USA Tocay

From St. Paul to the American church: Partisanship is poison. Focus on truth instead.

What if St. Paul, a Christian global strategist, who wrote most of the letters in the New Testament, could write a letter to the Church in America? We imagine it would read as follows:

From Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the Church in America: Grace and peace to you.

I am deeply thankful for America. Since its founding, it has been a shining city on a hill, combating tyranny across the world. From Europeans in the grip of Nazism to Asians facing the scourge of communism, no nation or empire in history has so willingly shed its blood and lost its treasure on behalf of other tribes.

Like the Good Samaritan, you have treated all people as neighbors. With open arms, you have welcomed — as that beautiful statue calls them, “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses” — immigrants from every nation. Your actions have imitated those of the One who laid down his life for the whole world.

House Republicans rebuff investigation into firing of Jesuit chaplain

House Republicans rebuff investigation into firing of Jesuit chaplain

America

By Michael J. O’Loughlin

Scholarship is necessary part of seminary formation

Scholarship is necessary part of seminary formation

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by Pat Perriello

Apr 26, 2018

NCR Today: Seminary formation requires critical change. Seminarians need the opportunity to think and explore ideas and trends in the world and apply themselves to determining how the church can wisely engage with the outside world.

Published on USCatholic.org (http://www.uscatholic.org)

Home > What sustains you?

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What sustains you?

Caring for others can be a source of life.

By Jessie Bazan | Print | Share

Article Lifestyle

Let me tell you about Maria.
Maria is a white woman in her late 50s who cleans toilets at a major sports arena. She lugs three bulky duffel bags bursting with plastic Tupperware through the security line as she checks in for her minimum-wage job. She wears a scowl on her face. The rest of her body is dressed in whatever she found at the local Society of St. Vincent de Paul thrift store.
This is what most people see when they see Maria—if they see her at all.
My dad is not most people.
After retiring from a career in health care, my dad picked up a few side jobs to keep busy and earn a little extra cash. He spends most weekends working security at the same sports arena as Maria. His job is to check bags to make sure no one sneaks weapons or alcohol onto the grounds. It’s the same routine for 20,000 people: Glance in the purse. Rummage through the backpack. Send the approved people on their way. After giving Maria and her duffel bags the “all clear” a few times, my dad paused once and said, “Excuse me, ma’am, I’m just curious . . . what are these containers for?” Maria’s scowl quickly turned to a smile.

Chile victims of clergy sex abuse praise talks with pope

April 29, 2018

Chile victims of clergy sex abuse praise talks with pope

VATICAN CITY
Associated Press
April 29, 2018
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Men who were sexually abused by a priest in Chile are describing as helpful the private talks they’ve had with Pope Francis.
James Hamilton, one of three men staying at the Vatican hotel as the pope’s guests, tweeted that his more than two hours of conversation with Francis were “enormously constructive.”
Jose Andres Murillo tweeted that the importance of understanding sexual abuse as “abuse of power” was stressed during his time with the pope.
The third man, Juan Carlos Cruz, was due to meet with Francis on Sunday.
During a January visit to Chile, Francis discredited the men’s claims that a bishop covered up their abuse. Francis has requested the Holy See not to reveal the content of his talks with them because his priority is listening and asking forgiveness.

Fifth Sunday of Easter: Being 'in relationship'

Fifth Sunday of Easter: Being 'in relationship'

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by Carol J. Dempsey

Apr 28, 2018

Scripture for Life: Being "in relationship" offers a profound sense of intimacy and fulfillment, an experience that web surfers are unconsciously hungry to find but that can never be truly felt among one's "virtual community."

Pope Francis in the Wilderness

April 28, 2018

Supporters of Pope Francis say the backlash against his views has only made his voice more vital in the debate over the issues he has chosen to highlight, like migrants, economic inequality and the environment.Angelo Carconi/EPA, via Shutterstock

VATICAN CITY — Five years ago, Pope Francis was elected to be an agent of change within a church shaken by scandals and the historic resignation of Benedict XVI. He quickly became a global force in geopolitics, setting the agenda on climate change and care for migrants. World leaders wanted to be near him. Even non-Catholics adored him.

