Category: The Church

On December 22, Pope Benedict gave an address to the Roman Curia in which he reflected on the events of the past year, which included the death of John Paul II, the interregnum, his own election, and the first year of his pontificate (including World Youth Day and the Synod on the Eucharist).

I recently read one prelate who described this address as amounting to "almost an encyclical," and I’ve read rumors that B16 has delayed the release of his first encyclical (by a couple of weeks; word is it’ll be out in the second half of January) in order to let this address sink in before hitting the Church with something new to absorb.

It really is a wide ranging address–including discussions not only of the above-mentioned topics but also the correct and incorrect interpretations of Vatican II, the relationship of the Church to science, and the Church’s social teaching–delivered with the characteristic frankness of B16.

It’s well worth your while to read, so

CHECK IT OUT.

You thought "megachurches" were a Protestant phenomenon, didn’t you? You were right, until now. In the attempt to find solutions to reported priest shortages, some dioceses have lifted an idea from their Protestant brethren and decided to form Catholic "megachurches."

"Catholic churches are joining their Protestant counterparts across the country in creating megachurches — where thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of parishioners worship together. But unlike the Protestant churches that use high-profile, evangelistic campaigns to grow, dioceses say it is too few priests and too many worshippers that drives their expansion.

"While the number of worshippers per parish nationwide has grown by nearly 35 percent in almost three decades, the number of priests dropped 26 percent, said Mary Gautier with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, which tracks U.S. Catholic Church growth patterns.

[…]

"Dioceses in the South and West — the hot spots for new jobs and suburban sprawl — are primarily the ones building larger parishes that are increasingly filled with Hispanic Catholics, many of whom are immigrants, Gautier said."

GET THE STORY.

A reader writes:

How would you respond to a deacon during a homily who said:  "If everyone were to leave this building, it would no longer be a Church–the people are the Church?

I’d say that he has a point but he’s expressing it in a rather boneheaded way.

It’s true that, THEOLOGICALLY SPEAKING, the Church of Christ is the body of people who are incorporated into Christ and that particular churches (e.g., the church of the Diocese of San Diego) are bodies of people who are incorporated into Christ and united to their bishop.

But it’s also true that Christian tradition across MULTIPLE LANGUAGES–INCLUDING LATIN–has received the usage of referring to specific buildings used by the Church as "churches" (Latin, ecclesiae).

Now, of these two uses the first is the original and more important, but human beings of normal intelligence normally have no trouble allowing words to have TWO OR MORE senses and being able to distinguish which sense is being used in what circumstance.

For an individual to pedantically insist on one usage to the exclusion of another usage that has DEEP roots in Christian tradition for his own pet theological concerns is to reject the customs and linguistic identity markers of the Christian community and MAY serve as a sign that he has a problem adhering to that community as it has traditionally understood itself.

It’s the verbal equivalent of a religious not wearing a habit, and it’s no surprise that many dissidents have highly stressed the idea of the Church as a community of people to the exclusion of other senses (e.g., church buildings, church hierarchy). Some–and I’m not accusing your deacon of being a dissident–have even banded together under the ungrammatical banner "We Are Church."

When one encounters such brazen defiance of established Christian linguistic custom, it’s enough to make one want to say, "TALK NORMAL, YA IDJIT!"

I don’t suggest that you should seriously say that to your deacon, though. If you are looking for something practical to say to him, you might try something like this:

Dear Deacon:

I was disturbed by your recent homily in which you said that "If everyone were to leave this building, it would no longer be a Church–the people are the Church."

While it is true that the original and more important meaning of the word "Church" refers to a body of people, Christian tradition has long received the usage of referring to buildings used by the Church as "churches." This is the case even in Latin. Most people have no trouble distinguishing the senses that different words have and are smart enough to handle both the idea of the Church as a people and the idea of churches as buildings.

You should be aware that when you criticize a deeply-embedded Christian usage of a term, it is quite disturbing to the faithful. Since you are rejecting the linguistic customs of the Christian community, it raises doubts in the faithful’s minds about how well you adhere to that community as it has historically understood itself.

If you don’t want to raise such doubts in the minds of the people to whom you are trying to minister, you may wish to find a way to express the fact that the Church is primarily the body of people incorporated into Christ without attacking long-held word usages of that community. After all, referring to church buildings as "churches" is part of "the Pope’s English."

What is your first reaction when you see a picture like this? Is it "It’s wonderful to see nuns in full habit having fun"? Perhaps it is "How charming!" Or maybe it’s just a smile. If these guesses are close to your first reaction, you may be surprised to hear of another gut reaction given by one Catholic:

"Dominican sisters become the last word in the decadent fashion of modern religious life."

