Silence is vital to liturgy, pope says

Silence is vital to liturgy, pope says in document marking Vatican II

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Marking the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's document on the liturgy, Pope John Paul II said the one ingredient too often missing from the modern Mass is silence. "An aspect which must be cultivated with greater commitment in our communities is the experience of silence," he said in a Dec. 4 apostolic letter marking the anniversary of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.

"The liturgy, among its various moments and signs, cannot ignore that of silence," he said in the letter released during a Vatican conference marking the anniversary. "In a society that lives in an increasingly frenetic manner, often dazed by noise and scattered by the transient, rediscovering the value of silence is vital," the pope wrote in the document, which was distributed in Italian to participants at the conference, sponsored by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

Catholic officeholders say they answer to public, not church

There is more on yesterday's report about Bishop Burke.

Fallout from Bishop Burke's letter to "Catholic" politicians seem to be on the rise...Bishop Burke sent the letters to warn elected officials that they risked their spiritual well-being by taking political stances he found to conflict with church teachings.

He said Wednesday that if they continued to act in that manner, it was his intention to "ask them not to present themselves to receive the sacraments because they would not be Catholics in good standing."

This sort of rationalization, denial, and disobedience from politicians and others is exactly what we can expect to happen when the 'disease' of dissent is allowed to fester and spread in the Church. Because bishops, in general, have failed for years to act courageously to address these issues, we have this regrettable situation in which "Catholics", prideful because of the influence of Satan, act with such arrogance and confusion in their lives. They either do not understand or choose to ignore the moral imperatives which must be followed. They persist in scandalizing the faithful, with some of the bishops, in effect, being complicit by their inaction.

Will Bishop Burke be the first to formally excommunicate those who defiantly ignore or disobey his directives? We must continue to hope and pray that these politicians come to their senses and open their hearts to the Light of Truth.

Will any of our "Music Ministers" listen to this?

What a wonderful blessing it would be IF those in charge of parish oversight of Liturgy (pastors?) would heed the Holy Father's words.
I faxed this to my parish at noon today. I'm certain that some of the more difficult words will probably have to be "interpreted", however. Which words, you ask? Those like: sacred, sanctity, Gregorian, chant, & Latin. They don't seem to "jive" with guitars, drums, bongos, dancing & clapping!

Liturgical music must be reverent, accentuate the sacred, Pope writes
Vatican, Dec. 04 (CWNews.com)

In a new document released December 4, Pope John Paul II has emphasized that liturgical music must convey a sense of reverence and appreciation for the sacred.

The new document takes the form of a "chirography"-- an administrative directive bearing the papal signature, and containing specific instructions. It was released for the 100th anniversary of Tra le Sollectitudini, the document on sacred music by St. Pius X. The Pope's new document is dated November 22: the feast of St. Cecilia, the patron of music.

All liturgical music "must have sanctity as its point of reference," Pope John Paul writes, adding that "not all musical forms are appropriate for liturgical celebrations."

While acknowledging that music can express different cultural traditions, the Pope cautions that all sacred music must "respect specific criteria," and stresses that the music must avoid "any concession to frivolity and superficiality." The liturgy of the Catholic Church, he writes, "must never become a laboratory for experimentation."

Pope John Paul confirms the teaching of Vatican II that Gregorian chant "should be preserved in the first place for liturgical ceremonies, with hymns that are celebrated in Latin."

The Pope urges the Congregation for Divine Worship to "pay closer attention" to the issue of liturgical music. He repeats that exhortation in a plea for episcopal conferences to "pay close attention" to the music used in the liturgy in their respective countries.

© Copyright 2003 Domus Enterprises. All rights reserved.

Note the Holy Father asks the CDW to "pay closer attention" to this. The Apostolic Letter itself has not yet been translated into English and is only available in Italian. If you read Italian, here is the document. Hopefully, it will translated soon.

Who are these people trying to impress?

PETA Billboard Depicts Virgin Mary Cradling Chicken Carcass

The group PETA or sometimes called, "People Eat Tasty Animals", apparently have sunk to a new low, if that is at all possible. Will this ad attract Catholics or others to their cause?

