Interview with Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos

EDIT: See May 19th edit at the end of this post for more coverage of this interview and related motu proprio news in the media.....

An interview by a Mexican news agency with Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, follows on the heals of his address to Bishops in Latin America the other day on the forthcoming motu proprio and has some rather interesting points.

H/T to Rorate Caeli with a partial translation (my spanish speaking readers can find the original article in the first link of this post):

The article includes the information that "The... President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei revealed in an interview with Notimex that this document [the motu proprio] is already written and its release will take place in the next few weeks." Since this is not an actual interview, but an article based on an interview, it is not clear what were the genuine words used by Castrillón regarding the document and its current status.

Among the words spoken by Cardinal Castrillón, we find the following (translated and adapted):

"There is no turning back, [the Pope] is not leading the Church to a reverse position; the Pope is the Vicar of Christ and has the Holy Spirit who always guides him forward, which does not mean that things which may have deteriorated may not be perfected."

"It [The Traditional Mass] will not be imposed on anyone, it does not in any way contradict the current [Mass], the Mass of the Council Fathers was that of Saint Pius V, they did not celebrate the Mass of Paul VI, these two Masses are not be be [mutually] opposed."

"In the Mass of Saint Pius V there is a ritual expression which is enjoyed by some; there are those who wish to celebrate it occasionally, but without it meaning any disregard, [but] complete respect for the new rite."

"The Pope wishes to preserve for mankind a treasure which sanctified the Church for more than a thousand years: the rite codified by Saint Pius V; this treasure, this cultural expression, this language which was the language of the Church from the earliest time". [Benedict XVI] "loves the liturgy [and] does not wish to retroact, does not intend to impose, it is an offer for those who have this sensibility."

In addition to this, for the first time, I see the clearest explanation of the status of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X. We've heard they were schismatic, then not schismatic. Here, the Cardinal distinguishes who was excommunicated. It raises many questions in my mind, but is too big of an issue for my pea brain to sort out, so I leave it to Holy Mother Church. Cardinal Castrillon says:

"They are not schismatics, the priests are under a suspension for illicit exercise, and the Bishops are excommunicated because the ordination of new bishops without a permission from Rome received this punishment latæ sententiæ."

EDIT MAY 19th:

Motu Proprio in the News

CWNews (via EWTN): Motu Proprio Imminent, Vatican Prelate Confirms
Associated Press (AP): Cardinal: Pope to relax Latin Mass rules


Motu Proprio Blogged

Fr. Joe: CARDINAL HOYOS ON MOTU PROPIO FOR TRIDENTINE MASS
Fr. Z: News Coverage of Motu Proprio and Pope's Letter to Chinese

Blog and News Roundup: May 17, 2007

I'm still short on time these days and would like to give you information on how to get the excellent talks from Call to Holiness (audio and video), but need more time to put that together.

For now, I just want to steer you to some interesting blogposts.

First, from Rorate Caeli: Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei, had an interesting address in Aparecida, on May 14, 2007 about the forthcoming motu proprio (it's not a matter of "if" anymore, but a matter of when).

Thomas, the American Papist has been blogging much more now that school is over (congrats! Tom). Some interesting titles over his way include the following:

Unmasking Planned Parenthood, as often as it takes...

Pro-Abort' democrats statement on excommunication still drawing fire

Irish Teen at center of abortion-rights controversy chooses life!


From Dom at Bettnet

State favoring Islam over other religions

Vatican's UN man relies on faulty climate change reports


Other Posts:

Ascension (Blog by the Sea)
Amantissimi Redemptoris (Bl Pius IX quoted at A Catholic Life)
Does your parish have a dress code (New Liturgical Movement)
Art treasures of Malta in photos (New Liturgical Movement)
From Brazil resounds a word sharper than a sword (Sandro Magister)
Humanae Vitae: Grave Motives to use Good Translations (Angela D. Bonilla - Homiletic and Pastoral Review)

Ratzinger 1988 - Desacralization of the Liturgy

I only have a few minutes to lead you elsewhere for a most inspiring read...

With hat-tips to the Pontifications blog and Fr. John Zuhlsdorf at WDTPRS, I would like to draw your attention to a 1988 speech by Cardinal Ratzinger when he visited Chile that year.

