The Catholic Review has a story about a pair of unusual recent events at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg.

The first was a double rainbow. The second as the archdiocesan newspaper puts it, was the pot of gold.

A worker at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes discovered two bags containing gold and silver coins. Shrine director Bill Tronolone, who has been trying to raise money to build a pilgrim center, thought his prayers had been answered.

Alas, it was not to be. The discovery of the coins, which The Catholic Review says were valued at more than $40,000, was reported to the Frederick County’s Sherriff’s department. The owner has since come forward to claim the coins.

“The owner just wanted a safe place to keep her life savings while she left town and in her thinking, what better place than the Grotto, right next to the statue of Mary,” Tronolone told The Catholic Review.

Read the story at catholicreview.org.

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Categories: Catholicism, Education
        

Could the U.S. bishops rescind the right of the University of Notre Dame to call itself Catholic?

Months after the nation's flagship Catholic university ignited a firestorm within church circles by inviting President Barack Obama to give a commencement speech and receive in honorary degree, the nation's Catholic bishops met behind closed doors today to discuss increasing oversight of the nation's Catholic colleges and universities.

Obama supports abortion rights; the church opposes abortion. The bishops are holding their fall general assembly this week at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the Associated Press that he had formed a task force charged with reviewing relations between the bishops and the nation's more than 200 Catholic colleges and universities.

In most cases, the bishops excercise no formal authority over the institutions, which, with few exceptions, operate independently of their local dioceses.

"Can bishops just pull the plug on us? It's not that simple," Richard Yanikoski, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, told the AP.

"If those relationships — which don't mean control, they mean relationship — are now weakened, then we have to think of ways to enter discussion in order to strengthen them, and to redefine perhaps what are the criteria for a university or any other organization to consider itself Catholic," George told the AP.

Read the Associated Press story.

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The nation's Catholic bishops had a busy day Tuesday, approving a pastoral letter on marriage, a document on reproductive technologies and a revision to an existing document on healthcare for the dying and chronically ill.

The bishops are holding their fall general assembly at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.

"Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan" breaks no new ground, but bishops said it would provide a foundation for the church’s campaign to promote marriage as the union of one man and one woman going forward.

"Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology" reiterates Catholic teaching against in vitro fertilization, egg, sperm and embryo donation, surrogates and cloning. For infertile couples, the church counsels hormonal treatment and other medications, surgery to repair reproductive organs, and other means.

The revision to “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” underscores what the church says is the moral obligation to provide nutrition and hydration to patients in a persistent vegetative state.

The bishops also approved new English translations of the Roman Missal.

Read more at baltimoresun.com.

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The head of Catholic Relief Services is asking his brother bishops a favor: “Brag about us a little bit.”

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who chairs the Baltimore-based relief agency, spoke on Monday to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is meeting this week at the Mariott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore. Dolan said Catholic Relief Services, the overseas relief and development agency of the U.S. bishops, remains little known even among Catholics:

Even though CRS is recognized as a leader among humanitarian agencies for its professionalism, innovation and efficiency, the fact is that many of your parishioners have not heard of us.

I recently heard a troubling fact. CRS conducted a survey, using an independent polling agency, and asked Catholics to name a humanitarian agency that works overseas. And do you know how many mentioned CRS? Only 22 percent. And that was a huge improvement from the previous year, when only 11 percent named CRS. We have a lot of work to do! We do not spend a lot of money on advertising, as do other similar relief agencies, as less than 5% of our budget goes for overhead.

That’s why I’d like to ask a favor of all of you, my brother bishops. Because CRS is your agency, brag about us a little bit. Perhaps you could write an occasional column in your diocesan newspapers about the work of CRS. Perhaps you could encourage your parishes to get involved in Operation Rice Bowl, the CRS Lenten program. Or maybe you could encourage you priests to mention CRS from time to time in their homilies. Or better yet, they could get involved in our Global Fellows program – we send priests, deacons and seminarians overseas to see the work of CRS first hand, and they come back as some of our best ambassadors.

Dolan concluded with an anecdote that he said illustrated how CRS works, and the impact it has.

Continue reading "CRS head to bishops: Talk us up" »

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In an apparent response to criticism of Catholic lobbying for tougher restrictions on abortion in the healthcare overhaul, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said church leaders have an obligation to raise their concerns in the debate.

The bishops opened their fall general assembly Monday at the Waterfront Marriott Hotel in Baltimore a week after lobbying successfully for an amendment to the healthcare bill approved by the House last week. The Stupak-Pitts amendment, named for the lawmakers who introduced it, would block federal subsidies for insurance policies that cover abortion. At least one Senate Democrat has said he would consider a similar measure as the upper body takes up the issue.

The amendment came as the result of a furious lobbying effort by the bishops’ conference, which has long called for universal health coverage but opposes abortion. The bishops’ role has drawn criticism from abortion rights supporters; Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat, suggested last week that the IRS might investigate the bishops’ tax-exempt status.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the bishops’ conference, said "issues that are moral questions before they become political remain moral questions when they become political."

George said it was the job of the bishops to be public without being "co-opted" by any political agenda and serve as "leaven for the world's transformation" in policy debates, the Associated Press reports.

Continue reading "U.S. Cardinal: Church must join health debate" »

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Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder, the pastor who made the controversial decision last summer to close Towson Catholic High School shortly before the start of the school year, has retired due to health concerns, The Catholic Review reports.

The 67-year-old priest, who has spent the last nine years as pastor of Immaculate Conception in Towson, his childhood parish, cites a neuromuscular disorder that affects his strength and motion.

“We get so tied to this world with its shifting that we forget that we were made to go home,” Tinder tells The Catholic Review. “The God who made us is holding us and carrying us home.”

The parish will hold a reception for him in December.

“We’ll all cry,” parishioner Jo Miller tells the Catholic Review. “It’s going to be very hard. It’s very hard to thank someone adequately for all they’ve done for you.”

The decision to close Towson Catholic in the face of declining enrollments and rising costs drew protests from students and parents and a lawsuit that was unsuccessful.

Tinder told us in July that if he had to do it over, he would have closed the school earlier, to give students and their families more time to make alternate plans for the fall.

"If there's a regret, it is that we tried too hard to keep the school open and went too long," he said. "I think we would have faced the same difficulty had we done it earlier. But it is my regret that we waited as long as we did in a failed attempt to keep it open."

Read the rest of the story at catholicreview.org.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opens a four-day general assembly Monday at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

On the agenda for the semiannual meeting are several items related to marriage and reproduction. The bishops are to debate and vote on “Love and Life in the Divine Plan, a pastoral letter that the conference describes as presenting “the essential points of Catholic teaching on marriage that are foundational for understanding the nature and purposes of marriage, for living it faithfully, and for preserving and defending it as a necessary and unique social institution.”

The bishops also are also scheduled to hear a report on efforts by the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage “to promote and protect marriage as the exclusive and permanent union between a man and a woman.” And they are scheduled to debate and vote on “Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology, a document discussing the moral issues surrounding various technologies for treating infertility, including in vitro fertilization, embryo adoption and surrogacy.

Also on the agenda: a proposed revision of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services that “states more definitively the moral obligation to provide medically assisted nutrition and hydration to patients in a ‘persistent vegetative state.’ ”

The proceedings are to be streamed live on the Web at telecare.org.

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As he steps down as moderator of Jewish affairs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal William Keeler has some advice for his successor: Keep your ears open.

“I saw this most recently on a conference call that we had with Jewish and Catholic leaders on the document “Covenant and Mission,” he tells The Baltimore Jewish Times. The statement by the bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs initially characterized interfaith exchange with Jews as an opportunity to proselytize the Jews.

“We agreed that we would change the two sentences from that which were a concern” Keeler tells the Jewish Times. “Put that into historical context and I just have to say that the relationships are superb and that we are making progress all the time.”

Keeler says he told Pope Benedict XVI that Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York was “the ideal person” to succeed him. He also discusses his appreciation of his faith’s Jewish roots:

I say the Psalms every day and I’m very conscious of their Hebrew authorship. I also think of the Church’s document on the Hebrew Scriptures that was prepared by the present pope and the introduction that he wrote for it is important and something that we live by.

I read every day from this book, “The Liturgy of the Hours,” as all priests are supposed to do. We read Psalms. Not all of them. There are a few that are so angry that they are omitted from the office, which is what we call the book — “The Divine Office of The Office Of Prayer.” It’s a marvelous source. Right now we’re reading from the Second Book of Maccabees.

Read the story at jewishtimes.com.

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Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien will celebrate a Mass at 12:30 p.m. Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

Built with a bequest from Baltimore merchant Thomas O’Neill and dedicated by Archbishop Francis P. Keough on Nov. 15, 1959, the structure at 5400 N. Charles St. serves as the cathedral church of the archdiocese, as well as a parish for Catholics in North Baltimore.

Some facts, courtesy of the Archdiocese of Baltimore:

The cathedral is 375 feet long, with towers reaching 134 feet and spires rising another 29 feet. It seats a total of 1,900, with 1,400 in pews. It was built from 3.5 million bricks and 70,000 pieces of limestone. It contains 385 sculptures and more than 7,000 organ pipes.

Ground was broken on the 25-acre lot Oct. 10, 1954. Construction was completed by Turner Construction Company of New York and Philadelphia.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Catholicism, Events
        

Are we alone in the universe? The Vatican would like to know.

Catholic News Service has a report from a meeting of 30 scientists convened by the Vatican Observatory and the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences to consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

The Rev. José Funes, the Jesuit priest who heads the Vatican Observatory, tells CNS that discoveries of life in inhospitable conditions on Earth, such as rock-eating microbes found deep beneath the ocean floor, suggest that life may also exist on other worlds.

Funes said it is "very important that the church is involved in this type of research." According to CNS, he quoted Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president of the commission governing Vatican City, as telling participants that "truth from research cannot make us afraid; what is to be feared is error.”

Asked whether God would have to be incarnated elsewhere if there were intelligent life on another planet, Funes said God's incarnation in Jesus Christ was a "unique event not only in human history but in the history of the universe and the cosmos.”

The existence of evil and original sin on Earth meant God, the good shepherd, had to leave behind his entire flock to go get his one lost sheep, he said.

Read the rest of the story at catholicnews.com.

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Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat dismayed by the House vote over the weekend to prohibit taxpayer subsidies for insurance policies that cover abortion in the healthcare overhaul, is saying maybe the IRS should investigate the tax-exempt status of the Catholic Church following its lobbying effort for the restriction.

“I expect political hardball on any legislation as important as the health care bill,” Woolsey writes in Politico. “I just didn’t expect it from the United States Council [sic] of Catholic Bishops … Who elected them to Congress?”

Abortion rights supporters say the restriction will effectively deny abortion for the low- and moderate-income women whom the healthcare overhaul is intended to insure. The U.S. Conference (not Council) of Catholic Bishops, which supports universal health insurance coverage but opposes abortion, lobbied hard for the restriction as the healthcare bill neared a vote on Saturday.

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien told us on Monday that it was appropriate for Catholics to make their beliefs known during the healthcare debate.

"When it comes to abortion and research on human life, we can't compromise on those things," he said. "Once we get the foundation established that human life has to be respected, then let the debate go on as to what the health bill will contain."

But Woolsey says the bishops’ effort went beyond advocacy.

“They seemed to dictate the finer points of the amendment, and managed to bully members of Congress to vote for added restrictions on a perfectly legal surgical procedure. And this political effort was subsidized by taxpayers, since the Council enjoys tax-exempt status.”

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (53)
        

The historic House vote over the weekend to block the use of federal funds for abortion in the healthcare overhaul is only the beginning of a battle that is reshaping the reform debate.

While at least when Senate Democrat is talking about adding the restriction to that body's version of the legislation, dozens of House Democrats now say they will vote against any bill that contains it.

We have a story in Tuesday's newspaper about how Marylanders on both sides of the abortion divide are readying for the fight.

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Attorney, author and professor David Neipert, a senior Fulbright scholar in law, is a former associate professor of international business at Belmont Abbey College.

It has been nearly two years since we asked EEOC to review Belmont Abbey College's policy on contraception and EEOC still has not issued a ruling on the matter. I considered responding to Rabbi Menken's last post but I would prefer to just wait and see how the matter resolves with EEOC.

I received an email critical of the Catholic church from a former student and have been reflecting on the overall picture and my decision to leave Belmont Abbey. I no longer want to be a part of that College but harbor no ill will towards the faith. There are enlightened Catholics who sponsored the voyages that discovered the world, made great breakthroughs in science (Gregor Mendel for example), and operate wonderful charities. For most of its history BAC was striving to be in that category and we were very proud to be part of it.

There is also an intolerant minority of Catholics who concentrate on rigid dogma rather than Christian behavior and smear any critic of the church. BAC seemed to be moving in that direction and so I quit.

Yet I cannot generalize. I once taught at the National University in Macedonia and lived only a few blocks from where Mother Teresa was born. Studying her life I have been inspired. Her example exists everywhere in the world where Catholics are. You can find the very best of Catholicism right across the highway from Belmont Abbey College. There the Catholic Sisters of Mercy have a hospital where they work with the horribly deformed children that almost nobody wants. They don't noisily claim to be "authentic" or conduct a nationwide publicity campaign; they just do god's work as best they can quietly every day. They have contraceptives in the health plan for their employees who want them and don't try to force their practices on anyone. They don't try to raise money by claiming to be defending religious freedom though they surely could use some funding. I suppose by Belmont Abbey College's definition of what is a proper Catholic the sisters are all bound straight for Hell because they pay for birth control pills, but I doubt that.

