A Cistercian Priest laments on the situations at a post Vatican II Mass

Weary With Holding In
By
Father Mark

I offered the Sunday Vigil Mass in a suburban parish last Saturday in order to help out a friend and brother priest. Father is very dedicated and I have immense esteem for him. The observations that follow are no reflection on him. He inherited a difficult situation and hasn't yet completed his first year in the parish. But, like the prophet Jeremias, I am "weary with holding in." Disclaimer: the images below are in no way related to the place or persons mentioned in this rant. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

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Chatter

The first thing that disconcerted me was the idle chatter in church before Mass. It was like being in a theatre waiting for the lights to dim and the curtain to go up. People seated in little groups around the church held exchanged news and joked with absolutely no regard for the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, the sacredness of the place, or the few faithful who were actually trying to pray. I knelt in the back of the church surrounded by prattle on all sides and felt an immense sadness in my heart. The words of the Mass of the Sacred Heart came to mind: "I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none; and for one that would comfort me, and I found none" (Ps 68:21). Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was alone among his own: ignored and treated with ingratitude and indifference in His own house. The chatter resumed immediately after Mass.

The Place

The unfortunate architecture of this particular church does not easily lend itself to recollection or to a spontaneous focus on the presence of our Lord. In spite of the large crucifix above the tabernacle, there is something about the building that is inimical to prayer. But there is more: the faithful seem to have lost any awareness of the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. There is no "eucharistic amazement." One does not find there the hush ordinarily commanded by an experience of the sacred.

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Reverence

Not that long ago there was still a lively sense of reverence among Catholics. People would sign themselves with Holy Water upon entering the church. They would genuflect before entering the pew, then kneel in adoration for a few moments. It was not uncommon to see people lighting candles before Mass or visiting the side altars and the shrines of their favourite saints. Some folks would pray the rosary quietly. Others would read over the Mass of the day in their missals. All of this has been swept away. When Pope John Paul II proclaimed the "Year of the Eucharist" his stated aim was the recovery of "Eucharistic amazement" — call it reverence, awe, or the spirit of adoration — in the whole Church. Instead of things improving in the average parish, they seem to be getting worse.

A number of factors have contributed to this desolate situation. I will enumerate a few of them:

1) The loss of any notion of sacred space. I think this is directly related to the removal of the Communion Rail or other effective delineation of the sanctuary of the church. Time to rally 'round the rood screen again! The Tractarians were right.

2) Mass "facing the people." This, more than anything else, undermined and continues to undermine the faithful's experience of the Mass as a Sacrifice offered to God in adoration, propitiation, thanksgiving, and supplication. The altar has become the big desk of the clerical CEO behind it: The Presider. It has become a stage prop for the "performing priest," complete with The Microphone.

3) Holy Communion in the hand. I see it every time I offer Mass in a parish church: the casual approach prevails. If one receives the Holy Mysteries like ordinary bread and a sip of ordinary wine, one begins rather sooner than later, will-nilly, to think of them as mere bread and wine.

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4) No bells. Instead of ringing a sacristy bell to announce the beginning of Mass, the organist leaned into His Microphone and said, "Let us stand to greet Father Kirby." Sorry. That is not what the Entrance Procession is about. It is a humble, joyful, and orderly movement into the Holy Place, a crossing-over from chronos (worldly, stressful, clocked time) to kairos (the heavenly, tranquil, timeless moment of God), an entering into the adorable presence of the God who is like a consuming fire, a making-ready for the inbreaking of the Kingdom of Heaven. A bell says it better.

Same thing during the Eucharistic Prayer. People need to be warned of the imminence of the most sacred moment of the Mass, even when the Eucharistic Prayer (Canon) is prayed aloud and in the vernacular. A bell does the job quite nicely. And another thing: saying the whole Eucharistic Prayer aloud and in the vernacular does not automatically guarantee "full, conscious, and actual participation" in the Holy Sacrifice. Silence, on the other hand, at least for certain parts of the Eucharistic Prayer, effectively opens a door onto the Holy Mysteries.

5) Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Alas, they are not extraordinary. They are ubiquitous and, I think, superfluous. Does expediting the distribution of Holy Communion really constitute grave necessity? In the church where I offered Mass last Saturday there were four Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, all of whom were women. Three were wearing casual slacks and one was showing cleavage. They could have been serving lemonade at the parish garden party. It was frightfully inappropriate.

Could there not be properly instituted acolytes for the service of the Holy Mysteries where such are needed? These would be adult men — few in number — suitably vested in amice, alb, and cincture and, most of all, schooled in reverence, attention, and devotion, and carefully trained for the service of the sacred liturgy.

This brings up yet another issue? Where have all the men gone? At last Saturday's Mass, the four Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, the Server, and one Lector were all women. I am not a misogynist. But honestly, this situation does nothing to foster priestly vocations.

6) The Music. Dare I call it that? Oh, the music! Show-tuney, trite, tired, and sickeningly sentimental with the organist/crooner singing into His Microphone. Might we not try singing the Mass itself: the Ordinary and the Propers? More than anything else celebrants must begin taking their sacerdotal obligations seriously by learning to cantillate the dialogical parts of the Mass, the orations, the Preface Dialogue and Preface, and the other elements that belong uniquely to them as priests.

I am not a gloomy person by nature, but last Saturday's Mass left me very sad indeed. "For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?" (Lk 23:31).

Obama To Loosen Stem Cell Funding

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 7, 2009; Page A01

President Obama's decision to lift restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, scheduled to be announced Monday, is expected to provide a major boost to one of the most promising but controversial fields of biomedical research in generations.

The signing of an executive order voiding the restrictions will allow thousands of scientists to study hundreds of lines of cells that have been developed since the limitations were put in place eight years ago. It will also allow them to dismantle cumbersome bureaucracies constructed to work around the constraints and let them exchange scientific ideas more easily.

Because stem cells obtained from very early embryos are believed to be capable of morphing into any tissue in the body, scientists think that they will yield fundamental insights into the underlying causes of many diseases and that they could be used to repair damage caused by diabetes, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and other conditions.

