News

Researchers have determined that thinking about God can help relieve anxiety associated with making mistakes. However, the finding only holds for people who believe in a God.

The researchers measured brain waves for a particular kind of distress response while participants made mistakes on a test.

Those who had been prepared with religious thoughts had a less prominent response to mistakes than those who hadn’t.

“Eighty-five percent of the world has some sort of religious beliefs,” says Michael Inzlicht, who cowrote the study with Alexa Tullett, both at the University of Toronto-Scarborough.

“I think it behooves us as psychologists to study why people have these beliefs; exploring what functions, if any, they may serve.”

With two experiments, the researchers showed that when people think about religion and God, their brains respond differently—in a way that lets them take setbacks in stride and react with less distress to anxiety-provoking mistakes.

Participants either wrote about religion or did a scrambled word task that included religion and God-related words.

Then the researchers recorded their brain activity as they completed a computerized task—one that was chosen because it has a high rate of errors.

The results showed that when people were primed to think about religion and God, either consciously or unconsciously, brain activity decreases in areas consistent with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The ACC is associated with a number of things, including regulating bodily states of arousal and alerting us when things are going wrong.

Interestingly, atheists reacted differently. When they were unconsciously primed with God-related ideas, their ACC increased its activity. The researchers suggest that for religious people, thinking about God may provide a way of ordering the world and explaining apparently random events and thus reduce their feelings of distress. [article]

Not exactly a surprising result.

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Concealed handguns won’t be allowed in Roman Catholic churches, despite a new state law allowing them.
“We don’t think it is appropriate to have guns in churches,” Danny Loar, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops — the church’s public policy arm in Louisiana, said Monday.

The law allows concealed handguns in churches, synagogues or mosques for those with a valid permit and training. It also says those with authority over a church have the final say in their church.

Bishops discussed the issue when reviewing bills, Loar said.

“The bishops decided that, if the bill became law, the bishops would let their pastors know that this would not be permissible in Catholic churches,” Loar said.

The previous law let only law enforcement officials carry concealed weapons into churches.

Loar said he notified Louisiana’s bishops by e-mail shortly after Gov. Bobby Jindal signed state Rep. Henry Burns’ bill into law on July 6. [Source]

But what if I bring this gun?

* Photo: Confiscated from Mexican drug lord earlier this year.

There have been some countdowns to the retirement age for some bishops and archbishops.  Here though is a bishop whose 75th birthday is not eagerly awaited by his flock.

For the past 18 years, Bruskewitz has served as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln.

In September, when he turns 75, Bruskewitz will submit a letter of resignation to Pope Benedict XVI, as is required by Code of Canon Law. It will then be up to the pope to replace him, which could take as little as a few days or as long as several years.

“It’s always better to wear out than rust out,” he says, reiterating an oft-heard saying.

“And so, I think that as long as I can do something, I am happy to do it,” Bruskewitz said of the fluidity of his retirement.

Regardless of the official date, Bruskewitz admits he is “psyched” about all the free time ahead. God willing, he plans to stay in Lincoln writing, fishing, pheasant hunting with his new dog Quincy, and devoting time to learning the intricacies of computer technology.

At times, Bruskewitz’s reign over the 136 churches in the 23,844 square miles of the Lincoln Diocese across southern Nebraska has been controversial. But it’s always clear and direct.

His detractors paint a portrait of a devout but stubborn man with unyielding orthodoxy and ultra-conservative views of God’s word and expectations of the Catholic Church.

His supporters extol those very same traits as his virtues.

He is a leader and a teacher. He is principled. Kind. Charitable. Charismatic. Decisive. Resolute.

He is intelligent and educated. He knows eight languages: English, Italian, German, Spanish, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

He is an entertaining storyteller with a shrewd sense of humor and an infectious laugh.

But above all, he is a man of God.

“God rules the diocese and I am just his instrument,” Bruskewitz said during a recent interview from the library in the Catholic Chancery.

“I am not a dictator. But I do think that bishops have, by Catholic doctrine, the three-fold duty to teach, to sanctify and to govern the Catholic people … in spiritual matters,” Bruskewitz said. “I don’t try to govern people in partisan political matters.”

It is a responsibility that Bruskewitz has never craved.

“But if the responsibility is given to me and I have to answer to God for its use, I think it is better that I use it and ensure that the diocese is in conformity with the universal church and the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church,” he said.