More about Archbishop-elect Raymond Burke

Those of us in the St. Louis archdiocese have much reason to rejoice in the recent appointment of Bishop Raymond Burke as shepherd of our archdiocese. As Bishop of LaCrosse, he sent letters to "Catholic" lawmakers to inform them of their duties of their office with regard not only to the laws of the state, but also with regard to the moral law.

From the article:

La Crosse Bishop Raymond L. Burke sent letters to the lawmakers as the first step in efforts to get them to change their pattern of voting, which Burke said contradicts the church's teachings on abortion and other issues related to human life. On Tuesday, Pope John Paul II appointed Burke to serve as the archbishop of St. Louis.


"If they were to continue to do that, I would simply have to ask them not to present themselves to receive the sacraments because they would not be Catholics in good standing," Burke said in an interview.

However, the same, old, tired argument comes from the "Catholic" politicians, "But I can't let my religion take precedence over my duties as a legislator". These politicians who fail to uphold the moral law by hiding behind these lame statements are no more "Catholic" than this keyboard I'm using - except, that they were baptized at some point in their life.

Holding positions that are contrary to the Church's doctrinal teaching because of ignorance makes one a material heretic. Once one is presented with the Church's teaching, one's persistence in denying that truth makes one a formal heretic. Many of these politicians, because they have been duly informed of the Church's teaching, have chosen instead to become formal heretics and as such they have voluntarily withdrawn from communion with the Church.

Anyway , enough of my rants...read this article about Bishop Burke. We should give thanks that we have been so blessed to have him as our new archbishop!

Hardworking Wisconsin bishop follows Vatican policies precisely

More reasons for St. Louis faithful to be thankful.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Hardworking Wisconsin bishop follows Vatican policies precisely Patricia Rice Post-Dispatch Religion Writer 12/02/2003

The Wisconsin bishop who will become the archbishop of St. Louis next month is a staunch conservative who is expected to carry out most of the initiatives Cardinal Justin F. Rigali introduced during the past nine years.

Archbishop-elect Raymond L. Burke, 55, has been the bishop of La Crosse, Wis., for the last nine years. The Vatican announced Tuesday that Burke will succeed Rigali, who moved to Philadelphia in October as its archbishop and a cardinal.

On Jan. 26, the former Vatican church lawyer will be installed as the St. Louis archdiocese's ninth bishop and eighth archbishop at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica.

St. Louisans will get a hardworking bishop who follows the finest points on all Vatican directions precisely, from major policies to revisions for bows and nods at Mass.

"He is a humble man who takes his responsibilities very seriously," said Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz, former editor of the Catholic Times of La Crosse.

"With the liturgy, he is very concerned about reverence and order. And you can expect that, on the moral issues, he will be teaching and affirming the church on such things as abortion and contraception."

A staunch conservative

Burke displayed his religious conservatism in the fall of 2002. His diocese was one of two U.S. dioceses to pull out of the annual Crop Walks fund-raisers, sponsored by the ecumenical Church World Services. He told Catholics not to walk because the agency finances family-planning services and gives out condoms in developing nations.

A few years ago, Burke took the unusual step of publicly disagreeing with another bishop, then-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, over the idea of married men being ordained. Weakland suggested it be discussed. Burke said it was a bad idea.

Burke drew attention last year when he criticized the popular novels featuring the English schoolboy-magician Harry Potter. He sent all the schools and the seminaries in his diocese a letter saying that Potter "may not be suitable for young Catholic readers."

Open-door policy

Burke said Tuesday that he will bring to St. Louis his open-door policy in dealing with alleged victims of sexual abuse. He promised to personally sit down face-to-face with each person who accuses a priest of sexual abuse — something Rigali had delegated to others and been criticized for by victims' advocates.

In La Crosse, Burke spoke face-to-face with about 30 victims, he said. During that time, he removed one priest from active ministry. When allegations of abuse by two retired priests were brought to him, he removed their right to say Mass.

