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| Pope to purge the Vatican of modern music Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:52 pm (GMT -5)  Pope to purge the Vatican of modern music The Pope is considering a dramatic overhaul of the Vatican in order to force a return to traditional sacred music. Telegraph.co.uk By Malcolm Moore in Rome 2:19am GMT 20/11/2007 Link to original  The Pope wants to widen the use of Gregorian chant and baroque sacred music After reintroducing the Latin Tridentine Mass, the Pope wants to widen the use of Gregorian chant and baroque sacred music. In an address to the bishops and priests of St Peter's Basilica, he said that there needed to be "continuity with tradition" in their prayers and music. He referred pointedly to "the time of St Gregory the Great", the pope who gave his name to Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant has been reinstituted as the primary form of singing by the new choir director of St Peter's, Father Pierre Paul. He has also broken with the tradition set up by John Paul II of having a rotating choir, drawn from churches all over the world, to sing Mass in St Peter's. The Pope has recently replaced the director of pontifical liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Piero Marini, with a man closer to his heart, Mgr Guido Marini. It is now thought he may replace the head of the Sistine Chapel choir, Giuseppe Liberto. The International Church Music Review recently criticised the choir, saying: "The singers wanted to overshout each other, they were frequently out of tune, the sound uneven, the conducting without any artistic power, the organ and organ playing like in a second-rank country parish church." Mgr Valentin Miserachs Grau, the director of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, which trains church musicians, said that there had been serious "deviations" in the performance of sacred music. "How far we are from the true spirit of sacred music. How can we stand it that such a wave of inconsistent, arrogant and ridiculous profanities have so easily gained a stamp of approval in our celebrations?" he said. He added that a pontifical office could correct the abuses, and would be "opportune". He said: "Due to general ignorance, especially in sectors of the clergy, there exists music which is devoid of sanctity, true art and universality." Mgr Grau said that Gregorian chant was the "cardinal point" of liturgical music and that traditional music "should become again the living soul of the assembly". The Pope favoured the idea of a watchdog for church music when he was the cardinal in charge of safeguarding Catholic doctrine. He is known to be a strong supporter of Mgr Grau, who is also in charge of the Cappella Liberiana of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. _________________ O Crux, Ave, Spes Unica! |
| John Paul II to storm charts with 'trip-hop trance' video Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:36 pm (GMT -5)  John Paul II to storm charts with 'trip-hop trance' video Times Online November 12, 2007 Link to original article Link to video on YouTube The late Pope John Paul II is the star in a new "trip hop" music video backed by the Vatican which is expected to challenge for the number one slot in the Christmas DVD charts. With music composed by British composer Simon Boswell, an agnostic who made his name scoring for Italian horror movies, Santo Subito! is intended to build on the growing cultic veneration of the late Pope and add impetus to the campaign to make him a saint. The DVD, to be launched in the UK by Universal, the company that publishes Amy Winehouse, takes its title from the "Make him a Saint immediately" chants cried out by crowds at the Vatican at the funeral. Mr Boswell, who wrote the music for films such as Shallow Grave and Midsummer Night's Dream, said the style of the music in Santo Subito! could be described as "trip hop, trance-like and contemplative." It uses footage of the late Pope's visits to places such as Africa and Auschwitz, as well as of scenes of him greeting pilgrims outside St Peter's in Rome. The late Pope knew of the project and would have cooperated with some new material, but was already too ill by the time it was underway. The DVD has been produced by the Vatican's own record label, St Paul Multimedia. Mr Boswell said: "It is not a documentary at all, it is very much an impressionistic view of his life, set to music. The music ranges from hip hop through acoustic guitar to orchestral recordings and Gregorian chant. In a couple of the clips, Pope John Paul II is singing." Although nothing was shot specially, the DVD contains a mixture of archive material and footage that has not been seen publicly before, filmed by Mimmo Verduci, known in Italy for pop promos and commercials. "Images have been manipulated and presented in an avant-garde way," said Mr Boswell, who is divorced and living with actress Lysette Anthony. He said he was an agnostic. "I think it has been a distinct advantage not to have been a Catholic. I did not feel intimidated by the subject matter. The first piece I had to score was the Ten Commandments. I was basically working out which ones I had already broken." The DVD's producer, Vincent Messina, has described Mr Boswell as a "musical genius" who would be "the world's number one composer" if he had been born in the US and not Britain. _________________ O Crux, Ave, Spes Unica! |
