BUDAPEST: Hungary’s Catholic military bishop has resigned because he wants to marry a woman he met in the church’s renewal movement, the media reported on Friday.
Fifty-year-old Brigadier General Tamas Szabo has been preaching to Catholic soldiers, border guards and their families since 2001.
Bishop Tamás Szabó was ordained to the episcopate in 2002 and I guess the renewal movement didn’t go as intended.
Previously dissident theologian Daniel Maquire sent two pamphlets to all of the Catholic Bishops in the United States titled "The Moderate Roman Catholic Position on Contraception" and "Abortion and the other A Catholic Defense of Same-Sex Marriage." In a very positive development a statement has been published by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
These pamphlets do not present Catholic teaching. His views about contraception, abortion, same sex "marriage", as well as the very nature of Church teaching and its authoritative character, cross the legitimate lines of theological reflection and simply enter into the area of false teaching. Such mistaken views should not be confused with the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church. Since it is apparent that considerable efforts have been made to give these views the widest possible distribution as if they were a valid alternative to the teaching of the Catholic Church, the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops considers it important to offer a public correction of the erroneous views proposed in these pamphlets. At the same time, the Committee on Doctrine calls attention to the Catechism of the Catholic Church where correct and authentic teaching can be found. This readily available source of the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church clearly demonstrates the mistaken character of the positions found in the two pamphlets and their unreliability as a guide for Catholics seeking to know and live their Catholic faith.
They then go on to give a critique of the pamphlets and end with:
The Archbishop of Milwaukee, exercising his pastoral responsibilities as teacher and shepherd, has made public statements affirming that the views expressed by Professor Maguire in his two pamphlets are erroneous and incompatible with the Church’s teaching.[24] We the Committee on Doctrine of the USCCB concur that, despite his claims to authority as a Catholic theologian, the views of Professor Maguire on contraception, abortion, and same-sex "marriage" are not those of the Catholic Church and indeed are contrary to the Church’s faith. We deplore as irresponsible his public advocacy of his views as authentic Catholic teaching. Lastly, we trust that this statement will clarify the Church’s faith and teaching for all of the Catholic faithful throughout the United States.
So bravo to Archbishop Dolan (who is Maquire’s bishop) and members of the committee for saying what needed to be said.
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 Jester Hat Tip: |
A.M.D.G | ||
"Pray for a better hand if you are going to win Vatican Holdem"
Manila – Conservative Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines were not amused when three nuns were photographed playing slot machines and blackjack at a gaming fair in Manila.
The church, which frowns on all forms of gambling, launched an inquiry and says the nuns could face sanctions from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines if found to have sinned.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz told local radio Tuesday that he has ordered an investigation and will take "steps on the sisters’ actions."
Cruz said the church "strictly prohibits men of the cloth… including nuns … from gambling."
Cruz said the church recently defrocked a parish priest who was caught gambling in a provincial casino.
He described as "shameful" photographs and television footage showing nuns playing blackjack and trying out slot machines at the launch of a Gaming Expo in Manila.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation spokesperson, Edward King, described the incident as "innocent."
"The sisters are innocent of the ways and means of the world. I’m not saying they are saints."
He said the nuns "played without money" and denied the nuns were tricked into playing blackjack and using the slot machines.
* The above picture is not from this story.
In a related article CBCP Spokesman Monsignor Pedro Quitorio said it was inappropriate for Archbishop Antonio Tobias for attending the launching of the Gaming Expo at the World Trade Center in Pasay City which is where the nuns were also photographed.
In a separate DZMM interview, PAGCOR spokesman Edward King said the nuns played without money.
Now as to gambling itself the Catechism states:
2413 Games of chance (card games, etc.) or wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. They become morally unacceptable when they deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement. Unfair wagers and cheating at games constitute grave matter, unless the damage inflicted is so slight that the one who suffers it cannot reasonably consider it significant.
The case can certainly be made that this bishop and the nuns showed a lack of prudence and the Canon they were referencing is a sort of catch all.
Can. 285 §1. Clerics are to refrain completely from all those things which are unbecoming to their state, according to the prescripts of particular law.
