The "Little French Church"* on the river in downtown Minneapolis: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church may be in danger.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church

Our Lady's sanctuary since 1877.

*Actually, French Canadian.

This lovely, historic, little church is once again threatened - by developers.

I saw it on local news.  Developers want to build a huge apartment tower and the corner, adjacent to this lovely jewel of a church.  It was originally built by Univeralists in 1857 - a year before the Blessed Virgin Mary even appeared to the little St. Bernadette at Lourdes.  French Canadian Catholics purchased the church twenty years later in 1877.

The redevelopment of the riverfront area was initially opening up the area to commercial and residential use in the late 1970's, and historic buildings were subsequently reinforced, especially after the construction of apartment towers and condos overlooking the Mississippis and downtown Minneapolis which altered the stability of existing structures.  It's a beautiful area of the city, adjacent to downtown.  It is my understanding that the structural integrity of church was threatened by excessive shaking and had to be reinforced during the construction of new buildings and underground parking.  Before that, the church was also threatened with closure by the archdiocese.  To avoid confusion and misstatement about that history by me, let me reprint an excerpt from Our Lady of Lourdes website on the history and what is happening.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Community has been a vital part of the original St. Anthony Village and later this first neighborhood of Minneapolis since 1877. The historic church of which we are most proud dates back even further, to the year 1857 when it was completed by the Universalist Society. Twenty years later it was purchased by the French Canadian Catholic Community who sought their own worship space. Their descendants worship here today, among parishioners and friends from all walks of life, all ethnicities, and from every part of the Twin Cities. Our historic church is the oldest continually used church in Minneapolis and our parish was the first in the United States to be named for the Lourdes Apparition. In 1934, the Department of Interior recognized “the exceptional historic and architectural importance” of our church, declaring it a national historic landmark. Our Lady of Lourdes is indeed a “precious jewel” not only for our community, but also for our neighborhood and the city of Minneapolis.

In the late 1960’s, city planners of Minneapolis as well as leaders of our parish urged Archdiocesan leaders to allow Our Lady of Lourdes to remain open as the planned redevelopment of the neighborhood had the church as its centerpiece. One can clearly see the wisdom of this planning in the many unobstructed views of the historic church throughout the neighborhood. Parish and city leaders were persuasive and today Our Lady of Lourdes is at the heart of a vibrant and growing neighborhood of Minneapolis. Our Lady of Lourdes welcomes growth and development, yet we will strongly advocate for the protection of this precious jewel when it is threatened. As we have an important duty to safeguard this beautiful national landmark for our community and for generations to come, we strongly oppose the current plans for the development of the Nye’s property, immediately adjacent to our historic church. We do so for several reasons. - Read more here.

Rectory and church.

Where things are at right now.

Though the neighborhood association has approved the project, the city council as well as the Heritage Preservation Commission must give final approval.

The Neighborhood Association approved the plans Wednesday night with overwhelming support, but the new construction could have a big impact on an old church. 

The call to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church has rang loud and clear for more than 160 years. Built in the 1850s, the historic frame is showing its age. But there’s real concern time isn’t the biggest threat. 

“It’s important to us to say we’re opposed to thedesign of this particular project,” Deacon Thom Winninger said. 

Winninger is worried about plans to build a 29 story apartment building next door once Nye’s Polonaise shuts down this summer. The close proximity to the church property is one thing, but the real worry is construction’s impact on the building’s integrity. 

“Its physical structure is going to be threatened by this development,” Winninger said.
Years ago, construction of the River Place project forced the addition of metal reinforcements for the old sandstone blocks. 

“As they drill and hammer to get the bedrock, will this not continue to happen?” Winninger wondered. “How do we reinforce the top of this building?” - CBSLocal

Please pray for the preservation of a historic and spiritual treasure in Minneapolis.  Please contact Our Lady of Lourdes here if you can help in any way.


Go to Our Lady of Lourdes website to learn more.

You may also contact Councilman Jacob Frey here to let him know your concerns:

Jacob Frey
350 S. 5th St., Room 307
Minneapolis, MN 55415
612-673-2203
jacob.frey@minneapolismn.gov

St. Bernadette, pray for us!

Anxiety, concern for the missing, the kidnapped, the refugees, the martyred.

They no longer have a 'worship space'.

“Unfortunately, there is no cessation in the dramatic news ..." - Pope Francis

I am so grateful the Holy Father continually speaks about the persecuted, the homeless - forced from their villages and homes, separated from their families and livelihoods, only to be slaughtered or enslaved.  

Pope Francis following the recitation of the Marian Prayer on Sunday remembered the people of Syria and Iraq saying “Unfortunately, there is no cessation in the dramatic news about violence, kidnapping and harassment against Christians reaching us from Syria and Iraq. 

The Pope went on to say that those facing these situations were not forgotten and prayed that the intolerable brutality of which they are victims would soon be at an end. - Vatican Radio

I prayed and prayed, bowing so low I couldn't get much lower.  I offered my communion, asking Our Lord to show himself to those suffering so acutely - begging him to 'leave me - a sinful man' to go instead to console them, to manifest himself, to give them courage and peace.  I feel completely powerless to help, so I trust in Jesus to surround them with his mercy, and Our Lady, our maternal refuge, to compassionate them and clothe them in peace.

