruptive “protests” to the Roman Catholic church in western Europe, where a trio dressed up like the punk band was arrested after disrupting mass in Cologne cathedral. The incident follows another in 2011, when a Ukrainian feminist was arrested in St. Peter’s Square for removing her shirt and shouting anti-Catholic slogans in protest of the Church’s condemnation of abortion and homosexual behavior.

The punk rock band and its supporters are open opponents of Christian teaching on the sanctity of human life and the immorality of homosexual behavior, who characterize Christianity as oppressive toward women.

A cross topped over the "Pussy Riot" sentence.

(Click “like” if you want to end abortion! )

Authorities have cautioned that the bloody inscription “Free Pussy Riot” found in the apartment of two murder victims in the city of Kazan may be a diversionary tactic, but also said that there was no clear motive for the killings, which were discovered yesterday by neighbors.

Investigators say the perpetrators appeared to be “psychotic or on drugs,” having stabbed a mother and her daughter many times in a scene that was described as “right out of a horror movie.”

An attorney for “Pussy Riot” denounced the killings as an “abominable and dirty provocation,” calling the perpetrators “b——-ds.” Orthodox Church officials and prosecutors blamed the killings on the precedent set by the band’s protest, for which three of its members have been sentenced to two years in prison.

The Russian news services Interfax and RIA Novosti are also reporting that the body of a man was was discovered today in the hall of an apartment building in St. Petersburg, with numerous stab wounds on his face and an icon on top of the corpse. Further details have not been given by police.

In addition to a cross commemorating the Christian victims of communism chainsawed in Kiev by the Ukrainian group “FEMEN,” earlier this month, four other Russian Orthodox crosses have been destroyed in Russia in recent days, according to Russian media reports.

Orthodox Church representatives say that a wooden cross chopped down in Russia’s Archangelsk region was also erected to commemorate martyrs to the communist regime, which exiled, imprisoned, and killed thousands of Christians and destroyed numerous churches and icons.

In what may be a related attack, several relics were stolen today from the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr, as well as a communion chalice and five neck crosses, according to local police, theMoscow Times reported.

Defenders of the Russian Orthodox Church have responded to the attacks by calling for the creation of Orthodox Squads to protect churches from desecrating behavior. Russia Today reports that the proposal is supported by Russian Orthodox and Muslim officials, while the country’s human rights ombudsman has denounced it.

In what may be a related counterattack, Orthodox protesters attacked Moscow’s “Erotic Art” museum yesterday with bricks in their hands, according to a report by Interfax, which cited the museum’s director Alexander Donskoy. He called for an investigation.

A recent poll has found that a majority of Russians (53 percent) believe that the sentence meted out to the “Pussy Riot” trio was “fair,” as opposed to 27 percent who said that it is “not fair.”

Pope takes steps to promote Latin

Benedict XVI is to publish a motu proprio to establish the “Pontificia Academia Latinitatis”. In the Vatican, “e-mail address” has been translated as “inscriptio cursus electronici”

ANDREA TORNIELLI

VATICAN CITY


“Foveatur lingua latina”. Pope Benedict XVI is keen to foster people’s knowledge of the language of Cicero, Augustine and Erasmus of Rotterdam not just in the Catholic Church but also in civil society and in schools. Indeed he is about to publish a motu proprio to establish the new “Pontificia Academia Latinitatis”. So far, the Vatican body in charge of keeping the ancient language alive has been the “Latinitas” foundation, which has been under the aegis of the Vatican Secretariat of State but is now destined to disappear: other than publishing “Latinitas” magazine and organising “Certamen Vaticanum” an international Latin poetry and prose competition, over the years, the foundation has also been in charge of translating modern words into Latin.


The imminent establishment of the new pontifical academy which will add to the eleven existing academies – including the most famous ones representing science and life – has been confirmed in a letter sent by the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, to Fr. Romano Nicolini, an Italian priest who is massively in favour of reintroducing Latin lessons in junior high schools. Ravasi recalled that the Academy’s initiative was “put forward by the Holy Father” and promoted by the Vatican dicastery for culture: its members will include “eminent academics of various nationalities, whose aim it will be to promote the use and knowledge of the Latin language in both ecclesiastical and civil contexts, including schools.” The cardinal concluded the letter by saying that the initiative was a way of responding to “the numerous requests we have been receiving from all across the world.”


It has been fifteen years since John XXIII promulgated the apostolic constitution “Veterum sapientia” on the eve of the Second Vatican Council, establishing Latin as the eternal language of the Church and stressing its importance, asking Catholic schools and universities to brink it back to life if it were ever abandoned or neglected. The Second Vatican Council maintained Latin in certain parts of the mass, but the post-conciliar liturgical reform apparently removed all trace of it from common use. And so, whereas half a century ago prelates from all over the world were able to communicate in Caesar’s language and faithful came into contact with it weekly, today Latin is not fairing too well in the Catholic Church. Instead, it is being promoted in other lay spheres, which are interested in keeping it alive.


Academics are hard at work in the Holy See, coming up with neologisms to translate papal encyclicals and official documents. Translating Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical “Caritas in veritate” (July 2009) on social emergencies and the economic and financial crisis, into Latin, was no easy task. Some of the choices made by the Holy See’s Latin experts were criticised by influential Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica, which questioned the use of the terms “delocalizatio”, “anticonceptio” and “sterilizatio”, but approved “plenior libertas” for liberalisation and “fanaticus furor” for fanaticism. Some of the stranger translations included the term “fontes alterius generis” for alternative energy sources and “fontes energiae qui non renovantur” for non renewable energy sources.


The Pope’s idea to establish a new Pontifical Academy is an important sign of renewed focus on the significance of Latin. Fr. Nicolini - who distributed ten thousand copies of a free introductory booklet to the Latin language in middle schools and is sending out an appeal for it to be included again in school curriculums – stated: “Latin teaches us to show respect for beautiful things and it also teaches us to value our roots.”


