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Catholic journalist: New book on Padre Pio not an attack, Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:24 am (GMT -5) New book on Padre Pio not an attack, says Catholic journalist CNA (Catholic News Agency) Nov. 2, 2007 http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10867 Rome, Nov 2, 2007 / 10:57 am (CNA).- Italian journalist and writer Vittorio Messori warned this week a new book by historian Sergio Luzzatto, " "Padre Pio. Miracoli e politica nell' Italia del 900" (Padre Pio. Miracles and Politics in the Italy of the 1900s), is in no sense an attack on the memory of the saint but has instead been sensationalized by the media. Media reports said the new book would call into question the authenticity of Padre Pio's stigmata and would reveal "hidden episodes" that would supposed cast doubt on his holiness. Some reports even suggested the Italian saint was inappropriately involved with a woman and that it was covered up during the process of beatification and canonization. In an extensive article published by the Italian daily "Corriere della Sera," Messori said that each one of the accusations discussed by Luzzatto in his book were thoroughly answered by historians and experts years ago. He called the book "important and serious" and said the media does an injustice by taking excerpts from the 400-page book in an attempt to extrapolate "revelations" and "scandals," such as the allegation that Padre Pio used chemicals to create the stigmata. These suspicions, which come especially from the clergy, have been answered not only by the saint's biographers, but also by the exhaustive investigations by Vatican commissions that carried out the beatification in 1999 and the canonization in 2002, Messori continued. Therefore, he said, the work "is serious and does not deserve the scandalous headlines; it is a book resulting from years of work and research in different fields." Messori noted that Luzzatto's book fills a void in the information about Padre Pio, who Luzzatto called "the most important Italian of the last century." He said it strikes a balance between the excessively pious accounts of the saint's life on the one hand, and the anti-clerical books that one can find in bookstores. Luzzatto distances himself from these books, noting that disproportionate criticism of Padre Pio should be avoided. He said there would be plenty of time to dispute the book's documentation, "based on primary sources but with a political slant that is evident from the title, which makes the book of interest to the laity but which is foreign to the saint's perspective and to the majority of his devotees." Messori points out that as a non-Christian, Luzzatto does not have a perspective on the spiritual contradictions proper to the Christian. "In any case, Luzzatto realizes this and writes that 'Padre Pio is present everywhere,' since we can no longer overlook the enigmatic presence of a friar who, for half a century, never left a poor convent in the heart of southern Italy. Lastly, after reflecting on so many surprising and miraculous episodes from the life of the saint, Messori concludes with a question and an answer: "What to do with this kind of a person? Study his history, yes, but with the awareness that there is a meta-history here that, to use the words of the Gospel, 'is revealed to the humble and simple and hidden from learned of this world'."

