Persecution Watch: The World

A recent study from the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life found "Nearly a third of the world’s people live in nations where practicing religion freely is becoming increasingly difficult," reports CNN.

This news, which comes from data gathered between 2006-2009, will come as no surprise to readers of this blog.

From CNN, a snippet:

“The increasing levels of social hostilities is a definite trend that needs to be watched carefully,” said Brian Grim, the primary researcher for the study.

Grim said the Pew Center’s report on 198 countries found those that were already restrictive or abusive in the previous report continued their decline. Those that were tolerant became more so. The study found that 101 governments used force against religious groups or individuals.

He said Christians and Muslims, who make up more than half of the world’s population, were harassed in the most number of countries, though that did not reflect the intensity of the persecution.

The Middle East and North Africa had the largest proportion of nations where curbs on religion went up, the study found. Nearly a third of those nations imposed greater restrictions. It was particularly bad in Egypt, the study said [more].

Now if CNN would just catch up with the recent report from Aid to the Church in Need that demonstrates 3/4 of all religious persecution is directed towards Christians.

Eytmology of parish

I know that our word "parish" has its origins in the Greek word meaning "sojourner."  I'd like to speak about this in my homily this weekend.

Do any you kind readers know of any pertinent references in the Fathers on this topic?

Persecution Watch: China

From Catholic World News:

Chinese authorities have released a Catholic priest who had spent 4 months in prison in Hebei because of his refusal to join the government-backed Catholic Patriotic Association. But in Shandong, 4 other priests have been arrested for the same reason.

Father Joseph Chen Hailong, a priest of the “underground” Catholic Church, was held in solitary confinement for 2 months, deprived of food and sleep, and harangued about his resistance to the Patriotic Association. The faithful of his Xuanhua diocese never knew where he was being held, and even after his release Father Chen did not know the location of the prison where he had been kept.

Even as Father Chen was freed, police in Shandong arrested 4 priests who were conducting a spiritual retreat for “underground” clergy of the Heze diocese. Taken into custody on August 3, these priests were denied food and water for two days, and subjected to pressure to enlist in the Patriotic Association. Local Catholics have appealed to the Vatican, and to faithful Catholics in other countries, to press Chinese authorities for their release [more].

Time Magazine attacks Catholic Church in article on S&P downgrade

Several readers of this blog are continuously telling me the media is not out to attack the Catholic Church, but opening lines such as this one printed in Time on an article about Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of the US credit rating proves them wrong:

Having Standard & Poor's downgrade th creditworthiness of the U.S., and warn the country about further downgrades, is a little like having the Catholic Church lecture Scout leaders on the proper behavior toward boys.

Creditworthiness and sexual abuse have nothing to do with each other and attempting to relate them to each other shows the author's animosity towards the Catholic Church, and Times as well, since the magazine chose to publish such a ridiculous statement.

What is more, the author, Bill Saporito, managing editor at Time, could easily have inserted any number of other institutions to make his unrelated analogy.

Bill Donohue from The Catholic League responded in these words:

This vicious, and wholly gratuitous, smear of the entire Catholic Church demands an apology. Vicious analogies citing other demographic groups—on this same subject—could have been made, but they would never have been published. Which means that persons other than Saporito should also issue an apology to Roman Catholics. We might expect this kind of cruel remark from some no-name angry blogger, but not from a high-ranking person at Time [more].

Yes, it does demand an apology, but I won't wait around for one.

Persecution Watch: Egypt

From the Catholic News Service:

Looting and burning homes, thousands of Muslims attacked a largely Christian village in southern Egypt on the night of August 7-8. A local priest was beaten, and a 50-year-old layman was murdered.

A Christian on a motorcycle hit a Muslim in the hours before the attack on Nazlet Faragallah, Agence France-Presse reported. The Assyrian Information News Agency stated that prior to the attack on the village, Muslims were harassing Christian girls and hurling stones at a church on August 7. Security officials alleged that Christians had opened fire on worshippers at a mosque on August 7--a claim that local Christians deny [more].

Star Wars: Hawaii Five-O

For your viewing pleasure, I share with you the following video I saw over at OMNIApost, Star Wars: The Hawaii Five-O Version:



Thanks, Father Selvester!

The conflict between Caesar and conscience

Saint Thomas More has often been called the most significant personage of the sixteenth century and of our century.

Writing for The Catholic Thing, Fr. James Schall, S.J. reflects on what he calls the "conflict between Caesar and conscience":

When he was Chancellor of England, More, at morning Mass, “would don the garb of an acolyte and reverently serve the altar.” This service led to the famous quip of the Duke of Norfolk that, as a “parish altar-boy,” he demeaned both the King and his own Office. More saw farther than the Duke. “It cannot,” he replied, “be displeasing to my Lord the King, that I pay homage to the King’s Lord.

Such words, recalled in 1935 on the day of More’s canonization, call our attention to the fact that this “ancient conflict” remains in our very midst. We see politicians casting their lots with Henry successors, with those who see nothing higher than the state that is now able and capable of enforcing issues of human worth far more aberrant than those with which More had to deal.

It is not just the head of the Chancellor that is being literally lopped off in our time. We hardly notice. We have politicians, Catholic ones, who implicitly side with Henry. The bishops? Let’s hope, we have more than one John Fisher. But Walsh was right; the issue is the same once we reduce it to principle.

Bitter sweet

A short time ago I started looking through my "recently found" places in my handy GPS to find the quickest way.  As I sorted through the addresses I was caught a bit off guard by such places as Makapu'u and Haleiwa and Diamon Head, all of which are in Hawai'i.

For a brief moment happy memories returned and then, coming back to reality, I found the address I sought.  Now it's time to try to get off of "island time" for errands call and then a gathering with the seminarians and Mass with the Bishop.

On God's Dog

Today Holy Mother Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Dominic, a.k.a. God's Dog.  Here follow a few links that may be of interest to you in learning more about the founder of the Order of Preachers:

• Over at Godzdogz, the friars have a short biography of Saint Dominic;
• The New Theological Movement encourages you to let St. Dominic teach you how to pray a holy hour;
• Catholic Fire has a bit longer biography of Saint Dominic and explains why he is called God's Dog;

A lot replaced

This morning work has begun on the Cathedral parking lot.  Workers have already taken up half of the parking lot and will soon replace the entire lot, which is very much in need of being replaced.

Here are a few pictures of the work thus work, taken about half an hour ago from the window of my living room:

Needless to say, it's been a noisy morning around here.

Homily - 7 August 2011

The Nineteenth Sunday of the Year (A)

Dear brothers and sisters,

What is it that the prophet Elijah heard that caused him to hide his face in his cloak before going out to meet the Lord (see I Kings 19:13)?  We are told: “After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound,” a sound that the Hebrew text literally describes as “a sound that was no sound” (I Kings 19:12).  The man of God hid his face because the Lord spoke to him in the silence of his heart; he hid his face and went out to meet the Lord.

