June 26 - St. Josemaria Escriva Feast Day

The annual Mass to mark the feast day of St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 26, at St. Clement of Rome Church, 1510 Bopp Road, Des Peres.

Father Timothy Elliott, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Josephville, will be principal celebrant. Confession will be available before Mass, and a reception will follow. Call (314) 821-1608 for more information.

Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Sacred Scripture

This is the third article on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I had posted the entire previous two articles because I did not see where his columns were archived. However, Archbishop Burke's columns for the St. Louis Review are archived on the right hand side of the page...(I must be blind)...Anyway, Archbishop Burke clearly articulates for the faithful the teaching of the Church and the biblical basis for the Church's teaching. This is another excellent article on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Link is here.

The Archdiocese Declines to Recognize ACEE

The Archdiocese of St. Louis will continue to recognize only the Parish Teacher Compensation Committee as the negotiating organization for teachers in its parish elementary schools, Archbishop Raymond Burke said June 8.

An alternate group, the Association of Catholic Elementary Educators ACEE, has long sought to represent the teachers at Catholic elementary schools. ACEE Local 1312 is a union affiliated with the Carpenters District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity. The archdiocese has declined to recognize ACEE as a bargaining agent for teachers in its elementary schools.

This, no doubt, is a dissappointment for Catholic Action Network since ACEE is a group supported by them. What is CAN? Their website states:

An independent, authentic, and inclusive organization working for social justice within the Catholic Church, and in our world. Comprised of both lay and religious, the members of CAN seek to provide an active vehicle to put faith into action.

CAN is unique in St. Louis, filling a void as the only organization working on the following justice issues from a Catholic perspective:

• Justice for Women in the Catholic Church (JWCC): This committee advocates for full participation of women in all Catholic Church ministries, including the priesthood, while working with a guiding statement of being prayerful, respectful, and bold.

• CAN’s Labor and Religion committee is supporting the Association of Catholic Elementary Educators (ACEE) in their struggle to gain union recognition from the St. Louis Archdiocese.

The Review article continues:

On June 8 Archbishop Burke said, "What I will tell the pastors and principals (at the June 9 meetings) is that neither the archdiocese nor any parish of the archdiocese will recognize any organization other than the PTCC for the work of recommending teachers’ salaries" and other related issues.

"At the same time," Archbishop Burke said, "I will affirm the right of teachers to belong to any organization they want. They are free to belong to any organization, as long as it is not something contrary to the Catholic faith."

But the archdiocese and parishes will not recognize ACEE as the teachers’ negotiating body for salaries and benefits, the Archbishop stressed.

The entire St. Louis Review article is here.

Catholic Answers Voter Guide Approved By Archbishop Burke

This is great, great news!

Some time back, the "Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics" by Catholic Answers was posted here with a recommendation to distribute it to as many people as possible. Early this week, I received a copy of a letter from the Archdiocesan Pro-Life Committee dated June 3 which stated that Abp. Burke had approved the guide and the letter had an order form to purchase additional copies for only 17 cents each - inexpensive enough for a parish to buy one for each family!

This Voter's Guide is an EXCELLENT resource! Thank you, Archbishop Burke!

The St. Louis Review has an article, "Pro-life voter's guide sent to local parishes", in today's edition.

If you are interested in some of the feedback Catholic Answers has received about the guide, see this.

Another Bishop Advocates Sacrilegious Communion

If it makes no difference whether manifest grave public sinners may receive the Holy Eucharist, why not let everyone receive? Believers and unbelievers both! Why limit it to humans?

Bishop Skylstad says, in part:

The Eucharist really is the source and the summit of our life as Church. Eucharist defines us. Eucharist is what we do best – or try to do best. Christ’s people, gathering in his name, just as he asked us to do. Christ present with us, among us, just as he promised he would be.

I fear that we are...taking God’s great gift to our Church and using it as a weapon of divisiveness and destruction.

Some bishops have stated that they will deny Eucharist to Catholic politicians who have supported abortion legislation. Eucharist is God’s gift to us, God’s presence among us. It is a most precious part of our Catholic heritage. I strongly oppose using Eucharist as a weapon.

As a bishop, I believe we are called to persuade, not to bludgeon.

All emphasis above is mine. I am appalled by the apparently intentional elimination of the definite article "the" which is too often missing such as in, "...they will deny Eucharist to Catholic politicians."

And are we to believe that "Christ’s people, gathering in his name...is Eucharist"? The Eucharist is what we do best??? What does this mean? The Holy Eucharist is the Real, True, and Substantial Presence of Jesus Christ - the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord - ...Are we to hand Him over to those who persecute and deny Him and His Truth?

