Category: +Religion

R.I.P.: Pope Shenouda III

I was sad to receive a message on Facebook with a link to a story about the passing of Pope Shenouda III. The inquirer wanted some clarification regarding the use of the term “pope” in this context, and I’ll be happy to provide that. I want first of all to express my condolences to anyone in the Coptic Christian community who may read this.

HERE IS THE STORY ABOUT HIS PASSING AT THE AGE OF EIGHTY EIGHT.

For those who haven’t encountered mention of him before, Pope Shenouda was the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which is the main Christian church in Egypt. It is not a Catholic church, but it is very close to the Catholic church in doctrine and outlook. In recent times there have been significant steps toward restoring full Christian unity, and Pope Shenouda was a leader in that effort.

HERE IS HIS WIKIPEDIA BIOGRAPHY.

Although full communion has not yet been achieved, one of the notable steps taken during Shenouda III’s reign as a 1973 joint declaration which he signed with Pope Paul VI.

IT IS ON THE VATICAN’S WEB SITE HERE.

This decree is so significant because in it the leaders of the two churches profess a common faith in the doctrine of Christ, which had previously been a source of division. After the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451, the two churches articulated their faith in Christ differently, with Coptic Christians frequently be characterized as “monophysites,” meaning that they understood Christ to have only one nature rather than two distinct but inseparably united divine and human natures. (More on monophysistism here.)

More recent discussions, however, led the two churches to conclude that, although they historically articulated the doctrine of Christ using different language, today they are able to make a common confession, which the document expressed in the following terms:

In accordance with our apostolic traditions transmitted to our Churches and preserved therein, and in conformity with the early three ecumenical councils, we confess one faith in the One Triune God, the divinity of the Only Begotten Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Word of God, the effulgence of His glory and the express image of His substance, who for us was incarnate, assuming for Himself a real body with a rational soul, and who shared with us our humanity but without sin. We confess that our Lord and God and Saviour and King of us all, Jesus Christ, is perfect God with respect to His Divinity, perfect man with respect to His humanity. In Him His divinity is united with His humanity in a real, perfect union without mingling, without commixtion, without confusion, without alteration, without division, without separation. His divinity did not separate from His humanity for an instant, not for the twinkling of an eye. He who is God eternal and invisible became visible in the flesh, and took upon Himself the form of a servant. In Him are preserved all the properties of the divinity and all the properties of the humanity, together in a real, perfect, indivisible and inseparable union.

Now, about the term “pope.” This term is based on the Latin and Greek word for “father,” which is pater. It’s pronounced and spelled a little differently in the two langauges, but that’s the term.

Based on the example of the apostles, who in their writings describe themselves as the spiritual fathers of those in their flocks, who they also describe as their children (St. Paul and St. John do this repeatedly), it has been natural for the term “father” to be applied to Christian leaders, with due reverence for the unique Fatherhood of God.

Today in many parts of the world, priests are often called “Father,” but in early times it was common to use this title for higher religious leaders, which is how the bishop of Rome became called “pope” in the first place.

The title was not unique to him, though, and it was also used for certain other leaders, including the patriarch of Alexandria, which is what Pope Shenouda was.

In this case the term “pope” does not mean “successor of St. Peter.” Alexandria is known as the see of St. Mark, who founded it, and the Coptic pope is regarded as the successor of St. Mark.

The head of the Coptic Orthodox Church thus is not a pope in the same way that the head of the Catholic Church is, and his title does not imply that he is. It’s the same word, but it’s being used in a different way, with a different meaning.

This is why official Catholic documents use the title “pope” for the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria. It isn’t attributing to him the idea that he’s the successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome, or the head of the Church on earth. It’s simply a use of the term “pope” that has been retained from a time before this term became associated exclusively with the bishop of Rome in the popular mind.

Thus the joint declaration between Paul VI and Shenouda III is titled “COMMON DECLARATION OF POPE PAUL VI AND OF THE POPE OF ALEXANDRIA SHENOUDA III,” and it begins by saying:

Paul VI, bishop of Rome and Pope of the Catholic Church, and Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark, give thanks in the Holy Spirit to God that, after the great event of the return of relics of St. Mark to Egypt, relations have further developed between the Churches of Rome and Alexandria so that they have now been able to meet personally together.