One of the men in charge of updating the Latin glossary which will make it possible to communicate even today in the language spoke by Cicero, is 47 year old Fr. Roberto Spataro, Professor of Ancient Christian Literature and Secretary of the Pontificium Institutum Altioris latinitatis (known today as the Faculty of Christian and Classical Letters) founded by Paul VI in what is currently the Salesian Pontifical University of Rome. “How would I translate “poison pen letter writer”? I knew that question was coming… Well, I would translate it as: “Domesticus delator” or “Intestinus proditor”, the priest said. He also explained how Latin neologisms are born: “There are two schools of thought. The first is what we may call the Anglo-Saxon school of thought, which holds that before a neologism is created, we need to sieve through all the texts that have been written in Latin – and not just classical Latin - throughout the centuries. The other school of thought, which for the sake of ease I will call Latin, holds that we can be freer in creating a circumlocution that properly conveys the idea and meaning of a modern word, whilst maintaining the flavour of classical Ciceronian Latin.”

Spataro belongs tot eh second school of thought and invites us “to leaf through the latest edition of the “Lexicon recent is latinitatis”, edited by Fr. Cleto Pavanetto, a distinguished Salesian Latin expert, and published in 2003, with 15.000 Latin translations of modern terms.” For example, photocopy is translated as “exemplar luce expressum”, a banknote is “charta nummária”, basket-ball is “follis canistrīque ludus”, best seller is “liber máxime divénditus”, blue-jeans are “bracae línteae caerúleae” and a goal is a “retis violátio”. Hot pants become “brevíssimae bracae femíneae”, VAT is translated as “fiscāle prétii additamentum”, a mountain bike is a “bírota montāna” and a parachute is an “umbrella descensória”. But the Lexicon lacks translations of internet terms. “Indeed it doesn’t, – Fr. Spataro explained – but over the last nine years, new expressions have been coined by those who write and speak Latin. So the internet is called “inter rete” and an e-mail address is referred to as “inscriptio cursus electronici”.”

Why the Internet Will Lead to Mass Conversions to Christianity

by Jennifer Fulwiler

Wednesday, August 29, 2012 5:39 AM


Greetings from Dallas! I'm here at the Catholic New Media Conference along with tons of great folks involved in Catholic new media. The whole place is abuzz with excitement and ideas about the future of new media, and as I walk around I keep thinking the limitless possibilities that are on the horizon thanks to all our modern forms of communication. I believe that all Catholic media, including traditional forms like television and radio, are indispensable to the New Evangelization. But the new media (which I'm using as a lump term to include blogging, social media, and all other types of online networked content) has three specific characteristics that differentiate it from other kids of media to make it particularly powerful for the Church:



1. It's interactive

When I first started paying attention to online discussions of religion I was still an atheist, and I was satisfied to see no shortage of content that mirrored my own views. I encountered the same arguments for the godless worldview that I'd heard from friends and family members my entire life, and that I'd often made myself. Yet there was a new factor in the equation when these arguments were made online: The combox. A hallmark of online publishing is that readers can respond instantly through a commenting form -- and this quick and easy feedback changes everything.

I watched with great interest as Christians and atheists debated one another on various web sites and forums across the internet. I'd always had the impression that it was only we atheists who could ask the tough questions and whose worldview could withstand intense scrutiny. I expected the Christians to get crushed. But as the debates played out, any intellectually honest person would have to admit that these Christians had some basis for their beliefs. Actually, it started to seem that they might be the ones with reason on their side.

In an interactive medium, falsehoods are called out, bad or incomplete ideas collapse under the weight of cross-examination, and anyone honestly seeking the truth will recognize it when he sees it. Whatever our belief systems, we can't isolate ourselves online the way we can in real life. In my case that meant that instead of being affirmed in my beliefs by my atheist friends, I bumped into Christians and was forced to confront their ideas in a way I'd never had to before. Over and over again I noticed that it was only the Christians -- and Catholics in particular -- whose belief system didn't crack under the pressure of a flood of tough questions.


Raphael's "St. Paul Preaching in Athens" (1515)

2. It's open to all

The internet is an open-access, unrestricted forum. Anyone with something to say can say it publicly. No longer are the major TV channels, newspapers, and magazines people's primary sources of information: The power of the elite to control information is gone. This is especially important in an age where there is so much misinformation about what Christians really believe. Two decades ago, a news report could say something inaccurate about the Catholic Church, and the average person would never hear the counter-point to balance it. These days, with bloggers and social media users on the case, there is a loud and public backlash to such situations which helps get the word out about inaccurate or unfair reporting.



3. It's informal

This is the biggest and most important difference between the internet and more traditional media: For the first time, we have a forum where we can see what people publish when their guard is down. Reading blogs and other personal publications is like eavesdropping on private conversations, in the sense that it's a relaxed and informal environment. It's in the comboxes, the Facebook discussions, the personal blogs that the world encounters living, breathing Christianity. These windows into the lives of believers allow others to see the difference that faith and the sacraments make in our lives.

Now, of course, all of this begs the question: When the world looks at the Catholic presence that is part of this interactive, open, informal system of communication, what does it see? Certainly there is potential to do as much harm as good, if we don't take care to approach our online interactions with the same thought and care that we approach our in-person interactions. But I strongly believe that if we share our faith passionately and authentically -- remembering always that the people on the other side of our computer screens are fellow human beings in need of love -- then the internet age will be an age of our culture's rediscovery of Christianity.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jennifer-fulwiler/why-the-internet-will-lead-to-mass-conversions-to-christianity#ixzz24wIxUs3v

