Catholics Come Home

Catholic Schools

We Want Authentic Catholic Schools that Help Form Saints

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By Bishop Robert W. Finn
Kansas City-St. Joseph

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As we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary's Assumption, our schools begin to open. Students all over the diocese get their back packs together, some put on uniforms, and everyone begins getting up a bit earlier and ready for school. The studies, sports teams, and school clubs will soon be in full gear. The new year begins and our Catholic schools remain a big part of it: for many generations - and for thousands of students.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph is blessed with Catholic schools from early childhood through university. The mission and goals of our schools overlap in a variety of ways with the educational targets of the public schools. But there is something more that must define our schools.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his visit last spring to the United States met with Catholic educators from all over the country in Washington, D.C. He challenged the leaders of our schools to make "Catholic identity" something more than the numbers of Catholic students or even the particular excellence of certain fields of study.

Catholic identity, the Holy Father said, "demands and inspires much more: namely that each and every aspect of your learning communities reverberates within the ecclesial life of faith." Our schools must be defined by a unique culture of faith, hope and charity.

Catholic identity certainly starts with sound, authentic presentations of the teaching of the Church. This is that "without which" we would not be providing helpful formation in the tradition and life of the Church. Living and life-giving Christian Faith is also necessary: faith in God the Holy Trinity, and faithful participation in the life of the Church. Our students should know the sacraments, not only from having studied them in coursework. They must live them, and practice them as the foundation stones for their Catholic lives.

Pope Benedict, himself a university professor for many years, had a special challenge for the leaders of our Catholic universities. Acknowledging the importance of academic freedom, the Pope insisted that appeals to academic freedom "to justify positions that contradict the faith and teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission." This is the very core of the challenge extended to Catholic universities in the document "Ex Corde Ecclesia" which - some years ago - called all teachers of Theology to seek the "mandatum" or license of the local bishop to teach.

Schools sponsored activities and organizations, as well, must reflect the meaning and dignity of the human person. Secular or spiritual in focus, such opportunities must be totally consonant with the life of authentic faith and help the student in his or her healthy and holy development.

Catholic schools exist for a supernatural purpose. They are not only about measurable outcomes, or even helping students learn essential facts and marketable skills that prepare them for employment. They are about the formation of men and women in all aspects of life and living. Each student must be what God intends him or her to be. They must be helped toward their eternal salvation. It would seem to go without saying that "salvation" is discussed and taught in Catholic schools, but education in our schools must lead to the development of men and women who live virtue, understand better the mystery and meaning of life, and who will be set on a path which acknowledges the mystery of the Cross and has heaven as its ultimate goal.

Catholic schools must be based on a Catholic anthropology, that is, an authentic vision of what a person is and what his or her eternal destiny entails. We are not made ultimately for material success or sexual gratification, or just any kind of relationship. Rather, we are made for life-long faithful commitments that appropriately express our gender, our vocation and utilize our talents generously. Because we are called to holiness we must be helped to see how our daily work can be sanctified and sanctifying. Our moral life must take precedent over personal satisfaction or partisan political tendencies. The transcendent and unchanging truth of the value of human life must animate our convictions and guide all our decisions.

Catholic schools are a catalyst for growth in communion. We are more than individuals. The building block of society is the family which has the primary responsibility for the formation of children, and which must be safeguarded for the good of all society. We are beings - social and interactive by nature - who are incorporated through Baptism into a community of believers. We must be helped to see the differences and complementarity by which we actively make up the Church. We are meant to contribute; to give of ourselves as a response to the love and life we have received - first from God, and also from others. Obedience to God's law and cooperation for the good of the whole are necessary in any society. In the Catholic community our giving has a supernatural motive and is infused with Christian faith, hope and charity. Service toward others and a strong sense of mission and apostolate marks us as members of an apostolic Church which has been entrusted with the message of the Gospel for all to hear.

In our schools we pray. We need to pray. Prayer is a response to our sense of God's presence with us always, our readiness to be intercessors for one another, and the realization that we are persons constantly in need of God's light and grace. God is first, and when we put Him first, all the other good things find their proper place. We worship him in the community of the Church and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the font and highest expression of our life.

I pray that in our schools - from early childhood to university - we will be forming saints. Through obedience to the Holy Spirit, and His light entrusted to the Apostles, may our students begin to be more like Jesus Christ to the glory of the heavenly Father.

As we celebrate Mary's Assumption into heaven, let us entrust ourselves, our students and teachers - the whole mission and work of our schools - to her maternal love. Link (here)

Divine Mercy Continues

Polish Father Michal Sopocko, Sister Faustina Kowalska's confessor and spiritual director, and principal promoter of the revelations the nun received on Divine Mercy, will be beatified Sept. 28 in Poland. Father Sopocko (1888-1975) also founded the Congregation of Sisters of Merciful Jesus.

Link (here)

The Great Push Back

Strife at St Mary's over "Buddha" statue

Brisbane Archbishop John Bathersby is considering whether the controversial St Mary's parish at South Brisbane "is in communion with the Catholic Church" after a parishioner protested to the Vatican over a Buddha-like statue.