I thought of Willy Herteleer and other pilgrims, who left home and possessions behind to go to a strange land, to pray and do penance.  Pilgrimage is a sign that 'we have here no lasting home' ... pilgrimage is a sign of 'exile and dispossession' - hence it can be done as a penance and sacrifice in union and solidarity with the suffering Church elsewhere.  In those moments of thanksgiving, I also prayed with and for Willy, and asked that he could now go to those most in need, the suffering, the lonely, the terrorized - to help distribute the grace and mercy Jesus wants to pour out upon them.

I can only offer the sacrifice of not knowing if my prayers can be felt, not knowing what happened to the kidnapped, not knowing if they are tortured or molested or slaughtered.  Men.  Women.  Children.  Little children so scared - not daring even to cry.

The Holy Father greeting the homeless.

Love the one(s) you are with - no matter what.

Love them so much - until your heart bursts.

Screenshot: FrancisChurch: Bum given bishop's resting place ...

Willy Herteleer, pilgrim.

Photo credit, Paul Badde

What editorial headlines tell you about the editor.

FrancisChurch? Bum?

It's almost funny... giving the impression that Francis the talking mule and bungling fools are running the Church...   Enemies of the Church would approve of such language.

But editorial headlines don't tell the whole story.

By now everyone has heard the story of Willy Herteleer the homeless man buried at the Vatican, in case you haven't - here is a brief summary:

(Vatican Radio) The Holy See press office has confirmed the news of the burial of a homeless man in the Teutonic College cemetery within Vatican City State. Willy was a homeless man of Flemish origin.  His exact age was unknown but he was believed to have been around 80 years of age. He died on  December 12 last year and was buried in the Teutonic Cemetery on January 9 this year. 

Willy was a familiar face to many in the area of the Vatican. He attended daily Mass in  Sant’Anna parish in the Vatican and spent his days and nights on the streets around St. Peter's Square, Borgo Pio and Via di Porta Angelica. The pastor of Sant’Anna in the Vatican, Father Bruno Silvestrini, had dedicated the Nativity Scene at Christmas to Willy, adding a homeless man among the shepherds. He loved to pray, he had a good heart, attended the morning Mass at St. Anna every day and always sat in the same place. Read more at Vatican Radio

Tomb of St. Benedict Joseph Labre

Many bloggers have since picked up on the story and so I wasn't going to post on the man until I saw the offending headline at Pewsitters.  Mr. Herteleer wasn't a bum.  He was a pilgrim, a homeless pilgrim.  For centuries pilgrims have journeyed to Rome and for centuries some who did so remained - to pray in the heart of the Church.  Naturally I first thought of St. Benedict Joseph Labre - who was a homeless pilgrim from France.  He too lived among the other homeless people on the streets.  Willy Herteleer chose to live among those who did not live in the shelters.

After morning Mass, he would stop for a while and speak with the people.

“When did you last go to confession?” he would ask everyone he met. “Are you going to communion? Do you go to Mass?”

He asked the same of other homeless people, those with whom he chose to live.

For a time he lived in a shelter. “Yes, it’s nice, welcoming and clean. Yes, you eat well and the people are nice,” he told people. “But I need freedom. I love freedom!”

He preferred his friends. He preferred the streets. He preferred the monsignor that brought him oranges, the journalist that took his photo.

After Mass, he would speak with his friend Msgr. Amerigo Ciani. “Thanks for your homily pronounced so calmly. I understand it well and it helps me to meditate throughout the day,” he said. - CNA

I find his story edifying and encouraging.  After St. Benedict Joseph's death the Romans immediately hailed him as a saint.  He was given a wonderful funeral and burial - and today his tomb, containing his relics are enshrined in a church.

I suspect Mr. Herteleer wouldn't object to being called a bum, a vagrant, a beggar - though it is said he didn't really ask for funds or food.  I suspect he was very humble and aware of himself - that is - he had such humility that he knew himself completely - as Christ knew him.  Jesus knows each of us deeply - he recognizes us - he recognizes himself in us.

It's a very great, wondrous mystery contained in such self knowledge.  Great freedom - freedom of spirit.  Willy said, "I love freedom - I need freedom!"

How entangled we make ourselves.  It must be so obvious to people like Willy, observing those who pass by in the square ... each carrying about a facade of how we want to be perceived or what we want to become.  Willy wouldn't have been there to judge of course, but rather to encourage others to go to Mass, to go especially to confession.  They want to call him a 'street evangelizer' because they need to categorize him, to dignify him - just as those who wish to denigrate him as a bum - a good for nothing.  We do that all of the time - to ourselves and to others.

We confine ourselves within social definitions of what we ought to be, or want to be, or think we should be.  Some people can't do that.  They can't live up to the expectations of others.  Willy Herteleer demonstrates that it doesn't matter:  Be what you are and let the holiness of God define your existence - allow him to love you.

“Although he was alone, he didn’t feel alone,” said Msgr. Ciani in the homily. “The presence of God was strong and alive within him. He prayed and prayed. He prayed for the conversion of everyone, even for strangers to repent.”

And, that’s how Willy’s story on earth finishes, with a tomb in the Vatican’s cemetery, surrounded by the affection of those who were close to him in life.