But extracting the cells destroys the days-old embryos. In an effort to prevent tax dollars from encouraging the destruction of more embryos, President George W. Bush imposed the restrictions on Aug. 9, 2001, limiting federal funding to studies of what turned out to be 21 stem cell lines that were already in existence.
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Critics have long complained that the cells that scientists have been permitted to study under the Bush policy have shortcomings. Many, for example, may have defects that could make them dangerous to transplant into people.

But perhaps more important, hundreds of newer lines have been developed that offer a host of opportunities. For instance, many lines carry defects for specific diseases and could yield crucial insights into how those illnesses develop and might be cured.

"This is huge," said Amy Comstock Rick of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which lobbied to lift the restrictions. "It is eight years overdue to have human embryonic stem cell research put back in place with other forms of research for patients in this country."

Opponents, however, have argued that research on human embryonic stem cells has become unnecessary because of scientific advances, including promising studies involving adult stem cells and the ability to transform them so that they appear to have many of the properties of embryonic cells.

"Today's news that President Obama will open the door to direct taxpayer funds for embryonic stem cell research that encourages the destruction of human embryos is a slap in the face to Americans who believe in the dignity of all human life," said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. "It is unethical to use human life, even young embryonic life, to advance science.

"We should be increasing funding for adult stem cell treatments, which have been used to treat patients for over 70 diseases and conditions, and we should fund the historic achievements in reprogramming ordinary skin cells into embryonic-like stem cells without compromising ethics by destroying life."

But many scientists say it remains far from clear which cells will ultimately lead to the most important advances, making it crucial to continue to study embryonic cells along with other types.

Some opponents have suggested that, as part of his effort to find common ground on divisive issues, Obama might qualify his executive order to try to take the sting out. But those briefed on the content of the order yesterday said it would lift the restrictions without caveats and let the National Institutes of Health (NIH) work out the details.

Lenten Deeds

As we approach the second week of Lent, let us recall what have we done in the past week so that we will get to know in what deeds have we offended Christ. In our Catholic tradition, have we kept our fasts and abstinence? Have we been able to resist temptation? Have we thought of a person with whom we have a strained relationship and made some gesture towards improving that relationship? Have we ever contemplated in silence to listen to our heart and to the Lord speaking to us? Have we prayed for our spiritual growth? Have we prayed the rosary for the conversion of all who are far from the Lord? Have we been generous with our compliments especially to those feeling down? These are simple and personal stuff we ought to do this Lent. We, as Catholic Christians have to remember that during this 40 days, we are journeying together with our Lord Jesus Christ in his passion towards the Cross in Calvary. Are we pure enough to take up the cross and follow him? “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Imitating Jesus words and actions, let us too as Catholics take up our crosses and follow Christ to eternal happiness.

Confession: Screened or face-to-face?

The New York Times recently took a fascinating look at the practice of confession at a parish in Stamford, Conn., which has made a dramatic comeback because of the pastor's promotion of it and his return of the old anonymous confessional.

The newspaper reported that "upwards of 450 people" celebrate the sacrament in one of the parish's 15 weekly time slots for confession (including prior to almost every Mass).

For some, the availability of anonymous confession has made it easier for them to avail themselves of the sacrament than when the parish offered only a face-to-face reconciliation room.

Personally, I have somewhat of an aversion to the old-style confessional that dates back to the years I lived in Rome, where that's pretty much all that was available.

About once a month I'd head to St. Peter's Basilica where there was always at least one confessional with "English" among other languages advertised. These were the classic wooden stand-alone confessionals; the priest sat in a center box hidden behind a curtain, and penitents took to a kneeler on either side.

I dreaded it.

Europeans don't have our concept of personal space. If I stood back at a discreet distance to avoid overhearing the person ahead of me, someone, usually a nun, would cut in front, standing virtually on the soles of the kneeling penitent.

Then, when it finally came my time to confess, I always had the uncomfortable impression kneeling there that there was someone, usually a nun, standing close enough behind to touch me.

Add to that the fact that St. Peter's Basilica is a major tourist destination. Until 2000, when the confessionals were placed in a roped-off area, it was not uncommon for curious and baffled Asian tourists to peer into the confessional to figure out what you were doing.

You see how scarred I am. But that explains why, these days, I prefer to visit soundproof, spacious reconciliation rooms, especially if there's a screen and kneeler to use.

A popular Catholic blog recently hosted a discussion among readers as to their preference: screened, or face-to-face.

It was fascinating reading. Two of the many comments stood out to me. One advocate of the face-to-face approach argued that it was better preparation for the embarrassment of Judgment Day: "I want the full impact of what I have done or not done with a face-to-face."

On the other side of the question, someone argued that the risk of face-to-face is that the penitent can be distracted by watching the priest's facial expressions and body language to see how he's receiving what's being said. A screen keeps the focus on Christ.

Elderly Chinese bishop imprisoned for three years is released

Rome, Italy, Mar 6, 2009 / 12:46 pm (CNA).- Eighty five year-old Bishop Leon Yao Liang of Hebei has been reunited with his diocese after being held in prison for 30 months for belonging to the clandestine Catholic Church in China.

The French ecumenical association Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture reported on the release of Bishop Yao, which took place at the end of January.

The bishop has received the support of organizations and people around the world, who demanded that he be released. He enjoys good health, and although he is prohibited from leaving his parish to visit and support the faithful under his care, some 1,000 people attend his Mass each Sunday.

There are still two bishops from Hebei and a priest who remain in prison: Bishop Su Zhimin, 76, of Baoding, who was arrested on October 8, 1997, and Bishop Shi Enxiang, 85, of Yixian, who was arrested on April 13, 2001, and the vicar general of the Diocese of Baoding, Father Lui Genjun, who was arrested on February 17, 2006.

Young Priests: How Long?

In his Q&A session with priests of the Diocese of Rome, the Holy Father discusses an interesting point, the term of an associate pastor. The pope has been on a theme of priest as teacher, hence the reference plunked in this quote.

