Naomh An Lae - Saint Of The Day

St Ceallach (Celsus) first archbishop of Armagh (1080-1129)

A hereditary lay abbacy controlling the Church in Armagh

Ceallach (Celsus) was born in 1080. He belonged to a powerful local family, the Clann Sínaigh, which controlled what was then the hereditary lay abbacy of Armagh. 

In this system the lay coarb (that is, "successor" of some saint, in this case of St Patrick), was also erenagh (or, administrator, in this case of Armagh). 

Such was the prevailing ecclesiastical structure in Ireland at that time. 

In general bishops and priests seemed to have had little influence and were probably under the control of these lay abbots. 

In 1091 Ceallach inherited the title of coarb and was then the effective erenagh of Armagh.

Lay control in Europe being overturned

Lay control of bishoprics had also been operative in Europe, but with the reform of Pope Gregory VII (1073-85) was gradually being replaced by a diocesan structure with bishops more or less effectively in charge. 

This reform spread to England, especially when strong Norman archbishops like Lanfranc and St Anselm came to the see of Canterbury. 

In response to requests from the Norse community in Dublin, Lanfranc had consecrated Donngus and Anselm had consecrated Samuel Ó h-Ainglí as bishops for Dublin and Anselm had consecrated Malchus as the first bishop of Waterford in 1096.

Reform beginning in Munster 

Both Lanfranc and Anselm had written to the O'Brien kings of Munster, Turlough and Muircheartach, urging a change to the lay dominance of the coarb and erenagh system. 

The First Synod of Cashel (1101) presided over by King Muircheartach Ó Briain introduced this reform to Ireland. 

From the clergy side the reform was led by Maol Muire Ó Dunáin, bishop of Meath, who may have visited Rome and was appointed papal legate to Ireland by Pope Paschal II (1099-1117). 

This synod enacted decrees against lay investiture and against simony: it also laid down that no layman could be an erenagh and that no erenagh could have a wife.

Ceallach's decision

In line with this reform Ceallach of Armagh, a man of learning and piety, not yet married, made the courageous decision to become a priest.

In 1106 Maol Muire Ó Dunáin ordained him bishop, probably somewhere in Munster. 

At the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111, at which Ceallach was present, the reforms of Cashel were made nationwide and the whole country was divided into formal dioceses with Cashel and Armagh as the two archbishoprics.

Archbishop of Armagh

In the face of stern opposition, probably most of all from within his own family, Ceallach administered Armagh, whose diocesan boundaries were laid down at this time. 

As a metropolitan province, Armagh was given twelve suffragan dioceses. Dublin at this stage had a strong Norse population and was more linked with Canterbury. 

But in 1121, after Bishop Samuel Ó h-Ainglí died, Ceallach went to Dublin as the new bishop Gréne, or Gregory, was being installed.

Appoints Malachy as vicar in his absence and sends him for training

In his absence Ceallach appointed the young monk Malachy, who later succeeded him, to act as his vicar in Armagh. 

Possibly his lengthy absence in Dublin was connected to a dispute there between the Norse and Irish  factions or to his desire to assert Irish influence in that city. 

Ceallach, when he returned to Armagh in 1122, saw that Malachy had sterling qualities suitable in a bishop. 

He sent him first to Lismore where he could have contact with Benedictine influences from England and the continent. 

Ceallach continued to administer Armagh. 

When Malachy returned, Ceallach gave him the task of restoring Bangor as a monastic community and in 1124 he consecrated him as bishop of Connor.

His death and influence 

Knowing that his own family would try to regain control of Armagh when he died, Ceallach named Malachy as his successor as bishop there, sending him his crozier (bacall) in token.

In 1129 while visiting Munster, Ceallach died at Ardpatrick and was buried in Lismore at his own request. 

Malachy did indeed have difficulties establishing control as bishop. 

But he was able to have Giolla Mac Liag, abbot of Derry, installed and accepted as effective bishop and administrator of Armagh, while he himself returned to the monastery of Bangor. 

Malachy then consecrated a bishop for Connor diocese, keeping Down for himself.

Ceallach effected a crucial change

Ceallach's personal decision to become a priest and a bishop effected a crucial change in the organisation and reform of the Church in Ireland in the 12th century. 

He deserves to be better known and acknowledged.

Prayer to The Holy Spirit

 

 

Holy Spirit, be with me today.
Be my teacher, my guide, my counselor, my friend.

Fill me with your gifts, especially the gifts of
wisdom, discernment, knowledge, understanding, compassion,
love, and awe in God's presence.

In all that I think, say, and do, let it be in accordance
with your most holy and perfect will.

I ask this in Jesus' name.

AMEN.

Prayer To Saint Matthew

 

O Glorious Saint Matthew, in your Gospel you portray Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the Prophets of the Old Covenant and as the new Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant. 

Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in his Church and to follow his teachings in our lives on earth so that we may live forever with him in heaven.

Amen.

Fr. Roy Bourgeois Openly Defies the Church: Are Laicization and Expulsion Next? (Contribution)

Fr. Roy Bourgeois is a Catholic Priest who was ordained to the priesthood in 1972.  He is also a member of the Maryknoll Order.

From the beginning of his priestly ministry he worked with the poor and the oppressed. He took public and sometimes controversial stands against Latin American leaders who did not respect human dignity and seemed to have little concern for the oppressed or the poor. 

He founded the "School of the America's Watch" in 1990 to call attention to what he long maintained was American complicity in some of the very unjust activities he had dedicated his life and ministry to exposing, opposing and changing.

Up to that point, Catholics of various political persuasions could - and often did - disagree with him and his leftist political leanings. 

However, he was within his rights to engage in that work. He had not veered from Catholic teaching in so doing. 

However, all that changed on August 9, 2008 when Fr. Bourgeois chose to become a "concelebrant" and homilist at the attempted ordination to the "priesthood" of Janice Sevre-Duszynska. The attempted "ordination" occurred at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington, KY.

Fr. Bourgeois then engaged in a new crusade which involved public and direct defiance of the Holy See and a repudiation of the unbroken teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church concerning sacred ordination.  

He received a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which explained his errors with a genuine concern for his salvation.

It gave him a time period within which to recant his "belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church, or (he) will be excommunicated."

This action followed his overt, repeated, defiant and public rejection of efforts from the leadership within his own religious community to return him to full fidelity with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

His letter of response to the Holy See was defiant and dismissive. 

It was also poorly written and failed to answer the clear teaching of the Church, choosing instead to engage in polemical advocacy. 

So, by his own choice and action he incurred what is called under Canon Law a latae sententiae, or automatic, excommunication from the Church, by his own action. 

Of course, the purpose of any excommunication is remedial. It is hoped that the one who incurs it will seriously consider their action, turn back to the Lord and seek full communion with His Church.

A recent example of how that happens is Mrs. Norma Jean Coon of San Diego, California. She has been married for 47 years, raised five children, and is a Nurse with a PhD. She also participated in an attempted "ordination" to the Order of Deacon, the first of the Holy Orders of the Church, on July 22, 2007. 

She was associated with an organization calling itself "Roman Catholic Women priests" when it is not in any way associated with the Catholic Church. The good news is that, as a result of protracted prayer, on February 8, 2011, Mrs. Coon publicly renounced her membership in that group and disclaimed, in her words, "the alleged ordination publicly with apologies to those whose lives I have offended or scandalized by my actions." 

She offered a public confession and request for reconciliation with these words, "I wish to renounce the alleged ordination and publicly state that I did not act as a deacon as a part of this group except on two occasions, when I read the gospel once at mass and distributed communion once at this same mass. I withdrew from the program within two weeks of the ceremony because I realized that I had made a mistake in studying for the priesthood. I confess to the truth of Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis . I confess the authority of the Holy Father on these issues of ordination and recognize that Christ founded the ordination only for men. Formally, I relinquish all connection to the program of Roman Catholic Women Priests and I disclaim the alleged ordination publicly with apologies to those whose lives I have offended or scandalized by my actions. I ask God's blessings upon each of these folks and their families." (Norma Jean Coon, RN, MFCC, PhD , San Diego, California)

Mrs. Coon was recently welcomed home to the full communion of the Church. She joyfully announced, "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has lifted any canonical sanctions that I incurred by attempting ordination as a deacon. A letter from Bishop Robert Brom states that I may now return to the full practice of our Catholic faith. I have been very touched at the remarkable support of my actions and the prayers offered in my behalf during this trying time. I wish to thank all those who have prayed for me and for my family. The prayers and masses have been deeply appreciated. May Lent and Easter hold many blessings for you and your family."

On May 22, 1994, the Venerable John Paul II released an apostolic letter, addressed to the Bishops of the Catholic Church entitled "On Reserving Priestly Ordination to Men Alone (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis) It is a very short, succinct affirmation of the clear teaching of the Catholic Church and should be read by every Catholic - and any other Christian - who wants to understand the who, what, where and why of this entire question. There is no room for dissent, debate or disagreement on it. 

The letter ends with these words: 

"Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force.

"Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."

The arguments against this clear and authoritative teaching sometimes come from people who do not understand that the priesthood is not a job and have succumbed to the "rights" mentality of the current age. Other times they come from people who have no understanding of the sacramental nature of the Church. 

Both groups may include among them Catholics who, as in too many other areas of doctrine, have not been properly catechized. However, there are those who know the teaching and its authoritative nature but have willfully chosen to publicly dissent and lead others astray. Sadly, that has been the defiant approach taken by Fr Roy Bourgeois.