His was a life lived in the margins, but a life full of love. - CNA

Today I found added encouragement from the writings of Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus:

Why can't we love in a way that is both passionate yet very pure?  Don't you think that that should be possible?  I assure you the world needs love ... I am nothing but Jesus has given me a tiny spark of his love.  We can't continue to let people suffer all around us and not go to them under the pretext that we have to protect ourselves, like a soldier who, in order to keep his uniform impeccably clean, avoids the mud of the trenches and the danger of bullet wounds. - Magdeleine of Jesus

Pope Francis or Willy Herteleer might have said the same exact thing.

"... For if you love those who love you, what compensation will you have?  Don't the tax collectors and people you despise do the same?  And if you greet your family and friends and those you esteem only, what's so special or unusual about that?  The non-believers and dissenters do the same things ..."

Humor break...

This is the best car ad on TV right now ...  What?

Back to regularly scheduled blogging in 1, 2, 3, ... 

Turkish Border Closed to Syrian Christians. Who will help?

"Look! Don’t you see many roads, paths and fields full of people 

crying of hunger, not having anything to eat?

 . . . And the Holy Father in a Church praying next to the Heart of Mary?"

- Bl. Jacinta Marto

Rome, Italy, Feb 26, 2015 / 07:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The number of ISIS hostages in Syria has increased to at least 250 after continued attacks on Christian villages, and civilians fleeing to the Turkish border have been stranded when not allowed to cross.

“There are 200 families who were running away and trying to escape to Turkey, but the border is closed for Syrians. No Syrian can cross into Turkey,” Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo told CNA Feb. 26.

Archbishop Hindo oversees the Syrian archdiocese of Hassake, which is located in the Al-Hasakah region of Syria. The region sits between the country’s borders with both Turkey and Iraq.

He spoke to CNA in French over the phone with a patchy connection from his diocese in Syria, where internet is currently down, saying that ISIS has continued its assault in the area, raising the number of hostages to more than 250 after an estimated 90 were kidnapped during attacks earlier this week. - Elise Harris, CNA

Spock is dead! RIP

“I am what I am, Leila. And if there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them. Mine can be no worse than someone else’s.” - Spock

Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut “Star Trek,” died on Friday morning at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. He was 83.

His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Mr. Nimoy announced last year that he had the disease, which he attributed to years of smoking, a habit he had given up three decades earlier. He had been hospitalized earlier in the week. - NYT

The Kidnapped Syrian Christians are being slaughtered.

-source-

The world - all of us - must pay attention to what is happening and come to their aid.

ISIS has killed the first Christians who are being held hostage in the governorate of Hassake in Syri, on the northeastern border with Iraq. The Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, who reported the abduction last Monday, informed Aid to the Church in Need (a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church, supporting the Catholic faithful and other Christians where they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need) that 15 of the hostages have been killed. “Many of them were fighting to defend and protect the villages and families,” Youkhana says.

In the village of Tel Hormizd one woman has been beheaded and two men were shot. There is currently no information about who the other executed captives are. 

Archimandrite Youkhana informs that at least 350 people have been captured by IS. In addition to the fighters mentioned above 81 people were seized from Tel Jazira, 21 from Tel Gouran, five from Tel Feytha and three from Qabir Shamiya. All of the above are being held in the Arab Sunni village of Um Al-Masamier. 

Also, 51 families from the village of Tel Shamiram have been taken – Archimandrite Youkhana adds: “The average is five persons per family”.He added that there was no news about where the families were being held: “Most probably they have been captured and transported to Mount Abdul Aziz, a nearby region controlled by IS.” 

Another source says there was an unconfirmed report that the mosque in the Arab Sunni village of Bab Alfaraj had called on people to attend “a mass killing of infidels” at Mount Abdul Aziz on 27 February. - Source

Prayer to Our Lady of Ransom

O God, Who by means of the most glorious 

Mother of Thy Son 

was pleased to give new children to Thy Church 

for the deliverance of Christ's faithful 

from the power of the heathen; 

grant, we beseech Thee, 

that we who love and honor her as the foundress 

of so great a work 

may, by her merits and intercession, 

be ourselves delivered from all sin 

and from the bondage of the evil one. 

Through the same Christ, our Lord.

Amen

Here's something ...

...something for Larry ...

- he misses the best stuff.

-source-

What?


H/T Fr. Martin.  He likes everybody.  I love him.

I bet Oprah lands the Pope interview when he gets here.

Vatican issues new guidelines for Pontifices: Caution Labels mandated for cappa magna: Capes can be dangerous!*

Editors note: The cappa magna ("great cape"), 

is a voluminous ecclesiastical vestment with a long train.

The cappa magna is not strictly a liturgical vestment, 

but only a glorified cappa choralis, or choir cope.

Why the new guidelines?

Ask Madonna ...

photo source

Madonna's shocking fall backwards while a dancer

attempted to remove her beautiful cape during a

performance.  Trooper that she is, the elderly singer,

flat on the floor, continued with her song, ironically belting out the

lyrics: 'I'm going to carry on' and 'Watch me stumble' ... 

Madonna claimed to be unhurt and continued

with the performance, but a nursing assistant

tweeted this photo of the star going upstairs 

to the bathroom in her home.

Unconfirmed reports suggest Vatican spokesman, Fr. Rosica 

leaked to reporters that the new regulations

 are a sign of the Holy Father's deep concern for the 

safety of those prelates 'who like to travel and dress up'.