The first question is much harder for me — the question is also [addressed] to Your Eminence [the vicar, Cardinal Agostino Vallini] — namely, the permanence of the young priest to give guidance to young people. Undoubtedly, a personal relationship with the teacher is important and must also have the possibility of a certain period to get to know each other. And, in this sense, I can agree that the priest, point of orientation for young people, cannot change every day, because in this way, in fact, he loses this orientation.

In my previous diocese, young priests were moved fairly frequently. In my parish, the last two young associates were assigned for twelve months and three months respectively before moving on to pastorates. I knew a guy or two who went right from seminary to heading a parish.

On the other hand, the young priest must also have different experiences in different cultural contexts, precisely to obtain, in the end, the cultural equipment necessary to be, as pastor, the point of reference for a long time in the parish.

If bishops are disinclined or unable to leave newly minted clergy in a parish for a few years of stability, it would seem the seminary years would need to provide the “different experiences.” I wonder if the recent US visitation touched on that point.

This observation on young people is also interesting, with ramifications beyond just the ministry of priests:

And I would say that in the life of the young person, the dimensions of time are different from those of the life of the adult. The three years, from 16 to 19, are at least as long and as important as the years between 40 and 50. Precisely here is where the personality is formed: It is an interior journey of great importance, of great existential extent.

If the late adolescent years are so vital, why then, do so many parishes neglect youth ministry? When the pope or others who have influence offer thoughts like this, it’s sad that they just sort of sit there as nice sentiments apart from actual policy or priority. For bishops, Pope Benedict offers this thought:

In this sense, I would say that three years for an assistant pastor is a good period of time to form a generation of young people; and in this way, moreover, he can also know other contexts, learn about other situations in other parishes, enrich his human knowledge. The time is not that brief in order to give a certain continuity, an educational path of the common experience, to learn to be a man. On the other hand, as I have said, for youth three years is a decisive and very long time, because the future personality is really being formed. It seems to me, therefore, that both needs can be reconciled: on one hand, that the young priest have the possibility of different experiences to enrich his store of human experience; and on the other, the need to stay for a determined period of time with the young people to really introduce them to life, to teach them to be human persons. In this sense, I think that both aspects can be reconciled: different experiences for a young priest, continuity in the accompaniment of the young people in order to guide them in life.

What do you think?

Direct order from Pius XII to protect Jews uncovered by researchers


Rome, Italy, Mar 6, 2009 / 01:52 pm (CNA).- Father Peter Gumpel, the promoter of Pope Pius XII’s cause of beatification, revealed this week that he has uncovered new proof of the Pope’s efforts to protect Jews from the Nazis. The evidence consists of a note from the archives of a Roman monastery that includes a direct order from the Holy Father to give shelter to persecuted Jews.

In statements to Vatican Radio, Father Gumpel said the note from the archives of the Augustinian Nuns of the Roman Monastery reads: “The Holy Father wishes to save his children, the Jews as well, and orders that the Monasteries provide hospitality to these persecuted people.” The note is from November of 1943 and includes a list of 24 people taken in by the monastery in response to the Holy Father’s request.

Father Gumpel said the importance of the find is that it is a written document.

“There are numerous oral testimonies, not only of nuns and priests, but also of others” about the work of Pope Pius XII, but “often there is a lack of contemporary written statements, which has provided those who continue attacking Pius XII the opportunity to respond with, ‘There are no documents that he ever acted during the raids against the Roman Jews on October 16, 1942.”

“This is completely false; the only thing it reveals is that in times of persecution and in situations like those of that time in Rome, a prudent person did not put things into ‘black and white,’ as there was a danger that they would fall into enemy hands and that later on even more hostile measures would be taken against the Catholic Church,” the priest said.

“The saving work of Pius XII,” he went on, “which many Jewish fronts bore witness to, was carried out through personal messengers—priests—who were sent to different institutions and Catholic homes here, in Rome, to universities, seminaries, parishes, convents, religious homes, always with the message: ‘Open your doors to all those persecuted by the Nazis,’ which first of all would mean the Jews.”

Father Gumpel said there are many who claim they would believe “in the work of Pius XII in support of the Jews if only we had a written document.’ Well, two written documents exist: one was sent to Bishop Nicolini of Assisi, who showed it to his collaborator, Father Brugnazzi; both were recognized afterwards by the Yad Vashem as ‘righteous among the nations’.”

“Here in Rome,” he said, “we now have this document from the archives of the Augustinian Cloistered Nuns” as “a subsequent confirmation that could be useful against those who persistently denigrate Pius XII and attack the Catholic Church.”

Ireland’s Spiritual Empire
In her 1989 book, The Living Legend of St. Patrick, Alanah Hopkins writes: “There are 800 Churches around the world named after St. Patrick. St. Patrick’s Day means the tolling of bells for Ireland’s saint from Buenos Aires to Shanghai.” In her 2000 book Goodbye to Catholic Ireland, Mary Kenny talks about the “spiritual empire” that Ireland created during the 1800's. If England ruled most of the known world, Ireland created a spiritual empire that dominated the English-speaking Catholic world for over a century. In 1876, one Irish priest wrote:

Ireland has not only done a great deal for the Propagation of the Faith so that her missionaries and nuns and faithful people are now to be found foremost in everything good going on in the various missions of the old and the new world but at present the whole country may be regarded as a vast recruiting field for sustaining the distant missions.

For over a century, Ireland and the Irish diaspora experienced a vocations boom that lasted well over a century. In 1872, Father Thomas Burke, a famous Dominican preacher, pointed to this when he said: "Take an Irishman wherever he is found, all over the earth, and any casual observer will at once come to the conclusion, ‘Oh, he is an Irishman, he is a Catholic!’ The two go together."