Burke said he had never met with any of the groups representing victims. David Clohessy, national spokesman for the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, said his group has no chapter in La Crosse but at least one member.

Barbara Dorris, leader of SNAP in St. Louis, will ask Burke for a face-to-face "so that a genuine dialog can begin."

"His first focus, we believe, should be to encourage victims to contact therapists, police, prosecutors and our support group so that dangerous predators can be arrested and children can be kept safe," she said.

Meets with seminarians

Beyond meeting with abuse victims, Burke said his primary duty is to "provide priests" to lead parishes and to recruit young men for the seminary. On Tuesday, he had lunch with the seminarians at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Shrewsbury.

At a time when most dioceses around the nation have closed high school seminaries, Burke opened a residence house in La Crosse for boys who are considering the priesthood. They attend a Catholic coed high school but live in the seminary-like dorm.

Mater Redemptoris Convent offers a similar program for high school girls considering to become nuns.

A friend of Rigali

Burke's name had been mentioned in St. Louis as the top candidate to replace Rigali as early as August. But he was mentioned less frequently inside the Vatican and by U.S. bishops.

A few other cardinals were pushing for other candidates. Bishop J. Terry Stieb of Memphis, Bishop George Murry of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, Ill., and Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville were mentioned.

For months some bishops said that as the elected head of the bishops conference, Gregory was never a contender. His duties will be particularly heavy during the coming months as the audits and academic studies on sex abuse by priests are completed and made public.

Burke is a longtime friend of Rigali's.

Rigali attended Burke's ordination to the priesthood at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome in 1975. The two Americans knew each other when both worked in different offices at the Vatican.

As recently as this fall Rigali had Burke to dinner at the archbishop's residence on Lindell Boulevard, where some other guests were teasing Burke by calling him "St. Louis Archbishop-elect."

Rigali said in a telephone interview Tuesday from his Philadelphia office that he has full confidence that Burke is what St. Louis needs and will administer the archdiocese well.

"Each bishop has different gifts," Rigali said.

"A most lovable guy"

Burke on Tuesday compared his appointment to a sports swap. In June 2002, Wisconsin got St. Louis native Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee and Tuesday St. Louis got Burke.

"I hope that you will not be disappointed with the exchange," Burke told a group of priests and other archdiocesan workers at the Cardinal Justin Francis Rigali Pastoral Center in Shrewsbury.

"Ray's a most lovable guy, with a big heart, a ready smile, a balanced man with great common sense and with a towering intellect," said Dolan, in a phone interview from Philadelphia, where he is leading a retreat for Rigali's priests. "When (Burke) speaks of prayer you can tell it comes from a deep well of personal experience. It's not showy piety."

"Keen on rural life"

Burke said his preaching style is more like Rigali's than Dolan, a dynamic and popular preacher.

He's also an activist. "I'm keen on rural life," he said Tuesday, wearing a green ribbon that promotes family farming. The Wisconsin, farm-bred, Irish-American, is former chairman of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, which promotes ethical treatment of the environment and farm workers.

La Crosse's mostly rural diocese on the east side of the Mississippi River has 209,400 Catholics spread over seven small cities and mostly farmland in 19 counties across 15,078 miles. The St. Louis Archdiocese has 555,600 Catholics in the city of St. Louis and 10 counties spread over 5,968 square miles.

Burke is expected to have a long tenure here. At 55, he may well stay here until at the age of 75, a bishop must give his resignation to the pope.

"We'll miss him"

In La Crosse, there was a sense of loss as the news of Burke's appointment spread.

"We knew we wouldn't keep him long, because he has such qualifications," said the Rev. Robert S. Hegenbarth, pastor of St. Leo the Great in West Salem, Wis. "He was a great listener always concerned with the needs of the diocese, very traditional, very conservative. We'll miss him."

Encouraging archiepiscopal trends by Dr. Edward Peters

This is another article on today's appointment of Most Rev. Raymond Burke to St. Louis, as well as other recent appointments the Holy Father has made.