§2. Clerics are to avoid those things which, although not unbecoming, are nevertheless foreign to the clerical state.
And Canon 672 on the section of consecrated life says that Can 285 is also applicable to them.
What I find so interesting is how the Bishops conference in the Philippines moves to act very quickly in matters where public scandal of priests and religious are involved or that a bishop was singled out by the spokesman for the Bishops conference for criticism. Their threshold for what constitutes public scandal seems to be quite low there, where I am not exactly sure if there is any such threshold in the U.S.
Now let us look at a story here in the U.S.
"I need to be on the other side of the table. I need to listen and I need to be a voice for the people," said Sister Matthias Wemm, one of four Democrats seeking three open council seats in the May primary.
Wemm, 66, a Sister of Mercy, said she sought permission from her order and from the Almighty to run for the office.
"He says, ‘This is your decision. I’m with you and holding you in the palm of my hand,"’ Wemm said.
"Politics, from the best I can see, is a pretty rough game, and I said, ‘Are you sure you want to do that, Sister?"’ said the Rev. John Skirtich, pastor of the St. Maurice Roman Catholic Church in Forest Hills, about 10 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Wemm has taught at St. Maurice School for 21 years.
If she wins, Wemm wouldn’t be the first nun to serve in an Allegheny County municipality. Sister Mary Gregory Schessler of the Sisters of St. Francis is a Millvale council member.
A nun running for public office and seemingly given permission from her order despite the provision of Canon 285 "forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power." Canon 672 says that Canon 285 applies also to those in religious institutes.
Now as for her getting permission from God, I want to see the paperwork. Will she run a campaign ad "I AM approved this message?" It helps to have friends in high places when running for office, but this is ridiculous. Though somehow I think God does not want somebody consecrated to him violating Canon law and just calling it your decision.
A week ago, we Jesuits of the Pontifical Biblical Institute were informed in the course of a regular community meeting that our main lecture hall would be in use on March 20 at the request of a former faculty member (Salesian Father Frank Moloney) for the public launch of a novel he had co-authored with Jeffrey Archer. The Rector apologized in advance for any inconvenience caused by the event itself and for any ructions caused by attendant publicity.
That publicity — both before and after the event — gave rise to lurid headlines ("Pope Gives Blessing to Gospel of Jeffrey Archer") and to nonsense of other kinds as well. Here’s the lede from the Times of London:
Jesus never turned water into wine, He did not walk on the water and He never calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, according to a new ‘Gospel’ published today with Vatican approval and co-authored by Jeffrey Archer.
The following points are offered in correction of errors of fact, emphasis, or interpretation given in the English-speaking media:
In crudely commercial terms, the authors’ choice of Rome as a launch-site and their promiscuous use of the words "Vatican" and "Pontifical" in their promotional efforts was a shrewd move. Hype apart, though, the notion that biblical scholarship or Church teaching has been advanced by the novel is unwarranted.
Yesterday I heard this discussed on Vatican Radio and I found the explanation by Jesuit Fr. Stephen Pisano, Rector, Pontifical Biblical Institute to be rather lame. That allowing the presentation did not show endorsement and that they only want to encourage a forum for scholarly discussion on some aspects of New Testament Study and that they relied on Fr. Maloney to explain his reasons for his own participation on this subject. He called the allowing the book to be presented "there is a risk of using the institutes name for commercialization" and that this was an unavoidable side effect. Seem to me that it would be totally avoidable by now allowing the presentation in the first place. He then went on to say that if this book encourages people to read the Bible more carefully, etc, then this presentation will be justified. This seems to me to be the same excuse used by some Christian groups who teamed up with Sony encouraging people to see the Da Vinci Code movie because it would spark debate.
Vatican Radio went on to discuss the Canonical and the gnostic gospels, but unfortunately did not address how problematic this miracle free retelling of the hits book is and then the announcer went on to repeat how this could spark reading the Bible.
I guess what we will have next in academia is The Judas Seminar. The Jesus Seminar did everything they could to do knock down Jesus and his divinity, and the Judas Seminar will do everything they can do to build up Judas as a misunderstood thief and traitor.
