Question: Since the NCReporter is so bad...

Then why do "Real"* Catholic sites link to them?

Why do they even read the NCR?  Why do they reprint articles they like - or don't like - from the NCR?  Why don't they boycott the NCR?  Why do they keep promoting the NCR?

I was just on Pewsitters and clicked on this heading: Card. Mahoney: 'Not once' did successor raise questions... more  The 'more' is an article from the NCR: Mahoney responds to ban.

Personally - I only find myself at either of the NCRs (Reporter/Register) if and when I run across a link in another person's blog post, or when a piece is hi lighted by a news portal.  Sometimes I Google a subject and find myself there by happenstance.  Like I said in an earlier post last week, the newspaper has interviewed many many Catholics over the years - big name Catholics, if you will.  Just their archival cache seems to me to be a valuable resource... yet why do big name/'real' Catholics grant interviews if it is such a bad newspaper.  Why support it for all of these years?

Yes, of course I agree with Bishop Finn calling them out - but I have to wonder why so many Catholic sites continue to promote the NCR - because even negative reporting on the company and their policies, as well as linking to articles at their site, promotes readership and revenue.

Just saying.



*Note: I'm not a 'Real' Catholic.  I'm a Roman Catholic.  This isn't a Catholic blog per se, I'm just a Catholic layman who keeps a web log and I talk about my Catholic life/faith.  I don't read many newspapers or periodicals.  I don't visit a lot of Catholic blogs or web-magazine sites.  I skim through a couple of news portals online - but do not click on many stories.  I only read a few blogs these days.  I do not listen to the radio and never have listened to talk radio, I watch less and less TV - I don't have cable - but I'll catch Network/BBC news.  I never play games online.  I do on occasion look for YouTube videos for fun.  Oh - I'll buy movies but rarely go to the theater.  So my exposure to media is limited.  I guess I read a lot. But I rarely, if ever promote books on my site.  My blog is non-commercial, I do not ask for donations either.  There is nothing wrong with earning money for blogging or blogging for profit - nothing wrong with it at all, BTW.  I just can't be managed, nor do I feel I have to post to boost traffic and revenue, nor can I be beholden to anyone to post what conforms to their standards.  That is the reason I remain independent.  I do link to my sources for a post, but that is about the extent of my promotional efforts.  I like to keep things simple and uncomplicated.  I also want to stay little.  Someone called me a filthy bum yesterday, and after my initial surprise, I realized how wonderful it was that he did so.  I'm not worthy.
 

The very last day of Christmas...

Totally consecrate yourself to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Pray the rosary every day.  Enclose yourself in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  

One of these nights... best song.

The Embattled Cardinal Mahony responds.

And thus I clothe my naked villany
With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.
(1.3.343), Richard

It's already ugly.

In some sections of the Internet, that is.  Although the always balanced Rocco Palmo published a letter from Cardinal Mahony in response to the action taken by Archbishop Gomez, removing the Cardinal's administrative duties, a subject everyone appears to have been discussing online.  For those calling for Mahony's dismissal from the College of Cardinals, I doubt that is likely to happen.

Rocco Palmo:

In Rome, meanwhile, the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, was quoted by Catholic News Service as saying that the "measure taken by the archbishop naturally regards his archdiocese and not other duties that Cardinal Mahony has received from the pope in the Roman Curia."

Mahony is currently a member of three Curial dicasteries. As a general rule, cardinals hold those seats until, just like one's Conclave rights, automatically losing them on turning 80.

As previously noted, while Gomez almost certainly consulted with the Vatican on his plans and received a favorable response before making the moves public, any regulation of the universal faculties granted to cardinals by canon law is subject to the discretion of the Holy See alone. Most specifically, Canon 357 stipulates that "In those matters which pertain to their own person, cardinals living outside of Rome and outside their own diocese are exempt from the power of governance of the bishop of the diocese in which they are residing." - Cardinal Mahony hits back

Cardinal Mahony also defends himself saying, "Nothing prepared me to deal with this..." going on to detail the consultation and directives he sought from peers, the bishops, experts, and so on.  Interestingly enough he mentions his graduate work never included anything related to child sexual abuse.

