Chinese police detained a Vatican-backed Catholic priest and blocked his ordination as a bishop, a parishioner said Thursday, in a move likely to raise tensions with the Holy See.
The detention of Joseph Sun Jigeng came as China's state-run Catholic church reportedly ordained another bishop without the consent of the Vatican, which stipulates ordinations can only go ahead with the Holy See's blessing.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Priest Arrested in China
From the AFP:
On the Mob
A good interview with Ann Coulter. The delivery of her first line, "They must be hard at work." is hilarious.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Source of the Problem
Two events transpired in Catholic USA this past weekend, one in Saint Louis and the other in Milwaukee. In the Rome of the West, the Archdiocese of St. Louis played host to a Eucharistic Congress that drew an impressive array of speakers. Appropriately, the congress fell on the same weekend as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. The idea behind the event was to highlight the preeminent role of the Holy Eucharist in the life of the Church for local Catholics. Sounds great!
The same weekend, I was back in my hometown of Milwaukee. Among other things, I met up with some friends, a young married couple, visiting from Ireland. The husband, a medical doctor, hails from Ireland and the Mrs. from Milwaukee. As one would expect, they took a little holiday to bring their kids stateside for a visit with grandma and grandpa. Over some drinks at a local pub, the Church and the spiritual life surfaced as topics. My friends informed me that they recently attended Sunday Mass at a local Milwaukee parish. I knew right when they said "Saint Sebastian Parish" that the news about what happened there would not be good. You see, Saint Sebs. is known as an uber-liberal parish in the archdiocese. In fact, the pro-choice, Democratic mayor of the city is a favorite son. Bracing myself for the worst, they informed me that the organist/pianist gave the homily and sang a duet with his wife (I gather a ditty from "Fiddler on the Roof") and naturally, there was no kneeling during the Eucharistic Prayer. The parish is a basket case of liturgical craziness. Even the smooth, gentle cadences of an Irish accent relaying the events couldn't soften the blow.
(On a related note, not too long ago, I received a text from a friend, another MD living out in San Diego that read, "Today at Mass the priest high-5'd everyone as he walked down the aisle during the entrance hymn. It was showtime at the Apollo after that.")
What is going on at our Catholic parishes in this country?
While I applaud initiatives like a weekend-long Eucharistic Congress, and acknowledge that much good can come from it, to be blunt, every liturgy should be a "Eucharistic Congress" of sorts. The problem is that, for several decades now, too many bishops in the United States have conspicuously failed to uphold and defend an authentic liturgical culture, that should be, by definition, all about the Eucharist. Meanwhile pastors and "liturgical committees" have run amok, introducing all shades of bizarre innovations and abuses that result in a scandalous undermining and marginalizing of the Real Presence.
Many Catholics have no true understanding of the Church's teaching on the Eucharist because, week after week, year after year and parish to parish, the creeping aberrations in liturgy have long since become normative. As Catholics, it's as though we've had our memories wiped clean of what the liturgy actually is all about. We are already on the second generation that is being reared in a liturgical culture that is severely distorted and gravely detached from our ancient traditions. Liturgy has become less Eucharistic, less God-centric, less vertical, and more horizontal, narcissistic, soft sofa and Oprahfied. One weekend Eucharistic Congress, however well intentioned, organized and executed, cannot make up for the decades-long phenomenon of an entrenched, aberrant liturgical culture. That problem needs to be confronted and corrected. In his own day, Saint Thomas More offered sobering thoughts on the responsibilities of bishops:
In short, the priorities of bishops should be:
1. Insist on "by-the-book" liturgies throughout the dioceses, at every parish, and follow up to make sure that this is being carried out. Be deadly serious when addressing abuses and the priests guilty of committing them. Many faithful lay Catholics are absolutely fed up with the Oprahfication going on in the Church. Stop treating us like we're nuisances when we bring abuses to your attention. We work hard in the real world, and face a lot of garbage from secular society. We're loyal to the Church even when it's not popular, and even when her leaders publicly mess up in a major way. We deserve to experience a liturgy that does not patronize us or remind us of the silliness out there. And so we also deserve bishops who listen to us.
2. Encourage, rather, insist on a far and wide dissemination of the Old Form of the Mass at many more parishes than what is currently available to Catholics. The Holy Father clearly believes that we have much to learn from the usus antiquior.