New Bishop appointed to St. Louis

From the St Louis Post-Dispatch:

Pope John Paul II today named Bishop Raymond Burke of La Crosse, Wis., as archbishop of St. Louis.

The post has been vacant since Cardinal Justin Rigali took over the Philadelphia archdiocese in October.

Burke arrived in St. Louis Monday and spent his first night in the archbishop's residence on Lindell Boulevard. He will hold a news conference at 10:30 this morning at the pastoral center in Shrewsbury.

During a brief interview at the recent meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, he said, "I love St. Louis."

Like Rigali, the 55-year-old Burke has ties to Rome. He studied at the American seminary and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, was ordained a priest in a St. Peter's Basilica ceremony and was elevated to bishop in a ceremony presided over by Pope John Paul II. He is a canon (church) lawyer.

Burke, born in Richland Center, Wis., was appointed bishop of La Crosse on Dec. 10, 1994.

Burke will be installed as archbishop on the afternoon of Jan. 26 at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica on Lindell. That is the fifth anniversary of the visit of Pope John Paul II to St. Louis.

==end of article ==============================

For those who may not recall, Bishop Burke was one of the bishops who signed the letter proposing a Plenary Council for the Church in the U.S.

Here's a bio of Bishop Burke:

Bishop Burke was born in Richland Center, Wis., on June 30, 1948. He attended elementary school at St. Mary's, Richland Center, and after his family moved to Stratford, Wis., he attended St. Joseph's School there from 1959-62.

He attended high school at Holy Cross Seminary, La Crosse, Wis., from 1962-66, and also studied college courses there from 1966-68 before attending The Catholic University of America from 1968-71. He then studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 1975, at St. Peter's Basilica by Pope Paul VI.

His first assignment was as associate rector of the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman, La Crosse, and he also taught religion at Aquinas High School in La Crosse. In 1980, he returned to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. After completing his studies, he was named Moderator of the Curia and Vice Chancellor of the Diocese of La Crosse in April of 1984.

In 1989, Father Burke returned to Rome when Pope John Paul II named him Defender of the Bond of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. He was serving in this position when he was appointed Bishop-Elect of the Diocese of La Crosse by Pope John Paul II on Dec. 10, 1994.

Bishop Burke's Episcopal ordination by Pope John Paul II took place at St. Peter's Basilica on Jan. 6, 1995, the Feast of the Epiphany. He was installed as diocesan bishop on Feb. 22, 1995, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.

Reconciliation Weekend in St. Louis Archdiocese

This weekend marks "Reconciliation Weekend" in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. This year, priests will be available to hear confessions in 51 parishes.

See http://www.archstl.org/worship/reconciliation.htm for more information.

Our own "Sunday Eucharist Parish Survey"

As if Liturgical Dance is not enough, the powers that be at Immaculate Conception Parish are now inviting all parishioners to take this survey to see what they think of ICD's "worship services". Look carefully at the questions - it's all about one's "experiences" - one's feelings. Lord, who are these people and why are they here?

Sunday Eucharist Parish Survey.htm

It is strange, though, that not once is the question asked "Why do I go to Mass?".

From this Sunday's Bulletin:

LITURGY SURVEY
Everyone recently received a Liturgy Survey in the mail. Please place your survey in the basket in the gathering space or bring it by the Parish Office by next weekend, Dec. 7th. Results of the survey will be tabulated in January. Additional copies of the survey are also available in the gathering space or in the Parish Office. Thank you!

So the rush is on! Get your "survey" forms in....more liturgical planning is surely needed to make our "worship services" more relevant....I can hardly wait!!!!!

Another Fine Article from James Hitchcock

In this article called "Religious freedom and the dogma of intolerance", James Hitchcock cogently offers his insights on why "orthodox believers are now regarded as the enemies of freedom".

Further, he warns us,

"Secular animosity towards orthodox religion can only grow stronger, and it will be increasingly difficult to protect even the civil freedom of what are deemed to be 'exclusive' religions. I fear, however, that most professing believers do not understand how deep the issue really goes, nor are they prepared, intellectually or emotionally, to respond to it."

