News

“This is a highly cynical act, contemptuous of the Church’s prophetic voice in civil society and wagering that there will be no retribution. If a midwestern school seeks attention by granting Mr. Obama an honorary doctorate in law, the next logical step would be to grant Judas Iscariot posthumously an honorary doctorate in business administration.” [reference]

It will be interesting to see what Bishop D’Arcy says since it is reported he will be releasing a statement this morning. In the past he was highly critical of Notre Dame’s production of the Vagina Monologues so I would be greatly surprised to see something other than a rebuke charitably made.

I did an interview with Guadulupe radio in San Antonio and they will play it at 8:40 am local Texas time.

John Allen Jr. provides some good analysis on the Popes trip to Cameroon and how the coverage was disparate from the actual reactions to his visit from Africans. Especially interesting is the Pope’s prudent rebuke of former seminarian and strongman who is Cameroon’s President Paul Biya.

Via Blog by the Sea

VATICAN CITY, 16 MAR 2009 (VIS) -This morning in the Vatican the Holy Father received members of the Congregation for the Clergy, who are currently celebrating their plenary assembly on the theme: “The missionary identity of priests in the Church as an intrinsic dimension of the exercise of the ‘tre munera'”. . . .

Benedict XVI highlighted the “indispensable struggle for moral perfection which must dwell in every truly priestly heart. In order to favour this tendency of priests towards spiritual perfection, upon which the effectiveness of their ministry principally depends, I have”, he said, “decided to call a special ‘Year for Priests’ which will run from 19 June 2009 to 19 June 2010”. This year marks “the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly ‘Cure of Ars’, Jean Marie Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock”. . . .

and

VATICAN CITY, 16 MAR 2009 (VIS) – “Faithfulness of Christ, faithfulness of priests” is the theme of the Year for Priests announced today by the Holy Father, according to a communique issued by the Holy See Press Office.
The Pope will inaugurate the Year on 19 June, presiding at Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica where the relics of the saintly ‘Cure of Ars’ will be brought for the occasion by Bishop Guy Bagnard of Belley-Ars, France. He will close the year on 19 June 2010, presiding at a “World Meeting of Priests” in St. Peter’s Square.

During the course of the Year, Benedict XVI will proclaim St. Jean Marie Vianney as patron saint of all the priests of the world. A “Directory for Confessors and Spiritual Directors” will also be published, as will a collection of texts by the Supreme Pontiff on essential aspects of the life and mission of priests in our time.

The Congregation for the Clergy, together with diocesan ordinaries and superiors of religious institutes, will undertake to promote and co-ordinate the various spiritual and pastoral initiatives which are being organised to highlight the role and mission of the clergy in the Church and in modern society, and the need to intensify the permanent formation of priests, associating it with that of seminarians.

Cool – on of my favorite saints and the patron saint of parish priests. During the Year of Priests the Pope has asked us all to only eat potatoes just liked St. John Vianney did. Well not really – we don’t want to have all of our teeth fall out also via malnutrition.

One of my favorites books is the one Fr. Rutler wrote called The Cure D’Ars Today: St John Vianney

Many might be aware of the Evangelical Baptist Michael Spencer who blogs at the internetmonk.com and recently wrote a column “The Coming Evangelical Collapse.” This Easter his wife is coming into the Catholic Church which he has mentioned before. This week he writes:

I’ll never again nod when someone says Catholics aren’t evangelistic. I’ve had at least 25 appeals for conversion in my mailbox this week. Is there a bounty on my head at the Vatican?

Well Michael there is no bounty up on you and no “soul-winning” count to append to. But I will let our sponsor speak for himself.

* Poster is from my post Recruiting posters for the Church Militant
* Information provided to me via a reader.

I read about the play that was scheduled at Most Holy Redeemer parish and San Francisco and hoped that the Bishop would act. Via L.A. Catholic

Good news (click on this post’s title): Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco, and formerly of L.A. and St. John’s Seminary here, has stopped de facto homosexual-h.q. Most Holy Redeemer Parish in S.F. from having a play that, said the parish’s bulletin, “explores the subject of homosexuality within a Christian, adolescent context.”

