News

Think with the Church

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Speaking out of what he called sadness and anxiety, the Vaticans top official for religious life has called upon the Jesuit order to obey the hierarchy, to defend church teaching and to deepen its commitment to think with the church.

Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rod specifically urged the Jesuits to greater fidelity in theological work as well as in your magazines and publications, both areas of tension between the Jesuits and the Vatican in recent years.

The comments came in Rods homily for the opening Mass this morning in Rome of the 35th General Congregation of the Jesuits. The gathering of 225 Jesuits representing the entire order, which is expected to last at least a month, will elect a new leader to replace Dutch Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach and set policy for the next couple of decades.

In effect, Rods homily represents the Vaticans attempt to help frame the agenda for the Jesuits deliberations.

Noting that the Jesuits exercise wide influence through their seminaries, colleges and universities, Rod said he wanted to share both his joys and hopes and his sorrows and anguishes as the General Congregation gets underway.

After praising the order for thousands of religious who generously respond to the Lords call, Rod cited several areas of concern.

First, he warned of a waning sense of sentire cum ecclesia, meaning to think with the church. Love for the church, Rod argued, was central to the vision of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits in the 16th century.

It is with sorrow and anxiety that I see that the sentire cum ecclesia of which your founder frequently spoke is diminishing even in some members of religious families, Rod said. The Church is waiting for a light from you to restore the sensus ecclesiae.

Rod also bluntly called for greater obedience to the hierarchy.

With sadness and anxiety, I also see a growing distancing from the hierarchy, he told the Jesuits. The Ignatian spirituality of apostolic service under the Roman Pontiff does not allow for this separation.

The fundamental nucleus of Ignatian spirituality consists in uniting the love for God with love for the hierarchical Church, Rod said.

Cardinal Rod has said exactly what needed to be said as the Jesuits meet to choose the new Jesuit General.

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Politics

When it is on the other foot

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Edwards responded sharply to a Clinton aide’s criticism today, intensifying a back-and-forth that began at last night’s debate, after Clinton said Nataline Sarkisyan could be alive if the patients bill of rights, which he’d boasted of championing, had passed.

“The Clinton campaign has no conscience,” Edwards said, after Clinton spokesman Jay Carson said Edwards does no more than “read articles about people who need help and talk about them.”

I found this rather funny considering what John Edwards said four years ago.

Edwards said Reeve, who died Sunday, “was a powerful voice for the need to do stem cell research and change the lives of people like him.

“If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again,” Edwards said.

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Liturgy

Not on this rock music

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Phoenix, Jan. 4, 2008 (CWNews.com) – Church leaders in Phoenix, Arizona, are discouraging Catholics from attending non-denominational services conducted by a suspended priest, the Arizona Republic reports.

Msgr. Dale Fushek, who has been suspended from public ministry by the Phoenix diocese, continues to lead services at the Mesa Convention Center, drawing several hundred participants, the newspaper reports. The flamboyant priest, who gained national prominence as the founder of the LifeTeen program, risks further disciplinary action by defying the terms of his suspension to preach at “Praise and Worship” services.

Well LifeTeen was never an organization much for obedience considering illicit practices such as gathering around the altar, so this is not exactly a surprise.

Now I understand you can certainly separate a group from its leader, but I have never been a fan of LifeTeen in the first place. The parish I went to with my mother as a young atheist was pretty much a perfect match for what LifeTeen would become when it was established in 1985. This parish had lots of rock music and I sang with a small ensemble in the sanctuary. Looking back I realize now that I sang more religious hymns in my public high school choir than I did at this parish. This entertainment focused parish with two cool priests who could relate to youth did nothing to make me take Catholicism seriously. I just loved to sing and would put up with going with my mother to Mass after she converted to Catholicism because the music was quite secular and there was nothing to bother my atheistic faith. I guess it was the same in some ways for the two priests since they both left the priesthood and got married. This parish also had lots of events, but none of them seemed to be ordered to Catholicism and the year and a half I sang with the parish and participated in some events I knew just as little about the Catholic Church as I did at the start. I have no doubt my mother’s R.C.I.A. was quite low on doctrine since she saw no problem with me as a proudly atheist proclaiming son receiving Communion even though the extent of my religious experience was being baptized in a Methodist church as an infant. To this day I regret all of those Communions I received unworthily.