Also, how does one persuade those who have so obstinately and defiantly rejected the teachings of the Church? By acting as if their actions are not wrong? By promoting the continuation of scandal?

The Holy Father says in Ecclesia de Eucharistia:

The celebration of the Eucharist, however, cannot be the starting-point for communion; it presupposes that communion already exists, a communion which it seeks to consolidate and bring to perfection. The sacrament is an expression of this bond of communion both in its invisible dimension, which, in Christ and through the working of the Holy Spirit, unites us to the Father and among ourselves, and in its visible dimension, which entails communion in the teaching of the Apostles, in the sacraments and in the Church's hierarchical order. The profound relationship between the invisible and the visible elements of ecclesial communion is constitutive of the Church as the sacrament of salvation. Only in this context can there be a legitimate celebration of the Eucharist and true participation in it. Consequently it is an intrinsic requirement of the Eucharist that it should be celebrated in communion, and specifically maintaining the various bonds of that communion intact.

Keeping these invisible bonds intact is a specific moral duty incumbent upon Christians who wish to participate fully in the Eucharist by receiving the body and blood of Christ.

However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion.

Again, all emphasis is mine. One would certainly hope that all bishops and priests have read the Holy Father's encyclical. However, it appears that many have not - for Pope John Paul II could not be clearer in his directives regarding those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” -they are NOT to be admitted to Holy Communion.

Even before this Encyclical, there was an interpretation of Canon 915 by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts which stated, in part:

The phrase "and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin" is clear and must be understood in a manner that does not distort its sense so as to render the norm inapplicable.
The three required conditions are:
a) grave sin, understood objectively...
b) obstinate persistence, which means the existence of an objective situation of sin that endures in time and which the will of the individual member of the faithful does not bring to an end, no other requirements (attitude of defiance, prior warning, etc.) being necessary to establish the fundamental gravity of the situation in the Church
c) the manifest character of the situation of grave habitual sin.

In effect, the reception of the Body of Christ when one is publicly unworthy constitutes an objective harm to the ecclesial communion: it is a behavior that affects the rights of the Church and of all the faithful to live in accord with the exigencies of that communion...That scandal exists even if such behavior, unfortunately, no longer arouses surprise: in fact it is precisely with respect to the deformation of the conscience that it becomes more necessary for Pastors to act, with as much patience as firmness, as a protection to the sanctity of the Sacraments and a defense of Christian morality, and for the correct formation of the faithful.

The discernment of cases in which the faithful who find themselves in the described condition are to be excluded from Eucharistic Communion is the responsibility of the Priest who is responsible for the community. They are to give precise instructions to the deacon or to any extraordinary minister regarding the mode of acting in concrete situations.

4. Bearing in mind the nature of the above-cited norm (cfr. n. 1), no ecclesiastical authority may dispense the minister of Holy Communion from this obligation in any case, nor may he emanate directives that contradict it.

Articles like Bishop Skylstad's might be seen as an additional source of scandal for the faithful in that they conflict with the Holy Father's explicit directives and the Code of Canon Law as interpreted by the Pontifical Council. What a disgraceful example that this article demonstrates for already confused Catholics and others who are looking for courageous leadership from the shepherds of the Church.

Bishop Skylstad's article, "Engaging the culture", is here.

Bishops will face a host of controversial issues

From the Rock Mountain News:

When the nation's Catholic bishops initially agreed to meet here next week for a "spiritual retreat," they didn't plan on long working hours or unexpected guests like Pat Colfer.

Colfer will be hovering around the bishops when their retreat begins Monday at the Inverness Hotel.

She won't be alone.

Several hundred Catholics representing various causes are planning activities before and during the bishops' meeting - a reflection of the church's own embrace of activism and the fallout from lingering and newly stirred controversies.

"Vatican II has called us to be the church, and being the church is speaking out," said Colfer, a former nun and now a member of Call to Action, founded in 1976. That national activist group favors women priests and optional celibacy.

Hovering around like vultures, no doubt...There should be a national policy, following the lead of Bishop Bruskewitz, of excommunicating all those involved in Call to Action and other similar dissident groups. These heterodox and heretical groups are a cancer in the Church and must be excised before more harm is inflicted on the faithful.

All faithful Catholics should devote more time for prayer and sacrifice for the bishops. May God grant them an abundance of grace during their meetings so that they stand firmly for Christ and His Church and make the necessary courageous decisions that are needed in our day .

Link here.