| Liberal Bishops and Moral Dissenters Ignore Pope Benedict's Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:12 pm (GMT -5)  Click Logo To Link Original Monday November 19, 2007 Liberal Bishops and Moral Dissenters Ignore Pope Benedict's Liturgical Instruction Vatican offical criticises "disobedience" and "rebellion" of bishops limiting access to older Mass By Hilary White LONDON, November 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) РThe Catholic bishops of England and Wales have been taken to task for their refusal to cooperate with reforms instigated at the request of Pope Benedict XVI. Vatical official Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments, blasted what he called the "disobedience" of the reaction of many bishops to the Pope's liberalization of the use of the so-called "Tridentine Mass". That ancient form of liturgy was almost universal in the Catholic Church until the mid-nineteen sixties. In response to decades of requests and complaints about liturgical and doctrinal innovation, Pope Benedict XVI issued a document July 7, called a "motu proprio", erasing the restrictions on what he called the "extraordinary rite" of the Mass. The document instructs bishops that priests who want to observe the older rite must be allowed to do so without having to ask permission and that congregations must have the Latin Mass if they ask for it. Archbishop Ranjith, speaking to the Italian internet news site Petrus decried the action "and even rebellion" of many bishops who are trying to limit access to the older Mass. "On the part of some dioceses, there have been interpretive documents that inexplicably aim to limit the 'motu proprio' of the pope," he said earlier this month. The Archbishop's comments come in reaction to moves by the bishops of England and Wales to "interpret" the motu proprio. Cormac Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, the Primate of England and Wales and Archbishop of Westminster, aroused outrage among Catholics in Britain after he issued a "commentary" on the document. His action was called an "ungenerous interpretation" and "a slap in the face of traditionalists". The Cardinal claimed that, despite the Pontiff's explicit instructions to the contrary, priests still need to ask permission of their bishops to celebrate the Mass. Cardinal Murphy O'Connor's commentary followed "guidelines" issued by Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds who said the power of the bishops to stop the return of the old rite remains in force. In the dissent of the bishops from the Pope's decision, Archbishop Ranjith said, "there hide, on the one hand, ideological prejudices and, on the other hand, pride, which is one of the most serious sins." "The bishops, in particular, have sworn fidelity to the pontiff; may they be coherent and faithful to their commitment," he said. The older form of worship is entirely in Latin and is traditionally accompanied by Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony. It was virtually abandoned after 1965 by the bishops and clergy who claimed to be interpreting the mandate of the Second Vatican Council. Since then, many Catholics have accused the so-called "liberal" bishops and clergy, along with lay administrators in dioceses, with replacing both Catholic moral teaching and traditional liturgy with a new system of "trendy innovations" that many have identified as a radical departure from the Church's traditions. In many cases, the most vocal proponents of the new liturgical practices are the same as those advocating for the Church to abandon its adherence to its sexual and moral teachings. To the dismay of the left-liberal reformers of the 1960's, however, the traditional liturgy has become popular with many young people who also oppose the doctrinal liberalization instigated by the older generation. One American priest, Richard McBrien of Notre Dame university, is a leading voice of dissent from the Church's teaching on sexual issues, abortion and marriage and is widely seen as a spokesman for the liberal wing of the bishops and clergy who object to the return of the traditional Mass. He wrote in The Tidings, the diocesan newspaper of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, that young Catholics cannot have experienced the old Latin Mass. He wrote, "It is a mystery how one can be nostalgic for something one had never experienced." McBrien praised the work of "liturgical scholars" who, he said, "have published articles which carefully pick apart the reasoning behind the papal document." Damian Thompson, writing for the Daily Telegraph, quotes a Rome source who said that the Pope is "isolated." "So many people, even in the Vatican, oppose him, and he feels the strain immensely." Yet, Thompson said, Benedict is "ploughing ahead," regardless. "By failing to welcome the latest papal initiatives - or even to display any interest in them, beyond the narrow question of how their power is affected" Thompson writes, "the bishops of England and Wales have confirmed Benedict's low opinion of them." "Now he should replace them. If the Catholic reformation is to start anywhere, it might as well be here." _________________ IN CORDIBUS JESU ET MARI̠ SECRETMAN |