While it’s natural for westerners to be a bit startled by the use of this title given their experience of it, they need not be concerned that it is being used in the same sense that they are familiar with. It’s not, and in fact the Holy See itself uses the term this way.

In fact, within a day or two it is certain that the Holy See will issue a communique expressing Pope Benedict’s condolences on the passing of Pope Shenouda.

Ah, I was right. Before hitting “Publish,” I checked the Vatican’s news site and found this statement already online:

Press Office Statement on the death of Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria

The Catholic Church shares in the grief and prayers of Coptic Christians in mourning the loss of their spiritual leader, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria. Pope Benedict XVI was informed of the news and he is united spiritually with prayers of suffrage. We will never forget the meeting of Pope Shenouda in Cairo with Pope John Paul II during his pilgrimage to Mount Sinai during the Great Jubilee. The occasion marked a high moment in dialogue and fellowship witnessing to our common faith in Christ. May the Lord welcome this great shepherd and give him the reward he deserves for his service.

Fr. Federico Lombardi, Director of the Holy See Press Office

The Weekly Benedict: March 17, 2012

Okay, it wasn’t weekly this time (been busy), but here are this week’s items for The Weekly Benedict (subscribe here; get as an eBook for your Kindle, iPod, iPad, Nook, or other eBook reader):

ANGELUS: Angelus, 19 February 2012

ANGELUS: Angelus, 26 February 2012

ANGELUS: Angelus, 4 March 2012

ANGELUS: Angelus, 11 March 2012

AUDIENCE: 22 February 2012, Ash Wednesday

AUDIENCE: 7 March 2012

HOMILY: 22 February 2012: “Statio” and Penitential Procession – Holy Mass, Blessing and Imposition of the Ashes

HOMILY: 4 March 2012: Holy Mass at the Roman Parish of St John Baptist de La Salle at Torrino

HOMILY: 10 March 2012: Vespers on the occasion of the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury

LETTER: Letter to Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Preacher of the Lenten Spiritual Exercises (March 3, 2012)

MESSAGE: Message to participants in the international conference “Jesus, Our Contemporary” [Rome, 9-11 February 2012] (February 9, 2012)

MESSAGE: Message on the occasion of the Brotherhood Campaign in Brazil (February 11, 2012)

SPEECH: Meeting with the Parish Priests of the Diocese of Rome(February 23, 2012)

SPEECH: To a Delegation from St. Peter’s Circle (February 24,  2012)

SPEECH: To participants in the General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life (February 25, 2012)

SPEECH: Address at the conclusion of the annual Lenten retreat held for the Roman Curia (March 3, 2012)

SPEECH: Pastoral Visit at the Roman Parish of St John Baptist de La Salle at Torrino (March 4, 2012)

SPEECH: To the Bishops of the United States of America from Region VIII on their ad Limina Visit (March 9, 2012)

 

The Church Year: Mar. 17, 2012

Today is Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.

 

Saints & Celebrations:

On March 17, in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Patrick, apostle of Ireland, bishop and confessor, who died in A.D. 464. In the Ordinary Form, it is an optional memorial, and in the Extraordinary Form, it is a Class III day.

If you’d like to learn more about St. Patrick, you can click here.

 

Readings:

To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.

Or you can click play to listen to them:

 

Devotional Information:

We continue our series on St. Joseph. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:

221. The person and role of St. Joseph is frequently celebrated in the Liturgy, especially in connection with nativity and infancy of Christ: during Advent; Christmastide, especially the feast of the Holy Family, on the Solemnity of St. Joseph (19 March), and on his memorial (1 May).