Continue reading "Guest post: Return to Belmont Abbey" »

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The City Council bill that would require pro-life pregnancy counseling centers in Baltimore to post signs indicating that they don’t provide abortions or birth control passed a first hurdle this week, clearing the judiciary and legislative investigations committee on Monday by a 3-1 vote.

It now goes to the full council for a preliminary vote next week, with a final vote to follow.

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien has described the proposal as an unconstitutional “harassment” that infringes on the centers’ free speech. Carol Clews, executive director of the Center for Pregnancy Concerns, says it “impugns our integrity.”

Both say the centers in question do not hide their opposition to abortion. Clews has asked whether abortion providers will be required to post signs saying that they don’t refer pregnant women to adoption services or provide assistance to mothers and children after the birth – services offered by her organization, which operates two clinics in the city and one in the county.

The judiciary and legislative investigations committee amended the bill, which was introduced by council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake at the behest of Planned Parenthood, which hopes to make Baltimore the first city in the country with such a law. The committee voted to reduce the fine for not posting a sign from $500 per day to $150, and to require the city health commissioner to notify a center of a complaint and give the center 10 days to comply before facing penalties.

O’Brien remains unsatisfied. In his column in the archdiocesan newspaper The Catholic Review, he urges readers to contact city council members.

Continue reading "Bill on pro-life pregnancy centers clears hurdle" »

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The last time our friend Christopher J. Doucot spoke at an Episcopal church was in 2004. He had just returned from Iraq, and gave what he describes as a “somewhat forceful sermon” critical of the U.S.-led invasion there.

A graduate of Yale Divinity School, a founding member of the Hartford Catholic Worker, and an instructor in sociology at Central Connecticut State University, Chris was told to keep it upbeat on Sunday -- All Saints' Day -- when he is scheduled to speak at St. James Episcopal Church in West Hartford, Conn.

When I was a kid, my understanding of the saints was that they were something like the cartoon superheroes I watched on Saturday mornings. They could fly, endure great suffering, go years without eating and heal people by praying over them. They were not real people.

As I got older, I began to see various athletes from Boston's professional sports teams as saintly – if not saints in the making. Carl Yaztremski of the Red Sox was the patron of the lost cause who never gave up. Terry O'Reilly of the Boston Bruins was the defender of the meek. He spent hours in the penalty box for busting the noses of any player from the opposing team who got in Wayne Cashman's way. Unfortunately, O'Reilly didn't confine his bellicosity to the ice. Once, in 1979, he climbed into the stands of Madison Square Garden to beat a New York Ragners fan with his own shoe.

Continue reading "Guest post: The vision of the saints" »

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When I was living in London 20 years ago, I was touched one Halloween when a British friend surprised me with a card to mark the holiday.

It was the first and only Halloween card I've ever received. Obviously, I didn't tell her that. She thought she was helping me to feel at home in her country by remembering a tradition from mine; why tell her that it isn't really a holiday for exchanging cards?

Since then, however, Europeans have become more familiar with Halloween. Which is why the Vatican has grown more vocal in its condemnation of the annual observance.

In an article in L'Osservatore Romano, the Holy See says Halloween is a pagan celebration of "terror, fear and death." The official Vatican paper warns parents against allowing children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls.

(We're getting this from British newspapers, because we haven't been able to find the original story at the L'Osservatore Romano Web site.)

The article, headlined “The Dangerous Messages of Halloween,” quotes liturgical expert Joan Maria Canals as saying 'Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian” and urging parents “'to be aware of this and try to direct the meaning of the feast towards wholesomeness and beauty rather than terror, fear and death.'

Continue reading "Vatican condemns Halloween" »

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Categories: Catholicism, Culture, Holidays, International, Wicca
        

We're trying something new this morning. We were invited to sit down this week with the Right Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, the 14th bishop of the 228-year-old Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, to hear his thoughts on plans announced by the Vatican last week to make it easier for Anglicans (called Epsicopalians in the United States) to join the Roman Catholic Church.

The surprise announcement comes amid a growing divide between conservatives and liberals in the worldwide Anglican Communion over the ordination of women, acceptance of gay clergy and the celebration of same-sex relationships.

As attention has focused on disaffected Anglican conservatives "crossing the Tiber" -- slang for joining the Roman Catholic Church -- Sutton, who is firmly on the side favoring greater acceptance of women and homosexuals, wanted to make clear that Roman Catholics also are joining the Episcopal Church.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore has declined to comment on the Vatican announcement until hearing more details.

The interview with Sutton yielded a story in Friday's paper. But because we found the entire discussion interesting, we're posting the complete transcript here, after the jump.

Continue reading "Episcopal bishop: Church switching goes both ways" »

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We noted yesterday that the Council on American-Islamic Relations was condemning a shooting at an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Los Angeles. Now the most vocal of the Muslim advocacy groups is demanding that HBO apologize for an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in which the main character inadvertently splatters urine on a painting of Jesus.

That puts CAIR in the unusual position of seconding Bill Donohue’s Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which condemned the episode earlier in the week. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet, but do not believe, as Christians do, that he was the incarnation of God.

“It is beyond tasteless to insult the religious sensibilities of billions of people in America and around the world with such a cheap and vulgar publicity stunt,” CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in a letter to HBO CEO Bill Nelson. “Jesus, peace be upon him, is loved and revered by both Christians and Muslims. Muslims view him as one of God's greatest messengers to mankind.

“The Quran, Islam’s revealed text, states: ‘Behold! The angels said: ‘O Mary! God gives you glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and in (the company of) those nearest to God.’’ (The Holy Quran, 3:45)

“The Prophet Muhammad said: ‘Both in this world and in the hereafter, I am the nearest of all people to Jesus, the son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.’

Continue reading "CAIR now siding with Catholic League" »

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The Vatican began talks on Monday with the Society of St. Pius X, the traditionalist faction whose leaders were excommunicated 20 years ago after consecrating their own bishops without the consent of Pope John Paul II.

The effort got off to a rough start earlier this year when one of the four bishops whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI turned out to be a Holocaust denier. There have been conflicting reports about whether the Vatican was aware of comments by British Bishop Richard Williamson, who told Swedish television last year that the evidence was “hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed” by the Nazis during World War II.

In any event, negotiations are expected to take years, the Associated Press reports.

"In the best case, humanly speaking, we have several years of discussions ahead of us," the society's delegation leader, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, said in a recent interview posted on the society's Web site. De Galarreta is one of the other bishops whose excommunication was rescinded in January.

The AP has a useful summary of the split between the church and the Society of St. Puis X, also known as Lefebvrists, after founding Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre:

Lefebvre founded the society in 1969, opposed to Vatican II's reforms, which included outreach to Jews and other Christians and the celebration of Mass in the vernacular rather than Latin.

The society's opposition to Vatican II, particularly its teachings on ecumenism and religious freedom, remains at the heart of the dispute with Rome and is the focus of the talks beginning Monday with officials from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Benedict has for two decades tried to bring the society back into the Vatican's fold, first as head of the doctrine office and later as pope — part of his aim of uniting the church and putting a highly conservative stamp on it. ...

In the case of the society, Benedict has risked relations with Jews and liberal Catholic alike to reintegrate Lefebvre's followers even after it emerged that one of the society's four bishops denied the full extent of the Holocaust.

Read the rest of the AP story.

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Over at Catholic News Service, John Thavis says the appointment of Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, late of St. Louis, to the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, is “a small but significant appointment that could have an impact on the worldwide church for years to come.”

Thavis may be understating that impact. The Congregation for Bishops, which has about 30 members, is the body that vets and recommends candidates for bishop, and at 61, Burke could participate in that process for nearly two full decades before he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 80.

As Thavis notes, Burke has been among the church’s most vocal opponents of abortion, insisting that the Eucharist be denied to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, saying the Democratic Party "risks transforming itself definitively into a 'party of death' " and warning that nothing can justify voting for a candidate who supports "anti-life" and "anti-family" legislation.

After Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston presided over the funeral of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Burke said “one sees the hand of the Father of Lies at work in the disregard for the situation of scandal or in the ridicule and even censure of those who experience scandal."

And as the church attempts to reconcile with a traditionalist faction whose leaders were excommunicated 20 years ago for consecrating their own bishops – an effort that became controversial earlier this year when Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of a holocaust denier – Burke celebrated a Mass in the pre-Vatican II Tridentine rite this month in St. Peter’s Basilica, probably the first such Mass there in 40 years.

As David Gibson writes, the news of Burke’s appointment “may elicit celebration or anxiety, depending on one’s view of life in the church these days.” Rocco Palmo (scroll down to “The Judge of Bishops”) says: “Though it can only be gauged with time, the emergence of a potential – and potentially significant – "Burke effect" on Stateside appointments bears watching.”

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Categories: Catholicism, People, Politics
        

The New York Times has convened an august panel of Vatican watchers to comment on the moves this week to make it easier for Episcopalians to cross the Tiber.

“ 'Cafeteria Catholic' is about the worst epithet that conservative Catholics can hurl at liberals, with its implications of a pick-and-choose faith rather than a consistent fidelity to every jot and tittle of the catechism," writes David Gibson, author of "The Rule of Benedict." "But after the news that the Vatican is effectively carving out a special church-within-a-church to shelter traditionalist Anglicans upset at gay priests and women bishops in their own church, one has to wonder if the cafeteria line isn’t forming to the right.

"While both Pope John Paul II and his successor Benedict XVI have been known as staunch conservatives, they have in fact shown a remarkably liberal willingness to bend the rules when it comes to certain groups."

"The news that the Vatican will create special structures for disaffected Anglicans will likely be criticized in some quarters as 'anti-ecumenical,' meaning a blow to good relations between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church," writes John L. Allen Jr., author of "The Rise of Benedict XVI." "That’s because Anglicans already seem on the brink of schism over issues like women priests (and bishops), gay marriage and the ordination of gay clergy, and now the conservative opposition has a Vatican-sanctioned exit strategy.

"Such criticism, however, tends to presume that the Vatican’s choice was between accepting these Anglicans and keeping them at arm’s length. In truth, the latter was never a serious option, because Catholicism is in the business of encouraging converts, not spurning them."

Read more at nytimes.com.

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Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore has issued a statement on the Chapter 11 petition filed this week by the Diocese of Wilmington. The Diocese of Wilmington includes the Eastern Shore of Maryland and it is headed by Bishop W. Francis Malooly, a Baltimore native who was an auxiliary bishop in the Baltimore archdiocese until being tapped for Wilmington last year. The diocese joins with the archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington in the Maryland Catholic Conference.

O’Brien’s statement:

Troubled and saddened by the news of the Diocese of Wilmington's filing for Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, I extend the sympathy and support of the people of the Archdiocese of Baltimore to Bishop Malooly, to our Catholic sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Wilmington, and to all who are impacted by this painful and unfortunate decision.

In recognizing the pain and sadness accompanying this action for all involved, I also wish to acknowledge our own Archdiocese's long-standing and ongoing efforts to bring healing to victims of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of priests and others representing our Church.

We must and will continue this necessary outreach as long as there are victims suffering, just as we also must continue to meet the needs of countless people in cities and towns throughout the Archdiocese—Catholic and non-Catholic alike-- who rely on us to serve them in our parishes, schools, and charitable institutions. Both are important and both require the fullness of our commitment, our hearts and our prayers.

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A multi-year study hosted by the University of Maryland and including several area groups concludes that faith-based organizations can better weather an economic downturn by building stronger ties with the ministries the congregations that support them.

From a release issued on Thursday:

Particularly during an economic downturn, faith-based organizations tied only to one or two congregations, especially if those were not thriving congregations, had the most trouble raising resources and some shut down. While single-congregation support of a program might be considered more authentic, faith-based organizations supported by a wider umbrella or an interfaith base fared better.

“We compared everything from small food pantries directly connected to a congregation to national hospital systems and their local affiliated hospitals,” said Maryland Associate Professor Jo Anne Schneider, who led the project. “Congregation-focused models work well for mainline Protestants, Quakers and African American churches, but only if several congregations provide support or the sponsoring congregation is sufficiently active with enough resources to support the nonprofit. Jewish and Catholic systems rely on their communities as a whole with the Jewish Federation, Archdiocese, or Order providing centralized support. Some thriving evangelical organizations rely on networks with no formal connections to congregations.”

Other key findings of the report, entitled “Faith and Organization Project: Maintaining Vital Between Faith Communities and their Organizations:”

* A new breed of evangelical organizations has emerged with a different understanding about how to develop an organization to do a specific mission that is firmly based in a particular set of beliefs but that focuses on personal relationships to provide services rather than sharing their faith as a means to improve the lives of those served.

Continue reading "UMD study stresses ties for faith-based ministries" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Muslim leaders in the Philippines are condemning the kidnapping of a Catholic priest, saying the act is contrary to the religious values of both Islam and Christianity, zenit.org is reporting.

The Rev. Michael Sinnott, a 79-year-old Columban father who moved from Ireland to the Philippines four decades ago, was abducted Oct. 11 from his home in Pagadian City, zenit.org reports. Sinnott has been frail and in need of medication since an open heart surgery he underwent in July.

The National Ulema Conference of the Philippines, a body of Muslim leaders, issued an appeal for the release of the priest, according to AsiaNews, stating that the act "contrary to the principles of Islam, Christianity and other religions.”