Cardinal George: Lay Ministers Should Be "in Sync" With Church Teaching

Catholic lay ministers who disagree with the Church's teachings should not be allowed to assist in distributing Communion, according to a letter reportedly sent by Cardinal Francis George to pastors in his archdiocese.

"If a minister should manifest his/her disagreement with Church teaching, he/she should not continue in active ministry until such time that the minister is reconciled to the Church's teaching," wrote Cardinal George, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

This should be a universal policy of the Church. There are far too many in diverse 'ministries' who deny various teachings of the Church. Perhaps, the Oath of Fidelity should be restored.

Zenit article.

Cardinal Dulles: Bishops' abuse discipline policy `extreme'

An influential U.S. Roman Catholic theologian says the discipline policy American bishops adopted in response to the clergy sex abuse crisis ignores priests' due-process rights and should be changed.

In an article in the June 21st edition of the Jesuit magazine America, Cardinal Avery Dulles said the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People violated Catholic belief in redemption.

"In their effort to protect children, to restore public confidence in the church as an institution and to protect the church from liability suits, the bishops opted for an extreme response," Dulles wrote.

Full story.

"Eucharist is not a place to deform the meaning of our beliefs."

As Cardinal George took increasing public criticism for his directive to deny the Eucharist to protesters wearing rainbow sashes on Pentecost Sunday, he—as well as gay activists—pointed out that the problem wasn’t that the protesters were identifying themselves as homosexual, it was that they were using the Eucharist for a political statement.

Catholic New World article.

The Holy Father Declares "Year of the Eucharist"

Vatican, Jun. 10 (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul on Thursday announced that October 2004 to October 2005 would be a special Year of the Eucharist. The announcement came as he presided over the Mass of Corpus Christi in the square of the Basilica of St. John Lateran before leading the Eucharistic procession toward the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

"I am happy to announce a special year of the Eucharist," the Pope told the congregation during his homily, which he read himself in its entirety. "It will begin with the World Eucharist Congress, from October 10 to 17, 2004, in Guadalajara, Mexico, and will end with the next ordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops, from October 2 to 29, 2005, at the Vatican." The synod will have as it is subject, "The Eucharist: source and summit of the life and mission of the Church."

Article courtesy of CWNews.com.

This is so encouraging having had the recent encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia and hearing Archbishop Burke's talk on the Holy Father's encyclical just over two months ago. This upcoming event is further prepared by the latest Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum as well as the recently discussed Lineamenta on the Holy Eucharist. All of this, despite the rampant unbelief in and disregard for the Holy Eucharist, should give us hope for better days to come as the continued effort is made to catechize the faithful on the importance and necessity of the Blessed Sacrament.

I'm more inclined to believe Archbishop Chaput on this...

I had reservations about an earlier story from CNS about Holy Communion, 'pro-death' politicians, Bishop Pelotte, and Cardinal Ratzinger, especially when contrasted with Archbishop Chaput's statements. Lifesite noticed it also and with the help of Archbishop Chaput, we are perhaps getting a little closer to the truth.

Link.

Is this article clear to the "average" Catholic?

Yesterday I read this Catholic News Service article on Abortion and Capital Punishment and was somewhat dismayed by it. As I have stated before, everthing I read from CNS, I read with a skeptical view.

My reading of the article did not leave me with a clear distinction that Capital Punishment could be morally justifiable and that the prudential decision for its applicability resides with the State, not the Church. While the statements regarding abortion were quite clear, I was left with a "confusion" of sorts regarding the ACTUAL teaching about captial punishment.

That being said, I tried, as best I could, to read this from the perspective of a Catholic who would not be well versed in the Catechism or the Church's perennial teaching on the subject, nor from a view of basic moral theology.

Perhaps others see it differently.

Article here.

Stem Cell Issue Must Not Be Compromised...

The day before former President Ronald Reagan died, 58 senators sent a letter to President George W. Bush urging him to permit embryonic stem cell research. The senators are now insisting that with the death of President Reagan, the issue has taken on greater urgency. They cite the support that Nancy Reagan has shown for this type of research.

We must ALWAYS remember that we may NEVER do evil in order to bring about some good. The flawed logic of these 58 senators must be addressed in the clearest of terms. William Donohue of the Catholic League issued a press release on this topic.

Bishop Olmsted Cautions Politicians

Catholic politicians who unambiguously support a woman's right to choose should not receive communion, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said Wednesday. But he declined to say he would deny communion to politicians who do not follow church teaching on abortion.

He said the same restrictions on communion would apply to others, including people who have divorced and remarried. "Anyone who says they are a Catholic but is living contrary to that should not receive communion."

