Litany Of The Most Precious Blood

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy

Christ, have mercy
Christ, have mercy

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy

Christ, hear us
Christ, hear us

Christ, graciously hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us

God the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us

God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us

God, the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us

Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us 

Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the eternal Father,
save us
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word or God,
save us
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
save us
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in Agony,
save us
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
save us
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
save us
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
save us
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation,
save us
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
save us
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
save us
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
save us
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
save us
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs,
save us
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors,
save us
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins,
save us
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
save us
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
save us
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow,
save us
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
save us
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
save us
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
save us
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life,
save us
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory,
save us
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
save us
 
Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord

Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord

Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us, O Lord
 
V. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.
R. And made us, for our God, a kingdom.

Almighty and eternal God,
Thou hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son
the Redeemer of the world and willed to be appeased by his blood.
Grant, we beg of Thee,
that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation
and through its power
be safeguarded from the evils of the present life
so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven.
Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Naomh An Lae - Saint Of The Day

St Oliver Plunkett (1625-81) 

Saint Oliver Plunkett was the last person to be condemned to death and martyred for the Catholic faith in England in 1681.

His uncle Patrick

Oliver was born into an aristocratic Norman family at Loughcrew, Oldcastle, Co Meath. 

The first great formative influence on him was his uncle Patrick, a Cistercian monk, who was Abbot of St Mary's in Dublin and then became bishop of Ardagh at first and later still of Meath. 

Oliver was sent to his uncle for his education and he always spoke of him with great respect and affection.

Career in Rome

In 1646 along with John Brennan from Kilkenny (a life-long friend and later archbishop of Cashel) Oliver accompanied Father Peter Scarampi - who had been sent by the Pope as an envoy to the Confederation of Kilkenny - on his journey back to Rome. 

Due to delays and robbery, it proved a difficult journey that took almost a year. 

Oliver grew to love Rome and by the time he was ordained priest in 1654, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland was well under way. Since it would have been difficult for him to return in those circumstances, he requested and was granted permission to remain in Rome. 

He becaming professor of theology at Propaganda Fide College (1657) and was also the agent or representative of the Irish bishops in Rome. 

When in 1669 he was appointed archbishop of Armagh, his uncle Patrick Plunkett was the only active Catholic bishop remaining in Ireland.

Strenuous pastoral efforts 

Oliver's return was difficult. 

The people had faith but lacked instruction and organisation. 

The priests of Armagh diocese resented the imposition on them of an "outsider" from Meath. 

In the absence of bishops, the priests had lost their discipline, and there were rivalries among religious and between them and the secular clergy. 

There were divisions among Catholics - between native Irish and Anglo-Irish. And his flamboyant and touchy colleague archbishop of Dublin, Peter Talbot, contested Oliver’s precedence and the primacy of Armagh over Dublin.

In the first three years Oliver worked diligently to restore discipline. He established a school staffed by Jesuits in Drogheda for the education of young men and clergy. 

He pleaded for places in Rome for others, and travelled widely - often in disguise - confirming and instructing the people and promoting peace.

Choice to stay with his flock

But in 1673 the revelation that the Duke of York, the King's brother and heir to the throne, had been a Catholic for years caused a storm in parliament and forced the tightening of the penal laws against Catholics in England and Ireland. 

This led to the closing down of the school at Drogheda. 

By law Oliver should have registered with the authorities and waited for a ship to deport him, but he took a decision not to desert his flock and went into hiding. 

He weathered this crisis and continued his pastoral work as best he could, continually keeping in touch with Rome through letters to the Internuncio in Brussels.

The so-called “Popish Plot”

But in 1678 an ex-Jesuit student Titus Oates fabricated his infamous "plot": according to this the King (Charles) was to be murdered and his Catholic brother James was to be put on the throne; in Ireland a Catholic army supported by the Pope and France was alleged to be ready to rise in rebellion. Oliver again had to go into hiding. 

In December 1679 he was arrested and imprisoned in Dublin Castle - in the next cell to Archbishop Peter Talbot of Dublin who had also been implicated in the plot. 

Talbot was quite ill and distressed and Plunkett forced his way in to him to console him and 

give him absolution before he died.

Gradual realisation

Only gradually did Oliver realise that he was being framed as the prime mover of the Irish branch of the Popish plot and charged falsely with conspiring with other kingdoms to import troops through Irish ports. 

Brought to Dundalk for trial, the prosecution witnesses failed to attend: no jury in Ireland could have convicted him on such trumped-up charges. 

He was taken to London for trial, but was not allowed time to bring his own witnesses and documents. Here, with four renegade priests testifying against him, he was convicted.

His last week

In the process of facing these false allegations and then death by being hanged, drawn and quartered, Oliver prayed and fasted. 

His servant and friend James McKenna and a fellow prisoner Fr Maurus Corker were the companions of his last days and he celebrated the Eucharist daily for the last week of his life. 

When his moment came, he was calm and at peace.

At peace 

In his speech from the gallows at Tyburn, he detailed the charges brought against him and declared himself innocent of them all. 