Nothing in my own background or education equipped me to deal with this grave problem. In two years [1962—1964] spent in graduate school earning a Master’s Degree in Social Work, no textbook and no lecture ever referred to the sexual abuse of children. While there was some information dealing with child neglect, sexual abuse was never discussed.
 

Perhaps it is true - perhaps.  Yet I think that statement offers a bit of insight into the exaggerated emphasis placed upon textbook education and academic degrees over personal morality and fidelity to Catholic teaching when it comes to the employment of Church-people and the promotion of career clerics.  The Church at times seems to have become a sort of half-way house for the academically institutionalized - those who can't function unless they have some sort of textbook example or precedent instructing them how to act.

I thought the Holy Spirit was supposed to be guiding things?





BTW - Mahony is a Cardinal Archbishop - he "is subject to the discretion of the Holy See alone." 

On the Cardinal Mahony disgrace...

"How much filth there is in the church."



It is very troubling, wounding.  I see no cause for rejoicing or piling on condemnations.

For me it is more akin to what the discovery of the abomination of desolation in the sanctuary will be like  - or at least a foreshadowing of it.

In meditations written for the Way of the Cross at the Rome Colosseum on Good Friday, March 25, 2005, Cardinal Ratzinger said too many Catholics continue to scorn and scourge Jesus in his church.

"Christ suffers in his own church," he said. He described "the falling of many Christians away from Christ and into a godless secularism," but also the fall of those Catholics who abuse the sacraments or their positions in the church.

"How much filth there is in the church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him," he wrote. He said the church often seems like "a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side."

"The soiled garments and face of your church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again," he wrote.

"Have mercy on your church," he prayed. "When we fall, we drag you down to earth, and Satan laughs, for he hopes that you will not be able to rise from that fall; he hopes that being dragged down in the fall of your church, you will remain prostrate and overpowered." - CNS
 

"The soiled garments and face of your church throw us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again."

Make it stop.

 

Is February Still Black History Month?

St. Charles and Companions

Catholics in the U.S. should definitely participate.

I worked for a Catholic religious goods company some years ago and they used to laugh at me when I would set up a book table for Black History Month. Yet there is a very long history of African/Black Catholics in the Church - many great saints.

The history of the Church is full of many Black / African Catholic saints, who received recognition for great deeds or meritorious conduct. Many lost their lives in defense of the faith. Many were also honored for their contributions to the Church and their community. Go here for more information.

It is quite a long and impressive catalogue.

OL of Africa

 

Ouch! Cardinal Mahony... unprecedented...

"I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil." - Archbishop Jose Gomez 

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez on Thursday announced dramatic actions in response to the priest abuse scandal, saying that Cardinal Roger Mahony would be stripped of public duties in the church and that Santa Barbara Bishop Thomas J. Curry has stepped down.

Gomez said in a statement that Mahony -- who led the L.A. archdiocese from 1985 to 2011 -- "will no longer have any administrative or public duties."

Gomez also announced the church has released a trove of confidential church files detailing how the Los Angeles archdiocese dealt with priests accused of molestation.

Gomez wrote in a letter to parishioners that the files would be disturbing to read.

"I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed," he wrote. "We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today."

Gomez's statement came a week after the release of internal Catholic church records. The records showed 15 years before the clergy sex abuse scandal came to light, Mahony and Curry discussed ways to conceal the molestation of children from law enforcement. Those records represent just a fraction of the files the church released Thursday. The Times is now reviewing those files. - Source




I think this must be unprecedented in modern Church history.

Months ago Los Angeles

Archbishop Roger M. Mahony reached

a settlement with

alleged victims of priestly misconduct,

thinking the issue was over.

But now it has been resurrected

by the Houdini-like tactics of...

ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ?!

WHAT?!

 

Shame... shameful and scandalous.

K-Cups are back!

 

What?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Yeah, so you've got your D cup, K cup, down the line..."

 

Oh! Okay! Now I get it!

You don't send me flowers...