Now, the Superiors of the Maryknoll Religious community have issued Fr Roy Bourgeois a Canonical Warning of his pending expulsion from the Religious Order. 

It contained these words: "Since the September 27, 2008 letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was received we have been in communication with you via letter, and at least two meetings where you were ordered to recant your public views on the ordination of women priests and clearly told not to participate in their meetings and public events. 

You were Excommunicated Latae Senteniae reserved to the Apostolic See because after a canonical warning by the Society in 2008 you failed to recant within the stated 30 days from contumacy and disregard for the Magisterium of the Church on the matter of women's ordination (of. 1347 CIC).

"According to our documentation, you continued to speak publicly in favor of women's ordination in disobedience to the explicit instructions of your Superiors and recently participated (Feb. 12, 2011) in a panel of speakers following the showing of the film "Pink Smoke over the Vatican" at Barnard College in New York City.

"Sufficient time has now passed for you to consider the gravity of the matter. You are hereby asked one final time by the Superior General and his Council to publicly recant and accept the teaching of the Church on this serious matter concerning priestly ordination and the explicit teaching of the Church. If you fail to comply within fifteen (15) days of receipt of this first canonical warning, I will issue a second canonical warning. 

"If you fail to respond to the second canonical warning, I will proceed with dismissal by submitting evidence of your contumacy as a priest who publicly rejects the teaching of the Holy Father (C. 1371), also a priest who acted illegitimately in "communicátio in sacris"-such as  participation in an invalid ordination ceremony of a woman (C. 1384). "Concelebrating" Mass with women analogous to simulation of the Eucharist (C. 1379), giving scandal to the Christian faithful in a serious mailer over a two-year period (C.1399) and Disobedience to the instructions and warnings of your legitimate Superiors and the Apostolic See (C. 601; Mk Const. 40). The dismissal will be submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for confirmation with a request for laicization."

Source

Irish county loses last Catholic secondary school

A county in the Republic of Ireland will have no Catholic secondary school next year in a new chapter in the history of Irish education. 

Catholic school managers are worried about the decline in their numbers and say it is time to call a halt.

Co Leitrim will lose its only Catholic secondary school from September 2012, when the Fatima and Felim's, in Ballinamore, currently under the joint trusteeship of the Sisters of Mercy and the Diocese of Kilmore, become part of a new community school. 

Next September, Abbeyfeale, Limerick, loses its only Catholic secondary school when the 340-pupil St Joseph's, previously run by the Mercy Order, becomes part of a new community college.

In September 2012, the Ard Scoil Mhuire, FCJ, in Bruff, Limerick, will close.

The Department of Education and Skills has not approved any new Catholic second-level school for 20 years, a period that has also seen a decline of 109 in their overall number.

The drop is mainly a result of rationalisation, leading to the establishment of either community colleges, under the trusteeship of the local Vocational Education Committee, or community schools.

The Catholic Church acknowledges that its 92pc share of primary schools is too high and preparations are afoot to transfer some to other patron bodies, but they have been unintentionally losing ground as patrons at second level.

It is one of the issues being addressed at the annual conference of the JMB/AMCSS, the joint management body for denominational schools. 

JMB/AMCSS general secretary Ferdia Kelly said last night: "There are parts of rural Ireland and areas of major population growth on the edge of large urban centres where there is no Catholic secondary school." 

Mr Kelly said it was time for the State and Catholic community to recognise the situation that was emerging in relation to Catholic secondary schools.

Source

Assessing the Father Corapi Case

Father John Corapi of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), among the nation’s most popular Catholic evangelists, was placed on “administrative leave” following allegations of misconduct leveled against him by a former employee.

Announced on the priest’s personal website, the news shocked Catholics who have been inspired by his robust articulation of Church teaching, and his powerful personal conversion story.

He stated, “On Ash Wednesday I learned that a former employee sent a three-page letter to several bishops accusing me of everything from drug addiction to multiple sexual exploits with her and several other adult women.” 

As Internet pundits reacted to the headlines, his supporters questioned whether the formal process of investigating such claims conveyed the impression that the accused was “guilty until proven innocent.”

SOLT, as well as the relevant diocesan authorities, affirmed the Church’s guidelines for responding to allegations of clerical misconduct. But an intense debate on the Internet testified to the priest’s iconic status among Catholics who relish his homiletic gifts and charismatic persona.

Critics, including Father Corapi in the past, have argued that the present framework for dealing with such allegations is a “one-size-fits-all response” that blurs distinctions between minor infractions and criminal behavior. That said, in the wake of the recent clergy-abuse scandal in Philadelphia, the U.S. bishops have been attacked for allowing priests “credibly accused” of sexual abuses against minors to return to ministry.