| Ukraine: Lefebvrist priest excommunicated from Church Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:11 am (GMT -5) Ukraine Lefebvrist Leader Excommunicated from Catholic Church (Source: RISU Ukrainian Religious News Service.) 20.11.2007, [11:03] // Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church // VATICAN-LVIV – The Vatican Tribunal Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed the verdict of the College Tribunal of the Lviv Archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) regarding Father Vasyl Kovpak who was accused of "committing the crime of schism and was subjected to excommunication."  So said the text of the decree of Archbishop Ihor (Vozniak) of Lviv of the UGCC as of 14 November 2007, which was released on 19 November 2007. The hierarch addressed the clergymen of the Lviv Archeparchy with the request to inform the faithful about the decision of the last jurisdiction. The case of Father Vasyl Kovpak, who is the leader of the Lefebvrist movement within the UGCC, has been under review for several years now. On 14 July 2006, the College Tribunal of the Lviv Archeparchy condemned his actions; however, Father Vasyl appealed to the Vatican. RISU's note: A small group of the Greek Catholic clergy [AA note: Society of St. Josaphat Kuncevyc.] in Ukraine belongs to the well-organized Society of St. Pius X in Western Europe, USA and Australia, which has united with part of the former Catholic clergy which refused to accept certain resolutions of the Second Vatican Council. French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre was its spiritual leader; therefore, the whole movement was named "Lefebvrism." • http://www.risu.org.ua/ukr/news/article;597/ • http://www.risu.org.ua/ukr/news/article;12991/ • http://www.arka.org.ua/newissue8/articles.php3?id_issue=79&id_heading=17  Image: October 2007, Warsaw, Poland: Bishop Bernard Fellay F.S.S.P.X. ordains seven seminarian-deacons of the Byzantine Slavonic Rite Society of St. Josaphat Kuncevyc to priests (using the Roman Rite ordinal). _________________ Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites. |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:27 am (GMT -5) Not so pleasant in Pleasanton Diocese, current pastor stick by decision to name priest arrested eight years ago for lewd conduct as leader of two parishes California Catholic Daily November 20, 2007 http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=f39ab4e7-af90-479b-9d60-4b1feaa78db2 Despite opposition from a small but vocal group, the Diocese of Oakland continues to back Fr. Padraig Greene, arrested in 1999 for lewd behavior in a public restroom. On Sunday, Nov. 11, members of the Northern California Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) distributed flyers at St. Augustine's church to protest the appointment of Greene as pastor there. (See "We are all dealing with dysfunctional secrets," California Catholic Daily, Nov. 13, 2007.) In the online bulletin of the Catholic Community of Pleasanton (comprising St. Augustine's and St. Elizabeth Seton's parishes), under the heading "Notes from the pastor for this week," current pastor Fr. Dan Danielson said that recent protests required him to reveal what Greene did in 1999. "I would not do this ordinarily any more than I would 'out' the sins of anyone else who had a position of leadership in this community," said Danielson. At 2 p.m. on March 2, 1999, police arrested Greene "at a restroom next to a highway for indecent exposure," continued Danielson. "There is a baseball field nearby. There were no children or minors involved, nor were there any nearby at the time. Only the police officer who observed this behavior and subsequently arrested him was present." The court dismissed charges against Greene when he completed therapy. "As you can imagine," wrote Danielson, "Fr. Padraig was and is filled with shame and great remorse over this incident." The Nov. 16 Contra Costa Times said that, according to an Oakland police report, an undercover officer investigating reports of sex in the North Oakland Regional Sports Center's restrooms found Greene engaging in a sex act on himself. Greene spent "several months dealing with this dark moment through extensive therapy for depression and other emotional issues as well as a program of spiritual renewal at a Center in St. Louis," wrote Danielson. Greene, "like the rest of us," is a sinner, said Danielson. "And as such, he will make an excellent pastor for a community of other repentant sinners. The bishop is convinced of that and so am I." Bishop Allen Vigneron last week voiced his support for Greene. "Fr. Greene ... has performed exemplary ministry in the Diocese" since his arrest and