He forgave those who brought him from Ireland to London for trial, his judges who did not allow him time to bring his records and witnesses from Ireland, and all who concurred directly and indirectly in taking away his life. 

Finally, he asked forgiveness of all whom he ever offended.

He was the last person to be martyred for the Catholic faith in England in 1681.

Beatification and Canonisation 

Oliver Plunkett was beatified in 1920 and canonised in 1975, the first new Irish saint for almost almost seven hundred years.

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.

Catholic schools 'need faith communities'

THE DEBATE about the future of Irish education, the place of religious education in schools and church patronage cannot be separated “from the broad question of what the role of a Catholic school really is”, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.

“I see very little point in being the patron of Catholic schools which are not truly Catholic. Catholic does not mean sectarian. But a Catholic school is more than just an ethos; it is more than just a school where attractive First Communion and Confirmation services are celebrated,” he said.

Speaking at Blackrock College in Dublin at the launch of the book Frank Duff – A Life Story, by Finola Kennedy, he said “unless a Catholic school exists within a faith community of parents who are themselves rooted in a broader believing and practising faith community, then that school will be Catholic in name alone.”

He was “pleased to see the work that is being done by the Government’s Forum on Patronage.”

He had “no fear of plurality in school patronage where parents desire it. I believe that the plurality desired by parents is greater than some think.

“That said, I believe that the Catholic school retains its particular place which must be fostered. But the Catholic school will not survive isolated from a faith community,” he said.

“There is no way today that the school alone will be able to foster a truly Catholic faith unless there are solid bonds between school, parents and parish community.

“The faith of the child and of the young person will only develop where there is an integrated relation between all three.

“It is unfair to expect teachers to take on responsibilities which go beyond their capacity and indeed their duty.”

Praising Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary, as “an extraordinary person, a man very hard to fit into any conventional categories”, he said Duff was “acutely aware, decades ago, how the institutional structure of the Catholic Church in Ireland which outwardly appeared so robust, in fact had within itself an innate debilitating factor, namely the lack of faith formation of lay men and women.”

 

Source

Facebook fight to save church

Parishioners campaigning to save a Catholic church have set up a Facebook group to request a formal consultation into its closure. 

The Diocese of Portsmouth announced earlier this month St Margaret Clitherow Church in Ringmead, Birch Hill, is due to be demolished as it does not have the £100,000 needed for repairs after thieves stole copper from the roof.

Campaigners have now set up a Facebook page named ‘Please give us a voice in the future of St Margaret Clitherow Church’ in their fight to request a consultation.

One supporter of the campaign commented: “I’m still in shock that they can close a church that has such a vibrant community.

“The church may have not been able to be used for the last year but people still feel they belong to St Margaret’s.

“I started attending 14 years ago when pregnant with my daughter.

“It was the welcome I received from what felt like a warm and loving family that I loved, along with the beauty, peace and warm sense of God’s presence.

“It was somewhere where young and old could get together after mass for coffee, share good times and bad and find help and support.

“I was the church secretary there whilst we had no priest but that didn’t mean that church life just stopped.

“The whole community came together to help out with all the jobs that still needed doing.”

Another campaigner posted: “The building may, to some people, just be bricks and mortar – but to many it is a spiritual home. If you have been attending the same place for 40 years or so and been heavily involved in its journey, you would not want that taken away.”

It is estimated the figure of £100,000 would be the minimum cost of repairs.

The Diocese plans to sell the land with services taking place at St Joseph’s in the town centre instead.

Source

Washington Theological Union To Close In 2013: A Sign Of The Times

Washington Theological Union (WTU) announced today that it would be closing its doors with the Class of 2013. 

For just over the past 40 years, Washington Theological Union (WTU), a graduate theological school for ministry, located in Takoma Park, educated and commissioned a diverse and global array of ministers for service to the Catholic Church in a post-Vatican II world. 

Graduate degrees offered included the Master of Divinity, Master of Pastoral Studies, Master of Theological Studies, as well as various certificate programs and a recently added Doctor of Ministry program in Spirituality.

The unique character of WTU emanated from its prime location in Washington DC, where it was well networked with the numerous religious orders alluded to in the school's name. 

It benefited from the charism of the founding orders: Augustinian, Carmelite, various Franciscan Orders, Paulist, Redemptorist.

It also offered the opportunity for lay people, seminarians, those on sabbatical from all over the globe to study together in an ecumenical environment. 

In most academic programs, students were required to complete supervised ministries throughout the region, including working with those of other faiths.

The buildling itself also offered a statement of architectural achievement and and expression of spirituality. Many art exhibits and its popular Advent Lessons and Carols added to the Takoma Park neighborhood's vibrancy.

The institution had struggled over the past several years, as did many other similar institutions and non-profits. 

Although it remained committed to form ministers "worthy of the people they serve", as former President Dan McClellan would often say, the difficulty resided in maintaining funding which came from a shrinking pool of religious orders and private donations. 

In other words, it was a victim of its own generosity and vision.

Source

Philadelphia archdiocese trains on sexual abuse reporting

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, embroiled in a child sex abuse scandal in both criminal and civil courts, announced on Tuesday a new training program for some 24,000 priests, employees and volunteers on how to report sexual abuse.