The entire speech is worth reading and I have only gotten through two-thirds of it. But, I want to lead you into it before heading off to work.

While the article discusses Lefebvre and SSPX, Cardinal Ratzinger delves deeply into discussion around the liturgy, how it was desacralized following Vatican II, and how attitudes changed during that era. He explores these things in his speech not to excuse Lefebvre, but in a spirit of a shepherd who sees the need for the Church to do some soul searching on those attitudes and changes seen in liturgy. He is not questioning Vatican II, but to my mind, going after the perversion of Vatican II.

I will only give you one excerpt here and you will need to follow the link to Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog, where he provides interesting tidbits, comments, and emphases throughout the speech. Here, Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, gets into the first of three points around which he makes an "examination of conscience". (The emphases and red comments are that of Fr. Z).

While there are many motives that might have led a great number of people to seek a refuge in the Traditional liturgy, [1] the chief one is that they find the dignity of the sacred preserved there. After the council there were many priests who deliberately raised “desacralization” to the level of a program, [Pay attention to what follows: Ratzinger describes a theological argument for the undermining of sacral liturgy.] on the plea that the New Testament abolished the cult of the Temple: the veil of the Temple which was torn from top to bottom at the moment of Christ’s death on the cross is, according to certain people, the sign of the end of the sacred. The death of Jesus, outside the City walls, that is to say, in the public world, is now the true religion. Religion, if it has any being at all, must have it in the nonsacredness of daily life, in love that is lived. Inspired by such reasoning, they put aside the sacred vestments; they have despoiled the churches as much as they could of that splendor which brings to mind the sacred; and they have reduced the liturgy to the language and the gestures of ordinary life, by means of greetings, common signs of friendship, and such things. [Okay… does that not sound like the arguments used by H.E. Donald W. Trautman when he runs down the translation norms of Liturgiam authenticam and argues for liturgical language in the style of everyday common speech?]

There is no doubt that, with these theories and practices, they have entirely disregarded the true connection between the Old and the New Testaments: It is forgotten that this world is not the Kingdom of God, and that the “Holy One of God” (John 6:69) continues to exist in contradiction to this world; that we have need of purification before we draw near to Him; that the profane, even after the death and the Resurrection of Jesus, has not succeeded in becoming “the holy.” The Risen One has appeared, but to those whose heart has been opened to Him, to the Holy; He did not manifest Himself to everyone. It is in this way a new space has been opened for the religion to which all of us would now submit; this religion which consists in drawing near to the community of the Risen One, at whose feet the women prostrated themselves and adored Him. I do not want to develop this point any further now; I confine myself to coming straight to this conclusion: We ought to get back the dimension of the sacred in the liturgy. The liturgy is not a festivity; it is not a meeting for the purpose of having a good time. It is of no importance that the parish priest has cudgeled his brains to come up with suggestive ideas or imaginative novelties. The liturgy is what makes the Thrice-Holy God present amongst us; it is the burning bush; it is the Alliance of God with man in Jesus Christ, who has died and risen again. The grandeur of the liturgy does not rest upon the fact that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the Totally Other, whom we are not capable of summoning. He comes because He wills. In other words, the essential in the liturgy is the mystery, which is realized in the common ritual of the Church; all the rest diminishes it. Men experiment with it in lively fashion, and find themselves deceived, when the mystery is transformed into distraction, when the chief actor in the liturgy is not the Living God but the priest or the liturgical director. [As WDTPRS repeats incessantly, the true Actor in the sacred action of Holy Mass is Christ, the Hight priest: Christ as Head of the Body is seen in the priest, alter Christus; Christ the Body is the congregation united to the Head; together they are Christus totus. Thus, we must be interiorly disposed and united to the action and obey the Church’s norms so that Christ acts in our words and gestures.]

Fr. Zuhlsdorf: Flashback 1988: Ratzinger 1988 on the Lefebvre "Schism" (with commentary)

Original Pontifications post (just the speech without commentary)

Call to Holiness 2007: Dr. Robert Fastiggi

I mentioned in my previous post that I would supply info for how to get video and audio of the Call to Holiness 2007 talks. I decided to first make this post because it is the perfect lead-in for plugging those things. I loved all of the talks, but this may very well have been my favorite. It was content rich, well-ordered and referenced, and just plain simple to understand the way the speaker explains his subject.