This is an excellent and timely article.

Just received this...The Old Log Church

I just received this from Howard Brandt of Credo of the Catholic Laity. It is a great historical perspective on one of the two churches in the St. Louis area where the Tridentine Latin Mass is celebrated.

I have heard great things about this church but I have not yet had the opportunity to attend. Several people have made the recommedation to try and make it this historic site for Mass, and I hope to get there within the next week or two.

Please take a look at this article...I am fascinated by the continuing depth of church history I learn about here in our own area.

Cardinal Danneels On the Tridentine Mass, Liturgical Dance and Vocations

For those who have been holding their breath to hear what Godfried Cardinal Danneels has to say on these subjects, rejoice!

You can read about his interview at http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=45312 but be prepared. Thankfully, he is not the prefect for the CDW.

Sifting Wheat from the Weeds

There has been much confusion over the years regarding the Second Vatican Council. And Leon Suprenant of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) has written another fine article which sheds light on what has been a source of frustration for many.

I would add that "the principal task entrusted to the Council By Pope John XXIII was to guard and better present the precious deposit of Christian doctrine in order to make it more accessible to the Christian faithful and to all people of good will." (Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum, 1992)

Despite the problems we have and are still experiencing, we should know that the Church will continue to be attacked, even from those within her bosom. Christ told us as much. We should continue to defend the Church and the Teachings of Christ and His Church at all times. And, of course, prayers and more prayers, fasting and penance are things we can all do to help combat the evil that is engulfing this world.

Check out CUF when you have time. It is a great organization.

New Bishop of Phoenix Appointed - Seen as JPII Man

At least that's what this story says. Actually, it would be nice if ALL the bishops followed the Holy Father.

Indications are that Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, bishop of Wichita, Kan., is going to be a welcome change for the Phoenix diocese. Our prayers should be with him and the faithful of Phoenix.

Hans Kung banned from speaking in a Barcelona Church

The Archbishop of Barcelona has prohibited Hans Kung from giving a lecture in any church in his archdiocese. Now Kung wants to "debate" the Archbishop....Yes, he is challenging him to a duel! A theological debating duel!

Kung was in Spain to promote his autobiography in which he refers to the Holy Father as “an authoritarian and senile Polish Pope”. Kung also said of the ban, “There has been enough dictatorship and prohibition from speaking in public..."

It sounds to me like he may be upset that he is not Pope and abhors anyone who ideas of the Second Vatican Council differs from his. Read the story here.

DECLINE OF CATHOLICISM IN BELGIUM "TROUBLING," POPE SAYS

Some years ago I read an open letter to Cardinal Godfried Danneels written by a mother about what was described as a deplorable and questionable sex education program being promoted and used throughout the diocese. While I cannot currently find that letter, I do remember vividly that, if the facts in the letter were true, I would never permit my children to be part of this program.

That having been said, now the Holy Father is addressing the demise of Catholicism in Belgium. He also had this to say to the Belgium bishops.

Vatican, Nov. 24 (CWNews.com) - During a meeting with the bishops of Belgium, who were making their ad limina visit, Pope John Paul II said that the decline of religious practice in that country is "particularly troubling."

"Real and serious concern cannot be hidden," the Pope said, as Mass attendance and vocations to the priesthood and religious life continue to decline. In his November 22 meeting with the Belgian bishops, he also pointed to an unsettling decline in use of the sacraments of penance and even matrimony.

In his report to the Holy Father, on behalf of the visiting bishops, Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Brussels said that there are "lights and shadows" in the picture confronting the Belgian Church. "There is scarcely any area in the ecclesial life of our country in which positive and negative factors are not mingled, marking out the nature of our task as pastors," he said.

Pope John Paul, however, took a more direct approach, citing the problems of "a society that loses track of its traditional points of reference, promoting relativism in the name of pluralism." In those circumstances, he said, the most important task of the Church is "to introduce Christ" to the people and the society.