Death Notification: Father Eugene Pietrasik

PIETRASIK, Reverend Father Eugene, CR
August 25, 2012

Classified Type: Obituaries & Death Notices
Location: Kitchener

PIETRASIK, Reverend Father Eugene, CR The Congregation of the Resurrection sadly announces the death of Father Eugeniusz Pietrasik on August 25, 2012, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Kitchener, Ontario. He was 57 years old, in his 37th year of religious life and 32nd year of ministerial priesthood. Father Pietrasik is predeceased by his father Stanislaw. He is the beloved son of Janina, and brother of Stanislaw, Lechoslaw, Jan, Jolanta, Ewa, Marian, Cecylia, Waclaw, Szymon, Karolina and Damian and their families. Father Pietrasik professed his religious vows in the Congregation of the Resurrection on August 15, 1975 and was ordained to the ministerial priesthood on May 23, 1981 in Poland. He began his ministry teaching religious studies in Krakow and Zlocieniec, and after five years transferred from the Polish Province of the Congregation to the Ontario - Kentucky Province where he served in Polish speaking parishes, staffed by the Resurrectionists, in the Diocese of Hamilton. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Stanislaus Parish, Hamilton, Sacred Heart Parish, Kitchener and St. Joseph's Parish, Brantford. He was appointed Pastor of St. Stanislaus, Hamilton and since 2005 served as Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Kitchener. Father Pietrasik was currently serving as Chaplain for the Royal Canadian Legion Polish Veteran's Branch #412 Kitchener. His life of faithful service enabled him to touch the lives of many people during his life of dedicated ministry. Visitation for Father Pietrasik will take place at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 66 Shanley St., Kitchener, on Monday, September 3rd from 2-9 p.m. A Vigil Service will be held at the Church at 7:00 p.m. The Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 4th. Interment will take place at Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. Reception to follow at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Donations in Father Pietrasik's memory may be made payable to the Congregation of the Resurrection and forwarded to 265 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G7, or arranged through the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King Street South, Waterloo, Ontario, 519-745-8445 or www.erbgood.com

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

Eternal Rest grant unto him, o Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him.  May his soul and the souls of all the faithfully departed rest in peace.  

O Mary, Queen of the Clergy , You are the Mother of the Church, the queen of the missions, the ideal complete and attractive of all the ecclesiastical virtues, deign to sow, with a royal profusion, the grace of priestly vocations and missionaries the pure in heart of the first communicants, prepare yourself the souls of young Levites to dangerous functions of the sacred ministry, fill out the priests, your favorite son, the burning heat of an untiring zeal, and garnish the holiness and Science for their glorious mission.

O Virgin priestly you who are the protectress of the Catholic hierarchy, enlighten and fortify our bishops that they are the vigilant pastors and leaders training your people. - Expand your powerful protection of our Holy Father the Pope, so that a firm hand to guide and secure the boat of your Church, through the storms and convulsions of the modern world, to the port of eternity.

August Queen of heaven and earth, O divine thief of my heart, draw all souls to you and chaining them to your heart virginal by the unbreakable bond of love so pure and so enthusiastic that they no longer live that to love you and please you, now in the shadows of exile, and soon in the splendor of eternal homeland. So be it!

P. Ignatius Mary OFM Imprimatur: Fr Paulus, CP Metis, 16.6.1925. E. Emel, vic. gen. (F. Conrad, Metz)

Turn to Virgin Mary for protection of nation, urges bishop

Bishop Jenky suggests schools and families take part in a 30-day Marian Consecration beginning in early September and culminating on the Feast of the Holy Rosary on Oct. 5.

Saying “the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil seem particularly ferocious in this current moment,” Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, has called on Catholics of the Diocese of Peoria to increase their devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“We turn to her to protect our country, to guide our leaders, and to turn our hearts to her Son,” said the bishop in a letter released in mid-August.

He specifically suggests that parishes, schools, and families consider a Marian Consecration such as one outlined in a book by Father Michael Gaitly, MIC. The book, "33 Days to Morning Glory," is being made available free of charge to parishes and schools while supplies last through the generosity of a donor.

Following is the full text of Bishop Jenky's letter:

-----

To the Priests, Deacons, Religious Educators, Pastoral Leaders and Faithful of the Diocese of Peoria:

My Dear Brothers and Sisters:

I hope that over my 10 years as your bishop, my love for Our Lady, as has yours, has been abundantly clear: I have convoked a number of Rosary Congresses, declared a Year of the Rosary, dedicated a Festival Letter to our Lady as well as countless homilies and talks, I asked that her image as our Mother of Perpetual Help be enshrined in our parishes and schools, even as I re-consecrated our entire diocese to her patronage when I solemnly enthroned her icon in our Cathedral.

I again turn to her and I ask you to do the same.

It has never been easy to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. In fact, our Savior warns that the world will hate us if we love Him. The attacks of this world, the flesh and devil seem particularly ferocious in this current moment. Several months ago, I asked that we not lose sight of the spiritual nature of this battle when I directed that the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel should be invoked at every Sunday Mass for the protection of the Catholic Church in America. I now ask us to re-double our spiritual efforts through devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

The Immaculate Mother of God is the Patroness of the United States and our own Local Church. The Pope has personally consecrated the world to her protection, and that invocation has been renewed by the bishops of our country, as I have done as well for our diocese following the example of Archbishop Schlarman. I encourage each of our parishes, schools, and families to consider a similar devotion to Our Lady. We turn to her to protect our country, to guide our leaders, and to turn our hearts to her Son.

There are many ways to grow in devotion to our Lady. The scriptural meditation of the Rosary is perhaps the finest. Likewise, there are many methods of Marian Consecration. Through a generous donor, I am happy to make available copies of “33 Days to Morning Glory” by Father Michael Gaitly, MIC, to our parishes, schools, CCD and adult education programs. These books are free but supplies are limited and are available “first come.” I have asked the sisters in the diocesan museum and the Sheen Foundation to coordinate distribution. You may pick up the books anytime during office hours after Aug. 16. The traditional 30-day consecration could very appropriately begin in our schools and families in early September in order to culminate on the Feast of the Holy Rosary on Oct. 5.

But no matter what book or formula may be used, I feel it very important that we turn to our Lady to help us and our country during these coming months. We can take comfort that her Immaculate Heart will triumph!


Sincerely yours in Christ,


Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, CSC
Bishop of Peoria

Theology of the Mass

THE CATHOLIC MASS IS MORE THAN SACRIFICE, MORE THAN MEAL AND MORE THAN THE HUMAN MIND CAN GRASP! IT IS MYSTERY, MYSTERION IN GREEK, SACRAMENTUM IN LATIN, SACRAMENT IN ENGLISH!