There “at the mountain of God, Horeb,” the very mountain on which the Lord spoke with Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments, Elijah could well sing with the Psalmist, “I will hear what God proclaims, the Lord – for he proclaims peace.  Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land” (Psalm 85:9-10).

With Saint Paul, the prophet Elijah, who only a short time before proved victorious over 450 priests of Baal, felt “great sorrow and constant anguish in [his] heart” (Romans 9:2).  Having heard of the deaths of her 450 priests, Queen Jezebel sought Elijah’s life.  So distraught was he, so exhausted through his fear, that he said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life” (I Kings 19:4).

But the Lord instead gave him food and drink, saying to him, “Arise and eat, else the journey will be too long for you” (I Kings 19:7).  Elijah did as he was told and walked forty days and nights to Mount Horeb.

Gathered at this altar of the Lord we, too, have come to the mountain of God.  Many here are also filled with great sorrow and constant anguish, and the tiny boats of their lives are “being tossed about by the waves” (Matthew 14:25).  Here the Lord wishes to feed us with his own Body and Blood, for without the nourishment of his own life the journey will be too strong for us; our own strength – as in the case of Elijah and of Peter - is not sufficient.

The Lord comes to us at every celebration of the Holy Mass, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:).  But if we are to hear his voice and recognize him, we must say with the Psalmist: “I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for his word” (Psalm 130:5).  Like the prophet Elijah, we must wait for the Lord in silence for in the stillness “kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss” (Psalm 85:11).

For this reason, Holy Mother Church urges us to observe silence within the worship of God: 

Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is to be observed at the designated times.  Its purpose, however, depends on the time it occurs in each part of the celebration. Thus within the Act of Penitence and again after the invitation to pray, all recollect themselves; but at the conclusion of a reading or the homily, all meditate briefly on what they have heard; then after Communion, they praise and pray to God in their hearts.

Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence to be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner.[1]

The periods of silence observed throughout the Mass and before are meant to help us quiet ourselves so as to hear the voice of God speaking within the depths of our souls, to hear that sound that is no sound, that tiny whisper, that we might be aware of him in whose presence we are in.

Reflecting on the necessity of silence, Pope Benedict XVI has said: 

And here a fundamental idea appears on the way towards the Truth: creatures must be silent, leaving space for the silence in which God can speak. This is still true in our day too. At times there is a sort of fear of silence, of recollection, of thinking of one's own actions, of the profound meaning of one's life. All too often people prefer to live only the fleeting moment, deceiving themselves that it will bring lasting happiness; they prefer to live superficially, without thinking, because it seems easier; they are afraid to seek the Truth or perhaps afraid that the Truth will find us, will take hold of us and change our life.[2]

It is in silence, then, that we must wait for him, trusting that “the Lord himself will give his benefits,” as Saint Peter knew so very well (Psalm 85:13).

It must have been a difficult time for Peter and he surely began to question having left everything behind at Jesus’ unexpected invitation: “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19).  After having taught the crowds in parables, Jesus was rejected at Nazareth and Herod had just beheaded John the Baptist.  Would the same fate befall Peter?  It seemed likely enough, especially since the Master sent his disciples across the sea as a storm was brewing.  Jesus had taken hold of Peter from that first moment and wanted to change his life, but would Peter allow the Lord to do so?

As he was tossed about by the waves with the great sorrow and constant anguish in his heart, Peter was overjoyed when he heard the voice of the Lord; he had waited for the Lord and the Lord had come to him.

Indeed, so great was Peter’s excitement that he “felt an intense need to touch him, to feel him near, a desire to go to him that was so strong that he didn’t even think to wait until Jesus got into the boat.”[3]  And so, as he did before, Peter followed the call of the Lord.  Earlier he abandoned his boat and his nets to follow Jesus; now he again abandons the boat to go to him.

As long as Peter kept his gaze fixed on Jesus, that is, as long as he looked to Jesus in faith and remained courageous, the waves did not overpower him, for “we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7).  But as soon as he let his fear take hold, thinking the storm more powerful than the Master, he was overcome by the waves.

Sinking into the waters, Peter’s “anguish was complete: he realized that he was sinking not out of weakness but out of pride and that death would not seal his powerlessness but his rebellion.”[4]  He doubted Jesus’ power to guard those he calls to himself.  But regaining at least some of his faith, Peter called out, “Lord, save me!” and the Lord caught him (Matthew 14:30)!

My brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to step out of the relative safety of your boats onto the waters that seem ready to engulf you.  Look through the winds and the waves and see the Lord already coming toward you.  Be still and silent, and listen for his voice: “It is I.  Come” (Matthew 14:27, 29).  Walk out to meet him, for 

the Lord is continuously holding out his hand to us too. He does so through the beauty of a Sunday; he does so through the solemn liturgy; he does so in the prayer with which we address him; he does so in the encounter with the Word of God; he does so in many situations of daily life - he holds his hand out to us. And only if we take the Lord's hand, if we let ourselves be guided by him, will the path we take be right and good.[5]

 
Let him take hold of your hand, let him lead you through the storms; let him you lift you out of the murky waters of despair, sorrow and anguish; let him change your life.  Do not rebel against him, but yield to the strength of his love and you will know the kindness of the Lord and be saved, for he proclaims peace.  Amen.

---

[1] General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 45.  Note omitted.

[2] Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience Address, 25 August 2010.

[3] Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori, O. Cist., Simon, Called Peter: In the Company of a Man in Search of God.  Matthew Sherry, trans.  (San Francisco, California: Ignatius Press, 2010), 39.

[4] Ibid., 41.

[5] Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, 10 August 2008.

Looking to give alms?

Updated:

There is a young man, Logan Cox, from the Diocese who will serve with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) this coming year.

He is currently just $32 per month shy of his fundraising goal.

If you're looking for a good cause for your alms giving and want to help with his efforts, please make a donation.  Mahalo for your generosity!

Ireland's Carousel of Condemenation

In an editorial published today in the Irish Independent, the paper examines the recent media reactions in Ireland to the sexual abuse scandal and to the plea of a presidential candidate seeking mercy for a friend of his convicted on charges of pedophilia.  It is an encouraging sign to see some in the media pointing out that the media typically uses one rule for those on the left and another rule for those on the right.

The text of the editorial follows, with my emphases and comments:

The double standard of liberal Ireland has never been more starkly revealed than by its reaction to the David Norris revelations this week.

Had a bishop, or even a prominent conservative politician or commentator, written a similar letter to a court pleading for clemency in a statutory rape case, the condemnations of that person would have been heard the length and breadth of the country for days on end.

David Norris has had to withdraw from the presidential race, but if a well-known Catholic such as Senator Ronan Mullen had written that letter, his political career would be over as well [to be sure, such a Catholic's political should be ended; in justice, though, anyone's political career should be ended, whether Catholic or not.  Herein lies the problem of the bias and double standard]. He would be hauled before some Seanad committee or other in the manner of an Ivor Callely, and reduced to atoms.