I think there is a fundamental problem with the concept of LifeTeen in the first place. Customizing the liturgy for an age group is mostly a mistake. Now the Church does have valid Children’s Masses where parts of the liturgy are shortened, but it does not specify that Barney be used in the hymnal. If you are going to have LifeTeen, why not LifeFogey, LifeMiddleAge, etc. A case can be made as Saint Paul said that sometimes milk has to be given before solid food. But surely teenagers are quite open to truth and beauty and you don’t have to musically pander to them. If teens only go to the Mass because of the music are they going to keep going to Mass when the Mass no longer has the music they came for? If you want to train teens to appreciate the Mass, shouldn’t it be for the same Mass they will go to as they get older? When it comes to the liturgy they deserve to be treated as adults.

Now I have no problems with youth groups using secular or for example Christian rock outside of the liturgy with concerts, youth conferences, etc. I just don’t thinks power chords and Calvary are a match. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass needs reverence and we need music that promotes beauty and reverence and not just an emotional response. I don’t want to be tapping my foot as I enter the eternal sacrifice.

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Pro-life

March for Life

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

For those attending the March for Life this year:

The Catholic Information Center, downtown Washington’s “street parish” — thought to be the first U.S. Catholic bookstore on Facebook — is poised to be “Blogger Central” on the day of the 2008 March for Life, with free wireless Internet, a 15% discount for pro-life bloggers, and a tea party, plus celebrity book and DVD signings.

“Our store and chapel have traditionally been a respite stop for March-for-Life participants,” noted CIC manager Kevin Jones. “This year, we wanted to do something more, so—since we already offer free wireless internet—we decided to create some special incentives to encourage marchers to show their support for the Culture of Life on the web.”

The 15% discount for pro-life bloggers will apply all day on January 21-22. To receive the discount, pro-life bloggers must register in advance by e-mailing their name and blog URL to info@cicdc.org by Friday, January 18. On the day of the march, those who have registered may give their name to the CIC cashier to receive the discount on anything the store sells, including books, rosaries, jewelry, prayer cards, religious decorations, and stationery.

For the purpose of this discount, and to encourage pro-lifers to have a strong Web presence, the CIC is defining a “pro-life blog” as any family-friendly Web site that actively promotes the culture of life. This includes MySpace and Facebook pages, so long as they contain a prominently displayed pro-life item.

The bookstore recently augmented its own Web site, www.cicdc.org, with a “Catholic Information Center” Facebook page — believed to be the first-ever Facebook fan club for a U.S. Catholic bookstore.

Bloggers who visit the CIC during the afternoon of January 22 will find a special treat: a tea party immediately following the March for Life, from 3-6 p.m., hosted by Dawn Patrol blogger Dawn Eden. Eden, who has appeared on EWTN’s “Life on the Rock,” will be signing copies of her book The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On, which will be available for 25% off the cover price.

“I can’t wait to meet fellow pro-life bloggers from around the country and connect faces to names,” said Eden. “Many of us are already planning to come to the Blogs4Life conference at the Family Research Council earlier that morning, before the March. The tea party is a great change to relax and get to know each other better after the long day and, thanks to the wi-fi, do some ‘liveblogging’ for the folks back home.”

The CIC is located at 1501 K Street NW, and will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the day of the march. Mass will be in the chapel at 12:05 p.m., and the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed there from 1-4 p.m. For more information, contact CIC manager Kevin Jones, (202) 783-2062, or e-mail

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Humor

New document from Ecclesia Dei commision

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Vatican, Dec. 31, 2007 (CWNews.com) – The Vatican will soon issue a new document clarifying the terms of Summum Pontificum, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone has revealed.