therapy," wrote Vigneron. "There have been no further incidents." Learning of Greene's past and the subsequent "coverup" by Church officials, some Pleasanton parishioners have left the Catholic Church. One of them, Hillary Bessiere, told the Times that she had returned to the Church through Greene. Since she had "idolized" him, and that news of his arrest "devastated" her. "I am certainly not accusing him of sex acts towards children, but it seems odd to me that someone would be so desperate to have to resort to a public restroom (at a sports park) to relieve himself of sexual tension," she told the Times. With Vigneron in Washington, D.C., diocesan spokesman Fr. Mark Wiesner on Friday met a small group of Pleasanton parishioners who had come to Oakland's chancery offices to ask why the bishop had appointed Greene pastor. Wiesner defended the choice of Greene, and said, according to the Nov 18 Oakland Tribune, "We believe he has whatever it takes to not engage in that behavior." |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:25 am (GMT -5) "Severe financial challenges" LA archdiocese won't budge on plans to close Catholic high school; parents and students hold protest, write letter to pope California Catholic Daily November 20, 2007 http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=027d35f8-df8f-429c-8e11-c55d9cc50de9 On Saturday, Nov. 17, about 200 parents, students, and alumni of Daniel Murphy High School in Los Angeles, carrying signs reading "Don't Make the Children Pay" and "No More Victims," marched from Pershing Square to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The parents are pushing the Los Angeles archdiocese to keep the 53-year-old Catholic high school open. Last month, the archdiocese announced it would close the school, located at Third and South Detroit streets. An October archdiocesan news release cited "severe financial challenges" as a reason to close the school. Though the archdiocesan news release did not say so, proceeds of the sale of the high school could go to help pay off the archdiocese's estimated $373 million portion of a $660-million settlement with victims of molestation by priests. According to the October release, the chief reason for closing the school is a decline in student population, which "efforts to increase student enrollment over the past ten years" have not ameliorated. A parent's letter to Pope Benedict XVI, received by California Catholic Daily, however, claims that archdiocese in the past capped freshman enrollment and that for the past three years at least, "there has been no official Archdiocese involvement with enrolment at Daniel Murphy." The letter claims that parents did not know that the school was in bad financial condition or that the archdiocese was subsidizing it until the archdiocese announced it was closing the school. Parents of students at the school have said they would be willing to pay higher tuition, as well as raise funds, to keep the school open. According to the parent's letter received by California Catholic Daily, parents have agreed to a $1,000 per year increase in the current $5,100 tuition, bringing in an extra $240,000 a year to the school. The parents agreed, as well, to two mandatory school raffles, which, they hope, would bring in another $80,000. The money would replace the archdiocesan subsidy for the school, which has been about $180,000 a year, according to the letter. Archdiocesan officials rebuffed the parents and their fundraising plans at a meeting last month, parents' supporters told the Nov. 18 Los Angeles Times. They claim the archdiocese has forbidden school supporters from meeting on school property and has told faculty and staff not to assist them. Parents say the archdiocese is intent on selling the school's 2.7-acre site, which, say parents, could bring $25 million to $40 million. The archdiocese has said it will not reverse its decision to close the school. In a statement, archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg called the decision "irrevocable." The archdiocese, said the statement, "will continue to work with parents and students to help make the transition to new schools as easy and as affordable as possible." |
| Minneapolis Archbishop Condemned for Giving Catholic Teachin Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:51 am (GMT -5) Minneapolis Archbishop Condemned for Giving Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality His column harshly criticized for "spiritual violence" and "persecution" toward homosexuals By Meg Jalsevac November 19, 2007 LifeSiteNews http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/nov/07111905.html In a recent column in the local diocesan newspaper, Minneapolis/St. Paul Coadjuter Archbishop John C. Nienstedt concisely explained the Church's teaching regarding both a homosexual's obligation to chastity and the Church's obligation to support and encourage such a chaste lifestyle. The column has caused a backlash of harsh criticism from the 'homosexual community' in what has until recently been known as a notoriously liberal Catholic diocese. Archbishop Nienstedt's column in