The blog of a group of Filipino Catholics and their frank commentary on anything that affects their lives as a citizen of the Philippines and as a Roman Catholics.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The Pallium Mass of 2010
Our very own, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, receives his pallium from the hands of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Portugese Catholic bishop says: I am ok with a man living with a man
June 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Portuguese Catholic bishop has told media that he is “OK” with homosexual relationships and complained that the Church is a “little inflexible” in “cultural matters” like contraception and homosexuality.
In an interview with Ionline, a Portuguese language news site, Januário Torgal Ferreira, bishop for the Armed Forces of Portugal, said, “I do not agree with the notion of [same-sex] marriage. I do agree with and accept a man who lives with a man, and a woman who lives with a woman.” [This is the kind of rubbish that is destroying us from within! This is ethics at a whim!]
Acknowledging that the Catholic Church asks homosexuals not to “practice their sexuality,” he continued: “It is certain that a homosexual couple is not theoretical, isn’t it? And affections are translated through this practice, through this psycho-affective fusion of mysterious unity that is the human being.” [Oh yeah right. So a raging lunatic, since his situation is not theoretical. His affections are translated through this practice so...it's ok if he goes running down the street and starts killing people.]
The bishop also implied that Catholics need to be more relaxed about “cultural” issues such as public nudity. The bishop first criticized people who he said are "perfectly illiterate, filled with guilt, malice, sensuality, almost castrated." Such people, he said, will complain to him, "Oh...[sic] you go to the beach and to the pool in trunks."
"And then?" he responded. "What is the problem? I am a citizen like everyone else!"
After being asked by the interviewer if anyone had actually made such a complaint to him, he admitted, "Not directly." [So who told it to you? Big Foot?]
"But," he continued, "people see me in the beach. Let us imagine the following situation: 'So, you were there lying down, next to a topless lady?' And then? What is the matter? Only a pervert goes to the beach and thinks about these things. Malice is often in the way one faces the world." [I do not want to be in the a beach and see this bishop nude! Ugh!]
The bishop said he was thankful for "the educators I had, for looking to the world in a guiltless and uninhibited way."
He complained that his ideas have garnered him opposition from the lay faithful, saying, “I receive so many nasty letters!”
“I don't care, naturally, that there are positions different from my own. What upsets me is that people distort what I defend or decide to use insult and gratuitous aggression.” [And what is there to distort?]
He admitted that he has been corrected by Catholic authorities, saying he has "been warned once or twice” about his statements on contraception, which he referred to as “family planning.” [There are ways on how to deal with callused people. Mercy is definitely not one of them.]
“I do not accept the dogmatism of natural methods. People often do not wish to be realistic.” Nevertheless, he said that “what matters most” is the “great dialogue” [Obamaism. They will dialogue if it favors their agenda. Remember how an elderly priest, peacefully praying and rallying was dragged by police after Notre Dame officials had them arrested for "disturbing the peace and trespassing" during that debacle called "Notre Shame honors Obama"?] on such issues, “because truth is never possessed in full.” [TRUTH IS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!!! And in the issue of life, IT IS NOT DEBATABLE!!!]
***
Holy Father, do the Church a favor.
Laicize this nut case!
Acknowledging that the Catholic Church asks homosexuals not to “practice their sexuality,” he continued: “It is certain that a homosexual couple is not theoretical, isn’t it? And affections are translated through this practice, through this psycho-affective fusion of mysterious unity that is the human being.” [Oh yeah right. So a raging lunatic, since his situation is not theoretical. His affections are translated through this practice so...it's ok if he goes running down the street and starts killing people.]
The bishop also implied that Catholics need to be more relaxed about “cultural” issues such as public nudity. The bishop first criticized people who he said are "perfectly illiterate, filled with guilt, malice, sensuality, almost castrated." Such people, he said, will complain to him, "Oh...[sic] you go to the beach and to the pool in trunks."
"And then?" he responded. "What is the problem? I am a citizen like everyone else!"
After being asked by the interviewer if anyone had actually made such a complaint to him, he admitted, "Not directly." [So who told it to you? Big Foot?]
"But," he continued, "people see me in the beach. Let us imagine the following situation: 'So, you were there lying down, next to a topless lady?' And then? What is the matter? Only a pervert goes to the beach and thinks about these things. Malice is often in the way one faces the world." [I do not want to be in the a beach and see this bishop nude! Ugh!]
The bishop said he was thankful for "the educators I had, for looking to the world in a guiltless and uninhibited way."
He complained that his ideas have garnered him opposition from the lay faithful, saying, “I receive so many nasty letters!”
“I don't care, naturally, that there are positions different from my own. What upsets me is that people distort what I defend or decide to use insult and gratuitous aggression.” [And what is there to distort?]
He admitted that he has been corrected by Catholic authorities, saying he has "been warned once or twice” about his statements on contraception, which he referred to as “family planning.” [There are ways on how to deal with callused people. Mercy is definitely not one of them.]
“I do not accept the dogmatism of natural methods. People often do not wish to be realistic.” Nevertheless, he said that “what matters most” is the “great dialogue” [Obamaism. They will dialogue if it favors their agenda. Remember how an elderly priest, peacefully praying and rallying was dragged by police after Notre Dame officials had them arrested for "disturbing the peace and trespassing" during that debacle called "Notre Shame honors Obama"?] on such issues, “because truth is never possessed in full.” [TRUTH IS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!!! And in the issue of life, IT IS NOT DEBATABLE!!!]
***
Holy Father, do the Church a favor.
Laicize this nut case!
Whew!!!
I just saw the news of President-elect Noynoy Aquino announcing his Cabinet secretaries.
Thank goodness he did not retain Dr. Esperanza Cabral, the pro-condom secretary of Health.
Thank goodness also he appointed Cong. Proceso Alcala. This congressman is not only a legislator, but he actually made projects for the farmers that helped raise their living conditions.
Thank goodness he did not retain Dr. Esperanza Cabral, the pro-condom secretary of Health.
Thank goodness also he appointed Cong. Proceso Alcala. This congressman is not only a legislator, but he actually made projects for the farmers that helped raise their living conditions.
About religious statues and priestly misconduct
The world's largest Catholic statue was unveiled on June 26 in the city of Santa Cruz in Brazil. The statue of St. Rita of Cascia towers 183 feet, which is 65 feet taller than the famous Christ the Redeemer statue that sits atop Rio de Janeiro.
According to Cancao Nova news, the rector of the Shrine of St. Rita, Father Aerton Sales, said he hopes the statue will attract greater religious tourism to the region. [And anti-Catholic bashers as well. Count on it.] During the annual celebration of the feast of St. Rita, the shrine attracts some 50,000 visitors.
The inauguration of the statue included a Mass and a ceremony of blessing attended by the governor of the state of Rio Grande do Note, Ibere Ferreira de Souza. A procession followed with the faithful carrying replicas of the massive statue.
***
I hope to get photos of the procession.
This is a great way of fostering religious fervor among our faithful.
On a side note about religious statues, let me give you a very funny story of how money corrupts.
Remember the post Vatican II euphoria of leaving nothing inside the church except the altar, a cross, presider's chair and pulpit? Makes you wonder if you are in a Catholic or Baptist structure.
Anyways, our "Deal or No Deal parish priest, who recently became "Hi-Hello" in his opening and closing boring-logue (a monologue that is...), stashed away all the religious statues in our massive church. Recently, I was surprised to see some of the statues being displayed near the entrance of the main church, until I found out the real reason behind it.
Apparently, our dear Reverend Showman was interested to take out the statues after he was convinced that DONATION BOXES can be placed near the statues.
So, I think that that is the magic word.
The church also is like a construction firm, lots of renovation going on, even if there is nothing to renovate. Seems the guy has an M.A. (Mimicking an Architect).
Or did he learn something from Philippine politics? Hmmm...
I have first hand info into the transactions of this priest. And mind you, if he is not shackled or put in his proper place, this priest will hurt Holy Mother Church even more!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Catholophobia in Belgium
Belgian police admitted to this:
"the tombs of Cardinals Suenens and Van Roey were drilled and a camera pushed in, apparently to see whether there were any hidden documents" linked to the paedophilia claims concerning Catholic clergy.Read more of this audacity here.
***
On a side note, is this guy the head of the Belgian Police?
Why not investigate these two? If there are two people who should be investigated thoroughly, these are the two! We are giving them up to you!
Ok, I get the point of the Belgian police. You have a search warrant. But does it involve opening a tomb?!?!
Idiots...
Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Today is the Feast Day of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
For more about this devotion, click here.
On this your great day, dear Mother, I offer this song as my prayer of trust...
Strike 1! Aquino keeps two Arroyo Cabinet secretaries
Reportedly, President-elect Aquino is also re-appointing Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral.
What the?!@!*%
Cabral has spent the first few days of her office to promote condom distribution and other forms of artificial birth control on the premise of helping stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
Has anyone heard the Health Secretary talk about being faithful to one's spouse?
Has she, or her minions, ever talked about stopping pre-marital sex?
Has anyone noticed how passionate the Health Department was in promoting artificial birth control and not so much with natural family planning?
Is she really working towards providing us better health care? I don't think so. I visited a village in Cotabato a week ago, met the tribal leaders who have potable water and electricity...from solar panels...from donations of foundations...and NOT from the government!
If she is really serious in providing health care for all, then why not give it to the people WHO HAS NOTHING AT ALL?!
Or is she working to serve the demands of multinational interest groups who pursue a Culture of Death?
Pilgrim Image of Our Lady of Fatima
Here is the schedule:
Friday, July 2 : Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Cordillera St., QC
Saturday, July 3: Most Holy Redeemer Parish, Masambong, QC
Sunday, July 4: Cubao Cathedral, Lantana, Cubao, QC
Monday, July 5: Lord of Divine Mercy Church, Sikatuna, QC
Grab this wonderful opportunity to see the image and pray the rosary before Her. I once saw this image at the Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. I prayed the Memorare and the Salve Regina in front of Her, then I proceeded to the Adoration Chapel. Very touching experience! I cannot explain the feeling when I stood in front of Her. As if She was really there...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
SNAPSHOT: The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Ruperto Santos
I found interesting photos of the ordination of Bishop Ruperto Santos.