America's largest group of atheists and agnostics, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), announced on Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against a Rhode Island florist for refusing to deliver its order of a dozen red roses to self-professed teen atheist, Jessica Ahlquist, whose complaint was behind the removal of a 50-year-old prayer mural at her high school.

 

FFRF's complaint, filed Jan. 25, alleges that Marina Plowman, owner-operator of Twins Florist in Cranston, R.I., denied the group "full and equal access to public accommodations by refusing to fulfill a flower order on the basis of religion (non-belief), in violation of Rhode Island General Laws."

"This is outright discrimination. It was ugly and it is a violation of the Civil Rights Act," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the FFRF, in an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday. "This is very fundamental to civil liberties in this country. All we are asking for is the delivery of our flowers." - Read more here.
 

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you ...

Right-wing-nut, Ultra-conservative Fascion Designer, Karl Lagerfeld doesn't like Mrs. Obama's hair style.

Really?

“I dun’t ündastandt ze change ze haare - ze coiffure . . . Fwank-ie, ze fwinge vas bad edea. Zits not goot!” - Story here.
 

Look in the mirror KL.

I still really like the look, I think it's very Motown. 

Honey, I only wear American designers.

Don't get me started on them Germans!

 

Must read: Fr. Fessio on the Mass of Vatican II

Synagogue, Modena, Italy

It's the best synopsis/analysis/summary I've read for a very long time - or at least since Card. Ratzinger's, The Spirit of the Liturgy.  The information has been discussed on various blogs over the years - but Fr. Fessio's is the most straight forward to date, devoid the pious embellishment, angry rant and theatrical spin other bloggers tend to rely on to impress their readers.

A couple of highlights:

The Council did not say that tabernacles should be moved from their central location to some other location. In fact, it specifically said we should be concerned about the worthy and dignified placing of the tabernacle. The Council did not say that Mass should be celebrated facing the people. That is not in Vatican II; it is not mentioned. It is not even raised in the documents that record the formation of the Constitution on the Liturgy; it didn't come up. Mass facing the people is a not requirement of Vatican II; it is not in the spirit of Vatican II; it is definitely not in the letter of Vatican II. It is something introduced in 1969.

And, by the way, never in the history of the Church, East or West, was there a tradition of celebrating Mass facing the people. Never, ever, until 1969. - Read the entire essay here.
 

Note especially Fr.'s comments on Gregorian Chant and the similarity to Judaic singing of the psalms in the Temple Era.  Those of us attracted to Judaism, and especially those of Jewish heritage, will find it meaningful and consoling: 

Now, just a little footnote on the Gregorian Chant. In reflecting on these things about Church music, I began to think about the Psalms a few years back. And a very obvious idea suddenly struck me. Why it didn't come earlier I don't know, but the fact is that the Psalms are songs. Every one of the 150 Psalms is meant to be sung; and was sung by the Jews.
[...]
So, I called this wonderful rabbi in Manhattan and we had a long conversation. At the end, I said, "I want to bring some focus to this, can you give me any idea what it sounded like when Jesus and his Apostles sang the Psalms?" He said, "Of course, Father. It sounded like Gregorian Chant. You got it from us."

I was amazed. I called Professor William Mart, a Professor of Music at Stanford University and a friend. I said, "Bill, is this true?" He said, "Yes. The Psalm tones have their roots in ancient Jewish hymnody and psalmody." So, you know something? If you sing the Psalms at Mass with the Gregorian tones, you are as close as you can get to praying with Jesus and Mary. They sang the Psalms in tones that have come down to us today in Gregorian Chant. - ibid

How cool is that! 

NOTE: The essay appeared in the September/October 2000 issue of Catholic Dossier and is based on a lecture on the liturgy given by Father Fessio in May, 1999.

My cat's best friend is a rabbit.

Mrs Rabitowitz...

Gabby likes to eat her supper next to the French doors so she can eat at the same time Mrs. Rabitowitz comes to the back stairs to eat her supper.  I don't let her do it every night because in the summer the doors are open and she'd be in the way, so I don't want her to get used to it.  Gabby really likes the critters in the yard. 

