News

By Fr. Federico Lombardi

VATICAN CITY, May 29, 2013 (Zenit.org) – The very great interest aroused by the Pope’s brief homilies in the course of the Masses celebrated every morning in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, poses and continues to pose often the question from different parts on the possibility to access such celebrations or such homilies fully and not through the syntheses published every day by Vatican Radio and L’Osservatore Romano.

The question is understandable and has been taken several times into consideration and made the object of profound reflection, and merits a clear answer. First of all, it is necessary to keep in mind the character that the Holy Father himself attributes to the morning celebration of the Mass at Saint Martha’s.

It is a Mass with the presence of not a small group of faithful (generally more than 50 people) but whose character of familiarity the Pope intends to preserve. Because of this, despite the requests received, he has asked explicitly that it not be transmitted live on video or audio.

… After careful reflection, therefore, it was decided that the best way to make the richness of the Pope’s homilies accessible to a wider public, without altering their nature, is to publish an ample synthesis, rich also in original quoted phrases that reflect the genuine flavor of the Pope’s expressions. It is what L’Osservatore Romano is committed to doing every day, whereas Vatican Radio, on the basis of its characteristic nature, offers a briefer synthesis, but accompanied also with some passages of the original recorded audio, as well as CTV which offers a video-clip corresponding to one of the inserted audios published by Vatican Radio.

I can understand the reasoning, but am a bit disappointed. I really would have liked to see the full texts of these daily homilies for my own edification. I’ve seen more stories generated around these than his Sunday homilies.

There is a tension between the public aspect of the papacy and the more loose off-the-cuff daily homilies. Trying to make somewhat private what is not private I think will only lead to more difficulties. For example stories like last weeks “Atheists who do good works go straight to Heaven’ media-created flap will continue to be generated.

Yet like I said last week, most religion reporting never requires the context given by the full text. Just the juicy-bits that could generate a headline regardless of the facts.

(ZENIT)

There is one thing the media is quite useful for regarding coverage of the Catholic Church. If I want to know what the Pope hasn’t said then they are my go to source.

The latest media coverage led to outrage from Protestants and Catholics suspicious of this pope along with more liberal elements being delighted. The media meme of the week is that Pope Francis said that atheists could be saved purely by good works.

As usual Jimmy Akin cuts through the errors regarding this with his thoughtful analysis.

Still this episode does illustrate a problem.

Pope Francis is in the habit of saying daily Mass for the people at St. Martha’s House and invited guests, and when he does so he gives an off-the-cuff homily (rather than reading from a prepared text).

This is actually something new.

John Paul II and Benedict XVI did not do this. They did not celebrate daily Mass as publicly as Pope Francis, and they did not have daily homilies published in this way. Instead, they occasionally delivered prepared homilies at public Masses on special occasions, and only these were published. As a result, if you look at the Vatican web site, there are surprisingly few homilies listed in their sections!

As a result, the Vatican web people aren’t scaled up for this volume of homilies, and–MADDENINGLY–you can’t find complete texts of Pope Francis’s daily ones on the site.

This is a problems considering also that there has been multiple instances where part of the content of the Pope’s unpublished daily homilies have generated news stories. Not only can’t you find them on the Vatican’s site, you can only find fragments quoted by sources covering the Pope and the Vatican.

These extemporaneous homilies certainly create a difficulty for the Vatican regarding both capturing exactly what was said and providing timely translations. They seem to have a hard enough time providing timely translations of his official homilies and speeches, especially the General Audience. Although this is more of a problem for those like myself who want to read what the Pope actually said then for the media. The media in covering the Church is not interested in context anyway and even with full texts almost infallibly gets things wrong.

PITTSBURGH—A Carnegie Mellon University student was charged Friday with indecent exposure by campus police after a Catholic bishop complained about her parading nude from the waist down while dressed as the pope.
A male student who was nude also was charged, but it wasn’t immediately clear what he was doing during the Pittsburgh school’s spring fine arts parade last month.

CMU President Jared Cohon said Friday that the misdemeanor charges were filed in Allegheny County against the two students and the school would not take any additional disciplinary action. He said the school endorses artistic expression but public nudity is illegal.

“There are competing values at issue here: Carnegie Mellon aims to be a place where ideas can be expressed and debated openly, but also where people of all backgrounds, faiths, and beliefs feel welcomed and supported,” Cohon said.

Bishop David Zubik of the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese complained after the April 18 parade, in which the female student—with her pubic hair shaved in the shape of a cross—threw condoms to onlookers. Cohon apologized last week for the display. Full Article

…

Surely many will run thought experiments through there head of what if the student had done something mocking another group. Yet I am certainly glad there is not the stupidity of hate crime laws here. Still it is rather banal how “artistic expression” is when used against the Church. Naked last suppers, pope and condoms themes, crosses and body fluids, etc have been done over and over again.

Well the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus complained about the naked public square. I guess when you remove the cross from the public square you then get them in the pubic hair.

An update to a story I previously blogged on.

BOSTON – Two priests turned away from entering the scene of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, April 15, said they understand the actions of the police in the heat of the moment.

After two bombs exploded near the finish line, leaving three people dead and wounding more than 260 others, the priests rushed toward the scene from St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine on Boylston Street, just over a half mile from the marathon finish line.

Father Tom Carzon, OMV, director of seminarians for the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, reached out to The Pilot after he saw media coverage surrounding their experience.