David Norris's supporters say he acted in a misguided way because of love. But if Senator Mullen had written a letter seeking clemency on behalf of a priest who happened also to be a childhood friend, no such excuse would be granted. He would still be destroyed.

Senator Mullen would be annihilated for the letter alone. If it then was discovered that he constantly touted this priest, years after the priest's conviction, as a 'human rights' standard-bearer because of work he did with say, the homeless, it would be so much the worse for him.

And if it was discovered that he had given an interview some years before in which he seemed to justify pederasty and opposed a legal age of consent, he would have to leave the country such would be the opprobrium heaped on him.

For one thing his views on pederasty and the age of consent would be read in light of his defence of his friend.

When liberal Ireland doesn't like you, and you give them an opportunity to condemn and vilify you, they do so with relish.

Thus, when Kevin Myers used the word 'bastard' in a column on single mothers some years back he was put on the Carousel of Condemnation and not allowed off it for a week.

When Mary Ellen Synon wrote a column in which she made admittedly over-the-top remarks about the Paralympics, she was also condemned for a week and her career was very badly damaged.

Similarly Cardinal Desmond Connell was put on the Carousel of Condemnation on several occasions for perceived offences that had nothing to do with the child abuse scandals.

One was when he said that it was a 'sham' for a Catholic to receive Communion in a Protestant Church because it indicated a union with that Church which didn't exist.

Cue another week of condemnation.

Another was when he said his Church of Ireland counterpart, Archbishop Walton Empey, was not a high-flyer theologically.

And then there was the time David Norris himself had great fun at Cardinal Connell's expense when he said Connell "knew a lot more about angels than fairies".

We all know how the Carousel of Condemnation works.

Had RTE chosen to put Norris on it, they would have invited condemnations from the Rape Crisis Network, One in Four, the ISPCC, the Children's Rights Alliance and as many politicians and commentators as they could find, and then they would have played the condemnations over and over again on an endless loop until they got their man.


But this didn't happen in the case of David Norris.

Why not? Why wasn't he placed on the Carousel of Condemnation in the manner of a Kevin Myers, a Mary Ellen Synon or a Desmond Connell?

The reason is that he is a man of the left and that has to mean he is a person of essential goodness, a nice man with nice views, whereas those who are on the right hold horrible views and are quite likely to be horrible people as well.

So while a person of the left might make a mistake, the mistake will most likely arise from misplaced compassion and never from malice. Therefore, forgiveness and mercy must be extended.

Notably, even Ezra Nawi is starting to receive some favourable notices in our media despite his conviction for statutory rape because he is pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli and therefore he must be essentially good as well.

But because those on the right hold such malignant views, no forgiveness and no mercy must ever be shown.

When someone on the right steps out of line and says or does something wrong, it must be exploited to the full and they must be destroyed as an example to others.

In any case, it is only just punishment for holding such views.

We now live in a country where there is one rule for those on the left and a totally different one for those on the right.

David Norris's presidential bid might be in ruins, but because he is one of the 'good guys', he can rest assured that his political career will continue. He is a direct beneficiary of a double standard now so naked it has become a national problem.

I may have to start using that Carousel of Condemnation phrase; it fits all too well here across the Atlantic.

The difference climate makes

Last evening, the temperatures having finally cooled to a decent level, I decided to go for what I intended to be a rather long walk, for at least an hour each way.

When I was in Hawaii a short time ago I went for long walks - and more - at least twice a day.  I thought nothing of rising from bed, saying my morning prayers and then walking an hour to the beach, going for a swim and then walking back to the Cathedral for the Noon Mass.  In the afternoon I would often go out again.  One morning I went to the east coast and spent a couple of hours climbing Makapu'u and then that same afternoon I went hiking through a rain forest for a couple of hours to see Manoa Falls (though I did feel it a bit the next day):

Manoa Falls

At any rate, when I set out last I realized within the first ten minutes of the walk that my left hip and my right knee would only let me walk for about forty-five minutes, and even that with some discomfort.

Oh, what a difference climate makes!

In honor of the day

Holy Mother Church celebrates today the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, the largest of the Roman churches dedicated to the Mother of God.

Inside the basilica, above the great triumphal arch, one finds the following mosaic:

Of this image Pope Benedict XVI - then-Cardinal Ratzinger - has written:

In the middle, above the arch of triumph, to which the aisles lead, where we would expect the birth of Christ to be represented, we find instead only an empty throne and on it a crown, a ruler's mantle, and the cross.  On the footstool lies the bundle of history like a pillow bound together with seven red threads.  The empty throne, the cross, and history at its feet - that is the Christmas image of this church, which claimed and claims to be the Bethlehem of Rome.  Why?  If we wish to understand the image we have first to recall that the arch of triumph stands above the crypt that originally was built as the replica of the cave of Bethlehem in which Christ came into the world.  Here the relic was and is still venerated that according to tradition is the manger of Bethlehem.  So here the procession of history, all the splendor of the mosaics, is abruptly pulled down into the cave, into the stable.  The image falls down into reality.  The throne is empty, for the Lord has come down into the stable.  The central mosaic, to which everything leads, is likewise only the hand that is extended to us so that we might discover that leap from the images to reality.  The rythym of the space pulls us into a sudden change when it thrusts us out of the brilliant heights of ancient art in the mosaics directly into the depth of the cave, of the stable.  It seeks to lead us into the transition from religious aestheticism to the act of faith (Images of Hope: Meditations on Major Feasts, 18-19).

The mosaic is a reminder to us that "Jesus Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:5-7).

In the homily he preached at his inaugural Mass of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI put it slightly different in these moving words:

The human race – every one of us – is the sheep lost in the desert which no longer knows the way. The Son of God will not let this happen; he cannot abandon humanity in so wretched a condition. He leaps to his feet and abandons the glory of heaven, in order to go in search of the sheep and pursue it, all the way to the Cross. He takes it upon his shoulders and carries our humanity; he carries us all – he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

At the same time, though, the empty throne also calls to mind the fact that the one who left the throne to be born in Bethlehem will also be enthroned forever around whom the faithful will be gathered to endlessly cry out, "To him who sits upon the throne adn to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever" (Revelation 5:13)!

An evening with Equestrian Order

Last evening, His Excellency Bishop Paprocki celebrated the Holy Mass with the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem at the annual gathering of the Knights of Ladies living within the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

Eighteen Knights and Ladies - of whom four are priests and one a deacon (the Bishop, too, is a Knight) were present for Mass to pray for the needs of the Holy Land the repose of His Excellency the Most Reverend Pietro Sambi, formerly not only Apostolic Nuncio to the United States but also Apostolic Nuncio to Israel.

They are, for the most part, a quiet and small group whose works and purpose are little known by the faithful as a whole.