"We need to be in conversation for as long as possible to help people see the contradiction in their lives, that (support for abortion) is bad for them and a scandal for others. There could be a stage where we go farther, but we haven't reached that stage."

He may be laying the groundwork by doing what Archbishop Burke did, that is privately trying to teach those having false or distorted opinions on what the Church teaches and requires. People, particularly those in public life, should be advised individually regarding Catholic teaching so that they have an opportunity, at the behest of the bishop, to receive and accept the Church's teaching fully, before any interdict is imposed.

Practically speaking, a bishop is then in a better position to invoke the provisions of Canon 915, as Archbishop Burke has done. Bishop Olmsted and indeed, all of the bishops, need our continued prayers in this age of moral bankruptcy and muddled thinking.

Article here.

Some thoughts on the Tridentine Mass in Chicago

And this related article by By Fr. Burns K. Seeley, S.S.J.C., gives a great perspective on how the approval of the Tridentine Mass in the Archdiocese of Chicago was received and of the many benefits and fruits which have been realized.

For one thing, about two hundred former families of the Society of St. Pius X and other independent chapels were brought into the parish and into full communnion with the Catholic Church.

For another, many young families, including home-schooled families, come to the Tridentine Mass from all over the Chicagoland area, including parts of Indiana.

But it should be noted that the Tridentine Mass has not decimated the attendance at the Novus Ordo Masses. In fact, the Mass on Sundays having the greatest attendance is the 11 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass said in Latin.

Article here.

After 14-years... Cardinal Maida OK's Tridentine Mass for Detroit

I apologize for failing to post this last week when I read it. I must have been sidetracked again, which seems to happen more and more these days. Considering some of the things going on, we should wait and see what comes about in the archdiocese.

For at least the last 15 years there have been hundreds, if not thousands of requests to Maida to grant permission for the Tridentine Mass. A group of Catholics in the early 1990s filed a canonical lawsuit in the Signatura, the Vatican Court, to force Cardinal Maida to abide by Eccleiasia Dei, in which Pope John Paul II pleaded with the world’s bishops to allow a "generous application" of the indult for the Tridentine Mass. The St. Joseph Foundation assisted in that effort.

Maida opposed the lawsuit vigorously, and the legal effort ended when the Vatican ruled that with the death in 1994 of Thomas Marshall, the main signer of the complaint, the rest of signers of the petition to Rome had no standing to pursue the case.

It is noteworthy that the primary opponent of the Tridentine Mass at that time was Fr. Gerald Shirilla, professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary and director of the Worship Department. Fr.Shirilla told a reporter for the Michigan Catholic that, regarding those who want the Tridentine Mass, "We have to fight them tooth and nail."

Fr. Shirilla was relieved of his post in 1993 when he was identified as a serial child molester, who favored young altar boys, going back more than 20 years. He never quite lost favor with Cardinal Maida, however, and was secretly re-assigned seven years later as pastor of a parish in the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan.

Meanwhile, as the cardinal and his priests argue about the merits of the Tridentine Mass, the Detroit chapter of gay organization Dignity continues to hold its weekly Masses at Marygrove College every Sunday, and openly advertises that priests of the archdiocese celebrate its Masses. Priests of the archdiocese have never been forbidden to celebrate those gay Masses.

Full article, Cruxnews.com.

Papal Telegram to Nancy Reagan

To Mrs. Nancy Reagan

Having learned with sadness of the death of President Reagan I offer to you and your family my heartfelt condolences and the assurance of my prayers for his eternal rest. I recall with deep gratitude the late president's unwavering commitment to the service of the nation and to the cause of freedom as well as his abiding faith in the human and spiritual values which ensure a future of solidarity, justice and peace in our world. Together with your family and the American people I commend his noble soul to the merciful love of God our heavenly Father and cordially invoke upon all who mourn his passing the divine blessings of consolation, strength and peace.

Ioannes Paulus PP. II

Zenit.

Vatican to release study on Inquisition

Vatican, Jun. 09 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican will soon publish a study on the Inquisition, containing the proceedings of an international conference held in Rome in 1998.

The Vatican has scheduled a press conference for June 15, at which three cardinals will speak about the new study. Cardinal Roger Etchegary was involved because the original conference on the Inquisition, held in October 1998, was organized by the committee to prepare for the Jubilee Year 2000, which he chaired. Cardinal Georges Cottier, the theological of the pontifical household, presided over the conference. And Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican archivist, has custody over the records that remain from the work of the Inquisition.