Book lifts cowl on 'misogynist' Opus Dei Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:22 am (GMT -5) Book lifts cowl on 'misogynist' Opus Dei By Susan Bell in Paris Telegraph 05 November 2007 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/04/nopusdei104.xml Defector tells of threats and humiliation she suffered during 13 years in secret sect A mother of nine has lifted the lid on Opus Dei, the controversial Catholic organisation featured in Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code, which portrayed it as a mysterious and cult-like -institution. Véronique Duborgel re-counts in a new book, Inside the Hell of Opus Dei, the 13 years she spent as a member of the group, which she describes as rigid, insensitive, sectarian and misogynistic. The 44-year-old kindergarten teacher describes techniques of psychological isolation similar to those sometimes used by sects, and claims that Opus Dei intrudes into the most intimate areas of members' private lives, encourages them to inform on each other and drains their financial resources. Mrs Duborgel writes that she was instructed not to tell family or friends that she was a member of Opus Dei. "I was told they might ask awkward questions and it would avoid family conflicts if they didn't know," she told The Sunday Telegraph. She had also been told to drop friends who had no inclination to join the organisation. Each year she was required to give the names of three friends, known as St Joseph's List, whom she would have to try to persuade to join Opus Dei over the next 12 months. Members were encouraged to look upon each other as "a family", but Mrs Duborgel said she was forbidden to share intimate confidences with her "sisters" – other female members of Opus Dei. Instead, she had to discuss personal matters with a spiritual director, "someone we had not chosen and whom we were obliged to report to." advertisementMembers were instructed to appear joyful, even when sad or depressed. "It was a form of psychological isolation," she said, adding that she had survived by concealing the existence of some friends she made through her children's school. "With them I could talk about the normal stuff, but I was obliged to live a double life, otherwise I would have got my knuckles rapped," she said. Every 15 days, Mrs Duborgel's spiritual director questioned her about her faith, and occasionally about the most intimate details of her marriage. "Once she warned me not to buy sexy underwear because it led men into temptation," she added. She added that her spiritual director also asked her to spy on other women to find out if they used contraception – labelled a sin by the Catholic Church. She refused, but was denounced by fellow members for crossing her legs at Mass ("disrespectful and immodest"), for wearing trousers ("too provocative") and for not wearing enough make-up. On being upbraided because she had not re-dyed her hair, she objected that she had never done so, but was told the unfounded reprimand had been "good for her humility". "I realised then that Opus Dei was more about humiliation than humility," she said. When Mrs Duborgel confided to two Opus Dei priests that her then husband, a 48-year-old former university professor who now lives in a monastery, beat and insulted her, she was told: "It's your cross, you must bear it." Opus Dei has opted to turn the other cheek over Mrs Duborgel's book. A spokeswoman, Beatrice de la Coste, said: "We sympathise with the suffering expressed in this work. It gives us great sadness. This woman was not sufficiently listened to." The organisation would not pursue the author or the book legally, she said, adding: "We are not going to attack someone who is suffering." "I am not suffering at all," retorted Mrs Duborgel. "The suffering was when I was in Opus Dei." Mrs Duborgel was drawn into the organisation by her future husband, who kept his own membership secret until after she joined. She says the secrecy governing Opus Dei is illustrated by a Latin prayer, which members must recite daily on their knees. "I was told to learn it off by heart so if I was surprised by anyone there would be no written trace of the prayer," she said. The couple gave €400 (£275) a month and a bigger contribution at Christmas to Opus Dei, whose worth is estimated to be £1.4?billion. "We were told to consider Opus Dei as an extra child we had to support. But it cost me more than all my children put together," said Mrs Duborgel, who lives in Strasbourg with six of her nine children. The Da Vinci Code vividly portrays the practice of "corporal mortification" by Silas the Albino, the murderous, self-flagellating monk, but Mrs Duborgel said she was encouraged only to take cold showers and forego treats. "Dan Brown's novel is not very accurate about the organisation of Opus Dei, but where he got it exactly right is in his portrayal of a group who are prepared to do anything to maintain their power." The last straw came at an Opus Dei conference at which a senior member said women were the equals of dogs. "He was not joking," she said. She finally summoned up the courage to leave in 1996 when her husband, who opposed her plan, was away. From her anger at her treatment, her book was born – a book she expects Opus Dei members will be forbidden to read.

By all appearances, faithful to the magisterium Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:18 am (GMT -5) By all appearances, faithful to the magisterium Diocese of Sacramento appoints two laymen with orthodox credentials to important teaching posts California Catholic Daily November 5, 2007 http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=fa6710be-d471-44fe-b5c7-b5e39a5d1f89 The Diocese of Sacramento has turned direction of catechesis and evangelization over to two laymen who, by all appearances, are faithful to the tradition and magisterium of the Catholic Church. Carson Weber will direct evangelization in the diocese, while Stephen Matuszak is the diocese's new director of catechesis. According to the Oct. 20 Catholic Herald, the Sacramento diocese's newspaper, Weber is to work with the office of worship to implement the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and to collaborate with the diocesan youth coordinator "to evangelize and energize youth and young adults." Weber has a Masters in Theology and Christian Ministry from the University of Steubenville and has worked for the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, directed by Dr. Scott Hahn in Steubenville, Ohio. Before attending the University of Steubenville, Weber earned his bachelor's degree in business administration at Texas A&M University. It was there, he told the Herald, that he felt he had "to learn and grow deeper in my faith. The priests there were very evangelical and tried to reach college students (one fourth of the student body was Catholic) where they were at. I really began to fall in love with Jesus and all he had given us in the church." Weber directs the web site, "CatholicBoard: knowing, loving, and living the faith." The web site includes clips from "That Catholic Show," one giving a faithful account of the nature and origins of the priesthood, and noting that it is reserved for men only. An audio clip -- "Homosexuality: Science or Political Activism?" -- from Catholic Answers Live provides an interview with Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, president of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, who specializes in the treatment of men who want to overcome same-sex attraction. Matuszak, the diocese's new director of catechesis, said the Herald, will serve as the department's lay theologian, among whose primary responsibilities "will be providing oversight for the diocese's Lay Formation Institute and newly-formed Scripture Institute." Matuszak holds a Master's in Theology from the University of Dallas, as well as a licentiate in sacred theology from the Washington, D.C.-based John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, from where he expects to earn his doctorate next May. Matuszak was for five years dean of students at the College of St. Thomas More in Fort Worth, Texas – a college known for its fidelity to the Catholic Church. Developing the Lay Formation Institute is Matuszak's first priority, according to the Herald. "Adult catechesis is my passion," he said.

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