However, studies show that the pre-Famine Irish were not an overly religious people. Studies of the Irish in London, for example, showed a high ignorance of basic Catholic beliefs and practices. But in the wake of the Famine (1845-1849), Ireland experienced a flourishing of Catholic life. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life went through the roof. New schools, new churches went up at an amazing rate, and this poured over into American life. The forced eradication of Gaelic culture in the 18th century played a part, because the Irish “found their securities in the Church and their leadership in the priesthood.” When the Irish came to America, they clung so closely to the Church because it was the only thing they could cling to when they got here.

By the 1860’s, Irish leadership in the American Church was predominant. Of the 464 American bishops named between 1789 and 1935, over half had Irish names. By 1900, two thirds of the American hierarchy (known as the “hibernarchy”) were Irish. By 1900, when approximately 11,000 priests served the American Church, just the names beginning with “Mc” or “O” accounted for 1,000 of the total. Some women’s religious communities, such as the Sisters of Mercy, were Irish-founded. Others, such as the French-based Sisters of St. Joseph or the Belgian-based Notre Dame de Namur sisters, became so Irish that everyone just assumed that’s where they were founded. Other Catholic ethnic groups resented Irish predominance in Church leadership. James O’Toole, in his great biography of Boston’s Cardinal William H. O’Connell, recalls a story of two French-Canadian priests in New England arguing. One got so mad he called the other one Irish!

South Korea Church trains new priests for North

By Jon Herskovitz and Kim Junghyun

SEOUL (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church of South Korea has started training priests to serve in North Korea, a country criticized by the United States and others for stamping out religion, for the first time in about 40 years.

"It's not something North Korea wants us to do. We are doing this with an eye toward the future when the two Koreas unify," Monsignor Matthew Hwang In-kuk, the Episcopal vicar of the Pyongyang Diocese, said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.

Communist North Korea, which Church officials estimated had a Catholic community of about 55,000 just before the 1950-53 Korean War, does not allow priests to be permanently stationed in the country.

The five candidates began studies a few days ago for the priesthood, Monsignor Hwang said. The Church plans to recruit a new group each year.

It will take about 10 years to complete preparations and even then, they may not be allowed into the North.

Priests from the South do occasionally visit the hermit state, usually to accompany the delivery of aid or the start of a humanitarian project, and a visiting priest reportedly celebrated mass in Pyongyang when Pope John Paul II died.

There used to be about 20 priests in the Pyongyang diocese, which was incorporated into the Seoul diocese in 1970. The priests worked in the South but only seven of the group are still active, including Monsignor Hwang, who was born in Pyongyang in 1936 and fled North Korea during the Korean War at the age of 14.

"At the time when the Pyongyang diocese was incorporated into the Seoul diocese, it was a precondition for priests like myself to go back as soon as the two Koreas unify," he said.

The same applies to the five who just entered training for the priesthood, who are not been given any special preparation for serving in one of the world's most isolated states.

NEW PUSH NORTH

The Church in South Korea launched a new push into the North about three years ago when the Vatican named Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk as the new cardinal for South Korea. He also serves as the apostolic administrator of Pyongyang.

What is believed to be the first Catholic community in Pyongyang was formed in 1896. In 1927, the Pyongyang apostolic prefecture was carved out of the then Diocese of Seoul.

Japan's defeat in World War Two brought an end to its 1910-1945 colonial rule over Korea. The peninsula was then divided along Cold War battle lines and the new communist leaders in the North crushed any religion as they tried to build a cult of personality around state founder Kim Il-sung, historians say.

Priests and religious leaders were either killed or sent to political prison camps. Those practicing any faith faced punishment or death while the North's state propaganda launched a process to turn Kim Il-sung into a deity who would lead the masses to a place that would be a heaven on Earth.

Although the North says it protects religion, the U.S. State Department said in a report in 2008: "Genuine religious freedom does not exist." It quotes defectors as saying the North executes and arrests members of underground Christian churches.

The North built several churches, including a Catholic one about 20 years ago to show it allowed the practice of religion, but human rights groups have described the move as "a sham."

The South Korean Catholic Church will not say what it estimates to be the Catholic population in the North but outside groups have said it numbers in the few hundreds to about 4,000.

There are about 4.5 million Catholics in South Korea, which has a population of about 49 million and one of the largest percentages of Catholics of any country in Asia.

Monsignor Hwang has an old map of Pyongyang hanging in his office and gladly points out where his home used to be and how close his former church -- now long gone -- was to what has now become Kim Il-sung Square in the center of the city.

"We (the priests from the North) will perhaps be dead before unification, but the students hopefully won't be."

More on Sebelius
If you want the short take: "She's just bad news."

If you want the sordid details.... let's start with more words from Abp. Naumann:

“I think if Governor Sebelius was going to be appointed a cabinet post, from my point of view, this is the worst possible one that she could have been appointed to.”

That’s the assessment of Archbishop Joseph {fixed} Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, who in May 2008 requested that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius not present herself for reception of Communion because of the public scandal caused by her support for legal abortion. (NCRegister)

[Abp. Naumann also gave an interview to OSV yesterday.]

Kansans for Life has been tracking Sebelius' record for a long time and has reams of information.
As for Brownback's support (blogged about yesterday here) Daniel at GOP3 says Brownback shouldn't sweat it. I would say Brownback should sweat one thing: he caused pro-lifers a grief he could have spared them by more tactfully handling the situation. I hope a lesson is learned here about solidarity. We need that virtue these days.

Related:

* CNA: Obama’s pro-life backers risk usurping bishops by redefining Catholic life
* Dan Gilgoff: Kathleen Sebelius Explains Being a Pro-Choice Pro-Lifer

Breaking: Abp. Naumann responds to Sebelius appointment/Brownback endorsement
John Norton at Our Sunday Visitor has an excellent, timely interview with Abp. Naumann on Kathleen Sebelius and Senator Brownback, etc. Some pull quotes follow.

On Sebelius' claims of a "pro-life" record:

Archbishop Naumann: I think that’s very, very dishonest and not at all accurate. It’s true that abortion dropped during her term as governor but I don’t think she really had anything to do with it, although she likes to take credit for it. And in fact, during that time she vetoed measures that could have helped prevent abortion.