Here is one VERY interesting one.
Bishop Ruperto Santos is wearing his episcopal dalmatic! VERY RARE IN THE PHILIPPINES!
If you want to see more of Bishop Santos' ordination, click and visit the Archdiocese of Manila website.
Here is one VERY interesting one.
Bishop Ruperto Santos is wearing his episcopal dalmatic! VERY RARE IN THE PHILIPPINES!
If you want to see more of Bishop Santos' ordination, click and visit the Archdiocese of Manila website.
One year!!!
I did not realize it but it has been a year since I started my blog. How time flies by!
Through the year, through my blog I met a lot of good friends in the Catholic Faith...and those of our Anglican brethren aspiring to get back home to our Catholic Faith.
What wonders the Lord works!
I pray for you all...
Pray for me too and my family.
I was a wonderful year.
Through the year, through my blog I met a lot of good friends in the Catholic Faith...and those of our Anglican brethren aspiring to get back home to our Catholic Faith.
What wonders the Lord works!
I pray for you all...
Pray for me too and my family.
I was a wonderful year.
And so I offer this...
Friday, June 25, 2010
Feast of St. Josemaria Escriva
Ora pro nobis!
A quote from the great saint:
When we were little, we kept close to our mother in a dark alley or if dogs barked at us. Now, when we feel temptations of the flesh, we should run to the side of our Mother in Heaven, by realizing how she is to us, and by means of aspirations. She will defend us and lead us to the light.
I hope to attend this afternoon's Mass...
Liturgical Oddities
An average Catholic would find these things unusual when they see them at their Sunday Mass.
Which of the two would raise your eyebrows?
My "Deal-or-No-Deal parish priest would raise an eyebrow and throw a tantrum fit the whole week if he sees the cappa magna. He was ranting for a whole day seeing a biretta! Imagine the cape!
But what among these two photos would help you get the "sense of the sacred" or even lift your spirits towards the Omniscient God?
Read this excellent post of Fr. Allan Macdonald of Southern Orders. Stop and reflect.
Thanks to Fr. Allan too for the photos.
Which of the two would raise your eyebrows?
My "Deal-or-No-Deal parish priest would raise an eyebrow and throw a tantrum fit the whole week if he sees the cappa magna. He was ranting for a whole day seeing a biretta! Imagine the cape!
But what among these two photos would help you get the "sense of the sacred" or even lift your spirits towards the Omniscient God?
Read this excellent post of Fr. Allan Macdonald of Southern Orders. Stop and reflect.
Thanks to Fr. Allan too for the photos.
New Pinoy bishop!
For more about the newly consecrated bishop, click here. FYI, Bishop Santos was a farmer, is the son of farmer-parents. His father wanted him to become a professional agriculturist. Now he is harvesting in the Lord's vineyard!
The Lord really has a very good sense of humor!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Youngest Pinoy Archbishop to receive pallium
The archbishop (center) after the ordination mass he presided.
37 archbishops will receive their pallium from the hands of the Holy Father during the Mass of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29.
Among those who will receive their pallium is Filipino archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen - Dagupan. He is only 42 years old.
Click here for more details.
Usually the Vatican invites the Patriarch of Constantinople to this event and the patriarch attends dressed in his choir robes.
I will post the video as soon as it is available.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Feast of St. Thomas More
Today is the Feast of one of my patron saints, St. Thomas More.
So I found these clips from one of my favorite films of all time, A Man for all Seasons.
May the example of St. Thomas More lead us to a life of principle, dignity and honor in obedience to God through His Holy Mother Church.
St. Thomas More, pray for us.
So I found these clips from one of my favorite films of all time, A Man for all Seasons.
May the example of St. Thomas More lead us to a life of principle, dignity and honor in obedience to God through His Holy Mother Church.
St. Thomas More, pray for us.
Education Department stops sex ed program
MANILA, (CBCPNews) June 22, 2010—The government on Tuesday put on hold the teaching of sex education in public schools amid strong opposition of the country’s influential Catholic Church. [Surprising to find that word used in a news article in the CBCP's website! The word is usually double meaning especially when it is used by the anti-Catholic media of Manila. Not sure why the reporter even used it. Hmmm...]
Education Secretary Mona Valisno said the implementation of the controversial program is postponed until after consultations with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. [Is this how the government really works? If no one says "Ouch!" then it must be ok? I thought this country is a democracy? I thought consultations are done before anything is done? That is competence at work for you, tax payers!]
“We decided to hold sex education module in abeyance until a final decision is made on the consulting process,” Valisno said.
The Adolescent Reproductive Health program was supposed to be pilot-tested this school year in 80 elementary and 79 secondary schools.
The decision to halt the implementation of the program was also made a day after a class suit was filed against Valisno and Undersecretary Ramon Bacani. [When you raise your stick against a wild barking dog, then that wild beast you know you are in business. So what does it do? Goes dumb and tucks its tail between its legs...]
On Monday, parents led by CBCP lawyer Jo Imbong filed a class suit in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to stop the department from implementing the program.
The complainants along with representatives of Catholic political party Ang Kapatiran [Is there such a thing? Do we have a political party of a particular religious denomination in the country? Or it just so happens that the members are Catholics who are faithful to the teachings of the Church?] said teaching sex education in schools violate the rights of parents to nurture the moral character of their children. [I will give my detailed take on this later.]
But the DepEd chief claimed the decision had nothing to do with the case against them but to allow a thorough discussion and clarify matters to those who are opposed to it. [Ows...]
Valisno said they are willing to modify the contents of the program if the church should find topics that contradict Christian values. [You think?!]
Church officials immediately welcomed the decision of the education department, reiterating that sex education will not solve the spread of sex-related diseases. [Nothing beats abstinence and chastity!]
Imbong, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Legal Office, said she is grateful with the move made by the government.
“We parents appreciate [the] decision. They were enlightened,” she said. [Hmmm...]
Valisno, however, insisted that sex education is still needed in the country to stop the rising incidence of teenage and unwanted pregnancies. [This is where their contraceptive agenda comes in.]
Such measure, she added, is also important to curb the spread of sex-related diseases in the country.
But Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, chairman of the CBCP’s Commission on Family and Life, maintained that sex education should be the primary responsibility of parents. [AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!]
Other church leaders said that if it is taught to students, it should not start in primary and high school level but in college.
The DepEd official said they had sent invitations thrice to the bishops for a dialogue but they have not received a positive response. [I once worked in government and now in my work in the private sector, I work with the government. And believe me, when it comes to communications, government sucks, big time! You get the invite for a round-table discussion, but the event was 1 week ago! Probably the people in government would rather pay more for courier service than just sending the invite via fax or email!]
CBCP President Bishop Nereo Odchimar earlier said they are still on the process on consulting with CBCP lawyers concerning the legality of the sex education program.
“Based on our advice, we’ll make our position clear,” Odchimar said. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)
***
Parents always have the right to educate their children. We go to school because our parents do not have the luxury of time to educate us, that is why we are sent to school! Do you remember the saying that teachers are our second parents?
Now with regards to sex education, it is the same as teaching your children good morals and character building. Sex education CANNOT BE and MUST NOT BE TAUGHT at school. Leave it to the parents.
Some people will say that there are irresponsible parents who do not even know what responsible parenthood is. Ok, fine. But is that an excuse for the State to institutionalize sex education.
Did the government even consider the fact that most teen pregnancies happen with teens who have troubled relationships at home?
Did the government even consider that sexually transmitted disease is high among sex workers?
Then why is government turning its eye on our children?!?!?!
Remember the botched condom distribution campaign of the Health Department? Now this...
Can't you smell the ugly, gnarled hand of multinational latex companies trying its damned best to change the morality of our beloved country.
Education Secretary Mona Valisno said the implementation of the controversial program is postponed until after consultations with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. [Is this how the government really works? If no one says "Ouch!" then it must be ok? I thought this country is a democracy? I thought consultations are done before anything is done? That is competence at work for you, tax payers!]
“We decided to hold sex education module in abeyance until a final decision is made on the consulting process,” Valisno said.
The Adolescent Reproductive Health program was supposed to be pilot-tested this school year in 80 elementary and 79 secondary schools.
The decision to halt the implementation of the program was also made a day after a class suit was filed against Valisno and Undersecretary Ramon Bacani. [When you raise your stick against a wild barking dog, then that wild beast you know you are in business. So what does it do? Goes dumb and tucks its tail between its legs...]
On Monday, parents led by CBCP lawyer Jo Imbong filed a class suit in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to stop the department from implementing the program.
The complainants along with representatives of Catholic political party Ang Kapatiran [Is there such a thing? Do we have a political party of a particular religious denomination in the country? Or it just so happens that the members are Catholics who are faithful to the teachings of the Church?] said teaching sex education in schools violate the rights of parents to nurture the moral character of their children. [I will give my detailed take on this later.]
But the DepEd chief claimed the decision had nothing to do with the case against them but to allow a thorough discussion and clarify matters to those who are opposed to it. [Ows...]
Valisno said they are willing to modify the contents of the program if the church should find topics that contradict Christian values. [You think?!]
Church officials immediately welcomed the decision of the education department, reiterating that sex education will not solve the spread of sex-related diseases. [Nothing beats abstinence and chastity!]
Imbong, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Legal Office, said she is grateful with the move made by the government.
“We parents appreciate [the] decision. They were enlightened,” she said. [Hmmm...]
Valisno, however, insisted that sex education is still needed in the country to stop the rising incidence of teenage and unwanted pregnancies. [This is where their contraceptive agenda comes in.]
Such measure, she added, is also important to curb the spread of sex-related diseases in the country.
But Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, chairman of the CBCP’s Commission on Family and Life, maintained that sex education should be the primary responsibility of parents. [AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!]
Other church leaders said that if it is taught to students, it should not start in primary and high school level but in college.
The DepEd official said they had sent invitations thrice to the bishops for a dialogue but they have not received a positive response. [I once worked in government and now in my work in the private sector, I work with the government. And believe me, when it comes to communications, government sucks, big time! You get the invite for a round-table discussion, but the event was 1 week ago! Probably the people in government would rather pay more for courier service than just sending the invite via fax or email!]
CBCP President Bishop Nereo Odchimar earlier said they are still on the process on consulting with CBCP lawyers concerning the legality of the sex education program.
“Based on our advice, we’ll make our position clear,” Odchimar said. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)
***
Parents always have the right to educate their children. We go to school because our parents do not have the luxury of time to educate us, that is why we are sent to school! Do you remember the saying that teachers are our second parents?
Now with regards to sex education, it is the same as teaching your children good morals and character building. Sex education CANNOT BE and MUST NOT BE TAUGHT at school. Leave it to the parents.
Some people will say that there are irresponsible parents who do not even know what responsible parenthood is. Ok, fine. But is that an excuse for the State to institutionalize sex education.
Did the government even consider the fact that most teen pregnancies happen with teens who have troubled relationships at home?
Did the government even consider that sexually transmitted disease is high among sex workers?
Then why is government turning its eye on our children?!?!?!
Remember the botched condom distribution campaign of the Health Department? Now this...
Can't you smell the ugly, gnarled hand of multinational latex companies trying its damned best to change the morality of our beloved country.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Pro-life champion and former Protestant minister...ordained a priest of the Church!
From Catholic.org written by Deacon Keith Fournier
***
HARRISBURG, PA (Catholic Online) - I had the privilege of being part of Church history on Saturday, June 12, 2010. My friend of many years, former Protestant minister and Pro-Life hero, Paul Schenck, was ordained as a Priest of the Catholic Church. My history with Fr. Paul Schenck goes back decades. I first met his twin brother, Rob, through now deceased Lutheran Pastor and ecumenical giant Harald Bredesen. Always "moving in the Spirit", Harald told me back then he "knew from the Lord" I had to meet the Schenck brothers. He was right.
At the time Rob Schenck was leading a ministry calling attention to the plight of the Poor in Mexico. I joined his Board of Advisors. It was the beginning of a treasured friendship which has spanned decades. He introduced me to his brother Paul. Both of these men shared with me a dedication to bringing an end to the killing of our youngest neighbors in the womb by abortion. They were raised in a Jewish home, came to faith in the Lord Jesus as teenagers and became Protestant Pastors.
The two brothers were already Pro-Life Champions in the Buffalo, New York area. I had gone to Law School to help overturn the infamous decision which opened the door to the Culture of death, Roe v Wade. So, when I was asked by the brothers to come to Buffalo to speak on behalf of Paul who had been wrongfully arrested for peacefully distributing Pro-Life literature, I said "Yes". It was the beginning of an association which has changed my life.
At the time I was a Dean at the Franciscan University of Steubenville which was still in its early stages of spiritual recovery and renewal. I was also practicing law, trying to do what I could to advance the fundamental human rights cause of our age, the Pro-Life movement. I stayed in touch with Paul and Rob throughout those years.
In 1991, I accepted an invitation from Pat Robertson to move to Virginia Beach and build the American Center for Law and Justice. (ACLJ) Pat knew I was a fully committed Catholic Christian. He read my first book "Evangelical Catholics". I moved to Virginia Beach and served as the first Executive Director of the ACLJ. Jay Sekulow, its Chief Counsel, soon joined me in the effort. A gifted Constitutional Advocate, he has led the Public Interest legal group since I left in 1997.
In the subtitle of my first book "Evangelical Catholics" (out of print), I called for "Christian Co-operation to penetrate the Darkness with the Light of the Gospel." Those were days of what I call "trench ecumenism". An example was the Pro-Life movement. We all heard the cry of those whom Mother Teresa called the "poorest of the poor", children in the womb. We worked together on their behalf. In the trenches of that just battle we rediscovered one another as brethren in the One Lord Jesus Christ.
This kind of cooperation in the cultural mission is widely accepted now. Back then, it was highly controversial in both Catholic and Protestant circles. A man I have long admired, Chuck Colson, wrote the forward to "Evangelical Catholics". He was pilloried for doing so in some evangelical circles for years afterward. My relationship with Paul and Rob Schenck grew in those Pro-Life trenches as did their vibrant ministry. We were doing Catholic/Evangelical cooperation long before it was "cool".
The first case I took as the head of the ACLJ came through Rob and Paul Scheck. Paul was wrongfully arrested for distributing Pro-Life literature in front of an abortion facility. [Yup. That is wrong in America.] The early ACLJ was just getting what my deceased father would have called its "sea legs." We represented Paul and turned it into a Constitutional case. We lost at the Federal District Court level.
However, that would not be the end of the case. Years later I had the privilege of serving as a co-counsel when Jay Sekulow successfully argued the same case at the US Supreme Court. It was styled "Schenck v. Pro-Choice Escorts". Paul's courageous efforts for children and Jay's insistence that Pro-Life speech is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, won the day. Paul was completely vindicated.
During those 'ACLJ years' my friendship with Paul and his journey toward the full communion of the Catholic Church passed through a series of events. Appalled that this human rights hero would be adjudged a "criminal" for doing what should have been protected by the First Amendment and praised as heroic - I resolved to do everything I could to support him in his important work.
That included hiring him as the Vice President of the American Center for Law and Justice. At the time, he was under house arrest, wearing an ankle monitor. Paul, his wonderful wife Becky and all of their beautiful children moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia. He became a key leader in the early days of the ACLJ. He did during those years what he has always done in life; give himself without reserve to the Lords work.
Paul and I shared a deep love for the early Fathers of the Church. [Ahh!!! See that?! Love for the Fathers of the Church. Do the libs do this? N.O.P.E.] We had numerous theological discussions. I saw the Holy Spirit drawing him out of a Protestant vision of the Church and into an increasingly Catholic vision. When he became an Episcopal minister, I was there. I knew it would not satisfy his hunger. I believed that Paul was hungering for the fullness of the ancient yet ever new Catholic Christian Faith.
At his ordination in the Episcopal Church, I gave him a copy of the Liturgy of the Hours which I had engraved to "Fr. Paul Chaim Schenck'. I hoped it would be prophetic. He showed it to me this past Weekend with a huge smile on his face. Paul came to my ordination to the Order of Deacon in the Catholic Church in 1996.
The next year, 1997, it became clear that my ordination and my continued role with the ACLJ were not compatible. The somewhat painful details were recently described in David Edwin Harrell Jr.'s excellent biography of Pat Robertson entitled "Pat Robertson: A Life and Legacy." (see, pp.263, 264)
Ironically my last appearance as Executive Director of the ACLJ as co-counsel with Jay Sekulow was in the very first case which I took when I moved to build the ACLJ. This time it was before the US Supreme Court. Paul's courageous work on behalf of children in the womb served as bookends for an entire chapter in my life.
We stayed in touch. I introduced Paul to a dear friend, A Melkite Catholic Bishop, who played a significant role in his journey to the Catholic Church. I was honored to serve as the Deacon at the Mass where Pro-Life Hero Fr. Frank Pavone [Fr. Pavone regularly visits the Philippines!] received Paul into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2004. Paul laid aside his ordained ministry in the Reformed Episcopal Church to become a Catholic. [Welcome home, brother. Welcome home!]
He and I discussed his desire for ordination over the years following on several occasions. I watched him go through what I have watched others go through who have walked the same road. His desire to be Catholic led him to give it all up - and offer to serve in any way that he could in the Church he loves. Over the years the mettle of this man always shone through. He is a man of heroic virtue, courage, and perseverance.
It was against this background that I traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this past weekend; to rejoice with my long time friend at the goodness of the Lord in calling him. He was ordained a deacon six months ago. With a dispensation from Rome waiving the celibacy requirement, he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. [In the Year of the Priest! Oh how blessed indeed!]
Father Paul "Chaim" Schenck was ordained by his friend, the humble and holy Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine, Fla. His Diocese is without a Bishop since Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades has been called to the Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend in Indiana. In a rare turn of events, Fr. Paul was allowed to choose a Bishop to ordain him.
I sat next to my brother deacons and behind the numerous priests who were present. I wept through most of the exquisitely beautiful ordination. His dear family was there, along with a Church filled with people whose lives have been touched by his heroic service to the Lord. They came from his days as an Assemblies of God Pastor, an Episcopal minister and now a Catholic Priest. It was an extraordinary event. When the Mass was ended I asked Fr. Paul for his blessing. He placed his hand on my head and gave me a priestly blessing, in Hebrew.
I believe that Fr. Paul Chaim Schenck is a prophetic sign of the coming full communion of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. [This is what true ecumenism is!] I will share more about that in the future. I ask our global readers to pray for Fr. Paul Chaim Schenck, Priest of Jesus Christ. He is a gift for a new missionary age. May there be many more.
***
Pray to the Lord of the harvest...
Pray for more champions of life... Pray for Fr. Paul, Deacon Keith, Fr. Frank...
Pray that Fr. Paul's brother, Robert, and other to go back home to the Catholic Church
***
At the time Rob Schenck was leading a ministry calling attention to the plight of the Poor in Mexico. I joined his Board of Advisors. It was the beginning of a treasured friendship which has spanned decades. He introduced me to his brother Paul. Both of these men shared with me a dedication to bringing an end to the killing of our youngest neighbors in the womb by abortion. They were raised in a Jewish home, came to faith in the Lord Jesus as teenagers and became Protestant Pastors.