Leslie Davila, director of the archdiocese child and youth protection office, said the training, based on state law and conducted by the firm Network of Victim Assistance, began on Monday.

It will include 90 sessions in 40 locations through November.

Davila said the church remains dedicated to the "goal of promoting awareness regarding the safety of children."

The Archdiocese, the sixth largest in the United States, with 1.5 million Catholics, is under fire over accusations it concealed the sexual abuse of children by priests in an effort to avoid a costly scandal.

Some met the announcement with skepticism.

Marci Hamilton, one of the lawyers who filed six civil sexual abuse lawsuits against the church, said the training was based on the state's child protection laws, which she said are unclear when it comes to clergy members.

She feared they might invoke "pastoral privilege" to remain silent, and avoid reporting suspected abuse.

Hamilton instead proffered a more direct and unambiguous approach, advising the archdiocese to "just tell them to do it. They don't need any training sessions. Call your local police, and that's it."

But a victim services consultant to the church, Mary Achilles, said in a statement that the training represented a fundamental shift in the responsibility for reporting abuse, from children to adults.

Components of the training include the definition of abuse, indications of abuse and neglect, how to make a report on abuse and criminal consequences of failing to report abuse.

In addition to the six civil suits, a Philadelphia grand jury issued a scathing report in January on the conduct of some priests and the archdiocese, denouncing what it called "rapist priests."

"The procedures implemented by the Archdiocese to help victims are in fact designed to help the abusers, and the Archdiocese itself," it said.

"Worst of all, apparent abusers -- dozens of them, we believe -- remain on duty in the Archdiocese, today, with open access to new young prey."

Three priests, a monsignor and a Catholic teacher are facing criminal charges as a result of the report.

Since then the church has placed 27 priests on administrative leave in connection with accusations, and because of the manner in which the church reviewed them.

Source

John Jay investigator criticizes bad reporting about abuse report

Many news stories about the recently released report on "The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010" tried -- and failed -- to capture its complex findings in a sound bite, according to the principal investigator for the study.

Karen Terry of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York said researchers who prepared the report have received "malicious and even threatening calls and letters" from some people who criticized the findings based on overly simplistic and sometimes factually inaccurate news reports.

Writing June 23 in The Crime Report, an online publication of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay and the Criminal Justice Journalists organization, Terry said some media wrongly said the report attributed the clergy sex abuse crisis to social attitudes attributed to Woodstock or the "swinging '60s."

Instead the report concluded that "the factors associated with the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church were complex," she said.

"Another fallacy contained in the early media reports included the 'fact' that we did not address the problematic actions of the bishops," Terry wrote. "Critics suggested that since we relied only on data from the dioceses, the bishops influenced the study findings."

But she said the data in the report came from "seven unique sources -- a fact overlooked in most media reports. The data were derived from bishops and priests, victim assistance coordinators, victim advocates, survivors, clinicians, seminaries, historical and court documents."

Noting that the study was commissioned by the lay-led National Review Board and not by the bishops, Terry said "the bishops did not influence our findings in any way." She added that she is not Catholic and has never had any personal ties to the Catholic Church.

The John Jay investigator expressed concern that "the one-dimensional headlines have obscured some of the healthy responses" to the report's findings.

Among these Terry cited serious discussions among academics about the response to sex abuse, actions by the Vatican and the National Review Board to improve current policies to prevent child sex abuse and a "strong and broadly based commitment to address the gaps in current policies of prevention and oversight that allowed these unhealthy patterns of abuse to continue for so long in the U.S. and elsewhere."

"These should not be overlooked," she said.
 

Source

Christians reach consensus on conduct of missionaries

'Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct”, an historic  five-page document on the conduct of mission “according to gospel principles”, was released during a public presentation on 28 June at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

The recommendations regarding respectful behaviour on the part of missionaries, evangelists and other witnesses when sharing the Christian faith were issued following a five-year series of consultations among the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) of the Roman Catholic Church and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

The three bodies include Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal and independent churches with a combined membership of some two billion people representing nearly 90 percent of the world’s Christians.

“We send this document to each of our constituencies,” said the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, “with the hope that they will see these recommendations as an inspiration to design their own codes of conduct, relevant to their own particular contexts.”

“In the past five years we have been building a new bridge,” said Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, chief executive officer and secretary general of the WEA. “The document is a major achievement,” he explained, in that it represents formal agreement on “the essence of Christian mission” while also demonstrating that diverse Christian bodies “are able to work together and to speak together.” In this sense, the release of the text “is a historic moment” in the quest for Christian unity.

The document begins: “Mission belongs to the very being of the church.” The recommendations that follow suggest practical ways of engaging in mission while showing sincere respect for neighbours of other faiths.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the PCID, observed that leaders in the churches today “have a duty to proclaim the faith” and also “to propose a greater vision of dialogue.” He cited a principle of Catholic teaching: “Reject nothing that is true and holy in each religion”, cautioning that Christians must overcome religious conflicts if they are to “present the truth of God in a credible way.”