Confirming reports that have circulated around Rome in recent weeks, the Vatican Secretary of State told the Italian weekly Famiglia Cristiana that the Ecclesia Dei commission will issue instructions to “clarify the criteria for the application of the motu proprio” in which Pope Benedict XVI broadened access to the traditional Latin Mass.

Cardinal Bertone said that the new document was needed because there have been some “confused reactions” to the motu proprio. In fact some Vatican officials– most notably Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship– have energetically criticized bishops who have failed to accept the papal directive.

This news came out earlier this week, but I have been working with my contacts to try to get more information. In a world exclusive I have gotten hold of the new document which is being released in a format that up to now has never been used before by the Vatican. I don’t know how it will be received by some bishops, but I think the new format will be helpful for them.

And here is a sample page.

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News

Catholic Media Review

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

There is a new group blog begun called Catholic Media Review.

Our hope is that there also will be some discussion about what makes a good movie. We’ll be looking not only at which movies might have a positive impact on society (The Passion of the Christ, Amazing Grace, Into Great Silence, Bella) but also highlighting when secular mainstream films have underlying themes that support Christian values in general or those of the Catholic Church in particular. For example, Waitress and Juno have had their pro-life messages touted widely but few people are talking about the Christian themes underlying I Am Legend or Sweeney Todd.

Although movies are the reason the blog was begun, we’ll also be looking at other art (media) because we’re as passionate about those as we are about our faith and movies. Music, podcasts, books, television, and more will all be reviewed and reflected upon at Catholic Media Review.

Stop by for a Catholic Media Review for a visit – there are some exciting movie reviews up already. Some of the reviews already posted include: National Treasure, Juno, I Am Legend, Bella, Enchanted, and The Water House – Legend of the Deep.

Bloggers involved include:
Catholic Fire – Jean
Cause Nostrae Laetitiae – Leticia
Good News Film Reviews – Scott
Mad Tea Party – March Hare
The World … IMHO – Christine
Julie D. at Happy Catholic

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Pro-life

Fly the too friendly skies

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Dawn Eden posts a YoutTube video of an new San Francicso Planned Parenthood ad that takes place in a airplane with a flagrantly homosexual flight attendant showering condoms, pills, and patches on couples for getting ready for the mile high club.

I do find it highly ironic for a company named Planned Parenthood directing their ad in parts to homosexuals. Talk about naturally contraceptive sex. I guess this is just the altruistic part of their everybody have sex with anyone anytime message since they don’t get their mark ups from abortion, pills and patches from this group.

I do think their was something missing from Planned Parenthood airlines. For example their was no cart going down the aisle with a portable suction device for when contraception fails. No message from the pilot calling "Is their an abortion doctor onboard?" Besides the pills, patches, and condoms falling from the ceiling compartment they forgot such necessities as drugs to treat STDs and the three-drug HIV cocktail. Also missing were the flight attendant counselors for women who later regret their abortions or the men who suffer from this "choice." Though there is one accurate thing about their airline was that there were not children. This is surely evidence of a PP airline.

We want young people to take control of their sexual health and well-being by using prevention every time they have sex.

Yes promoting promiscuous sex is really talking about control. As G.K. Chesteton said "Normal and real birth control is called self control."

As Dawn Eden mentions Planned Parenthood Golden Gate budget is 50 percent payed for by taxpayers which is mostly true for all of PP’s branches. Go to her site for information on backing Sen. Brownback’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood.

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Other

Philosophical product placement

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

SF Signal asks several SF authors If you ran Hollywood, what changes would you make? What would stay the same?

John C. Wright has an excellent response which centers around his complaint of "philosophical product placement" a term I find perfect in describing how so many films are ruined.