While the Catholic hierarchy struggles to tighten its implementation of diocesan child-protection policies, the public reaction to the treatment accorded Father Corapi underscores the equal priority of protecting the right of accused clerics to due process.

When Father Corapi announced his leave of absence, he noted that the allegations leveled against him did not include any criminal behavior or any improprieties involving minors. 

While promising to “cooperate in the process,” he criticized Church policies designed to protect the vulnerable from clerical predators.

“There seems to no longer be the need for a complaint to be deemed ‘credible’ in order for Church authorities to pull the trigger on the Church’s procedure, which was in recent years crafted to respond to cases of the sexual abuse of minors,” Father Corapi stated in the March announcement posted on his website .

Clearly mindful of the priest’s national reputation, Church authorities stressed the presumption of innocence as the investigation moved forward.

Father Gerard Sheehan, regional priest servant of SOLT and Father Corapi’s religious superior, confirmed that he had “been placed on administrative leave from priestly ministry, in accordance to the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church.”

He referred to the allegation as “a manner unbecoming of a priest.” But Father Sheehan also noted that “this action in no way implies Father Corapi is guilty of the allegation.”

The allegations against the priest, Father Sheehan said in a March 18 statement, would be “investigated internally, and unless and until information suggests otherwise it will not be referred to civil authorities.”

In a statement, Bishop George Leo Thomas, the bishop of the Diocese of Helena, Mont., where Father Corapi resides, also underscored the importance of “due process” for the accused priest, while describing the case as a “very complex situation.”

In the statement released by the Diocese of Helena, Father John Robertson, the chancellor, clarified the priest’s status: “Father Corapi has a personal residence in Kalispell, Mont. He does not hold priestly faculties in the Diocese of Helena.”

While Church officials promised justice for the accused, many of his supporters were disturbed to learn that his upcoming public speaking events had been canceled. 

Tempers further flared when EWTN, which has long provided a forum for the popular evangelist, pulled his television and radio shows.

“We are aware that many of our supporters are disappointed in EWTN’s decision to remove Father John Corapi’s programs from the network during his administrative leave,” said Michael Warsaw, CEO of the global Catholic network and publisher of the Register, which was acquired by EWTN earlier this year.

“We can assure you that it was made with much prayer and careful discernment.”

EWTN took action, Warsaw explained, after “Father John’s own religious community placed him on administrative leave from priestly ministry.” 

Father Francis Hoffman, executive director of Relevant Radio — a radio network that broadcasts Catholic programs on 33 stations in 12 states — and a canon lawyer, said that Catholic media have a duty to support Church discipline.

“In the case of Father Corapi,” said Father Hoffman, “Catholic media outlets will assist the process by supporting the indications and intentions of his superiors with respect to his temporary suspension from the public ministry of teaching, sanctifying and governing.”

To do otherwise, Father Hoffman added, “may unintentionally undermine the authority of his superior by leading the faithful to conclude that the superior unjustly put him on ‘administrative leave’ because the allegations were not credible.”

Catholics unfamiliar with Father Corapi’s ministry may be surprised by the intensity of the debate swirling around the allegations against him. His admirers, however, view him as a source of profound inspiration and have been quick to rush to his defense.

Many Catholics know the story of his conversion and subsequent decision to enter the priesthood, after a rapid fall from grace fueled by drug addiction. 

Living on the streets and increasingly desperate, he returned to the home of his spiritually devout mother and allowed the power of the sacraments to heal his wounds.

“People love him because they feel they are listening to a man who has walked in their shoes,” said Joe Condit, the founder and chairman of CMG Booking, which once managed Father Corapi’s speaking engagements, and expects to collaborate with him in the future.

Father Corapi and Scott Hahn are the most requested Catholic speakers in North America, said Condit.

He suggested that highly effective evangelists were likely targets of the devil, “the master of confusion. We have to be very hesitant and cautious to judge without knowing 99% of the facts.”

Condit spoke of Father Corapi’s ability to draw 10,000 people to a ticketed speaking event, as the priest did last summer at a Cincinnati engagement. This year, scalpers were already asking $140 and more for seats at upcoming events.

Now those events, including one this month at Northern Illinois University Convocation Center that drew co-sponsors like Catholic Charities of the Rockford Diocese, have been canceled.

Some commentators, including Elizabeth Scalia, who blogs at Patheos.com, and Patrick Archbold and Jimmy Akin, who both blog at NCRegister.com, have suggested it’s time to take a deep breath and wait for SOLT investigators to digest the facts of the case.

But many of the priest’s most loyal supporters and colleagues are apparently finding that hard to do. Santa Cruz Media, Inc., the small production company that distributes materials featuring the priest, has vowed to continue selling his products. 