Outside the Vatican sources insist the new mandate was 

necessary after the Holy Father saw photos of

Madonna's fall on stage.  Conscious of his own missteps, 

the concerned Pope reportedly told kitchen workers:

'Pontifical Masses can be just as dangerous for elderly prelates

going up and down all those stairs, with swarms of altar boys underfoot.'

*H/T Jackie

On The Sign of Jonah

"Jesus speaks to us usually from the pulpits, from the altars; in our conversations, in our affairs and recreations; and yet we do not sufficiently esteem his words or inspirations." 

 - Fr. Nicolas Caussin, S.J.
I found a great meditation on the seeking of signs.

It is a very ill sign when we desire signs to make us believe in God. The signs which we demand to fortify our faith are often marks of our infidelity. There is not a more dangerous plague in the events of worldly affairs than to deal with the devils or to play with predictions. All these things fill men with more faults than knowledge. For divine oracles have more need to be reverenced than interpreted. He that will find God must seek him with simplicity and possess him with piety. - Fr. Nicolas Caussin, S.J., posted by New Catholic*

I wanted to post this because I have read several 'new' prophecies and locutions floating around the Internet, supposedly decoding the dire events we are witnessing these days.  We have to be careful that in our confusion we are not misled by false visionaries and locutionists.

Praying very much for the exiled Christians in Iraq and Syria - most especially those Syrian Christians abducted this past week - and for all in Libya, Egypt, Nigeria and elsewhere suffering under the Islamic Jihadists.

ISIS blew up tomb of Prophet Jonah, 7/24/14.

*I like very much the spirituality of New Catholic and find many of his posts edifying and instructive. 

The Graham Moore Oscar acceptance speech.

Graham Moore

You know - the one where everyone thought he was gay?

Screenwriter Graham Moore received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on Imitation Game.  In the course of his acceptance speech, Moore spoke movingly of his attempted suicide at the age of sixteen, encouraging other young people who felt 'weird or different or they don't fit in' to not give up and "Stay weird. Stay different, and then when it’s your turn and you are standing on this stage, please pass this same message to the next person who comes along.”

It was a beautiful statement which everyone seemed to think meant that he was gay.  People made that assumption because he 'sounded gay'.  Even gay people made that assumption based on appearance, voice inflection, emotional expression, and so on: Gay stereotypes.

Bad gays. ;)

Hmmmmmmmmm.  I think this means gays can be bigots.  I think this means gays discriminate too.  I think this means gays are are also prejudiced.  I say that because so many like to accuse everyone else of the same stuff, as well as 'homophobia'.

Graham Moore told Buzzfeed: “I’m not gay, but I’ve never talked publicly about depression before or any of that, and that was so much of what the movie was about, and it was one of the things that drew me to Alan Turing so much. 

“I think we all feel like weirdos for different reasons. Alan had his share of them and I had my own, and that’s what always moved me so much about his story.”

Like I said - it was a great acceptance speech, especially on an evening when suicide was the topic of other works nominated.

Moore's surprise at public reaction to his speech, as well as his response, says something about our tendency, our inclination to define persons by their sexual inclination/orientation.  It stops us in our tracks to reconsider identity outside the confines of sexual orientation.  Graham Moore is a man.  As a teenager he felt weird - he felt he didn't fit in?  Why?  He didn't say, and it's no one's business.

I find it amazing and distinctive that whatever it was, he didn't just settle for some pop-cultural label or range of sexual identities to limit and define himself by.  That whatever it was, he maintained his true identity as a person, a human being, a man.

Indeed, he's a gifted, talented man.

Congratulations to him for this current success and best wishes for his future.  He's a sign of hope - and with one speech expanded our horizons tremendously.



Post Script:

Gay writers/activists are complaining the Imitation Game didn't go far enough - saying the film whitewashed the gay aspects of Alan Turing's life out of the film, avoiding sexual/romantic scenes which must have been part of his life, and would have helped fashion him into more of a cause célèbre for gay rights.

They're never happy.

ISIS threatens to throw homosexuals from the Leaning Tower of "Pizza" - after they conquer Rome.

ISIS executioners throwing men accused of homosexuality off building in Mosul.

Italians are making fun of the threat, but ISIS really does throw homosexuals from the tops of buildings, only to stone them to death at the bottom if they survive the fall.

As the above photo illustrates, there is precedent for the threatened atrocities - though it seems highly improbable, unlikely, even impossible that ISIS could invade and conquer Italy any time soon.  Nevertheless, the targeted executions which have already taken place, coupled with such specific renewed threats, outrageous as they may be, ought to at least get the attention of gay rights activists*, not to mention Obama - who refuses to call terrorism terrorism, refuses to admit ISIS is Islamic, refuses to admit the threat of radical Islam is spreading like wildfire and is a threat to the world, and refuses to put forward any meaningful plan to deal with ISIS.

* Yet gay activists continue to blast the Catholic Church as homophobic and oppressive.

Lesley Gore, RIP

1946-2015

Last week I skipped posting on the death of a pop-singer-songwriter from a long time ago - when I was really, really little - for reasons I can't recall now.

Lesley Gore 68, died last week, February 16.  I wasn't a huge fan really - I just remember her on Bandstand and knew she was in High School when she came to fame for "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me" - and I kind of had a crush on her.  (I sort of dumped Annette Funicello for her.)  I also thought she was Catholic - but found out now that she wasn't.  I lost interest in her when Motown got big, and as the saying goes, once you go black ... you never go back.