Posted by Fr. Allan J. McDonald at Friday, August 24, 2012





Paul Ford a liturgist and pastoral musician wrote the following: “But what are we saying during the Institution Narrative, “Take this, all of you, and eat/drink of/from it,” if we really mean “only those who are Catholics in good standing who have also observed the fast”? ”

But that made me think that his take on this is precisely what is wrong with our theology of the Mass in the post-Vatican II era and it has to do with liturgical literalism as it concerns the Last Supper and the bodily gestures of the priest and the direction in which he faces!

In fact the Institution Narrative in the Eucharistic is a prayer to God recalling the specific event of the Last Supper and the words are directed to the Apostles who alone are present as an anticipation of Good Friday’s Sacrifice and how they will offer that one Sacrifice in perpetuity as a Memorial of the Good Friday event. Only a literal expression of that by the priest facing the people and gesturing to them would make anyone feel as though this prayer is directed to them literally rather than simply a prayer recalling a specific historical event directed to God in prayer. I’ve seen priests change the rubrics and gesture toward the people dramatically during the consecration as though the congregation is the “Apostles” and the words are directed to them rather than God. That’s the pitfall of the priest facing the congregation during this prayer to God that is highly stylistic and not literalistic.

Rather the laity are called to the Banquet of the Sacrifice at the “Ecce Agnus Dei.” “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who takes away the sins of the word; Blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb.”

The latter is directed to the laity and those called to Holy Communion and should be done facing them to make that clear and literal. In this case the Sacrifice offered through the Eucharistic Prayer with its words of institution and the share in the Eschatological Eucharistic Sacrificial Banquet which is highlighted in the Communion Rite and specifically the “Ecce Agnus Dei” and the subsequent Communion of the priest and laity form a whole and are integrally related, although as in the case of the Old Testament priest who must consume the Holocaust prior to give what is left to those outside of the holy of holies, so too does the priest-celebrant consume first the Holocaust, but not dead flesh and blood as though Good Friday is all there is, but the Glorified and Risen Body of our Lord as a result of Easter Sunday. In other words we receive the Living Lord, the Lamb of God, not a dead holocaust.


The liturgical gesture toward the people in terms of the meal aspect of the Mass is at the “Behold the Lamb of God…Blessed are those called to the Supper of the Lamb.” And this as well as the Mass in its entirety is “eschatologlical” concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment. So in effect it goes way beyond Pentecost too. Obviously though, Good Friday’s Sacrifice would not be “memorialized” if not for Easter Sunday and if not for Easter Sunday we would not be talking about Pentecost or the Last things.

Ultimately the entire Mass is a mystery and it is a step into eternity which has no trajectory in our time constricted notions of the future in the philosophical sense, it simply is just as God is “I AM.” So we shouldn’t stop at the Last things either but go to the mind of God and back in our sense of temporal time to the creation of Adam and Eve, their original sin, subsequent actual sin, the covenants to save them, the Old Testament priesthood and sacrifice and so on to the new dispensation–there is a connection to all that too.

The Second Vatican Council did not change any dogma or doctrine. It is a pastoral council and framed the discussion of many things in a “developed” way including the Mass. But so does every encyclical a pope writes even if no new doctrines or dogmas are defined but simply described in a new or different way, which might not always be a better way or the final way.

Certainly “Pope Pius XII Mystici Corporis Christi (June 29, 1943) on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ is one of the more important encyclicals of Pope Pius XII, because of its topic, the Church, and because its Church concept was fully included in Lumen Gentium but also strongly debated during and after Vatican II. The Church is called body, because it is a living entity; it is called the body of Christ, because Christ is its Head and Founder; it is called mystical body, because it is neither a purely physical nor a purely spiritual unity, but supernatural.”–Wikipedia

So the Mass, in whatever form one celebrates it Extraordinary, Ordinary, Eastern Rites, etc hasn’t changed, but its expression certainly does and how it is described theologically does too, but it is still the Mass and thus a Mystery.

Vatican II: “Have a little patience, fifty years is nothing”

A GENERAL CONGREGATION DURING VATICAN II

"Vatican Insider" interviews Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, a Church historian and scholar of the Second Vatican Council, on the Golden Jubilee of Vatican

IIGUIDO HORST
ROME

 

Q: The Second Vatican Council was a Pastoral Council that also provided dogmatic explanations. Had there ever been anything like it previously in the history of the Church?

A: It does in fact seem as though Vatican II marked the beginning of a new type of Council. The language that was used during it and the completeness of the texts show that the Council fathers was not as much motivated by the need to pass judgement on controversial new ecclesiastical and theological issues, but rather by the wish to turn their attention to public opinion within the Church and the entire world, in the spirit of the annunciation.


Q: Shouldn’t a Council be declared a failure if fifty years on it has not been warmly received by the faithful? Benedict XVI warned against a misleading interpretation of the Council, particularly in terms of the hermeneutics of a rift…

A: This is one of those cliché questions that stem from a new existential sentiment; that feeling of confusion that is typical of our times. But what is fifty years after all?! Cast your mind back to the Council of Nicaea in 325. The disputes surrounding the dogma of this Council - about the nature of the Son, that is, whether he was made of the same substance as the Father or not - continued for more than a hundred years. St. Ambrose was ordained Bishop of Milan on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and had to fight hard against the Arians who refused to accept the Nicene provisions. Briefly afterwards came a new Council: the First Council of Constantinople of 381 which was deemed necessary in order to complete the profession of the faith at Nicaea. During this Council, St. Augustine was given the task of dealing with requests and fighting back heretics until his death in 430. Frankly, even the Council of Trent was not very fruitful until the Golden Jubilee of 1596. It took a new generation of Bishops and prelates to mature in the “spirit of the Council” before its effect could really be felt. We need to allow ourselves a little more breathing space.

 

Q: Let us talk now about the fruits which the Vatican II produced. Can you comment on this?
A: First of all of course the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” in comparison with the Tridentine Catechism: after the Council of Trent, the Catechismus Romanus was launched in order to provide parish priests, preachers etcetera with guidelines on how to preach and announce the Gospel or evangelize.