Dr. Robert Fastiggi of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit gave an excellent talk entitled, "Can the Church err?". In that talk, he explained the different levels of assent, for which he provided an outline. In perfect professor fashion, he layered his information, building a foundation, then stacking the bricks. I watched his talk again on DVD last night and will likely let it run in the background over and again until the information is ingrained.

Dr. Fastiggi provides the perfect package for dealing with dissenting Catholics because it is a primary area of confusion among disoriented theologians, who have left in their wake, disoriented Catholics. In fact, Dr. Fastiggi gets into some examples - in particular, that of the laicized priest, Professor Daniel McGuire, whose disorientation as a theologian was the subject of a strong statement by the USCCB recently. If someone with whom you are discussing an issue doesn't get these basic things taught by Dr. Fastiggi, you won't get any further. Hence, it becomes a starting point for any good dialogue on Catholic matters.

Dr. Fastiggi at the OLMC Site in the PM

Dr. Fastiggi at the St. Rene Goupil Site in the AM

OTHER CTH 2007 POSTS:

• Photo Post 1: Bishop Flores at OLMC
• Photo Post 2: Marcus Grodi at OLMC
• Photo Post 3: Bishop Bruskewitz at St. Rene Goupil
• Photo Post 4: Dr. Alice von Hildegrand at OLMC
• Call to Holiness notification post 2 (with speakers)
• Call to Holiness notification post 1 (with poster)
• Photo Post Series on Call to Holiness 2005

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

Happy Mother's Day ......Mom!

It's a very special Mother's Day here in the US for me and my family, considering a week ago we were praying Our Lord would not call her home quite yet.

Mom is making pretty good progress and it appears the bleeding has at least slowed - something we believe is the work of a very heavy antacid. They were never able to pinpoint the exact area, but doctors have been convinced it is somewhere in the small intestine. It has started and stopped so many times before, but never has it gone on for more than a few days. She was released the other day and seems to be getting along ok here in my home. She also managed to make it to a dinner at the Polish Century Club, to which my brother-in-law belongs. He had gotten tickets for the buffet back a couple months ago and we were all looking forward to getting together for a holiday meal.

As a family, were not able to do this for a long time. My only sister, who is 11 years older than me and diabetic, had surgery to remove cancer back on Halloween - October 31, 2006. She was cleared of cancer which was caught early, only to end up with a badly infected wound in the adjacent tissue. That wound had to remain open, and still remains open today. It was only about 3 or 4 weeks ago that she was finally able to venture outside the home to go somewhere other than the doctor's office or special wound-care center. She was connected to something new called a, "wound vac". It pulls fluids out of deep wounds to promote healing and prevent infection. She was connected to the thing for many, many months. She had to take it with her everywhere she went and it "burped" - often a humiliating experience. Her resistance was low too and she kept catching other infections so it was best she stayed home anyway. Once this tube was pulled, she was free to move around more, but still could not visit my mother the whole time it she was hospitalized for fear she'd pick something else up.

Needless to say, our dinner together was a joyous family event - one we did not thing was going to happen just a week ago.


MAY CROWNING AT ASSUMPTION GROTTO

My participation with my family today meant I could not stay at Assumption Grotto for the May crowning, or the Fatima devotions. It crushed me to have to leave as Mass ended and the procession got underway so I merely offered it up on my way down Gratiot - in thanksgiving for the grace of life extended in our family. I do regret that I cannot bring you photos of the day because here in Southeast Michigan, we were truly blessed with the most beautiful of days which only added to the beauty of May crowning of Mary. There was not a cloud in the sky and the temp was a balmy 65F (18.3C).

Today was the day that many children at Assumption Grotto made their First Holy Communion. I'm not sure the exact number, but it appeared to be an equal number of boys and girls. It's always a joy to watch them approach the rail for the very first time.

If anyone did get photos, email them to me and I'll post them.