Which means I actually under rated Gore.  Why do I say that?  Because she wrote the very great, albeit under appreciated song: "Love Me By Name".  Patti Austin covered it best - song here.

Lesley Gore was a fine singer, songwriter and actress - under appreciated by many, I'm sure.  RIP.

Now THEY want to silence Catholic bloggers just as THEY silenced Pope Benedict XVI!

Who some feel fled "for fear of the wolves."

What should I do now?

Remember how THEY replaced PPVI with an impostor?*

Which one was beatified?

*THEY did the same thing to Sr. Lucia.

And...

Oh! Oh!  THEY probably murdered JPI too!

Academy Awards Teaser ...

"Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are." - Oscar Wilde

Here's one more burning question for the Oscars 2015.

Query:  How many times will host Neil Patrick Harris mention his husband, his kids, that he is married, that he has a family?

Song for this post here.

Joan Crawford: [Joan addresses the fans camped out in front of her house on Oscar night]

I would rather be here with you than anywhere else in the world.

Me too.

UPDATE:  I couldn't have been more wrong - he never mentioned it once.  

Mass chat: Sometimes I don't understand the homilies ...

This beautiful icon was drawn by Tony Rezk.

Nothing was said at Mass about the Coptic martyrs.

Sometimes I wonder if the homily is more a prepared, obligatory address, an assignment similar to writing a paper on a theme, based on the readings of course - yet cleverly inserting some relevant tie-in with an issue the listeners can identify with.   Studied, prepared, delivered according to the ordinary form within the allotted time frame.  Cut and paste.  Finished and ready to be delivered - no matter what.

Sample assignment:  Compare Christ in the desert/wilderness to ... saving the wilderness and tie it all together with this and that verse about rainbows?  

I'm just not sure ... and I was so lost.

All I could think about during the homily was 21 Christian men beheaded on a beach in Libya.  All I could think about was their families, their faith, their courage ... Their cry, "Jesus save me!"  Did the martyrs see Him as St. Steven did at the moment he gave up his spirit?  Did they suffer much?  Does it hurt to have your throat slit?  A lot?  At what point do you die?  I kept thinking and praying for them and with them and for their families.  What if it happened here?  What would I do?  How could I withstand such an assault?  Is my faith real?  Do I have such charity, such love to surrender my soul as these men did?  What must I do?  

 + + +

All I'm saying is, try to make your homilies real - try to talk about Jesus and the shedding of His blood and what is happening to Christians - NOW.  In the early Church the early fathers exhorted the Christians to martyrdom - they taught how to prepare for martyrdom.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to criticize or complain ...

I can't stop thinking of the martyrs.  There are Christians right now in real deserts, real wilderness: desert refugee camps, arid prisons, sexual enslavement, some lost at sea attempting to flee their homeland.

We are now living in an actual passion-tide of blood...

The Libyan beach.

The New Holy Martyrs of the Coptic Church

“The blood of our Christian brothers is a witness that cries out. If they are Catholic, Orthodox, Copts, Lutherans, it is not important: They are Christians. The blood is the same: It is the blood which confesses Christ.” - Pope Francis

photo source

The Coptic Orthodox Church has announced that the murder of the 21 Egyptian Christians killed by the so-called Islamic State in Libya will be commemorated in its Church calendar.  Pope Tawadros II announced that the names of the martyrs will be inserted into the Coptic Synaxarium, the Oriental Church’s equivalent to the Roman Martyrology. This procedure is also equivalent to canonization in the Latin Church. - Vatican Radio

Below, a beautiful litany composed in memory of the new martyrs by Elizabeth Scalia:

+Holy Martyr Milad Makeen Zaky, pray for us, and for the whole world,
+Holy Martyr Abanub Ayad Atiya, pray for your ISIS murderers,
+Holy Martyr Maged Solaimain Shehata, pray for their salvation,
+Holy Martyr Yusuf Shukry Yunan, pray for the release of their all their captives,
+Holy Martyr Kirollos Shokry Fawzy, pray for all in the path of ISIS,
+Holy Martyr Bishoy Astafanus Kamel, pray for the displaced, for those made refugees by ISIS,
+Holy Martyr Somaily Astafanus Kamel, pray for the protection of our Holy Lands and our history,
+Holy Martyr Malak Ibrahim Sinweet, pray for those who act now in resistance against ISIS,
+Holy Martyr Tawadros Yusuf Tawadros, pray for those in immediate danger from forces of evil,
+Holy Martyr Girgis Milad Sinweet, pray for those infected with the virus of hatred and extremism,
+Holy Martyr Mina Fayez Aziz, pray for families being challenged, throughtout the world, by ISIS,
+Holy Martyr Hany Abdelmesih Salib, pray aid workers may draw together, unmolested, to give assistance,
+Holy Martyr Bishoy Adel Khalaf, pray for the targeted clergy and religious of the Near East churches,
+Holy Martyr Samuel Alham Wilson, pray for all people of good will, in every religion, every nation,
+Holy Martyr Whose name we do not know — you “Worker from Awr village” — pray for those in leadership, whose names we know all too well, that their motives may be purified of political intrigue, and for their salvation,
+Holy Martyr Ezat Bishri Naseef, pray for Jews, throughout the world, chosen of God and so despised,
+Holy Martyr Loqa Nagaty, pray for the “two lungs” of Christianity, East and West, to breath together,
+Holy Martyr Gaber Munir Adly, pray for the illumination of that which is All-Good,
+Holy Martyr Esam Badir Samir, pray that in beholding it, we will wish to serve it,
+Holy Martyr Malak Farag Abram, pray for the generation in power, that their egos may be put aside and their hearts might be opened to the Way, the Truth and the Life,
+Holy Martyr Sameh Salah Faruq, pray for the generations to come.