This reminds me of the very first parody I wrote which was a cross between a bit in the Marx Brother’s A Night at the Opera and the Jesus Seminar. A Night at the Jesus Seminar
[MP3 from Vatican Radio]
(A)ccording to Sister Helen Prejean, author of the best-selling book Dead Man Walking, and internationally-renowned advocate against the death penalty, it is the Church’s doctrine on homosexuality that is sinful, as it fails to recognize “the full dignity of all human beings.”
Speaking on Sunday at the close of the symposium, Prejean noted that the first steps in denying and “removing” a human being is to declare them somehow “not quite human, not like how we are . . . to say that they’re ‘disordered’” – a reference to the language of the Vatican to describe the orientation of gay people. Such terminology, she said, fails to recognize the full dignity of all human beings and is the “greatest form of disrespect.”
Accordingly, “to not stand with LGBT people would be a sin,” declared Prejean to thunderous applause.
Prejean said that she is hopeful as she’s convinced that “people are waking and rising,” and that this will “change the Church.”
“When dialogue starts, the bread starts rising,” she said. “The yeast, the Holy Spirit, is in our hearts.”
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Jester Hat Tip: |
Gerald Augustinus | ||
I have been disappointed with Sister Helen Prejean ever since I found out that Dead Men Walking was not a Zombie flick. It is interesting though how progressives could rise to the call on what Pope John Paul II wrote in the Gospel of Life towards the death penalty and yet still be totally deaf to what the Church teaches on just about everything else. I agree with the Church when she agrees with me. When the Church fails to act a a mirror they then try to reflect themselves back onto it. Homosexual acts being intrinsically evil as confirmed by scripture and Apostolic Tradition is the old paradigm. We believe in a Holy Spirit that teaches one thing one day and another thing another day. So what if God lives in the internal now – we will add progress as an attribute for God.
“The yeast, the Holy Spirit, is in our hearts.” Sorry I think it is just a yeast infection that will only be cured by humility and obedience.
Gerald ends his post with this zinger.
I’d google directions for the nearest Episcopal church.
I guess my mind must be in the gutter because when I read that some Evangelicals were organizing "Purity Balls" for chastity it cracked me up as being ironic.
Though an article on this by a USA Today blogger has some quite silly rhetoric.
Yet there is something profoundly disturbing about these purity balls and all they represent. They reflect, and worse, they romanticize, several of the most pernicious aspects of patriarchal religion.
Yes looking at the current culture and the corruption of youth it is purity balls that are "profoundly disturbing." I did get a kick out of "pernicious aspects of patriarchal religion" and of course he goes on to say that religion sees sex as dirty. I guess the Song of Solomon and in fact pretty much most of the Bible must have slipped past him.
That was the case for one 24-year-old woman in San Francisco, who recently learned she has one of the high-risk types of HPV….
"I was scared, sad, disappointed and definitely ashamed. It seemed unfair that I should have it when I’ve had relatively few partners," says the young woman, who’s been sexually active for eight years and had four monogamous sexual partners, including her current boyfriend of two years.
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Jester Hat Tip: |
Jill Stanek | ||
"Monogamous sexual partners" is surely the oxymoron of the year. Serial fornication is now called monogamy. Though it makes sense since serial adultery is now called divorce and remarriage.
Wikipedia says: Monogamy is the custom or condition of having only one mate. The word monogamy comes from the Greek word monos, which means one or alone, and the Greek word gamos, which means marriage or union.
Mar. 16, 2007 (CWNews.com) – A noted Italian Church historian has denounced the opposition of the Catholic Church to the legal recognition of civil unions, and blasted Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news), saying that the current Pontiff is “worse than Pius XII.”
Giusepp Alberigo told the newspaper Corriere della Sera that Pope Benedict is afraid of modernity, “like a child who during the night is afraid of a ghost– when in reality there is no ghost, but only a shadow.”
In an article summarizing reactions to the release of the Pope’s apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, Sacramentum Caritatis, the historian charged that the Pontiff is trying to roll back the progress initiated by Vatican II. “It is a restoration that cancels a century of Church history,” he said. Alberigo argued that “it is difficult to find cohesion between magisterial documents and the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.”