The two brothers were already Pro-Life Champions in the Buffalo, New York area. I had gone to Law School to help overturn the infamous decision which opened the door to the Culture of death, Roe v Wade. So, when I was asked by the brothers to come to Buffalo to speak on behalf of Paul who had been wrongfully arrested for peacefully distributing Pro-Life literature, I said "Yes". It was the beginning of an association which has changed my life.
At the time I was a Dean at the Franciscan University of Steubenville which was still in its early stages of spiritual recovery and renewal. I was also practicing law, trying to do what I could to advance the fundamental human rights cause of our age, the Pro-Life movement. I stayed in touch with Paul and Rob throughout those years.
In 1991, I accepted an invitation from Pat Robertson to move to Virginia Beach and build the American Center for Law and Justice. (ACLJ) Pat knew I was a fully committed Catholic Christian. He read my first book "Evangelical Catholics". I moved to Virginia Beach and served as the first Executive Director of the ACLJ. Jay Sekulow, its Chief Counsel, soon joined me in the effort. A gifted Constitutional Advocate, he has led the Public Interest legal group since I left in 1997.
In the subtitle of my first book "Evangelical Catholics" (out of print), I called for "Christian Co-operation to penetrate the Darkness with the Light of the Gospel." Those were days of what I call "trench ecumenism". An example was the Pro-Life movement. We all heard the cry of those whom Mother Teresa called the "poorest of the poor", children in the womb. We worked together on their behalf. In the trenches of that just battle we rediscovered one another as brethren in the One Lord Jesus Christ.
This kind of cooperation in the cultural mission is widely accepted now. Back then, it was highly controversial in both Catholic and Protestant circles. A man I have long admired, Chuck Colson, wrote the forward to "Evangelical Catholics". He was pilloried for doing so in some evangelical circles for years afterward. My relationship with Paul and Rob Schenck grew in those Pro-Life trenches as did their vibrant ministry. We were doing Catholic/Evangelical cooperation long before it was "cool".
The first case I took as the head of the ACLJ came through Rob and Paul Scheck. Paul was wrongfully arrested for distributing Pro-Life literature in front of an abortion facility. [Yup. That is wrong in America.] The early ACLJ was just getting what my deceased father would have called its "sea legs." We represented Paul and turned it into a Constitutional case. We lost at the Federal District Court level.
However, that would not be the end of the case. Years later I had the privilege of serving as a co-counsel when Jay Sekulow successfully argued the same case at the US Supreme Court. It was styled "Schenck v. Pro-Choice Escorts". Paul's courageous efforts for children and Jay's insistence that Pro-Life speech is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, won the day. Paul was completely vindicated.
During those 'ACLJ years' my friendship with Paul and his journey toward the full communion of the Catholic Church passed through a series of events. Appalled that this human rights hero would be adjudged a "criminal" for doing what should have been protected by the First Amendment and praised as heroic - I resolved to do everything I could to support him in his important work.
That included hiring him as the Vice President of the American Center for Law and Justice. At the time, he was under house arrest, wearing an ankle monitor. Paul, his wonderful wife Becky and all of their beautiful children moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia. He became a key leader in the early days of the ACLJ. He did during those years what he has always done in life; give himself without reserve to the Lords work.
Paul and I shared a deep love for the early Fathers of the Church. [Ahh!!! See that?! Love for the Fathers of the Church. Do the libs do this? N.O.P.E.] We had numerous theological discussions. I saw the Holy Spirit drawing him out of a Protestant vision of the Church and into an increasingly Catholic vision. When he became an Episcopal minister, I was there. I knew it would not satisfy his hunger. I believed that Paul was hungering for the fullness of the ancient yet ever new Catholic Christian Faith.
At his ordination in the Episcopal Church, I gave him a copy of the Liturgy of the Hours which I had engraved to "Fr. Paul Chaim Schenck'. I hoped it would be prophetic. He showed it to me this past Weekend with a huge smile on his face. Paul came to my ordination to the Order of Deacon in the Catholic Church in 1996.
The next year, 1997, it became clear that my ordination and my continued role with the ACLJ were not compatible. The somewhat painful details were recently described in David Edwin Harrell Jr.'s excellent biography of Pat Robertson entitled "Pat Robertson: A Life and Legacy." (see, pp.263, 264)
Ironically my last appearance as Executive Director of the ACLJ as co-counsel with Jay Sekulow was in the very first case which I took when I moved to build the ACLJ. This time it was before the US Supreme Court. Paul's courageous work on behalf of children in the womb served as bookends for an entire chapter in my life.
We stayed in touch. I introduced Paul to a dear friend, A Melkite Catholic Bishop, who played a significant role in his journey to the Catholic Church. I was honored to serve as the Deacon at the Mass where Pro-Life Hero Fr. Frank Pavone [Fr. Pavone regularly visits the Philippines!] received Paul into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2004. Paul laid aside his ordained ministry in the Reformed Episcopal Church to become a Catholic. [Welcome home, brother. Welcome home!]
He and I discussed his desire for ordination over the years following on several occasions. I watched him go through what I have watched others go through who have walked the same road. His desire to be Catholic led him to give it all up - and offer to serve in any way that he could in the Church he loves. Over the years the mettle of this man always shone through. He is a man of heroic virtue, courage, and perseverance.
It was against this background that I traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this past weekend; to rejoice with my long time friend at the goodness of the Lord in calling him. He was ordained a deacon six months ago. With a dispensation from Rome waiving the celibacy requirement, he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. [In the Year of the Priest! Oh how blessed indeed!]
Father Paul "Chaim" Schenck was ordained by his friend, the humble and holy Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine, Fla. His Diocese is without a Bishop since Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades has been called to the Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend in Indiana. In a rare turn of events, Fr. Paul was allowed to choose a Bishop to ordain him.
I sat next to my brother deacons and behind the numerous priests who were present. I wept through most of the exquisitely beautiful ordination. His dear family was there, along with a Church filled with people whose lives have been touched by his heroic service to the Lord. They came from his days as an Assemblies of God Pastor, an Episcopal minister and now a Catholic Priest. It was an extraordinary event. When the Mass was ended I asked Fr. Paul for his blessing. He placed his hand on my head and gave me a priestly blessing, in Hebrew.
I believe that Fr. Paul Chaim Schenck is a prophetic sign of the coming full communion of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. [This is what true ecumenism is!] I will share more about that in the future. I ask our global readers to pray for Fr. Paul Chaim Schenck, Priest of Jesus Christ. He is a gift for a new missionary age. May there be many more.
***
Pray to the Lord of the harvest...
Pray for more champions of life... Pray for Fr. Paul, Deacon Keith, Fr. Frank...
Pray that Fr. Paul's brother, Robert, and other to go back home to the Catholic Church
Monday, June 21, 2010
iMissal?
ROME – An Italian priest has developed an application that will let priests celebrate Mass with an iPad on the altar instead of the regular Roman missal. [My brother has one and he saved some of the prayers for blessings
The Rev. Paolo Padrini, a consultant with the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said Friday the free application will be launched in July in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin.
Two years ago, Padrini developed the iBreviary, an application that brought the book of daily prayers used by priests onto iPhones. To date, some 200,000 people have downloaded the application, he said. [And it's free! When you go to Apple, you have to buy the applications you liked.]
The iPad application is similar but also contains the complete missal — containing all that is said and sung during Mass throughout the liturgical year. Upgrades are expected to feature audio as well as commentaries and suggestions for homilies [!] as well as musical accompaniment, he said.
"Paper books will never disappear," he said in a phone interview from his home parish in Tortona, in Italy's northern Piemonte region. But at the same time "we shouldn't be scandalized that on altars there are these instruments in support of prayer."
Padrini, 36, said he expected priests who have to travel a lot for work would find the application most useful, noting that he recently had to celebrate Mass in a small parish where the missal was "a small book, a bit dirty, old."
"If I had had my iPad with me, it would've been better than this old, tiny book," he said.
Pope Benedict XVI, a classical music lover who was reportedly given an iPod in 2006, has sought to reach out to young people through new media: the Vatican has a regularly updated presence on You Tube and Facebook. Based on the success of the iBreviary, Padrini was recruited by the Vatican to oversee its youth outreach program in the new media, http://www.pope2you.net.
He stressed that the iPad application, like the iBreviary, was launched at his own instigation and with his own money and is not an official Vatican initiative. Vatican officials have previously praised the iBreviary as a novel way of evangelizing. — AP
***
I am not fan of the iPad. My brother has one, one of the first lucky ones to have it. I borrowed it for a day, but I completely lost my interest. It's touch screen is cool, but that's just it.
If I were on an ego trip, I would have bought any product at Starbucks, even if I hate the joint, (I buy coffee at different shops but definitely NOT Starbucks. I hate their coffee!) I would have stayed there for hours until I drain the battery of my brother's iPad and would just see the look of envy in the eyes of the tweens buying chocolate drinks in that coffee shop. Yeah, I think that is how useful the iPad would be. Evil me...
The critics were right. It is just an iPod Touch on steroids.
But if it will be used for evangelization it surely is a great way to use the technology!
"Father, you have no reason to use your own words when blessing people and things. You have your iPad!"
Remember that line...ROFL!
Two years ago, Padrini developed the iBreviary, an application that brought the book of daily prayers used by priests onto iPhones. To date, some 200,000 people have downloaded the application, he said. [And it's free! When you go to Apple, you have to buy the applications you liked.]
The iPad application is similar but also contains the complete missal — containing all that is said and sung during Mass throughout the liturgical year. Upgrades are expected to feature audio as well as commentaries and suggestions for homilies [!] as well as musical accompaniment, he said.
"Paper books will never disappear," he said in a phone interview from his home parish in Tortona, in Italy's northern Piemonte region. But at the same time "we shouldn't be scandalized that on altars there are these instruments in support of prayer."
Padrini, 36, said he expected priests who have to travel a lot for work would find the application most useful, noting that he recently had to celebrate Mass in a small parish where the missal was "a small book, a bit dirty, old."