A member of St Mary's South Brisbane Church told The Courier-Mail that it was understood Archbishop John Bathersby was weighing up the future of the church, after complaints were forwarded from the Vatican. "A very right wing parishioner came and was offended by some of the artwork in the church, including some indigenous art, and an image of a praying monk which they mistook as a Buddha,""That person took photos and sent them to Rome and Rome wrote to the bishop." However, the statue - which was about 1 metre tall - had since been taken out of the church by a disgruntled person and smashed. the parishioner said.

Parish priest Fr Peter Kennedy, who has headed St Mary's for nearly 28 years, said he was unable to comment until he had heard further from Archbishop Bathersby. In a written statement, Archbishop Bathersby confirmed he had received communiques from the Vatican about St Mary's and that they included complaints about an alleged Buddhist statue in the church's sanctuary and unorthodox masses being conducted. He said that since speaking with Fr Kennedy, he had received many letters from parishioners concerned that the church might be closed. He had responded by saying "the key question is whether St Mary's is in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or not." This was something he had previously raised with the church's community and "nothing has really changed since then". In 2004, claims that incorrect language was being used during baptism were upheld and hundreds of baptisms conducted at St Mary's were ruled invalid by Archbishop Bathersby.
Link (here)

SOURCE

Future of St Mary's South Brisbane Church in doubt (Courier-Mail, 20/8/08)

LINKS

St Mary's parish, South Brisbane

Buddha in South Brisbane Church (Letter, AD2000, July 2008)

If Mass Were An EPCOT Parade

Thank you Fr. Ray Blake, this Mass is the one at the Los Angeles religious education conference, presided by Cardinal Roger Mahoney, view the video (here)

Miracle Freezer Baby From Galilee

Premature baby 'comes back to life'

Aug. 18, 2008

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

A premature baby who was pronounced dead "came back to life" Sunday after five hours in Nahariya Hospital.The baby girl, who was in a cooler at the hospital, suddenly showed signs of life and was being treated in the premature baby unit. Doctors estimated that the cooler brought the fetus "back to life."

The mother, 26, from a Western Galilee village, was in the fifth month of her pregnancy when she underwent a series of tests, during which it was discovered that she was suffering from internal bleeding and that the embryo had ceased to show signs of life.

The woman underwent an abortion and the baby, weighing 610 grams, was extracted from her womb without a pulse, hospital officials said. A senior doctor pronounced the baby dead and she was transferred to the cooler.

Five hours later, the woman's husband came to the hospital to take what he thought was his dead baby girl for burial. When the baby was taken out of the cooler, she began to breathe.

The premature baby was then taken to the intensive care ward, where doctors were attempting to save her life.

Link (here)

Photo is of the Jeddin Fortress, Western Galilee, Israel

Update on the miracle baby (here) "Miracle morgue freezer baby dies again"

English Priest Comments On The Return Of The Traditional Latin Mass

An old priest comments:
“so many of the ardent became lukewarm, many lapsed”

CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 10:51 am

South Ashford Priest has guided me to a comment on the blog of the always interesting Fr. Ray Blake at St. Mary Magdalen in Brighton:

As a priest in my 83rd year I have to make a confession. I implemented the Pauline reforms without understanding or sensitivity. I did it relying on the advice and coercion of my bishop and diocesan authorities. As I did it I witnessed the hurt and pain of many of the devout, so many of the ardent became lukewarm, many lapsed. I thought I acted rightly but in my 59 years of priesthood I recognize that that which we hoped for has not come to pass.

I do welcome a careful reappraisal and assessment of what has been done since my ordination, especially by the younger clergy. In order to do that they must learn something of the spirituality that brought men of my generation in vast numbers to the seminary.

In short I welcome this Merton initiative.

Incidentally, in the solitude of my retirement, since last September, I have relearned the Mass of my youth, it brings me great consolation. It is the Mass I have not celebrated out of obedience since 1970.

Fr P O’Rourke

I cannot say adequately how deeply impressed I am by this priest’s comment.

Thank you Fr. Z and Fr. Ray Blake.
JMJ
J.F.

More Than A Gesture

Five U.S. soldiers join pilgrimage march to Polish shrine in goodwill gesture

Warsaw, Aug 6, 2008 / 09:07 pm (CNA).- Five U.S. soldiers embarked on a 10-day, 180 mile-long march to Poland’s Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa with hundreds of camouflaged soldiers from various nations on Tuesday. The shrine contains the icon of the Black Madonna, the creation of which tradition attributes to St. Luke. The 300-year old pilgrimage has deep religious and patriotic significance in Poland and is expected to end before August 15, the Feast of the Assumption. Many miracles have been attributed to the Black Madonna, which was brought to the Jasna Gora monastery in Czestochowa in 1384. During a 1655 siege, 70 monks and 180 supporters held off nearly 4,000 soldiers from the Protestant Swedish army, in a reputed miracle that inspired Poles to repel the invaders. Before beginning the pilgrimage, soldiers attended an early morning Mass at the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army where a priest blessed them with holy water and then exhorted them to set a moral example during the march. The purpose of the U.S. contingent’s participation in the pilgrimage, the Associated Press says, is to show solidarity with Poland, an ally in Iraq and Afghanistan. Master Sgt. Roman Waldron, a 37-year-old soldier from Springfield, Illinois, told the Associated Press the event is a chance “to come together and share a little bit, and hopefully develop closer bonds with foreign militaries in a non-combat type setting.” Sgt. 1st Class Evan Young, from Rock Island, Illinois, said “Originally when I was given the opportunity I thought it would be kind of a neat way to see Poland, but then I started doing research on the Black Madonna and the siege and I thought it's part of a much bigger thing.” "It's pretty neat to be taking part in this, and help improve relations with Poland and other countries that are here," said Young, who grew up Episcopalian. Only one of the five U.S. soldiers involved in the pilgrimage is Catholic.
Link (here)
Painting: King Sigismund III Vasa kneeling before the Black Madonna of Czestochowa