The October 1998 conference brought together 30 scholars, who met behind closed doors to discuss the actions of the Inquisition, putting that work in the proper historical context. The research submitted to that committee was partially responsible for the decision by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) to issue an apology for the episodes of intolerance that have marked the history of the church; he included the use of coercive methods by the Inquisition.

Cardinal Cottier had been asked by the Jubilee preparatory committee to preside over a theological commission that would assess the excesses and errors committed by Catholics in the name of the Church. Prior to the conference on the Inquisition, he had also chaired a previous meeting, in October 1997, on the roots of anti-Jewish bias within Christianity.

As he opened the conference on the Inquisition, Cardinal Cottier stressed that the aim of the committee's work was to establish the real facts about the Inquisition, eliminating popular misconceptions and allowing a fair and balanced view of the historic phenomena. He pointed out at the time that the Inquisition was set up to address a very real problem, "the heresy that threatened the people's faith and destroyed the unity of the Church." Citing the oft-repeated desires of Pope John Paul, he said that the Church should undertake a "purification of memory" in preparation for the Jubilee celebration.

Cardinal Cottier said that the conference should focus on the Inquisition as a single phenomenon, rather than on "inquisitions," because "the different tribunals constitute a single reality." He encouraged scholars to avoid confusion between the acts of a government (Spain) and the acts of ecclesiastical bodies.

The historical research on the Inquisition was made possible by the opening of Vatican archives from the Holy Office-- the body originally known as the Inquisition, and now as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The records date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, when the first Church tribunals were set up to combat the Catharist heresy. After a long and turbulent history, the Inquisition finally ended in Spain in 1834.

© All material copyright 2004 Domus Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Link.

East Valley Arizona Clergy Re-enact Luther's Revolt

This is just too much to pass up...Bishop Olmsted is criticized for upholding the teaching of the Church regarding homosexuality. It's almost as if one's mere wish or desire could make an unnatural sexual act, natural...Brilliant!

At a Tuesday news conference, members of No Longer Silent: Clergy for Justice said they wanted to reach leaders of all denominations but particularly Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, who in the past month has challenged the group and the priests who signed a pro-gay document, the Phoenix Declaration, in 2003.

The group, responding to Olmsted's actions, capped off Tuesday's conference by nailing the Phoenix Declaration to a door, as Martin Luther did with his 95 Theses in 1517 to kick off the Protestant Reformation.

And who do you suppose joined in this symbolic re-enactment? Surely not the suspended Fr. Andre Boulanger?

Eight of nine Catholic priests who signed the declaration removed their names after Olmsted urged them to do so. One priest refused. Last week, the bishop suspended the Rev. Andre Boulanger from all ministerial duties. Boulanger, who has argued that Catholic theology should evolve with up-to-date thinking about homosexuality, attended Tuesday's conference in religious garb and took part in the symbolic nailing. A priest who removed his name, the Rev. Vernon Meyers, also attended.

Link here.

St Louis Area Corpus Christi Processions...

The feast of Corpus Christi will be celebrated on Sunday, June 13, at several parishes in the archdiocese as well as at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Archbishop Raymond Burke will be the principal celebrant and homilist of a Mass at 7:30 p.m. at the cathedral basilica, Lindell Boulevard and Newstead Avenue, and will lead a procession around the block following Mass. The eucharistic procession will be done by candlelight and conclude with Benediction on the grounds of the cathedral basilica. The procession will begin on the front plaza of the cathedral basilica, move west along Lindell Boulevard, north on Taylor Avenue, east on Maryland Avenue and south on Newstead Avenue before returning to the cathedral basilica.

The St. Charles Deanery will join in the Corpus Christi celebration with a procession at 6 p.m. June 13 at three sites in St. Charles. In past years, the event included about 1,000 participants. The first Benediction will take place at St. Peter Church, 324 S. Third St. The second will follow at the Shrine of St. Philippine Duchesne at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, 619 N. Second St. The third will be held at Charles Borromeo Parish, 601 N. Fourth St. Refreshments will be served afterward at St. Charles Borromeo Parish Center.

Four parishes near Tower Grove Park in South St. Louis will celebrate the feast with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Burke in the park at the bandstand next to the Palm House at 10 a.m. June 13. In case of rain the Mass will be celebrated at St. Pius V Church, 3310 S. Grand Blvd. At the end of Mass the congregation will process with the Blessed Sacrament back to their home churches: St. Pius, St. Margaret of Scotland, Holy Family and Holy Innocents parishes.

For more information and other area churches, see the latest St. Louis Review here.