"If I had had my iPad with me, it would've been better than this old, tiny book," he said.
Pope Benedict XVI, a classical music lover who was reportedly given an iPod in 2006, has sought to reach out to young people through new media: the Vatican has a regularly updated presence on You Tube and Facebook. Based on the success of the iBreviary, Padrini was recruited by the Vatican to oversee its youth outreach program in the new media, http://www.pope2you.net.
He stressed that the iPad application, like the iBreviary, was launched at his own instigation and with his own money and is not an official Vatican initiative. Vatican officials have previously praised the iBreviary as a novel way of evangelizing. — AP
***
I am not fan of the iPad. My brother has one, one of the first lucky ones to have it. I borrowed it for a day, but I completely lost my interest. It's touch screen is cool, but that's just it.
If I were on an ego trip, I would have bought any product at Starbucks, even if I hate the joint, (I buy coffee at different shops but definitely NOT Starbucks. I hate their coffee!) I would have stayed there for hours until I drain the battery of my brother's iPad and would just see the look of envy in the eyes of the tweens buying chocolate drinks in that coffee shop. Yeah, I think that is how useful the iPad would be. Evil me...
The critics were right. It is just an iPod Touch on steroids.
But if it will be used for evangelization it surely is a great way to use the technology!
"Father, you have no reason to use your own words when blessing people and things. You have your iPad!"
Remember that line...ROFL!
1st Marian Congress this Marymas
In case you are wondering, Marymas is September 8 being the Nativity of our Mother.
A big event is being planned, so here is the image of the letter.
The image at the back is the original image of Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace.
A big event is being planned, so here is the image of the letter.
The image at the back is the original image of Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace.
Series of Marian Conferences start this Saturday
The scanned image of the letter of Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles says it all. Click to enlarge.
14 new priests for the Diocese of Rome
I saw the ceremony over at EWTN. I hope to get the video soon and post it here.
Meanwhile, here is the news report of CNA.
***
After celebrating the Mass of ordination for 14 deacons of the diocese of Rome in St. Peter’s Basilica this morning, Pope Benedict prayed the Sunday Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Before the prayer, he explained that priests are a sign of God’s love for all mankind.
“The Sacrament of Holy Orders manifests, on the part of God, his caring closeness to man, and on the part of him who receives the sacrament, the full availability to change oneself into an instrument of that closeness, with a radical love for Christ and his Church,” said Pope Benedict.
Reflecting on today’s Gospel reading, the Holy Father referred to the affirmation of Peter in which he says that Jesus is the Christ, the chosen one of God. He noted that, with this response, “all earthly opinions that consider Jesus to be one of the prophets are overcome.” [You hear that theologians from Maryhill School of Theology? Yeah, I think they do that is why they still continue with their heretical teachings.]
“According to St. Ambrose,” he continued, “with this profession of faith, Peter ‘has embraced the totality of all things, because he has expressed the nature and the name’ of the Messiah. And Jesus, in front of Peter’s profession of faith, renews his invitation to Peter and the other disciples to follow him on the hard path of love which leads to the cross.” [You know who you follow, therefore you know what you got yourself into. And Peter and the apostles knew this well and shed their blood for the Faith.]
The Holy Father also cited St. Maximus the Confessor, who said, “The distinctive sign of the power of Christ is the cross. To take up the cross means committing oneself to conquer those sins which are obstacles in the journey towards God. It means to welcome God’s will for one’s life on a daily basis, and to increase in faith when faced by life’s problems, difficulties and suffering.” [Beautiful reflection! See how wonderful the reflections of the saints are! Go grab a book or google the writings of the saints.]
Pope Benedict concluded his remarks by commending the newly ordained priests to the protection of the Virgin Mary. “May they always be faithful disciples, valiant in the proclamation of the word of God, and administrators of his gifts of salvation.” [The true nature of the ordination! The Pope always reminds his priests of their primary job description.]
Following his remarks, the Benedict XVI prayed the Angelus, greeted the gathered pilgrims in various languages and imparted his apostolic blessing.
To the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, he noted that in today’s Gospel Jesus calls us “to carry our cross in union with him.”
“May we always give ourselves to him and thus discover anew the joy that he promises to those who follow him,” he commented. “Upon you and your loved ones at home, I invoke the blessings of Almighty God.” [Grazie, Santita!]
Andrea Bocelli: Not merely anti-abortion, but pro-life!
From CNA
***
Following the popular video in which he recounts how his mother ignored the advice of doctors to have an abortion, tenor Andrea Bocelli said he does not want his testimony to be considered as merely anti-abortion, but also in support of life.
“Because of my personal convictions as a devout Catholic, [now that is true Catholic identity!] I am not only fighting against something, I am fighting for something - and I am for life,” he told the Italian newspaper, Il Foglio.
Bocelli said he wants his video “to help comfort those who are in difficult situations and who sometimes just need to feel that they are not alone. Life is hard, but we need to listen, we need to open our ears” to embrace them.
Bocelli said he has been surprised by the calls he has received following the video. “I said those things a year and a half ago in a video message for Father Richard Frechette, a missionary who works with children in Haiti and deserves to have a book written just about him. I gave a concert to help him build the Home of the Angels and he asked me to say a few words of hope for mothers in difficult circumstances and I decided to tell the story of my birth.”
“I did so recounting the private experience of my mother without asking her permission, but she didn’t admonish me. I wasn’t ready for all the uproar it has created,” Bocelli said. [You see in today's world, you speak about the defense of life then you get an uproar! What kind of a world are we living in right now?!]
As a young boy, he continued, “I was very hyper and quite naïve.” He said he has loved music ever since he was a boy. “My mother tells me that I would cry whenever I heard a song, even through the wall from another room in the hospital. I would turn towards the sound and listen with glee.”
***
The Mother Goddess, Oprah Winfrey once said that she is not pro-abortion but that she is pro-choice. Now that is a dumb answer! All human beings have a choice! That is in our nature. We are free to do whatever we like. But in a civilized society, we have laws to prevent chaos, to prevent billions of people doing whatever they want, when they want it and how they want to do it, without anyone telling them what to do. Even the free thinkers who tell you "to not let anyone tell you what to do." would not want disorder and chaos.
If the freedom to do whatever we want to do is the case, then no one can stop you and me from killing each other because everyone if pro-choice! I made a choice and no one dare tell me what to do!
That is the fallacy of pro-abortion advocates, which tragically some who call themselves human or Catholic at that, are promoting!
You can't see the reasoning behind it.
***
Following the popular video in which he recounts how his mother ignored the advice of doctors to have an abortion, tenor Andrea Bocelli said he does not want his testimony to be considered as merely anti-abortion, but also in support of life.
“Because of my personal convictions as a devout Catholic, [now that is true Catholic identity!] I am not only fighting against something, I am fighting for something - and I am for life,” he told the Italian newspaper, Il Foglio.
Bocelli said he wants his video “to help comfort those who are in difficult situations and who sometimes just need to feel that they are not alone. Life is hard, but we need to listen, we need to open our ears” to embrace them.
Bocelli said he has been surprised by the calls he has received following the video. “I said those things a year and a half ago in a video message for Father Richard Frechette, a missionary who works with children in Haiti and deserves to have a book written just about him. I gave a concert to help him build the Home of the Angels and he asked me to say a few words of hope for mothers in difficult circumstances and I decided to tell the story of my birth.”
“I did so recounting the private experience of my mother without asking her permission, but she didn’t admonish me. I wasn’t ready for all the uproar it has created,” Bocelli said. [You see in today's world, you speak about the defense of life then you get an uproar! What kind of a world are we living in right now?!]
***
The Mother Goddess, Oprah Winfrey once said that she is not pro-abortion but that she is pro-choice. Now that is a dumb answer! All human beings have a choice! That is in our nature. We are free to do whatever we like. But in a civilized society, we have laws to prevent chaos, to prevent billions of people doing whatever they want, when they want it and how they want to do it, without anyone telling them what to do. Even the free thinkers who tell you "to not let anyone tell you what to do." would not want disorder and chaos.
If the freedom to do whatever we want to do is the case, then no one can stop you and me from killing each other because everyone if pro-choice! I made a choice and no one dare tell me what to do!
That is the fallacy of pro-abortion advocates, which tragically some who call themselves human or Catholic at that, are promoting!
You can't see the reasoning behind it.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
GULP Exam: Spot the NOT!
With your trained liturgical eye, spot the liturgical abuse/violations in this photo.
Better have a copy of the GIRM and Redemptionis Sacramentum on hand.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Request for prayers: Anglicanorum coetibus in the Philippines
I got this very great news from TPC reader, Dr. Ben Vallejo. [aka Blackshama. He has his blog too. Visit it by clicking here.] I am quoting it in its entirety here.
***
***
Before I comment further, I'll share you some photos of the seminary chapel.
I just had to show this...
***
This is indeed wonderful news for Filipino Episcopalians and Filipino Catholics gathering together to pray that our Episcopalian brethren come back home to the Church, benefiting from the gracious offer of Pope Benedict in the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus.
Isn't it surprising, that after the issuance of the Motu Propio Summorum Pontificum 9SP) and the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus (AC) , you can hear a mosquito fly because of the deafening silence of Filipino bishops, save a handful, who reacted favorably to the Pope's actions?
I cannot remember a single thing that the CBCP did concretely with regards to the SP and AC except for the dreadful and ironically dumb directive of Cardinal Rosales restricting the implementation of SP in the Archdiocese of Manila. I had to use the word dumb because who ever wrote that document clearly has no idea what SP is all about. The last line of the directive is a clear indication who wrote it: "That in all things God may be glorified." AC, right?
Isn't it wonderful that the Holy Spirit now works among the laity so that the His Will be done to bring about the restoration of the sacred in the Church and that the lost sheep may be brought back into the one fold of Christ, which is the true ecumenism of Vatican 2?
Aren't the words of Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetic?
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE MEN WHO ARE WORKING TO MAKE THIS A REALITY...