Today, Francis is increasingly embattled. The political climate has shifted abruptly around the world, empowering populists and nationalists who oppose much of what he stands for. Conservative forces arrayed against him within the Vatican have been emboldened, seeking to thwart him on multiple fronts.

Yet a close look at his record since becoming pope and the strong reactions he has engendered also shows that Francis continues to get his way in reorienting the church. And his supporters say that the backlash against his views has only made his voice more vital in the debate inside and outside the church over the issues he has chosen to highlight, like migrants, economic inequality and the environment.

Read more....

Dear reluctant Mass-goers: You are the one your parish is waiting for.

Dear reluctant Mass-goers: You are the one your parish is waiting for. 

America

Jack Bentz, S.J.

Vatican: Pope meets Chile victims in climate of ‘reparation’

Vatican: Pope meets Chile victims in climate of ‘reparation’

VATICAN CITY
Associated Press
April 27, 2918
By NICOLE WINFIELD
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis opened several days of talks Friday with Chilean sex abuse survivors in what the Vatican said was a climate of “reparation for suffering,” after the pope deeply wounded them by discrediting their claims of abuse cover-up by a bishop.
The three men — Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo — are staying at the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel as guests of Francis. Their VIP treatment is evidence of the complete about-face that Francis has made after admitting he made “serious errors of judgment” in the case of Bishop Juan Barros.
Over the coming days, the men are to meet individually and collectively with the pope, though the Vatican said Friday there are no fixed schedules or pre-established agenda items.
In a statement, spokesman Greg Burke said Francis himself asked that the Vatican release no information about the content of the encounters because “his priority is to listen to the victims, ask their forgiveness and respect the confidentiality of these talks.”
“In this climate of confidence and reparation for suffering, Pope Francis’ desire is to let his guests speak for as long as necessary,” Burke said.

James Carroll: 'Story of the church and the West could have gone another way'

James Carroll: 'Story of the church and the West could have gone another way'

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by Alexandra Greenwald

Apr 28, 2018

In James Carroll's newest novel, The Cloister, the Catholic Church's relationship with the "other" is examined through parallel narratives that span centuries and continents. The author gave an email interview with NCR to discuss the novel, his 12th.

Pope Francis, the spiritual guide

Pope Francis, the spiritual guide

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by Thomas Reese, Religion News Service

Apr 27, 2018

Before he was pope, before he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis spent much of his Jesuit life as a spiritual guide to young Jesuits. He was not a great theologian, although he was well read in theology. Nor was he the president of one of our universities. Rather his job was to introduce young men to the Jesuits and help form them in their spiritual lives. He was the director of novices and rector of the community where young Jesuits studied philosophy and theology.

Catholic Republicans, Democrats protest Ryan's ouster of House chaplain

• Christopher White
• crux now

Catholic Republicans, Democrats protest Ryan's ouster of House chaplain

Published on USCatholic.org (http://www.uscatholic.org)

Home > The saintliness of Fred Rogers

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The saintliness of Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers believed that love, embodied as justice and compassion, could change the world.

By Danny Duncan Collum | Print | Share

Article Culture

This is the year when America seems to be experiencing the 50th anniversary of everything—the Tet Offensive, the 1968 riots, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. But in the midst of that maelstrom, on February 19, 1968, the still, small voice of Fred Rogers began to be heard on the nation’s embryonic network of public television stations.
Among other things, that anniversary is being marked by the June release of a documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, directed by Morgan Neville, which played to standing ovations at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
As one of Fred’s producers says in the documentary, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood did everything that successful television was supposed to avoid. It was slow, calm, quiet, and, to some, mind-numbingly repetitive. Every day, for more than three decades, Fred Rogers opened the same door singing the same song and made the same wardrobe change (into the famous sweater and sneakers). Every show featured a sojourn among the same puppet people in Make Believe, the same feeding of the fish, and the same closing ritual.