An Interesting Catholic Blog

My Life After, The Passion of the Christ (here)

Left In Ruins After Only 22 Years

THE DERELICT MOUNT ST MARY’S-THE FAMINE CHURCH OF LEEDS EXPLORE. (here)

The Maid of Orleans

The Maids Armor
" ...With this army Jeanne was sent. The King had caused armor to be made for her..."(1)
The Duc d'Alencon, Trial of Nullification
Some excerpts.

...When she felt herself wounded, she was afraid, and wept; but she was soon comforted, as she said. Some of the soldiers seeing her severely wounded wished to "charm " her; but she would not, saying: "I would rather die than do a thing which I know to be a sin; I know well that I must die one day, but I know not when, nor in what manner, nor on what day; if my wound may be healed without sin, I shall be glad enough to be cured." Oil of olive and lard were applied to the wound. After the dressing, she confessed herself to me, weeping and lamenting...

Fr Jean Pasquerel, Trial of Nullification
Read the full article on Joan of Arc from Le Fleur de Lys too entitled, The Maids Armor.
More of St. Joan of Arc (here) and (here)
Joan of Arc's, Companion's - in - Arms
The Maid of Heaven resource (here)

Codex Sinaiticus

1,600-year-old version of Bible goes online
Technology brings one of oldest cultural artifacts accessible to everyone
By Dave Graham
BERLIN - More than 1,600 years after it was written in Greek, one of the oldest copies of the Bible will become globally accessible online for the first time this week. From Thursday, sections of the Codex Sinaiticus, which contains the oldest complete New Testament, will be available on the Internet, said the University of Leipzig, one of the four curators of the ancient text worldwide.

High resolution images of the Gospel of Mark, several Old Testament books, and notes on the work made over centuries will appear on www.codex-sinaiticus.net as a first step towards publishing the entire manuscript online by next July.

Ulrich Johannes Schneider, director of Leipzig University Library, which holds part of the manuscript, said the publication of the Codex online would allow anyone to study a work of "fundamental" importance to Christians. "A manuscript is going onto the net which is like nothing else online to date," Schneider said. "It's also an enrichment of the virtual world — and a bit of a change from YouTube."

Selected translations will be available in English and German for those not conversant in ancient Greek, he added. Dating from around 350, the document is believed by experts to be the oldest known copy of the Bible, along with the Codex Vaticanus, another ancient version of the Bible, Schneider said.

The vellum manuscript came to Europe piece by piece from Saint Catherine's Monastery by Mount Sinai after German biblical scholar Konstantin von Tischendorf found a number of folios there in 1844. He was allowed to take some to Leipzig. Tischendorf returned to the monastery in 1859 with Russian backing and acquired the biggest section of the Bible for his imperial sponsors. It remained in St. Petersburg until the Soviet Union sold it to the British Museum in 1933. "The first section was clearly a gift to Tischendorf, but that's not so clear in the case of the second portion. The monks all signed a contract at the time, but the rumor persists that they were given a raw deal," said Schneider. "And there is probably some truth to this." Subsequent discoveries meant that the original Codex, missing roughly half the Old Testament, is now housed at four locations in Europe and the Middle East.

The project, launched in cooperation with the Russian National Library, the British Library and Saint Catherine's Monastery, also details the condition of the Bible, believed to have been written by early Christians in Egypt.

"I think it's just fantastic that thanks to technology we can now make the oldest cultural artifacts — ones that were once so precious you couldn't show them to anyone — accessible to everyone, in really high quality," said Schneider.

Link (here)

Photo is of the Codex Sinaiticus: Rev 2: 20 (here)

"Yet I hold this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, who teaches and misleads my servants to play the harlot and to eat food sacrificed to idols." Rev. 2: 20

More Than A Trip Down Under

World's largest confessional staged in Sydney
July 20, 2008
By Pauline Askin
SYDNEY (Reuters) - At most outdoor festivals the longest queues are generally for the portable toilets and bar but at World Youth Day in Sydney, the Catholic Church's version of Woodstock, one of the biggest queues is for confessing sins.

With some 300,000 young Catholic pilgrims attending WYD from July 15-20 the Church is staging the world's largest confessional, with more than 1,000 priests at anyone time hearing sins and dispensing penance at 250 locations.

