The Cost is too High; the Loss is too GreatContinue reading Cardinal George's statement at Whispers in the Loggia...
The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long and consistently advocated for the reform of the American health care system. Their experience in health care and in Catholic parishes has acquainted them with the anguish of mothers who are unable to afford prenatal care, of families unable to ensure quality care for their children, and of those who cannot obtain insurance because of preexisting conditions.
Throughout the discussion on health care over the last year, the bishops have advocated a bipartisan approach to solving our national health care needs. They have urged that all who are sick, injured or in need receive necessary and appropriate medical assistance, and that no one be deliberately killed through an expansion of federal funding of abortion itself or of insurance plans that cover abortion. These are the provisions of the long standing Hyde amendment, passed annually in every federal bill appropriating funds for health care; and surveys show that this legislation reflects the will of the majority of our fellow citizens. The American people and the Catholic bishops have been promised that, in any final bill, no federal funds would be used for abortion and that the legal status quo would be respected.
However, the bishops were left disappointed and puzzled to learn that the basis for any vote on health care will be the Senate bill passed on Christmas Eve. Notwithstanding the denials and explanations of its supporters, and unlike the bill approved by the House of Representatives in November, the Senate bill deliberately excludes the language of the Hyde amendment. It expands federal funding and the role of the federal government in the provision of abortion procedures. In so doing, it forces all of us to become involved in an act that profoundly violates the conscience of many, the deliberate destruction of unwanted members of the human family still waiting to be born.
What do the bishops find so deeply disturbing about the Senate bill?
Catholic teaching tells us that our support for the dignity of life includes access to affordable health care. This support, however, cannot come at the expense of the respect for life at all stages, from natural conception to natural death.
As negotiations that are now underway could lead to further Congressional action very soon, in accord with Canon 1244, paragraph 2, I invite you to take part in a day of prayer and fasting on Monday, March 15 for protecting the life, dignity, health and conscience rights of every human person in any legislation that Congress considers. I also invite Catholics to pray and fast for this intention beyond March 15.
Addresses Participants in Course on Internal Forum
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 11, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The sacrament of confession should not only be at the center of pastoral concerns, but it should also be a method to carry out a "dialogue of salvation" with the faithful, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today upon receiving in audience participants in the annual course on the internal forum promoted by the Apostolic Penitentiary, which is under way in the Vatican through Friday.
Noting that the course takes place this year during the Year for Priests, which marks the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, known as the Curé d'Ars, the Pontiff spoke of the sacrament of penance as understood by the famous confessor.
"From the Holy Curé d'Ars we priests can learn not only an inexhaustible trust in the sacrament of penance, which drives us to put it at the center of our pastoral concerns, but also the method of the 'dialogue of salvation' that should be carried out in it," the Pontiff said.
Benedict XVI first noted St. John Mary Vianney's "intense personal penitential dimension" as essential to the life of any priest: "Only one who has first experienced its greatness can be a convinced herald and administrator of the Mercy of God."
The Pontiff also spoke of how the holy Curé d'Ars made "the church his home": He lived radically the spirit of prayer, the personal and intimate relationship with Christ, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration and evangelical poverty."
This personal holiness, he said, made Father John Mary Vianney "an evident sign of the presence of God, which drove so many penitents to approach his confessional. "
OLD NEWS about Cardinal Puljic statement on MEDJUGORJE published as NEW
Cardinal Vinko Puljic in Sarajevo these days has not given any statement regarding Medjugorje. News which the Catholic news agency of the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina took from the Catholic Information Agency and published 16th November 2009., was published on more portals on 9th March 2010. It was taken as a new story according to which "Vrhbosna Archbishop came to the Vatican" and that "it is not known that the Vatican is preparing any document on Medjugorje."Vrhbosna Metropolitan Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljic, currently in Sarajevo has not given any statement regarding Medjugorje," said the KTA for the Office of Cardinal Puljic.