O New Martyrs, through a malevolent force as old as Eden you now number among the ancient holy ones; keep us particularly in your prayers, as once again we are focused on the mysterious lands where humanity first came into being, and into knowing, and where all will finally be revealed. Pray that we may put aside all that is irrelevant to the moment and, looking forever to the East, prepare our spirits for the engagements into which we may be called, whether we live amid these places of ancient roads and portals, or in the most modern of dwellings.

Mary, the God-bearer, pray for us,
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us,
Saint John the Forerunner, pray for us,
All Holy Men and Women, pray for us.
Amen, Amen.

Source

Is the Pope Catholic? Yes. He. Is.

Tony Gentile/Reuters

Is he the successor of Peter and Benedict XVI?  Yes.  He.  Is.

"The design of the Creator is written in nature."

VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis has strongly criticized modern theories that consider people's gender identities to exist along a spectrum, saying such theories do not "recognize the order of creation." 

Speaking of gender theory in an interview in a new book released in Italy, the pope even compares such theories to genetic manipulation and nuclear weapons. 

(H)e then says that every historical period has "Herods" that "destroy, that plot designs of death, that disfigure the face of man and woman, destroying creation." 

"Let's think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings," he continues. "Let's think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognize the order of creation." 

"With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator," the pope says. 

"The true custody of creation does not have anything to do with the ideologies that consider man like an accident, like a problem to eliminate." 

"God has placed man and woman and the summit of creation and has entrusted them with the earth," Francis says. "The design of the Creator is written in nature." - NCR

Works for me! 

Brother Paul O’Donnell, Franciscan Brothers of Peace, RIP

I was just informed Franciscan Br. Paul O'Donnell died suddenly today.  Br. Paul was the Guardian of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, a diocesan community of friars in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I found this tribute at National Right to Life:

One of the sweetest, kindest men I have ever known passed away today. I can’t imagine that it was his time but God knows these things, not me. Brother Paul was only 55 years old. He was the Superior at the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, a stalwart advocate for life throughout its spectrum, and he was my friend – for well over 25 years. He was also one of my heroes. 

Brother Paul was a founder of the Pro-Life Action Ministries and served with them still. He was a board member of the Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network, and a valiant spokesperson for life. - Jacki Ragan, NRLNews

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Is there something wrong with priestly formation in St. Paul/Minneapolis?

I thought it was almost perfect.

Seriously, I did.  Then I came across this from Fr. James Martin, S.J. - with caveats that this is one former seminarian's experience and not all formation programs are like this, so on and so on.  Fr. Martin's post led me to the Commonweal article by the former seminarian, Paul Blaschko.  To be sure, there is no scandal involved, but perhaps an odd response to all the scandals has made for an unusual approach in formation?

I don't know - I assumed, along with many others in the archdiocese that we had the best seminary in the country.  I know what my own reactions have been in leaving novitiate for religious life, as well as some jobs: I sometimes focused upon the negative culture of the place I was quitting in order to justify my decision to move on.  An unconscious attempt for self-affirmation can incline one to view everything as negative and even creepy, and to judge problems as being far worse than they were.  Oftentimes that attitude describes 'disgruntled'.  If that is the case with Blaschko's account, that's too bad.  But I wonder?

What he writes about sounds believable enough - and it doesn't come off as having been written by a disgruntled former seminarian.  As Fr. Martin wrote on his Facebook page:

But I also want to say that I have heard stories from several seminarians around the country who describe their own formation around sexuality in the way that the author describes--closed, fearful, and, frankly, unhealthy. Yes, celibacy is not the cause of sexual abuse. (More abuse happens in families.) But poor and even twisted education and formation around sexuality will inevitably lead to serious problems for the priest or religious, for his community and for those with whom he ministers. So even if this kind of formation is happening in one seminary, it is a big problem. - Fr. Martin

After recent scandals in the archdiocese, things are still far from normal.  At least everything 'feels' fairly dysfunctional at the moment, albeit under autocratic leadership.  I've never heard concerns voiced over formation at the seminary.

Inside the Seminary: Is there reason to be worried about formation? 

From 2008 through 2010, I was a seminarian in St. Paul, Minneapolis, an archdiocese now entrenched in its own abuse scandal. My experience there led me to believe that the problem of priestly sexual abuse is due, at least in part, to the failure of seminaries to provide adequate human and sexual formation to men studying for the priesthood. More specifically, my seminary formation failed to confront the questions surrounding sexual abuse in a candid and psychologically sophisticated way. I realize that my experience is limited, and that it would be unwise to generalize about seminary education from the the operations and culture of one institution. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to tell my story in the hope of calling attention to what might very well be more widespread problems.

[...]