"The notion in Sydney was to decentralise the celebration of reconciliation (confession). The groups received reconciliation in over 250 locations throughout greater Sydney," said Monsigneur Marc Caron, the man in charge of the mass confessional. With pilgrims from more than 170 nations, confessionals had to be organised not just geographically but also according to different languages, Caron told Reuters. "Some of the locations are from concert halls downtown to function halls to schools and churches. Those are assigned by language, the French have so many venues, we have a Norwegian venue, a Korean and so many Chinese venues," he said.

Organisers have tried to be attentive to the sensitivity of confession and ensure pilgrims do not overhear each other's sins. "Whilst we don't have sound proof venues, they are padded dividers between stalls and they are in locations where there is so much going on and background noise," said Caron.

"I've been to each of the locations and I think people's privacy is perfectly assured." Confessions are being heard for up to six hours a day. In order to avoid overloading the priests hearing confessions they are allotted a break every 90 minutes. Up to 4,000 priests are attending World Youth Day in one capacity or another and will lend an ear to hearing confessions.

"At any one time there could easily be 1,000 priests hearing confession," Caron said. "We're not keeping track of the numbers (of sinners), but at the main venue in Darling Harbour Convention Centre it's very steady all the time."

Caron said even if he knew he wouldn't be able to divulge the top 10 sins being confessed by young pilgrims. The Catholic Church hopes World Youth Day, the brainchild of the late Pope John Paul II, will revitalise the world's young Catholics.

Link (here)

Cardinal Pell And The Holy Father At World Youth Day

Divine Mercy Statue In Kansas

Christ Statue Is 25 Feet Tall, Weighs 4 Tons
July 11, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- If you travel along Interstate 35 in the Northland, a big statue of Jesus may have caught your eye. The statue sits on Church Road at the entrance to some rental properties. Like many people, Tony Brandolino said he's been wondering what was the story with the statue. "First of all, I thought there was an accident here, and you know how sometimes they put crosses, and thought, 'That's a very nice memorial. Although extremely large,'" Brandolino told KMBC's Martin Augustine. The statue is 25 feet tall and weighs 4 tons. The owner of the statue said it was posted along the interstate to draw some attention. It's been there since May. The owner said the statue will be moved to a new location in a few weeks.

Watch this video to see Jesus as the Divine Mercy (here), statue of Jesus 25 feet high evangelizing drivers on the interstate highway system.

Benedicto! Benedicto!

Welcome to the papal moshpit
Linda Morris

Religious Affairs Writer

and Josephine Tovey

July 14, 2008
"IT'S amazing … I felt lifted. He's like Jesus Christ on Earth," said Liba Vazquez, 17. It was worth waiting two hours in the cold for a glimpse of the Pope, she said. Her brother Amadeo said:

"Just seeing the Pope is something." Scores of pilgrims and cheering onlookers braved chilly conditions to catch a glimpse of the Pope's arrival and then lined the motorcade route from Richmond RAAF base all the way to his retreat at Kenthurst.

Maggie Llovet, a Spanish pilgrim who came with her Australian hosts, the Vazquez family from Glenhaven, was among 200 who gathered at the air base entrance. As the Pope was driven past she said pilgrims shouted "Long live the Pope" in different languages. "There was lots of singing, and big loud cheers. This is going to be a great experience," she said. The public were kept well away from the Pope, with the perimeter of the air base patrolled by Defence Force personnel, but they lined the fences and climbed trees for best vantage. When the jet touched down on time just before 3pm the public road outside the base turned into a car park. After a brief stay at the tarmac, the Pope's motorcade, which included three ambulances, was given a police escort to the Kenthurst Study Centre, a retreat run by Opus Dei, where he will recuperate over the next three days from his 23-hour flight from Rome, the longest foreign trip of his papacy. He begins his formal tour on Thursday.

His arrival drew solemn prayers and jubilant cheers from more pilgrims, and one group of onlooking neighbours raised a few stubbies. About 400 people gathered opposite the Study Centre in Pitt Town Road, with most people lucky enough to get a glimpse of the man himself, waving and smiling, as he whizzed down the winding street, accompanied by motorcycles and hovering helicopters.

Gerard Van Ommen Kloeke and his family were quietly murmuring the rosary behind police barricades on the side of the crowded street. The Canadian-born father of four, who lives in Sydney with his Australian wife, had seen the previous Pope at World Youth Day 1993 in Denver. "I wanted to give them [his children] the chance to experience that same excitment for themselves," he said. Mr Van Ommen Kloeke said he planned to hold up his youngest child as the pontiff cruised past, hoping she might be a "Pope magnet" and attract a wave.

When the motorcade finally passed there was no time for quiet reflection. The crowd burst to life, largely thanks to a cohort of about 50 teenage pilgrims from Spain, who erupted into cheers and began chasing the car down the street, chanting "Benedicto! Benedicto!"

Australian pilgrims could only look on and clap as the mood quickly changed into a football-fever style atmosphere. Police, who had been holding the public behind barricades, had no choice but to let the revelling crowds spill on to the streets to sing and dance and wave their World Youth Day flags. But it would not have been a proper start to the Pope's visit without some cynical Sydney-siders looking on. A group of neighbours gathered at the house opposite the Opus Dei retreat, making their way through a case of beer as they enjoyed their prime position.

"We're the welcoming party," said one man, raising his drink to the crowd. "Yeah, I'm thinking of converting," another yelled.