Report: House chaplain, a Jesuit priest, was forced out by Speaker Paul Ryan

Report: House chaplain, a Jesuit priest, was forced out by Speaker Paul Ryan

By Michael J. O’Loughlin

America

Read the Book

Published on Commonweal Magazine (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org)

Home > Read the Book

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Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Capitol Hill in Washington June 8. (CNS photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)

Everyone who cares about our country should read James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty. Read and decide for yourself whether the former FBI director is self-righteous, ego-driven [1], and sanctimonious. Decide for yourself whether he is petty, insecure, and in need of affirmation; decide for yourself whether he is just another Donald Trump [2]. Don’t let the media decide for you.
Comey’s interviews promoting his book have journalists in full churn. The agitation seems to cloud the good sense not only of editorialists and columnists but also reporters, some diagnosing Comey with the very viral infection—I’ll call it Trump-myelitis [3]—he writes about. Turn the diagnosis around and ask whether the media’s Trump obsession hasn’t clouded the mental acumen of the gaggle that regularly follows the president and must now take account of Comey’s full-court criticism. Not criticism deduced from questions shouted across the White House lawn or speculation born of tweets and a true-believer spokeswoman. No, Comey’s criticism is born of direct contact, conversation, and combat with a man wholly self-involved and negligent of the responsibilities of his office.
After the death of J. Edgar Hoover in 1972, the relationship between presidents and directors of the FBI has achieved, over several decades, a balance between executive oversight and investigative independence that Comey found himself defending in the three months he continued as director under Trump. It is not only the rule of law, constitutional values, and prosecutorial independence that Comey claims to defend. He also sees Washington’s partisan political divide, of which Trump is a beneficiary and practitioner, as a venomous threat to fair treatment under the law and a democratic ethos.

Editorial: Proposed cuts to food program are immoral

Editorial: Proposed cuts to food program are immoral

by NCR Editorial Staff

Apr 27, 2018

U.S. Catholics disagree about what it means to believe in God

America

Michael J. O’Loughlin April 25, 2018

(iStock/itsmejust)

When Catholics recite the creed during Sunday Mass, they state that they “believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” But a new survey suggests that “one God” might not mean the same thing to all Catholics—much less all believers.
According to a survey being released today from the Pew Research Center, 80 percent of U.S. adults responded yes when asked, “Do you believe in God or not?”

Read more....

Pope, Council of Cardinals discuss new document on Roman Curia

Pope, Council of Cardinals discuss new document on Roman Curia

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by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Apr 25, 2018

Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals have reviewed a complete draft of the apostolic constitution that would govern the Roman Curia, the Vatican spokesman said.

Most Americans believe, but not always in the God of the Bible

Most Americans believe, but not always in the God of the Bible

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by Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service

Apr 25, 2018

A new Pew Research survey finds that a slim majority of Americans believe in the God of the Bible, while about one-third of Americans believe in another higher power or spiritual force.

Expert says abuse of power at root of sexual abuse crisis in Church

• Filipe Domingues
• crux now

Expert says abuse of power at root of sexual abuse crisis in Church

April 30, 2018 iss

Who is the cause of society’s polarization? All of us.

Matt Malone, S.J. April 20, 2018

America

James Cartmill, of Veterans for Peace, holds an American flag upside down, to indicate distress during a Nov. 24 demonstration in Oakland, Calif., following a decision by a Missouri grand jury not to indict a white Ferguson police officer in the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in the St. Louis suburb. (CNS photo/Elijah Nouvelage, Reuters)

I am writing this from Saint Louis University, where I am taking part in a lecture series celebrating the 200th anniversary of this great institution. My topic is Pope Francis, U.S. politics and polarization, a subject I am often called upon to discuss. I think in five years I have taken part in at least a dozen panels, all of which were asking, “What are the causes of polarization?”
Yet in contemporary politics, the question is not “What is the cause of polarization?” The question is “Who is the cause of polarization?” And the answer is: You are. You are the cause of polarization. And I am. Together, we are the causes of polarization. Unless we are willing to admit that, then the situation will only get worse. For polarization is not something that is happening to us but something we are causing. And the temptation to think that you or I are not complicit in it and that the fault lies entirely with someone else is actually what polarization is.
Read more 

y 2017 | by Christopher Lamb

Anglican orders not 'invalid' says Cardinal, opening way for revision of current Catholic position 

The Tablet

Leo XIII’s remarks that Anglican orders are “absolutely null and utterly void” have been a major stumbling block to Catholic-Anglican unity

One of the Vatican’s top legal minds has opened the way for a revision of the Catholic position on Anglican orders by stressing they should not be written off as “invalid.”  