Bobbi Ruffatto, vice president of operations for Santa Cruz Media, confirmed that the company was “the owner of all of Father John Corapi’s intellectual property and the DVDs, CDs and books that flow from it. We are a secular corporation and not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way. As such, we are not under the jurisdiction of any bishop or other official in the Catholic Church, although we have the utmost respect for Church authority.”

She said that Santa Cruz Media would continue to make Father Corapi’s material “available as a service to the Church and the world for as long as we possibly can.”

Ruffatto stated that the company had “consulted with a number of canon lawyers. They have assured us that the actions of the Bishop [William Mulvey] of Corpus Christi, Texas, are, on several points of canon law, illicit.”

Her statement didn’t outline the contested points, and the reference to Bishop Mulvey was curious. While SOLT is based in that diocese, Bishop Mulvey had already acknowledged the responsibility of SOLT authorities to address the allegations against a member of the society.

Said Marty Wind, Bishop Mulvey’s spokesman, “The actions in this case were taken by the SOLT superior, and, in fact, administrative leave is provided for by canon law.”

Yet the accusation serves as a reminder that Church authorities navigate a minefield with unpredictable consequences.

“It is frustrating because the Church is criticized when we do take action, and we also are criticized when we don’t take action,” Wind said. “We have no choice but to investigate any allegations.”

Ruffatto alleges that the priest’s accuser is a former employee who, after losing her job with this office, physically assaulted her and another employee, and promised to “destroy” Father Corapi.

Her remarks echo the bitterness of many supporters of priests deemed to be unjustly accused. 

And as the Lenten season continues, the public spectacle of a beloved priest under scrutiny will likely test the faith of his devoted following.

 

Source

Irish church numbers decline but faith called still vibrant

While the Irish Catholic Church might not be as numerically strong as it was in the past, there is still a great vibrancy in Irish Catholicism, says Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

“The church is not on the way to extinction. It is carrying out a vital role in society,” he said.

“It is easy to point to areas where the church failed its people, failed society, failed its mission and, sadly, failed its most vulnerable ... but the balance of the activity of the church in Irish society is one where the message of Jesus produced goodness and care and deep reflection on the meaning of life and of society,” he said.

“Alongside its failures, the church over the years has never been absent from the most alienated sectors of society,” he added.

In the political sphere, he said, the church does not have all the answers, but Catholics “cannot simply adopt politically correct positions.

While not referring directly to the new Irish government’s plan to hold a constitutional convention to bring forward legislation on same-sex marriage, Archbishop Martin said that marriage between a man and a woman is “a fundamental good in society” and deserves protection. ”

Underlining the need for renewal in his Dublin Archdiocese — Ireland’s largest with about 1.1 million Catholics and almost 1,500 priests — he said “a renewal of structures alone would be sterile.

The great reformers of the church were saints, the archbishop said. 

Source

Spain is still a very Roman Catholic country, but times are changing

It has produced the world-conquering Jesuits, the mysteriously powerful Opus Dei and, of course, the Spanish inquisition. 

But is Spain a nation of ardent, rosary-clutching Roman Catholics?

On one level it is. 

Three-quarters of Spaniards define themselves as Catholics, with only one in 40 who follow some other religion. 

Movements such as Opus Dei and the Neocatechumenal Way (whose followers are known in Spain as kikos after founder Kiko Argüello) are popular.

Yet the country's seminaries, monasteries and nunneries are half-empty (or, in some cases, closed). 

And only 15% of Spanish Catholics attend mass every week. More than 60% rarely step foot inside a church. 

The Vatican, meanwhile, has lost the battle on attitudes to sex and contraception.

That has not stopped the church, which runs an extensive network of schools, from getting involved in politics. 

A radio station it part-owns, the Cope, is a ferocious critic of the socialist government and the faithful have been called out to protest against laws on divorce, abortion and gay marriage.

The Spanish Inquisition formally wound up its work in 1834. 

As for Opus Dei, two ministers in the conservative People's party governments between 1996 and 2004 were reportedly members. 

There are none reported in the current socialist government, unlike Tony Blair's Labour cabinet – where Ruth Kelly admitted receiving "spiritual support" from Opus Dei.

Source

2 more retired Philadelphia priests placed on leave in abuse probe

Two more priests have been placed on administrative leave by the Philadelphia Archdiocese as part of an ongoing investigation into the sexual abuse of children by clergy.

Cardinal Justin Rigali, the archbishop of Philadelphia, announced that the two unnamed priests, who are currently retired, have been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, pending a more thorough independent investigation.

That investigation is being conducted by Gina Maisto Smith, a former child abuse prosecutor in Philadelphia, and a team of experts.

"These steps are interim measures and are not in any way final determinations or judgments," Rigali said in a written statement.

Earlier this month, 21 other priests were also placed on administrative leave following a review of sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Church in Philadelphia.