Here is a bishop whose controversies were because he acted as a bishop in the care of his flock.

Cleansing Fire lists to another article with an amazing list of the bishop’s accomplishments in a diocese with a rather small Catholic population.

This was sent in by a reader about an effort by the Diocese of Syracuse, NY.

The Office of Vocation Promotion here, headed by Fr. Joe O’Connor, is holding the first annual “Men in Black” Soccer Game to promote vocations and to provide an opportunity for laity to support the priests and seminarians of the diocese.  The game is scheduled for Saturday, July 17, at 10:00am, with a family cookout to follow.

The priests and seminarians will take the field against the soccer team of Holy Cross Academy in Oneida, NY, 25 miles east of Syracuse.  One reason for the game’s location is that the HCA 2010 Valedictorian, Dan Collins, is entering the seminary for diocese this fall and will be the starting goalie for the diocesan team.  Dan was the HCA goalie for its championship soccer teams in 2008 and 2009.

Fr. Joe O’Connor thought that with the excitement of the World Cup going on now, and also the success of the “Clericus Cup” in Rome, a soccer match would offer a prime opportunity for young people to interact with priests and seminarians.  The “Men in Black” theme also has been used for annual basketballs games which pit the priests and seminarians against local parish teams.  With the success of the basketball games, Fr. Joe decided to move on to another popular sport in Upstate New York – soccer.

Fr. Joe has been the Vocations Director since 2008, was ordained in 2005, and is a graduate of Franciscan University.  He has done great work here in Syracuse and I hope Bishop Robert Cunningham plans to keep him around for a while!

Sounds like a great idea as long as there is no blessing of the Vuvuzela.

Here is a cool new radio show with Dolores Meehan co-founder of the Walk for Life West Coast and Gibbons Cooney in the San Francisco area.

• On June 28 and July 5, Dolores Meehan will interview Fr. Michael Sweeney, President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, on “Authentic Catholic Education—and the Impact of the Land O’ Lakes Conference.”

• July 12: Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, of Oakland, on “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call to Christian Conscience.”

• July 19: Fr. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, on a neglected area of Catholic social teaching “The Principle of Subsidiarity and the Service to the Poor.”

• July 26, bioethicist/author Dr. Janet Smith, of Sacred Heart Major Seminary on “The Right to Privacy.”

Future guests include:

• Father Joseph Fessio, SJ;

• the very interesting Ave Maria University Professor of philosophy Maria Fedoryka on “The Gift of Woman”;

• a fascinating (and scary) three-part interview with Mr. Brian Fairchild, an expert on Salafist Islamic groups in the U.S.;

• and the renowned authors and thinkers Mrs. Mary Eberstadt, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, and Dr. Anthony Esolen.

Here’s Dolo’s mission statement:

“Bay Area Catholics are some of the strongest Catholics in the country. Reclaiming the Culture grew out of the desire to show that the Catholic Church in the Bay Area has the resources to confront the prevailing secular culture. Our purpose is to introduce great thinkers to listeners who may not have the opportunity to pursue an authentic, classical, Catholic education at, say, the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley. We see this as a chance to share the wisdom of the Catholic Church, which is far greater than many people realize, and is easily up to the task of engaging the prevailing secular culture. We want to move beyond catechesis and apologetics, important as they are, and enter into the arena where faith meets reason.”

In other news the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming are working to build a gothic monastery in the Rockies.

Plus here is a blog that details the making of a Rosary with a 30 foot loop and beads created by a ceramic artist.

Worcester, Mass., Jun 26, 2010 / 01:14 pm (CNA).- “When I grow up, I want to be like him,”  The 5-year-old was talking about the priest. But while still a child the boy fell in love – with the image of Our Lady of Fatima. “If I find a woman who looks like her, and has her characteristics, I’ll marry her,” he decided.

“For 34 years I’ve never met that woman,” he says now. “I guess the Blessed Mother wants me. I’m all hers. Like John Paul II said, ‘Totus Tuus Maria.’”

This is the story of Deacon Lowe Bretaña Dongor, who is to be ordained a priest today at St. Paul Cathedral. Now he’s sparking an interest in priesthood in today’s children.

Deacon Dongor, son of Nelly Bretaña Dongor and the late Ramon Dongor, was born Feb. 17, 1976 in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, in the Philippines. He is the first Filipino to be ordained for the Worcester Diocese.