In a recently published book, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, calls into question Pope Leo XIII’s 1896 papal bull that Anglican orders are “absolutely null and utterly void.”

“When someone is ordained in the Anglican Church and becomes a parish priest in a community, we cannot say that nothing has happened, that everything is ‘invalid’,” the cardinal says in volume of papers and discussions that took place in Rome as part of the “Malines Conversations,” an ecumenical forum. 

25 April 2018 | by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

German bishops agree ‘final handout’ on mixed-marriage couples 

The Tablet

The contents of the handout have not yet been published, but it appears it will now be discussed in Rome.

After discussion at a meeting of the German bishops’ conference’s permanent council on 24 April, a “final” version of the much-discussed handout allowing mixed-marriage couples to receive the Catholic Eucharist in individual cases has been approved, the council said. The contents of the handout have not yet been published, but it appears it will now be discussed in Rome.

A decision to allow mixed-denomination couples to both receive communion, and an associated handout for parishes, was approved at the bishops’ conference’s spring plenary on 22 February by a two-thirds majority, and has since proved highly controversial. One month later, on 22 March, seven bishops, including Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne, Germany’s largest diocese, sent a letter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome asking for clarification as to whether the issue was within the competence of a local bishops’ conference or rather a matter for the Universal Church. The permanent council of the bishops’ conference, which consists of Germany’s current 26 diocesan bishops, said yesterday that bishops’ conference President Cardinal Reinhard Marx has now sent the “final” version of the handout to all the members of the German bishops’ conference and to the “responsible dicasteries of the Roman Curia”.

On 19 April the German bishops announced that Pope Francis had called Cardinal Marx, Cardinal Woelki, and Bishop Felix Genn of Münster - who is well-known for his mediation skills - to Rome. Yesterday’s announcement appears to indicate that the “final” handout will be the topic of discussion there.

Meanwhile Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, one of the seven bishops who signed the letter to Rome asking for clarification on the competence of a local bishops’ conference on the mixed-marriage issue, has explained on his diocesan website that he and the other six bishops who signed the letter wanted to act “in accordance with all the other bishops’ conferences in the World Church” and were against the German Church going it alone.

The permanent council explained yesterday that the aim of the coming meeting of Cardinal Marx, Cardinal Woelki and Bishop Genn in Rome -  which the council said was at the invitation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) - was “to discuss and weigh up the pros and cons of the pastoral aspects and the legal context of the matter from the view of the World Church”.

The controversy over whether or not to allow mixed-marriage couples to receive the Catholic Eucharist has “caused serious damage within the bishops’ conference”, Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (PCPCU), told the German Church’s official website katholisch.de on 23 April.

Feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson retires from teaching, but not theology

Feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson retires from teaching, but not theology

National Catholic Reporter

Apr 25, 2018

Johnson is retiring from full-time teaching precisely so she can better attend to her own quest for God, both as a Sister of St. Joseph and as an academic theologian.

Pope's kitchen cabinet right now is a distracted bunch

• John L. Allen Jr.
• crux now

Pope's kitchen cabinet right now is a distracted bunch

On Chile abuse crisis, who led Pope Francis to make 'serious errors'?

• Inés San Martín
• crux now

On Chile abuse crisis, who led Pope Francis to make 'serious errors'?

Pope Francis brings a new lens to poverty, peace and the planet

America

By Robert W. McElroy

He Forced the Vatican to Investigate Sex Abuse. Now He’s Meeting With Pope Francis

He Forced the Vatican to Investigate Sex Abuse. Now He’s Meeting With Pope Francis

UNITED STATES
New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
APRIL 24, 2018
When I first interviewed Juan Carlos Cruz eight years ago, he was so ashamed about what had happened to him that he was not sure he wanted his name to be public. In his youth in Chile, he had been sexually abused by the Rev. Fernando Karadima, one of Chile’s most prominent priests. The Vatican eventually found the priest guilty and removed him from his post.
This week, Mr. Cruz and two other victims of Father Karadima’s will stay at the Vatican in an extended visit with Pope Francis, who issued an extraordinary apology this month for “grave errors” in the handling of sexual abuse cases in Chile. Pope Francis had long defended a Chilean bishop who Father Karadima’s victims said had witnessed and covered up the abuse. After Francis accused the victims of “calumny,” his comments caused an international uproar, and he ordered an investigation. On seeing the results, he apologized to the three Karadima victims, Mr. Cruz, Dr. James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo.
I spoke with Mr. Cruz, who now lives in Philadelphia, ahead of his trip. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Do you accept Pope Francis’ apology?
I don’t think that this is a P.R. exercise. I’m looking forward to speaking to him with an open heart, and hearing what he has to say. I am being told he wants me to be completely honest with him.