Source

Pope sends Cardinal Peter Turkson to Ivory Coast

Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI has taken an initiative to broker peace in Ivory Coast by sending top Ghanaian Catholic Church clergyman, Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson to that country.

The Pope told the Associated Press that he was sending the Cardinal to Ivory Coast, “to show my solidarity and that of the universal church to the victims of the conflict, and to encourage reconciliation and peace”.

Cardinal Turkson is the head of the Vatican’s justice and peace office. The justice and peace office is responsible for promoting the church’s social teachings on justice issues, such as war, the death penalty and human rights.

Ivory Coast is at the brink of civil war following disputed elections in November 2010. Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo has refused to step down and handover power to Alasane Ouattara who is believed by the international community to have won the elections.

Meanwhile, the BBC citing residents, reports that forces loyal to Ouattara, have captured the administrative capital Yamoussoukro, indicating that fighting erupted when they later entered the key port of San Pedro on their advance from the north against incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo.

According to the UN, one million people have fled the violence – mostly from the main city Abidjan – and at least 462 people have been killed since December.

International institutions and some countries have imposed economic and travel bans on the Gbagbo faction, and the West African sub-regional grouping ECOWAS has even threatened to remove President Gbagbo by military force.

Born in 1948, Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson is the first Ghanaian to be appointed Cardinal on October 21, 2003.

He has been the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference in Ghana since 1992. He is also the Chancellor of the Catholic University College of Ghana and the Archbishop of Cape Coast in Ghana’s Central Region. 

He was ordained priest on July 20, 1975; appointed Archbishop on November 21, 1992 and consecrated on March 27, 1993.

Source

French Catholic church has 700 million euros a year

The Catholic Church in France has 700 million euros worth of assets at its disposal every year, but this wealth is unevenly spread around its parishes, according to a report in  the Catholic newspaper La Croix.

French dioceses are not allowed to receive any subsidy from the state, under the strict rules of one of the fundamental laws of the French Republic, the 1905 law on the separation of state and religion. 

But as local authorities own most old church buildings in France, they pay for their maintenance.

The French Catholic church owns some 3,000 churches built after the 1905 law, and nearly 50,000 other buildings such as presbyteries and social centres. 

It collects around 23 million euros per year in rent from a small number of other properties.

But the main sources of revenue for the church in France are tax covenants, weekly collections, and money received in wills and testaments.

And, while the Paris diocese has 20.50 euros per head of the population, neighbouring Saint Denis gets only 2.50 euros per head.

 

The richest dioceses are in the parts of France which are traditionally most Catholic, such as the centre, the west and Savoie in the Alps.

Source

Ukrainian archbishop says he was chosen 'despite age' to promote unity

The new head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, its youngest bishop, said he believes the other bishops elected him to promote unity within the church and with other Christians.

The 40-year-old Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, visiting Rome to meet Pope Benedict XVI, told Catholic News Service he believes he was elected "despite my age."

Ukrainian bishops from around the world, who met in a synod in late March to elect a new major archbishop for their church, were looking for a leader who could "unite the church in Ukraine and outside Ukraine," who could "promote the unity of Christians in Ukraine and establish some sort of dialogue with the new Ukrainian government," he told CNS March 30 at the Ukrainian church office in Rome.

Archbishop Shevchuk said the suffering -- including imprisonment and martyrdom -- endured by Ukrainian Catholics under the Soviet regime from 1946 to 1989 "was a sacrifice for communion with the See of Peter" and the Catholic Church.

In 1946, the Soviet government dissolved the Ukrainian Catholic Church by forcibly uniting it with the Russian Orthodox Church. But for more than 40 years, Ukrainian Catholics continued to live and to worship clandestinely.

Archbishop Shevchuk said there are tensions between generations of Ukrainian Catholics over relations with the Orthodox, considering the fact that older Catholics risked their freedom and even their lives to remain Catholic.

But, he said, people seem excited by his election, "and I think this is the work of the Holy Spirit, which is the spirit of unity. And that's why I was so courageous to open my arms to the Orthodox without fear and with great assurance that my church, which I represent, is an open church."

While the majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox, they are divided into three churches: one in communion with the Russian Orthodox Church, one with a patriarch in Kiev and the third known as the Autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

All three Orthodox communities sent bishops to Archbishop Shevchuk's enthronement, or installation, liturgy March 27.

"For Eastern Christians, liturgy is the main expression of doctrine and of the life of the church. When we were chanting the creed, I approached each of them saying, 'Christ is among us' -- that is the liturgical greeting -- and each of them responded, 'Yes, he is and will be,'" the archbishop said.

With the exchange of greetings in such a solemn setting, "maybe we started a new moment in our relationship and I hope this new openness in the dialogue will grow," he said.