The joint document on Christian witness calls for careful study of the issues of mission and inter-religious dialogue, the building of trust and cooperation among people of all religions and the promotion of religious freedom everywhere.

Christians are encouraged to pray for the well-being of all, to strengthen their own religious identity and to avoid misrepresenting the beliefs of others.

Where possible, it adds, the preparation of codes of conduct by churches and related organizations “should be done ecumenically, and in consultation with representatives of other religions.”

In presenting “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World”, Tveit alluded to Jesus Christ’s prayer for unity in the 17th chapter of John’s gospel. “We are called to be one so that the world may believe,” said Tveit. “And so this day is a day for thankfulness, a day of celebration, but also a day of reflection.”

Meetings involving the WCC, PCID and WEA that led to the formulation of “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World” were held at Lariano, Italy in May 2006, Toulouse, France in August 2007 and Bangkok, Thailand in January 2011.

To read the full text of the document, see: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/christians-reach-broad-co.html

Source

Ireland: Church opposes proposal to cut Sunday pay

The Catholic Church in Ireland has protested over government plans to cut premium pay for Sunday workers. Commenting on the  proposals, Bishop Raymond Field, Chair of the Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference stated : "In our publication From Crisis to Hope: Working to Achieve the Common Good, launched before the election, the Council for Justice and Peace emphasised that economic recovery cannot be achieved at the expense of the common good, the fundamental well-being of each and every member of our society.  The proposal to cut Sunday premium payments is a prime example of a decision that would prioritise economic considerations at the expense of the well-being of citizens and the good of society.

"The value of Sunday as a collective day of rest cannot be overestimated. For Christians, this is a day central to the practice of our faith and our core position is that on the Sabbath day all non-essential work should be avoided. The protection of Sunday as a day of rest is vital to the physical, psychological and spiritual well-being of so many people in our society. Sunday is a time for the strengthening and protection of family life. In many households it is the only time when the whole family can be together."

Bishop Field continued: "In From Crisis to Hope we underlined the importance of the family to society as a place of community, a place where essential values, such as solidarity, are first learned and experienced. We also drew attention to the suffering experienced by families where parents find themselves 'time poor' as a result of work commitments and unable to spend as much time with their children as they would wish.

"Given the value and significance of Sunday, outlined above, it is unsurprising that many of those who find themselves obliged to work on Sundays are people on lower incomes. Many of these people are already struggling to make ends meet; some are already experiencing poverty. It is unjust to ask these people to contribute further to addressing the cost of the crisis while high earners continue to receive huge bonuses.

"The combination of these two factors - the undermining of Sunday as a day of rest and the consequences for those on lower income - represents a significant threat to societal cohesion and the common good. Cutting Sunday premium pay would be a disappointing backwards step from a Government that began its first 100 days with the commendable decision to protect the minimum wage.

"In making this statement the Council is mindful of the significant pressures on employers at this time - particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises. In From Crisis to Hope we recognise that 'the impact of the economic downturn on the lives and on the health of employers as well as employees should not be minimised'. We believe, however, that any short-term financial gains from this measure would be negated by the long-term damage to our society, which affects all of us. It is vital that the Government protects and supports employers - for example, by ensuring that lending practices by banks and financial institutions support those who are contributing to society through enterprise and the provision of employment."

Bishop Field concluded:  "It is equally vital, however, that any measures adopted to promote economic recovery are assessed for their impact on the most vulnerable in our society and on the common good."

Source

Pro-Vatican cardinal to head Milan church

An Italian cardinal with close ties to the pope, and considered a potential 'pope-in-waiting' was on Tuesday named the new head of the Diocese of Milan, the Holy See said in a statement. 

Cardinal Angelo Scola, 69, will take over a post seen as one the most important in Europe.

Pope Benedict XVI prefers to nominate clergymen that he knows and considers his ideological allies to key posts, according to Vatican watchers.

Scola first met the pope in 1971, and was one of the top young theologians closely involved in the creation of the conservative Communion and Liberation movement in the 1970s.

The pope, widely considered a conservative ideologue, has long-supported the movement.

A staunch supporter of immigrants' rights, Scola's appointment may roil Italy's Northern League political party, which is a key ally of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and is known for anti-immigrant rhetoric.

The 77-year-old outgoing head of the Milan church, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, had passed retirement age.

Scola's appointment has prompted speculation that Vatican is set to name other loyalists to influential posts.

He has for several years been at the forefront of the Catholic Church's efforts to improve relations between Muslims and Catholics.

Scola has served as the head of the Venice church since 2002.

Source

Programme of the Pope's August trip to Spain

The Holy See Press Office has released the programme of Benedict XVI's forthcoming apostolic trip to Madrid, Spain, for the twenty-sixth World Youth Day (WYD).

The Holy Father is due to depart by plane from Rome's Ciampino airport at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday 19 August, landing at midday at Barajas airport in Madrid where a welcome ceremony will take place. 

At 7.15 p.m. that day he will join a group of young people to pass under the Puerta de Alcala in the city's Plaza de Independencia, before moving on to Plaza de Cibeles where youth from all over the world will be gathered to greet him.