Posted by Kathy Shaw at 5:54 AM

Editorial: Resist outsourcing evangelization

Editorial: Resist outsourcing evangelization

by NCR Editorial Staff

Apr 24, 2018

We say: FOCUS has big plans; it has raised its sights beyond just campus ministry. It wants to send its missionaries into parishes. This could create quite the temptation for cash-strapped dioceses, but we would argue that dioceses should resist this temptation.

On messages and messengers

Column | Just Catholic

On messages and messengers

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by Phyllis Zagano

Apr 23, 2018

In this latest apostolic exhortation, the pope clearly describes what is going on in the Catholic Twitterverse and blogosphere: there are people out there whose stock and trade is defamation and slander, who "bear false witness," who lie and who vilify others.

In 'historic' move, pope names three laywomen to doctrinal congregation

In 'historic' move, pope names three laywomen to doctrinal congregation

by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

Apr 23, 2018

Pope Francis appointed three women as consultors to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It marks the first time women and laypersons were named as active contributors — not support staff.

Book collects conference discussions on applying 'Amoris Laetitia' in US

Book collects conference discussions on applying 'Amoris Laetitia' in US

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by Joshua J. McElwee

Apr 20, 2018

The organizers of a 2017 conference of bishops and theologians to examine how Pope Francis' family life exhortation could be applied at the local level have put together a volume collecting the participants' discussions.

NCR Podcast: New columns, American culture and baseball

Catholic Voices succeeds by reframing arguments rather than retorting

• John L. Allen Jr.
• crux now

Catholic Voices succeeds by reframing arguments rather than retorting

Infographic: Few Hispanics among men to be ordained as priests in 2018

Infographic: Few Hispanics among men to be ordained as priests in 2018

J.D. Long-García April 20, 2018

Ten priests at the conclusion of their ordination Mass on May 27, 2017, at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn. (CNS photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)

Only 20 percent of the respondents to a survey of men scheduled to be ordained as priests this year are Hispanic, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The figure adds to concern about the low percentages of Hispanics entering the priesthood, enrolling in seminaries and entering religious orders. Among seminarians in the 2017-18 academic year, 15 percent identified as Hispanic, lower than the 34 percent of the nation’s Catholic population who are Hispanic and far less than the 52 percent of U.S. Catholics under 30 who are Hispanic.

Read more....

Reducing waste: 'Throwaway culture' in spotlight as Earth Day targets plastics

Reducing waste: 'Throwaway culture' in spotlight as Earth Day targets plastics

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by Brian Roewe

Apr 21, 2018

Green Mountain State's diocese gets greener

Green Mountain State's diocese gets greener

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by James Dearie

Apr 21, 2018

An effort by a Vermont bishop to promote greater care for the Earth and the teachings of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," resulted in a diocesan-wide celebration of a Year of Creation in 2017.

In wake of abuse scandal, bishops of Chile talk resignation

• Inés San Martín
• crux now

In wake of abuse scandal, bishops of Chile talk resignation

Was Pope Francis right to tell a child his atheist dad may be in heaven?

Was Pope Francis right to tell a child his atheist dad may be in heaven?

AMERICA

By Jack Bentz, S.J.

When the monsignor reached out and tenderly held the little boy’s face, I lost it. And it only got worse. When Pope Francis called the reluctant Emanuele up to whisper his question about where his beloved father went after death, I was crying so obviously that the other customers in line at Starbucks looked up from their phones. I muttered a general apology for the public display but continued to watch the rest of the remarkable footage of Pope Francis going pastoral; a good shepherd holding the littlest lamb close to his heart. Emanuele wanted to know: Was his dad in heaven even if he was an unbeliever?