the diocesan paper 'The Catholic Spirit' was authored as a sequel to a previous column, written by the paper's editor, Joe Towalski. That article had, according to Archbishop Nienstedt, "addressed the issue of the church's teaching on homosexuality" and "the reason why those who promote homosexual activity or a homosexual lifestyle are not permitted to speak at Catholic institutions." Both columns stemmed from a recent incident at a local Minneapolis Catholic parish when a scheduled speaking engagement by an openly lesbian woman and her father was cancelled after diocesan officials learned of it. The woman involved, Carol Curoe, is the author of a book entitled 'Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and a Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story." Nienstedt began his column referring to the document issued by the US bishops just prior to the 2004 election. "The second to last point of that document was our collective resolve that Catholic churches, colleges and other institutions should not give "awards, honors or platforms" to persons who, whether Catholic or not, held public positions contrary to the church's defined teaching. To do so would cause scandal, leading Catholics to be confused about what is right and wrong according to the teachings of the church, prompting them to endorse or even to commit immoral behavior." Nienstedt concluded that the explanations laid out in the 2004 document explained the reasons why Curoe's talk at a Catholic parish would not be appropriate. The archbishop went further, as very few American bishops have dared in recent years, to explicitly detail the logical consequences due any Catholics who act against this matter of serious Catholic moral teaching. He wrote, "Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin. They have broken communion with the church and are prohibited from receiving Holy Communion until they have had a conversion of heart, expressed sorrow for their action and received sacramental absolution from a priest." While many critics harshly criticized Archbishop Nienstedt's column for what they referred to as "spiritual violence" and "persecution", most seemed to totally neglect the fact that Nienstedt was simply giving Catholic teaching that any Catholic bishop in the world is also obligated to present and defend. Also seemingly ignored was the fact he called attention to a more recent USCCB document entitled "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care." As previously reported by LifeSiteNews.com, the document clearly elucidates Church teaching on homosexuality but calls all Catholics to treat homosexuals with "respect, compassion and sensitivity." Nienstedt also drew attention to and provided contact information for two already established faithfully Catholic support groups that offered practical and spiritual guidance to both individuals with a homosexual inclination and their families. Despite the archbishop's admission that he was instrumental in establishing two such homosexual support groups in a previous diocese and that, through such ministry, he had "met many impressive and, I would say, heroic individuals through that movement", critics such as Mary Lynn Murphy of Catholic Rainbow Parents, condemned the archbishop's column as "extreme talk" that should be considered offensive to all Catholics because it "gives license to hatred and violence against us all." Murphy lectured the bishop stating, "The new archbishop should apologize, begin to educate himself on the topic of sexual orientation, and be the prophetic voice for the much-needed reform of the church's understanding of homosexuality." In an interview given near the time of his installation as coadjutor archbishop who will fully succeed current Archbishop Harry Flynn in 2008, Archbishop Nienstedt explained his understanding and respect for the responsibility of his pastoral vocation. "I do not come as a politician but as a priest, as one who sees his life as being a bridge between God and his people. I do not come as a CEO, but as a pastor, as one who intends to teach the truth, to celebrate the sacraments, and to shepherd the people of God in the ways of Jesus Christ so that they might one day inherit eternal life." Read Archbishop's Nienstedt's entire column: http://thecatholicspirit.com/main.asp?SectionID=14&SubsectionID=14&ArticleID=1079&TM=72139.29 Read Previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Proposed US Bishops Document on Homosexuality Encourages Love the Sinner but Hate the Sin http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06101907.html New Catholic Bishop Expected to Bring Orthodoxy and Opposition to Homosexual Agenda to Minneapolis http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07060507.html |