3. Bishops need to take the lead when it comes to liturgy and not delegate to a committee. You're a successor to the Apostles. Lead!
4. Demand greater sacramental life at every parish, i.e., increase Confession times, encourage more frequent Confession, wider access to Eucharistic adoration. (Something encouraged by the Eucharistic Congress, I am told.)
5. Catechize, Catechize, Catechize.
The same weekend, I was back in my hometown of Milwaukee. Among other things, I met up with some friends, a young married couple, visiting from Ireland. The husband, a medical doctor, hails from Ireland and the Mrs. from Milwaukee. As one would expect, they took a little holiday to bring their kids stateside for a visit with grandma and grandpa. Over some drinks at a local pub, the Church and the spiritual life surfaced as topics. My friends informed me that they recently attended Sunday Mass at a local Milwaukee parish. I knew right when they said "Saint Sebastian Parish" that the news about what happened there would not be good. You see, Saint Sebs. is known as an uber-liberal parish in the archdiocese. In fact, the pro-choice, Democratic mayor of the city is a favorite son. Bracing myself for the worst, they informed me that the organist/pianist gave the homily and sang a duet with his wife (I gather a ditty from "Fiddler on the Roof") and naturally, there was no kneeling during the Eucharistic Prayer. The parish is a basket case of liturgical craziness. Even the smooth, gentle cadences of an Irish accent relaying the events couldn't soften the blow.
(On a related note, not too long ago, I received a text from a friend, another MD living out in San Diego that read, "Today at Mass the priest high-5'd everyone as he walked down the aisle during the entrance hymn. It was showtime at the Apollo after that.")
What is going on at our Catholic parishes in this country?
While I applaud initiatives like a weekend-long Eucharistic Congress, and acknowledge that much good can come from it, to be blunt, every liturgy should be a "Eucharistic Congress" of sorts. The problem is that, for several decades now, too many bishops in the United States have conspicuously failed to uphold and defend an authentic liturgical culture, that should be, by definition, all about the Eucharist. Meanwhile pastors and "liturgical committees" have run amok, introducing all shades of bizarre innovations and abuses that result in a scandalous undermining and marginalizing of the Real Presence.
Many Catholics have no true understanding of the Church's teaching on the Eucharist because, week after week, year after year and parish to parish, the creeping aberrations in liturgy have long since become normative. As Catholics, it's as though we've had our memories wiped clean of what the liturgy actually is all about. We are already on the second generation that is being reared in a liturgical culture that is severely distorted and gravely detached from our ancient traditions. Liturgy has become less Eucharistic, less God-centric, less vertical, and more horizontal, narcissistic, soft sofa and Oprahfied. One weekend Eucharistic Congress, however well intentioned, organized and executed, cannot make up for the decades-long phenomenon of an entrenched, aberrant liturgical culture. That problem needs to be confronted and corrected. In his own day, Saint Thomas More offered sobering thoughts on the responsibilities of bishops:
Why do not bishops contemplate in this scene [the apostles sleeping in Garden of Gethsemane] their own somnolence? Since they have succeeded in the place of the apostles, would that they would reproduce their virtues just as eagerly as they embrace their authority and as faithfully as they display their sloth and sleepiness! For very many are sleepy and apathetic in sowing virtues among the people and maintaining the truth, while the enemies of Christ, in order to sow vices and uproot the faith (that is, insofar as they can, to seize Christ and cruelly crucify Him once again), are wide awake--so much wiser (as Christ says) are the sons of darkness in their generation than the sons of light.
In short, the priorities of bishops should be:
1. Insist on "by-the-book" liturgies throughout the dioceses, at every parish, and follow up to make sure that this is being carried out. Be deadly serious when addressing abuses and the priests guilty of committing them. Many faithful lay Catholics are absolutely fed up with the Oprahfication going on in the Church. Stop treating us like we're nuisances when we bring abuses to your attention. We work hard in the real world, and face a lot of garbage from secular society. We're loyal to the Church even when it's not popular, and even when her leaders publicly mess up in a major way. We deserve to experience a liturgy that does not patronize us or remind us of the silliness out there. And so we also deserve bishops who listen to us.