Check out this video on You Tube

How to Alienate Millennials from the Pro-Life Movement

Published on Commonweal Magazine (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org)

Home > How to Alienate Millennials from the Pro-Life Movement

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People participate in the annual Walk for Life in San Diego Janiary 20. The march was held in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade to legalize abortion. (CNS photo/David Maung)

Polls in recent years have noted that millennials “are less supportive of legal abortion than their demographic profile would suggest,” as the Public Religion Research Institute put it in 2011. Such findings have given hope to the pro-life movement that the new generation could change the debate [1] in time.
But a new poll [2] from the same non-partisan organization now indicates otherwise.  Even though overall public opinion on the legality of abortion remains stable, opinions are shifting among adults aged eighteen to twenty-nine.
“The pattern among young Americans…is unique,” the PRRI report says. “Approximately one-third of young Americans say their views on abortion have changed in recent years, and nearly three times as many say their views have become more supportive of abortion rather than more opposed to abortion (25% vs. 9%).”

From the editor's desk
The Tablet

18 April 2018

The apologies that Pope Francis now needs to make

Why the Pope's initial response to the Barros case was a classic demonstration of clericalism at its arrogant worst

Pope Francis has at last acknowledged that he made “serious mistakes” in his handling of the case of Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, Chile. He has expressed his “pain and shame” at the suffering of victims of child abuse in this case, whom he has said were “crucified” by it. He had swept aside their complaints as “calumny”, virtually calling them liars.

18 April 2018 | by Bernadette Kehoe

The Tablet 

The young men giving up careers, relationships and houses to become priests

Bernadette Kehoe visits Oscott to talk to the seminarians and find out about their vocations

“I’ve got a deep excitement at what lies ahead. I know this is the fulfilment of who I am; I can’t wait to embrace this new identity.” In a few months from now, Matthew Roche-Saunders will be ordained to the Catholic priesthood in Swansea. It will be the culmination of six years of formation, which followed his three years at Exeter University, studying psychology.
Matthew relishes the opportunity to meet and answer my questions. Most of his old schoolfriends aren’t Catholic. He says they find his choice of career “fascinating, curious or confusing”. As he’s watched his university friends find their feet after graduating – and move into careers and spread across the world – he reflects on having spent the last six years living in the same building, St Mary’s College, Oscott, in a Birmingham suburb: “When I entered here as a young man I thought God was asking me to be a priest; now God is making me into a priest. I’m trying to come to terms with that.” Joking that he wish he’d listened more in lectures, he adds: “There’s always a sense of inadequacy: why me, how me?”

Marx to meet Pope over communion for non-Catholics

The Tablet

The German bishops’ conference has issued a statement describing reports that the Vatican had rejected the German plan to offer communion to couples where one is Catholic and the other a different Christian denomination as "false". 

A weekend at Cape Cod shows glimpses of a future church

A weekend at Cape Cod shows glimpses of a future church

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by Bill Mitchell

Apr 19, 2018

The Field Hospital: Gathering the way we did without a priest made me wonder about similar meals of remembrance in the early church. And what future gatherings might be like as the number of Catholic priests continues its insistent decline.

2019 'Catholic Woodstock' won't just be for youth, but by youth

• Inés San Martín
• crux now

2019 'Catholic Woodstock' won't just be for youth, but by youth

The spiritual masterpiece of Pope Francis 

The Tablet

Gaudete et Exsultate, from the Pope who comforts the afflicted – and afflicts the comfortable

Holiness has something of a bad name. It popularly means one of two things: either being so unworldly as to be hardly on the planet at all, or to have assumed an air of spiritual superiority that disdains lesser mortals more subject to the temptations of the flesh. In his audacious new apostolic exhortation Pope Francis has embarked upon a very personal definition of holiness that breaks through these blockages and turns these preconceptions upside down.

The Tablet

11 April 2018 | by Laurence Freeman

How Pope Francis gives witness to the 'new holiness'

Benedictine monk Laurence Freeman on the apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate

The Pope’s idea of holiness embeds a prophetic anger against the dull mediocrity of consumerist individualism but, no less, against intellectualised religiosity. In the five short, well-crafted chapters of his new exhortation Francis speaks from a Catholic pulpit but his audience is the whole of humanity in its contemporary crisis of faith. He exposes the degradation of humanity produced by empty lifestyles, conspicuous consumption and the refusal to see God in the poor and marginal. Francis is driven by an incarnational spirituality, the defining motif of his papacy, captured in his phrase: “Reality is greater than ideas”.