| Duplessis' Quebec is long gone Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:38 am (GMT -5) www.vigile.net/Duplessis-Quebec-is-long-gone Duplessis' Quebec is long gone Father Raymond J. De Souza The National Post Priest-ridden. Not an adjective one comes across too often, but it has been near-ubiquitous in the 10 days since the Quebec election. Much of the commentary about the remarkable rise of Mario Dumont and the Action democratique du Quebec has argued that he has refashioned the forces of Maurice Duplessis and the Union Nationale, the conservative, nationalist party that dominated Quebec politics in the 1940s and 1950s. And no comment on Quebec of that period is complete without noting that Quebec society under Duplessis was priest-ridden. In the historiography of post-Quiet Revolution Quebec, the Duplessis period is all darkness, a time of autocratic politics in service of a repressive Catholic Church that kept les Quebecois backward and poor. Indeed, the period is known as la Grande Noirceur — the Great Darkness. The death of Duplessis in 1959 was the first light of dawn, a light that would grow into the full brightness and splendour of the Quiet Revolution. It is quite implausible that Mario Dumont wants to go back to the Duplessis days — and even if he did, the Quiet Revolution so devastated the Church that not even the parishes of Quebec are priest ridden any more. To the contrary, the last major intervention of the bishops of Quebec in public life was to support the secularization of the Quebec schools. Perhaps the majority of Quebec priests during la Grande Noirceur behaved badly, abusing their privileged position. I rather doubt it, but certainly there must have been many who did. And they no doubt harmed the faith and development of many people, for which they bear responsibility. At the same time though, the Church in Quebec did manage to create a vibrant Quebecois culture, including French schools, classical colleges, polytechnics, hospitals, social action groups, labour unions and several high-quality newspapers. All of this was done long before Quebecers were maitres chez nous ; after all, the intellectual vibrancy and civil institutions that led the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s emerged from the same Quebec of the supposed darkness. The enormous scale of the Quiet Revolution and its aftermath, from the great nationalization projects to Bill 101, were all justified on the grounds of protecting the French reality in North America. Yet for the two centuries from the Plains of Abraham to the death of Duplessis that same French culture remained intact, and even thrived, without the grand coercive state action of the Quiet Revolution. Quebecois culture was not invented in 1960, and if Quebec society before that was truly priest-ridden, then the priests were at least in part responsible for preserving the national project for 200 years. All that was a long time ago though. Why then the intensity of the inveighing against the priestridden society today ? One might begin by asking : Who replaced the priests ? In 1960 Quebec decided it was out with the priests and in with the politicians. The sacred was replaced by the secular state. And the national project ever since has been a massively statist enterprise. It is surely not coincidental that the three leaders in the Quebec election — Jean Charest, Andre Boisclair, Mario Dumont — are all men who have spent their entire adult lives in politics. Charest was first elected at 26, Boisclair at 23 and Dumont at 24. Yet today, 48 years after the death of Duplessis, the state-centred development of Quebec is showing signs of strain. Quebecers pay high taxes, have an enormous provincial debt and are dissatisfied with the quality of their public services, health care primary among them. Economically, Quebec is near the bottom of productivity and economic growth in North America. Even the sainted Lucien Bouchard has publicly spoken about the need for dramatic change — a rejection of the statist principles of the Quiet Revolution. The defenders of the state in Quebec's vast political class know this. Quebec will change, or if it refuses, will grower poorer and less populous (it already attracts proportionately fewer immigrants than the rest of Canada). Voters were likely attracted to the ADQ, not out of a desire for the return of the black robes, but out of frustration with a society wrapped in red tape and drowning in red ink. So the defenders of statist Quebec fight back, raising the spectre of darkness and Duplessis, animated by more than a touch of anti-clericalism. But the priests haven't been running Quebec for almost 50 years now. It's long past time for Quebec's current maitres to answer for the crisis of the present, rather than the legends of the past.* Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post _________________ http://www.geocities.com/demographic_crash |