The Equestrian Order has its chief tasks the following purposes stated in the Constitution of 1977:

1. To strengthen in its members the practice of Christian life, in absolute fidelity to the Supreme Pontiff and according to the teachings of the Church, observing as its foundation the principles of charity of which the Order is a fundamental means for assistance to the Holy Land.
2. To sustain and aid the charitable, cultural, and social works and institutions of the Holy Land, particularly those of and in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem with which the Order maintains traditional ties.
3. To support the preservation and propagation of the faith in those lands, interesting in this work the Catholics scattered through the world, united in charity by the symbol of the Order, and also all brother Christians.
4. To sustain the rights of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.

To this end, Bishop Paprocki told the Knights and Ladies:

Membership in our Order should, in the words of Blessed Pope John Paul II, "make you feel more and more the burden and responsibility of distinguishing your toil with an exemplary Christian life with consistent and generous adherence to Christ and to the Church.  In this say," the Pope said, "you will give before the world the best confirmation of the reason for its existence and activity."  I, too, urge you to distinguish yourselves in this way so that more men and women might be added to our Equestrian Order.

As our membership increases, so, too, will our holiness and our ability to help foster the faith of Jesus Christ in the Holy Land and to lend our prayers and financial support to our often persecuted brothers and sisters living in Jerusalem and the surrounding environs.

The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is the only Order of Chivalry under the protection of the Holy See, with membership in the Order being the highest papal honor bestowed on both laity and clergy.

The Order has its origins in A.D. 1099 when it was established by Duke Godfrey de Bouillon - one of the Nine Worthies known the medievals, among whom was King Arthur - who gathered together knights who were willing to give their lives defending the newly recovered Holy Sepulchre, the tomb in which the crucified body of Jesus Christ was laid to rest.  The Holy Sepulchre was recovered through Godfrey's distinguished and capable leadership and the Kingdom of Jerusalem was established.  When he established the Kingdom, Godfrey refused to be made King of Jerusalem because he did want to crowned with the gold in the city where Christ was crowned with thornes.  Godfrey's successors, beginning with his brother Baldwin, did not feel the same.

The new Order received Papal approval in 1113 from Pope Pascal II and was reorganized in 1847 by Pope Pius IX.

For the symbol of the Order, Godfrey chose his own insignia, the Red Cross of the Five Wounds of Christ, more commonly known as the Jerusalem Cross:

When used by Godfrey, the crosses were gold but for the Order they were changed to red.

In the early years of the Order, the Knights took the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience and wore white robes marked with the Red Cross of the Five Wounds of Christ.  The knights also followed a Rule.

Curiously, one might say the Order was "ahead of its time" when in 1888 Pope Leo XIII allowed women to be admitted to the Order as Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre.  Doyle says of this permission: "This was not to be a 'ladies auxiliary,' but women were to be admitted to all degrees of rank on the same basis as men and to wear the insignia of those degrees."  This bit of historical trivia might be helpful when someone says the Church is always trying to suppress women.

The Order celebrates four patronal feast days throughout the year: the feast of Saint Helena on August 18th; the feast of Pope Saint Pius X on August 21st; the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14th; and the feast of Our Lady of Palestine on the last Sunday of October.

Members of the Order are moved by a profound love of the Cross of Jesus Cross and by a deep concern for the Holy Land, both its places and its people.  As William J. Doyle, Knight Grand Cross, has written, "membership in this Order entails a personal, solemn commitment to an active apostolate, namely, the fostering and support of a viable, vigorous Christian Presence in the Holy Land."

It has been said that the head or the Order is in Rome, but the heart of the Order is in Jerusalem.

Friend named Director of Communications and Planning for Archdiocese of St. Louis

His Excellency the Most Reverend Robert Carlson has appointed Kathleen Pescha, a good friend of mine from Quincy, Director of Communications and Planning for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
The press release follows, with my emphases:

St. Louis, MO—Today Archbishop Robert J. Carlson announced that Kathleen (Katie) Pesha has been hired as the Executive Director of Communications and Planning for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Ms. Pesha’s first day with the archdiocese will be August 29, 2011.

"We are excited to add Katie's unique blend of professional and ministry experience to the Archdiocese of St. Louis," said Archbishop Carlson. "Her understanding of the transformation of the media industry, mixed with her deep-rooted passion for Jesus Christ, will help move our communication initiatives to a new level.”

In this newly established position, Ms. Pesha will be responsible for implementing the recently-released communications strategy across the archdiocese, which includes oversight of marketing and mission awareness, community relations, publications including the St. Louis Review, and pastoral planning.

Ms. Pesha comes to the Archdiocese from USA TODAY where she has served as the National Director, Higher Education Programs since 2009 and has held various other roles since 2003. While at USA TODAY, Ms. Pesha managed the business development efforts for her department to ensure a successful transition to a multi-media news and information company.

Ms. Pesha is an active member of St. Joseph Parish in Cottleville, MO, where she has previously served on the Life Teen core team and currently serves on the core team for Crossroads St. Charles, a young adult ministry in the St. Charles Deanery of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Prior to moving to St. Louis, Ms. Pesha resided in Quincy, IL and was an active member of Great River Teens Encounter Christ. She holds her BS in Business Management from Quincy University and MBA from Webster University.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis is the Roman Catholic archdiocese that serves the City of St. Louis and 11 Missouri counties. The Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson was installed as Archbishop of St. Louis on June 10, 2009. Because of its strong Catholic identity and having been the mother diocese of many dioceses in the Midwest, the Archdiocese of St. Louis is often referred to as "the Rome of the west". The Archdiocese of St. Louis is dedicated to Saint Louis IX, King of France and has as its co-patrons Saints Vincent de Paul and Rose Philippine Duchesne. The Archdiocese of St. Louis is the home diocese of over 500,000 Catholics in the area.

Congratulations, Katie!

Bishop Silva: WYD, a high point in life with lasting effects

His Excellency the Most Reverend Clarence "Larry" Silva, Bishop of Honolulu, will accompany some 100 youth from Hawaii to the World Youth Day in Madrid.
Bishop Silva shared his reflections on WYD with the USCCB Media Blog (with my emphases and comments):

I attended WYD in Sydney in 2008 [I saw him there, but can't seem to find the picture we took]. I was particularly impressed with the joy demonstrated when youth from different countries encountered each other on the streets and greeted each other with love.

Every now and then the Lord gives us special events, high points in life that may not last long in themselves but that have lasting effects. I believe WYD is such a gift. It is one way the Lord sparks the fire of love in the hearts of youth – and those who have the privilege of accompanying them – so that they can set others on fire with the love of Jesus.

About 100 pilgrims from Hawaii are attending WYD, and I think it is important for me to be present with them at this potentially life-changing event. I also pray that I will develop an ongoing relationship with these young leaders in the Church, so that we may work together to share the Good News of Jesus for years to come.

I hope the youth will have such a deep experience of encounter with the risen Christ through his Body, the Church, that they will dedicate themselves more fully to working for peace among the nations; justice for all, not just for our own friends and close neighbors; and enthusiasm for giving life-long witness to Jesus in every aspect of their lives and in all the institutions in which they participate.

I know the gifts of youthful enthusiasm and openness to the truth will enrich all who participate and all whom the participants touch in the future.