Catholic Whistleblowers want 'substantial revisions' to church's sex abuse policies

Catholic Whistleblowers want 'substantial revisions' to church's sex abuse policies

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
One request is to extend zero tolerance coverage, including bishops
Apr 18, 2018
by Brian Roewe
A Catholic watchdog group is challenging the U.S. bishops to make "substantial revisions" to their nearly two-decade-old policies regarding sexual abuse of minors, and to include abuse survivors and the laity in the process.
Among seven reforms to the guiding documents — the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Young People, or the Dallas Charter, and the Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons — proposed by the Catholic Whistleblowers are:
* extending its zero tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse to any cleric, religious or church employee, including bishops complicit with abuse;
* posting to diocesan websites the names of any person affiliated with a diocese with substantial abuse allegations against them;
* and working with state legislators in every state to reform statutes of limitations laws.
The Catholic Whistleblowers, a group of priests, religious and laypeople who support abuse survivors and in several cases reported instances of abuse, outlined their requests in a letter dated April 1, Easter Sunday, and addressed to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Copies of the letter were also sent to Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., and all American bishops, both active and retired.

Organizer of bishops' summit says "mind the gap" on Church and youth

• Claire Giangravè
• crux now

Organizer of bishops' summit says "mind the gap" on Church and youth

How Sean Bean gets the life of a parish priest right in a new BBC show

How Sean Bean gets the life of a parish priest right in a new BBC Show
 

Joel Warden, C.O. April 12, 2018

(photo: Jesuits & Friends)

Shortly after the election of Pope Francis, I was called to a hospital near my parish. The clerk said neither the social worker nor the security chief were available to deal with a developing situation. The family of a recently and tragically deceased patient was becoming increasingly agitated, even hostile, while waiting to see their loved one in the morgue. As a parish priest, I presented a last-ditch hope for intervention.

'I have made serious mistakes,' says pope. 'I ask forgiveness.'

Column | Signs of the Times

'I have made serious mistakes,' says pope. 'I ask forgiveness.'

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by Thomas Reese, Religion News Service

Apr 17, 2018

The catchphrase "Love means never having to say you’re sorry" was more memorable than the film "Love Story," where it was uttered twice. At first the words sounded nice, but on reflection they made no sense at all, especially to a Christian.

A return to church tradition on women deacons

A return to church tradition on women deacons

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by Phyllis Zagano

Apr 18, 2018

Book Review: The basic question: How will the church bring the word, the liturgy and charity to the people of God? If the answer is ordaining women as deacons, these works together present an understanding that the church could return to its tradition without troubling any teaching about priesthood.

Bishop McElroy to address partisan polarization in lecture at Loyola in Chicago

Bishop McElroy to address partisan polarization in lecture at Loyola in Chicago

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by Heidi Schlumpf

Apr 17, 2018

April 18, Bishop Robert McElroy analyzes the breakdown of U.S. political culture and offers suggestions for addressing it in a talk, "Forming a Catholic Political Imagination," at Loyola University Chicago.

Did Benedict XVI predict the rise of Trump and fake news?

America

By Aaron Pidel

More than 13 years ago, in a homily given at the conclave that would later elect him Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spoke of a growing “dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” The urgent call for a return to truth-based religion, far from repelling the cardinals, distinguished Ratzinger as the frontrunner for papal office.

Catholic sisters are not an 'endangered species'

Column | Simply Spirit

Catholic sisters are not an 'endangered species'

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by Christine Schenk

Apr 16, 2018

Simply Spirit: I was recently re-inspired by some young sisters, who place their confidence not in the human institutions that have served the church in the past but in the God who summons them to serve in new ways in the future.