| Did Archbishop Lose Vote Over Abortion, Communion Debate? Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 7:31 am (GMT -5)  Did Catholic Archbishop Lose Internal Vote Over Abortion, Communion Debate? by Deal Hudson November 19, 2007  LifeNews.com Note: Deal W. Hudson is the director of the Morley Institute for Church & Culture, and is the former publisher and editor of CRISIS Magazine, a Catholic monthly. He is the author of six books and his articles and comments have been published in many newspapers and magazines Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Archbishop Raymond Burke (St. Louis) lost an election at the annual meeting of the U.S. bishops last week. Over the past three years, Burke has assumed the mantle of the late Cardinal John O'Connor in pro-life matters, challenging fellow bishops to take stronger stances in the defense of innocent life. Nominated as chairman for the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, 60 percent of his fellow bishops preferred his opponent. As bishops' conference expert Rev. Thomas Reese noted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, an auxiliary bishop defeating an archbishop for a conference chairmanship is "very unusual." Archbishop Burke's credentials as a canonist are widely recognized. In fact, he missed the bishops' meeting because he was in Rome as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican's highest judicial authority. Burke has been a controversial figure since early 2004 when, as bishop of La Crosse, WI, he began to challenge pro-abortion Catholic politicians publicly on their reception of the Eucharist. Shortly after moving to St. Louis as archbishop, Burke said he would deny Communion to Sen. John Kerry if he presented himself. Although his position has been backed up by 13 other bishops, Archbishop Burke was clearly straining the boundaries of "collegiality." Father Reese, former editor of America magazine, says the bishops were sending a message: "Most of the bishops don't want communion and Catholic politicians to be a high-profile issue, and he [Burke] is seen as a man who's pushing that issue. . . . Had he been elected, it could have been interpreted as endorsing his position." Archbishop Elden Curtiss (Omaha), Archbishop Sean O'Malley (Boston), and Cardinal Francis George (Chicago) went on the record denying that there was any message being sent by the bishops to Burke. And supporters of Archbishop Burke have no reason to regret the selection of Bishop Thomas Paprocki, the Chicago auxiliary, whose reputation and credentials are similar to that of Burke's. The question still in the air after the bishops' meeting, however, is whether Burke is being punished for not backing down after the controversy surrounding him during the 2004 election. In response to the Kerry and Communion controversy, the bishops formed a task force, headed by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, to study the issue and present a report. That report, "Catholics in Political Life," differed sharply with Burke, finding that each bishop could decide for himself in such cases. Archbishop Burke did not back down. Early this year, he published an article on Canon 915 in Italian law journal Periodica de Re Canonica arguing that the McCarrick report was incorrect. Burke said that a bishop's interpretation of what to do in the face of a pro-abortion Catholic politician "would hardly seem to change from place to place." For Burke, enforcing discipline must go hand-in-hand with teaching: No matter how often a bishop or priest repeats the teaching of the Church regarding procured abortion, if he stands by and does nothing to discipline a Catholic who publicly supports legislation permitting the gravest of injustices, and at the same time, presents himself to receive Holy Communion, then his teaching rings hollow. He gave the names of bishops with whom he disagreed: Cardinal McCarrick, Cardinal Roger Mahony (Los Angeles), and Archbishop Donald Wuerl (Washington, DC). Just as it's very unusual for an archbishop to be defeated by an auxiliary bishop in an election, it's just as unheard of for a bishop to take issue with another bishop by name. In his article, however, Burke spread the net even wider. He argued that any Catholic who administers Communion -- even a lay person -- is required to withhold it from Catholic politicians who know they hold positions contrary to Church teaching. Burke has said publicly that he will not stop addressing this issue. In an interview with Catholic News Service shortly after the 2004 election, he said: It's funny because some people now characterize me as a fundamentalist, or an extremist . . . . But these are questions that are at the very foundation of the life of our country. We just simply have to continue to address them. The archbishop of St. Louis has been true to his word. His article on Canon law formalized his objection to McCarrick's report. If Father Reese is right, the bishops are distancing themselves from a fellow bishop who kept controversy in the air, a controversy most of them would rather see go away. The bishops' own document from last week, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," was a powerful indictment of Catholics who participate politically without demanding an end to abortion. Archbishop Burke, though he was not at the meeting, and though he will not chair the canonical affairs committee, must be given some credit for the strength of the bishops' corporate voice in this statement. |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 7:00 am (GMT -5)  Residents rally around priest Many support Salerno after abuse allegation By Sumathi Reddy | Sun reporter