2. Encourage, rather, insist on a far and wide dissemination of the Old Form of the Mass at many more parishes than what is currently available to Catholics. The Holy Father clearly believes that we have much to learn from the usus antiquior.
3. Bishops need to take the lead when it comes to liturgy and not delegate to a committee. You're a successor to the Apostles. Lead!
4. Demand greater sacramental life at every parish, i.e., increase Confession times, encourage more frequent Confession, wider access to Eucharistic adoration. (Something encouraged by the Eucharistic Congress, I am told.)
5. Catechize, Catechize, Catechize.
Even Popes Tweet the News
A qualified embrace?
"It is important to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives." -Pope Benedict XVI
From NBC:
"It is important to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives." -Pope Benedict XVI
From NBC:
Pope Benedict XVI is on Twitter, and he tweets from an iPad.
His Holiness sent out an initial tweet, announcing the launch of a Vatican news portal. Vatican officials said the Pope personally sent out the social networking missive.
"Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI," read the tweet.
Cutting Funds
From Politico:
The Texas Legislature approved a bill Monday that would both compel the state to push the Obama administration to convert Texas’s Medicaid program into a block grant and defund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.
The omnibus health bill also includes a number of other controversial provisions, including plans to save $400 million over the next year by increasing the use of Medicaid managed care.
The legislation now goes to the desk of Gov. Rick Perry, who has been generally supportive of both the Medicaid reforms, as well as anti-abortion language.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Pathetic
From FoxNews:
I'm sure that some real Marines would love to have a chat with Diaz. I don't think there would be a translation problem.
A man was arrested after he donned an army uniform and posed as a soldier so that he would get bumped up to first class on a flight from the Dominican Republic to New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, the New York Post reported Monday.
Rock Diaz, 22, of Long Island, has a history of pretending to be a military man to get VIP treatment, according to police -- he once even smooth-talked his way into a jetliner's cockpit, where he was photographed sitting at the controls.
He was busted when a sharp-eyed customs official at JFK asked him his rank -- and he gave an answer that did not match the insignia on the uniform he was wearing. ...
Diaz -- who sources said never served in the military -- also had a black POW patch on his sleeve, which an actual soldier would never wear in that spot, the sources said. His dog tags were comically engraved with the words, "USA Marines Corp."
The Spanish-speaking Diaz said that he did nothing wrong and blamed any confusion on a language barrier.
"I never asked to get upgraded. The stewardess offered me a new seat, and I asked why. They explained it to me in English, and I did not understand," Diaz said. "I moved where they told me to sit."
I'm sure that some real Marines would love to have a chat with Diaz. I don't think there would be a translation problem.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The "I'm Catholic, but..." Situation
It's stories like this that get the blood boiling and has me reaching for another Smirnoff Ice. From the The Christian Science Monitor
It's that final observation by Jones, utterly stupid, nonsensical and yet so pervasive, that sums up the situation resulting from a notable lacuna in leadership from bishops in this country over the past several decades.
Many traditional religions, including Catholicism, prohibit homosexual relations and marriage. Still, many adherents find ways to distance themselves from those teachings, without abandoning their faith.
Mr. Jones says there is an unofficial traditional among American Catholics of differing with the church on controversial social issues. He says that many Catholics support the use of artificial birth control and the death penalty, both of which the Church officially opposes.
Most Catholics “have a pretty good sense that they can make up their own minds,” Jones says, “and still be in good standing with the Catholic Church.”
It's that final observation by Jones, utterly stupid, nonsensical and yet so pervasive, that sums up the situation resulting from a notable lacuna in leadership from bishops in this country over the past several decades.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Line in the Sand
Now that New York has its gay "marriage" law (no surprise there), the leadership of the Catholic Church in that state should reflect hard on how to deal with the Catholic legislators and governor who have maniacally pursued this degenerate agenda from its inception to its consummation this evening.
Will these shameless politicians be allowed to continue touting their Catholicism with impunity after betraying it so egregiously?
Will Archbishop Dolan finally exercise the ultimate means available to him to duly punish the renegade Catholics?
Let's get to the point: Is excommunication in order?
I am concerned that many of the higher ups, cautious as ever with rocking the boat, will simply view this sorry episode as a battle lost, and posit a "moving on" approach as the best course of action.
I hope I'm wrong.
Will these shameless politicians be allowed to continue touting their Catholicism with impunity after betraying it so egregiously?