Cardinal Tobin warns against temptation to shrink Catholic community to pure members

April 13, 4:13 pm

Cardinal Tobin warns against temptation to shrink Catholic community to pure members

America

Michael J. O’Loughlin April 13, 2018

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., center, talks with Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen, N.J., left, and U.S. Archbishop James P. Green, in Rome in June 2017. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 

Attempts to make the church smaller and more pure will only achieve one of the two—and it is probably not the latter.
That was the message from Cardinal Joseph Tobin in a talk at Villanova University on April 12, during which he urged Catholics to resist allowing “the individualism that permeates our culture” to infect the church.
“Even from ancient times, there have been individuals and movements who have tried to define and delimit what is means to be a Catholic Christian,” the Newark archbishop said. “Nevertheless, the universal church has always repudiated such attempts. It is only the Lord who ultimately judges who belongs or does not belong.”

Expert in diocesan finances has 'never seen' pension move like La Crosse's

Published on National Catholic Reporter (https://www.ncronline.org)

April 16, 2018 at 3:00am

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Expert in diocesan finances has 'never seen' pension move like La Crosse's

by Peter Feuerherd

The façade of St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral in La Crosse, Wisconsin (Wikimedia Commons/Rabbet)

Jack Ruhl, an expert on diocesan finances, frequently wanders through the thicket of church financial disclosures, but has never seen anything like the dissolution of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, lay pension plan.

La Crosse lay diocesan retirees and employees received word about their pensions [1] in a letter dated Feb. 27 from Bishop William Patrick Callahan, who has led the diocese since 2010. In the letter, retirees were told they could expect more than 90 percent of the value of their pensions in a lump-sum payment that will be distributed this summer.

Ruhl, a professor of accountancy at Western Michigan University [2], has studied finance statements of U.S. dioceses since 2004, looking for the impact of sex abuse settlements [3] and their effect on priest pension plans [4]. That issue arose in the aftermath of the scandals that enveloped the Boston Archdiocese.

Last three popes pioneer new dogma of papal fallibility

• Inés San Martín
• crux now

Last three popes pioneer new dogma of papal fallibility

ROME- Almost 150 years ago, Pope Pius IX led the Catholic Church in declaring the dogma of papal infallibility applied to solemn declarations of faith and morals, according to which popes are preserved from the possibility of error. It was the culmination of centuries of mounting efforts to provide a sense of absolute certainty that popes won’t, even can’t, get it wrong when it comes to teaching.

 

Pope Francis 'deeply disturbed' after air strikes

The Tablet

Pope Francis spoke about it after his Sunday 'Regiona Coeli', hours after Catholic and Orthodox church leaders in Syria condemned the air strikes by the US, UK and France in response to the suspected chemical attack in Douma.

New papal document provides practical help for parishes

New papal document provides practical help for parishes 

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by Heidi Schlumpf

Apr 13, 2018

Many say Pope Francis' new exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate ("Rejoice and Be Glad"), is practical, accessible and applicable to the challenges in today's U.S. church and society.

Pope's new exhortation 'a signpost, a reminder, and a prophetic call'

• Father Jeffrey F. Kirby
• crux now

Pope's new exhortation 'a signpost, a reminder, and a prophetic call'

George Weigel weathering turbulent times with stouthearted friends

• John L. Allen Jr.
• crux now

George Weigel weathering turbulent times with stouthearted friends

The Gospel Isn’t Single-Issue

Published on Commonweal Magazine (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org)

Home > The Gospel Isn’t Single-Issue

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Pope Francis greets a group of young migrants from Florence during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 11. The sign is Italian says “No one is a foreigner.” (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The gospel [1] reading for Sunday, October 30, 2016 was about a tax collector moved by  Jesus to give half of his possessions to the poor. But in place of a homily on that reading, churchgoers in many of the one hundred and thirty three parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre on New York’s Long Island heard a letter [2] from their bishop that, by any reasonable reading, said they had no choice but to vote for Donald Trump for president when they went to the polls nine days later.
Bishop William Murphy, since retired, didn’t use Trump’s name, of course, nor did he name any political party. He denies he was endorsing a candidate. But he endorsed an issue that Trump campaigned on: “above all and over all, the number one issue more fundamental and crucial than any other is abortion—that is the direct taking of innocent life, which is financed by government funds.” He added that “support of abortion…is reason sufficient unto itself to disqualify any and every such candidate from receiving our vote,” a statement he repeated for emphasis.