  

On Friday 19 August the Pope will celebrate Mass privately in the chapel of the apostolic nunciature in Madrid then, at 10 a.m., pay a courtesy visit to the Spanish king and queen in the Palacio de la Zarzuela. At 11.30 a.m. he will attend a meeting with young religious and another with young university professors at the basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

At 5.30 p.m., having had lunch with young people at the apostolic nunciature, Benedict XVI is scheduled to hold an official meeting with Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, prime minister of Spain. Later, at 7.30 p.m., the Pope will return to Plaza de Cibeles where he will preside at the Way of the Cross.

On Saturday 20 August Benedict XVI will hear confession from a number of young people in Madrid's Jardines del Buen Retiro before celebrating Mass for seminarians at 10 a.m. in the cathedral of Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena. At 5 p.m. that day he will meet with the WYD organising committees at the apostolic nunciature then visit the Fundacion Instituto San Jose. At 8.30 p.m. he will preside at a prayer vigil with young people at the airport of Cuatro Vientos.

At 9.30 a.m. on Sunday 21 August, the Holy Father will preside at the World Youth Day Mass at the airport of Cuatro Vientos, then pray the Angelus. After the ceremony he will have lunch with Spanish cardinals and the papal entourage at the apostolic nunciature.

The Holy Father is scheduled to leave the apostolic nunciature at 5 p.m. He will meet with WYD volunteers in the new Feria de Madrid - IFEMA before travelling to the airport of Barajas where the departure ceremony will take place at 6.30 p.m. 

The papal plane will depart for Rome at 7 p.m. where it is scheduled to land at 9.30 p.m.

Source

Pope Benedict’s War on the Church (Contribution)

The Catholic Church is ripe for another reformation. 

That’s the message theologian Matthew Fox sends in his new book, The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade has Imperiled the Church and How it Can be Saved.

Fox is a former Catholic priest who was silenced by Pope Benedict XVI (who was then Cardinal Ratzinger) after a 12-year-long battle over his writings.

The book points to scandals, from the best-known to the unfamiliar, that are rotting the church from the inside out. 

The current pope, Fox contends, has filled the Church with yes-men (all men, of course), and it's up to the Catholics in the pews to "push the restart button on Christianity."

Religion Dispatches had a chance to talk with Fox about his new book and the future of the Roman Catholic Church.

RD: Tell us about your new book. How has Ratzinger—now Pope Benedict XVI—imperiled the Catholic Church? 

MF: It’s about the last 30 years of Catholicism. I had a conversation with Father Edward Schillebeeckx, the Dutch Dominican theologian, about 15 years ago and he said to me, “I and many other European theologians, believe the present papacy is in schism.”

That really came back to me as I was writing this book. “Schism” is a big word because historically and theologically it is when the Eastern Church split from the West in the 11th century and from the Roman Catholic point of view, the Protestant Reformation would have been a schism, too.

So, this  idea really came to the fore as I was writing this book because what’s really clear is that the Second Vatican Council, in the early ’60s, they really changed the direction of Roman Catholicism around many things including collegiality—meaning that the pope is supposed to be sharing power with the bishop’s conferences around the world—and laypeople are supposed to be empowered, especially around liturgy. So there is this horizontal effort by the Vatican Council, but it was all stuffed by Pope John Paul II and Ratzinger.

If you look at the history of the church, the Councils have always trumped the pope. For example, in the 14th century you had three popes for 42 years, and what’s worse than one pope? Three popes! And what did they do about it? 

At the Council of Constance (1414-1418) the Council fired all three popes and hired a new one. 

So, that’s proof that a Council trumps the pope.

So, here you have, in the late 20th century, a Council laying out a whole new direction for Catholicism, and of course ecumenism being a big part of it, and then a pope comes along and trumps the Council. That is schism! This changes the whole name of the game. What I’m really saying is the Vatican is in heresy, so get on with this reformation in the church and just ignore them. Don’t put your energy that way.

I start the book with a quote from Father Bede Griffiths, an English monk who lived in India for over 50 years. He created an ashram there for Christians and Hindus. He said to me, before he died, “Don’t even think about the Vatican, don’t worry about them. Don’t look over your shoulder, keep doing what you’re doing. It’s all going to come tumbling down one day, just like the Berlin Wall.”

I think that tumbling down is happening in front of our eyes with this horrible pedophile crisis. It’s not just that. Of course, that’s what the press picks up on, but I include an appendix of 92 theologians whom they have silenced and expelled and beaten up and bloodied from all over the world. I’m just one of those 92.

I take people through Ratzinger and how he came to be who he is, his childhood and adulthood. I also take people through who I call Ratzinger’s enemies—that would be liberation theology and Creation spirituality—and then Ratzinger’s allies, who are really scary. 

With allies like that you don’t need enemies—like Opus Dei, the Legion of Christ and Father (Marcial) Maciel, who was so close to John Paul II and he abused over 20 seminarians and had two wives on the side with children, all of whom he sexually abused, both boys and girls. 

But this guy raised more money than anyone in the history of the church. 