Will Archbishop Dolan finally exercise the ultimate means available to him to duly punish the renegade Catholics?
Let's get to the point: Is excommunication in order?
I am concerned that many of the higher ups, cautious as ever with rocking the boat, will simply view this sorry episode as a battle lost, and posit a "moving on" approach as the best course of action.
I hope I'm wrong.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
President "I"
What is it with this guy? He does this all the time. You'd think his speechwriters would say, "Um, Mr. President, you should probably cut back a bit on the creepy, subconscious narcissism." (For some reason, the last 10 seconds or so of the clip is off, but you get the idea.)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Forcing Modesty
From Reuters:
Maybe some churches should follow suit during the dog days of summer. Quite often, I am stunned by what some women get away with wearing into church.
As a matter of fact, as chagrined as I am by the tendency over the past couple of decades to create new "ministers" for every responsibility within the church that should belong to priests, I am making it known here that I would gladly volunteer myself as a Modesty Minister so that I could hand out oversized black smocks to "skimpily dressed" Mass attendees as they enter the vestibule. I say black because I wouldn't want to see any resemblance between the smocks and the gaudy, chintzy chasubles I've seen at some churches.
No!
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Skimpily dressed visitors to New York City's main jail complex can only see inmates if they cover up with an oversized, baggy, green T-shirt as part of a new dress code.
The new rules at Rikers Island aim to maintain a "family friendly" environment at the jail.
Maybe some churches should follow suit during the dog days of summer. Quite often, I am stunned by what some women get away with wearing into church.
As a matter of fact, as chagrined as I am by the tendency over the past couple of decades to create new "ministers" for every responsibility within the church that should belong to priests, I am making it known here that I would gladly volunteer myself as a Modesty Minister so that I could hand out oversized black smocks to "skimpily dressed" Mass attendees as they enter the vestibule. I say black because I wouldn't want to see any resemblance between the smocks and the gaudy, chintzy chasubles I've seen at some churches.
No!
Gore Favors Fewer Children
Al Gore reflects on climate change and demographics. From The Daily Caller:
Sick stuff.
“One of the things we could do about it is to change the technologies, to put out less of this pollution, to stabilize the population, and one of the principle ways of doing that is to empower and educate girls and women,” Gore said. “You have to have ubiquitous availability of fertility management so women can choose how many children have, the spacing of the children.
“You have to lift child survival rates so that parents feel comfortable having small families and most important — you have to educate girls and empower women,” he said. “And that’s the most powerful leveraging factor, and when that happens, then the population begins to stabilize and societies begin to make better choices and more balanced choices.”
Sick stuff.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Buried Detail of Health Care Law
From the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed. ...
Up to 3 million more people could qualify for Medicaid in 2014 as a result of the anomaly. That's because, in a major change from today, most of their Social Security benefits would no longer be counted as income for determining eligibility. It might be compared to allowing middle-class people to qualify for food stamps.
Medicare chief actuary Richard Foster says the situation keeps him up at night.
"I don't generally comment on the pros or cons of policy, but that just doesn't make sense," Foster said during a question-and-answer session at a recent professional society meeting.
About Time
On Wisconsin!
From the JSOnline:
From the JSOnline:
Madison - Wisconsin stands on the verge of becoming the 49th state in the country to allow concealed guns, with the state Assembly expected to pass the concealed carry bill on Tuesday.
The bill to allow the concealed carry of weapons has passed the Senate, so approval in the Assembly would send the bill to Gov. Scott Walker, who supports the measure.
Invasion
From the Associated Press
I'm a little ambivalent about this, leaning toward the negative. As it is, where can't you go these days without spotting people meandering around, eyes and minds utterly fixated on the bright, flashing screens of their little mobile devises, ipods and ipads? You see it all the time at restaurants, in churches, at cafes, in the home, at work, while walking. The list goes on, and children and adults are both utterly hooked. The phenomenon of withdrawing inside a handheld devise, and away from the other before you, is ubiquitous, and in my opinion, dangerous. There may be certain benefits, but at what cost?
ROME – The Vatican is betting an iPod beats "Shush!" in lowering the tour guide noise level in basilicas.
It will even lend you one for free to try to prove its point.