GET THE POST.

Back in the Glory Days of the Catholic Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth century, one young nun shocked her sisters by jumping on a table and dancing while merrily clicking her castanets. What happened to this rebel sister? Was she dragged off by the Inquisition, never to be heard of again? It may surprise those shocked by the fun-loving nuns in the picture above to know that dancing nun was eventually canonized and made a Doctor of the Church.

She is known today as St. Teresa of Avila who is famous for saying "From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord deliver us."

Amen.

Though the Synod on the Eucharist is now over, another synod is now underway.

It started yesterday and will run through this Saturday.

What’s the nature of this synod?

It’s for the Chaldean Catholic Church.

The bishops of the Chaldean Church are meeting to go over a number of important matters, including the situation in Iraq, the problem of Chaldean migration out of their homeland due to tough conditions there, the inrush of Evangelicals trying to pull Chaldeans away from their faith, their own particular law for their Church, and their liturgy.

Of these, I gather from my Chaldean friends that the liturgy is topic #1. In fact, they’re looking at what is for them a very significant revision of their liturgy. Apparently their liturgy–which is still celebrated in classical Aramaic–has undergone significant change in recent decades and there is a push to re-tradtionalize it.

This is a controversial topic in the Chaldean Church, as many like the current rite and don’t want to restore the older usages. Others, of course, disagree.

I’d therefore ask your prayers for the Chaldean synod as it meets this week. The Chaldeans are a courageous and very Catholic people who have been beset by countless hardships in recent years (and, indeed, for centuries).

They have a history that stretches back to biblical times. In fact, the city of Mosul, Iraq–where many of them live–is built on the site of the biblical Nineveh, where the Prophet Jonah preached.

Please pray that their patriarch and bishops will make wise decisions this week and that their people will find relief from all the suffering they have had to endure.

MORE INFO ON THE SYNOD.

MORE INFO ON THE CHALDEAN PEOPLE.

His case for beatification has been ready for years, but he’s needed a miracle. Perhaps not enough of his fans have thought to ask him for a cure? In any event, the wait for a miracle may soon be over for John Henry Cardinal Newman, always a Venerable, not yet a Blessed.

"England could soon have its first saint since the Reformation after a miracle cure was reported in the US.

"Cardinal John Henry Newman, who founded Birmingham Oratory in 1848, is being championed as a future saint by its current provost, Father Paul Chavasse.

"A case for his beatification, the stage before sainthood, is ready but it is lacking a miracle by the cardinal.

"Claims by a Boston deacon he prayed to the cardinal and his spinal problems were cured are now being investigated.

"The claim follows 50 years of work to introduce Cardinal Newman’s cause for canonisation — a process which includes collating more than 20,000 of his letters and evidence from personal witnesses to his suitability as a saint."

GET THE STORY.

I wonder if it is a commentary on the state of the Christian faith in England that the process has taken so long, and that when a miracle came it was reported in the United States, not Great Britain. After all, a certain Nazarene of the ancient world noted that "a prophet is not without honor except in his own country" and was himself unable to perform many miracles in his own hometown because the people did not have faith (Matt. 13:57-58).

For those of you interested in relocating, did you know that there is such a thing as a Catholic community in the United States? In Arkansas, one such community is called Star of the Sea Village:

"Catholic families, singles, and retired couples have chosen to relocate from all corners of the United States to a quiet, rural setting in northeastern Arkansas. This is in a sincere attempt to leave many of the secular trappings of the world behind while embracing and encouraging one another to live their vocation in life in a way pleasing to Almighty God. You will find an eclectic mix of Catholic neighbors, spread over 1,000 acres commonly known as and dedicated to our Lady under her title ‘Star of the Sea.’

"St. Michael’s Catholic Church, located less than five miles away, offers Mass in both the English and the Traditional Latin Rite (as an apostolate of the Fraternity of St. Peter.) Common to all residents is faithfulness to the Pope, the magisterium and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Perpetual Adoration of Our Lord draws many to St. Michael’s. The chapel has been a place of perpetual prayer for the past five years.

"Families at Star of the Sea privately hold property and individual families decide the degree to which each participates in community activities. Residents become part of a much larger family. Individuals and families can gain spiritual growth through local parish programs, attending daily mass and through the reception of the sacraments. Property owners have the option of belonging to the New Entity Corporation, the corporation that owns unsold land at Star of the Sea.