Aloha!

In honor of the day: Peter and Vianney

In today's Gospel, Jesus says to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan.  You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do" (Matthew 16:23).
These are difficult words, to be sure.  The Lord spoke to Peter with such force because the Prince of the Apostles was trying - perhaps unknowingly - to turn Jesus away from his Father's will by telling him not to go to Jerusalem where the Lord foretold he must go "and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raise" (Matthew 16:21).

It might be said that Peter had stepped in front of Jesus and was no longer following.  For this reason, Jesus said to him, "Get behind me."  How often must the Lord say the same to each of us?

In today's feast of Saint John Vianney we find a priest who stayed behind Jesus, who daily followed him and in whom the Lord sustained a willing spirit (see Psalm 51:14).

Among the many sayings that come down to us from Father Vianney is this prayer: "Grant me the conversion of my parish, and I am ready to suffer whatever you wish for the rest of my life."  Whereas Peter wanted to flee the Cross, Vianny ran toward it.

This is the constant temptation for every priest, to seek the easy way out, to remain silent when the truth must be spoken.  Vianny did not want the easy way out, he wanted the way of authentic love that gives of itself so that others might live.

Let every priest look to Saint John Vianney to learn how to stay always being Christ so as to follow him always.  Let every priest learn from him to beg the Lord for the conversion of their people, willing accept whatever sufferings will help them grow in faith, in hope and in love.  By doing so, every priest will be able to echo Vianney's famed words: "You have shown me the way to Ars.  I will show you the way to heaven."

Might pedophelia regain its cool?

That is the question raised yesterday by Matthew Schmitz at First Thoughts.  It's a must-read post.  Go read it.

Persecution Watch: Indonesia

From Catholic World News, with my emphases:

Two Christian house churches have been burned to the ground in Riau, a province on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra. Since 1967, an estimated 1,200 churches have been burned down or closed in the world’s fourth most populous nation.


3% of the nation’s 228.5 million people are Catholics, according to Vatican statistics. 6% are Protestant, and 86% are Muslim. [more]

More evidence that the sexual abuse of children is not simply a "Catholic Church" problem

From Catholic World News, with my emphases and comments:

The leading candidate for Ireland’s presidency has seen his hopes of election severely compromised by the revelation that he once sought clemency for a man convicted of raping a teenage boy [imagine the outrage if a priest sought clemency for such a man].


David Norris, the senator who seemed likely to become the first openly homosexual president of Ireland, wrote to the Israeli government asking for a light sentence for his former lover, Ezra Yizhak, who had been found guilty of a sexual assault on a Palestinian boy.

Many Irish politicians who had backed the Norris candidacy said that they were reconsidering their support. Especially in light of the current outrage over the failure of Catholic bishops to discipline abusive priests, it will be difficult for public figures to justify support for a lawmaker who tried to shield his own intimate friend from abuse charges [apparently if there were presently outrage over the failure of Catholic bishops Norris could justify his support of the lawmaker].

Loyal supporters of the Norris candidacy said that the revelation of his clemency plea for Yizhak, made 14 years ago, was an Israeli bid to undermine his candidacy. Norris has been highly critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians.

Several links to various news sources are available at the jump.

Persecution Watch: Iraq

A Syriac Catholic church was bombed - purposefully - in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.  From the Vatican Insider, with my emphases (original):

A car bomb exploded this morning in front of a Syriac Catholic Church in Kirkuk in Northern Iraq, wounding 23 people: two of whom are in a serious condition. This is according to a local high ranking police officer, who explained that the explosion took place at around 5:30.


“19 people have been wounded. The victims are Catholics living inside the Church and people living nearby,” local police said. Among those wounded are some women and children.

This is the first time that a place of worship has been targeted, Imad Hanna, one of the church’s priests said. The explosion caused damage to the church’s doors, windows and furnishings.

“The event has deeply saddened us, Louis Sako, Bishop of Kirkuk said, acts like this make you think about what messages lie behind such attacks. Why target a church that is right in the middle of a busy area of the city when there are other churches in more isolated parts of the city or along main roads that are easier to hit.”

The attack comes as something of a surprise given “how peaceful things have been in the area” of late. “Acts of this kind do nothing but give a wrong image of Ramadan, a period which should be dedicated to fasting and prayer.”

Meeting the LIFE Runners

On rare ocassions (unless you are in Hawaii) you meet people who make you feel immediately welcome and as though you were a part of their family, and had been for a quite long time.  Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting such a family.

Some years back Lt. Col. Pat Castle organized the Living in Faith Exchange (L.I.F.E.) Group that grew into the LIFE Runners.  The group offers brief daily reflections and serves as the spiritual arm of the group; the runners run to raise awareness and funds for life.  Their clever slogan is, "Runners run, Christians pray, LIFE Runners do both!"

When Pat, who is currently stationed at Scott Air Force Base, learned Bishop Paprocki is a marathon runner, he invited him to run with the Life Runners this October in Kansas City.  Bishop Paprocki happily accepted his invitation.  The Catholic Times has a story on the upcoming race here.

Since Bishop Paprocki and I were to be in Belleville at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows Sunday evening, Pat invited Bishop Paprocki to join him for a run in the afternoon and to join his family for dinner at their home before heading to the Shrine.

As Pat and the Bishop ran, I visited with Pat's wife, Angie, and their children and felt as if I had known them for years.  When their run was completed, Pat and the Bishop joined us for a delicious meal, after which Pat led us to the Shrine for Mass and a rosary walk.

As I said, we felt immediately welcomed and as part of the family, for which we were both very grateful.

KCs to buy JP2 Cultural Center

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson announced today that the Knights of Columbus will buy the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington D.C. (with my emphases:

DENVER, Colo. (CNA/EWTN News) - The Knights of Columbus announced Aug. 2 that it will buy the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., to create a shrine and museum honoring the life of Blessed Pope John Paul II.


"I take great pride in reporting," Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said at the group's conference in Denver, that "the Knights of Columbus will be at the forefront of preserving his legacy for generations to come."

Anderson said within the next year, the knights will work closely with Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington and Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit to establish a national center, permanent museum and Shrine of Blessed John Paul II.

The Supreme Knight made his remarks at the Knights of Columbus' 129th annual convention, this year held in downtown Denver from Aug. 2-4.

Cardinal Wuerl praised the development, saying the shrine will provide "a focal point for increased devotion to Blessed John Paul II and an ongoing recognition of his legacy."

Archbishop Vigneron expressed gratitude to the knights for "stepping forward to make this transaction a reality" and applauded their efforts to "strengthen the vision of the Center and continue the intended purpose for the building and land."

The John Paul II center - which was the initiative of now-retired Archbishop of Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida - has been beset by numerous financial difficulties over the years and borrowed heavily from the Archdiocese of Detroit.

Recently, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan made a bid for the center but withdrew in March due to lack of funding.