St. Joseph is also mentioned in the Communicantes of the Roman Canon and in the Litany of the Saints. The invocation of the Holy Patriarch is suggested in theCommendation of the Dying, as well as the community’s prayer that the souls of the dead, having left this world, may “be taken to the peace of the new and eternal Jerusalem, and be with Mary, the Mother of God, St. Joseph, and all of the Angels and Saints.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Obama Administration Partially Caves on Abortion/Contraception Mandate

From the National Catholic *Reporter* (not Register):

Taking a conciliatory tone and asking for a wide range of public comment, the Obama administration announced this afternoon new accommodations on a controversial mandate requiring contraceptive coverage in health care plans.

Coming after a month of continued opposition from the U.S. bishops to the mandate, which was first revised in early February to exempt certain religious organizations, today’s announced changes from the Department of Health and Human Services make a number of concessions, including allowing religious organizations that self-insure to be made exempt.

Also raised is the possibility that the definition given for religious employers in the original mandate could be changed.

. . .

News of the changes also came as a separate ruling on student health insurance coverage was announced by the Department of Health and Human Services this afternoon. Under that ruling, health care plans for students would be treated like those of employees of colleges and universities — meaning the colleges will have to provide contraceptive services to students without co-pay.

Religiously affiliated colleges and universities, however, would be shielded from this ruling, according to a statement from the HHS.

“In the same way that religious colleges and universities will not have to pay, arrange or refer for contraceptive coverage for their employees, they will not have to do so for their students who will get such coverage directly and separately from their insurer,” the statement said.

KEEP READING.

The Church Year: Mar. 16, 2012

Today is Friday of the 3rd week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.

 

Saints & Celebrations:

On March 16, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.

There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.

For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.

 

Readings:

To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.

Or you can click play to listen to them:

 

Devotional Information:

We continue our series on St. Joseph. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:

220. Popular piety has grasped the significance, importance and universality of the patronage of St. Joseph “to whose care God entrusted the beginning of our redemption”, “and his most valuable treasures.” The following have been entrusted to the patronage of St. Joseph: the entire Church was placed under the patronage and protection of this Holy patriarch by the Blessed Pius IX; those who are consecrated to God by celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Mt 19, 12): “in St Joseph they have […] a type and a protector of chaste integrity”; workers and craftsmen, for whom the carpenter of Nazareth is a singular model; the dying, since pious tradition holds that he was assisted by Mary and Jesus in his last agony.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Church Year: Mar. 15, 2012

Today is Thursday of the 3rd week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.

 

Saints & Celebrations:

On March 15, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.

There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.

For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.

 

Readings:

To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.

Or you can click play to listen to them:

 

Devotional Information:

We continue our series on St. Joseph. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:

219. The virtues of St. Joseph have been the object of ecclesial reflection down through the centuries, especially the more recent centuries. Among those virtues the following stand out: faith, with which he fully accepted God’s salvific plan; prompt and silent obedience to the will of God; love for and fulfillment of the law, true piety, fortitude in time of trial; chaste love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, a dutiful exercise of his paternal authority, and fruitful reticence.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Church Year: Mar. 14, 2012

Today is Wednesday of the 3rd week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.

 

Saints & Celebrations:

On March 14, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.

There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.

For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.

 

Readings:

To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.

Or you can click play to listen to them:

 

Devotional Information:

We are coming up on the solemnity of St. Joseph. Let us take the occasion to begin a series on devotion to St. Joseph. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:

St. Joseph

218. In activating His plan of salvation, God, in His sapient providence, assigned to Joseph of Nazareth, “the just man” (cf. Mt 1, 19), and spouse of the Virgin Mary (cf. ibid; Lk 1, 27), a particularly important mission: legally to insert Jesus Christ into the line of David from whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be born, and to act as his father and guardian.