So there are three scandals here: one of them is pedophilia and its cover up.

The second is the financial scandal, and the third, but by no means the least, is this intellectual/political destruction of theology.

That’s an awful lot of scandal. Do you offer any hope for the church in the future?

Yes. The last part of the book is the good news. As a theologian I ask, “Does the Holy Spirit have something cooking here?” and I conclude, yes.

The point is, I think the Holy Spirit has used these two bad popes to destroy the Catholic Church as we know it, to absolutely dismantle, deconstruct Catholicism so that therefore we can start over in the 21st century.

Not only can Catholicism start over but I think all of Christianity can because it can now move ahead on a truly ecumenical footing and look for a truth catholic—small “c”—Christianity instead of a Roman Catholic, Anglican Catholic, or what have you. Catholic means “universal,” after all, and we have to be thinking in global terms, but also in cosmological terms.

It also means we travel much lighter going into the third millennium. Christianity doesn’t need all these buildings we’ve invested in—empty as many of them are. We must make it more about spirituality and less about religion.

The last part of the book, then, is about what to take from the burning building—what treasures are there—and what would a post-Vatican Catholicism look like, and what would a truly catholic Christianity look like?

You’re really writing about two popes, then. One, Pope John Paul II, who is thought of very highly by many Catholics, and Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger), who may enjoy less popularity in the pews. What kind of reaction are you expecting when people read this book? 

I think John Paul II was given a teflon papacy. He appointed Ratzinger as his chief inquisitor. He brought the Inquisition back. Everything Ratzinger did was supported by John Paul II, including his ugly documents about gays. 

He wrote two of them when he was chief inquisitor and one since he’s been pope and each one of them is uglier than the other, and meaner. This was signed off on by John Paul II.

Also, John Paul II stood by while all this pedophile stuff was going on, including his close friend Father Maciel who he took on airplanes with him. 

That’s how close they were. He was utterly passive. 

The seminarians had written to Rome and told them about their abuse as boys (at the hands of Maciel)—there were now men. John Paul II did nothing. His hands are not nearly as clean as some people would like to imagine.

John Paul II is the one who linked up with Opus Dei and Communion and Liberation, which is another far-far-right wing movement in Italy. They canonized (Josemaria) Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, and Escriva actually praised Hitler. He was a card-carrying fascist. 

Now, they’ve appointed all these Opus Dei and fascist bishops and cardinals all over Latin America to replace liberation theology. We should not be naïve about either of these popes.

Polls here in America have shown that a majority of laypeople in the pews of the Catholic Church are supportive of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people. Nearly three-quarters, in fact, favor either marriage or civil unions for gays and lesbians. Will the Vatican ever catch up with its flock?

I think the Vatican in its present state is beyond redemption.

I think it is a very closed boy’s club.

I have a section in the book on bullying. 

Ratzinger is a bully.

I know him. He was in a 12-year battle with me before he won, I guess, and expelled me. 

Part of bullying, according to the studies that I’ve found, is that the bully likes a wolf pack. 

That wolf pack is the Curia (the central governing body of the Roman Catholic Church). 

It’s interesting that he appointed 24 cardinals in December and ten of them are in the Curia. 

They have lots of power and it’s a very tight circle, which is of course why they don’t want women in the club, it’s a boy’s club.

The point I make in the book is that the laypeople have to take over the church, period. It’s not going to be reformed from the inside, or from the top down, at all. 

It’s rancid, and so, these people have to assert themselves and that’s the next step, for laypeople to realize it’s their church. 

They should only hire ministers who are willing to serve and not to be served, and that means starting over.

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Archbishop of New York Apoplectic Over Legalization of Gay Marriage

In the midst of Gay Pride month, the New York legislature has become the most recent battleground in the fight for marriage equality, and, not surprisingly, the Catholic Church is fighting tooth and nail to resist progress.

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York passed the legislature Friday, and with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature, the law will make the Empire State the most populous so far to legalize gay marriage.

But Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, which has the dubious distinction of having sponsored a "study" dismissing priest pedophilia as an isolated cultural hiccup of the 1960s, grasped at the final straws of intolerance and leaned hard on legislators to oppose gay marriage.

Writing on his blog, Dolan hyperventilated that, "Last time I consulted an atlas, it is clear we are living in New York, in the United States of America — not in China or North Korea," where "communiqués from the government can dictate the size of families, who lives and who dies and what the very definition of 'family' and 'marriage' means."

This slippery-slope argument is frequently invoked by the gay-bashing movement — a suggestion that letting gays marry would not just be an affront to Christian beliefs, but would fundamentally destroy American freedom.

But over the past decade or so the divorce rates in states like Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont (all of which allow gay marriage) have consistently been dramatically lower than those in the Bible Belt states. There doesn't seem to be evidence of societal and moral decay as the result of implementing marriage equality.

And in light of the Anthony Weiner scandal, the Arnold Schwarzenegger love-child saga and the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, it makes one wonder — who poses the bigger threat to the sanctity of marriage: Gay people or straight people?