Muslim gangs attacked three villages in central Nigeria and killed up to 400 Christians in pre-dawn attacks on March 7. “The shooting was just meant to bring people from their houses, and then when people came out they started cutting them with machetes,” said one witness. Another added, “We saw mainly those who are helpless, like small children and then the older men, who cannot run, these were the ones that were slaughtered.”
Some 300 Christian churches have been destroyed in the area around Jos during the past four years. In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos described his efforts to have friendly relations with Muslims, the effects of the local imposition of Sharia, and the caution with which he catechizes potential Muslim converts, some of whom “come just because they want to infiltrate.”
The nation of 142.5 million is 15% Catholic.
Možda će se nešto više o tom povjerenstvu znati sljedećih dana, jer je u Rim pozvan i dr. Ratko Perić, biskup mostarsko-duvanjski i apostolski upravitelj trebinjsko-mrkanski, u čijoj dijecezi je Međugorje.My translation:
Maybe more about this commission will be known in the coming days because Dr. Ratko Perić, the bishop of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno and apostolic administrator of Trebinsko-Mrkan has been invited to Rome.
ORLANDO, Florida, MARCH 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The leaders of the Anglican Church in America of the Traditional Anglican Communion responded to Benedict XVI's invitation to enter full communion with the Catholic Church.Fr. Phillips is a regular blogger and checking in on his blog, he writes:
The apostolic constitution "Anglicanorum Coetibus," published in November, offered a way for groups of Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church through the establishment of personal ordinariates, a new type of canonical structure.
In this way, they would be able to retain some elements of their liturgical and spiritual traditions while being unified under the Pope.
On Wednesday, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America announced that they met in Orlando "together with our Primate and the Reverend Christopher Phillips of the 'Anglican Use' Parish of Our Lady of the Atonement (San Antonio, Texas) and others."
"At this meeting," the communiqué continued, "the decision was made formally to request the implementation of the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution 'Anglicanorum Coetibus' in the United States of America by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."
The Anglican Church in America (ACA), which has some 5,200 members in 100 congregations, is distinct from the Episcopal Church. As such, it is not part of the Anglican Communion that has as its principal primate the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Rather, the ACA was created in 1991 when members of the Anglican Catholic Church and the American Episcopal Church came together in an attempt to unify through the formation of a new church.
The current president of the ACA House of Bishops is Archbishop Louis Falk.
The Traditional Anglican Communion, which has some 400,000 members worldwide, has as its primate Archbishop John Hepworth of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia.
The leaders of this communion sent a letter to the Holy See in October 2007 to request full unity with the Catholic Church. They declared their adherence to Catholic doctrine, but expressed the desire to retain some distinct Anglican traditions.
The letter was received by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which responded in July 2008 with the promise to consider this possibility.
The next year, on Oct. 20, 2009, the congregation's prefect, Cardinal William Levada, announced Benedict XVI's intention to create a way for these Anglican groups to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. A few days later, on Nov. 9, "Anglicanorum Coetibus" was published.
Just a few hours ago I returned from meeting with the members of the House of Bishops, Anglican Church in America. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them, and we spoke extensively about the implementation of the Holy Father's Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus. It was immediately evident that our common hope should become a common effort, and so the request being made to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith is a joint request.Indeed.
Of course, our situation in the Anglican Use is somewhat different from that of the ACA. Our clergy and parishes are ready to act immediately because we are already in communion with the Holy See, whereas the Anglican bishops have a process to follow to reach that point with their parishes. For some of them, it will happen quickly; for others it will take longer. But we all agreed that having an Ordinariate "up and running" will allow them to enter it when each one is ready.
Entering into this closer relationship between the ACA and the Anglican Use parishes is a welcome gift from God. We've needed to get know one another as we prepare to become a "blended family" in the Ordinariate. I'm looking forward to having more occasions to be together with them. And let's all pray for the speedy implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus.