In virtue of this mission, St. Joseph features in the mysteries of the infancy of Jesus: God revealed to him that Jesus had been conceived by the Holy Spirit; (cf. Mt 1,20-21); he witnessed the birth of Christ in Bethlehem (cf. Lk 2, 6-7), the adoration of the shepherds (cf. Lk 2, 15-16), the adoration of the Magi (cf. Mt 2, 11); he fulfilled his mission religiously with regard to the rearing of Christ, having had him circumcised according to the discipline of the Covenant of Abraham (Lk 2, 21) and in giving him the name of Jesus ( Mt 1, 21); in accordance with the Law of the Lord, he presented Christ in the Temple and made the offering prescribed for the poor (cf. Lk 2,22-24; Ex 13, 2. 12-13), and listened in wonder to the prophecy of Simeon (cf Lk 2, 25-33); he protected the Mother of Christ and her Son from the persecution of Herod by taking them to Egypt (cf. Mt 2, 13-23); together with Mary and Jesus, he went every year to Jerusalem for the Passover, and was distraught at having lost the twelve year old Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2, 43-50); he lived in Nazareth and exercised paternal authority over Jesus who was submissive to him (Lk 2, 51); he instructed Jesus in the law and in the craft of carpentry.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Was Jesus UGLY?

A high school theology teacher writes:

I had a student ask me quite blunty “was Jesus ugly?” He cited some early Fathers quoting Isaiah 53:2, and gave me several other sources that expanded on this topic as well. From what I understand and have read, the verse from Isaiah seems to (me anyways) point towards Jesus at his Passion and Death – the Suffering Servant. Am I on the right track or have you heard anything on this?

Let’s start by looking at the text in question. It is part of the fourth “Servant Song” in Isaiah, which runs from 52:13-53:12. Here’s the verse in context:

Isaiah 52:13–53:12

13 Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. 14 As many were astonished at him— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men— 15 so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have not heard they shall understand.

1 Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand; 11 he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

There are several things that can be said here.

One is that we have to be a bit careful when looking at Messianic passages in the Old Testament and applying them directly to Jesus. It is clear that there are multiple passages in the Old Testament that point forward to Christ, but they do not all do so in a way that allows us to take every detail of the original text and apply it directly to Jesus.

KEEP READING.

The Church Year: Mar. 13, 2012

Today is Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.

 

Saints & Celebrations:

On March 13, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.

There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.

For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.

 

Readings:

To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.

Or you can click play to listen to them:

 

Devotional Information:

According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:

69. Equally important subjects of popular piety are the confraternities and other pious associations of the faithful. In addition to their charitable and social endeavours, they have an institutional commitment to foster Christian devotion, in relation to the Trinity, to Christ in his mysteries, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the Angels and Saints, in relation to the Beati, and in promoting suffrage for the souls of the faithful departed.

The Confraternities often observe, side by side with the liturgical calendar, their own proper calendars which indicate particular feasts, offices, novenas, setptenaria, tridua, penitential days, processions, pilgrimages, and those days on which specific works of mercy are to be done. They also have their own devotional books and insignia such as medals, habits, cinctures, and even their own places of worship and cemeteries.

The Church recognizes the confraternities and grants juridical personality to them, approves their statutes and fosters their [ritual] ends and activities. They should, however, avoid conflict and isolation by prudent involvement in parochial and diocesan life.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Church Year: Mar. 12, 2012

Today is Monday of the 3rd week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.

 

Saints & Celebrations:

On March 12, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.

In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Gregory the Great (Gregory I), OSB, pope, confessor, and doctor of the Church, who died in A.D. 604. It is a Class III day.

If you’d like to learn more about St. Gregory, you can click here.

For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.

 

Readings:

To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.

Or you can click play to listen to them:

 

Devotional Information:

According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:

68. Pope John Paul II has shown how the family can be a subject of popular piety. The exhortation Familiaris Consortio, having praised the family as the domestic sanctuary of the Church, emphasizes that “as preparation for worship celebrated in church, and as its prolongation in the home, the Christian family makes use of prayer, which presents a variety of forms. While this variety testifies to the extraordinary riches with which the Spirit vivifies Christian prayer, it serves also the various needs and life situations of those who turn to the Lord in prayer.” It also observes that “apart from morning and evening prayers, certain prayers are to be expressly encouraged,[…] such as reading and meditating on the word of God, preparation for the reception of the sacraments, devotion and consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the various forms of the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grace before and after meals, and observance of popular devotions.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download