The Filipino government, meanwhile, has appealed to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim rebel group, for help in finding the kidnapped priest, zenit.org reports. Although there has been violent conflict between the two forces that resulted in hundreds of deaths only months ago, they agreed last week to work together to rescue Sinnott.

The Inquirer Mindanao has reported that the Moro Islamic forces are closing in on the location and identities of the kidnappers, zenit.org reports. The Muslim forces plan to surround the captors and cut off escape while allowing the government authorities to take the lead on the final confrontation.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Bill Donohue says he’s okay with “gentle fun” being poked at his faith. But the Catholic watchdog says The Simpsons went too far on Sunday when they cracked wise about the Eucharist.

At issue is this year’s installment of the annual Halloween episode. One of the three stories – and we’re taking Donohue’s word for it, because we didn’t catch the show – involved people in Springfield becoming zombies after eating hamburgers infected with tainted meat.

Bart tries one of the infected hamburgers, but proves immune to the virus, and so becomes the “Chosen One.” When the Simpsons reach a safe zone with other uninfected people, a guard says, “Welcome, son. To survive, all we must do is eat your flesh.” Which leads Marge to ask: “What kind of civilized people eat the body and blood of their savior?”

“What kind of uncivilized people work at Fox?” asked Donohue, the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the author of “Secular Sabatoge: How Liberals Are Destroying Religion and Culture in America.”

“Last year, when they poked some gentle fun at the Apostle’s Creed on the Halloween episode, we said nothing,” Donohue said. ”That’s because it didn’t cross the line. This year is different: mocking the heart of any religion always crosses the line, and mocking the Eucharist does it for Catholics. They know this at Fox, which is precisely why they did it.”

His statement includes the name and e-mail address of Fox Broadcasting's chairman of entertainment.

John Gehring of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, meanwhile, is decrying the media reliance on Donohue as a spokesman for the faith on the Washington Post’s On Faith blog.

Continue reading "Simpsons take another shot at the Catholics" »

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Rabbi Yaakov Menken is the Director of Project Genesis, a Jewish cyber-outreach organization based in Baltimore.

I am honored that Professor David Neipert, one of the faculty members who initiated the EEOC complaint against Belmont Abbey College, saw fit to respond to my earlier article on this topic. Given his personal involvement in this case, it is obvious that he begins with a far greater knowledge of its particulars, and I appreciate his sharing his perspective of the facts.

Here are the key points that he has made, to the best of my understanding:

1. The status of Belmont Abbey College as a religious institution is questionable. This is buttressed by the fact that the college "advertised itself as an equal opportunity employer and freely accepted funding that was not available to religious institutions." Additionally, the majority of its faculty, staff, students, and alumni are not Catholic.

2. The college offered coverage for these services for 26 years, "indicating that this was a change of a deliberate policy." It was then done immediately, unilaterally, and without discussion, and the college refused to negotiate.

3. It is not the eight faculty members, but the school, that is attacking religious freedom. "Forcing us to abide by a Catholic approved health plan makes no more sense than prohibiting a Catholic plumber from eating a Pork sandwich for lunch if he works at a Jewish hospital." Professor Neipert was assured that he would "not be expected to adopt Catholic practices and that not being Catholic would not affect my career in any way."

Let us address each of these in turn.

Continue reading "Guest post: Belmont Abbey, continued" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Speaking to an Italian-American law group in Philadelphia on Tuesday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito voiced frustration over what he called persistent questions about the court's Roman Catholic majority, the Associated Press is reporting.

"There has been so much talk lately about the number of Catholics serving on the Supreme Court," Alito, one of six Catholics on the high court, said in a speech to the Justinian Society. "This is one of those questions that does not die."

Alito complained about "respectable people who have seriously raised the questions in serious publications about whether these individuals could be trusted to do their jobs." He said he thought the Constitution settled the question long ago with its guarantee of religious freedom.

The confirmation of Sonya Sotomayor has created a two-thirds majority of Catholics on the high court, an unprecedented concentration for a bench that has had only a dozen Catholic justices in its history. The other Catholics now serving are Chief Justice John Roberts, Antthony M. Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

As the AP notes, the Catholic Church endorses positions on several high-profile legal issues, including abortion, gay marriage and the death penalty (it opposes the first two, and effectively opposes the third).

Continue reading "Alito frustrated by focus on Catholic justices" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Local Catholic leaders are opposing a Baltimore City Council proposal that they say unfairly harrasses pro-life pregnancy support centers, the Catholic Review reports.

The bill, sponsored by council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and 10 other council members, would require clinics that don't provide contraception or abortion to post signs saying so, or be fined $500 per day.

The Catholic Review quotes from a letter by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien saying that the proroposal targets non-profit organizations whose mission is to help women carry pregnancies to term.

"To fine a center $500 for not posting a sign that states as much is nothing short of harassment,” Archbishop O’Brien said, “especially when nothing in a pregnancy support center’s yellow page advertisements or Web pages would lead a woman to believe these centers provide abortions or abortion-related services.”

The Catholic Review also quotes from a letter from Rawlings-Blake: “I believe this measure is needed to secure women’s access to accurate and safe medical information. ... Of course, I support efforts by nonprofit organizations to assist future mothers. This ordinance does nothing to hamper those efforts.”

Read the rest of the story at catholicreview.org.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (62)
        

Pope Benedict XVI has created a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church, responding to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the ordination of women and the election of openly gay bishops, the Associated Press is reporting.

The new provision will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining their Anglican identity and many of their liturgical traditions, Cardinal William Levada, the Vatican's chief doctrinal official, told a news conference in Vatican City.

The move comes weeks after 10 of 12 Episcopalian nuns and their chaplain at a Catonsville convent left their church en masse to become Roman Catholic, citing the stability of church teaching and the unananimity of its leaders on social issues as factors.

From the Associated Press:

The new church structure, called Personal Ordinariates, will be units of faithful within the local Catholic Church headed by former Anglican prelates who will provide spiritual care for Anglicans who wish to become Catholic.

"Those Anglicans who have approached the Holy See have made clear their desire for full, visible unity in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church," Levada said. "At the same time, they have told us of the importance of their Anglican traditions of spirituality and worship for their faith journey."

Levada said the new canonical structure is a response to the many requests that have come to the Vatican over the years from Anglicans who have become increasingly disillusioned with the ordination of women, the election of openly gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions in the 77-million strong Anglican Communion. He declined to give figures on the number of requests that have come to the Vatican, or on the anticipated number of Anglicans who might take advantage of the new structure.

Continue reading "Catholic church makes it easier for Anglicans to join" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Del., which includes Maryland's Eastern Shore, filed for federal bankruptcy protection on Sunday night, on the eve of a civil trial in a high-profile sex abuse case against the diocese and a former priest, the Associated Press is reporting.

The bankruptcy filing automatically delays the case in Kent County Superior Court, the first of eight consecutive abuse trials scheduled in Delaware, according to the AP. The diocese becomes the seventh in the nation to seek bankruptcy protection in the face of abuse claims.

"This is a painful decision, one that I had hoped and prayed I would never have to make," Bishop W. Francis Maloody said in a statement on the diocesan Web site. "However, after careful consideration and after consultation with my close advisors and counselors, I believe we have no other choice, and that filing for Chapter 11 offers the best opportunity, given finite resources, to provide the fairest possible treatment of all victims of sexual abuse by priests of our Diocese. Our hope is that Chapter 11 proceedings will enable us to fairly compensate all victims through a single process established by the Bankruptcy Court."

Malooly said the moved was "in no way intended to dodge responsibility for past criminal misconduct by clergy – or for mistakes made by Diocesan authorities. Nor does the bankruptcy process enable the Diocese to avoid or minimize its responsibility to victims of abuse. ... The Diocese of Wilmington is committed to pursuing the truth because truth heals."

Thomas Neuberger, an attorney representing 88 alleged victims, described the bankruptcy filing as a "desperate effort to hide the truth from the public and conceal the thousands of pages of scandalous documents" from being made public in court, according to the AP.

Continue reading "Diocese seeks bankruptcy protection" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The Rev. John I. Jenkins, the Notre Dame president who sparked controversy last spring when he invited President Barack Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree last spring during commencement, has been re-elected to a second five-year term as president of the nation’s most prominent Catholic university.

Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore was among the first of dozens of American bishops to criticize Jenkins’ decision to honor Obama, who supports abortion rights.

But the trustees of Notre Dame passed a resolution last week expressing their “respect and full confidence” in Jenkins, saying he has nurtured an environment in which “the Catholic faith and intellectual tradition are celebrated and lived,” the Associated Press reports.

Jenkins has announced plans to travel to Washington in January to take part in an annual anti-abortion march.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

Attorney, author and professor David Neipert, a senior Fulbright scholar in law, is a former associate professor of international business at Belmont Abbey College.

I am one of the faculty members who asked the EEOC to review Belmont Abbey College’s policy on contraception. I write in response to the guest post of Oct. 15 by Rabbi Yaakov Menken ("Watch this case").

In the first paragraph Rabbi Menken states that Belmont Abbey College "is, without question, a religious institution, guided by the dictates of the Roman Catholic Church." In fact Belmont Abbey College has never been a particularly religious institution. The majority of its faculty, staff, students, and alumni are not Catholic. When I was hired I was assured by the then president, division head, and department chair that I would not be expected to adopt Catholic practices and that not being Catholic would not affect my career in any way. Without this assurance I would not have taken the job. The college then advertised itself as an equal opportunity employer and freely accepted funding that was not available to religious institutions. In fact the college actually went to the federal court of appeals arguing that it was not religious in order to obtain state funding. You can read the case yourself in any law library or lawyer’s office at 429 F. Supp 871. Does a truly religious institution deny that it is religious to obtain money?

Before the event made the subject of Rabbi Menken’s column the college had offered prescription contraceptives as part of its health plan for 26 years indicating that this was a change of a deliberate policy, not the correction of a casual mistake.

In the second paragraph Rabbi Menken states that, upon discovering that the college health plan covered abortion, sterilization, and contraception "William Thierfelder, immediately altered the plan." This is true and the plan was altered even though the faculty had already been through its benefits enrollment process and the college was contractually obligated to fulfill its written agreement to provide the benefits it promised for the rest of the school year. The proper time to make changes would have been at the next annual enrollment but the college chose not to provide the benefits. College procedure was for any change in employee benefits to be made in consultation with the staff and faculty welfare committees. This was not done. However, there was no move among the faculty and staff to restore the abortion or sterilization benefits. Many, however, wanted the college to reconsider the decision with regard to contraceptives. The overwhelming majority of employees, including the Catholics had no problem with them and had signed up to receive them at the invitation of the college only a few weeks earlier.

Continue reading "Guest post: Another view on Belmont Abbey" »

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Abortion rights groups are fighting a proposal to build a new Catholic hospital in Montgomery county, the Associated Press is reporting:

Holy Cross, a Catholic hospital in Silver Spring, has submitted a bid to state officials to build a new campus in Germantown. The Maryland Health Care Commission is expected to pick between that bid and one from Adventist HealthCare of Takoma Park in the spring. Adventist wants to build its facility in Clarksburg.

A coalition of abortion rights group, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, is lobbying the state and the county's elected officials against Holy Cross' proposal. Holy Cross has restrictions on elective abortions and sterilizations, and the groups say that whatever hospital is built should offer a full range of reproductive health services.

(Disclosure: Mrs. Brown works at Holy Cross.)

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Mary Ellen Heibel, the Annapolis woman whose apparent cure from cancer is being investigated by the Catholic Church as a possible miracle, has died from pneumonia. She was 71.

Mrs. Heibel had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2004. A member of St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in Annapolis, she began praying for the intercession of Blessed Francis X. Seelos, a 19th century Maryland priest.

Her metastic cancer vanished. The church has opened an investigation to determine whether it was the miracle that could seal the canonization of Seelos as a saint.

Mrs. Heibel leaves her husband of 53 years, Dr. John Heibel, four children and 11 grandchildren. We extend our deepest condolences to her family.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

We were going to post the video in which Sarah Silverman proposes that the pope solve world hunger by selling the Vatican. Then we watched it.

There's a question of taste.

Still, the video is interesting in part for the thoughtful reaction it has provoked from the Rev. James Martin over at America magazine. We can excerpt from an Associated Press story that summarizes both the video and the response:

In a new profanity-laced monologue making the rounds on YouTube in time for U.N. World Food Day on Friday, Silverman suggests that it's time for the pope to "move out of your house that is a city" and use the proceeds to feed the world's poor.

"On an ego level alone you will be the biggest hero in the history of ever!" she exclaimed. "Sell the Vatican. Feed the world."

The Vatican clearly has no plans to follow suit. On Thursday, a spokesman declined to comment. But the Catholic League, the U.S. Catholic civil rights organization, denounced Silverman and cable broadcaster HBO for her "obscene" and "filthy diatribe."

Continue reading "Silverman to church: Sell Vatican, feed the world" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Rabbi Yaakov Menken is the Director of Project Genesis, a Jewish cyber-outreach organization based in Baltimore.

Belmont Abbey College is a small Catholic liberal arts college in North Carolina, serving nearly 1500 students. It was founded in 1876 by the monks of the Belmont Abbey, a monastery of the Benedictine Order. The school mission is "to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things G-d may be glorified." It is, without question, a religious institution, guided by the dictates of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2007, the College discovered that its employee health benefits plan inadvertently included coverage for abortion, contraception, and voluntary sterilization. The college president, William Thierfelder, immediately altered the plan, declaring that the school "is not able to and will not offer nor subsidize medical services that contradict the clear teaching of the Catholic Church." And at that point, several members of the faculty went running to the EEOC, charging "discrimination."