The Pope praised the Belgian hierarchy for their success in promoting the involvement of lay people in the life of the Church. But he emphasized that the Church must be careful to preserve a clear understanding of the different roles assigned to laymen and to priests.
=====================================

For what it is worth, there were also many problems in the past at the American College of Louvain on priestly training some years ago. These may have been detailed in Michael Rose's book. I do recall Cardinal Danneels speaking to the U.S. Bishops a couple of years ago stating that the "problems" there had been rectified. This was done, apparently because of declining enrollment - that is, few bishops were sending seminarians there because of the "problems".

Archdiocese of Boston & VOTF

There were reports late last week of Archbishop O'Malley meeting with VOTF which were "positive" and there was some hope expressed that the ban imposed on the group might be lifted.

This story is at The Boston Globe

It seemed rather strange that the Archbishop was never quoted. However, I received an email from Deal Hudson who followed up on this. The text of that email follows:

The Archbishop And The Dissenters
CRISIS Magazine - e-Letter
November 21, 2003
**********************************************
Dear Friend,

Yesterday I promised you I'd look into the Boston Globe article that claimed Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston was considering lifting the ban on Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) chapters in his archdiocese.

The Globe piece entitled "O'Malley to reconsider policies against lay group," quoted VOTF President Jim Post and archdiocesan spokesman Rev. Christopher J. Coyne at length. In the article, both observed
that the VOTF meeting with the archbishop "was considerably more cordial" than past meetings with other leaders, and both men were hopeful that relations between the group and the archdiocese would improve in the future.

Frankly, I was surprised by the tone of the article -- it made it sound like support for VOTF from the archdiocese was practically a done deal.

Then this morning I saw an Associated Press (AP) article -- "O'Malley has 'positive' meetings with Voice of the Faithful" -- that was even more enthusiastic about the meeting. In it, O'Malley is described as being on the brink of accepting funds from VOTF's fundraising arm, Voice of Compassion, and open to a discussion about removing the ban altogether.

If that was unexpected, the closing lines of the piece nearly knocked me out of my chair. It reads, "Coyne said the church does not consider Voice of the Faithful members dissidents."

This I could hardly believe. How could Coyne claim to be speaking for the entire Church? Surely, that's a bit beyond his jurisdiction. By giving such a sweeping statement to AP, it sounds like the Church has now awarded an imprimatur to the group.

As far as VOTF members not being dissidents, it's true that some are indeed faithful Catholics who simply want to address the sex scandal and make sure it never happens again. We all want that, and I don't blame them for looking for ways to address the problem.

But the VOTF leadership appears to be out of step with some of their members. If you recall last year's special CRISIS E-Report, "When Wolves Dress Like Sheep," you know all about that.
(http://www.crisismagazine.com/eletters/august8.htm)

And yet Coyne's comment makes it sound like the Church itself has approved the group. They're portrayed as a harmless organization that was unfairly silenced by evil bishops who felt threatened by discussions with the laity.

In both articles, VOTF comes out smelling like a rose.

I knew there had to be more to the story. For one, I noticed that O'Malley is never actually quoted in either piece. All of his comments are paraphrased by Coyne or Post.

I decided to speak with Father Coyne this afternoon to get his side of things. I'm glad I did -- Coyne said his comments were completely misrepresented.

"I was asked a question to characterize the meeting of Voice of the Faithful with the archbishop," Coyne told me, "and I responded by saying that they [the members of VOTF] told the archbishop that they were not dissidents. In making the statement, I did not in any way express the position of the Church or the archdiocese in Boston regarding Voice of the Faithful" (where the bans against them are still in effect).

Now that's a big difference. According to Coyne, he wasn't giving his own opinion, let alone the Church's position. He was merely telling the reporter what VOTF told the archbishop. But that brings up another point: Why would he simply repeat back to newspaper reporters what VOTF had told him about their organization? Coyne made a classic media gaffe in allowing VOTF to define itself through his own mouth. Because Coyne said it in a major media organ, his credibility will now be used to give VOTF legitimacy.