On Obama's choice to pick Sebelius, and Sen Brownback's going along with it:

I personally find it offensive that he would choose a pro-legalized-abortion Catholic to head this office. I think, as I interpret Sen. [Sam ] Brownback’s and Sen. [Pat] Roberts’ support of sorts for the nomination — it’s simply saying we elected President Obama with the positions he took. We can’t expect that he’s going to appoint someone to these cabinet positions that do not share his views. And in a sense I can understand that. When there is a pro-life president, we resent if there is an effort to try to prevent the president from appointing people who share his vision. So, I can understand why they might acquiesce, I guess, is the best way to put it, to her appointment.

Finally, as a bonus, what he thinks of the organization Catholics United:

Archbishop Naumann: I don’t think they have much impact and I don’t pay much attention to them personally. And I think from what you just read, they’re either not very honest or they’re not very competent in the research that they do.

Actually, they're both: competent and dishonest. They know what they are doing.

Also, on a related note, Matt Bowman has an excellent article in the American Spectator today:

But the most intriguing component of Sebelius's nomination is her Catholicism. Not that Catholic abortion supporters are rare -- see Obama's failed nominee to HHS, Tom Daschle. But Sebelius is significant as an attempt by Obama to foment a civil war within Catholicism to neutralize its pro-life efforts.

Like a shrewd general, Obama is using Catholics themselves as his ground troops.
Two dozen prominent Obama supporters quickly launched a letter supporting Sebelius, and claiming that they are Catholic and pro-life. The letter's signers are the same liberal Obama Pro-Lifers from his presidential campaign, led by Professor Doug Kmiec and the Soros-funded group "Catholics United."

The first step to responding to these sorts of attacks is to realize that one is being attacked. Kmiec, Sebelius, et al. are making a concerted effort to destroy the connection between being Catholic and pro-life.

The Curious Case of Kathleen Sebelius
That Kathleen Sebelius has been appointed as Department of Health and Human Services secretary by Barack Obama is no surprise.
(Sebelius' pro-abortion record is clear. Tony Perkins at the Family Research Council says she is "arguably the most pro-abortion governor in the nation." Austin Ruse has said that she "never met an abortion she didn't support including partial birth abortions.")
That many "identity-Catholics" should support Sebelius' appointment is little surprise to me. These "id-Catholics" include the likes of Doug Kmiec, Nicholas Cafardi and Lisa Sowle Cahill, representing Catholic universities such as Boston College, CUA, Georgetown, etc. And shame on them all, they might have chosen to remain silent and thereby retained a bit more integrity than Catholics United, which has perfected the art of twisting and abusing the name "Catholic" for political gain.
(The American Life League has a petition up to stop Sebelius' appointment, by the way, if you are looking for a way to register your complaint with Obama's choice to nominate an abortion extremist.)

That pro-life figures such as Senator Sam Brownback should also support her appointment, however, has been a great surprise to many, for instance, pro-life blogger/activist Jill Stanek. It wouldn't be unfair to describe the reaction of the pro-life community as "stunned."
So what's going on here? Politics.
Brownback and Sebelius are home-state rivals from Kansas: she the pro-abortion governor, he one of their two pro-life senators. Speculation has been going for months that in 2010 Sebellius and Brownback could well collide for an elected office: either Sebellius challenging Brownback for his senate seat or Brownback trying to become Kansas governor.
Brownback, therefore, can be personally relieved that it appears Sebelius will be "kicked upstairs" by this HHS nomination (presuming that all goes well). It saves him two worries.
Unfortunately, Brownback's decision to support the Sebelius nomination, from the outside, reads like this editorial:

Maybe Brownback, who is running for governor of Kansas in 2010, calculated the odds and saw he will gain more by earning respect from the state's moderates than by staying in the good graces of the single-issue anti-abortion groups who are so riled up about Sebelius's nomination.

Now, I don't quite agree with this assessment. I'd say Brownback is trying to think outside the box by recognizing common ground in someone he doesn't have the possibility of defeating directly. These are tough times for the pro-life movement, and even if Sebelius were defeated during the nomination process, her replacement could easily be just as bad.

That said, he didn't have to say anything. I think he weighed his options and made his choice. Now he has to deal with the justified anger of his pro-life collaborators over the choice he made.

update: this added wrinkle makes Brownback's choice more clear (underlining added):

“Sebelius is term limited and can't run for governor again and Brownback is honoring his term limits pledge in the Senate, so there is no Brownback versus Sebelius fight to avoid. Brownback does however ensure his Senate seat stays red and pro-life if Sebelius is in Washington. {from "KS" in the comment box.}

Brownback is doing a very simple thing it seems to me: if Sebelius had stayed in KS she could have come after his senate seat when he had to leave it (having promised to term-limit himself). At the same time, her governor's chair would be coming free and he can now run for it, perhaps with the added appearance of "bipartisanship" provided by his support for her HHS nomination.

Politics.

update 2: it's also my understanding that, contrary to this report, Sen. Brownback has not decided at this point whether he will vote for Sebelius during the confirmation process.

update 3: scratch update 2....

[Brwonback] wavered yesterday, at first saying through a spokesman that he wasn't going to say whether he favored or opposed her.

Then, at 6 p.m., his spokesman called and said Brownback would back her after all. That came after learning from me that political opponents were starting to take shots at Brownback. (source.)

Wow.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
"Our Priests, Our Heroes"


"Theologian Comments on Compilation of Vocation Stories"

From ZENIT
By Karna Swanson

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 3, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Times are tough, and more than ever people need real heroes to inspire them, says theologian Christine Anne Mugridge

Mugridge is the co-author/editor with Jerry Usher of "Called by Name: The Inspiring Stories of 12 Men Who Became Catholic Priests," published by Ascension Press.

In this interview with ZENIT, Mugridge discusses the "heroic" aspect of the priesthood, and what led her to edit a compilation of vocation stories.

Q: As a woman theologian, what led you to edit a book of priestly vocation stories?