If you think that government agencies take the First Amendment seriously, you should pay close attention to this case. In March, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dismissed the charge, stating that it was "unable to conclude" that the statutes had been violated. But then, in July, the District Director of the EEOC reversed course, and claimed that Belmont Abbey is discriminating against its employees. Why? The following is an unaltered quote: "By denying prescription contraceptive drugs, Respondent is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral contraceptives. By denying coverage, men are not affected, only women."

It is somewhat bizarre that the EEOC did not similarly refer to the lack of abortion coverage as "discrimination," since it is equally true that only females obtain abortions. But this is the least of the evidence that this is little more than an attack on religious freedom, using whatever spurious reasons might be found.

Continue reading "Guest post: Watch this case" »

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Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien has issued a statement on the death of Bishop Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington, who succumbed to cancer early Thursday at age 77.

As bishop of Wilmington for 12 years until his retirement last year, Saltarelli was spiritual leader of Eastern Shore Catholics. O'Brien and Saltarelli served together on the board of governors of the Maryland Catholic Conference.

On behalf of the faithful of the entire Metropolitan See of Baltimore, I express my great sadness to God’s people in the Diocese of Wilmington at the loss of their beloved Bishop, Michael Saltarelli, who, having reached the mandatory retirement age, resigned last year.

With a love for his priestly ministry always in his heart, Bishop Saltarelli led the Church in Wilmington through a period of tremendous growth and through times of pain and difficulty. Indefatigable throughout his battle with cancer, Bishop Saltarelli continued to serve God with great love for His people and with the selfless witness that were hallmarks of his priestly ministry.

At the time of his retirement, he told a reporter with the local Wilmington paper, “My strength is that I love being with people...When you die the Lord wants to know ‘were you good, were you kind, were you compassionate.’” Those who knew Bishop Saltarelli best are responding with a resounding ‘yes’ today on behalf of this good and holy priest of Jesus Christ.

Read more at baltimoresun.com.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I've been away the last couple of days, and will be back to posting full-time on Thursday. In the meantime, we did have a couple of stories in the newspaper on Sunday that you might have missed.

In the first, a Muslim scholar told a Baltimore conference on Saturday that the use of Islam to justify killing is "an innovation" in the religion, and added: "Most innovations lead to hellfire."

"The Satan always has people that he will be able to deceive," Dr. Waleed Basyouni told hundreds at Ilm Fest 2009, an Islamic education conference making its first appearance in Baltimore. "The good news," he said during a presentation he called "Reclaiming Islam from the Jihadists," is that "the nature of the Muslim community is to fight terrorism. The nature of the Muslim community is to reject extremism."

Read the rest of the story at baltimoresun.com.

In the second, we reviewed preparations for H1N1 among different faith congregations. We were interested in the comments of the Rev. John Kingsbury, pastor of St. Mary's in Annapolis. He had taken precautions against the spread of the virus during Mass, but worried that the spiritual impact of the pandemic "has yet to be faced,"

"There will be less, probably, Communions to hospitals," he said. "I'm guessing the hospitals will begin to become stricter with people visiting if things become more serious.

"People dealing with mass suffering -- by which I mean, a lot of people sick -- are going to want spiritual comfort at the very time that it's going to be the most difficult to give it."

Read the rest of the story at baltimoresun.com.

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The Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours, an international Catholic order founded in Paris 185 years ago, is moving its world headquarters to Maryland, congregation officials said Friday.

“This is an exciting time in the history of our congregation as we strive to work as one international community, carrying our message of ‘Good Help to Those in Need’ around the world,” Sister Patricia A. Eck, elected to lead the congregation, said in a statement. “I … will build on the rich tradition of those very strong women who have come before me while helping the Congregation evolve to meet today’s needs.”

The sisters are scheduled to move their world headquarters from Paris to Marriottsville, currently home to the Sisters of Bon Secours, U.S.A., Bon Secours Health System Inc. and Bon Secours Spiritual Center, on Dec. 1. At the same time, they plan to consolidate their provinces in the United States, France, Britain, Ireland and Peru into a single international congregation, under Eck’s leadership.

“Her vision and commitment to be a prophetic voice throughout the organization, combined with her strong governance and sponsorship capabilities, are models for all of Catholic health care today,” Sister Alice M. Talone, president of the Sisters of Bon Secours, U.S.A., said in a statement. “To Sr. Pat, ‘the struggle for a more humane world is not an option; but, an integral part of spreading the gospel.”

A nurse and health administrator, Eck has chaired the board of Bon Secours Health System Inc. since 1997. She has served as chairwoman of the Catholic Health Association and of the Corporate Members of Mercy Housing.

Continue reading "From Paris to Marriottsvile" »

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From former Sun religion writer John Rivera, now at Catholic Relief Services, comes this photograph of Our Lady of Perpetual Help chapel in Marikina, Philippines. Note the pew lodged in the rafters during tropical storm Ketsana over the weekend.

Laura Sheahen, the Baltimore-based organization's regional information director for Asia and the Pacific rim, writes:

Pew, that was close

Flood survivors receive aid at a chapel in Marikina, Philippines. When tropical storm Ketsana hit the island, massive flooding drove thousands from their homes. Father Javier Mexicano, shown here standing, was caught in his small parish house during the storm. He and another priest broke through the roof, waited there for the waters to settle, and eventually swam to safety.

A pew is lodged in the rafters of the chapel, where it floated during the flood.

Read Sheahen's blog post on the storm and its aftermath at the CRS Voices blog.

Photo by Laura Sheahen/Catholic Relief Services

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The Vatican has lashed out at criticism over its handling of its pedophilia crisis, saying the Catholic Church was ''busy cleaning its own house'' and that the problems with clerical sex abuse in other churches were as big, if not bigger, The Guardian is reporting.

The British newspaper describes a "defiant and provocative statement" issued after a meeting of the U.N. human rights council in Geneva in which the Holy See says most of the Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not pedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males:

The statement, read out by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, defended its record by claiming that ''available research'' showed that only 1.5 per cent to 5 per cent of Catholic clergy were involved in child sex abuse.

He also quoted statistics from the Christian Science Monitor newspaper to show that most US churches being hit by child sex abuse allegations were Protestant and that sexual abuse within Jewish communities was common.

Speaking after a representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union accused the church of covering up child abuse and violating several articles of the Convention of the Rigts of the Child, The Guardian reports, Tomasi said sexual abuse was far more likely to be committed by family members, babysitters, friends, relatives or neighbors.

The newspaper says representatives of other religions were "dismayed by the Holy See's attempts to distance itself from controversy by pointing the finger at other faiths."

Read the story at theage.com.au.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

From the address of Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday to officials in Prague.

Associated Press video

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Several Catholic bishops in the United States have come out in favor of extending some form of health insurance to illegal immigrants. At least one now is linking the issue to abortion.

"If [health care reform] leaves out immigrants, it is doing what some people want it to do in terms of the unborn," Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., told the Catholic News Service.

"How can we say that we're a country of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all who come to our shores if we say, 'except the unborn.' Or, if we say, 'except the handicapped.' Or, if we say, 'except the new person,' asked Murphy, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. "Then we have not lived up to the high ideal of our country. And we have introduced a sense of injustice into a plan that should be just for all."

As the CNS story notes, most U.S. bishops who have spoken publicly about health care reform "have expressed the opinion that one of the richest countries in the world should find a way to guarantee that everyone within its borders has access to medical care, from conception to natural death."

CNS quotes Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, Calif., on concerns among bishops that even legal immigrants might be left out of the system. Soto told CNS that reform "has to include at a minimum some kind of safety net for the undocumented," particularly if the goal of a nationwide health care reform plan is to improve the overall health of society.

"We realize it's a very contentious issue," Bishop Soto said. "But there has to be some kind of a safety net."

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

The Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies has announced what look to be several strong programs in October, including a local appearance by the renowned scholar of early Christianity Dr. Paula Fredrikson.

Fredrikson, the author most recently of “Augustine and the Jews: A Christian Defense of Jews and Judaism,” will deliver the 2009 Bernard Manekin Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at Chizuk Amuno Congregation, 8100 Stevenson Road, Baltimore. Her topic: “God Was Not Odd To Choose the Jews: Augustine on the Jewishness of Jesus.” The event is free and open to the public; those interested in attending are asked to call 410-494-7161 to reserve seats.

Beth El Congregation Senior Rabbi Steven Schwartz and Dr. Christopher Leighton, executive director of the Institute of Christian & Jewish Studies, will present “Finding God as Jews and Christians” at 8 p.m. Oct. 8 at Beth El Congregation, 8101 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore. Again, free and open to the public; RSVP to 410-484-0411.

A succession of Jewish, Christian and Muslim clergy will present “Children of Abraham in the 21st Century” at 7 p.m. Wednesdays in October at St. James Episcopal Church, 1020 W. Lafayette Ave., Baltimore. According to the Institute’s Web site, Schwartz, Dr. Rosann M. Catalano and Imam Sulayman Nyang will discuss “what makes us more similar than different.”

Dinner, at a cost of $5, is served at 6 p.m.; lectures begin at 7 p.m. RSVP with the St. James Episcopal Church office at 410-523-4588.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

With researchers gathered in Baltimore for the World Stem Cell Summit, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien offers a word of warning: “Science divorced from ethics undermines genuine progress.”

“Embryonic stem cell research requires the destruction of human embryos,” the spiritual leader of the archdiocese’s half million Catholics writes in a commentary in The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday.

“It is understandably tempting to pursue this avenue given the stated goal of such research to produce treatments that could relieve the pain of, and perhaps even provide cures for, diseases plaguing countless people. Those burdened by disease or injuries deserve our unequivocal support, and scientific research should undoubtedly be commissioned on their behalf.

“That same science, however, also irrefutably demonstrates that a human embryo is a distinct human being. Its appearance and abilities differ from ours, but its nature is the same.

“To end one human life for the sake of another, even when the former is microscopically small and the latter is someone we know and love, is to play a dangerous game of utilitarianism. We shouldn't end lives to save lives. This practice violates one of the most basic ethical principles: The ends do not justify the means.”

Read the rest of O’Brien’s commentary at baltimoresun.com.

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A Swedish television program airing Wednesday claims that top Vatican officials knew that Bishop Richard Williamson was a Holocaust denier when they lifted his excommunication in January, the Associated Press is reporting.

The report comes on the eve of reconciliation talks between the Vatican and the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, whose leaders were excommunicated in 1988 after they consecrated Williamson and three other priests as bishops in defiance of Pope John Paul II.

Pope Benedict XVI has made a priority of reconciling with the society, whose members seek a return to the church as it was before the Second Vatican Council. But the effort provoked a furor in January when Sweden’s SVT aired an interview taped in November 2008 in which Williamson denied key elements of the Holocaust. The British bishop disputed the commonly cited figure of 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II, saying the actual number was no more than 300,000, and said none were gassed.

Vatican officials have said they were unaware of Williamson’s beliefs when his excommunication was rescinded in January. But SVT says Catholic officials in Sweden knew of his remarks in the interview in November and made a full report to the apostolic nuncio in Stockholm, the representative of the Vatican in Sweden, who passed the information on to Rome.

“Naturally we passed all the information that we had on to the nuncio,” Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm told SVT, according to the AP. “After that I don’t really know how it moved along.”

In a statement Wednesday, the AP reports, the diocese reiterated that it had sent a report about the interview to the Vatican last November. The SVT program says the nuncio, Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig, confirmed off-camera that he had contacted several people in the Vatican, including Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who was then leading the effort to reconcile with the Society of St. Pius X.

The report contradicts the statement of Castrillon Hoyos, who told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in January that no one at the Vatican knew of Williamson’s beliefs until after his excommunication had been lifted.

Continue reading "Report: Vatican knew of Holocaust denier" »

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Categories: Catholicism, Interfaith, International, Judaism, People, Politics
        

News of the impending shake-up of the Legion of Christ gives me another reason to wish that the great and gentlemanly journalist Jerry Renner were still with us.

Jerry, a friend and mentor from our time together at The Hartford Courant, had a keen interest in exposing faith leaders who abused the trust of their followers. He was among the first reporters – and certainly the most persistent – to uncover and write about the abuses of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legion.

Maciel is alleged to have molested generations of seminarians, some of them children. Since his death in 2008, the Legionaries have acknowledged that he fathered at least one child.

Earlier this year, the general director of the Legion expressed sadness and sorrow for Maciel’s actions, and asked forgiveness from God and those affected. Legion officials in the United States have added their regret that their “inability to detect, and thus accept and remedy, Father Maciel’s failings has caused even more suffering.”

Among Maciel’s critics is Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore, who said earlier this year that he could not recommend that anyone join the Legion or Regnum Christi, its lay movement.

“It seems to me and many others that this was a man with an entrepreneurial genius who, by systematic deception and duplicity, used our faith to manipulate others for his own selfish ends,” O’Brien told The Catholic Review in February. “Father Maciel deserves our prayers, as every Christian who dies does, that he’ll be forgiven and we leave the final judgment to God as to what his life and death amounted to.”

Jerry reported the allegations against Maciel more than a decade ago, first in stories in The Courant – the Legionaries have their U.S. headquarters in Connecticut – and later in “Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II,” the book he co-wrote with collaborator Jason Berry.