Anderson told Knights of Columbus members during their business session at the convention Tuesday that the organization plans for the center to "be a place where English, Spanish and French-speaking pilgrims from throughout North America will encounter the mission and legacy of one of history's greatest popes."

"It will also be a place where our children and grandchildren will learn about their great heritage as Catholics," he added. "True to Pope John Paul II's vision, and using the story of his life as an inspiration, this Shrine will be an opportunity to evangelize and spread the good news of the Gospel through a New Evangelization."

He noted that purchasing the site was fitting, given the Knights of Columbus' longstanding support for nearby institutions in D.C. such as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Catholic University of America, and the U.S. bishops' conference.

Anderson also said the endeavor has received strong support from the Vatican. He quoted a letter from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who offered his "heartfelt" praise for the initiative and expressed his appreciation to the order for helping "cultivate devotion" to the late Pontiff.

"I am deeply gratified that your Order has wished to carry forward that vision as part of your commitment to the new evangelization and to the strengthening of the Church's witness to Christ at every level of American society," Cardinal Bertone told Anderson.

The Supreme Knight reflected on the legacy of Blessed John Paul II, saying that because of his tireless evangelization efforts, "an entire generation of Catholics has become known as the John Paul II Generation."

We are "honored to continue to spread his profound and powerful message of hope for our country, our continent and our world," he added.

Chaput: True reform requires humility and faith

The Knights of Columbus are meeting now in Denver for their 129th convention, which was opened with the celebration of the Holy Mass celebrated by His Excellency the Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop-electdesignate of Pittsburgh [correction:] Philadelphia [thank you, kind reader.  I knew that and should know better than to post when I'm tired].

He reflect in his homily on the current life of the Church and on authentic reform.  It is brief and well worth your reading.  His text follows, via Salt and Light TV, with my emphases:

The dynamic in Family of Moses is not so different from the dynamic in the family of today’s Church. God has chosen to lead his people. Miriam and Aaron, the sister and brother of Moses, resent his taking a Cushite wife. But the disputed marriage is merely a pretext for the siblings. What they really resent is Moses’ elevation above themselves, his special relationship with God. Moses if very much a flawed human being. By this point in scripture he may be “meek,” but he is not without sin. Nonetheless he is chosen by God. Therefore, Miriam’s and Aaron’s criticism – which flows out of their own rebellious pride – is really a criticism of God himself. Miriam, as the instigator, is struck with leprosy, but at least there is a kind of negative dignity to her own willfulness. Aaron is almost worse: a portrait of male spinelessness. This is the man who went along with the Golden Calf. Now he goes along with Miriam, and when Miriam is punished, he becomes obsequious with Moses.

Something similar can be said about conflicts in the modern church. Bishops, priests, and deacons are too often weak and sinful. They need to be held to high standards. Some deserve to be chastised. The clergy’s leadership in the Church should always be marked by humility and service, and never by a sense of entitlement. But men and women didn’t found the Church, they don’t own her; and they have no license to reinvent her. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ, and the different roles with the Christian community – clergy, laity, and religious life – have equal dignity but different purposes. Sin and failure, including by the clergy, need to be named. But when people deride their bishops and priests out of pride and resentment or some perverse desire for they perceive as “power,” they undermine the Church herself, and they set themselves against the God whose vessel she is. And that, as Scripture suggests, leads in a painful direction.

All real reform in the Church requires two things. Today’s Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 51 – gives us the first thing. We find it in the lines “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow;” and “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Renewal begins not in vilifying others, but in examining ourselves honestly, repenting of our sins and changing ourselves. This applies to every baptized person, from the Pope to the average man or woman earning a wage. We are all sinners. We are all in need of repentance and God’s mercy. When we really understand that, we can speak to each other with both honesty and love, and restoring the mission of the Church can begin.

Today’s Gospel gives us the second thing needed for any lasting reform: faith. Not faith as theology, or faith as a collection of doctrines and practices; but faith as a single-minded confidence in God; faith as the humility – and in a sense, the imprudence, the passion, the recklessness – to give ourselves entirely to Jesus Christ. That kind of faith changes people. That kind of faith shifts the world on its axis, because nothing can stand against it. As long as Peter keeps his eyes and his heart fixed on Jesus Christ, he can do the impossible – he can walk on the water. The moment he gives in to doubt and fear, he begins to sink. So it is with our personal faith, and so it is with life and the health of the Church.

In light of our Gospel reading, it’s fitting that our Mass today commemorates the French priests and saint from the 19th century, Peter Eymand. Eymand was a friend of Sts. Peter Chanel and Jean-Mare Vianney, and the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. He was an intriguing man. The great French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, once entered Eymand’s congregation as a lay brother, having given up art after the death of his sister. Eymand served as Rodin’s spiritual spiritual counsellor, and eventually sent him back to his work in the world as a sculptor, because he believed that Rodin glorified God more truly through the beauty of his art. The focus of Eymand’s life was an intense love of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. He was tireless in preaching a deep devotion to the Eucharist as a key to re-igniting the vocation of Christians in the world. The Church honours him as “the Apostle of the Eucharist,” and his most famous line is worth remembering. When he decided to leave the diocesan clergy to become a religious priest, his sisters begged him to wait and reflect just a little longer before he acted – even just one more day. He answered, “God calls me now. Tomorrow will be too late.” God is calling each of us here today – clergy, lay, and religious – to love him with all our hearts and to renew the life of his Church. God is calling us now. Tomorrow will be too late. So let’s pray for each other, and support each other – and begin.

Weigel: Erin Go Bonkers

George Weigel examines the present crises between the Church and government in Ireland and offers a reason for the breakdown of the practice of the faith in Ireland.

His text follows, with my emphases:

While America’s attention has been absorbed in recent weeks by domestic affairs, something quite remarkable has become unmistakably clear across the Atlantic: Ireland — where the constitution begins, “In the name of the Most Holy Trinity” — has become the most stridently anti-Catholic country in the Western world.


Its Taoiseach (prime minister), Enda Kenny, recently took to the floor of the Dáil to denounce the Vatican as a house of “dysfunction, disconnection, elitism . . . [and] narcissism” and to commit an act of calumny against Pope Benedict XVI, accusing him of being a party to the coverup of the “rape and torture of children.” Ireland’s attorney general plans to introduce a new law that threatens priests with five-year jail sentences if they do not violate the seal of confession when pedophilia is confessed. Polls indicate considerable support among Irish voters for such an unprecedented violation of religious freedom, and the Irish press has indulged its anti-Church phobias with virtually no restraint.

There can be no doubt that the crisis of clerical sexual abuse — and the parallel crisis of local Catholic leadership that failed to address the problem — has been especially acute in Ireland. Benedict XVI condemned both the abuse and the coverup of abuse in a stinging letter to the entire Church in Ireland 16 months ago, a letter that condemned abusers and their enablers while offering a heartfelt apology to victims. Apostolic visitations of the principal Irish dioceses and seminaries have been undertaken, on Vatican orders, by bishops from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain; their reports, one understands, have been blunt and unsparing.