“The twist that this story has taken in some places just doesn’t reflect my experience on that day at all,” he said.

Father Carzon said he felt that media reports portraying a conflict between priests and police as a general reality in Boston mischaracterized the situation, and said he understood the police turning people back, including clergy, in light of potential danger closer to the finish line.

When I first posted the story regarding this I had the caveat “if true”, glad to find out it wasn’t.

Full Story

The energetic Brandon Vogt announces a new site:

It’s called StrangeNotions.com and it’s designed to be the central place of dialogue between Catholics and atheists. The implicit goal is to bring non-Catholics to faith, especially followers of the so-called New Atheism. As a ‘digital Areopagus’, the site includes intelligent articles, compelling video, and rich discussion throughout its comment boxes.

Strange Notions gets its name from St. Paul’s speech at the Areopagus in Acts 17:16–34. There he proclaimed the Resurrection to the intellectual elite of the ancient world, who responded by saying, “you bring some strange notions to our ears; we should like to know what these things mean.” StrangeNotions.com helps those asking the same thing today. Open-minded atheists will encounter reasonable arguments for God and his Church, maybe for the first time in their lives, and like St. Paul’s listeners they’ll leave intrigued by these strange notions.

I’ve gathered several top Catholic minds to contribute to the site. Right now we have over 30 on board, including Dr. Peter Kreeft, Dr. Edward Feser, Fr. Robert Barron, Fr. Robert Spitzer, Dr. Benjamin Wiker, Dr. Christopher Kaczor, Dr. Janet Smith, Dr. Kevin Vost, Christopher West, Jimmy Akin, Jennifer Fulwiler, Marc Barnes, Leah Libresco, Stacy Trascanos, Mark Shea, Tim Staples, Carl Olson, and many more. The project has also received several great endorsements including these:

• “Brandon Vogt is at the cutting edge of using the Internet and social media as a tool for evangelization…I believe that his latest endeavor, StrangeNotions.com, is an excellent example.” – Bishop Christopher Coyne, Archdiocese of Indianapolis
• “Brandon Vogt brings his energy, enthusiasm, and prodigious intellectual gifts to the Catholic conversation and demonstrates how social media can be used effectively to advance the mission of the Gospel.” – Fr. Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

This site is timely for several reasons:

On May 12 the Catholic Church around the world will celebrate World Communications Day. Pope Benedict XVI, shortly before he stepped down, composed this year’s official message which he titled, “Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith: New Spaces for Evangelization.” This project embodies that theme as it uses social networks as “new spaces” to evangelize.

Over the last ten years, the number of self-identified atheists in America has increased 500%. They’re one of the country’s fastest growing religious groups yet almost no Catholics engage them. Strange Notions is a frontier project in this needed effort.
In the midst of the Year of Faith and the New Evangelization, this is a creative example of using “new ardor, new methods, and new expressions” to evangelize.

An update to a previous story. Tim Drake reporting for the Cardinal Newman Society.

Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh has reversed an earlier decision, and will now allow the Knights of Columbus to receive official club status. As first reported by The Cardinal Newman Society, the University had originally denied the group such recognition because it did not admit non-Catholics.

President McCulloh issued a statement yesterday approving the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Council #12583 as a sponsored organization. Reads the statement:

This sponsorship is granted under the University’s “Standards for On-Campus Religious Activities Policy.” The Council has been granted permission to: utilize the University’s name in its title; fundraise on campus for the purpose of advancing the Council’s mission and activities; meet in and utilize campus facilities, including for the purposes of hosting events; and to recruit members and participants in membership activities such as the semi-annual Club Fair. As with other student organizations, it is obligated to follow University policies and procedures.

As an official club, this makes the Knights of Columbus eligible for money from the university and student fees.

The president’s statement also revealed that, as a result of his review, he has directed the Student Activities department to review and update the “Clubs and Organizations Recognition Policy,” with the goal of more clearly and explicitly identifying benefits of recognition and criteria for club eligibility. Those revisions are expected to be in place when the next academic year begins.

Around the same time this story had come out there was also one regarding Johns Hopskins University rejection of a pro-life group likening it to a ‘hate group’. After publicity this was overturned.

Buenos Aires (CNN) – Maria Elena Bergoglio was in her home west of Buenos Aires last week when she heard the shocking news: Jorge Mario Bergoglio – her brother – was the new pope.

In the past, she had prayed that the cardinals wouldn’t pick him.

“During the previous conclave, I was praying for him not to be elected … because I didn’t want my brother to leave,” she told CNN en Español on Monday. “It’s a position that was a little selfish.”

But this time around, Bergoglio said she changed her tone.

“I prayed that the Holy Spirit would intervene and not listen to me. And it didn’t listen to me,” she said, laughing. “It did what it wanted.”

Last week, soon after the white smoke billowed out from the Sistine Chapel chimney, she heard her brother’s voice crackling through the telephone line.

“I almost died,” she said. “The telephone rang and my son answered. I heard him say, ‘ooooh, God.’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Her brother, who chose the name Pope Francis, told her not to worry and reassured her he was well – something she’s also seen watching his face as the events of recent days unfolded on television.

“I told him I wanted to hug him,” she said, “and he told me that we are already embracing from a distance, which is also something that I feel and that is real.”

Then, the pope told her to pass along his warm greetings to the rest of the family.

“He said, ‘I cannot call everyone. We are a very big family, so please send them my love. Because if I call everyone, it will empty the Vatican coffers,’ ” Bergoglio said. (source)