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Vatican considers document on clergy-laity relationship

The Vatican is studying a possible document on the relationship of clergy and laity, touching upon the sensitive issue of the administration of the church's goods, the Catholic News Service reports.

The sources denied an Italian report that the document will issue instructions on the reorganisation of US dioceses that face financial pressures in the wake of the sex abuse scandals - in particular regarding parish closings.

The sources, who spoke to Catholic News Service June 28, said the document under preparation only marginally touches on the topic of parish closings and, if published, will be directed at the universal church.

The form of the document has not yet been determined; it may be an instruction or a less formal circular letter, they said.

"The main topic here is the respect of norms regarding the nature of the priesthood in collaboration with laypeople, especially as it is affected by the restructuring of parish life," said one source familiar with the draft document.

"In some countries, new forms of parish structures have been created in which the priestly ministry appears weakened - in practice, the priest's role risks being reduced to that of a celebrant of the sacraments, while teams of laypeople are put in charge of management. But the office of governing is part of the priestly ministry," he said.

 

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Christian unity requires study, reflection and mutual openness, pope says

The continuing journey towards Christian unity calls for the theological dialogue “to be an extraordinary commitment to study, reflection and mutual openness” so as to bond the “true brotherhood” that already exists between Rome and Constantinople. 

This is the deepest conviction Both Benedict XVI expressed in his greeting when he welcomed a special delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, which, as tradition dictates, came to Rome for the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

Patriarch Bartholomew also sent a message to the pope. In it, he expressed “brotherly love” for Benedict XVI and “the ardour” with which the heads of the two Churches are working for the ecumenical journey.

“We follow,” the pope said, “closely the overall proceedings of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. From a purely human perspective, we might have the impression that the theological dialogue is moving slowly. In reality, the pace of the dialogue is tied to the complexity of the issues under discussion, which requires an extraordinary commitment to study, reflection and mutual openness. We are called to continue together in charity on this path, calling on the Holy Spirit for light and inspiration, certain that he wants to lead us to fulfil Christ’s will, that all be one.”

Both the pope and the patriarch stressed that man today need Christian witness. For Benedict XVI, “in an historic context of violence, indifference and selfishness, so many men and women of our times feel lost. Only through the shared witness of the truth of the Gospel can we help man in our age find the path that leads to truth. 

The search of truth in fact has always been the search for justice and peace. It is with great joy that I see His Holiness Bartholomew do his utmost on such issues. In view of our shared purpose, and conscious of the beautiful example set by my predecessor, the Blessed John Paul II, I invited our Christian brothers, the representatives of other religious traditions as wells figures from the world of culture and science, to participate on 27 October in the city of Assisi, to a World Day of Reflection, Dialogue and Prayer for Peace and Justice in the World whose theme will be ‘Pilgrims in truth, pilgrims in peace’. Walking together in the streets of Saint Francis’ city will be a sign of our will to continue along the path of dialogue and brotherhood.”

For his part, the patriarch said that we must be concerned that our journey towards unity be based on the strong foundations of faith and the confession of the Apostles and Fathers, “not only because this is required by our shared tradition during the first thousand years after Christ, but also because only the true apostolic and patristic faith, correctly interpreted, can today achieve man’s salvation.”

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Even Facebook for 440 thousand already registered for World Youth Day in Madrid

There are already 440 thousand young people ("a figure never before reached at this stage given that most young people register at the last moment") from all continents who have registered to participate in World Youth Day to be held in Madrid, Spain, 16 to 21 August this year. 

To accompany them and welcome them 14 thousand priests, 744 bishops and 24 thousand volunteers. 

Among them, a sign that the times, following World Youth Day, there are 50 young people who "work" on Facebook and, using 18 languages, have kept 160 thousand of their peers informed.

This is just some of the data that has emerged at this stage of preparation for WYD, revealed today at the Vatican, defined by the card. Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, as "a unique experience of the universal Church which embraces the whole planet, a young Church, full of enthusiasm and missionary zeal. It is an epiphany of the Christian faith on a truly global scale. "

In Madrid, as in all other WYDs, there will also be Pope Benedict XVI. He will arrive in Madrid Thursday, August 18 and at 19.30 will be welcomed by young people in the Plaza de Cibeles. 

On the morning of Friday, August 19, in El Escorial he will meet with young religious and young University academics. On the same day the traditional lunch with representatives of young people and the Pope will take place The day will end with the Way of the Cross, through the streets of Madrid. 

Saturday, August 20, in the morning the Pope will visit the centre of reconciliation, where he will hear the confession of some young people, then he preside over a Mass for seminarians in the Cathedral of Madrid, at 20.30, Cuatro Vientos Airport, the prayer vigil will take place with young people. 

Sunday, August 21 at 10.00 a solemn Eucharistic celebration will close the WYD 2011.

It is the second time that the World Youth Day has been held in Spain, the first was in 1989 in Santiago de Compostela, where John Paul II urged young people "not to be afraid to be saints." WYD Madrid is being held under the banner of the recent beatification of John Paul II - the founder of the Days, of which he is now blessed patron and protector.