In Parramatta, Sydney's Maronite Christians turned out in force to welcome the leader of their branch of Catholicism. Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, along with about 100 other Maronite bishops and priests, presided over a Mass at Parramatta Stadium. The 20,000 strong crowd was made up of mostly Lebanese-Australian families, who had turned out for a rare glimpse of their spiritual leader, who many described as "our Pope". Bernadette Bousrama, one of the young volunteers at the event, had attended several other events over the previous week with the Patriarch. "It's been deadset amazing," she said. The Pope comes to a small outpost of Catholicism.

There are 5.12 million Catholics in Australia, comprising 25.8 per cent of the population.

But a dwindling number - less than 14 per cent - now regularly attend Mass. Pope Benedict XVI is largely a mystery to most Australians, says the papal biographer Paul Collins. "I think Australians are likely to see an old style European gentleman, an old style European intellectual," he said. "He showed in Cologne and the US he is able to relate to large crowds and take on some populist role, but that is not his natural style. He showed in the United States he had a good understanding of pluralistic democracy, which his predecessors lacked. "He will have difficulty with the Australian character, our understated way of operating and our slightly ironic way of existence. It could be unfortunate if he reads that as a lack of religiosity,

I simply do not buy the notion that Australians are a secular lot of materialistic slobs.

We are not like Americans, who are ostentatiously religious, so we could be easy to misread."

Link (here)

Cappa Magna

Is it just me?
Gerald Warner
Gerald Warner is an author, broadcaster, columnist and polemical commentator who writes about politics, religion, history, culture and society in general. If it is an exaggeration to say that he believes the world has gone to the dogs, it is only a slight hyperbole.
Cappaphobia: mental disorder afflicting progressive Catholics

July 10, 2008
The stress of modern life is generating new kinds of mental illness, sometimes taking the form of irrational fear of certain objects. The latest example is an obscure disorder called cappaphobia. It is caused by cappa magna choralis and chiefly targets the elderly, many of whom may already be suffering from dementia. I first came across this clinical condition when shown a samizdat publication issued by a beleaguered group of progressive Catholics from an address in King Street Cloisters, which atmospherically evokes a huddled catacomb.

A letter to the editor began: "Seeing Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos vested in a cappa magna in Westminster Cathedral was a chilling experience."

An accompanying photograph, without even the health warning "May contain some flash vestments", illustrated the offending garment, a long train of scarlet moire silk being worn by Cardinal Castrillon at the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in Westminster Cathedral on June 14. The acute allergic reaction this vesture produces among cappaphobics should not be underestimated.

The cappa magna, a ceremonial cloak for cardinals and bishops, was first regularised in 1464. In 1952 Pius XII, in a misguided fit of radicalism, shortened the cardinalitial cappa from six yards to three.

That moment marked the beginning of the Church's downward trajectory. In 1969 Paul VI, in an orgy of vandalism reminiscent of the burning of patents of nobility in the French National Assembly in 1789, abolished the winter ermine hood on the cappa, along with the cardinals' galero hat, the red tabarro cape, buckled shoes and just about everything that compensated for the sacrifices Catholicism imposes on the faithful.

Now Benedict XVI, by resuming the ornamental half-sleeves on his soutane outlawed by Paul VI, has effectively signalled the repeal of the drabby sumptuary laws of 1969. This places cappaphobes at high risk of exposure.

Perhaps, on the lines of the pollen count warnings, there should be a cappa count. Jerusalem should be avoided, since the Latin Patriarch uniquely retains the ermined cappa. World Youth Day is likewise off limits since it is hosted by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell, who flaunted a six-yard cappa at the last gathering. Rome might seem safe, since Paul VI forbade the cappa within the Eternal City.

Rumour has it, however, that Pope Benedict has commissioned a 30-piece set of baroque vestments modelled on those of Leo X, which could be equally traumatic.

A letter from another cappaphobe the following week, in the same publication, observed: "It would be interesting to know if the silk cappa magna worn by the cardinal could be sold for the poor in accordance with Jesus' instruction." There is a slight error in exegesis here. Jesus said, "The poor you have always with you"; the apostle who raised the bolshie question about selling the expensive balm with which Our Lord was being anointed was Judas Iscariot.

Link (here)

Legion of Christ University In New York In Planning Stages

Legion of Christ withdraws New Castle seminary plan

By Elizabeth Ganga

The Journal News
NEW CASTLE - The Legionaries of Christ, a conservative Roman Catholic order with a worldwide network of schools and universities, has withdrawn an application dating to 1995 for a seminary for 465 students, faculty and staff on Armonk Road. The letter to the town of New Castle announcing the withdrawal of the special permit application did not state the reason for abandoning the long-standing plans but said the order reserves the right to submit a new application in the future.

In the meantime the Legion of Christ, as it is also known, is pressing ahead with an application filed last year to expand the activities permitted on its property, which hosts retreats and marriage preparation classes.