His parents had the most important influence on his vocation, taking him and his siblings to church, he says.

Also influential was his great-aunt, Dominican Sister Vincenta Bretaña, a religious for 50 years. She said devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother were most important, and those devotions kept him in seminary, he says.

“When you see the Virgin Mary carrying the baby, that’s me,” Deacon Dongor says, telling about his collection of Madonna and Child statues. “She’s my Mother. Especially being a priest, there are times in your life when you’re down. In the Philippines, when we get hurt, we always cry, ‘Mom!’”

“When I leave the country, will you be my mother?” he asked her before coming to the United States.

That opportunity came because of priestly aspirations. He’d attended Barotac Nuevo High School, and, in Manila, the University of Santo Tomas and Adamson University. He was at Our Lady of the Angels Seminary in Quezon City when he met Father Peter R. Precourt. Father Precourt, an Augustinian of the Assumption then with the congregation in Worcester and now pastor of St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge, was meeting with men interested in an Assumptionist vocation.

In 2003 he and other Filipinos came to Worcester to live with the Assumptionists and study at Assumption College. After a couple years, Deacon Dongor left.

“I enjoyed more working with the people in the parish,” he says. “I felt that I was called to be a diocesan priest.” He found the diocese’s priests very supportive, he says. His parish summer internships were at St. Joseph’s, Charlton; Holy Angels, Upton; St. Christopher’s, Worcester, and St. Bernadette’s, Northborough.

He recently invited students at St. Bernadette’s Elementary School to his ordination and talked about vocations, he says. A third-grader said he wanted to be a priest and marry a model. He explained that priests don’t marry, and the child later announced, “I dumped that model; I want to be a priest.”

Or maybe the third-grader could become a model priest.

Via CNA

Recent news about comments made by Cardinal Schonborn hit the media and when I saw the reports I passed on it as a story.  I was rather skeptical that the Cardinal’s comments were reported accurately and was waiting for further information.  An article by Jimmy Akin expressed the same skepticism waiting for a better source of information.

Father Fessio S.J. has responded on the story in a GUESTVIEW from Reuters.

Perhaps Cardinal Schönborn overestimated the capacity of the invited journalists for a serious academic discussion.

Which is quite an understatement for Fr. Fessio, but no doubt accurate. The whole article is well worth reading.

The Rev. Antonio G. Leon, pastor since 1974 of Jacksonville’s oldest Catholic Church, Immaculate Conception, died Saturday at St. Vincent’s Medical Center. He was 77 and had kidney failure.

“I am saddened by the loss of Father Leon, just two weeks shy of his retirement from Immaculate Conception parish,” said Bishop Victor Galeone, head of the Jacksonville-based Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine. “Father Leon was a bishop’s dream – a hardworking, dependable pastor who loved the Lord and the church passionately and desired to communicate that love to his flock. He will be sorely missed.”

Father Leon was to retire on March 29.

A vigil service will begin at 7 p.m. Friday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 121 E. Duval St. Galeone will celebrate the funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church. A reception will follow in the parish hall.

Father Leon will be buried in his native Cordoba, Spain.

He was ordained to the priesthood June 24, 1957, at the age of 25 in Spain. Two years later, the young priest was recruited by Archbishop Joseph Hurley to serve in the Diocese of St. Augustine.

In an interview prepared for the April 2010 issue of the St. Augustine Catholic magazine, Father Leon said, “I wanted to be a priest to save souls and to help people know of God’s love and to lead them to a Christian way of life.”

Father Leon was the spiritual director of Secular Franciscans and chaplain of the Ponce de Leon General Assembly of the Knights of Columbus.

Throughout his priesthood, Father Leon ministered to Hispanic Catholics and from 1974 to 1984 was director of the Hispanic Apostolate. He also was credited with establishing in the diocese the Cursillo Movement, which began in Spain in 1949 as a Christian renewal effort.

In 1974, Father Leon started the first weekly Spanish Mass at Immaculate Conception, where he was the pastor for 36 years. At his parish, he opened a soup kitchen and clothing center for the poor.