HM [Home of the Mother] Television, together with the Holy See’s Congregation for the Clergy, presents “Alter Christus”, a fast-paced film on the many aspects of the priesthood in the life of the Church. Centered on the life of St. John Vianney, the topics covered range from the Priestly Identity to the Sacraments, from Celibacy to the Mission. The video is included in 5 languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German.Go to the website....to get a copy of this DVD, which contains even more (compare the 30 minutes online with the 180 minutes for the actual DVD.
Video includes interviews with: Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Julian Herranz, President of the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia, Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Abbot Michael John Zielinski, Vice-President of the Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, Monsignor Guido Marini, Pontifical Master of Ceremonies, and many others.
The duration of the film is approximately 30 minutes.
The DVD includes the film in all five languages, plus special bonus
features:
Complete interviews with Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, Cardinal Antonio
Cañizares, Cardinal Julián Herranz, Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, Msgr. Guido Marini, Abbot Michael John Zielinski and Msgr. Thierry Blot.
Approx. Dur.: 180 mins
In a significant development that bears all the hallmarks of a coordinated leak, three of Italy's most reputable Vatican journalists have suddenly emerged to forecast B16's third creation of new cardinals for Christ the King weekend, 20-21 November... and hours after Tim Dolan said in an interview that he "wouldn't expect" the red hat this time around, the slates relayed by all three include the name of the archbishop of New York.
While a November date (an encore of the last intake's 2007 elevation) has rounded the buzzmill for some time now, it should -- but, given the hysteria surrounding these things, can't -- go without saying that anything can change at any time. Still, the confluence of the Saturday pieces by Il Foglio's Paolo Rodari, La Stampa's Giacomo Galeazzi and Il Giornale's Andrea Tornielli is notable... and would appear to be more than mere coincidence.
In terms of the United States, three names may seem conspicuous by their absence from the list of “cardinals in waiting”: the recently appointed archbishops of Baltimore, Detroit and St. Louis, all three archdioceses which at one point or another were considered “red hat” assignments. The consensus wisdom, however, is that since the United States is already over-represented in the College of Cardinals (the U.S. is only the fourth largest Catholic country in the world, but it has the second largest number of cardinals after the Italians), and given shifts in the Catholic population in America, those three dioceses may well no longer be led by cardinals.Time will tell. God's will be done.
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The joys of life are not the final goal, but rather lights on the path to an eternal destination, says Benedict XVI.
This was the conclusion the Pope came to at the end of a reflection today on the Transfiguration, which he called an "extraordinary event" that is "an encouragement in following Jesus."
Before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, he noted that the three disciples who witness the Transfiguration were asleep: "It is the attitude of those who, although spectators of divine prodigies, do not understand them. Only the struggle against the torpor that assails them allows Peter, James and John to 'see' Jesus' glory."
"As Moses and Elijah depart from Jesus," the Holy Father said recounting the Gospel account, "Peter speaks, and while he is speaking, a cloud covers him and the other disciples with its shadow; it is a cloud that, although it conceals also reveals God's glory, as happened for the people of Israel on pilgrimage through the desert."
"The eyes can no longer see," he added, "but the ears can hear the voice that comes from the cloud: 'This is my Son, my chosen one; listen to him!'"
Benedict XVI explained that suddenly, "the disciples are no longer before a transfigured face, nor before a dazzling garment, nor a cloud that reveals the divine presence. Before their eyes there is 'only Jesus.'
"Jesus is alone before his Father as he prays, but at the same time, Jesus is everything that is given to the disciples of all times: It is what must suffice on the journey.
"He is the only voice to listen to, the only one to follow, he who, going up to Jerusalem, will give his life and one day 'will transfigure our miserable body to conform it to his glorious body.'"
"The Transfiguration reminds us that the joys sown by God in our life are not the destination," reflected the Holy Father, "but they are lights that he gives us on the earthly pilgrimage, so that 'only Jesus' is our Law and his Word the criterion that guides our existence."