Even the 1983 Code of Canon Law can be considered a consequence of the Council. I must emphasise that the form of the post-conciliar liturgy with all its distortions, is not attributable to the Council or to the Liturgy Constitution established during Vatican II which by the way has not really been implemented even to this day. The indiscriminate removal of Latin and Gregorian Chants from liturgical celebrations and the erection of numerous altars were absolutely not acts prescribed by the Council.

With the benefit of hindsight, let us cast our minds back in particular to the lack of sensitivity shown in terms of care for the faithful and in the pastoral carelessness shown in the liturgical form. One need only think of the Church’s excesses, reminiscent of the Beeldenstorm (the statue/image storm) which occurred in the 18th century. Excesses which catapulted numerous faithful into total chaos, leaving many fumbling around in the dark.

Just about anything and everything has been said on this subject. Meanwhile, the liturgy has come to be seen as a mirror image of Church life, subject to an organic historical evolution which cannot - as did indeed happen - suddenly be decreedper ordre de muft. And we are still paying the cost today.

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

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2011

Pontifical Mass of Cardinal Brandmüller

BY GREGOR KOLLMORGEN

Our friends at Messa in Latino have some first photos of the Pontifical Mass which His Eminence Walter Cardinal Brandmüller, the former President of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, celebrated yesterday, Sunday 6 February, with the Franciscans of the Immaculate at Campocavallo di Osimo. Deacon of the Mass, as you can see, was Fr Uwe M. Lang CO.

Leading Us to God: The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite

By Fr. Jeffrey Burwell, S.J.



Catholic Knight Blog

Pope Benedict XVI issued a decree in July, 2007 concerning the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, called by many either the traditional Latin mass or the Tridentine liturgy. He explained that the ancient liturgy of the Church, normative for more than a thousand years until Pope Paul VI released the new missal in 1970, had never been abrogated. Rather, he claimed, the old mass was such an important part of Catholic tradition that it “must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage.”

His moto proprio document, entitled Summorum Pontificum, and its subsequent clarifications provided priests an opportunity—for the first time in almost 50 years—to celebrate all the sacraments according to the Extraordinary Form. Additionally, he stated that they can do so without the need for ecclesial permission from bishops or religious superiors.

Recognizing that the Extraordinary Form had become a legitimate option for faithful Roman Catholics, the Archbishops of St. Boniface and Winnipeg worked together in 2011 to establish a joint-Diocese parish that would celebrate exclusively the sacraments according to the Extraordinary Form. Calling upon the Society of Jesus for help in this endeavour, the two Archbishops asked Fr. Jim Webb, S.J.—the late Provincial of the Canadian Jesuits—if the Jesuits in Winnipeg could take responsibility for the parish and administer the sacraments of the Extraordinary Form. Much to my delight, my name was selected for this endeavour.

Over the last year, our small congregation has grown exponentially. What began with a few families now includes individuals of every age and social demographic. Occasionally, someone asks me what people find appealing about the Latin language. The natural and legitimate response is that the celebration of the sacraments according to the Extraordinary Form is not just question of language—it is question of theology and attitude. With the mass, as just one example, I celebrate ad orientem—facing the cross and not the congregation. Because of this, my attention is directed more toward the Eucharistic sacrifice and less toward what goes on in the pews.

Along with the sacraments, our Extraordinary Form parish offers many opportunities to rediscover the venerable traditions of the Church. For the first time in almost 50 years, we had a Corpus Christi celebration involving a movement of more than two hundred people through the streets. Led by 16 altar boys, our procession with the Blessed Sacrament meandered throughout the city in a manifestation of faith that nobody had seen in decades. It was—to be certain—a sublime experience. It was an experience that all will remember for many years.




Despite the many graces that come from the celebration of the Extraordinary Form, the ancient traditions are not without their critics. I have heard many people claim that such a liturgical mandate is either retroactive or contrary to the spirit of Vatican II. To these individuals, I often remind them that Lumen Gentium—a great document from the Council—states that the Holy Father has a power of primacy over all the faithful that remains whole and intact. In virtue of his office, he has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. He is always free to exercise that power to make decisions.

Without doubt, the Holy Father had the complete right to permit the increased use of the Extraordinary Form. Those who choose to use this sacramental option are therefore no less a part of the Roman Catholic Church than those who attend a parish that uses the Ordinary (1970) Form. As part of the Roman Catholic Church, we are blessed to have two expressions of one liturgical rite. In addition, the wisdom of the Holy Father led him to see that these two expressions “will in no any way lead to a division.” Instead, as he so plainly stated, they are merely “two usages of the one Roman rite.”

The spirituality of the Jesuits has in fact long embraced the notion of tantum quantum—the presumption that something is good and should be used insofar as it leads us toward God. Nobody can rightly claim that the Extraordinary Form will initially appeal to everyone. However, it is a legitimate and good option for Roman Catholics in the Church today. Support those who find the ancient sacramental expressions of the Church helpful; if you have the chance, go and see if they might bear fruit for you also.

God bless.

Fr. Jeff Burwell, S.J. is the Parochial Vicar at St. Paul the Apostle – St. Ann's Parishes. He is also a Faculty Member at the Jesuit Centre for Catholic Studies at St. Paul's College at the University of Manitoba.

Paul Ryan urges Catholics to act before religious freedoms erode

By Michelle Bauman


Vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan at a rally in Manassas, Va. Credit: Flickr.com-djbrandt (CC BY 2.0)

Washington D.C., Aug 17, 2012 / 04:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Presumptive Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan says Catholics must act now to protect their right to religious freedom from being diminished in American society.

“This is a time where people of all faiths – especially Catholics – have to stand up and speak for our rights,” he said. “And if we do, we will rekindle civil society.”

In an August 17 conference call organized by the online fundraising group Catholics2012.org, Rep. Ryan (R-Wis.) said that he tries to apply the teachings of his Catholic faith to his work.

“I’m proud to acknowledge that it’s why I do what I do,” he said.

The vice presidential candidate also discussed religious liberty concerns that have taken center stage in the Catholic community over the last several months.