…Bollywood, movies from India, are more wholesome, more family-friendly, have better song and dance numbers, and notably more attractive actresses. The weft of the Culture of Death hangs over our Hollywood films, which I do not scent from these overseas films. It has been many a year since I have seen a Hollywood film that does not use "philosophical product placement" to thrust one or another particularly annoying little ad for their materialistic, mildly pinko, morally relative, or anti-American world view in my face. We see such things as would make Cicero or Marcus Aurelius blush with anger, not to mention John Adams and Tom Jefferson.

I am not talking about deliberately politicized films whose anti-American bias is bold and clear, like V for Vendetta or Starship Troopers. I am talking about a universal atmosphere. Even lighthearted kiddie fare like Happy Feet or space opera like Revenge of the Sith or epics like Beowulf cannot be told in a straightforward and honest fashion, a story for the sake of a story, but some little message has to be inserted either mocking religion, or sneering at George Bush, or belittling Christianity. I call it "product placement" because it is the intrusion, never where needed, of one extraneous line or extra quip that allows the film-maker to display his political correctness. And we all know that moral relativism and multiculturalism are good right? Because only a Sith would speak in absolutes.

His comments are not all negatives and lists that almost all of the top 20 films are science fiction and fantasy extravaganzas and that the quality of Babylon 5 and the new Battlestar Gallatica match anything else quality wise. He follows up his interview with a post on his blog answering a complaint.

…The first comment in the comments box chides me for not admiring the healthy dissent and vibrancy created by the willingness of mainstream cinema to call into question the core values of the society. Myself, I would retort that this is exactly my complaint: the core values of society are countercultural, and they are expressed with a lockstep uniformity I find both non-vibrant to the point of boring and non-healthy to the point of morbid.

In the past, the values of the culture and the counterculture were at odds, but were not necessarily enemies. The culture prized things like modesty, fidelity, sobriety, and thrift; the counterculture was kept in check until holidays or late nights after work was done, and it was permitted to express itself. The counterculture prizes things like bragging, sexual nonchalance, wild fun, and immediate self-gratification: it is the culture of Just Do It and of Fa-La-La Live For Today. The counterculture expressed itself in off-duty hours and drinking songs in much the same way the culture expressed itself in hymns and austere public monuments. The speeches made at graduation ceremonies are solemn (and forgettable) precisely because they are the most pure expression of the culture: graduation speeches are the last opportunity for the elders of the tribe to impart their wisdom to the next generation, to transmit the values of the culture. The ribald lyrics, mocking altar and crown, that workingmen sing over their mugs of beer at the public house after the children are abed, were an expression of the counterculture.

In terms of religion, the culture believed in things like the Holy Ghost, and the counterculture believed in things like ghost stories. No one wants to hear about saints when they are drinking a pint; but they don’t mind hearing about some eerie Oriental spiritualism. It is no coincidence that rock stars and film stars go in for Zen Zoroastrianism or the study of Wiccan Cabalism rather than Rotary Club Episcopalianism.

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Pro-life

Massive pro-family demonstration in Madrid

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Teresa Polk reports on the pro-family demonstration in Madrid that had a crowd of perhaps 2 million people.
As is usual in the media this is described as tens of thousands of people, though even the NYT mentioned an estimate of 1.5 million people.
The protest was organized in response to new Spanish laws recognizing homosexual unions and making divorce more readily available and included speeches on pro-life.

Interestingly Pope Benedict XVI spoke via a video screen to the people at the demonstration.

“Founded in the indissoluble union between man and woman, it is the place in which human life is sheltered and protected from its beginning until its natural end,” Pope Benedict said.

I was glad to find that the above picture was not the Pope’s speech to the Lilliputians.

Deal Hudson wonders if pro-life leaders here in the United States have ever asked the Pope to do the same thing for the March of Life? That would be great if he did since surely the March of Life contains a lot of Catholics and other churches and groups surely recognize the role the Pope’s have played in the pro-life cause.

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