Before becoming pastor at Immaculate Conception, Father Leon served at parishes in St. Petersburg, Palatka, Crescent City, Bunnell, Flagler Beach and Palm Coast. He also served as vice president and taught religion from 1959 to 1964 at St. Petersburg Central Catholic High School. source

Fr. Leon was the pastor of the church where I came into the Church.  I will greatly miss this awesome and holy priest who gave of himself full for Jesus and his Church. He tended his resignation after having collapsing on Christmas Eve after already having battled the cancer. Here is something from what I have written before on Fr. Leon who appropriately died during the Year for Priests.

I have written about Fr. Leon again and I always enjoy an opportunity to do so once again since this man is truly a faithful and holy priest. Fr. Leon has been serving as the post of Immaculate Conception since June 10th of 1974 and I truly hope that he will continue to do so so long into the foreseeable future. I became a parishioner of Immaculate Conception quite by chance. When my family had first moved to Jacksonville I got lost downtown and drove by this beautifully church and saw that it also had a bookstore. Later we returned to the bookstore as I was still in my searching – but leaning Catholic phase and then had a chance to walk into the church. I instantly fell in love with the architecture and the beautifully high altar and the magnificent panorama of stained glass windows.

As we started to go to Mass there and then my entering RCIA I slowly got to know Fr. Leon. Fr. Leon was born in Cordova, Spain and entered the minor seminary at the age of 12. He was trained by the Jesuits and firmly grounded in the church by both theology, spiritual reading and devotional practices. He said today “Any good I have done as a priest is because I have spent a holy hour each day in front of the Blessed Sacrament.” The Jesuits taught him to do this and he has maintained the devotion for the last fifty years. Though I think he spends more than an hour a day in front of the Tabernacle. I have seen him after morning Mass sit before the Blessed Sacrament as he reads his Breviary. Despite his Jesuit training and his respect for them he felt his calling was as a parish priest and he had volunteered for missionary work in Latin America, but ended up with five other priests in his class in Florida.

Immaculate Conception is a downtown parish and I think if it had been put in less able hands it might have been shut down do to the demographic shifts of people away from downtown area. He had to shut down the parish school due to this, but instead converted the building to act as a soup kitchen and for quite a period of time has been able to fund it totally outside of parish donations. The bookstore I mentioned was a later addition and all profits are used for the care of the poor. During the week there are two daily Masses and on Sunday’s he provides a Indult Latin Mass, two normal Masses and then a Spanish Mass. Once a month the noon Mass is said in both Latin and English in the manner that EWTN does and on First Fridays the Alliance of the Two Hears holds a all night vigil that starts with a Mass and ends with Mass the following day. Again despite the fact that this is a downtown church the Masses are fairly well attended

While part of the population at Masses is made up of predominantly elderly people living in downtown apartment buildings there is a also a large influx of younger families. This is due primarily I believe to the work of Fr. Leon. For one Immaculate Conception is a sort of liturgical oasis where you can go to Mass without worrying about liturgical abuses. Another is that confession is held before every Mass and there is often a line. Though the main reason is that both Fr. Leon and Fr. Keene are good and holy priests and holiness always attracts.

I have grown to love Fr. Leon as a confessor, spiritual director, homilist, and speaker. I love the way that when he talks about Jesus during a homily that he frequently points to the Tabernacle where Jesus dwells sacramentally in the Eucharist. I also love his righteous anger in that sometimes when some sinful action has upset him that he raises his voice and slams his fist on the lectern. In the past I had the opportunity to listen to him teach the secular Carmelites on Carmelite spirituality. He was introduced to St. Therese in the seminary and calls her his “girlfriend”, though he also loves to teach on St. Teresa of Aviala and St. John of the Cross. He teaches though not as one lecturing on the spiritual life of great saints, but as one who shares the mystical spiritual life and the many stories he tells confirms this. I also love the fact that he takes on part of the penance of those he hears confessions from. Once he told us after being in a serious car wreck that he walked away from without too much injury that he would use those pains a penances. When he tells these stories it is not as the braggart, but as one who wants to instruct by personal example and sees himself as just the Donkey that Christ rode into Jerusalem. He is a man of such great faith and spiritual depth that not only does he lead the Carmelites, but he leads the Franciscans along with being involved in the Cursio movement.

He is the very model of a parish priest. A man who has totally given of himself to others and sees his life as a priest totally as gift and displays the joy that goes with it. Like every parish there are factions and there are those that write nasty letters to the bishop about Fr. Leon. There are misunderstandings and other problems, but nothing that will sour Fr. Leon and his own response is to give more of himself.