"Ave Maria Hall, with adjacent tennis/basketball court and soccer field, is the common area. Community activities have included the annual May crowning of our Blessed Mother, Fourth of July parties, the August rededication ceremony to St. Philomena, and the traditional All Hallow’s Eve celebration (door-to-door ‘saintly visits’ followed by hayrides and a bonfire). Prayer, including the Holy Rosary, is a common devotion at most gatherings. Presently, community prayer is held at the Hall once a week."

Sounds like a project of which both our current Holy Father and St. Benedict of Nursia, the saint from whom Pope Benedict took his name, would approve, given that it is very much reminiscent of the Benedictine spirituality of creating Catholic communities in which the faith and the faithful can grow and flourish.

A reader writes:

Hello, I hate to be so ignorant, but what exactly is the magisterium?  I hear about it all the time and have run search engines on it, but the articles just refer to it, without an explanation.  Is it a group of writings?

First, no need to be embarrassed about the question. Asking questions is how we learn.

Second, the Magisterium is not a collecting of writings, but it’s quite understandable why you might think that. The Magisterium tends to express itself through writings much of the time, and that’s what you’re running into.

In actuality, the Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church. It’s name comes from the Latin word magister, which means "teacher."

The Magisterium is composed of the bishops of the Church teaching in union with the pope. The pope can himself exercise the teaching authority of the Church, or the bishops can do it when they teach in union with him.

If a bishop goes rogue, though, and starts teaching contrary to the pope then he isn’t exercising the Church’s teaching authority. He’s speaking on his own and not in his capacity to represent the Magisterium.

Ordinary theologians (unless they are also bishops) are not members of the Magisterium.

Neither are apologists (again, unless they are also bishops).

Not even the ones who write blogs.

 

Remember also back during the priest scandal that there was a major question about whether the Church allowed the ordination of homosexuals willing to live chastely?

Some folks were arguing that the Church forbade the ordination of homosexuals on the basis of a 1961 document. This was  bandied about vigorously by people who obviously don’t know beans about how ecclesiastical law works, but it was, unfortunately, a non-starter.

The document was released under the authority of the Sacred Congregation for Religious, meaning that it only ever had authority in religious congregations and the like (think: monks, etc.). It did not apply to diocesan priests, which are the majority of priests in the Church.

Further, as a document released back in 1961, there was a likelihood that the document had been abrogated in some way since that time. Church law has just changed too much following Vatican II, the revision of the Code of Canon Law, and the deluge of documents that have been coming from Vatican dicasteries in that time. It might still be in force, but without carefully shepherdizing the law, there would be no way to tell for sure. One can’t simply grab a 1961 document and start touting it as an authoritative statement applicable to today without doing a bunch of careful research.

So the document in question was not an adequate basis on which to show that the Church currently forbids the ordination of homosexuals willing to live chastely. One would need another document.

And then we got one.

In the November-December 2002 issue of Notitiae, the journal of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, there was a Responsum ad dubium (Latin, "response to a doubt"; basically an official Q & A) that stated: "A homosexual person, or one with a homosexual tendency, is not fit to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders."

Now, one could perhaps argue with that jurisdictionally, asking whether it was within the CDWDS’s authority to issue a dubium on that topic, suggesting that perhaps instead it should come from the Congregation for Clergy or the Pontifical Commission for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts or something, though ordination is a sacrament, and the discipline of the sacraments falls within the CDWDS’s jurisdiction.

So what might solve this kind of debate?

A more substantial document (i.e., something more than a Q & A) approved by the pope–especially if it’s approved by him in forma specifica (Latin, "in specific form"–which invests the pope’s own authority in it in a special way). That would settle the quibbling.

Well . . . there’s apparently such a document in B16’s hands right now.

GET THE STORY.

Remember the priest scandal?

Ugh! Who could forget!

What a morass of vileness on all fronts! (Among the clergy and among the media.)

Well, you may remember that one of the things that shook out of that was a Vatican decision to conduct an "apostolic visitation" of the U.S. seminaries to find out how well they are doing their job. Its purposes were:

— "To examine the criteria for admission of candidates and the programs of human formation and spiritual formation aimed at ensuring that they can faithfully live chastely for the kingdom."

— "To examine other aspects of priestly formation in the United States. Particular attention will be reserved for the intellectual formation of seminarians, to examine fidelity to the magisterium, especially in the field of moral theology, in the light of ‘Veritatis Splendor,’" Pope John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical on Catholic moral teaching.

The visitation teams are to file their reports directly to the education congregation, which will give confidential evaluations to the appropriate bishops and religious superiors. When all the reports are completed, the Vatican will be in a position to make an overall evaluation of seminary formation in the United States.

Okay, so we all remember the visitation.

Well, it’s about to start.

GET THE STORY.