What has not happened, and what ought to happen sooner rather than later, is a wholesale replacement of the Irish hierarchy, coupled with a dramatic reduction in the number of Irish dioceses. Ireland is in desperate need of new and credible Catholic leadership, and some of it may have to be imported: If a native of Ireland could be archbishop of New York in 1850, why couldn’t a native of, say, California be archbishop of Dublin in 2012? The United States and Canada, in particular, have Anglophone bishops who have demonstrated their capacity to clean house and reenergize dioceses evangelically. Thus the Vatican, not ordinarily given to dramatic change, might well consider clearing the Irish bench comprehensively and bringing in bishops, of whatever national origin, who can rebuild the Irish Church by preaching the Gospel without compromise — and who know how to fight the soft totalitarianism of European secularists.

In the wake of Taoiseach Kenny’s hysterical rant in the Dáil, the Vatican recalled its nuncio to Ireland for consultations, a clear sign of displeasure with Irish politicians who, for whatever reasons, deliberately foment anti-Catholic hysteria. Yet as distasteful and irresponsible as Kenny’s attacks were, they underscore the fact that radical changes are needed in the Catholic Church’s leadership in Ireland — now, not at some indeterminate point in the future.

The deeper question that the past several weeks of Catholic-bashing in Ireland has raised — How on earth did this most Catholic of countries become violently anti-Catholic? — touches on the modern history of independent Ireland; serious answers to that question are likely to offer little comfort to either Irish romantics or defenders of the old alliances between Church and state.

Sixty years into the 20th century, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and Quebec were among the most intensely Catholic nations on the planet. Fifty years later, Quebec is the most religiously arid space between Point Barrow and Tierra del Fuego; Portuguese Catholicism, outside the pilgrimage shrine of Fatima, is hardly robust; Spain has the most self-consciously secularist government in Europe; and Ireland has now become the epicenter of European anti-Catholicism. What happened?

Perhaps some comparative history and sociology suggest an answer. In each of these cases, the state, through the agency of an authoritarian government, deliberately delayed the nation’s confrontation with modernity. In each of these cases, the Catholic Church was closely allied to state power (or, in the case of Quebec, to the power of the dominant Liberal party). In each of these cases, Catholic intellectual life withered, largely untouched by the mid-20th-century Catholic renaissance in biblical, historical, philosophical, and theological studies that paved the way toward the Second Vatican Council. And in each of these cases, the local Catholicism was highly clerical, with ordination to the priesthood and the episcopate being understood by everyone, clergy and laity alike, as conferring membership in a higher caste.

Then came le déluge: the deluge of Vatican II, the deluge that Europeans refer to as “1968,” and the deluge of the “Quiet Revolution” in la Belle Province. Once breached, the fortifications of Counter-Reformation Catholicism in Spain, Portugal, Quebec, and Ireland quickly crumbled. And absent the intellectual resources to resist the flood-tides of secularism, these four once-hyper-Catholic nations flipped, undergoing an accelerated course of radical secularization that has now, in each case, given birth to a serious problem of Christophobia: not mere indifference to the Church, but active hostility to it, not infrequently manifested through coercive state power.

This, then, is the blunt fact that must be faced by bishops, priests, and lay Catholics who want to build the Church of Vatican II, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI — the Church of a New Evangelization — out of the wreckage of the recent Irish past: In Ireland, as in the other three cases, the Church’s close relationship with secular power reinforced internal patterns of clericalism and irresponsibility that put young people at risk, that impeded the proclamation of the Gospel, and that made the Church in these places easy prey for the secularist cultural (and political) wolves, once they emerged on the scene.

And that is why the leadership that Catholic Ireland needs may have to be imported, at least in part. Men of indisputable integrity and evangelical passion who have no linkage to this sad, and in some instances tawdry, history are needed to lead the Irish Catholic reform for which Benedict XVI has called. I know no serious observer of the Irish Catholic scene, anywhere, who disputes the necessity of clearing the current bench of bishops; I also know no one who thinks that a reconfigured Irish episcopate, even one leading fewer dioceses, can be drawn entirely from the resident clergy of Ireland today. This may be one factor leading to the current languid pace in reforming the Irish hierarchy; and that lassitude is what gave Taoiseach Kenny the opening for his latest rabid attack on the Church, the Holy See, and the Pope. All the more reason, then, to make the reform of the Church in Ireland truly radical by looking outside Ireland for men capable of helping lead this once-great Church back to evangelical health.

Around the blogosphere

• 40,000 from the US to attend WYD 2011 in Madrid
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• Record shows President Obama to be pro-abortion champion

Persecution Watch: Pakistan

Aid to the Church in Need reports that influential Muslim leaders apologize for atrocities in Pakistan.  The text of the article follows, with my emphases and comments:

Two influential Muslim leaders [where are the other influential Muslim leaders?] have publicly apologized to people who lost loved ones, homes and businesses in one of Pakistan’s worst outbreaks of anti-Christian violence [why did they not condemn the violence?].

Marking the second anniversary of the violence in the Punjab’s Gojra city where eight people died, two ‘Pirs’ (holy men) addressed the crowds, asking for pardon on behalf of the extremist mobs who carried out the atrocity.

Pir Israr Bihar Shah, head of a Muslim seminary (madrassa), in the Gojra area, and Pir Hafiz Abbul Haui, who runs a nearby mosque, both explicitly apologized on behalf of the fanatics responsible, saying their actions went against the “spirit of Islam" [so...where is their condemnation of the violence?]. 

Gojra’s Christian quarter came under fire on August 1^st, 2009, when a 1,000-strong mob rampaged through the streets [that's no small number of "radical extremists"], setting fire to more than 150 homes and businesses.

They were responding to an allegation of blasphemy against the Qur’an, apparently committed by children in the neighboring village of Korian who were accused of creating confetti out of paper on which were written verses from the Muslim holy book.

Under Pakistan’s notorious Blasphemy Laws, such a crime is punishable by life imprisonment.

At the height of the violence that followed, a Christian family – the Hamids – were trapped in their home after it was set ablaze. Seven members of the family died including two children, their mother and grandfather.

At today’s anniversary events, hundreds of Christians took part in a memorial Mass at Gojra presided over by Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad.

Reporting on the seminar that followed the Mass, Father Aftab James Paul, Director of Faisalabad’s diocesan Commission for Inter-faith Dialogue and Ecumenism, described the pirs’ apology as “hugely significant.”

In an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Fr. Aftab said, “Even though they weren’t in any way involved in what happened that day, the pirs gave a full apology for what happened [then how can they apologize "on behalf of the mob"?].”

“They said that Islam as a religion does not condone killing. They went on to say that those responsible did not understand the spirit of Islam and they condemned their actions [if they did condemn their actions, why is this not mentioned at the beginning of the article?  And why is such a quote not given?].”

He added, “The two pirs are influential and well known and what they had to say was hugely significant, even if what they said was not an official statement and came at the very end of the seminar.”