The homily by our pastor was classic Fr. Perrone. I hope to bring it to you in the coming days with another that I've been promised will reach the web. Look for them both soon.

Call to Holiness: 2007 - Bishop Bruskewitz at OLMC

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln Nebraska also spoke at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (OLMC), in Wyandotte, Michigan, after he spoke at St. Rene Goupil on the East Side of metro Detroit. His talk was entitled, The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Church.

My next post will give you information on how you can obtain audio and/or video of these conferences. I have already received my DVD's and my MP3-CD.

The pictures came out a little dark, but not too bad considering no use of flash to distract the speakers and which minimized distraction of participants. Quality I would like is still not there, but much of it has to do with the continuous movement of the speakers, without the aid of flash.

Please pray for the parents of Grotto's Associate Pastor

I just learned from two emails that the parents of Fr. John Bustamante, the Associate Pastor at Assumption Grotto, were in a serious car accident.

I can't offer anything further at this time.

Fr. John has asked for our prayers.

Mom out of hospital - at least for now

Well, lets pray this holds. Mom was released yesterday after her blood seemed to be holding at just over 9. She has a pick-line in her arm, which will remain for a time. This will enable the doctors to get blood samples more easily during visits and provides access should she need more blood, perhaps on an outpatient basis. There is a study they want to do that can only be done outpatient called Capsule Endoscopy.

A visiting nurse will come to my house where she is staying in order to keep it in good working order, and I will learn how to flush it daily to save mom some money. It's unfortunate how many seniors don't have anyone who can do these kinds of things because insurances don't normally cover it. My mother has good insurance, but it doesn't cover this.

I can't thank you all enough for your kindness, prayers, and words of support in comment boxes and in emails.

Once again, I hope to soon be posting. There are several things I want to cover, including a continuation of the Call to Holiness Conference, how to get the DVD's, CD's, and MP3 CD's of all the great talks.




HELPERS OF GOD'S PRECIOUS INFANTS RETREAT
Also, as a preliminary note, I will be posting very soon on a retreat coming up in about two weeks for people who are either in active roles with Helpers of God's Precious Infants (sidewalk counselors and prayer warriors), or for people who are seriously interested in joining these kinds of efforts. While it would be of interest for those who are pro-life in general, the one day retreat is for those who are serious about putting time into this apostolate. Those who are already doing sidewalk counseling who are not affiliated with Helpers of God's Precious Infants will also be welcome. The retreat master will be Fr. Thomas Euteneuer from Human Life International. Details will follow.

Mom still in hospital - update

I regret my absence from blogdom, but I know you all understand given my mother being in the hospital. I had thought that when I took mom in a week ago, she would be in good hands. However, we had a nightmare of a weekend at the hospital, which actually began Friday. I won't go into details, but lets just say that we could have walked to the bank on issues of negligence, complacency, arrogance, and more. Bottom line is that my mother went nearly 42 hours without a blood test because nurses were having a hard time getting a sample (not unusual if one is anemic because dehydration goes hand-in-hand and this makes it all the more difficult). She went about 36 hours without IV hydration (patients should always be assessed on data, not appearance). And, it took continuous intervention on my part to make it all happen in that amount of time. By the time they finally got a blood sample, her hemoglobin, which should be 12-15, which was 8.5 when she was taken into the ER on Wednesday, was down to 6.5!!!

All of this was time intensive. I'm certain she went down to about 5.5, because she continued to suffer gastrointestinal bleeding after the 6.5 reading, through the 11 hours it took to get more blood going into her. It took 4 pints this time - in addition to the two she got Wednesday.

To make matters worse, a nurse attempted to give my mother "her Plavix". Thanks be to God that mom knew all about Plavix because she was on it before. It acts similar to a blood thinner and you must be off of it for 1-2 weeks prior to surgery. Even then, surgeons can't stand the stuff because bleeding is still difficult to stop even after stopping it for a time. My mother refused it and told her to call the doctor. 15 minutes later, the nurse indicated, "it was a good thing we caught this". It could have killed her.