The concerns center around a federal mandate that requires most employers to offer health insurance plans that offer contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.

The mandate has drawn criticism from groups representing a wide variety of religious and political backgrounds. It is currently the subject of numerous lawsuits throughout the country.

Critics of the mandate have said that it infringes upon religious freedom and could force Catholic hospitals, schools and charitable institutions to shut down rather than violate their sincerely-held religious convictions.

Ryan warned that this “assault on our religious liberties” constitutes “a serious threat to all peoples of faith.”

“It is a violation of the First Amendment of our bill of rights,” he said.

The vice presidential contender cautioned that the philosophy behind such actions “seeks to displace civil society” and “crowd out our social mediating institutions,” such as churches, charities and hospitals.

These are “groups that connect the person to the community,” he explained, and they play a role in implementing the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity and the preferential option for the poor that should be practiced in civil society.

Ryan said that he “shudder(s) to think what the world could look like” if President Obama is re-elected and his administration is able to continue eroding religious liberty.

There is a need for practicing Catholics to “get the word out” on these important issues, he said.

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), who is also Catholic, warned that the mandate presents “an unprecedented form of government coercion.”

“It is a different worldview that is operative,” he stated.

Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Fortenberry introduced the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act in the House of Representatives to preserve the conscience rights of employers and health care providers across the country.

He explained that the bill simply restates “a principle that has been operative in our health care system” for many years.

However, despite initially gaining momentum, including the support of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and more than half of the U.S. House, the legislation has stalled in Congress.

Fortenberry emphasized the importance of fighting the mandate in order to protect America’s fundamental freedoms.

“No American should be forced to choose between their faith and their job,” he said. “No one should be forced to choose between their conscience and their livelihood.”

Social Justice and Ryan the Heretic

   

Church liberals launch an odd line of attack against a free-market champion.

By WILLIAM MCGURN

Say this for the liberal impulse in American Catholicism: In its day, it leavened the faith. Against the church's tendencies to clericalism, it promoted the contributions of the laity. Against suspicions in Rome, it championed the American experiment. In particular, the liberal impulse advanced the idea of religious liberty for all that would ultimately triumph in the 1960s at the Second Vatican Council.

No longer, alas. Today the liberal impulse in American Catholic life has substituted political for religious orthodoxy. In retrospect, the turning point is easy to spot: liberal Catholicism's acquiescence in the Democratic Party's drift toward supporting abortion at a time when church leaders had the influence to stop it.



Columnist Bill McGurn on Catholic liberals' assault on Paul Ryan. Photo: Associated Press

So here we are in 2012, when all but one of the active senators and representatives who are members of the official Catholics for Obama campaign team enjoy a 100% approval rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.

This fundamental dissent from a basic church teaching is now a fact of modern Democratic Catholic life. The result for our politics is an extraordinary campaign, in the 10 days since Paul Ryan became the Republican candidate for vice president, by those on the Catholic left to strike a moral equivalence between Mr. Ryan's reform budget and Democratic Catholic support for the party's absolutist position on abortion.

Thus the column in the National Catholic Reporter characterizing Mr. Ryan as a "champion of dissent" regarding the church's social teaching. Or the headline at the website Jezebel, "Badass Nun Says Paul Ryan is a Bad Catholic." When this sort of thing seeps into the mainstream, it takes the form of the recent article in the Washington Post that found moral parallels between the two vice-presidential candidates: Mr. Ryan is a dissenter from "social justice," while Vice President Joe Biden, also Catholic, dissents on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion.

Once upon a time, Catholic Democrats would explain away their position with the Mario Cuomo-inspired halfway apology: They were "personally opposed" to abortion but unwilling to do anything about it. These days we have moved to the full Nancy: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's complaint that Catholics need to overcome their "conscience thing" regarding abortion.

As for Mr. Ryan, what drives progressives bonkers is that he insists on talking about spending in terms of promises made to the American people. In this sense, "Can we pay for it?" is a moral as well as practical question.

Manifestly some bishops do not like Mr. Ryan's answers. Then again, Catholic social teaching itself holds that the bishops possess no special competence on the subject. Applying the principles of Catholic social teaching involves prudential judgments that are the special province of Catholic laymen and laywomen.

Chad Crowe

Mr. Ryan's own bishop, the Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino, addressed the subject with his most recent column in the diocesan paper for Madison, Wis. The church, he wrote, regards abortion as an "intrinsic evil" (meaning always and everywhere wrong, regardless of circumstances). In sharp contrast, he said, on issues such as how best to create jobs or help the poor, "there can be difference according to how best to follow the principles which the church offers."

"I'm not endorsing Paul Ryan," the bishop told me later by phone. "People are free to disagree with him, and disagree vehemently. But it's wrong to suggest that his views somehow make him a bad Catholic."

Unfortunately, suggesting that Mr. Ryan is a bad Catholic is the entire case. Stuck with the fact of Mr. Biden, who has long since made his peace with the party's absolutism on abortion, progressive Catholics know that it would be laughable to try to present Mr. Biden as faithful to church teaching. They know too that clarity about church teaching does not work to their advantage. The only way to take on Mr. Ryan is to tear him down.

Think about that. In another age, Catholic progressives would have laughed at the suggestion that people were corrupted by reading certain works; now they believe Paul Ryan's soul is in peril for his having read Ayn Rand. Before, they would not have feared science; now they insist that a program such as food stamps ought to continue ad infinitum without consideration of its effects. And while they believe that the pope and bishops have nothing of value to offer about the sanctity of marriage or the duty of protecting unborn life, when it comes to federal spending, suddenly a miter means infallibility.

In the past, the liberal Catholic vision sought to inspire. Today, in the pages of the venerable lay Catholic magazine Commonweal, a blogger tries to diminish Paul Ryan by saying, "like the rest of us, he is a Cafeteria Catholic." Surely it says something about a movement when its most powerful argument against an opponent is this: You are just as lousy as we are.

Write to MainStreet@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared August 21, 2012, on page A11 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Social Justice and Ryan the Heretic.