I think it is pretty funny for a historian to basically charge someone for living in the past. This historian is afraid of the Holy Ghost who he would try to turn into nothing but a shadow. Because this is is what anybody who refers to the "spirit" and not the documents of Vatican II is doing. I think this historian needs The Rite of Exorcism for the Spirit of Vatican II.
Update: Fr. Seraphim Beshoner, TOR in the comments reminds me that this is the same historian who was "shocked" that the Pope would allow people to disagree on his upcoming book on Jesus and actually thought that this affected Papal Infallibility.
NEW YORK – It was a typical weekday afternoon at the Long Island Catholic Supply store in Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y. A few teenagers stopped in to get bracelets reading "WWJD?" – or "What Would Jesus Do?" – and adults hoping to sell their houses purchased miniature statues of St. Joseph, the patron saint of real estate.
What the customers weren’t buying stood out. No one stopped for a Pope Benedict XVI plaque or a Pope Benedict book, or by the cash register for a Pope Benedict commemorative coin.
"Nobody’s used to him yet," said store manager Kristine Leonard, 41, whose father runs the shop.
"He’s fresh meat out of the conclave," offered customer Hao Bui, 25, a member of the Knights of Columbus.
"You get to know them, how they imitate the Lord and you fall in love," added Maria Gonzalez, 47, who picked up the latest issue of the Catholic magazine Magnificat.
Then came a revealing answer from another store manager, Colin McQuade. "Pope John Paul II was an attractive man physically, and he was a smiling pope," said McQuade, 37, who has worked at Catholic Supply for 21 years. "Everyone sees Benedict and thinks he’s a sourpuss. But he’s not."
After John Paul II became pope in 1978, his youthful appearance and dynamic speaking style quickly won over Catholics, who gobbled up items with his likeness throughout his 26 years as pontiff. The same cannot be said for Benedict, whom many Catholics view as frail and out of touch since he was elected pope in April 2005.
Based the limited information available on religious merchandise, the poor sales of Benedict merchandise appear to be widespread.
Leonard and McQuade say Long Island Catholic Supply has sold only a few of the Benedict plaques, which cost $12.99. At the Catholic Company, the largest Catholic retail Web site, Benedict’s first encyclical – his letter explaining theological issues to bishops – does not sell nearly as well as those written by John Paul II.
Director Lester Young of the Popes Museum in New Brunswick, Canada, the only institution of its kind in the world, does not stock Benedict items in the gift shop because he’s "sure we won’t sell them."
"I’m a very small museum, so I cannot afford to just have stuff lying around," Young said. Do customers visiting the museum often inquire about Benedict merchandise? "Nobody ever mentioned anything. This tells me he’s not attaining people like John Paul did."
The comparison to John Paul is one being drawn by more and more customers. Every aspect of a pope’s personality has become fair game, from his age and physical features to his speaking style and smiling frequency. That Benedict lags behind John Paul in many Catholics’ comparisons isn’t surprising to Matthew Bunson, an author whose detailed papal portrait "We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI" remains neglected at Long Island Catholic Supply.
"He doesn’t have the kind of media presence that John Paul II did, and that doesn’t translate well into merchandise sales," Bunson said. "It’s important to remember that he is the successor to probably the most beloved pope of the last century, a pontiff who over the course of time will probably be declared a saint."
Among the clergy, Benedict’s poor merchandise sales also raise a deep theological question. Should a pope be measured by how well he markets himself, or how well he connects Catholics to the church? The Rev. Robert Imbelli, a theology professor at Boston College, said Benedict’s low-key style allows the religion’s true superstar to shine.
"This pope really wants to keep the focus not upon himself or even his office, but upon what the church should be about: the relationship to Jesus Christ," Imbelli said. "Quite honestly, I’ve never been a fan of papal T-shirts or mugs. That he’s not doing well in that category is not a minus, but a plus."
As dreary as the outlook is right now, many predict sales of Benedict merchandise will pick up in coming years as people become more familiar with him. In the months ahead, more Catholics may begin to appreciate Benedict the way Gonzalez does.
"He’s leading us in a way we don’t understand because he can communicate with God," she said, holding the Magnificat tightly to her chest. "He’s holy."
Some of this story does not jive with what I have read before. For example from earlier this year.