Mugridge: As a theologian in the Church, I realize that the public at large doesn't often hear a woman share about the topic of the priesthood as a "gift": that is that Christ gives himself to all humanity as a gift through his priesthood. Each man in saying yes to the priestly call is saying yes first to Christ personally -- this response is heroic.

But let us look beyond this human element and see the priesthood in terms of Christ who then gifts himself in his eucharistic presence. I take this gift of Christ personally. The Eucharist is a powerful witness of Divine Love in the world, not a fable, not wishful thinking. The greatest gift of love is the gift of our living God -- present in holy Communion. As a Catholic laywoman, I am keenly aware of this reality and praise God for it.

These are challenging times for everyone: Both inside and outside the Church. In working on this book, I likewise wanted to defend the priesthood today from a largely negative and false perspective that has been portrayed through the media in general.

People need heroes. We need heroes to lift up our hopes and inspire us to live life with a sense of meaning and virtue even as we are challenged to the depths of our faith. The priesthood is a great gift won by the price of Christ's blood, given for the world. This vocation certainly represents a heroic form of life. The personal witness of the men in sharing their individual vocational calling is important in that while it shows us heroic virtue in action it also humanizes our understanding of the priesthood and assists the Church in expressing the Gospel message. Heroes do not have to be perfect to inspire us.

While growing up my family was very blessed to be close to our parish priests. These men were personal friends. The balance of family life and friendships with priests was always there as a part of my foundational education in the faith. I wanted to share something of this same relational experience with others.

Q: The book features a cardinal, an archbishop, a founder of an order and various other priests who have contributed to the Church in many ways. How did you choose which 12 priests you would ask for their vocation story?

Mugridge: Choosing only 12 men was very difficult, of course. In fact, we had so many good choices the book could have been three times the present volume. Readers are asking for a second edition and we certainly could fulfill that request!

I wanted to bring a global experience of the gift of the priesthood itself into one book, telling of the universal nature of the Church and the vocational calling from different cultural backgrounds. Many Catholics may never have the opportunity to meet so many varied people from different places in the world or even from another diocese. The criteria for the individual participation in writing a chapter was a high standard of holiness and openness to God's will in living out their priestly vocation today. I think the book succeeds in presenting these goals.

Q: Is there one aspect or story that stands out to you?

Mugridge: One aspect certainly struck me as we edited the testimonials. Very clearly what emerges from these stories is that the call to the priesthood is unmistakably a special call from God himself to unite with Christ's self-giving and to participate in this self-donation and thanksgiving that is the Eucharistic Celebration.

As I wrote in the introduction [I kept in mind that] there is only one priesthood and this is the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. John Paul II highlights this point as he wrote in his Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2005: "Christ's self-giving, which has its origin in the Trinitarian life of the God who is Love, reaches its culmination in the sacrifice of the Cross, sacramentally anticipated in the Last Supper. It is impossible -- for the priest -- to repeat the words of consecration without feeling caught up in this spiritual movement [...]

"The priest must learn to apply these words also to himself, and to speak them with truth and generosity. If he is able to offer himself as a gift, placing himself at the disposal of the community and at the service of anyone in need, his life takes on its true meaning. This is exactly what Jesus expected of his apostles. [...] It is also what the people of God expect of a priest."

Q: What are the main elements that seem to underline every vocation story?

Mugridge: The priestly call is a personal call from God to each individual man. This is not a question of a "career choice" nor a simple job to try out for a period of time on one's "faith journey."

As each man says yes to God in his priestly ordination, his identity -- his whole being -- then is eternally linked to the salvific identity of Christ himself. So deeply is this call felt, that the man who hears it cannot "avoid" it if you will -- no matter how many years or distractions he experiences!

It is amazing to read in each of the stories of the growing awareness of this reality. Each man would come face to face with God and give an answer to this Call. Likewise, it is profound to read of the corresponding grace and sacrifice that is required for each man to follow Christ.

Originally, we wanted to title the book "In Persona Christi" precisely because we could read that as each one surrendered to the call and went on to priestly ordination, the Person of Christ and his mission of salvation for the world would emerge more brilliant.

This level of appreciation for the vocation has been marred in recent years. We the editors and publisher of the book wanted to allow the beauty and mystery of the vocation to be seen anew.

Q: In the midst of so much bad news in the Church these days, this book shows us that God is still present and active in the midst of it all. What did you learn in editing this book about how God is continually working in the lives of individuals, even in the midst of challenging circumstances?

Mugridge: There is no doubt that God is continuing to work in all our lives even in the midst of challenging news. We have had our share of bad news recently -- but Christ is with us in the midst of this suffering. The Good News with a capital g is written in, with and through the Incarnate Word himself. This being said, there are many good priests whose lives inspire renewed faith.

In producing this book, we wanted to afford the reader the opportunity to read such stories; testimonies that are not necessarily being shared on a larger public scale. History unfolds both difficult and noble periods of Christian life. The mystery of salvation history we know, is that God is continually working through fallen humanity. It is not that God only tolerates mankind, it is that God in his wisdom, knowing human strengths and weakness, chooses to become one of us and wishes to share a living communion with us. We are his instruments of grace.

Each of us as baptized Christians is called to be a witness to Christ and his Church. However, it is especially in the person of the priest that Jesus Christ unites himself to the human family and in a unique manner to the People of God -- for only through the sacrifice of the mass is the Covenant Communion -- the salvific love of the Triune God -- made manifest on earth in a manner most excellent in the Real Presence.

There is no scandal in the Church now, no matter how bitter, that was not committed against the person of Christ himself first by his own followers. We must not forget the fundamental reality that at the cross, there was only one disciple standing.

Our hope therefore is not in frail humanity -- our hope is in the living presence of the person of Christ himself whose promise to remain with us until his glorious return is an unbreakable promise. It is the truth. The Bridegroom will not betray his own Bride -- his Body.

Q: Who should read this book, and why?