Should the Bishop Have Bought the Crystal Cathedral?

AUGUST 22, 2012


by Duncan G. Stroik


Three miles from Disneyland there is another famous theme park, which proclaims itself as “America’s Television Church.” The Crystal Cathedral, perhaps the first mega-church in the United States, is about to undergo conversion classes so that it can finally get the cathedra and bishop it has always wanted. The Diocese of Orange, California, has purchased the thirty-one-acre property and its four buildings for $53 million, a steal even in this real estate market. Realizing that recent cathedrals built from scratch have cost upwards of $200 and $250 million on the West Coast, retrofitting sounds like a financially savvy move. However, turning this prismatic beacon of televangelism into a house of God may be easier said than done.

Does this purchase signal a new role for Catholic charity: to buy up properties of bankrupt Protestant ministries? If so, there may be some good opportunities in the future. How does the bishop encourage full, active, and conscious participation in the liturgy by purchasing one of the buildings most associated with religion as theater? Begun as an open-air service at a drive-in theater, the church was designed around Rev. Schuller’s flamboyant preaching. Associated with glitz and money, it was the site of fancy and expensive holiday celebrations including trapeze artists, live animals for Christmas, and a lavish $13 million production called Creation.

Said to be the first all-glass structure built for religious purposes, it is associated with the feel-good theology of the 1980s. How to convert a building like this and at the same time disassociate it from its founder and his theology? Crystal Cathedral Ministries was a religion about self-promotion, and, appropriately, its main buildings were designed in disparate modernist styles by three well-known architecture firms: Richard Neutra, Philip Johnson and John Burgee, and Richard Meier. Each building is a personal expression of the architect, so that together they create a campus without much to unify them. Perhaps what may be of more concern to its future owner, the Neutra tower (1968) does not meet earthquake codes and the Crystal Cathedral (1980) and the Welcoming Center (2003) are high maintenance glass and metal buildings. This could be an expensive investment.

Can the Crystal Cathedral be converted to a Catholic Cathedral? We shall see. After all, the much noted cathedrals of Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco are all expressionistic modernist sculptures. The diocese has said that they will not change the exterior of the church and will not compromise the architectural integrity of the 2700-seat interior. Yet, without a radical transformation the building will always come across as a technological mega-church rather than as a sacred place. It needs to be totally gutted and reconceived. And even if the interior can be functionally retrofitted for Catholic liturgy, many believe that its identity will always be that of the Crystal Cathedral.

One of the major criticisms of Catholic architecture during the past fifty years is that it has incorrectly adopted many of the forms of low-church Protestantism: the theater form, a fear of sacred images, asymmetrical layouts, vacuous sanctuaries, minimalist liturgical elements, prominently placed Jacuzzis for baptism, and the banishment of the Blessed Sacrament to the baptistry. The altar area becomes a stage with a focus on entertainment alongside praise bands that perform upbeat music. In response, liturgists have argued that all of these things are simply the outgrowth if not the requirement of Vatican II. Are they finally admitting their agenda by purchasing a ready for TV megachurch complete with a jumbotron and three huge balconies for the “spectators”?

The timing of this is wrong. A whole new generation of priests, laity, and theologians has grown up with this stuff and find these Protestant innovations dated and lacking in substance. They desire an architecture that grows out of the Church’s rich tradition and that will enable them in worship. Asked what cathedrals should look like in the twenty-first century, they point to Saint Patrick’s in New York, Saint Peter’s in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris, and other obvious suspects. These are buildings constructed hundreds of years ago, yet continue to speak to believers and unbelievers alike today. A timeless architecture built for the ages, a cathedral should be a durable building constructed out of masonry, transcendent in height, and directional in length. Unfortunately for the new generation and their children, the Orange diocese has chosen the opposite direction and will foist on them a building that is of its time and not particularly suited to Catholic worship and devotion. Twenty years from now, it will not matter that Orange got a really good deal whereas another California diocese quadrupled its budget. People will simply ask if it is a beautiful cathedral, worthy of the Creator.


This editorial first appeared in issue 21 (Spring 2012) of Sacred Architecture and is reprinted with permission.

Tagged as: Church Architecture, Crystal Cathedral, Modernism

By Duncan G. Stroik
Duncan G. Stroik is a professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame where he helped implement a new curriculum in classical architecture in 1990. He played a central role in the revival of interest in sacred architecture that led to the formation of the Society for Catholic Liturgy and the journal Sacred Architecture, of which he is editor. Stroik received his architectural education from the University of Virginia and Yale University.

Brick by Brick: ad orientem worship at Assumption Grotto in Detroit: table altar removed.

Posted on 27 August 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Here is some great news.

At the wonderful parish, Assumption Grotto, in Detroit, the free-standing altar set up in the middle of the sanctuary – in front of the beautiful main altar – has now been removed.

The blog Te Deum Laudamus covers what is going on at Assumption Grotto and there are photos.

That, friends, is what the sanctuary was designed to look like.

Compared to:

Think of all the money that was spent over the last decades to ruin churches that could have been used for other parish needs, all in the name of the Second Vatican Council which never mandated these wreckovations.

As I understand it, the removal of the ironing-board altar… sorry, perhaps that is too dismissive… picnic-table altar… was the result of a patient process.  Over the years some ad orientem Masses were reintroduced, then the high altar was used, the Extraordinary Form was brought in, and then it became obvious that the table, blocking the sanctuary, had to go.  The table altar was nice, for a table altar.  But, in front of that beautiful main altar?  I call to mind an essay in Notitiae which established that the principle of the unicity of the altar in the sanctuary was so important that where there was a fine main altar, nothing should be set up in front of it and that a desire for versus populum should be sacrificed.  An easy sacrifice, frankly.

Clearing that sanctuary is a concrete gesture for the promotion of the New Evangelization.

WDTPRS kudos to Fr. Perrone!

The parish could use your support.  There is a donation button which you can use right after you use my donation button!

Abandoned Jesuit Church Reclaimed by Traditional Order in Ireland

Friday 24 August 2012

REJOICE! REJOICE! REJOICE!