But just a few weeks into my time at the seminary, my confidence began to waver. I recall the day when the first-year seminarians, or “new men” as we were called, gathered in the seminary’s spacious basement to attend a workshop on sexual ethics titled “Freedom and Victory.” The workshop was run by a psychologist from something called the Theology of the Body Training and Healing Center, together with a blind priest who, we were told during his introduction, had witnessed at least one Eucharistic miracle and had had extensive experience with exorcisms. The breakout sessions had titles like “Masturbation: Is it Healthy? Is it Holy?” (you can guess the answer to both questions); and at various points throughout the workshop we were invited to approach the microphone and share stories of sexual pain and healing—“if you feel called by the spirit to do so”—with the sixty or so priests and other seminarians in the room.

The whole thing felt more than a little strange to me, and for the most part I kept my head down, pretending to take notes in the workbook that had been provided. The strangeness culminated with a workshop session devoted to reenacting the “spiritual warfare” that goes on when a young man watches pornography. Each of us was given a nametag with the name of a demon on it. These demons, we were told, were the principalities most closely associated with sexual temptation. We were then gathered around the chosen man and told to hiss and curse at him, trying to entice him to “watch pornography” and “masturbate.” Afterwards, the priest came around with a coffee tin, collecting the nametags—he had to burn them, he told us, while reciting prayers of exorcism. Demonic influence wasn’t something to take lightly.

After the session, I caught up with one of the priests on staff and hesitantly expressed my doubts about the workshop. He reassured me that the formation staff knew exactly what they were doing, and encouraged me to defer to the authority of the workshop leader. - Finish reading at Commonweal

It sounds weird, doesn't it?  But maybe it's because we weren't there or don't know the program used, or ...  as one commenter asked:

I wonder how much the overworked directors of the seminary were drawn in by the credentials of the experts from the Theology of the Body Training and Healing Center, who offered to solve their problem even though their methods and agenda undermined the mission of the seminary. 

As a related question, I wonder how much overworked pastors are being drawn into pre packaged programs for youth, for couples, for men… that may not fit the parish's mission. - Steve McCluskey February 19, 2015 - 10:30pm

Discernment is a difficult process for all concerned - I doubt there is such a thing as a perfect system. 

Is smoking dope a sin?

Fr Matthew P. Schneider, LC has joined the discussion.

So first I read Fr. Z's post.  Then I read Fr. Schneider's post.

They were both informative.

I haven't smoked in years and years and years.  I liked it though.  Do I miss it?  Not really.  But I must admit I like the drugs administered whenever I've had surgery and invasive exams, and in that state I can be reminded of weed - marijuana - and I might reminisce, thinking, it might be nice if it wasn't a sin.  That's so far from perfection BTW - to be willing to do something if it wasn't a sin.

Very seriously, I don't miss it.  Would I take a hit if offered?  I don't think so.

So anyway...

The conversation about marijuana use is important and needful - especially since it is fast becoming legal for medical use as well as recreational use.  The thing about dope today is that it is so much more potent than it was way back when it was always and everywhere illegal - and therefore immoral for recreational use.

Today it is very much more potent - or so I'm told.  One hit (puff, drag, toke on a joint) just might equal a half a joint of the old stuff.  Like I said, I don't know that for sure.  The last time someone gave me a joint I hid it away for the Zombie apocalypse and never found it again.  Now that's wasted.  Back on topic: one hit might have a lot more bang for the buck - so maybe even one hit would be excessive? There is a lot we who do not use it do not know.  (Medical use is not the same as recreational use of course.  I would think it is morally acceptable, just as sedatives and pain killers when prescribed and used accordingly.)

Waiting to exhale?

I appreciate Fr. Schneider's take better than how it was discussed at Fr. Z's - not that I disagree with Fr. Z - but I'll quote Fr. Schneider instead, because his answer is more direct.

So, it seems that if it’s legal, very small amounts of marijuana would probably be morally acceptable – the side effects are similar to two beers and three cigarettes. That isn’t something I’d recommend, but it isn’t something I’d denounce someone for. However, there are two caveats. I wonder how many pot-smokers only smoke one joint. And we always need to seek what is best and not as bare minimum morality. - Fr. Schneider

Quite seriously, I don't think legalization is a good idea, except for prescribed medical use, but I don't think recreational use is an appropriate  'buzz'.  I used to mix - drink and smoke and then chain smoked regular cigarettes - and that's intense.  Fr. Schneider is correct, smokers usually smoke more than just one joint - or, as I used to do, mix substances.  The potential for more serious abuse is always there.  Likewise, habitual smoking of weed becomes another issue.  I've known people who smoked every day and were buzzed all of the time - even at work.  Most would regard that as chemical dependency or addiction.

Remember, Teresa of Avila always said, "Prayer and self-indulgence do not mix."  I say, living a devout life and dope do not mix.  You will either despise one and love the other - you can't serve God and marijuana.  You can maybe have a rock star type of holiness - you know how they always thank God at the Grammy's, but you know they're buzzed, while their private lives are not all that edifying?  I just don't think true devotion includes getting stoned.

True devotion - a holy, prayerful life - is the Christian life.  Getting 'wrecked' wrecks it.  If John of the Cross discourages seeking visions, consolations, and other mystical experiences, he would surely discourage getting high, hallucinating, and arriving at some sort of stoned-soul prayer of quiet.  It's not exactly the narrow way.

But who am I to judge?

Lawsuits and threats of lawsuits ...

You can criticize but maybe have documentation if you go around accusing people of stuff ...