Jay Dunlap, a spokesman for the Legion, also did not give a detailed reason for the withdrawal of the seminary application. He said the order wanted to focus on the retreat center. The property was developed for that use and is well suited to it, he said. "It seems, at this point, more practical to be focusing on the retreat center uses," Dunlap said. He said he was not aware of any longer-term plans. The Zoning Board of Appeals, which had jurisdiction over the special permit, had given the Legion a July 1 deadline to begin moving the seminary application along or abandon it because the approval process had been suspended since April 2006. "The application had, we thought, become very stale," said David Levine, the former chairman of the Zoning Board. Neighbors, who have long opposed the seminary plans and complained in the past that the retreat center was used more than the current permit allows, said they were thrilled the seminary application was withdrawn. "From the start, we thought this was an untenable proposal," said Sharon Greene, a neighbor who has long followed its twists through the town approval process. Steve Krongard, another neighbor on Tripp Street, said he was concerned the expansion would have dramatically changed the neighborhood. "It's a very quiet street," he said. "It's a very dark street. At night you can see the stars." But even with the withdrawal of the larger proposal, the town still needs to look hard at the application for expanded events to understand exactly how the property will be used, Greene said. "I just think it needs to be brought out in the open what they're doing there," she said.

The Legion bought the property at 773 Armonk Road in 1994 from the Unification Church. It was previously owned by the Sisters of the Cenacle and before that by theater producer and songwriter Billy Rose.

A permit for a seminary for up to 100 students was granted in 1994 and the next year the Legion applied for the expanded seminary for 465 students and staff on the 98-acre property. In 1998, the Legion was granted a permit for retreats limiting the number of visitors and events, intended to be in place until the seminary was up and running. But for years the Legion has only intermittently pursued the seminary application, at one point substituting a plan for a center to train missionary women that was later withdrawn. The existing buildings - the old mansion, living quarters built by the sisters and a chapel - total about 70,000 square feet of space. The seminary plan would have added about 315,000 square feet in a dormitory, recreation building, classrooms and other buildings.

Next door in Mount Pleasant, the Legion has plans to build a university for 2,000 students and faculty on 165 acres

that is moving through approvals after hearings earlier this year on its environmental impact.

Link (here)

Photo is of Father Álvaro Corcuera, L.C.,

"Rest In Peace" Tony Snow

Tony Snow Dead at 53, A Tribute to a Catholic Journalist
7/12/2008
Catholic Online (http://www.catholic.org/)
"It’s trendy to reject religious reflection as a grave offense against decency. That’s not only cowardly. That’s false. Faith and reason are knitted together in the human soul. So don’t leave home without either one."
CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) –

Tony Snow, whose Catholic faith, superb communication skills, and work ethic propelled him to prominence in the world of media, journalism and communications, has died after his courageous battle with colon cancer. Honored by the Catholic University of America in May of 2007,

Tony Snow gave the crowd which gathered for the 118th Annual Commencement Address: "Reason, Faith, and Vocation" much to ponder. The title summed up his efforts to integrate his faith, his commitment to marriage and family, his political and policy convictions and a career of communications. It was also characteristically blunt and practical while rising at times to the level of inspired insight.

That was Tony Snow’s gift of communications. He used it throughout a career which was accompanied by earning the respect of his peers, even if they disagreed with his positions. Robert Anthony “Tony” Snow was born on June 1, 1955. He earned a bachelors degree in philosophy and taught in Kenya before deciding on a career as a journalist. He married his beloved wife, Jill Ellen Walker in 1987 and they have three children, Robbie, Kendell and Christie. Probably known most nationally for the last assignment of a memorable journalistic career, his brief stint as White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow has been a fixture in “conservative” politics and policy circles for many years. He was a very popular syndicated columnist, an editor, one of the most popular personalities on the Fox television network, where he anchored “Fox News Sunday” and a radio host.

His career spanned thirty years. The President of the United States, George Bush, released statement on Snow’s death in which he said: "Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend, Tony Snow. The Snow family has lost a beloved husband and father. And America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character."

As tributes to this fine man pour in from all over the world, Catholic Online offers our prayers to his family and our deepest condolences on their loss. Tony Snow’s heroism in fighting cancer was another sign of the character which informed his stellar career as well as his commitment to family. In his address to the graduates of Catholic University he spoke these words: “Heed the counsel of your elders, including your parents. I guarantee you, they have made some howling mistakes if, like me, they were in college in the ’70s and ’80s. They probably haven’t owned up to them, but they might now, because they want to protect you. You see, they know that you are leaving the nest. And now that you’re leaving the nest, predators soon will begin to circle. "Some are going to try to take your money, but the really clever ones are going to tempt you to throw your life away. They’ll appeal to your pride and vanity – or worse, to your moral ambition. After all, there’s nothing more subversive than the offer to become a saint. So think things through. "Be patient. If somebody tries to give you a hard sell, you know they’re peddling snake oil; don’t buy it. If something’s not worth pondering, it is certainly not worth doing. And if your gut tells you something’s fishy, trust your gut. "You know, hucksters perform an unintended service. Like everybody here, I’m sure you’ve all been conned. I am such a sucker that I get conned all the time. What happens is they make you look in the mirror and assess honestly the person on the other side. "Now all of us love to delude ourselves, making excuses. But you know, the more we resist being honest and doing an honest evaluation, the sillier we behave. If you don’t believe it, think of any swinger you have ever seen in your life. Socrates was right: Know thyself. But see, there’s more. Once you’ve gotten past the mirror phase, then things begin to get really interesting. You begin to confront the truly overwhelming question: Why am I here? And that begins to open up the whole universe, because it impels you to think like the child staring out at the starry night: “Who put the lights in the sky? Who put me here? Why?” And pretty soon you are thinking about God.