Deus Caritas Est, the first encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news), has sold millions of copies since it appeared on January 25, 2006.
The German- and Spanish-language editions of the encyclical have each been reprinted three times; the Italian version has sold almost 1.5 million copies.
For the first time in modern history, the Latin version of a papal document had to go back to press, after the first print run was sold out. Originally 1,000 copies had been printed in Latin.
Also not mentioned is that the attendance of the Pope’s Wednesday and Angeles prayers which have been on the upswing. Though how his popularity translates to merchandise sales is not really important (except for of course store operators). Another item not mentioned is that Ignatius Press had some difficulty in meeting the demand of books written by the Pope prior to his election. Several of his books were on the best sellers list of Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Pope’s first book to be released fairly soon by Doubleday will certainly also be a best seller. Surely the number of his written works sold is much more important than papal merch.
The Threshing Grain posts a letter endorsed by multiple groups of dissenters.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Via del Pellegrino
Apostolic Palace
VATICAN CITY
Your Holiness,
Every year on 25 March, the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholics around the world organize events to bring attention to the fact that Catholic women are excluded from ordination. This year will be the 14th annual World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination, and we expect that there will be over 25 events around the world.
They picked that day because their was no Feast of the Renunciation. The picking of this feast day is ironic on so many levels. Especially since one of the arguments against women’s ordination is that if Jesus had wanted women as priests than surely his mother would have been the first one selected.
In honor of this day, we invite you to lead the way in presenting a fair and equitable model of how women should be treated in our world by taking the necessary steps to open all doors to women within the Roman Catholic Church, including admission to all ordained ministries. We also ask that you work to renew church structures in order to involve all members in governance. By acting justly within our own ranks, we, the body of Christ, can affect society.
And I guess no women in the Church throughout history affected the Church or society without being ordained priestesses. I didn’t realize Teresa and Catherine were actually names of male saints.
On the same day that we celebrate Mary saying ‘yes’ to God, we are saying ‘yes’ to women’s leadership in the Church. Mary’s decision was conscious and deliberate, and it made her an active partner in bringing about the reign of God. By praying for women to be priests on this day, we embrace Mary’s spiritual power and her prophetic role in God’s plan of justice for the world.
If only they followed their own advice. Let it be done according to my will is their motto – the anti-fiat.
Because Mary is a spiritual leader and some even call her a priest, on 25 March we will pray for women’s ordination to a renewed priestly ministry. We will also pray for the difference that women in church governance would make by addressing the issues of social justice that disproportionately affect women, such as domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS, genocide and more.
Some even call her a priest? Now I have read a lot of nonsense from dissenting groups, but I never heard that one.
The exclusion of women and lay men from the full decision making and sacramental life of the Church is linked to these issues in that — while the impact has extremely different levels of intensity — the root cause is the same: male domination and sexism.
Women are not excluded from the sacramental life of the Church. Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, and the last rights are not exactly exclusion. Amazing how there are so many women saints considering that they were excluded from the sacramental life of the Church. But I guess they will argue that being denied ordination is exclusion. In that case I guess I am also excluded from the sacramental life of the Church. As I have said before just because I am married and have no vocation to the priesthood, why should the priesthood be denied to me?
As this day of prayer approaches, we urge you to open the discussion on women’s ordination and the need for change in Church structures. To bring our beloved Church closer to the gospel values that Jesus modeled for us, we need all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in women as well as in men, to be fully integrated into every aspect and ministry of the Church.
Exactly what part of no don’t they understand?
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful. Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
Envoy Magazine once listed some future encyclicals which included.
Amen Amen Dico Vobis; Nihil Muliebrium Sacerdotum (Read My Lips: No Women Priests) Encyclical asking radical Catholic feminists what part of Pope John Paul the Great’s Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (on the reservation of holy orders to men alone) they don’t understand.
Rursus Dicam: Nullo Modo (I’ll Say It Again: No Way) Encyclical explaining the pope’s position on women priests even more plainly.
Thanking you for your time and consideration,
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Ireland
The Threshing grain also lists the names of the groups who signed the letter and details on an "inclusive Mass" (though not including orthodoxy) that will be celebrated mocked at San Jose State University.