From a tiny booth in the back of St. John in Lateran, the Holy See's pilgrim agency has been quietly asking tourists if they want to tour Rome's oldest basilica with an iPod in hand loaded with an app specially designed to access the place's art, architecture and Christian history.
I'm a little ambivalent about this, leaning toward the negative. As it is, where can't you go these days without spotting people meandering around, eyes and minds utterly fixated on the bright, flashing screens of their little mobile devises, ipods and ipads? You see it all the time at restaurants, in churches, at cafes, in the home, at work, while walking. The list goes on, and children and adults are both utterly hooked. The phenomenon of withdrawing inside a handheld devise, and away from the other before you, is ubiquitous, and in my opinion, dangerous. There may be certain benefits, but at what cost?
A Blind Eye to Racism
From well-known conservative and African-American economist Walter Williams:
Born in- 1936, I've lived through some of our openly racist history, which has included racist insults, beatings and lynchings. Tuskegee Institute records show that between the years 1880 and 1951, 3,437 blacks and 1,293 whites were lynched. I recall my cousin's and my being chased out of Fishtown and Grays Ferry, two predominantly Irish Philadelphia neighborhoods, in the 1940s, not stopping until we reached a predominantly black North or South Philly neighborhood.
Today all that has changed. Most racist assaults are committed by blacks. What's worse is there're blacks, still alive, who lived through the times of lynching, Jim Crow laws and open racism who remain silent in the face of it. ...
In many of these brutal attacks, the news media make no mention of the race of the perpetrators. If it were white racist gangs randomly attacking blacks, the mainstream media would have no hesitation reporting the race of the perps. Editors for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune admitted to deliberately censoring information about black crime for political reasons. Chicago Tribune Editor Gerould Kern recently said that the paper's reason for censorship was to "guard against subjecting an entire group of people to suspicion."
Monday, June 20, 2011
???BOSTONCATHOLIC???
Saints Peter, Paul and James: Bishops. Martyrs. Saints. Look to them.
From LifeSiteNews:
BOSTON, June 20, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A ‘gay-friendly’ parish in Boston is celebrating a victory after leaders in the parish said the archdiocese of Boston had given permission to reschedule a Mass intended to celebrate Boston’s gay pride month for a less controversial date.
The Mass, with the theme “All Are Welcome,” has been rescheduled for July 10 after the archbishop’s office rejected an earlier date that diocesan officials said implied too much cooperation with the city’s gay pride celebrations.
However, it was not only the date that gave the impression of support for gay pride. The original statement in the church bulletin announcing the mass had explicitly invited “all friends and supporters of the LGBT community to a Mass in celebration of Boston’s Pride Month.”’...
Local conservative Catholics met news of the Rainbow Ministry’s prayer service with dismay. C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts called the service a “tragedy” that revealed “a massive failure of formation and catechesis in Saint Cecilia’s Parish.”
“The archdiocese is neglecting the spiritual welfare of the people of St. Cecilia’s by refusing to give them the full truth of Catholic teaching,” Doyle told LifeSiteNews.com Monday afternoon. “Clearly this Mass, if it is allowed to go forward, will be both a scandal and a sacrilege.”
Contact information:
Archdiocese of Boston
66 Brooks Drive
Braintree, MA 02184-3839
Telephone: 617-254-0100
What is going on in Boston? It seems like a perfect microcosm for what has been going on in the US Catholic Church for decades now. You see, what Catholics in America need today are bishops who lead without fear, not timid men who cave and cower before frenzied, mob-like lobbies. Our bishops ought to reflect and draw inspiration and courage from the example of their predecessors, the Apostles. After all, if the bishops won't lead out of fear, what will happen to the flock?
No Joke
This actually appeared on CNN. Thank you, Fareed Zakaria. How embarrassing. Sad thing is, I bet a lot of people would endorse this. Constitutional amendment via Facebook. Madison must be rolling over in his grave.
Iceland is using citizens' ideas drawn from Facebook and Twitter to rewrite its Constitution. Is it time for the United States to do the same? Fareed Zakaria explores the question.
We all know how Americans revere the Constitution, so I was struck by the news that tiny, little Iceland is actually junking its own Constitution and starting anew using an unusual - some would say innovative - mechanism.
The nation decided it needed a new Constitution and it's soliciting ideas from all of Iceland's 320,000 citizens with the help of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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