One afternoon I was late with Mrs. R's supper and while I was on the computer, she came up to the door and bumped into it so the screen door shook.  I'm quite sure Rabitowitz did it to get my attention, hoping I would notice her out there waiting for supper.  Gabby was fairly agitated as well.  I immediately went out the side garage door to put out her supper.  Rabitowitz stayed right where she was, waiting for me as I put out the apple and nuts.  She was less than an arms length away from me and began eating as soon as I finished.  She's become very tame.

I'll try to write some more rabbit stories from this past winter.

Anyway, after saying our prayers tonight, Gabby whispered to me she wished we had teddy bears in the yard - in addition to Mrs. Rabitowitz and all the other critters of course, and I answered, "I always thought we did.  Yes, I'm pretty sure we do."

 

An antidote to envy.

Thanksgiving.

Thank God for the gifts and success you see in others.  Thank him for his goodness to the bad and the good. 

It takes practice.

How do you become an effective Catholic blogger?

A tutorial.

Yo! Of little faith!

Who needs guns?

An armed robber interrupted a jewelry party in Lake City, Fla., on Friday but left empty-handed after the women in attendance began chanting the name "Jesus," according to police. - Story

And  some homosexuals can change.

"If I had to sum ​​up the experience of homosexuality, I would say it's a trap," Luca said on its website . Y si hubiese que sintetizar su camino de vuelta, lo haría así: "Medjugorje me cambio en profundidad y finalmente me siento realizado y plenamente feliz". And if I had to summarize my way back, I would say it like this: "Medjugorje change me deeply, and I finally feel fulfilled and completely happy."  - Story
 

Pray the rosary every day... and pray the Holy Name of Jesus unceasingly.

Piano lessons.

Kat is taking piano lessons!  I know!

Isn't she somethin'!

Corapi update...

Update on Fr. Corapi – UPDATE | Angelqueen.org 1 day ago – "They say Fr. Corapi lives in a gated community in Whitefish, Montana, on Whitefish Lake. He is seen about riding his Harley." - Google search

There is a discussion at Mark Shea's blog, with links to other stories.  No real news however, but the com box is entertaining.

I had wondered earlier if he might be among those it may have been better if they had never been ordained.  I'll bet he's moved on however, and prefers to be left alone. 

Just a thought.

"It would be far better for that man if he had never been born." - Matthew 26:24

What if Christ had said "never been ordained" instead?

While Blessed Mother Teresa was seeking permission to found the Missionaries of Charity, she encountered resistance and delays by her bishop. He explained to her what a great risk it is to give permission to found a new order, considering the souls involved. What would happen to those who dedicate their lives to the apostolate, having given up home and property? What would happen to them if the endeavor failed?

If that is the case, what about men admitted to seminary and ordination who maybe shouldn't have been?




 

It's about time file: President to crack down on irresponsible behavior.

I know!

Last week I watched a segment from Tavis Smiley and his interview with Coretta Scott King.  Mrs. King (+2006) said one of our problems today is that we have no moral leader.  She was speaking in reference to a moral leader such as her husband - which he surely was in the non-violent movement  for Civil Rights.  In speaking of our nation, I believe Mrs. King's words to be prophetic, we do indeed lack a moral leader for our time.

Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's pledge in his weekly radio address this past Saturday, to crack down on irresponsible behavior, misses.  He's talking about Wall Street and the free market of course - making regulations and policing financial institutions.  Although it seems to me, he's more about the state controlling people and institutions than he is about traditional morality.

Irresponsible behavior is 47+ million children exterminated in 40 years.  Put some controls on that.

Gun control, just to save one child, certainly is not moral leadership.  It seems to me that really is hypocrisy.

Alas - this country lacks moral leadership.

Mass chat: The din in church before Mass and after Mass...

People say they can't pray because of it.

I say, just don't listen to it.  Then you can pray.

You may have to practice before you get it down though.

Old people in big cities with big tourist cathedrals know how to do it. 

Confession and Communion...

The soul after Communion.

Stay.

Stay a long time afterwards.

Stay...  let everyone else leave.  Stay behind - alone, with Him.

Stay.