If you are writing about real people online, especially when accusing Church people of heresy and subversive activities - make sure you have all your facts straight.  Have backup, links, exact quotes, footnotes, and so on.  In other words, have documentation, be able to identify your sources - and get it in writing.  Especially if you name names or call people out as this or that.  Religious people can be very litigious.  Calumny and detraction, defamation and slander, are also sins.  I may wrong, but there are canonical channels - especially for accusations of heresy and conspiracy.  The case has to be heard, reviewed and adjudicated by the appropriate canonical authority.  Good luck with that, though.

If you do get sued, you can maybe do what dioceses around the country do - just declare bankruptcy.  Kidding.


That said, it seems to me the Catholic blogosphere is turning into a sewer.


What goes around comes around.



UPDATE:  Fr. Geiger has posted on a different defamation case that has been circulating online, noting the "habitual refusal to accept personal accountability for the damaging information that has been released" on the part of bloggers:

The first point to be made is that the sources for recent the “reports,” are not responsible news outlets but bloggers, all of them, except one, are pseudonymous or anonymous. They have provided no evidence, that is, they have made purely hearsay allegations, or otherwise claimed to have “evidence” from which they have quoted excerpts without producing the document or its context. All the sources for these reports are clearly biased against the Commissioner and the Holy See and the bloggers in question are working in concert (Rorate Caeli and Correspondenza Romana, for example, regularly repeat and support each other’s reports). 

Again, no reputable news outlet has taken responsibility for such “reports.” As far as I know—at least in the English-speaking world—no responsible news outlet has even repeated these stories emerging from the blogosphere. Please consider that when real journalists publish information from anonymous sources, the reporter takes personal responsibility with his real name, and the organization attempts to confirm the information by evidential reporting of independent sources. Nothing like this has ever been attempted by these bloggers. On the contrary, as already mentioned, there is an incestuous relationship between the various bloggers and their sources, and there has also been the habitual refusal to accept personal accountability for the damaging information that has been released. - Fr. Angelo

"Brothers and Sisters, this is the state of the Catholic Internet. It is a disgrace and a scandal to the world." - Fr. Angelo

Jeannine Gramick and a group of laity from the United States were on the list of guests at the Papal Audience.

Not a big deal.

They think it was, some in the media think it was, but it was simply an ordinary audience and their 'identity' was not acknowledged.  It was not a coup de grace for the GLBTQ movement or New Ways Ministry.  All may be welcome, but all do not get papal endorsements - although I think they can get a blessing on parchment for a small offering.

I've been getting emails alerting me to this 'expected' development.  (It had been announced beforehand by the 'pilgrims'.)  I will repeat here what I wrote to one friend:

As you probably know, Cordileone recently received them as well and they talked - I think I mentioned it in a post. [Here]  I suspect he may have gotten them on the invite list as well.  They weren't personally received by the Pope - yet - at least not today.  Being listed at the audience as a group of laity accompanied by a sister doesn't mean he accepted them or acknowledged their 'cause'. They are the ones promoting their agenda with this latest publicity. It adds to the confusion of course.

Don't worry about Francis though - he won't be fooled. He knows the score.

That was my 'off the cuff' email response.  Another friend sent me a link to Joanna Bogle's take on the deal:

Snub for homosexual lobbying group... 

...in Rome today. They had wanted to be welcomed publicly and give themselves a cheer - standard procedure for any group visiting St Peter's and crowding in to one of the big Papal audiences in the vast Paul VI Hall. Instead, the nearest the group got was a mention of their geographical area - which may have meant them and may not - while at the gathering in St Peter's Square where the Pope greets pilgrims, they got no mention at all. 

Anyone can go to the gatherings in the Paul VI Hall and it's not hard to get seats near the front if you persevere. An official reads out the names of groups, and it's traditional to stand and get some applause - maybe even sing a song or call out a rousing greeting. 

Failure to get a mention is a snub - not a particularly cruel one, just evidence of a prudent concern by the papal bureaucracy to ensure that loopy groups are, as far as possible, gently avoided. 

Embarrassed, the organisers of the group contacted the media, and posed in St Peter's Square, announcing that they were greeted at the Vatican - untrue - and claiming that the Church's teaching on the wrongfulness of homosexual activity will change, which it won't.

All are welcome in the Church, lobby groups and all. But they need to be truthful: if they get invited in for tea it won't mean that Church teaching can change. As it happens, they weren't. And it won't because it can't. - Joanna Bogle - H/T Jackie

Story links: They were identified on the list of attendees only as a “group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto.”


From CNN: New Ways Ministry was recognized simply as a lay group of Catholics, not one that speaks for the LGBT community. The Vatican didn't grant members' request for a special private audience with Francis, nor did anyone acknowledge their calling out to him that "we are gay and lesbian Catholics," DeBernardo said.


So my friends - don't be upset.  Clear up misunderstandings as they arise, but 'be not afraid'.  Catholic teaching can't change.  All are welcome - all are not endorsed.  Maybe Fr. Z could have a mug struck with that?  He doesn't have to pay any royalties for it either - it's copyright free.




UPDATE: As might be expected, Deacon Kandra has the scoop here.

Archbishop Georg Ganswein, head of the papal household and the top aide to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, responded to New Ways’ request for a papal meet-and-greet by reserving tickets for the group at Francis’ weekly public audience in St. Peter’s Square. It’s not a private meeting — which is tough for anyone to get — but it’s not nothing. - DK