PRAY FOR THE DEAN...
PRAY FOR THE BISHOP OF CUBAO...
***
Bruce Hall [he has a website www.bookstothephilippines.com. Wonderful Website! They donate used books to schools here in the Philippines.], Rev Fr Joseph Frary [professor of Systematic Theology at St. Andrew's Seminary] of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines and I are organizing an ecumenical Anglican Use Evening Prayer. This will be likely in September at St Andrews Theological Seminary Chapel at Cathedral Heights, E Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon City. We hope we can have this on September 8, the Nativity of Our Lady. [Marymas! A very special day for me too!] No date is more proper than September 8. England is Mary's Dowry!
I would like to invite you and your family to join us in prayer and help us get more people interested to pray with us. [I will attend but I will try to be incognito. Definitely, your intentions will be in my prayers.]
We would need your prayers still, especially now. We envision this prayer with some things in mind
1) Its ecumenical dimension, celebrating the historical patrimony we have with Anglicans which we Catholics and many Anglicans have lost. [Beautiful!]
2) The Pope's Apostolic Constitution [Anglicanorum coetibus] that has begun the restoration of all things Anglican to its proper home in the Church. [Come home to the Catholic Church!]
3) The importance of a sacramental life as laypeople and clergy in living our ecumenical witness with our separated brethren (*and witness to Catholics too!).
4) Also our prayer intentions for our beloved Philippines that God may spare us from the time of troubles ( a very Anglican way to say it!).
We would ask you to pray that the evangelical dean of St Andrew's Theological Seminary [Very Rev. Tomas S. Maddela] would be gracious enough to allow us to use his chapel as the Holy Spirit has shown us the way. We also would ask you to pray that our Roman Catholic authorities, the local bishop [Most. Rev. Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao] and the rest of the clergy would be gracious enough to discern that the Holy Spirit is leading us to pray. [I would definitely pray that their hearts be open.]
There will be many challenges to face. One is getting enough people to join us and the other one is meeting the financial costs.
Sincerely yours
Benjamin Vallejo Jr PhD
***
Before I comment further, I'll share you some photos of the seminary chapel.
The exterior of the chapel
Schedule of Liturgical Services
A boat hanging in the ceiling of the chapel, reminding seminarians to become fishers of men.
Altar of the seminary chapel.
The candles on the side makes me think that Anscar Chupungco had a hand in this. (joke!)
Look at the altar! Perfect for the EF Mass! No need for a Vatican II type wrecknovation.
***
This is indeed wonderful news for Filipino Episcopalians and Filipino Catholics gathering together to pray that our Episcopalian brethren come back home to the Church, benefiting from the gracious offer of Pope Benedict in the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus.
Isn't it surprising, that after the issuance of the Motu Propio Summorum Pontificum 9SP) and the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus (AC) , you can hear a mosquito fly because of the deafening silence of Filipino bishops, save a handful, who reacted favorably to the Pope's actions?
I cannot remember a single thing that the CBCP did concretely with regards to the SP and AC except for the dreadful and ironically dumb directive of Cardinal Rosales restricting the implementation of SP in the Archdiocese of Manila. I had to use the word dumb because who ever wrote that document clearly has no idea what SP is all about. The last line of the directive is a clear indication who wrote it: "That in all things God may be glorified." AC, right?
Isn't it wonderful that the Holy Spirit now works among the laity so that the His Will be done to bring about the restoration of the sacred in the Church and that the lost sheep may be brought back into the one fold of Christ, which is the true ecumenism of Vatican 2?
Aren't the words of Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetic?
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE MEN WHO ARE WORKING TO MAKE THIS A REALITY...
PRAY FOR THE DEAN...
PRAY FOR THE BISHOP OF CUBAO...
Willing agents of the devil?
From zenit.org
***
Editors of the New York Times should realize that they were “used” by a lawyer trying to sue the Vatican, Catholic commentator Scott P. Richert remarked in a recent lecture. Examining instances of biased reporting and manipulation of the media, he also discussed the causes of clerical sexual abuse and Pope Benedict’s efforts against it.
Richert, editor of both Chronicles Magazine and the About.com GuideSite to Catholicism, on June 3 delivered a lecture at the Illinois-based Rockford Institute on the topic “Clerical Sexual Abuse: Separating Fact, Fiction, and Anti-Catholic Bias.” [Great title!]
An excerpt of his lecture, posted on YouTube, shows Richert exposing the “dirty little secret” that the New York Times’ coverage of the Fr. Lawrence Murphy abuse case had its source in Jeffrey Anderson.
Anderson, who directed Times reporter Laurie Goodstein to his documentation on the story, is the “most famous” of the sexual abuse attorneys and has made at least $60 million off such cases. [Judas Iscariot went to law school! And he is still fighting for justice and the oppressed! Wow...]
“Unfortunately for him, he’s running out of clients,” Richert said. Less than a month after Goodstein’s article, he filed suit against the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI, using the Fr. Murphy case as its basis.
The New York Times attempted to connect the Pope to the case, claiming he “declined to defrock” the priest who abused dozens of deaf school children.
Critics including Richert pointed out that the documentation used by the Times’ story in fact exonerated Pope Benedict and showed how the Archdiocese of Milwaukee [headed by that sorry excuse for a Benedictine, for a priest, for a bishop and archbishop, Rembert Weakland who confessed to being a homosexual and who used church money to support his gay lifestyle and his lover! He should be the one that the New York Times is going after!] and secular authorities bore responsibility for inaction in the case.
Notoriously, one of the source documents about a key meeting between archdiocesan and Vatican officials was poorly translated from Italian using a computer program. [Google translate! That's a Peabody for you there! Hah!] This distorted or left out key information about the Vatican’s response to the case.
“If the editors of the New York Times are not complete and utter morons, they have to realize that they were used,” Richert commented. [I think they are both! Hah!]
In an article at About.com, he noted that the Times itself has reported that Laurie Goodstein was not working on the Fr. Murphy case when Anderson gave her the documents. In Richert’s view, this calls into question her claim her article was not done “at the instigation of lawyers.” [Oh really?]
In his Rockford Institute lecture, Richert cited Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena’s comment that Anderson “shows how you can both create a media frenzy and then capitalize on it.”
He’s “very, very good at creating intense media interest and then shaping a narrative for the press to write their stories around,” Lena continued, saying Anderson “serves these media events up like nice little meals for reporters to chow down on. And they do.”
Richert discussed his lecture in an interview with Stephanie Block, founder of the Catholic Media Coalition, at her blog Orate Fratres.
He said that the campaign against the Church is motivated both by the greediness of “lawyers who are running out of clients” and by the hatred of Pope Benedict XVI for really believing what the Catholic Church teaches. [And because Pope Benedict is leading the charge against massive secularism, abortion, gay marriage!]
As one instance of bias, he noted that the final questions of a New York Times / CBS News poll read “like push polling” and used the questions to try to change attitudes rather than measure them.
The most egregious example, in his view, was a question that asked whether sexual abuse of children and teenagers is “a more common problem in the Catholic Church than it is in other walks of life, or is it just as common a problem in other walks of life?” [Too leading. That is journalistic objectivity for you folks!] This missed alternative responses like the view that abuse is less common in the Catholic Church, or that abuse is more common in other walks of life.
Explaining how clerical sexual abuse became such a problem, Richert said that one particular cohort of priests, born between 1925 and ordained between 1950 and 1975, were responsible for “the bulk of the crisis,” as were most bishops who transferred accused priests and covered up allegations.
“By 1980, they had begun to retire or die, and by 2002, most of them were no longer active priests,” he told Block.
He speculated that too many in the Church began to regard the priesthood as a profession or occupation [and in some cases, regretably though, as a way for a better chance at life.] rather than as a vocation. Some bishops then began to ordain men to the priesthood who “weren’t fit to be husbands and fathers,” Richert said, quoting Byzantine Catholic priest Fr. Thomas Loya.
Similarly, some bishops began to treat grave sin as a medical or physical problem and not a “metaphysical” one. [yeah like a kid gets possessed and they treat it as a psychological disorder.]
Richert explained that before he became Pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger successfully lobbied to have responsibility for cases of sexual abuse transferred from the Roman Rota to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). [TRUE!] Since April 2001, the CDF has investigated over 3,000 abuse cases and 85 percent of those cases brought to canonical trial have resulted in convictions. [And the mainstream media did not even bother to publish this.]
Despite the objections of other prominent Vatican officials, [like Cardinal Sodano who up to now, reportedly, refused to leave his office in the Vatican even though he is not Cardinal Secretary of State anymore.] Cardinal Ratzinger also ordered the investigation of Fr. Marcel Maciel, the powerful founder of the Legion of Christ who faced many allegations of sexual abuse. This investigation resulted in the priest’s removal from ministry and his exile to a monastery. [who died refusing Sacramental Confession!]
The future Pope Benedict also helped the U.S. bishops develop their charter to protect young people and put into place “strict new rules” to prevent the admission to the priesthood of both practicing homosexuals and those with homosexual tendencies. Since over two-thirds of U.S. priest abuse cases from 1950 to 2002 involved adolescent males, Richert contended, they are more accurately described as homosexual acts rather than pedophilia. [Still nothing from NYT!]
Questioning the motives of groups like the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), he noted that both oppose the ban on homosexuals in the priesthood, both call for an end to clerical celibacy, and SNAP in particular has agitated for women priests. [Wolves in sheeps clothing! And you think they are the victims? Think again. They are not only after the money of the Church but they are also after the total destruction of the Catholic Church!] According to Richert, SNAP has received “significant funding” from lawyers [I hope he gives names.] who have sued the Church.
Richert’s lecture is available for purchase at the Rockford Institute website, www.rockfordinstitute.org.
***
Now the issue is clear.
Attorney's for the victims are after the money, not after justice.
NYT and SNAP are after the pope and the Catholic Church because of her doctrines.