November 20, 2007 By 8:30 a.m. yesterday, the first sign had already gone up. "God bless father Michael Salerno We love and support you!" Mary Ann Campanella, a third-generation Little Italy resident, had taped the homemade sign in a window of her rowhouse, above her late mother's statue of the Virgin Mary. The inquiries soon followed. A few hours later, Campanella, 66, and Giovanna Blattermann, 60, had distributed hundreds of signs to parishioners of St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church, aghast at the news that the Rev. Michael Salerno was removed as pastor because of an allegation that he sexually abused a teenage boy in Brooklyn, N.Y., more than 30 years ago. To the congregants of Little Italy and beyond, the removal of the popular pastor - whose arrival 10 years ago is credited with revitalizing a church and neighborhood - bodes disaster. Never. Not their Father Mike. Not the man with the thick Brooklyn accent always spotted on street corners with his signature cigar and baseball hat hollering hello, a man who had become such an institution in the neighborhood that even non-churchgoers know him and a local deli named a "Father Mike" sandwich after him. "We do love and support him," said Campanella, who is president of the Little Italy Community Organization. "That's the feeling of the community. I'm very, very concerned for the future of my church and my community." But others question such fierce support before the investigation is completed. Salerno, 61, does not face criminal charges, but the allegation has been reported to authorities in New York. Though Salerno has not been defrocked, he can't celebrate Mass publicly or serve as a priest while the church investigates. The man who alleged the abuse contacted his home diocese last week, reporting an incident he said took place at All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, where Salerno served as a brother from 1971 to 1978. Salerno, who neither admitted nor denied that the abuse had taken place, is receiving counseling and is cooperating with the investigation, according to church officials. Loud and down-to-earth, Salerno is a pastor whose 20-minute speed Masses are sprinkled with stories from his childhood and life. Salerno is known for passing out meals and money to the homeless and elderly. He recruited parishioners to hand out food and clothes to the homeless at the Baltimore Rescue Mission. He gave Communion to the residents of the former public housing development just north of Little Italy. And he attracted new congregants to the church, from suburbanites and old-timers who had left the neighborhood, to converts and people of other ethnic groups. "He was a great priest," said former Mayor Thomas J. D'Alesandro III, who grew up in Little Italy and returns to St. Leo's for Mass about once a month. "He arrived at St. Leo's at a time when we were fighting for survival, and he revitalized the church so that we were one of the most powerful parishes in the city." D'Alesandro, like others who know Salerno, say they don't believe the allegation against him. Yesterday in Little Italy, a group of women gathered outside Campanella's house. Many speculated that someone was after Salerno's success and the wealth that he has been able to amass at the church, which has grown from some 100 members 10 years ago to 800 registered members today. Some residents went as far as saying that even if the allegation is true, Salerno's lifetime of doing good would earn him repentance in their book. "We want him back," Blattermann said. "This community needs him. I don't think it's true, but if there is a remote possibility that it is, the good he has done far outweighs one alleged incident." Elizabeth Ann Murphy, a victim of abuse by John Joseph Merzbacher, a former Catholic Community Middle School teacher in South Baltimore, said yesterday that such unequivocal support of Salerno before he is fully investigated is dangerous. Merzbacher was sentenced in 1995 to life in prison for raping Murphy, who was 12 at the time of the abuse. He was accused of molesting many other children. Murphy said the day after Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien was installed last month, he met with her and other survivors of child abuse in a series of private meetings. "The outrage of the supporters ... has to be tempered for the protection of the children now. What if there is a child over in Little Italy now who is being abused? Do you really think they or their family would want to come forward in that climate?" Murphy asked. But to Salerno's supporters, the absence of their pastor has shattered a community's faith. "I'm very sad and disappointed that Father Mike won't be here to preside over my funeral," said Philomena Abruzzese, 80. "I'm very hurt." Yesterday, Campanella was making her weekly pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Jude, the patron of lost causes. She hopes Salerno's fate is not a lost cause, she said, but she'll light a candle for him. sumathi.reddy@baltsun.com Copyright © 2007, The Baltimore Sun |
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