Mugridge: I would like to encourage everyone to read this book -- men and women, young and old. The personal witness of faith and the encouragement to pursue the call of Christ in one's life is strengthened through reading these stories. The temptation now is to see the priesthood as a type of job, focusing on the imperfections of the person and not in the mystery of the Triune God. This book identifies the presence of God in the life of these men. They share with the reader their interior dialogue with the Lord regarding being called by name. My belief in Christ and sense of optimism regarding the Church was strengthened through reading these personal stories. We encourage people discerning their own vocation to read it as well as those who want deeper insight into the Catholic Church and the vocation of the priesthood in the Roman Rite.

"Catholic priests meld sacred duties with personal lives"
One of our own from the Diocese of Raleigh!

From the Rocky Mount Telegram

By Laura McFarland
Photo by Alan Campbell, Fr. Tim Meares on the left, Fr. Bavinger, S.J. on the right

Being a Catholic priest is not a 9-to-5 job.

It is a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week vocation.

If somebody calls while a priest is eating dinner and needs to him to come to the hospital, he goes. If a problem arises the day before his vacation starts, he stays.

The primary role of a priest is clear and constant: He is a shepherd, a confidant, a teacher and a herald of the gospel, said the Rev. Tim Meares, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Rocky Mount. It is a life he chose at age 27 and now at 41 has never regretted.

“I love being priest. ... I would have never picked myself to be a priest. God chose me, and it is just amazing. It is a wonderful life to be able to celebrate the sacraments, to be able to teach, to be able to be involved in peoples’ lives and to see God work in such incredible, miraculous ways,” Meares said.

Beyond that core role though, changes within churches and the culture, combined with the decreasing number of men entering the priesthood in the last few decades, have had lasting effects on the life of a priest, said the Rev. Bruce Bavinger, assistant pastor at Our Lady.

“We have been used to smaller numbers. I have been used to hearing that there were smaller numbers in the seminaries from the time I entered. The sexual abuse scandals did not help at all either,” said Bavinger, who has been a priest for 30 years.

Despite substantial growth in the Catholic population, the number of men entering the priesthood in the United States significantly has decreased in the last three decades. The total has gone down from 58,909 in 1975 to 40,580 in 2008, says the Web site for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a nonprofit research center that conducts studies on the Catholic Church.

There were 652 Catholics per priest in 1950, the site says. By 2000, that number had soared to 1,257.

That translates into more work, especially of the administrative kind. Meares is the pastor of two churches, Our Lady and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and is responsible for the school attached to the former.

“I have a couple of priest friends of mine in Virginia, and they are responsible for four different churches, the two of them. That would not have happened, especially in predominantly Catholic areas, 50 years ago,” Meares said.

---

The numbers aren’t as good as they used to be, but there still are men answering the call to the priesthood, said Monsignor David Brockman, vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. The diocese has a steady amount of men applying.

“That has provided a good number of candidates for the priesthood in our diocese, which is a good sign of not only the family life … but also the parishes they come from. It is a testament to both, as well as their own faith,” Brockman said.

It helps that priests are reaching out to people in new ways, such as using church Web sites, downloads to iPods and e-mail, Brockman said.

People see priests as more approachable today, Meares said. They can see the human side of the man as well as the servant of God.

Meares has hobbies, like everybody else. He enjoys reading, going to the movies, snow skiing and other sports.

“It is interesting because kids always want to know if you go to Taco Bell or if you play sports or that type of thing. Sometimes they think you are different and wouldn’t do those types of things. Yeah I go to Taco Bell. I go to baseball games. I tell them, ‘When I was young, I used to love sports. I played all different sports,’” Meares said.

Things are slightly different for Bavinger. Unlike Meares, a diocesan priest, Bavinger is a Jesuit, a member of the Society of Jesus. They dedicated themselves to the church and and celibacy, but Bavinger also took a vow of poverty. Everything he has belongs to the order, and he is allowed to use it.

“I still kind of live a normal life, making purchases, but pretty much with permission as far as any big items,” Bavinger said. “I am living the same kind of life that a lot of people are, kind of a middle class life. I have access to a TV, and I have my own laptop. That was a gift to me from another parish I was in. I was allowed to keep it.”

Even in their hobbies and special interests, priests still are set apart, Meares said. As leaders, they are held to a higher standard by the public, their congregations and themselves.

“The church teaches that you should avoid all occasions of sin. That can be persons, places or things that would lead you to sin. You want to be prudent about those things. Even as a follower of Jesus Christ, you don’t want to put yourself in a place of temptation because the church teaches we are all weak, and we can all fall,” Meares said.

Monday, March 2, 2009
"Vatican: number of priests slowly rises"
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican says the number of priests worldwide is slowly but steadily rising.

The Holy See presented its yearbook filled with statistics to Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday.

Since 2000, the number of priests has gone up by several hundred each year. The two decades before that had witnessed a marked decline.

The percentage of Catholics worldwide remains stable, at about 17.3 percent.

In 2007, the last year statistics were available, Catholics numbered some 1.147 billion around the globe.

The Catholic church has been stung by sexual abuse scandals involving clergy, and the Vatican has cracked down on standards for seminarians.

Worldwide, the number of candidates for the priesthood rose by just under one-half of a percentage point, although Europe and North and South America registered small declines.

Monday, March 2, 2009
"Vatican: number of priests slowly rises"
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican says the number of priests worldwide is slowly but steadily rising.

The Holy See presented its yearbook filled with statistics to Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday.

Since 2000, the number of priests has gone up by several hundred each year. The two decades before that had witnessed a marked decline.

The percentage of Catholics worldwide remains stable, at about 17.3 percent.

In 2007, the last year statistics were available, Catholics numbered some 1.147 billion around the globe.

The Catholic church has been stung by sexual abuse scandals involving clergy, and the Vatican has cracked down on standards for seminarians.

Worldwide, the number of candidates for the priesthood rose by just under one-half of a percentage point, although Europe and North and South America registered small declines.

Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for March

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for March is: "That the role of women may be more appreciated and used to good advantage in every country in the world".

His mission intention is: "That, in the light of the Letter addressed to them by Pope Benedict XVI, the bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful of the Catholic Church in the Popular Republic of China may commit themselves to being the sign and instrument of unity, communion and peace".