If these groups are really after justice, why not go after Cardinal Mahony and Abp. Weakland? Apparently, these agents of evil do not want to touch these two men because:
1. Mahony is a liberal loved by liberal minded dissident Catholics, and non Catholics who hate the Catholic Church.
2. Weakland is a homosexual and a disgrace to the Church for how he destroyed the liturgical heritage of his cathedral in Milwaukee and how he lived an active homosexual life while as archbishop, even using the money collected every at every church in his archdiocese to support and shut his lover up.
And both men transferred offending priests, from one parish to another...
Yet the NYT and SNAP did not vent their energies against them, instead focusing their aim, like a laser beam, on Pope Benedict.
And they call Catholics bigots. Yeah, right.
***
Editors of the New York Times should realize that they were “used” by a lawyer trying to sue the Vatican, Catholic commentator Scott P. Richert remarked in a recent lecture. Examining instances of biased reporting and manipulation of the media, he also discussed the causes of clerical sexual abuse and Pope Benedict’s efforts against it.
Richert, editor of both Chronicles Magazine and the About.com GuideSite to Catholicism, on June 3 delivered a lecture at the Illinois-based Rockford Institute on the topic “Clerical Sexual Abuse: Separating Fact, Fiction, and Anti-Catholic Bias.” [Great title!]
An excerpt of his lecture, posted on YouTube, shows Richert exposing the “dirty little secret” that the New York Times’ coverage of the Fr. Lawrence Murphy abuse case had its source in Jeffrey Anderson.
Anderson, who directed Times reporter Laurie Goodstein to his documentation on the story, is the “most famous” of the sexual abuse attorneys and has made at least $60 million off such cases. [Judas Iscariot went to law school! And he is still fighting for justice and the oppressed! Wow...]
“Unfortunately for him, he’s running out of clients,” Richert said. Less than a month after Goodstein’s article, he filed suit against the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI, using the Fr. Murphy case as its basis.
The New York Times attempted to connect the Pope to the case, claiming he “declined to defrock” the priest who abused dozens of deaf school children.
Critics including Richert pointed out that the documentation used by the Times’ story in fact exonerated Pope Benedict and showed how the Archdiocese of Milwaukee [headed by that sorry excuse for a Benedictine, for a priest, for a bishop and archbishop, Rembert Weakland who confessed to being a homosexual and who used church money to support his gay lifestyle and his lover! He should be the one that the New York Times is going after!] and secular authorities bore responsibility for inaction in the case.
Notoriously, one of the source documents about a key meeting between archdiocesan and Vatican officials was poorly translated from Italian using a computer program. [Google translate! That's a Peabody for you there! Hah!] This distorted or left out key information about the Vatican’s response to the case.
“If the editors of the New York Times are not complete and utter morons, they have to realize that they were used,” Richert commented. [I think they are both! Hah!]
In an article at About.com, he noted that the Times itself has reported that Laurie Goodstein was not working on the Fr. Murphy case when Anderson gave her the documents. In Richert’s view, this calls into question her claim her article was not done “at the instigation of lawyers.” [Oh really?]
In his Rockford Institute lecture, Richert cited Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena’s comment that Anderson “shows how you can both create a media frenzy and then capitalize on it.”
He’s “very, very good at creating intense media interest and then shaping a narrative for the press to write their stories around,” Lena continued, saying Anderson “serves these media events up like nice little meals for reporters to chow down on. And they do.”
Richert discussed his lecture in an interview with Stephanie Block, founder of the Catholic Media Coalition, at her blog Orate Fratres.
He said that the campaign against the Church is motivated both by the greediness of “lawyers who are running out of clients” and by the hatred of Pope Benedict XVI for really believing what the Catholic Church teaches. [And because Pope Benedict is leading the charge against massive secularism, abortion, gay marriage!]
As one instance of bias, he noted that the final questions of a New York Times / CBS News poll read “like push polling” and used the questions to try to change attitudes rather than measure them.
The most egregious example, in his view, was a question that asked whether sexual abuse of children and teenagers is “a more common problem in the Catholic Church than it is in other walks of life, or is it just as common a problem in other walks of life?” [Too leading. That is journalistic objectivity for you folks!] This missed alternative responses like the view that abuse is less common in the Catholic Church, or that abuse is more common in other walks of life.
Explaining how clerical sexual abuse became such a problem, Richert said that one particular cohort of priests, born between 1925 and ordained between 1950 and 1975, were responsible for “the bulk of the crisis,” as were most bishops who transferred accused priests and covered up allegations.
“By 1980, they had begun to retire or die, and by 2002, most of them were no longer active priests,” he told Block.
He speculated that too many in the Church began to regard the priesthood as a profession or occupation [and in some cases, regretably though, as a way for a better chance at life.] rather than as a vocation. Some bishops then began to ordain men to the priesthood who “weren’t fit to be husbands and fathers,” Richert said, quoting Byzantine Catholic priest Fr. Thomas Loya.
Similarly, some bishops began to treat grave sin as a medical or physical problem and not a “metaphysical” one. [yeah like a kid gets possessed and they treat it as a psychological disorder.]
Richert explained that before he became Pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger successfully lobbied to have responsibility for cases of sexual abuse transferred from the Roman Rota to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). [TRUE!] Since April 2001, the CDF has investigated over 3,000 abuse cases and 85 percent of those cases brought to canonical trial have resulted in convictions. [And the mainstream media did not even bother to publish this.]
Despite the objections of other prominent Vatican officials, [like Cardinal Sodano who up to now, reportedly, refused to leave his office in the Vatican even though he is not Cardinal Secretary of State anymore.] Cardinal Ratzinger also ordered the investigation of Fr. Marcel Maciel, the powerful founder of the Legion of Christ who faced many allegations of sexual abuse. This investigation resulted in the priest’s removal from ministry and his exile to a monastery. [who died refusing Sacramental Confession!]
The future Pope Benedict also helped the U.S. bishops develop their charter to protect young people and put into place “strict new rules” to prevent the admission to the priesthood of both practicing homosexuals and those with homosexual tendencies. Since over two-thirds of U.S. priest abuse cases from 1950 to 2002 involved adolescent males, Richert contended, they are more accurately described as homosexual acts rather than pedophilia. [Still nothing from NYT!]
Questioning the motives of groups like the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and Voice of the Faithful (VOTF), he noted that both oppose the ban on homosexuals in the priesthood, both call for an end to clerical celibacy, and SNAP in particular has agitated for women priests. [Wolves in sheeps clothing! And you think they are the victims? Think again. They are not only after the money of the Church but they are also after the total destruction of the Catholic Church!] According to Richert, SNAP has received “significant funding” from lawyers [I hope he gives names.] who have sued the Church.
Richert’s lecture is available for purchase at the Rockford Institute website, www.rockfordinstitute.org.
***
Now the issue is clear.
Attorney's for the victims are after the money, not after justice.
NYT and SNAP are after the pope and the Catholic Church because of her doctrines.
If these groups are really after justice, why not go after Cardinal Mahony and Abp. Weakland? Apparently, these agents of evil do not want to touch these two men because:
1. Mahony is a liberal loved by liberal minded dissident Catholics, and non Catholics who hate the Catholic Church.
2. Weakland is a homosexual and a disgrace to the Church for how he destroyed the liturgical heritage of his cathedral in Milwaukee and how he lived an active homosexual life while as archbishop, even using the money collected every at every church in his archdiocese to support and shut his lover up.
And both men transferred offending priests, from one parish to another...
Yet the NYT and SNAP did not vent their energies against them, instead focusing their aim, like a laser beam, on Pope Benedict.
And they call Catholics bigots. Yeah, right.
Pope: Well-Celebrated Mass Is Best Catechesis
The Reform of the reform continues...
***
ROME, JUNE 17, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The doctrine of the Eucharist -- and its relevance for believers -- is not sufficiently understood and must be a catechetical priority, says Benedict XVI. [If it is the source and summit of our Christian life, then we must put premium in taking care of the Eucharist!]
The Pope affirmed this Wednesday when he went to the Basilica of St. John Lateran to address participants at the convention for the Diocese of Rome.
The Holy Father told his diocese that a "more profound knowledge of the mystery of the Body and Blood of the Lord" is a necessity for the communities of Rome.
"At the same time," he added, "in the missionary spirit that we wish to nourish, it is necessary to spread the commitment to proclaim such Eucharistic faith, so that every man will encounter Jesus Christ who has revealed the 'close' God, friend of humanity, and to witness it with an eloquent life of charity."
The Pontiff went on to give a reflection on the Eucharistic mystery, considering Christ's sacrifice on Calvary and how it is memorialized. He acknowledged that "sacrifice" is no longer a popular word.
"However, properly understood," he said, "[sacrifice] is and remains fundamental, because it reveals to us with what love God loves us in Christ."
Benedict XVI affirmed that Mass itself, "celebrated in the respect of the liturgical norms and with a fitting appreciation of the richness of the signs and gestures," fosters and promotes Eucharistic faith. [AMEN!]
[Now read the following. These are very important!]
"In the Eucharistic celebration," he said, "we do not invent something, but we enter into a reality that precedes us, more than that, which embraces heaven and earth and, hence, also the past, the future and the present. This universal openness, this encounter with all the sons and daughters of God is the grandeur of the Eucharist: We go to meet the reality of God present in the body and blood of the Risen One among us."
It is because of this, the Holy Father affirmed, that liturgical prescriptions are not mere "external things" but "express concretely this reality of the revelation of the body and blood of Christ."
Hence, he contended, the best catechesis on the Eucharist is the Eucharist itself, well celebrated.
Later in his address, the Bishop of Rome noted how the Eucharistic celebration must lead to charity.
"Feeding on him we are freed from the bonds of individualism and, through communion with him, we ourselves become, together, one thing, his Mystical Body," he said. This surmounts the differences of profession, class and nationality to form "one great family, that of the children of God."