All tests and scans/scopes are coming back negative. Doctors believe it is somewhere in the 17ft of small intestine. Because this keeps happening every few months, each time with greater severity, they wanted do surgery if they could see it on scan. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The good news is that it appears the thing (whatever it is) has stopped bleeding on its own again. Normally this happens after 2-3 days, but this time it has gone on for nearly 3 weeks, with two week long hospital stays. Doctors are monitoring her hemoglobin which seems to be holding at around 10 (+/-0.5). If that pattern continues, she'll be released with something called a capsule study, which is only done outpatient. This is basically a camera inside of a pill which takes pictures all along the small intestine and sends the readings to a drive strapped to the waste of the patient. Needless to say, eh-hem, the camera is not retrieved.

If she is released, it will be very guarded and she will be living with me for a time. We did this last week and the thing started bleeding three days after she was home and caused this latest hospitalization.

As a design engineer, I am in the midst of part releases at work and have had to go in and work my full shift and then some after starting my day out at the hospital. As a result, I've had to temporarily step down from the Assumption Grotto choir, where I sing with the Alto's. It's more a function of not having time right now. It was difficult without my mother falling ill, and this just capped it. Something had to give to enable me to have time to get life's little things taken care of in between work and mom. This was disappointing to me given that the choir is preparing for an orchestra mass series which will include Pentecost and Corpus Christi. But, it also gives me something to offer up. In reality, there is no way I can learn the material with so little time left, and I would be missing practice this evening once again. Sunday I had to take in Mass at the parish near my home and could not go to Grotto because I needed to get back to the hospital which is also near my home.

As a side note: If you sing and are local, the Assumption Grotto Choir is always looking for more voices. All that is required is the ability to carry a tune. Not all are good note readers and everyone gets by.

I hope to be back posting soon, especially if Mom comes home. We will be greatful to have her home for Mother's day. Things were looking very dire this weekend, so this is a welcome change. Please pray that she continues to hold this blood level. and with all things, we append our prayer with something of great importance.....if it be God's will!

Thank you all for your prayers.

Mother back in hospital....

My posting will definitely be slowed right now. My mother, Rose, is back in the hospital and it looks like surgery is on the horizon. I took vacation time yesterday and may be doing quite a bit of that in the coming days to be with her.

Please keep her in your prayers. One of the priests of Opus Angelorum was able to be with her last night for the Sacrament of the Sick - Deo Gratias. In addition to the graces it brings, it is always a comfort to the very ill, as well as their families.

Into Great Silence at the Detroit Film Theatre

You may have heard of the film, "Into Great Silence". It is coming to the big screen at the Detroit Film Theatre. I've heard this is one of those films best experienced on the big screen. If you are looking for something to do this weekend go see it. It runs May 4-6

Detroit Film Theatre - Into Great Silence

Call to Holiness 2007: Dr. Alice von Hildebrand at OLMC

Here are a couple of photos of Dr. Alice von Hildebrand at the Call to Holiness - Our Lady of Mt. Carmel site. Dr. von Hildebrand is a well known Catholic philosopher, theologian, author and lecturer who spoke on the topic of "Women & the Priesthood".

This talk and all others from the Call to Holiness can be obtained on DVD, CD or MP3 CD. Details will follow.

This is the same photo cropped two different ways.

The photos below were sent to me from Debbie Bloomfield, wife of Deacon Richard Bloomfield seen seated with Bishop Bruskewitz and Dr. von Hildebrand in the bottom picture. I am assuming this was taken at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel rectory at lunch time.

OTHER CTH 2007 POSTS:

• Photo Post 1: Bishop Flores at OLMC
• Photo Post 2: Marcus Grodi at OLMC
• Call to Holiness notification post 2 (with speakers)
• Call to Holiness notification post 1 (with poster)
• Photo Post Series on Call to Holiness 2005

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

Archbishop Burke "cans" pro-abort Sen Claire McCaskill's speaking engagement at Catholic school

Archbishop Burke delivers a homily on December 30, 2006 at Assumption Grotto

Click the link for a photo post from a visit in January,

and another series from December 2006

Archbishop Burke has long been counted among the bishops with backbones. Last week, he acted wisely in stepping down from the chairmanship of the Cardinal Glennon Foundation when the board remained obstinate in wanting to bring in Sheryl Crow for entertainment. The entertainer is pro-abortion and advocates embryonic stem cell research.