We have just received the following GLORIOUS news from the Institute of Christ the King in Ireland: 

"Sacred Heart Church purchased by the Institute of Christ the King in Limerick, Ireland 

With the help of numerous friends from Ireland, the United States and Continental Europe, the Church of the Sacred Heart at the Crescent in Limerick, also known as the Jesuit Church after its first builders and long-term occupants, was recently purchased by a young priestly community called the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. The church and adjacent building, sold to a developer some years ago, had stood vacant for six years and was in danger of falling into ruin. Therefore many people from Limerick and other parts of Ireland were happy to help this Institute bring the Church of the Sacred Heart and its residence back to life. 

A young community of members of the Institute of Christ the King will very soon move into the attached residence in spite of its rather poor condition, and the church will serve for the time being as its chapel. With the permission of the Bishop of Limerick, the Institute of Christ the King has had a residence in the diocese since 2009 and offers Mass every Sunday in the Extraordinary Form at St. Patrick's Church, whilst also working in a few neighbouring dioceses. 

Founded in 1990, the Institute is a Roman-Catholic Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right in canonical form. The 64 priests of the Institute work all over the world to promote the spiritual Kingship of Christ. A special emphasis is laid on the harmony between faith and culture, and thus the young community has acquired a reputation for promoting the arts, especially sacred music and architecture. This experience will serve to restore the Church of the Sacred Heart to its classical beauty and make it available once more as a point of reference for the cultural life of Limerick. 

The mother-house and international seminary of the Institute of Christ the King is based in Florence, Italy, where 80 seminarians are training for the priesthood and 21 religious sisters are especially devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Among these are already several Irish vocations. This young community has missions in Gabon (Africa) and important apostolates in the United States, England, France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Sweden and naturally in Rome, where their founder, Msgr. Gilles Wach, was ordained to the priesthood by Blessed Pope John Paul. The provincial superior of the community in Ireland is at present Msgr. Michael Schmitz, who was ordained a priest by the present Holy Father, the then Cardinal Ratzinger. 

The prior of the Church of the Sacred Heart is a 38 year-old priest, Canon Wulfran Lebocq, choir-master of the Institute and permanently resident in the diocese since 2010. For the time being, the community in Limerick is composed of four members, whose average age is 32. 

The Institute of Christ the King follows the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, which is expressed in the motto of the Institute: Live the truth in charity, and could be summarised in the famous quote of the Doctor of Charity: Cook the truth in charity until it tastes sweet. The Canons of the Institute of Christ the King have a vast experience in working with the young. Schools, youth camps, days of recollection, musical training and many other activities are among the benefits they are used to bringing to the places where they work. 

In Limerick, the Institute of Christ the King, supported by many local residents and a large group of friends in Ireland and abroad, intends to restore the Church of the Sacred Heart to its original purpose as a vibrant spiritual and cultural centre and a beautiful place of worship through a dynamic and open community life as a spiritual family. However, this will require a careful historical restoration before the Church may be opened once again to the greater public. 

The Institute of Christ the King celebrates the classical Roman Liturgy, the Latin Mass, in its Extraordinary Form according to the liturgical books promulgated by Blessed Pope John XXIII in 1962. This liturgy, promoted by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in various documents, attracts today an ever greater number of people, especially young adults, students and families. The Institute is accustomed to see a lively family of faithful in its churches and wishes to bring the uplifting beauty of sacrality and genuine culture to all. 

This beautiful church at the Crescent is still today a special architectural jewel, and many deplored its closing and long-term vacancy. The Institute of Christ the King, which has a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly desires to reopen this church for the benefit of all, in close collaboration with the local civil and ecclesiastical authorities. In this way, yet another sign of a brighter future will again come alive in Limerick. 

Those who would like to know more about this important project for Limerick City can find further information either on their website (www.institute-christ-king.ie) or by visiting the community at the Crescent: Come and see!" 

We say: REJOICE! REJOICE! REJOICE!

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

From 2006

PRESS RELEASES

FAREWELL MASS CELEBRATED IN SACRED HEART CHURCH, LIMERICK

Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick will be the principal celebrant for the final Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the closure of the Jesuits’ Sacred Heart Church in Limerick on Friday 30th June at 8pm. Fr John Dardis, the Irish Jesuit Provincial, and Fr Dermot Murray, Superior of the Sacred Heart Church Jesuit Community, will be among the concelebrants. Many other Jesuits from across the country will attend. 

Acknowledging that closing the church was a very difficult decision to make, Fr Dardis said: “The Sacred Heart congregation have been loyal church goers, and the church has been their spiritual home for many years. The relationship is not only one of priests and people but of friends, and that friendship is deeply valued.” And Fr. Dardis went on to reiterate the commitment of the Jesuits to the people of Limerick: “We are opening a new Centre for Spirituality in the autumn, along with a Jesuit Refugee Service centre beside it. And of course the very successful work of the Crescent College Comprehensive will continue and develop”. Fr Dardis continued: “We have kept the faith, we have passed it on to generation upon generation and you have responded a hundredfold. So let us move on together to work in new ways to serve the faith of future generations”.

Fr Dermot Murray, Director of the new Spirituality Centre said it will be situated not far from the Crescent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle, beside the Jesuit residence there. “We hope to offer a variety of ways in which people can come to know God more deeply and to understand better how to put their love into action in their daily lives.” Acknowledging that many people felt deep sadness at the Church closure, he added, “I share their sadness, but I believe the Lord is calling us to continue to serve in different ways as new challenges for Christians emerge”.

According to Eugene Quinn, Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, which will open its doors in the autumn, the arrival of asylum seekers and refugees to our shores is one such challenge. The Limerick centre will work with refugees and asylum seekers in the area of health, education, emergency assistance and integration in the local community. Mr Quinn commented: “JRS offices are located in over 50 countries and more than 376,000 people benefit directly from JRS projects. I’m delighted to be director of this new centre for Limerick, and JRS Ireland looks forward to extending its services both here and at national level.”

A special brochure to mark the memory of the Sacred Heart Church will be distributed at the Mass of Thanksgiving on Friday night