Don’t shrink from pondering God’s role in the universe or Christ’s. You see, it’s trendy to reject religious reflection as a grave offense against decency. That’s not only cowardly. That’s false. Faith and reason are knitted together in the human soul. So don’t leave home without either one. ...

Think not only of what it means to love but what it means to be loved. I have a lot of experience with that. Since the news that I have cancer again, I have heard from thousands and thousands of people and I have been the subject of untold prayers. I’m telling you right now: You’re young [and you feel] bullet-proof and invincible. [But] never underestimate the power of other people’s love and prayer. They have incredible power. It’s as if I’ve been carried on the shoulders of an entire army. And they had made me weightless. The soldiers in the army just wanted to do a nice thing for somebody. As I mentioned, a lot of people — everybody out here — wants to do that same thing.” The manner and the message showed the mettle of the man. In that address he also spoke of his sincere faith:

“When it comes to faith, I’ve taken my own journey. You will have to take your own. But here’s what I know. Faith is as natural as the air we breathe. Religion is not an opiate, just the opposite. It is the introduction to the ultimate extreme sport. There is nothing that you can imagine that God cannot trump. As Paul said “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

And once you realize that there is something greater than you out there, and then you have to decide, “Do I acknowledge it and do I act upon it?” You have to at some point surrender yourself. And there is nothing worthwhile in your life that will not at some point require an act of submission.” We join our prayers to those of his family, friends and colleagues the world over: “Eternal Rest grant unto him Oh Lord, and may his soul and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace, Amen”

Link (here)

Tony Snow joins CNN (here)

Michelle Malkin on the death of Tony Snow (here)

Great Words On Marriage From A Priest

An Ideal Husband
By MAUREEN DOWD
July 6, 2008

An excerpt.

Father Pat Connor, a 79-year-old Catholic priest born in Australia and based in Bordentown, N.J., has spent his celibate life — including nine years as a missionary in India — mulling connubial bliss. His decades of marriage counseling led him to distill some “mostly common sense” advice about how to dodge mates who would maul your happiness. “Hollywood says you can be deeply in love with someone and then your marriage will work,” the twinkly eyed, white-haired priest says. “But you can be deeply in love with someone to whom you cannot be successfully married.” For 40 years, he has been giving a lecture — “Whom Not to Marry” — to high school seniors, mostly girls because they’re more interested. “It’s important to do it before they fall seriously in love, because then it will be too late,” he explains. “Infatuation trumps judgment.”

.

I asked him to summarize his talk:

• 
  
  “Never marry a man who has no friends,” he starts. “This usually means that he will be incapable of the intimacy that marriage demands. I am always amazed at the number of men I have counseled who have no friends. Since, as the Hebrew Scriptures say, ‘Iron shapes iron and friend shapes friend,’ what are his friends like?


• 
  
  What do your friends and family members think of him? Sometimes, your friends can’t render an impartial judgment because they are envious that you are beating them in the race to the altar." Envy beclouds judgment.


• 
  
  “Does he use money responsibly? Is he stingy? Most marriages that founder do so because of money — she’s thrifty, he’s on his 10th credit card.


• 
  
  “Steer clear of someone whose life you can run, who never makes demands counter to yours. It’s good to have a doormat in the home, but not if it’s your husband."


• 
  
  “Is he overly attached to his mother and her mythical apron strings? When he wants to make a decision, say, about where you should go on your honeymoon, he doesn’t consult you, he consults his mother." (I’ve known cases where the mother accompanies the couple on their honeymoon!)


• 
  
  “Does he have a sense of humor? That covers a multitude of sins. My mother was once asked how she managed to live harmoniously with three men — my father, brother and me. Her answer, delivered with awesome arrogance, was: ‘You simply operate on the assumption that no man matures after the age of 11.’ My father fell about laughing."


• 
  
  “A therapist friend insists that ‘more marriages are killed by silence than by violence.’ The strong, silent type can be charming but ultimately destructive.


• 
  
  That world-class misogynist, Paul of Tarsus, got it right when he said, ‘In all your dealings with one another, speak the truth to one another in love that you may grow up.’


• 
  
  “Don’t marry a problem character thinking you will change him. He’s a heavy drinker, or some other kind of addict, but if he marries a good woman, he’ll settle down.


• 
  
  People are the same after marriage as before, only more so." “Take a good, unsentimental look at his family — you’ll learn a lot about him and his attitude towards women." Kay made a monstrous mistake marrying Michael Corleone! Is there a history of divorce in the family? An atmosphere of racism, sexism or prejudice in his home?


• 
  
  Are his goals and deepest beliefs worthy and similar to yours? I remember counseling a pious Catholic woman that it might not be prudent to marry a pious Muslim, whose attitude about women was very different. Love trumped prudence; the annulment process was instigated by her six months later. “Imagine a religious fundamentalist married to an agnostic. One would have to pray that the fundamentalist doesn’t open the Bible and hit the page in which Abraham is willing to obey God and slit his son’s throat."