Archbishop Shevchuk, who was born in Ukraine and entered the seminary after the Ukrainian Catholic Church won its right to live freely, was the apostolic administrator of a Ukrainian diocese in Argentina at the time of his election.

Being so far from home and from the headquarters of his church, he said he kept in touch and up-to-date through the Internet and the church's website.

He has a Blackberry phone, but no Facebook page. He said that as major archbishop he plans to continue developing a media strategy for his church because communications is key to promoting unity.

Speaking to reporters immediately after a private meeting with the pope March 31, Archbishop Shevchuk said the purpose of the meeting was to express his communion with the pope and to thank him. "Confirming the election of such a young bishop is a sign of great trust," he said.

For decades, the heads of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and many of its faithful have been calling on the Vatican to give the major archbishop the title "patriarch" -- a title that recognizes the holder as the father of a self-governing church and a title which would place him on par with the heads of the Orthodox churches.

Archbishop Shevchuk said that while having the title is important recognition of the maturity of an Eastern church like his, convincing the pope to grant the title is not his first priority.

"The No. 1 priority for each head of a church is evangelization, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in today's world," he said. "Of course, our church is growing, is developing its structures ... but we are conscious that the decision about the patriarchate belongs to the Holy Father and we would never press him. We respect his freedom."

Archbishop Shevchuk also said his age is not really so shocking when one considers the fact that the average age of his priests is about 35.

"In our tradition, we do have a married clergy, but a married clergy is not the main reason we have so many young priests," he said.

The large number of priests in their 30s and 40s today is the result of young people looking for strong values when communism fell apart 20 years ago and finding those values in the church, the archbishop said.

Religious orders, which accept only candidates willing to embrace celibacy, were just as full as the seminaries, which accept married men, he said.

"The possibility of being a married priest is not the main cause of an increase or decrease in vocations to the priesthood because this vocation comes from God," he said.

 

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Catholic bishops slam book by theologian nun

According to a statement from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, a book by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson - a professor of theology at New York's Fordham University, does "not recognize divine revelation as the standard for Catholic theology." 

She is the author of Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God, which according to the bishops "distorts Catholic concept of God" and "differs from authentic Catholic teaching on essential points."
 
The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine authorized a statement March 24, critiquing Sister Johnson, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, New York.

In the statement, the Committee asserts that the “basic problem with Quest for the Living God as a work of Catholic theology is that the book does not take the faith of the Church as its starting point. 

Instead, the author employs standards from outside the faith to criticize and to revise in a radical fashion the conception of God revealed in Scripture and taught by the Magisterium.”

The statement notes that Sister Johnson attempts to justify her revisions of traditional Catholic theology by arguing that this tradition has become contaminated by ideas from Enlightenment thinkers, who are responsible for the conception of God in what she calls “modern theism.”

“Against the contamination of Christian theology after the Enlightenment by modern theism, Sr. Johnson claims to be retrieving fundamental insights from patristic and medieval theology. As we have seen, however, this is misleading, since under the guise of criticizing modern theism she criticizes crucial aspects of patristic and medieval theology, aspects that have become central elements of the Catholic theological tradition confirmed by magisterial teaching,”the statement says.

The Committee contrasts Sister Johnson's assertion that the Church's names for God are metaphors that do not apply to the reality of God with the traditional Catholic understanding.  

The Church teaches, based on patristic and medieval theology, that certain names truly apply to God by analogy and are not merely metaphors.

“While Sr. Johnson is well within the Catholic theological tradition when she maintains that human language is never adequate to express the reality of God, she departs from that tradition when she makes the more radical claim that human language does not attain to the reality of God,”the statement says.

The Committee also criticizes her characterization of the Church's names for God as humanly-constructed metaphors that can be replaced by novel human constructions that are intended to help transform society in a positive way by promoting the socio-political status of women.

“What is lacking in the whole of this discussion is any sense of the essential centrality of divine revelation as the basis of Christian theology,” the statement says. 

“The names of God found in the Scriptures are not mere human creations that can be replaced by others that we may find more suitable according to our own human judgment.  The standard by which all theological assertions must be judged is that provided by divine revelation, not by unaided human understanding."

The committee issued the statement because of the book's unacceptable departures from the Catholic theological tradition and "the fact that the book is directed primarily to an audience of non-specialist readers and is being used as a textbook for study of the doctrine of God."

”For these reasons …the Committee on Doctrine finds itself obligated to state publicly that the doctrine of God presented in Quest for the Living God does not accord with authentic Catholic teaching on essential points,”the statement says. 

The full statement is available online at http://www.usccb.org/doctrine/statement-quest-for-the-living-god-2011-03-24.pdf

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington offered introductory remarks on the committee’s action, March 30, when the statement became public and referred to a canon law concerning use of the imprimatur.