Fr. Aftab said that people listening to the pirs’ comments “gave a very good response” to the scholars’ remarks and “were very happy.”

At last year’s first anniversary Mass and seminar, police chiefs apologized in response to allegations of inaction in connection with the Gora violence.

As a Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, Aid to the Church in Need provided support for victims of the Gojra violence and helped with buildings damaged in the violence.

Tribune poorly reports ACLU joins suit against Catholic Charities

The Chicago Tribune carries a sloppy story that the "ACLU joins suit against Catholic Charities."  Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't hop on board sooner.

Some weeks ago a lawyer-friend of mine sent a note to say the ACLU contacted my friend looking for an attorney who a had a same-sex couple ready to sue Catholic Charities.  I was surprised the ACLU hadn't already lined up such a couple.

The Tribune's poorly written and researched story follows, with my emphases and comments:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois got the go-ahead Monday to intervene in a lawsuit and join the state's battle against Catholic Charities' policy of turning away prospective parents who are in civil unions [this is a terrible article from the beginning.  Catholic Charities does not place children with cohabiting couples, regardless of whether or not they are in a civil union.  Where is a mention of the Relifious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act?  Why is it never mentioned in this article?].

Catholic Charities in Joliet, Peoria, Springfield and Belleville filed the lawsuit this summer, asking a Sangamon County judge to uphold their policy of providing publicly funded foster care and adoption services only to married couples and single parents living alone [hence the term 'single'], while referring couples in civil unions to other agencies [what is the argument behind the suit?  Why is this not mentioned?].

On Monday, the judge allowed the ACLU of Illinois to intervene after lawyers argued that allowing Catholic Charities to reject [an application or request may be declined, but no one is rejected; Catholic Charities has referred to inquirers to other agencies, of which they are many in that State] parents based on sexual orientation or religious belief violates the federal consent decree designed to improve conditions for children in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services [they are not declined based on sexual orientation or religious beliefs; rather Catholic Charities acts in a manner consistent with it's own religious beliefs, as guaranteed by the First Amendment].

ACLU lawyers said the consent decree requires the state to consider nothing but the "best interests of the child," not the religious beliefs of a private foster agency, when making decisions about placement [and by not placing children with cohabiting couple Catholic Charities is considering the best interest of the children].

"Catholic Charities is ruling out possible parents based on factors that have nothing to do with the best interests of the children [study and study will disagree with this lawyer's strange logic]," said ACLU lawyer Karen Sheley.

The ACLU also intervened on behalf of Sarah Riddle and Katherine Weseman, a Champaign couple in a civil union who would like to become foster parents and adopt children [So be it.  As many as fifty other agencies will help them.  They are not being refused an adoption].

Riddle, 33, said that although children are not in the couple's immediate future, she and her partner are taking action to make sure the process runs smoothly when they are ready.

"It's best to make sure you have a plan in place and you're fighting for the things you believe in so when you actually need them, they're there," Riddle said. "We're making sure when we're moving forward, we're absolutely in a place where we can make it happen." [Ah, yes.  Can you sense the love they have for the children they hope to adopt?]

Tom Brejcha, an attorney for the Thomas More Society who is representing Catholic Charities, said Riddle and Weseman could apply to Catholic Charities to become foster parents and would not be questioned about their sexual orientation, he said. They would be referred elsewhere only if they volunteered that information.

Brejcha questioned why the couple would go to a Catholic agency when there are many agencies that don't have religious objections to unmarried couples [a very good question, indeed].

"No one is preventing them from being foster parents if that's what they want," Brejcha said. "They don't like Catholic Charities' ideological position — a position held for 2,000 years. It doesn't make sense."

Shutting down Catholic Charities is "certainly the antithesis of serving Illinois' children who are abused and neglected," Brejcha said.

Riddle said the issue isn't her disagreement with Catholic principles [so what is the problem?].

"We would have plenty of options as parents. These are kids who don't have options," Riddle said. "We have seen the good that a good foster parent can do for children. This is very meaningful for us."  [Clearly.]

HHS exalts ideology over conscience and common sense

Writing yesterday on the blog of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Sister Mary Ann Walsh comments on the "in-your-face" efforts of the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Kathleen Sibelius (a Catholic) to "undermine religious freedom."

The text of her excellent post follows, with my emphases and comments:

Health and Human Services must think Catholics and other religious groups are fools [they aren't the only ones in the government who think so; remember that comment about people "clinging to their guns and religion"?].


That’s all you can think when you read HHS’s recent announcement that it may exempt the church from having to pay for contraceptive services, counseling to use them and sterilizations under the new health reform in certain circumstances. As planned now, HHS would limit the right of the church not to pay for such services in limited instances, such as when the employees involved are teaching religion and in cases where the people served are primarily Catholic [which would take away the right for the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the first amendment].

HHS’s reg conveniently ignores the underlying principle of Catholic charitable actions: we help people because we are Catholic, not because our clients are [here in Illinois, we've seen a lot of people ignoring this underlying principle with respect to adoptions and foster care]. There’s no need to show your baptismal certificate in the hospital emergency room, the parish food pantry, or the diocesan drug rehab program. Or any place else the church offers help, either.

With its new regulation, HHS seeks to force church institutions to buy contraceptives, including drugs that can disrupt an existing pregnancy, through insurance they offer their own employees. This is part of HHS’s anticipated list of preventive services for women that private insurance programs must provide under the new health reform law [if contraception is "preventive," then that must mean that pregnancy is now seen as a disease, and that means the nation is in a very disturbing frame of mind].

The exemption is limited, to say the least. The pastor in the Catholic parish doesn’t have to buy the Pill for his employees, but the religious order that runs a Catholic hospital has to foot the bill for surgical sterilizations. And diocesan Catholic Charities agencies have to use money that would be better spent on feeding the poor to underwrite services that violate church teachings.

Whatever you think of artificial birth control, HHS’s command that everyone, including churches, must pay for it exalts ideology over conscience and common sense.

Perhaps HHS is unduly influenced by lobbyists. No surprise there. Certainly a major lobbyist is Planned Parenthood, the nation’s chief proponent of contraceptive services. Contraceptive services make a lot of money for Planned Parenthood clinics, which (again no surprise) provide the “services” HHS has mandated.

HHS and Planned Parenthood are narrow in focus. Respect for religious rights isn’t likely a key concern for them. However, it ought to be a key concern for President Obama, who last year promised to respect religious rights as he garnered support from the church community to pass the health care reform act [some of us didn't think him genuine in his promise]. To assuage concerns, President Obama went so far as to issue an executive order promising that the health care reform act would not fund abortion or force people and institutions to violate their consciences [that we say wouldn't offer the protections he promised]. HHS is on its way to violating that promise [no surprise there]. For the sake of basic integrity – the President’s keeping his word and for the protection of the right to religious freedom – President Obama needs to speak up now [he hasn't done so well keeping his word until now; this would fine opportunity to show he intends to become a man of his word].