Returning to the numbers, 700 thousand copies of YOUCAT, the subsidy for young Catholics, will be distributed to the participants, in 6 languages, there will also be 250 places for catechesis to be delivered in 30 languages.

In a way, catechesis is also integrated with the planned cultural program that aims to "show God through Beauty", the words of Benedict XVI, and in this way to help every young person to be rooted and firm in the faith. And film too will also have a special role to play, according to Elsa Vázquez, an international volunteer, speaking in May. 

On Wednesday, August 17 at Calle Fuencarral "JMJ Punto Cine" will be installed, "a space that invites the pilgrims and the general public to see in the movies stories of believers, rooted and built up in Christ, steadfast in the faith." 

Film screenings will be held, meetings and discussions with directors, actors and professionals in the world of cinema, a spectacular concert of film music accompanied by the reading of texts by Benedict XVI and the world premiere of a film with the presence of the protagonists.  

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Legion leadership may step down at next General Chapter

The vicar general of the Legion of Christ has confirmed that the order’s leaders are likely to step down at their next General Chapter meeting, which could be held as early as 2013. 

“In any religious congregation leadership changes with time, so I think that by the time we have the General Chapter it will be a normal moment, I would think, to change the leadership,” Fr. Luis Garza, the Legion’s vicar general, told CNA.

Fr. Garza’s comments come as the Vatican is evaluating the Legion’s constitution and its future mission. That process is being headed up by the Italian Cardinal Velasio De Paolis.

“Cardinal De Paolis is a very sound man, he’s very intelligent, he’s very wise, very prudent,” said Fr. Garza.

“He’s been helping us to understand the way that we should go and chart, in a sense, the way for the future.”

Cardinal De Paolis was appointed as the Pope’s delegate to the Legion last year, after a Vatican investigation condemned the late founder of the Congregation, Fr. Marcial Maciel, as a being guilty of “serious and objectively immoral behavior” as well as “real crimes.”

Fr. Maciel was found to have sexually abused seminarians over many years and fathered several children with different women. He died in 2008, aged 87.

“My hope is that we can continue serving the Church with the same enthusiasm, or even more, and with the same dedication but at the same time purifying all that was wrong and that we definitely need to change,” said Fr. Garza of the Vatican review process.

“The fear, of course, is that due to our lack of prayer and to the idea of not being faithful to a charism that we’ve received, (we) could produce changes that are not according to what God would want and God’s plans.”

Fr. Garza does not want to see the Legion to “take a way by which the idea of religious life would be deprived of any value.”

“Religious life, as you know, has vows and you need to abide by obedience, by poverty, by chastity. So if you move away from those principles, virtues and vows then you destroy religious life,” he explained.

He also stressed that he doesn’t believe such changes will, in the end, be recommended by Cardinal De Paolis.

The issue of vows is a delicate one for the Legion. In 2007 Pope Benedict abolished a private vow taken by Legionary seminarians and priests. The so-called “oath of charity” prevented any kind of criticism of superiors and their decisions by member.

It was reported at the time that a second vow, an “oath of humility,” had also been suppressed. This forbade the religious men from aspiring to positions within the leadership of the Legion.

Last year’s Vatican report described how Fr. Maciel “had created around him a defense mechanism which made him untouchable for a long time, thus rendering knowledge of his real life difficult,” and that “the large majority of Legionaries were unaware of that life.”

Fr. Garza has always maintained that he and the rest of the Legion’s leadership were also unaware of Fr. Maciel’s misconduct.

Now, the Legion’s current leaders seem eager to move forward and beyond the controversy.

“Well, we’ve had the delegate for a year so the time frame, which is not extremely precise, (it) will be another two years for the constitutions and then probably at the end of that period we’ll have a General Chapter,” said Fr. Garza.

The next General Chapter will will choose new leaders for the order. It could be held by 2013, but it might not be held until 2014 or 2015, depending on when the review of the constitutions is completed.

“The decision to leave the leadership of the Legion essentially intact is a serious mistake,” said Father. Richard Gill, who was a priest for 29 years with the Legion. He left last year and is now a priest of the Archdiocese of New York.

“By failing to remove major superiors, or at least some of them, Cardinal De Paolis failed to send to the whole Legion a clear signal that the manner in which the current superiors handled the revelations about Maciel was completely unacceptable,” Fr. Gill said in an e-mail to CNA.

“I seriously doubt the Legion can wait until 2015 to get a new group of superiors.”

Fr. Gill says any possible future for the Legion will rest on good leadership and not solely on a good constitution.

“The future of the Legion depends on somehow awakening good spiritual leadership in its members, in the emergence of a new generation of leadership not tainted by Fr. Maciel and the scandals. Unless the current group steps aside, it is hard to see how that new generation can come forward.”

Fr. Garza says he and the rest of the Legion’s leadership will step down immediately if asked to do so by Cardinal De Paolis. So far they have not been asked to do so. Neither, though, have they tendered their resignations. 

But the vicar general agrees that the future of the Legion lies in good new leadership.

“It’s not that, in a sense, I believe that I can do anything special or different from anybody else. The Legion has a lot of very good men to really follow this process and bring the Legion to betterment to better serve the Church.”

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