Continue reading "Thinking of Jerry" »

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The Catholic Church doesn’t support lawbreaking, Cardinal Francis George said over the weekend. But it should encourage respect among neighbors – including those who came to the United States illegally.

George, the archbishop of Chicago, spoke to a Catholic group in Yakima, Wash., where he served as bishop in the 1990s. His comments were reported by the Yakima Herald-Republic.

The church does not encourage illegal immigration, “but we should also say you have to respect the people in front of you,” he said. “If you have neighbors and family members who have been subjected to society financially, socially and religiously for decades, they should be able to live here with security.”

Read the rest of the story at yakima-herald.com.

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Pope Benedict XVI has announced a special meeting of bishops next year to discuss Middle East peace efforts and the role of the Catholic Church in the region, the Associated Press is reporting.

We are reminded of the difficulties this pontiff has had with both Muslims (his decision in a 2006 address to quote a 14th century Byzantine emperor critical of Islam inspired riots) and Jews (who are wary of his interest in reinstating elements of the pre-Vatican II church), and wonder how receptive the region is likely to be to the Vatican’s counsel.

From the Associated Press:

Addressing bishops and patriarchs from Eastern rite churches, Benedict said Saturday that the meeting will take place Oct. 10-24, 2010, and will be titled "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: communion and testimony."

The meeting of bishops, called a synod, will gather church leaders from the Middle East and around the world.

The pope and the Vatican have long been active on the Middle East diplomatic front, seeking to protect Christians in the Holy Land and elsewhere in the region while supporting efforts to solve the Israel-Palestinian dispute.

Read the Associated Press story here.

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 In 1966, Time religion editor John T. Elson posed the question that gave the magazine its bestselling issue since World War II, and still reverberates through popular debate more than 40 years later:

Is God Dead?

The Canadian journalist, whom former Time managing editor Jim Kelly described to The New York Times as “catholic with a capital C and a small c in his interests,” has himself died. He was 78.

Elson’s story, in the words of Times obituary writer William Grimes, “remains a signpost of the 1960s, testimony to the wrenching social changes transforming the United States.”

Entitled “Toward a Hidden God,” the story – which was the result, Grimes writes, of a yearlong effort involving 30 correspondents and 300 interviews – begins with the question.

Is God dead? It is a question that tantalizes both believers, who perhaps secretly fear that he is, and atheists, who possibly suspect that the answer is no.

Is God dead? The three words represent a summons to reflect on the meaning of existence. No longer is the question the taunting jest of skeptics for whom unbelief is the test of wisdom and for whom Nietzsche is the prophet who gave the right answer a century ago. Even within Christianity, now confidently renewing itself in spirit as well as form, a small band of radical theologians has seriously argued that the churches must accept the fact of God's death, and get along without him. How does the issue differ from the age-old assertion that God does not and never did exist? Nietzsche's thesis was that striving, self-centered man had killed God, and that settled that. The current death-of-God group* believes that God is indeed absolutely dead, but proposes to carry on and write a theology without theos, without God. Less radical Christian thinkers hold that at the very least God in the image of man, God sitting in heaven, is dead, and—in the central task of religion today—they seek to imagine and define a God who can touch men's emotions and engage men's minds.

Continue reading "Is God Dead? writer dead" »

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To those who live here, Maryland’s Catholic history is well known. Chartered in the 1600s as a New World haven for British Catholics, it would become the seat of the church in the new United States. The Catholic presence remains strong today, with the Archdiocese of Baltimore counting half a million members, making Catholicism the largest denomination in the state.

And yet Maryland ranks among the nation’s leader in abortions. It’s a conundrum Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien takes up in his latest column in the Catholic Review.

... might it be the fact that, since our state has the fourth highest abortion rate per capita in the United States (behind the District of Columbia, New York and New Jersey), that we could all become complacent about the taking of life on such a massive scale? A troubling side-note: Maryland stands to move closer to the top of the list as all three jurisdictions ahead of The Free State in abortions per capita have seen decreases in their abortion rates since 2000; Maryland’s abortion rate increased by eight percent over that same time period.

Why is it that with so many Catholics as members of the dominant political party in our state – a political party that has traditionally upheld the rights of the poor, the immigrant and the marginalized, but a party consistently and solidly pro- abortion – that politics lacks conscience when life in the womb is commonly treated as refuse?

O’Brien’s prescription: Prayer. He calls on believers to join in the 40 Days for Life campaign, which begins Sept. 23.

Continue reading "Is Catholic Maryland complacent on abortion?" »

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The Society of Saint Pius X must respect Judaism, other Christian denominations and other religions before it may be fully reintegrated into the Catholic Church, Reuters is reporting.

On the eve of reconciliation talks with the traditionalist society whose bishops were excommunicated by Pope John Paul II in 1988, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna said these Vatican II reforms were “not negotiable.”

"It's not the case that Rome will let the Lefebvrists off easy for everything," Schoenborn told the German daily Passauer Neue Presse, calling the traditionalists after their founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Reuters is reporting.

The Vatican appears to be treading carefully after the condemnation that followed the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to rescind the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, a society member who has denied the Holocaust. Benedict later said the Vatican handled the case badly.

Read the rest of the story at reuters.com.

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Interesting feature from Catholic News Service on an Italian woman whose mother was a saint – literally.

When Gianna Beretta Molla was pregnant with her fourth child, doctors discovered that she had a large ovarian tumor, according to CNS. Surgical protocol in 1962 dictated that the uterus be removed, but the 39-year-old woman – a physician herself – insisted that they remove only what was necessary so that her baby might live.

Molla died a week after the birth of her daughter Gianna Emanuela – now also a physician. She was canonized in 2004 by Pope John Paul II, and is known in the church as "the pro-life saint."

The CNS story focuses on Laura Molla, who was three when her mother died. She was in Washington over the weekend to address a Eucharistic congress at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington sponsored by the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious.

"We had to work through the shock of losing our mother to find the joy in knowing she is a mother for all," said Laura Molla, who was three when her mother died.

"She teaches us to truly discern" what our vocation should be, she said, and then to "live that vocation to the fullest."

Read the rest of the story at catholicnews.com.

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A week after Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted “You lie!” at President Barack Obama during Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress, faith leaders will gather in Washington on Tuesday to pray for an “end to hateful rhetoric that creates a toxic environment for immigrant families.”

Participating in the vigil outside the Capitol will be Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, who chairs the Committee on Immigration of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Bishop Prince Singh of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, N.Y.; Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church and Dale Schwartz of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

They are to be joined by Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.).

From the release:

On September 15th and 16th, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) – a designated Hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law Center – will be in Washington for their annual lobby day and “radio row,” where an estimated 47 extremist radio talk show hosts will broadcast live from DC. In response to the divisive rhetoric and extreme anti-immigrant agenda of FAIR, leading faith leaders will gather in prayer to recall the humanity and dignity of immigrants, and the need for policies that will uphold our nation’s best values, not its worst instincts.

While we’re on the subject: With his outburst, Wilson was challenging Obama’s assertion that “the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.” Was Wilson correct? According to the nonpartisan fact-checking operation Politifact, no.

Continue reading "After 'You lie!' Prayers to end 'hateful rhetoric'" »

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They asked for guns; they got guns. After teaming up with the Catholic Review to get weapons off the streets, St. Gregory the Great Church collected 21 firearms on Saturday, and expects a half-dozen more on Tuesday, organizers say. It was the church’s seventh such buy-back.

“The police have verified that in the past, some of these weapons that have been turned in have been very lethal,” Monsignor Damien G. Nalepa said in a statement before the event. “We appeal to all the citizens of our city to help stop the violence and turn in guns.”

Since the parish began its effort to get guns off the streets, organizers say, more than 100 have been turned in.

Organizers offered $100 for each workable automatic or semi-automatic handgun or assault rifle, and $50 for any other workable gun turned in, no questions asked. The guns were to be turned over to local law enforcement.

The Catholic Review is challenging the community to contribute to a fund so such gun buy-backs may be held more regularly. Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to: The Cathedral Foundation Inc., Attn.: Catholic Review Gun Buy-Back, P.O. Box 777, Baltimore, MD 21203.

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Categories: Catholicism
        

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien is calling on Maryland’s representatives in Congress to ensure that health care reform does not lead to taxpayer-funded abortion.

In a column this week in the Catholic Review, the spiritual leader of the area’s 500,000 Catholics writes that “access to basic, life-affirming, quality health care is a universal human right, not a privilege,” and it “should not depend on an individual’s stage in life, where or whether he or his parents work, how much he earns, where he lives, or where he was born.”

O’Brien writes that the church stands ready to be “an active health care reform supporter,” but only if “lawmakers … preserve the tradition of federal laws and policies that have barred federal funding and promotion of abortion in all major health programs for more than three decades.”

“Sadly, the current version of the House reform bill, H.R. 3200, begins to dismantle the ‘abortion neutral’ tradition,” he writes. “Amendments approved just before the summer recess weaken the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding of abortion, by allowing federal subsidies to help pay premiums for health benefits that include abortion. In fact, the current House bill goes so far as to require that the “public option” include abortions. This is contrary to the practice of every other federal health program.”

The question of whether tax dollars would be used to fund abortion has been a matter of contention throughout the debate over health care reform. President Barack Obama has said they would not, a statement backed up by the non-partisan Web site Politifact:

While there are several versions of the health care plan floating around Congress, and it seems that full abortion coverage would be permitted in the government-sponsored program, we didn't see anything in them that would put taxpayers on the hook for subsidizing abortions.

Elsewhere on the Catholic Review Web, the Catholic News Agency reports that officials of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Health Association are encouraged by Obama’s pledge this week to continue the ban on the use of federal funds for abortion and to maintain conscience protections for health care workers in any health reform legislation.

Continue reading "O'Brien: Can back health reform, with safeguards" »

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So we went up to Emmittsburg last week to visit with the Rev. Leo Patalinghug at Mount St. Mary’s University. For several years now, Father Leo has been pushing Grace Before Meals, the ministry he created to encourage family and friends to eat and talk with each other.

We found focusing on food as a vehicle for gathering people together to be an interesting avocation for a priest, given that the Catholic Mass is built around the Eucharist, the reenactment of the Last Supper at which believers are nourished by the body and blood of Christ.

Patalinghug thought he was being filmed for a Food Network feature on his ministry last June when celebrity chef Bobby Flay challenged him to a throwdown – a cook-off featuring, in this case, fajitas.

The episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay airs Wednesday night. Patalinghug, who wouldn’t tell us who won, is hosting a viewing party in the parking lot of Da Mimmo's Italian Restaurant at 217 S. High St. in Little Italy.

We’ve produced a story for Wednesday’s newspaper, but it’s online now at baltimoresun.com.

Jed Kirschbaum/Baltimore Sun

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In March, Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien wrote to Notre Dame President John Jenkins that he was "disappointed and bewildered" that the university had invited President Barack Obama to receive an honorary degree and speak during commencement ceremonies. Obama supports abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research, which the Catholic Church opposes.

On Tuesday, local Catholic schools will tune in to the president's back-to-school address to the nation's children.

From the Archdiocese of Baltimore:

Since news of the address was first reported, the Catholic Center and several Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore have been contacted by parents, teachers and others expressing a desire that parents be given the opportunity to request that their children be excused from viewing the address.

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, Archbishop of Baltimore, acknowledges the historic significance of the President’s speech and is fully supportive of the educational messages the White House says the President will deliver. However, he agrees that parents should ultimately have the right to choose whether their child views the address and will ask Catholic schools in the Archdiocese to communicate this to parents.

“We respect the rights of our parents to decide what’s best for their children in this matter and our schools will be asked to make arrangements for children not watching the program in an alternate venue in order to offer an opportunity for discussion about the role and responsibilities of the presidency and the value of education,” the Archbishop said.

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One had to be impressed by the life and accomplishments of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien writes in his column in the Catholic Review.

He will go down in history for his legislative accomplishments: the advancement of immigrants, the poor, the elderly and yes, virtually all those mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 25. This seemed to emanate not singly, though surely, from a “liberal agenda,” but from a genuine Christian conviction – if we are to believe those who knew him best – of the dignity of the human person made to God’s image. He was unashamedly Catholic in his self-identity and heritage, a frequent attender of daily Mass.

But then there’s what O’Brien calls “the elephant right smack center in the room:” Kennedy’s staunch support of abortion rights.

What happened, what motivated him and seemingly justified his ability to reconcile his abortion stance with his Catholic Faith? How truly comfortable was he with this “reconciliation?” And how different would our culture and our country be today if this uniquely gifted leader extended his renowned witness to that of a consistent ethic of life? Now it is not for us to judge, but for Another. As members of Christ’s Body soon to face that same Judge, we must pray that Ted Kennedy be rewarded for the vast amount of good he accomplished, forgiven for his shortcomings and, if granted Paradise, that he intercede for an America even more just and inclusive than the one he hoped, worked and prayed for throughout his life and at his death.

Read the column at catholicreview.org.

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 Pope Benedict XVI marked the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II on Sunday by saying religion should promote peace and fight racism and totalitarianism, the Associated Press reports.

The German-born pontiff, who was forced to serve in the Hitler Youth Corps and later the army before he deserted near the end of the war, said the memory of the war should serve as a warning to never repeat such a "barbarity" as the Holocaust and the extermination of millions of innocents, the AP reports.

"The contribution that religion can and must make is particularly important in promoting forgiveness and reconciliation against violence, racism, totalitarianism and extremism, which defile the image of the Creator in man," he said in Viterbo, Italy, during his traditional Sunday blessing.