This week, we see him exercising his episcopal authority by informing St. Joseph's Academy in the diocese of St. Louis via a phone call from the education office, that culture-of-death senator Claire McCaskill may not speak at her daughter's graduation ceremony. The offer was promptly rescinded by the school, but it seems the sister responsible doesn't quite get it. It's also sad to note that students at a Catholic school would want a pro-abort senator to speak. What have they learned about the culture of life and the culture of death in that school???

I don't know how long the news source will leave the article up, so here it is in full from News-Leader.com

(AP) ST. LOUIS Sen. Claire McCaskill was uninvited from speaking at her daughters Catholic high school commencement because her positions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research are at odds with those of the church.

Students at St. Josephs Academy in the St. Louis suburb of Frontenac wanted to have McCaskill speak at their graduation this month, McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said Tuesday.

But the offer was rescinded last week. The senator was told by the school that the decision came from St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, Marsh said.
Marsh said the senator, a Catholic, understands that her positions supporting abortion rights and stem cell research are different than those held by the church, but shes made peace with them.

The Democratic senator had seen the chance to speak at commencement as a special opportunity because her daughter is one of the graduates, McCaskill said in a statement.

The president of St. Josephs Academy, Sister Michaela Zahner, said she made the decision to rescind the invitation to McCaskill after receiving a call from the archdiocesan education office.

She was told of an archdiocesan policy that forbids providing a public forum for speakers who do not hold to truths as they are presented by the Catholic Church. Zahner said the policy clearly reflects Burke's position.

She said McCaskill was not asked to give a political speech, but was chosen to address the class because she is a woman who has served Missouri well and faithfully for over 30 years.

It was a very hard decision, Zahner said. She personally believed having McCaskill speak was going to be a good choice for the girls. My personal belief could not affect the good of the institution, she said.

Call to Holiness 2007: Bishop Bruskewitz at St. Rene

Grotto Photographer Jeff Williams has emailed me these photos of Bishop Bruskewitz from the St. Rene site - one of two locations to which each speaker traveled. Jeff explained that he too was dealing with the challenging lighting conditions without flash.

The Bishop Speaks!

Below, Bishop Bruskewtiz is speaks with Fr. Eduard Perrone - the pastor of Assumption Grotto in Detroit. Patrick Fabian of OLMC, who was assisting that day, looks on.

Bishop Bruskewitz mingling with participants of the conference

Some views inside of St. Rene Goupil parish in the suburban Detroit community of Sterling Heights.

More photos tomorrow.....

Just a reminder - within the next few days, I will be making a separate post providing details of how you can order audio and/or video of the conference.

OTHER CTH 2007 POSTS:

• Photo Post 1: Bishop Flores at OLMC
• Photo Post 2: Marcus Grodi at OLMC
• Call to Holiness notification post 2 (with speakers)
• Call to Holiness notification post 1 (with poster)

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

News and Catholic Blogging Roundup - May 1, 2007

From the Catholic Blogroll

• A broad liturgical program for the Hermeneutic of Continuity? (Luc Perrin at Rorate Caeli)
• Browbeating the faithful into mediocrity (Jeffrey Tucker at The New Liturgical Movement)
• The BBC twists the Tridentine issue (Fr. Zuhlsdorf)
• Discerning a priestly vocation (Fr. Tim Finigan)
• Cardinal Sean O'Malley blogs his trip to Paraguay
• Bishop Carl Mengeling of Lansing, Michigan has bladder cancer (American Papist)
• Bishop-Designate Elliot of Melbourne (Fr. Jay Toborosky at Young Fogeys)

From Other Sources

• Religion and the Common Good by Archbishop Chaput (Catholic Culture)
• Church/state showdown in Mexico (CWNews)
• High hopes, growth pains greet new Dallas Bishop (Catholic Exchange)
• Benedict XVI saves Eros (Walter Schu - Homiletic and Pastoral Review)
• Papal Address to Theology Professors (Zenit)
• Fr. Paul Weinberger Sermons (Semper Fi Catholic Radio)