What if, for example, Sen. Ted Kennedy met with Archbishop O'Malley and told the archbishop that he was pro-life? If O'Malley or Coyne repeated that, without comment, to the media, it would look like they themselves accepted the truth of the statement.

It's the same case here. If Fr. Coyne had investigated VOTF himself, he would have found plenty to question -- their inviting known dissidents to speak at conventions, for one, or the fact that Jim Post has recently gone on record saying that the laity should have a role in electing bishops (The Arizona Republic, September 17, 2003).

But Coyne inadvertently let VOTF's spin go unchallenged, and now it appears that he -- and the Church -- have signed off on them.

Coyne told me that he was going to talk to the AP reporter about the sentence claiming that the Church supports VOTF, and I'm grateful that he took the time to speak with me and clarify his position. I told him to try and have the statement corrected nationally, through AP itself if possible. It's the only way to make sure the article won't be used by VOTF to claim fidelity to the Church.

And what about Archbishop O'Malley? Does he support VOTF? Highly-placed sources close to this issue (who can't be named at this time) have told me that it's highly unlikely O'Malley will be lifting the ban -- at this point he's merely listening to their concerns. He's going to look more closely at the group before he makes a decision, but from what I've been told, I'm betting those bans will stay firmly in place.

It's vital for Church leaders to understand that most Catholics (and non-Catholics) get their information about the Church through the mainstream media. People are bombarded with information from television, radio, the newspapers, Internet, etc. If our priests and bishops don't learn how to use those tools effectively to their own purpose, they'll be used against them.

In the current issue of CRISIS, Fr. Raymond de Souza has an excellent article on that very subject. We've made the piece available on our website, so if you haven't read it yet, you need to.
You'll find it here:
http://www.crisismagazine.com/feature2.htm

That's it for this week. I hope you have a great weekend, and I'll write you again in a few days.

Deal
*****

Good News from the Rockford Diocese

Pro-Abortion Speakers Formally Banned From Access to Catholic Institutions in the Diocese of Rockford!

“In the Diocese of Rockford permission to speak at or use diocesan, parish, or institutional property shall not be granted to individuals who hold any view that is contrary to the Catholic Magisterium’s moral teaching and practice.”

We can certainly pray that this same policy spreads thoughout the U.S. What a blessing it must be to have a faithful and solid bishop leading his people toward Christ and salvation!

Catholic Campaign for Human Development?

If what is being reported is true, then it demonstrates even more problematical issues with this USCCB agency. Catholic Citizens of Illinois reports:
"The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is an annual collection taken up in Catholic parishes around the United States. Over one third of their grants go to Alinsky-styled political organizations. The largest are the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), Pacific Institute for Community Organizing (PICO), Direct Action and Research Training Institute (DART), Gamaliel, and ACORN."

"These so-called community organizations DO NOT provide direct services to relieve the suffering of the poor, nor do they provide economic development grants for the poor. Rather, they organize institutions - particularly in and around churches - to fight for political power.

"Illinois Catholics are advised that in spite of laudable CHD undertakes, your donations are also being used to sabotage Church teachings. Catholic donors to CHD are paying for organizations who fight for health clinics that dispense contraceptives and make abortion referrals. Catholic donors to CHD pay for political organizing that supports pro-abortion politicians. Catholic donors to CHD pay for organizing that trains Catholics to dissent from Catholic teaching. Until CHD agrees to commit its resources exclusively to non-political charitable relief, and it has NOT done that, Catholics will continue to fund a network of subversive and anti-Catholic political organizations masquerading as not-for-profits."

I have rarely contributed to this collection, preferring, instead, to donate to various Catholic charities which work "directly" with the poor and needy.

If this and other articles are true, should not all Catholics be informed of this? Since this is a part of the USCCB, it would appear that it must undergo some serious reform.

You migh also want to read this from CCI entitled "Just How Bad is the Campaign For Human Development? Thirteen News Reports With Information You Need To Share With Your Fellow Catholics"