Said Cardinal Wuerl, “The Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine is first and foremost concerned about the spiritual welfare of those students using this book who may be led to assume that its content is authentic Catholic teaching,” he said. 

“Although an imprimatur is not required for all books that treat Sacred Scripture and theology, it is still a recommended practice (see c. 827 §3).  By seeking an imprimatur, the author has the opportunity to engage in dialogue with the bishop concerning the Catholic teaching expressed in the book. Thus, clarifications concerning the text can be made prior to its publication. It would have been helpful if Sister Elizabeth Johnson had taken advantage of this opportunity.”  

He added that “The Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine is always open to dialogue with theologians and would welcome an opportunity to discuss Sister Elizabeth’s writings with her.”
 

Cardinal Wuerl’s introductory remarks are available online at www.usccb.org/doctrine/statement-quest-for-the-living-god-remarks-2011-03-30.pdf.

Sister Johnson is a Distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University, an institution founded by the Jesuits. A former president of the Catholic Theological Society of American and the Ecumenical Theological Society, she also serves on the editorial boards of the journals Theological Studies, Horizons: Journal of the College Theology Society and Theoforum. She is the author of Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology (1990), Women, Earth and Creator Spirit, (1993) Friends of God and Prophets (1998), She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (2002),  Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints (2003). 

She has won several awards for her publications, including the John Courtney Murray Award -CTSA (2004), The Yves Congar Award in Theology, Barry University (2008) and the Sophia Award, Washington Theological Union (2009). 

She serves as a theologian on the national Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue, as a consultant to the Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Women in Church and Society, and as a theologian on the Vatican-sponsored dialogue between science and religion and the study of Christ and the world religions. 

She is also a committee member of the Common Ground Initiative started by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin to reconcile polarized groups in the church.

 Quest for the Living God was copyrighted in 2007 and published by Continuum. The  USCCB Committee on Doctrine includes Cardinal Wuerl, chairman; Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio; Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, O.S.B., of Indianapolis; Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles; Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut; Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts; Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana; Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey; and Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit.

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Surge in Satanism sparks rise in demand for exorcists, says Catholic Church

A surge in Satanism fuelled by the internet has led to a sharp rise in the demand for exorcists, the Roman Catholic Church has warned.

The web has made it easier than ever before to access information on Devil-worshipping and the occult, experts said.

Exorcism is the subject of a six-day conference being held this week at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome, which is under the Vatican's authority.

"The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism," said Carlo Climati, a member of the university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.

"In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It's to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It's to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile," said Mr Climati.

The object of seminars was to scrutinise the phenomenon of Satanism with "seriousness and scientific rigour", avoiding a "superficial or sensational approach", he said.

The conference in Rome has brought together more than 60 Catholic clergy as well as doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and youth workers to discuss how to combat the dangers of Devil-worship.

Organisers say the rise of Satanism has been dangerously underestimated in recent years.

"There's been a revival," said Gabriele Nanni, a former exorcist and another speaker at the course.

In theory, any priest can perform an exorcism – a rite involving prayers to drive the Devil out of the person said to be possessed.

But Vatican officials said three years ago that parish priests should call in professional exorcists if they suspect one of their parishioners needs purging of evil.

An exorcist should be called when "the moral certainty has been reached that the person is possessed", said Father Nanni, a member of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

That could be indicated by radical and disturbing changes in the person's behaviour and voice, or an ability to garble in foreign languages or nonsensical gibberish.

While the number of genuine cases of possession by the Devil remained relatively small, "we must be on guard because occult and Satanist practices are spreading a great deal, in part with the help of the internet and new technologies that make it easier to access these rituals," he said.

The Vatican's chief exorcist claimed last year that the Devil lurked in the Vatican, the very heart of the Catholic Church.

Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.

He claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See. 

He said Pope Benedict XVI believed "wholeheartedly" in the practice of exorcism.

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Catholic priest quits after fathering child

A priest in Inverness has quit the church to be with the mother of his child.

Father Piotr Koczorowski shocked the local congregation with the revelation. 

He suddenly left St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in the Highland Capital on December 18 last year.

Rumours quickly spread that the Polish-born 36-year-old quit after falling for a woman who went on to have his child. 

Now the Scottish Catholic Church has confirmed the news.

A spokesman for the Aberdeen Diocese said Father Koczorowski met with Bishop Peter Moran and he now plans to leave the priesthood to concentrate on his parental responsibilities and confirmed he resigned because he was to become a father.

The identity of the pregnant woman is unknown at this stage and it is not clear if they are still in Inverness or not.

Father Koczorowski shot to fame three years ago for entertaining church-goers across the country with his rock band of priests. 

The revelation has been hard to take for leaders of the local Polish community.

The Scottish Catholic Church will take no further action because Father Koczorowski is still technically under the jurisdiction of his Polish Diocese.

 

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