• 
  
  “Finally: Does he possess those character traits that add up to a good human being — the willingness to forgive, praise, be courteous? Or is he inclined to be a fibber, to fits of rage, to be a control freak, to be envious of you, to be secretive?


• 
  
  “After I regale a group with this talk, the despairing cry goes up: ‘But you’ve eliminated everyone!’ Life is unfair.”

Link (here)

Priest Martyred In Nepal, By Hindu's

Hindu terrorists kill Catholic priest
The Nepal Defence Army, which seeks Hinduism restored as Nepal's state religion, claimed it killed a Catholic priest.

July 05, 2008

by Asia News
An obscure local group called Nepal Defence Army, which wants Hinduism restored as the state religion, has claimed responsibility for killing an Indian priest. Johnson Moyalan was murdered Monday inside the Don Bosco mission in Nepal’s Sirsia town, about 15 km from the India-Nepal border. A group of four to five people forced their way inside the mission early morning, locked up the assistant priest and shot Moylan dead.

The Don Bosco group of Roman Catholic priests said he had been shot twice, in the stomach and chest. And the attackers left pamphlets at the spot that said the Nepal Defence Army was responsible for the killing. The Hindu group claims it is training suicide squads to restore Hinduism as the state religion.

The last rites of 60-year-old Moyalan will be held in the Bandel Church of India’s West Bengal state, the order said. Moyalan’s murder inside the mission created ripples with the Vatican too taking note of the slaying of its priest. Hailing from Ollur village of Kerala in India, Moyalan had entered the service of the Roman Catholic church when he was only 19. After serving in Bangalore and Hyderabad cities in India, he came to Nepal in 1996. Four years later, his order opened a mission in Sirsia to work for the uplift of Santhals and other underprivileged members of the Hindu community regarded as low-castes. It opened a primary school of which the priest served as principal. According to reports, the school had been receiving extortion calls from underground armed groups active in the turbulent Terai plains. This is the first killing of a Christian priest in Nepal. Before the pro-democracy movement in 1990, the church had to contend with deep distrust by the government when preaching and conversions were a punishable offence. Though the former Hindu kingdom of Nepal has eased religious curbs since then, some of the churches in south Nepal came under Maoist attack during the communist insurgency for not meeting the insurgents’ demands for money. Last year, Nepal’s parliament declared the country a secular state, a proclamation hailed by the religious minorities. However, the security situation in south Nepal has begun to worsen after the April election, with armed groups becoming active again.

Link (here)

Weigel The Realist

The Christian realist
By Harrison Scott Key

July 1, 2008
Clearly, there’s a theme to today’s posts, about literature, the West, the classics, and reading. At City Journal, Bruce Thornton reviews Against the Grain: Christianity and Democracy, War and Peace, by George Weigel, where the author “gives Christian answers to the West’s most pressing questions.” Weigel is also the author of The Cube and the Cathedral, which you may’ve heard of.

Read the full post (here)

The Star Of The Passion In New Movie

Prisoner Remake
1 July 2008
BOSSES at ITV confirmed last night that Sir Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel will star in the network's remake of 1960s classic cult thriller, The Prisoner, slated to premiere in 2009. American actor Caviezel, who appeared in The Passion of the Christ, will take the role of Number Six, while McKellen will appear as Number Two. The original Prisoner show was filmed in Portmeirion, in North Wales - but ITV was not confirming where the new series will be shot.

Link (here)

More Than 57 Sauce

Heinz ad pushes gay marriage and family, features homosexuals kissing
Read about it (here). Hat Tip to Karen Hall at Some Have Hats (here)

Legion Of Christ, Ordains 56 New Transitional Deacons

Nuncio ordains 34 legionaries to Diaconate
VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org): When one puts Christ at the center of his life, he thinks and speaks of nothing other than him and his Kingdom, the apostolic nuncio to Italy told 34 candidates to the diaconate of the Legionaries of Christ. Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello said this Sunday before ordaining the deacons in a liturgy held at the Center of Higher Studies of the Legionaries of Christ in Rome.

The diaconate is the first of three ranks in the ordained ministry, and the last step for seminarians before being ordained to the priesthood. "Jesus must be the center of our thoughts, the argument of our speech, and the model of our life," said Archbishop Bertello.

"If we truly have this contact with our Lord, we will think of nothing other than his Kingdom, we will speak of nothing other than him and his Kingdom, and we will make our life an apostolate, giving ourselves totally to God. "I am sure that each one of you has in his heart a spirit, a missionary ardor that is proper to your congregation." Ranging in age from 29 to 35, the deacons hail from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Spain, the United States, France, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela. An additional 15 Legionaries were ordained over the past few weeks in Mexico, the United States and Germany.

Six more will be ordained in Medellin, Colombia; Milan, Italy and Dublin, Ireland. In total, 56 Legionaries will be ordained to the diaconate during this period.

Sunday marked the 25th anniversary of the approval of the constitutions of the Legionaries of Christ. The congregation, founded in 1941 by Father Marcial Maciel, has 760 priests and over 2,500 seminarians.

Link (here)