Read the Associated Press story.

Associated Press photograph

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Churches and whole dioceses have left the Episcopal Church since the 2003 consecretation of an openly gay bishop brought a lonstanding divide over homosexuality within the nation's sixth-largest Protestant denomination out into the open.

But on Thursday, 10 Episcopal nuns from a Catonsville convent took what scholars say is the unprecedented step of joining the Catholic Church. At a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, each vowed to continue their tradition of consecrated life, now as a religious institute within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

"We know our beliefs and where we are," Mother Christina Christie, superior of All Saints Sisters of the Poor, told sun colleague Mary Gail Hare. "We were drifting farther apart from the more liberal road the Episcopal Church is traveling. We are now more at home in the Roman Catholic Church."

In a statement, Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland wished them God's blessings.

"Despite the sadness we feel in having to say farewell, our mutual joy is that we remain as one spiritual family of faith, one body in Christ," he said.

Read the story at baltimoresun.com.

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Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, criticized by some conservative Catholics for taking a prominent role in the funeral of abortion rights supporter Edward M. Kennedy, says he disagrees with his critics “in the strongest terms.”

Writing in his blog on Wednesday, O’Malley also says that he told President Barack Obama before the funeral Saturday that Catholic bishops were anxious to support universal health care, “but we will not support a plan that will include a provision for abortion or could open the way to abortions in the future.”

In his post, O’Malley appears to echo recent comments by Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., who questioned the efficacy of the “loud tactics” of his fellow bishops on abortion and other issues. Michael Paulson of the Boston Globe, one of the great religion writers working today, provides a useful summary:

… the most impassioned part of the cardinal’s blog post -- which is at times folksy, at times cerebral, and punctuated by snapshots of the memorial events -- is a de facto plea for greater civility among Catholics when discussing divisive issues. He warned against “harsh judgments’’ and attributing “the worst motives’’ to people with whom Catholics have disagreements, saying “these attitudes and practices do irreparable damage to the communion of the Church.’’

“If any cause is motivated by judgment, anger or vindictiveness,’’ he added, “it will be doomed to marginalization and failure.’’

Continue reading "Mass. Cardinal defends role in Kennedy funeral" »

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From London comes news of a new Catholic prayer book that includes a prayer for couples before sex.

“I suppose it is a bit idealistic but it is recognizing that God is at the heart of the marriage relationship between husband and wife,' Bishop Paul Hendricks tells the Daily Mail. “'It is important for the Church to affirm the value of marriage and family life.”

From the Daily Mail:

Roman Catholic couples are being encouraged to pray together before they have sex.

A book published by a prominent Church group invites those setting out on married life to recite the specially-composed Prayer Before Making Love.

It is aimed at 'purifying their intentions' so that the act is not about selfishness or hedonism.

The prayer, which appears in the Prayer Book for Spouses, implores God 'to place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites, self-offering that tells the truth and does not deceive, forgiveness that truly receives, loving physical union that welcomes'.

It adds: 'Open our hearts to you, to each other and to the goodness of your will.

'Cover our poverty in the richness of your mercy and forgiveness. Clothe us in true dignity and take to yourself our shared aspirations, for your glory, for ever and ever.'

The 64-page book has been published by the London-based Catholic Truth Society.

Read the rest of the story at dailymail.co.uk.

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A Cincinnati nun who has long called for the Catholic ordination of women has been told by the archbishop of Cincinnati to drop the issue or forfeit her responsibilities within the archdiocese, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

Sister of Charity Louise Akers, 66, says Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk told her during a meeting in August to remove her name and photograph from the Web site of the Women’s Ordination Conference, of which she is an advisory board member, and rescind her support for the ordination of women if she wants to continue making presentations and teaching for credit in archdiocesan institutions.

She has taken the first step, she tells NCR, to defuse the “destructive assaults” against her, but will not take the second.

“To do so would go against my conscience,” she said. “For four decades I have devoted my ministry to advocating on behalf of the marginalized through religious congregations, justice organizations, ecumenical and interfaith groups. Women’s ordination is a justice issue. Its basis is the value, dignity and equality of women. I believe this to my very core. To publicly state otherwise would be a lie and a violation of my conscience. I love, support and cherish the part of Church that upholds the gospel mission and vision of Jesus.”

Reached by NCR, Pilarczyk said, "It is not my custom to offer public comment on personnel matters."

Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati

Continue reading "Women's ordination advocate gets ultimatum" »

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Robert Schindler Sr., the father of the late Terri Schiavo, died on Saturday in Florida. He was 71.

“My dad was a man of integrity, character and compassion who was blessed with a close and loving family,” said his son Bobby, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20090831.htm. “He taught all three of his children to respect and value life and to love our fellow man.

“Even at the height of the battle to save my sister Terri’s life, when his patience and temperance was near exhaustion, he managed to display a gentleness of spirit. Yet it was his unfathomable strength that allowed him to shoulder up his own heartache and lead us through our darkest hour. What greater legacy could a man leave behind?”

Schiavo collapsed in February 1990 for reasons still unclear and spent the rest of her life in what doctors said was a persistent vegetative state. Eventually her husband, Michael Schiavo, sought to have her taken off life support. Schindler and his wife, Mary, objected, and sought the right to make medical decisions for their daughter.

Court-appointed doctors said Terri Schiavo had no real consciousness or chance of recovery, and Michael Schiavo testified that she had told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Pinellas-Pasco County Circuit Court Judge George Green sided with Michael Schiavo, and ordered Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube removed.

Continue reading "Terri Schiavo's father dies" »

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Following, courtesy of the Associated Press, is the text of the letter from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to Pope Benedict XVI delivered last month by President Barack Obama. After that comes the Vatican response, which Time writer Jeff Israely -- whom we quoted at length last week on the exchange -- calls "pro forma."

Most Holy Father,

I asked President Obama to personally hand deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me and I am so deeply grateful to him. I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God’s blessings as you lead our church and inspire our world during challenging times.

I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines. I was diagnosed with brain cancer over a year ago and although I am undergoing treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me.

I am 77-years-old and preparing for the next passage of life. I’ve been blessed to be part of a wonderful family and both my parents, specifically my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that i have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my past.

I want you to know, your Holiness, that in my 50 years of elected office I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I’ve worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I’ve opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and have been the focus of my work as a U.S. Senator.

Continue reading "The senator and the pope, Part III" »

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A few months back, Catholic officials joined with other faith leaders to announce plans for a “Summer of Peace” in Baltimore, with prayer, collections and volunteers directed toward reducing violence in the city.

Crime has continued unabated, with 18 people shot in a single incident in July and two shot in the Inner Harbor on a Saturday night in August. In an interview with the Catholic Review, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien was asked how frustrated he was.

“It’s safer in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think, sometimes,” said O’Brien, who was archbishop to the military services before he came to Baltimore. “Still, there are good people out there patrolling the streets and taking an interest in the neighborhoods and sacrificing themselves for the youth in the communities. If not for them, it could be much worse.”

Asked the causes of violence, he listed several factors that he says are interrelated.

“It’s family life, it’s education and lack of employment,” he said. “The industry of the city is drugs, it seems. It’s a vicious circle and we have to see how other communities have found a way to break that vicious circle because it’s destructive. I don’t think we’ve been very successful so far.”

Continue reading "O'Brien: Iraq, Afghanistan safer than Baltimore" »

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On Friday, we mentioned the sealed envelope that an ailing Sen. Edward M. Kennedy asked President Barack Obama to deliver last month to Pope Benedict XVI. At the time, the White House said no one, not even Obama, knew what it contained.

During the graveside service Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick read from Kennedy's letter, and shared the Vatican's response.

From the Associated Press:

McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, read from a letter from Kennedy to Pope Benedict XVI, hand-delivered earlier this year by Obama.

"I know that I have been an imperfect human being but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path," the dying senator wrote. He wrote the pontiff "with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines."

The Vatican responded with a letter that said "his Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope."

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Over at Time Magazine, Jeff Israely has an interesting examination of the Kennedy family’s changing relationship with the Catholic Church. Israely describes Sen. Edward M. Kennedy as the nation’s most prominent Roman Catholic politician these last four decades – a man who received his first communion from Pope Pius XII, whose mother once expressed hope that he would enter the priesthood, whose first marriage was celebrated by Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York.

But then, there’s that business about abandoning his early opposition to abortion to become one of the Senate’s most powerful advocates for legal access to the procedure that the church condemns.

During his meeting last month with Pope Benedict XVI, President Barack Obama handed the pontiff a sealed letter from Kennedy — the White House says nobody, not even Obama, knows what it contained — and asked him to pray for the Massachusetts director.

Israely notes the silence from Benedict following Kennedy’s death, and catalogs areas of conflict between Kennedy and the church.

His first marriage, to former model Virginia Joan Bennett, ended in divorce in 1982, with the marriage annulled by the Roman Rota more than a decade later. And there are the infamous episodes in his life that showed a man not quite in control of his demons. But ultimately, beyond his personal travails, Kennedy's relationship with the Church hierarchy was destined for conflict because of politics. The Senator became both the face and the engine of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that has long led the battle for abortion rights, stem-cell research and gay marriage, all of which Catholic doctrine strictly forbids.

"He is a complicated figure," the Rev. James Martin, an editor with the Jesuit magazine America, tells Israely. "Catholics on the right are critical because of his stance on abortion. Catholics on the left celebrate his achievements on immigration, fighting poverty and other legislation that is a virtual mirror of the Church's social teaching.”

Continue reading "The senator and the pope" »

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Last month in Kentucky, an Assemblies of God congregation drew international attention with its "open carry celebration," in which the pastor invited members of to come to bring their guns to church, that they might "celebrate our rights as Americans."

“God and guns were part of the foundation of this country,” the Rev. Ken Pagano told The New York Times.

Next month in Baltimore, a Catholic church will ask parishioners to bring weapons to church -- for a very different purpose. Responding to increased gun violence in the city, organizers say, St. Gregory the Great is sponsoring its seventh "Gun Turn-In Day" on Sept. 12.

Since the parish began its effort to get guns off the streets, organizers say, more than 100 have been turned in.

“The police have verified that in the past, some of these weapons that have been turned in have been very lethal,” Monsignor Damien G. Nalepa said in a statement. “We appeal to all the citizens of our city to help stop the violence and turn in guns.”

Co-sponsored by the Catholic Review, the event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church at 1542 N. Gilmor St. Organizers are offering $100 for each workable automatic or semi-automatic handgun or assault rifle, and $50 for any other workable gun turned in.

Continue reading "St. Gregory the Great wants weapons" »

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Most Catholic bishops in the United States disagree with the loud tactics of some of their peers in opposing President Barack Obama’s appearance at the University of Notre Dame, but have kept quiet because they do not want to engage in a public battle over the issue, one archbishop has told the National Catholic Reporter.

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore was an early opponent of the decision to invite Obama to speak during commencement exercises and receive an honorary degree from the Catholic university. Obama supports legal access to abortion and embryonic stem cell research, which the church opposes.

In March, Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien wrote to Notre Dame President John Jenkins that he was “disappointed and bewildered” by the invitation. But letter-writing doesn’t seem to be the kind of activity that Santa Fe, N.M. Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan is decrying in his interview with NCR.

Rather, Sheehan says that refusing to talk to a politician or refusing communion because of a difference on a single issue – approaches that O’Brien hasn’t discussed publicly – was counterproductive. He describes such actions as a “hysterical” reaction and said the Catholic community risks isolating itself from the rest of the country.

Sheehan tells NCR that he prefers "consultation, collaboration, building bridges not burning them."

At the June meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, NCR’s John Allen reported that some bishops said privately that they were appalled at the conduct of the most vocal opponents and others said the debate had become too narrow and partisan, but the issue was never brought up in public session. The bishops interviewed at the time commented anonymously.

Read the rest of the story at ncronline.org.

Archdiocese of Santa Fe

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In her obituary today for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Catholic News Service weiter Nancy Frazier O'Brien notes the Massachusetts Democrat’s longtime support for legal access to abortion. But she also reminds those who might not have remembered that it wasn’t always so.

O’Brien quotes extensively from a 1971 letter on the subject by Kennedy:

"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life," Kennedy wrote.

"Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized -- the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old. When history looks back at this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."

Of course, Kennedy would eventurally become a staunch supporter of abortion rights. As O’Brien notes, he earned a nearly 100 percent negative rating in recent years from the National Right to Life Committee and a 100 percent positive rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America for his abortion-related votes in the Senate.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy meets with Cardinal Lawrence Shehan at the Baltimore Basilica in 1980. (Jed Kirschbaum/The Baltimore Sun)

Continue reading "Ted Kennedy, abortion opponent" »

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore has removed the pastor of a Cumberland church as it investigates allegations that he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s, the archdiocese annouced on Sunday. Monsignor Thomas Bevan, pastor of St. Patrick Church since 1997, has denied the allegations, according to the archdiocese.

Representatives of the archdiocese met with parishioners and staff at St. Patrick on Sunday to inform them of the allegations and to answer questions, according to the archdiocese. Counseling assistance has been offered to all those affected, according to the archdiocese.

The individual alleging the abuse says it occurred on a number of separate occasions in the mid-1970s while he was a student at the parish school of St. John Catholic Church in Frederick, according to the archdiocese. Bevan was assigned to St. John from 1974 to 1979, according to the archdiocese.