Two excellent prayer intentions, although I'm sure Papa Benny wasn't waiting around for my approval.

Lord Cormac
Soon to retire as archbishop of Westminster, reports from Britain say that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor will be offered a seat in the House of Lords after he departs the top ecclesiastical post in England and Wales:

The prospect of offering Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor a life peerage is understood to have been discussed during [Prime Minister] Gordon Brown’s meeting with the Pope at the Holy See last week.

Mr Brown said: “He has shown not just a great modesty, but a great sensitivity to representing the feelings and sentiments of people throughout the Church.

“He is widely respected across the world for his interest in international development. He has shown great leadership on those issues, such as world poverty, where people look to the Church for leadership.

“I think he has shown great integrity right throughout the period in which he has been Cardinal and that has earned the respect of people far beyond the Catholic Church and right across the country.”

The Church of England, as the Established Church, has 26 lords spiritual. The ennoblement of Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor would, however, require a special dispensation from the Pope because the Catholic Church bans its clergy from any office that might involve the exercise of political power.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, 76, will be the first Archbishop of Westminster since the Reformation to retire; previous archbishops have died in office. He will remain an active member of the College of Cardinals and retain an interest in the affairs of the Holy See.

The move would strengthen the Catholic Church’s increasingly significant role in political debate on issues such as euthanasia, gay adoption, church schools and abortion.

The Cardinal is due to retire in the next few weeks after his successor is announced. The Congregation for Bishops in Rome is examining the candidates and a decision is expected in mid-March.

Last night in Westminster Cathedral, Murphy-O'Connor gave a major lecture "reflecting on his ministry as archbishop of Westminster"; the 76 year-old cardinal was named to succeed the legendary Basil Hume in early 2000.

Here's the fulltext... and the video:



Before his death in June 1999, Queen Elizabeth II inducted Hume into the Order of Merit, one of the four UK honors in the sovereign's personal gift.

This Lent, Live as if Jesus Christ is Indeed Lord of Your Life

February 28th, 2009 by Archbishop Charles Chaput Print This Article Print This Article ·ShareThis

Seventy years ago the great French Catholic writer Georges Bernanos published a little essay called “Sermon of an Agnostic on the Feast of St. Théresè.” Bernanos deeply loved the Church, but he could also be brutally candid when it came to himself and his fellow believers. Above all, he had a piercing sense of irony about the comfortable, the self-satisfied and the lukewarm who postured themselves as Catholic—whether they were laypeople or clergy.

In his essay he imagined “what any decent agnostic of average intelligence might say, if by some impossible chance the (pastor) were to let him stand awhile in the pulpit (on) the day consecrated to St. Théresè of Lisieux.”

“Dear brothers,” says the agnostic from the pulpit, “many unbelievers are not as hardened as you imagine. … (But when) we seek (Christ) now, in this world, it is you we find, and only you. … It is you Christians who participate in divinity, as your liturgy proclaims; it is you ‘divine men’ who ever since (Christ’s) ascension have been his representatives on earth. … You are the salt of the earth. (So if) the world loses its flavor, who is it I should blame? … The New Testament is eternally young. It is you who are so old. … Because you do not live your faith, your faith has ceased to be a living thing.”

Bernanos had little use for the learned, the proud or the superficially religious. He believed instead in the little flowers—the Thérèses of Lisieux—that sustain the Church and convert the world by the purity, simplicity, innocence and zeal of their faith. That kind of innocent faith is a gift. But it’s a gift each of us can ask for, and each of us will receive, if we just have the courage to choose it and then act on it. The only people who ever really change the world are saints. Each of us can be one of them. But we need to want sainthood, and then we need to follow the path that comes with it.

Bernanos once wrote that the optimism of the modern world, including its “politics of hope,” is like whistling past a graveyard. It’s a cheap substitute for real hope and “a sly form of selfishness, a method of isolating (ourselves) from the unhappiness of others” by thinking happy or progressive thoughts. Real hope “must be won. (We) can only attain hope through truth, at the cost of great effort and long patience. … Hope is a virtue, virtus, strength; an heroic determination of the soul. (And) the highest form of hope is despair overcome.”

We can only attain hope through truth. And what that means is this: From the moment Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” the most important public statement anyone can make is “Jesus Christ is Lord.”

This Wednesday—Ash Wednesday—marks the beginning of Lent. For Catholics, this is a time to be honest; to take an unblinking look at the truth of our lives. Every year God offers us this great season of humility as a chance to remember who we are as believers, reflect soberly on our actions and refocus ourselves on the source of our hope, the only real hope of a bloody and despairing world: Jesus Christ. We do this through prayer, silence, the sacrament of penance, seeking out and reconciling with those whom we’ve hurt, forgiving those who’ve hurt us, generosity to the poor, and—as Pope Benedict reminds us in a special way this year—fasting, not just from food, but from all those many things that distract us from the God who made and loves us.

If we call ourselves Christians, then let’s live like we mean it—beginning today, with this Lenten season; so that people who look upon us will see the presence of Jesus Christ instead.

Vocations climbing -- thanks to Africa and Asia

Vocations climbing -- thanks to Africa and Asia

This bulletin is undeniably good news:

The Vatican says the number of priests worldwide is slowly but steadily rising.

The Holy See presented its yearbook filled with statistics to Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday.

Since 2000, the number of priests has gone up by several hundred each year. The two decades before that had witnessed a marked decline.

The percentage of Catholics worldwide remains stable, at about 17.3%.

In 2007, the last year statistics were available, Catholics numbered some 1.147 billion around the globe.

Meantime, this report puts it all in context:

Thanks to large increases in Africa and Asia, the number of Catholic priests rose from 405,178 in 2000 to 408,024 in 2007, the report said.

In the previous two decades, the number of priests dropped markedly.

Numbers in Africa had risen by 27.6% and in Asia by 21%, the report said.

The figures were "a continuing trend of moderate growth in the number of priests in the world which began in 2000 after over two decades of disappointing results", it added.