"When we receive Christ," the Pope added, "the love of God expands in our innermost self, modifies our heart radically and makes us capable of gestures that, by the expansive force of good, can transform the life of those that are next to us. [...] A celebrated Eucharist imposes on us and at the same time renders us capable of becoming, in our turn, bread broken for brothers, coming to meet their needs and giving ourselves.
"Because of this, a Eucharistic celebration that does not lead to meet men where they live, work and suffer, to take to them the love of God, does not manifest the love it encloses. To be faithful to the mystery that is celebrated on the altars we must, as the Apostle Paul exhorts us, offer our bodies, ourselves, in spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God in those circumstances that require dying to our 'I' and constitute our daily 'altar.'"
***
Beautiful words! Really you can say without a shadow of a doubt that Benedict XVI is a teacher!
Now in relation to what the Pope mentioned, let us look back at how Filipino priests celebrate Mass and the liturgy...
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The story of the World Youth Day theme songs
Courtesy of Rome Reports
***
World Youth Day brings together youths from all over the world. It takes place annually in each diocese and every two years there is an international meeting. Each World Youth Day has as its motto a phrase from the Bible, and the international gatherings also have an official song.
The song for World Youth Day Madrid in 2011 has already been approved. It is based on the phrase from Saint Paul “Rooted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith” which is the theme of the Day. But it won't be presented until November.
World Youth Day songs invite youths to reflect upon the Gospel's key points which the pope focuses on at the gathering.
In 1987 in Buenos Aires a million people were called by the pope to actively contribute to the creation of a better society. The song of that World Youth Day was called “A new sun” and its words highlighted love as the only way to build a new civilization.
The theme of World Youth Day in 1991 was celebrated in Czestochowa, Poland, it was Saint Paul's message to the Romans: “You have received the spirit of sons.” The song of the Day was “Abba Father” and reflected on each person's relationship with God as Father.
Another famous song is from World Youth Day in Denver, in the United States, in 1993: “We are one body.” Singer Dana Scallon interpreted the song in front of John Paul II and 120,000 youths.
In Manila, Philippines, in 1995 the song was “Tell the world of His love”. At that World Youth Day more than 5 million people attended, which was the event with the most number of participants in history. [I was part of that history!] The song won several awards including the “Awit” for Best Inspirational Song.
The 15th World Youth Day was celebrated in Rome and coincided with the Jubilee of the year 2000. The song “Emmanuel” is perhaps the most famous of all.
The song of the upcoming World Youth Day in Madrid will premiere at the festival of the Virgin of Almudena, next November 9th. With that song youths can come together as one voice at World Youth Day in 2011.
Our Lady of the Highway
Beautiful photo of a Marian shrine on I-94 outside of Billings, MT. You'll see this after mile marker 33.
Courtesy of Fr. Cory Sticha of Omne Quod Spirat, Laudet Dominum.
By the way, I always look forward to Fr. Cory's homily posted in his blog. Do visit his blog.
The Banner of the Brotherhood in the Eternal City
Courtesy of John Sonnen of Orbis Catholicus Secundus.
The Knights of Columbus played a crucial role during World War 2 in Rome. Read about it here and here.
Marriage is between a man and a woman only: German court says
BERLIN, June 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) Marriage can only be between one man and one woman, a German court has ruled in a case brought by two homosexual men who were “married” in Canada. The court ruled that a same-sex “marriage” contracted abroad is to be legally considered a civil partnership in Germany.
The decision is a setback for the homosexualist movement in Germany, which had hoped to use the courts to force the legalization of gay “marriage.”
Andreas Boettcher, a 37-year-old German event manager, went to Montreal with his Spanish partner and undertook a civil marriage ceremony in July 2006. The pair returned to Germany and went to a Berlin administrative court when local authorities refused to recognize their Canadian marriage certificate. The pair had already been to Spain, where same-sex "marriage" has been legal since 2005, and registered there as a family.
In August 2001, Germany passed legislation allowing registered partnerships but, despite being one of the most sexually “progressive” countries in Europe, declined to go so far as to include homosexual partnerings in the legal definition of marriage. [Huzzah!]
In general, however, the homosexualist movement has been highly successful in using the German courts to attain its goals. In a 2009 case involving a dispute over pension benefits for a homosexual man in a registered partnership, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that all the same rights and obligations of marriage be extended to same-sex registered partners.
The same court ruled in July 2008 that a married man suffering from gender confusion, and who had undergone “gender reassignment” surgery, could remain married to his wife while changing his legal gender to female. The court ordered the legislature to change the law to accommodate such cases in the future. [This is really getting too confusing...]
In March of this year, the Senate of Berlin announced that it will introduce a same-sex “marriage” bill in the Federal Council (Bundesrat) in accordance with the 2009 court decision.
***
Gay marriage is not an issue of discrimination. It is an issue of definition. What really is marriage?
The decision is a setback for the homosexualist movement in Germany, which had hoped to use the courts to force the legalization of gay “marriage.”
Andreas Boettcher, a 37-year-old German event manager, went to Montreal with his Spanish partner and undertook a civil marriage ceremony in July 2006. The pair returned to Germany and went to a Berlin administrative court when local authorities refused to recognize their Canadian marriage certificate. The pair had already been to Spain, where same-sex "marriage" has been legal since 2005, and registered there as a family.
In August 2001, Germany passed legislation allowing registered partnerships but, despite being one of the most sexually “progressive” countries in Europe, declined to go so far as to include homosexual partnerings in the legal definition of marriage. [Huzzah!]
In general, however, the homosexualist movement has been highly successful in using the German courts to attain its goals. In a 2009 case involving a dispute over pension benefits for a homosexual man in a registered partnership, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that all the same rights and obligations of marriage be extended to same-sex registered partners.
The same court ruled in July 2008 that a married man suffering from gender confusion, and who had undergone “gender reassignment” surgery, could remain married to his wife while changing his legal gender to female. The court ordered the legislature to change the law to accommodate such cases in the future. [This is really getting too confusing...]
In March of this year, the Senate of Berlin announced that it will introduce a same-sex “marriage” bill in the Federal Council (Bundesrat) in accordance with the 2009 court decision.
***
Gay marriage is not an issue of discrimination. It is an issue of definition. What really is marriage?
Catholic "Nun" vows obedience to Pope Barack
During the bishops' executive session held Tuesday morning to address the fallout of CHA’s support for the health care legislation despite the bishop's opposition, Cardinal George recounted the events that took place prior to President Obama's signing of the health care reform. The prelate then concluded his remarks by criticizing CHA and Sr. Keehan, saying they have created the dangerous precedent of a parallel magisterium to the bishops.
In the events leading up to the final health care vote, the USCCB president presented arguments on how the bishops' conference “remained consistent to the two guiding principles throughout the whole process: number one, everyone should have access to health care; number two, no one should be killed.” [Are these hard to understand? It is not about whose rights we are fighting for. Just no deaths!]
The consistent moral position of the bishops, Cardinal George explained, centered around protecting life, conscience protections and the inclusion of immigrants.
“The Conference never backed down on these issues,” he forcefully stated.
According to the Archbishop of Chicago, when the Stupak Amendment was defeated in the Senate in December 2009, “everything went south.”
That is when “the Catholic Health Association and other so-called Catholic groups provided cover for those on the fence to support Obama and the administration.”
Cardinal George clearly remarked that “Sr. Carol and her colleagues are to blame” for the passage of the health care bill. He continued by revealing that the bishops repeatedly tried to reach out to Sr. Keehan both before and after the vote. “I personally met with her in March to no avail,” the cardinal reported.
In April, three bishops of the USCCB ad hoc Health Care Concerns Committee, Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Kevin Vann of Fort Worth and Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, also met with Sr. Keehan to try to make her understand the bishop's concerns and thus bring CHA back in line with Church teachings, however the meeting concluded with “the same frustrating results.”
The president of the USCCB reiterated the bishop's fundamental opposition to the health care reform. “The bill which was passed is fundamentally flawed. The Executive Order is meaningless. Sr. Carol is mistaken in thinking that this is pro-life legislation,” Cardinal George emphatically said. [Oh come on! The woman is not thinking about pro-life. Any nun who sheds her veil gives you an indication of his liberal feministic leanings. And that is a fact! I have heard one nun saying that they do not wear the veil because it is a symbol of the domination of males towards women. What in the world?!?!]
The cardinal also expressed disappointment with CHA “and other co-called Catholic groups” because, “in the end, they have weakened the moral voice of the bishops in the U.S.” [Until the US bishops do something more decisive and forceful, and they have a Cardinal Mahony who looks the other way when confronted with his transfer of sex offenders, then their moral voice would continually be weakened]
In that regard, Cardinal George highlighted that the USCCB and CHA’s positions on Obama’s health care are not just “two equally valid conclusions inspired in the same Catholic teaching,” and reiterated that what the bishops said on May 21 in their statement “Setting the record Straight” is and will remain the official position of the USCCB on the contentious issue.
The document, presented by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice, Peace and Human Development, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Immigration, says: "As Bishops, we disagree that the divergence between the Catholic Conference and Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Health Association, represents merely a difference of analysis or strategy (Catholic Health World, April 15, 2010, “Now That Reform Has Passed”). Rather, for whatever good will was intended, it represented a fundamental disagreement, not just with our staff as some maintain, but with the Bishops themselves.
“As such it has resulted in confusion and a wound to Catholic unity."
***
Canon Law is specific about "Catholics" like "Sr." Carol
Can. 912 Any baptized person not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to holy communion.
Can. 915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.
Now...what would the bishops do about this? Will this statement of Cardinal George be enough?
I think the trend is the same. We saw it with how Archbishop Wuerl treated Sen. John Kerry, a "Catholic" who supports abortion. He gave the senator Holy Communion.
I guess when it comes to upholding Catholic teaching, a bishop interprets it on his own and acts it on his own diocese, as if it were his own fiefdom.
Sounds Anglican, eh? Ain't that a happily disunited church.
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