The archdiocese says it learned of the allegations in June, and immediately reported them to civil authorities in Frederick County. The archdiocese says the authorities instructed the archdiocese not to take any further action, including continuing its own investigation or making contact with Bevan.

The archdiocese says it received permission from the authorities last Tuesday to resume its investigation and representatives of the Archdiocese met with Bevan on Wednesday. Bevan denied the allegation, according to the archdiocese. The archdiocese removed him from ministry and revoked his faculties to function as a priest, pending an archdiocesan investigation, according to the archdiocese.

In 2005, the archdiocese says, it received an allegation of child sexual abuse against Bevan that dates back to 1974. The archdiocese says it reported it to the Frederick County State’s Attorney and conducted its own investigation into the claim. The archdiocese determined that there was not sufficient evidence at the time to remove him.

Continue reading "Cumberland pastor removed over abuse allegations" »

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Categories: Catholicism
        

Major Jewish groups and rabbis from the three largest branches of American Judaism say their relationship with Roman Catholic leaders is at risk because of a recent U.S. bishops' statement on salvation, the Associated Press is reporting.

Jewish groups are interpreting the new document to mean that the bishops see interfaith dialogue as an opportunity to invite Jews to become Catholic, AP religion writer Rachel Zoll writes.

In a letter to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Jewish leaders say they do not object to Christians sharing their faith, but warn dialogue with Jews becomes "untenable" if its goal is to persuade Jews to accept Christ as their savior. The signers were the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and rabbis representing Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews.

"A declaration of this sort is antithetical to the very essence of Jewish-Christian dialogue as we have understood it," they wrote in the letter Thursday.

Their protest is the latest in a series raised by Jewish leaders during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. Jews were angered in 2007 when Benedict endorsed a long marginalized version of the Latin Mass that included a prayer for the conversion of the Jews, and again earlier this year when the Vatican rescinded the excommunication of a Holocaust denier.

Continue reading "Jewish groups: Bishops' statement threatens ties" »

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The number of inquiries into the Sisters of Bon Secours, who have their U.S. headquarters in Marriottsville, “shot up” from 199 in 2007 to 263 last year, the Catholic Review reports. Sister Patricia Dowling, vocation director for the international congregation of women religious, credits the use of Web sites, blogs and the social networking sites Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

“It’s good to take advantage of the technology because we’re trying to increase the visibility of religious and priests,” Dowling tells the archdiocesan newspaper. “We’re planting seeds and getting the word out that the religious life and the priesthood is alive and well. You can’t choose what you don’t know about.”

The information appears in a story about Patricia Dooley, a 51-year-old former journalist who entered the Sisters of Bon Secours last week.

“I felt at home with the sisters,” Dooley says. “I decided, I’ll take the step until God is no longer asking me to move forward. I never felt like I was to stop.”

Eight women have joined the sisters in the last five years, the Catholic Review reports. The have ranged in age from the early 30s to the late 50s.

“People of all ages are exploring the religious life,” Dowling says. “Older women are discovering that even though they have done it all, they still have a lot more to give and are searching to use their gifts in different ways.”

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Categories: Catholicism
        

Archbishop Edwin O'Brien continues to draw comment following his address to the U.S. Strategic Command last month calling for steps toward a world free of nuclear weapons. The latest example is a glowing profile in the National Catholic Reporter.

"Bishops can be classified lots of ways, from the canonical (coadjutor, auxiliary, etc.) to the political (liberal, moderate or conservative)," the piece by John L. Allen Jr. begins. "For those inclined to creativity, however, here’s a novel bit of taxonomy: The “Only Nixon could go to China” bishop, meaning a prelate able to say or do paradigm-changing things because nobody can question his credentials as a loyal man of the church."

The story, entitled "Baltimore's O'Brien draws respect across party lines," continues:

Increasingly, America’s premier example is Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore, a no-nonsense champion of Catholic doctrine and discipline, and someone who, in the words of Baltimore native and Catholic writer George Weigel, “would happily take a bullet for the church.” Consider how O’Brien has spent that capital:

Veteran leader in seminary formation and a rock-solid theological conservative, O’Brien has demanded greater transparency and accountability from the Legionaries of Christ despite the order’s image as a favorite of the late Pope John Paul II.

A former West Point chaplain and military archbishop with a hawkish reputation, O’Brien recently strode into the heart of the military establishment at the United States Strategic Command in Omaha, insisting upon the elimination of nuclear weapons.

A one-time proponent of the death penalty, O’Brien now champions abolition -- talking about his conversion in a way that has prompted “soul-searching” among even the most conservative legislators, according to Mary Ellen Russell of the Maryland Catholic Conference. He’s also spoken passionately in defense of immigrants.

Delivered by someone else, these messages might be dismissed as liberal rants. Coming from O’Brien, they pack more punch -- in part because, as Fr. Tom Hurst, rector of the Sulpician-run St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and a longtime friend, says, “the words ‘O’Brien’ and ‘liberal’ don’t go in the same sentence.”

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Categories: Catholicism, Culture, People, Politics
        

On the death of Robert Novak, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has produced an interesting obituary focusing on his fraught relationship with the faith into which he was born.

“Robert Novak, the conservative columnist whose scoops broke many a career, made his reputation as a journalist by being unafraid to attack his ideological brethren,” the piece by Ron Kampeas begins. “The same dynamic underlay the contentious and at times ugly relationship he had with fellow Jews.”

Kampeas writes that Novak had a ‘distaste for robust Judaism” and says “his attacks on the pro-Israel community repeatedly veered into the conspiratorial. And there’s an interesting passage on his faith journey:

Novak was born to Jewish parents, but said he never felt particularly connected to the faith. "The family was not very observant," he told CNN in 2005, describing his upbringing in Joliet, Ill.

"My father had never been bar mitzvahed and his father was not a very good Jew, but I was bar mitzvahed," Novak said.

He cooperated in 2003 with the Washingtonian magazine in a feature about his conversion to Roman Catholicism five years earlier, and said that although he joined a Jewish fraternity in college, he was turned off by Judaism.

"I found the same thing in Judaism as a young boy as I did later in the Unitarian Church and then at the Episcopal Church," he said. "They seemed very ungodly. The clergymen seemed very secular."

Following his conversion, U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) reportedly quipped, “Well, we’ve now made Bob a Catholic. The question is, can we make him a Christian?”

Continue reading "Robert Novak's faith experience" »

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Categories: Catholicism, Culture, Judaism, People, Politics
        

Two years after coming to Baltimore, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien will move into his official residence on North Charles Street this fall, the archdiocese announced today. Cardinal William H. Keeler, who hosted Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa at the Greek revival building adjacent to the Baltimore Basilica, will be moving to a Catholic retirement community in Baltimore County.

“Like the Basilica, the Archbishop’s Residence is a spiritual treasure for our Church and our city,” O’Brien, who has been living in an apartment in North Baltimore owned by the Sulpicians, said in a statement.

“The Cardinal has done much to preserve and advance that history and I look forward to following his example as visitors and guests will continue to be welcomed at the residence to share this living symbol of our Catholic heritage.”

The building has served as the official home of Baltimore’s archbishop since it was built in 1829, according to the archdiocese. It is believed to be the oldest archbishop’s residence in the United States.

Continue reading "O'Brien in, Keeler out at archbishop's residence" »

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In Emmitsburg on Aug. 30, the Daughters of Charity and the Seton Club of Harrisburg, Pa., will observe Elizabeth Ann Seton's 235th birthday with a Mass and celebration.

The Mass, to be celebrated by the Michael J. Kennedy, is set for 1:30 p.m. at the Basilica at the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. The celebration, to follow in the Sisters Courtyard, will include balloons, snow cones, birthday cake and face painting.

Special honor will be paid to women and girls named Elizabeth Ann or Elizabeth, who are invited to join in a special procession and encouraged to register at the Shrine Visitor Center between 12:15 p.m. and 1:15 p.m.

Visitors may tour the Seton Shrine on the grounds of the Provincial House of the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Visitors may tour the Visitor Center, the Basilica and the Seton Shrine Museum as well as historic buildings that date back to Mother Seton's lifetime including the Stone House, where she first lived and the White House in which she opened the first free school for girls in the United States on February 22, 1810.

As Baltimore Sun colleague Joe Burris wrote a couple of weeks ago, the Daughters of Charity have been celebrating the 200th anniversary of Seton's arrival in Emmitsburg in 1809. The Catholic convert founded the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's, the first new community for religious women to be established in the United States, and Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School, the first free Catholic School for girls.

Continue reading "Celebrating Mother Seton's birthday" »

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Organizers are looking for alumni of Father Kolbe and St. Casimir schools in advance of a reunion scheduled for next month – part of an effort to bolster the century-old program amid news of Catholic school cutbacks and closings elsewhere.

Father Kolbe School in Canton officially became St. Casimir Catholic School in July. The Archdiocese of Baltimore has returned the management of the K-8 program back to the Faith Community of St. Casimir.

From a release sent our way by the Rev. Ross Syracuse:

Plans are in full swing for the St. Casimir/Fr. Kolbe School 2nd Annual Alumni Reunion scheduled for Sunday, September 20, 2009. The celebration revolves around Catechetical Sunday which is a kind of official kick-off of the educational programs for many parishes.

The day begins with Mass at 10:00 AM at St. Casimir. This will be followed by an Open House at St. Casimir Catholic School. The attendees will then move on to Della Rose's Restaurant (Clinton Street) for an Outdoor Barbeque from 12:00 to 2:00 PM.

Plans are to make the reunion an annual event. The newly formed school board is asking alumni to contact the parish office at 410-276-1981 or the school at 410-342-2681 to update their contact information and/or pass along contact information for classmates.

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Given the opportunity to address U.S. military and other officials at a symposium on nuclear deterrence on Wednesday, Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien said Catholic teaching calls on policymakers to work toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons altogther.

"As the U.S. bishops wrote in 1983: 'Deterrence is not an adequate strategy as a long-term basis for peace; it is a transitional strategy justifiable only in conjunction with resolute determination to pursue arms control and disarmament,' O'Brien said at the symposium hosted by the U.S. Strategic Command in Omaha, Neb.

"In Catholic teaching, the task is not to make the world safer through the threat of nuclear weapons, but rather to make the world safer from nuclear weapons through mutual and verifiable nuclear disarmament."

A former chaplain at West Point and with the Army in Vietnam, O'Brien was the Catholic archbishop for the military services before coming to Baltimore. He spoke of his respect for the military and its institutions before discoursing on church teaching on just war and on nuclear weapons.

Becaue it's an area of Catholic teaching that's frequently cited but not widely understood, we'll quote at length:

Continue reading "O'Brien calls for world free of nuclear weapons" »

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We're just back from the Baltimore County Courthouse, where a cicruit court judge has rejected an effort that would have forced the Archdiocese of Baltimore to keep Towson Catholic High School open for another year.

Judge Ruth Jakubowski Friday denied a request of parents Lois Windsor and Judy Messina for a temporary restraining order after hearing arguments behind closed doors. Windsor and Messina filed a lawsuit last week seeking an injunction that would have required the Archdiocese of Baltimore to reopen the school next month, as originally scheduled.

The sides are due back in court on Aug. 5, when Jakubowski will hear arguments on a motion by the archdiocese to have the parents' lawsuit dismissed.

The surprise closing, which was announced earlier this month, has left families scrambling to make alternate plans for their children this fall.

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A Baltimore County judge is expected to rule Friday on an injunction that would force Towson Catholic High School to open in the fall.

Students, parents and alumni continue to protest the surprise closing of the school, which has left families scrambling to make alternate plans for their children. The request for an injunction comes from two families who filed a lawsuit last week in Baltimore County Circuit Court to block the closing.

Judge Ruth Jakubowski will hear arguments behind closed doors beginning at 2 p.m. Towson Catholic supporters were planning to rally outside the courthouse beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Catholicism, Education
        

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien (left) will celebrate a Mass on Thursday to honor the 175th birthday of Cardinal James Gibbons, the ninth archbishop of Baltimore. The longest-serving archbishop of the nation’s first diocese, Gibbons was described by President Theodore Roosevelt as “the most respected and venerated and useful citizen of our country.”

The Mass is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. at the Baltimore Basilica.

Ordained in Baltimore on June 30, 1861, Gibbons was a chaplain at Fort McHenry during the Civil War and pastor of St. Brigid Catholic Church in Canton.

He served as archbishop from 1877 to 1921, a tenure during which he was “the unchallenged spokesman of the Catholic Church in the United States,” according to Thomas W. Spaulding, author of The Premier See. He would establish more than 30 parishes, and in 1884 presided over the council that led to the establishment of the Catholic school system in the United States.

Gibbons died in 1921. His remains are interred in the crypt under the basilica.

Baltimore Sun file photo 2007

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He was ordained bishop in 1968 and made the first Bishop of Orlando, Florida. The new diocese encompassed central Florida and included Cape Canaveral, from where, the following year, Apollo 11 launched, bound for the moon.

After that historic launch and lunar landing, with all the images of our astronauts walking, golfing, and planting the flag, Borders made an ad limina visit to Rome to meet with Paul VI. During their meeting, Borders rather nonchalantly observed, "You know, Holy Father, I am the bishop of the Moon."

Pope Paul looked at him rather perplexed - probably wondering where along the line this American prelate lost his mind. Borders then continued by explaining that by the existing (1917) Code of Canon Law, he was the de facto ordinary of this "newly discovered" territory.