Hmmm: Homosexuals and adolescents — where have we heard anything like that in the Church before?

Wouldn’t it be logical for Archbishop Niederauer now to take the next step and clean house — really clean house — at that parish?

No doubt that would spark a big rebellion there. And it that case, wouldn’t the next logical step for Archbishop Niederauer be to shut down the parish?

After all, lots of bishops are closing parishes these days.

Or… Archbishop Niederauer could place the parish under interdict. (Okay, I can dream.)

By the way, the Fr. Malloy-Gibbons Cooney blogspot (click on this post’s title) is, and has been, doing a masterful job of exposing homosexual activism at Most Holy Redeemer Parish.

Update: Fr. Malloy, SDB reports that the play will be run at the Jesuit University of San Francisco instead.

A Bill removing control of parishes from bishops has been introduced in the Connecticut General Assembly. Raised Bill 1098 has no stated sponsor, but according to staff at the Senate Judiciary Committee was a concept raised in the committee itself.

The bill establishes that Catholic churches in the state shall have a board of directors made up of 7 to 13 lay members elected by the congregation. The bishop or his designee shall be an ex-officio non-voting member.

All general administration and financial functions of the parish fall to the authority of the board including, establishing the budget, developing and implementing strategic plans and developing outreach plans and services to the community. Under the bill, the pastor would report to the board on all financial and administrative matters.

The bill says it leaves in tact the authority of the bishop or pastor “in matters pertaining exclusively to religious tenets and practices.”

A public hearing has been set for March 11.

The Catholic Key blog has some reactions to the bill and will be maintaining coverage. Tom Hoopes at NCRegister reacts:

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bill that’s so blatantly unconstitutional,” Anthony Picarello, General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the Register. “It targets the Catholic Church explicitly and exclusively, and attempts to use the civil law to alter Church governance, particularly to divest the bishop of authority.”

This is an attempt to silence the Church on moral truths. So much for the Contitution.

I need to write a Bishop Martino script. Everyday it would search the internet for Bishop Martino and scrape the story and post it. Bishop Martino makes me miss Archbiship Burke less. Scranton’s Bishop Martino Speaks Out on Misericordia University – Again! This is not a bishop who cares what the media thinks of him, but is truly a pastor of his flock.

Amy Welborn will now be primarily blogging at Beliefnet with Via Media which promises to be more along the lines of Open Book with blogging on a wider variety of topics than happened at Charlotte was Both.

Well that means that finally on Beliefnet they will have content I will actually enjoy to read.

By now pretty much everybody knows that Archbishop Dolan will be the next archbishop for New York. Not much of a surprise for many blog readers since rumor leaked out over a week ago.

I once heard Archbishop Dolan speak and I was quite impressed with him as a speaker. He went to seminary with my Bishop and had been invited to give a talk on the feast day for the Diocese of St. Augustine. I described his talk previously here.

Arbp. Dolan is friends with Arbp. Burke and was supportive of him and the actions he took dealing with Catholic politicians. Though Arbp. Dolan’s approach in his own diocese was not the same as his friend. There is no doubt that Arbp. Burke is strongly pro-life. Here was a good interview he gave in reference to Archbishop Burke.

In the past Arbp Dolan had a Call To Action event in one of his parishes removed and they had to go off site. He once wrote a letter to dissident theologian Professor Maquire at Marquette University which said in part:

The opinions expressed in the two pamphlets enclosed in that correspondence are totally at odds with clear Church teaching. Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium, and Natural Law are consistent in opposition to abortion and so-called same-sex marriage.

Arbp. Dolan first went to the Diocese of Milwaukee in the wake of the Arbp. Weakland scandal. He certainly brought some solid progress to this diocese, though the next bishop will still be dealing with some of the problems and personnel Arbp. Weakland left.

Arbp. Dolan is probably a solid choice for New York and while I don’t think he has as strong of leadership skills as Cardinal O’Connor, he works well with people while bringing a solid orthodox viewpoint. Though I am only an armchair episcopal watcher so what do I know? Regardless since the Arbp just turned 59 not doubt he will be the Arbp. of New York for the next 16 years.

In related news today the Associated Press reported Monsignor Timothy Dolan named New York archbishop