(Former Sun religion writer John Rivera directed us to Rocco Palmo's Whispers in the Loggia post citing Murphy; thanks to all.)

Sun file photo, 1998

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With the sudden closure of Towson Catholic High School, families are scrambling to find schools that will take their students in the fall. Over the last few days, we have collected the stories of several.

Some of the 163 students will be heading to Baltimore Lutheran School, other Catholic schools and some public high schools. Others haven't figured it out yet. Jenavieve Kohler (right), 17, and her parents are considering homeschooling.

Another 17-year-old student, Carla Baressi, is scouting out schools now:

Continue reading "Towson Catholic families scramble to find schools" »

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In the week since the decision to close Towson Catholic High School was announced, students, parents and alumni have focused their anger on a single man.

Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder has been accused of planning to shut down the school since he came to Immaculate Conception Church nine years ago, of turning down fundraising ideas and of speaking insensitively in referring to the student body as "a whole different community."

Tinder, in his first interview since announcing the closing, described the anger directed at him as "poignant." If he had it to do over, he said Wednesday, he would have closed the financially troubled high school earlier, to give students and their families more time to make alternate plans for the fall.

"I think we probably erred on the side of trying to keep the school going," said Tinder, who is responsible for the church, the high school and Immaculate Conception School, which serves children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

"If there's a regret, it is that we tried too hard to keep the school open and went too long," he said. "I think we would have faced the same difficulty had we done it earlier. But it is my regret that we waited as long as we did in a failed attempt to keep it open."

Facing the loss of several dozen students and a deficit of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Tinder announced plans last week to close the 87-year-old high school immediately. The decision had been recommended by the school's board and was supported by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, but it was Tinder's to make.

Tinder said he had no choice. School officials had seen enrollment decline from 240 to 163 for September, as deficit projections rose to $650,000.

"We realized that if we continued on and were not able to rectify these two elements, we would be opening a school where we couldn't pay the teachers and couldn't educate the children," he said. "At that juncture, we faced a real moral question. The determination to keep the school open has to be trumped by being concerned about teachers and students."

Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun photo

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The fight over the fate of Towson Catholic High School escalated Tuesday when the alumni association filed suit against the school's parish and its pastor over the abrupt closing of the school, Baltimore Sun colleague Mary Gail Hare reports. The group is seeking an injunction to keep the school open at least another year.

"This closing is a slap in the face to the alumni and to anyone who ever loved this school. We were ready to remedy this through various options, but we could not get the archdiocese to the table," said alumni association president Paul Mecinski, who announced the lawsuit at a rally last night.

He added, "If students want to come here, we want to keep this place open."

The suit was filed Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court by the alumni association's lawyer, Richard Grason VI of the law offices of T. Bruce Hanley. Attempts to reach Grason were unsuccessful last night.

Mecinski said the parish broke its contract with the students because parents had already paid tuition for the coming school year.

Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said he had not seen the suit and only learned of it at the rally.

"Keeping this school open is not an option at all," he said. "Even if money is raised, that would not address the question of decreasing enrollment."

Mark Graber, professor of law and government at the University of Maryland School of Law, has said an injunction might be difficult but is possible, given that many parents had paid their deposits and begun making tuition payments for the new school year.

"If they have put down money, the parents have fulfilled their part of the contract with the school, in the understanding that there is going to be a school," Graber said.

Read the rest of the story at baltimoresun.com.

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Students, parents and alumni at Towson Catholic have taken their campaign to save the school online.

Their new Web site went live at noon on Tuesday. The introduction:

The "Save Towson Catholic" campaign is gaining momentum!

With the intentions of addressing the $650,000 budget shortfall that the Church of the Immaculate Conception is claiming as the key issue in the decision to close Towson Catholic High School, a grass roots pledge drive began over the weekend to help close the gap. This drive was pulled together on Saturday night by a single TC alum, and was pushed forward in its first day as a simple pen and clipboard campaign.

Despite the campaign's early lack of resources, publicity, or manpower, more than $15,000 was pledged within the first 24 hours.

As this pledge drive gains momentum and publicity through media outlets and the internet, as well as with help collecting pledged donations by Towson Catholic students, parents, and alumni, we expect those pledge totals to increase at an accelerated pace.

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The decision to close Towson Catholic High School and the resulting outcry from students, parents and alumni has revealed a long-brewing disconnect between the school and the parish that has been its home since 1922.

Only 17 of the 163 students who were enrolled for the fall are parishioners at Immaculate Conception Church; 86 percent live outside Towson. With the school facing a $650,000 deficit that included $160,000 in unpaid tuition from last year, parish officials announced last week that they would close what some described as a money-losing ministry that they could no longer afford to subsidize.

"It was an outreach ministry into the city that brought many kids ... from the northern part of Baltimore City, and they came out to Towson and got a great education by all accounts," said Dan Cahill, a member of the parish council who reviews Immaculate's finances quarterly. "But we didn't see long-term those kids coming out of the school and then becoming active alumni and giving back."

Vocal parents and alumni are continuing their opposition to the closing with a 7 p.m. rally at the school Tuesday, the third such event in less than a week. The protest will occur as parents attend a school fair inside the building with representatives from 15 area parochial schools in hopes of finding a place for their children in September.

Read the rest of the story at baltimoresun.com.

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Harry Potter, long the bane of fundamentalist Christians, has won a rave review from the Vatican.

L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, has given the new film “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” four stars for promoting “friendship, altruism, loyalty and self-giving,” Catholic News Service reoprts.

The review in Tuesday’s edition marks an about-face for the newspaper, which 18 months ago called the boy wizard “the wrong model of a hero,” and charged author J.K. Rowling with transmitting “a vision of the world and the human being full of deep mistakes and dangerous suggestions, even more seductive since it is mixed with half-truths and compelling storytelling.”

Pope Benedict XVI himself, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, warned of Potter’s “subtle seductions,” which he said “deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.

But the Vatican found much to appreciate in the sixth film in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which is due to open worldwide on Wednesday. (Translation from the Italian courtesy of the Catholic News Service)

Continue reading "Vatican gives Potter film four stars" »

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Towson Catholic High School alumni are vowing to fight the abrupt closing of their alma mater with rallies, an awareness campaign and even a possible lawsuit, Baltimore Sun colleague Mary Gail Hare reports in Friday's newspaper.

Organizers are planning a peaceful demonstration at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at Immaculate Conception Church. Alumni, parents and students are also being urged to gather at the school at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the third demonstration since the closing was announced this week.

"At first, we called it a vigil to say goodbye and show our lasting love for the school, but it has become a rally to show support," said Mike Boehm, a 1997 graduate. "We are not letting this school close without trying to do something."

Wendy Gelhaus, Class of 2007, has started a "Revive TC" blog campaign that seeks signatures for a petition to stop the closing of the school and is also meeting with area businesses to ask for their support. She and her grandmother, Joan Slater, who recently celebrated her 50th TC reunion, plan to attend the vigil Tuesday.

Gelhaus said she has found an attorney willing to file an injunction blocking the closing.

"It is an uphill battle, but he sees the passion we have," she said.

Read the rest of the story at baltimoresun.com.

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When President Barack Obama meets on Friday with Pope Benedict XVI, he’ll present the pontiff with a gift that has a Baltimore connection.

The Redemptorists have given Obama a stole that was used to dress the body of St. John Neumann. The 19th-century priest was pastor of Baltimore's St. Alphonsus Church from 1849 to 1852.

It was during his time in the city that the Bohemia-born Neumann was naturalized a U.S. citizen. He would leave Baltimore to serve as bishop of Philadelphia, a position he held until his death in 1860. He is a patron saint of immigrants and sick children.

“It’s a delight that something of one of our Redemptorist saints would be given to our Holy Father,” the Rev. Patrick Woods, provincial of the Baltimore Province, said in a statement. “We’re delighted as Americans that our president is visiting the Holy Father, and delighted that something belonging to our province would be given to him.”

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Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien has issued a statement on the decision to close Towson Catholic High School. At least 100 students and parents rallied at the school Wednesday, a day after they were notified of the closure.

O'Brien's statement:

I am deeply saddened by the closure of Towson Catholic and troubled by the circumstances that seemed to have left the parish and school board with no other choice. The closing of this beloved institution is a source of pain for students, teachers, alumni and the parish. Every effort is being made to ensure the smoothest transition possible for our students and faculty and several representatives of the Archdiocese are working day and night with the parish and school toward that end. My heart goes out especially to those seniors who were preparing to begin their final year at TC and we are exploring every available option to provide for their unique and special circumstance.

Equally deserving of our support is the pastor, [Monsignor F. Dennis] Tinder, as well as the board and administration of the school. They expended great energy and countless hours to save the school from this fate. I am grateful for their commitment to Towson Catholic and to the students and faculty.

Unfortunately, their best efforts, among them the hiring of a strategic consultant earlier this year to help reposition the school in an effort to increase enrollment, were not enough to avoid the impact of the financial crisis which forced so many of our families to make the painful decision not to enroll their children for the coming school year.

My prayers are with the Towson Catholic family today and will be for the days ahead, and I offer my assurance that everything possible will be done to meet the needs of every student, teacher and staff member impacted by this painful but necessary decision.

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At least 100 parents and students of Towson Catholic High School attended a rally Wednesday morning protesting the closure of the 86-year-old school in the fall.

Mary Gail Hare has the story for The Baltimore Sun.

Faced with rapidly declining enrollment and mounting debt, the co-educational school notified parents and its 20-member faculty by letter and e-mail on Tuesday that it will not open for classes in September. It becomes the archdiocese's first high school to close in many years.

Judy Messina, vice president of the PTA and the mother of a rising senior who attended the rally, said, "We're still in shock. If they knew this was coming, why did they wait until six weeks before the new school year [to announce the closure]?"

Many families have already given their deposits and started making their tuition payments.

Messina said she is very disappointed in the pastor, Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder. "He has never been available to any of us. Not the faculty, not the children. We just never see him."

The rally was attended by students who were wearing their uniforms and carrying signs. Alumni returned to their alma mater wearing their senior year T-shirts.

(Photograph by The Baltimore Sun)

Read the rest of the story at baltimoresun.com.

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The treatment for terminal cancer that Annapolis resident Mary Ellen Heibel took at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2004 and early 2005 worked beyond anyone's wildest hopes, wiping out malignant tumors in her lungs, liver, stomach and chest. Her doctor did not expect it, nor could he explain it.

Surely the outcome was remarkable, but was it - in the sense applied by the Roman Catholic Church in such cases - a miracle?

In a few weeks, a committee appointed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore will begin exploring that question, examining 11 witnesses, including Heibel, pressing her doctors, nurses and friends in an attempt to understand what happened. The findings gathered at the archdiocese's downtown offices will be shipped to Rome, and ultimately will bear on a campaign to have Francis X. Seelos, the 19th-century Maryland priest to whom Heibel had turned in prayer for help, canonized as a saint.

For only the fifth time in its 200-year history, the archdiocese has launched a test of faith and science to help the Vatican determine whether one of its own was not only exemplary in virtue during life but now has the power in death to intercede with God. In the end, it will be up to the pope to rule on whether Seelos is to join the men and women held up by the church through the centuries as models of holiness.

"Did what happened come about by the intercession of Blessed Seelos? That's what we have to discover," said the Rev. Gilbert J. Seitz, the judicial vicar who heads the committee, emphasizing that its job is not to judge the case but to gather information in a process akin to taking a deposition.

Read the story by Arthur Hirsch in The Baltimore Sun.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 6:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Catholicism
        

A Baltimore County man in his 40s is suing the Archdiocese of Baltimore for an undisclosed amount of money, alleging negligence by the Roman Catholic Church after what he claims were years of sexual molestation by one of its priests.

Brent Jones has written the story at baltimoresun.com.

The lawsuit, filed in Delaware, alleges that Rev. Michael L. Barnes, a co-defendant in the suit, abused the plaintiff while he was a minor at the St. Clare School in the 700 block of Myrth Ave. in Essex. The school and St. Clare Roman Catholic Church also are co-defendants in the case.

The lawsuit says the church was aware of Barnes' history, which it says included several other molestation claims. Barnes, who apparently left the priesthood in 1988 but was employed by the Archdiocese of Washington as lay director of adult faith formation at a Rockville church as recently as January, could not be located on Friday. Spokespersons for the archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington say the archdioceses were unaware of any prior allegations.

Continue reading "Priest, archdiocese named in abuse lawsuit" »

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Catholicism
        

In recent years, Catholic bishops have won headlines by condemning – and in some cases saying they would deny communion to – Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. Several have said the position held by former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others, is incompatible with Catholic practice.

Now a New York bishop has added same-sex marriage to the list of deal-breakers.

“While homosexual orientation is a neutral reality on a moral level, homosexual acts are not morally neutral. They are wrong, and they are sinful,” Bishop William Murphy writes in the Long Island Catholic. “Abortion is wrong, and it is sinful. We bishops, the authentic teachers with the pope of the Catholic faithful, have made this abundantly clear. Our teaching is unambiguous, faithful to the Lord and binding on all Catholics. No Catholic is free to ignore or disregard this teaching. “

Murphy, who heads the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, was responding to Nassau County Executive and former New York gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi. In a recent op-ed piece published in The New York Times, Suozzi identified himself as a “practicing Catholic,” and then reversed his previous opposition to come out in favor of same-sex marriage.

“I have listened to many well-reasoned and well-intentioned arguments both for and against same-sex marriage,” he wrote. “And as I talked to gays and l