Daily Archives: May 9, 2012

Parish Book of Chant

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My first try at building a Youth Schola was a bust, because I tried beginning with polyphony. Big mistake. Singing is one thing–even singing in Latin is pretty easy–but singing in parts is difficult for inexperienced singers, especially the very young. Then one Pentecost I asked one of the original Schola members to chant the introit, on a simple Psalm tone. He aced it, and a few months later I began advertising for children to join our parish’s Youth Classical Schola, specializing in Gregorian chant.

Obviously Gregorian chant is more than Psalm tone introits, so thank goodness for Richard Rice’s The Parish Book of Chant., which became our standard textbook. It is published by the Church Music Association of America. Filled with chant Ordinaries, dialogues from the Mass, chant hymns, and information singers need, it is just what we needed to really move forward. I was just a step ahead of the young people myself, having grown up with the usual parish guitar and organ fare and without much exposure at all to Gregorian chant. The Parish Book of Chant helped us not only to sing the chant, but to love it. Over just a few years, our parish has trained dozens of young singers, some of whom can now sight-read difficult propers.

For those who would like to preview a copy, this option is available online here. It’s a unique resource, friendly, helpful, and not at all intimidating for new chanters, and I am so glad to be working at a time when such wonderful helps to singers are available!
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Comments will be closing tonight

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Come Friday, I will be heading out to Buster’s graduation, and I’ve decided that this will be a good time to take a much needed rest and retreat. In preparation for that, I’m closing comments tonight — at whatever time I pack it in — and they will remain closed until June 1. Because I’m exhausted.

But let me leave you with this fun graphic, courtesy of Ace, who notes that these cars that are the wave of the future keep burning. I may still post on and off tomorrow, but closing down the comments makes me feel so free, I have to just boogie in my ride. Open this in another tab for most righteous musical accompaniment!

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Comments will be closing tonight

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Anglicans and Catholics conclude groundbreaking meeting in Hong Kong

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

2012-05-10 Vatican Radio

The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, or ARCIC 3, has concluded a week long meeting hosted by the Anglican mission to seafarers in Hong Kong. At the conclusion of the May 4

th

to 10

th

meeting, the two teams of theologians and Church leaders issued a joint statement saying ARCIC has carried forward considerably its work in response to the mandate given it by the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion and has sharpened its focus in terms of the two questions of Communion and ethical decision making.

The communiqué stresses that participants are also very keen to promote the reception of ARCIC work and so they intend to contact national groups of Anglicans and Catholics to share with them the work of the Commission and to hear their ideas about practical ecumenism on the ground.

The Commission also invited an outside observer from the Greek Catholic Church who greatly helped with his contribution on the broader aspects of understanding the Church as Communion. The invitation to the Very Rev Dr. Peter Galadza, a married Ukrainian Catholic priest from the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies in Ottowa, Canada, marked the first time ARCIC has sought experience from outside its mandate to deepen its understanding of the concept of Catholicity.

Phililpp Hitchen spoke to Catholic Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham and Anglican Archbishop David Moxon of New Zealand, the two co-chairs of ARCIC, who both believe the groundbreaking results of the meeting will offer help to the Churches well beyond the boundaries of the ecumenical movement…

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Anglicans and Catholics conclude groundbreaking meeting in Hong Kong

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Marriage between a man and woman, a cornerstone of the United States

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

2012-05-10 L’Osservatore Romano

Washington, 10.

“Same sex couples should be able to get married”, said the President of the
United States Barack Obama in an interview with the television station, ABC.
This announcement was deemed as “deeply saddening” by the Bishops’ Conference.

The
President, speaking yesterday, 9 May, in the Cabinet Room of the White House,
stated: “At a certain point, I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is
important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be
able to get married”. On 6 May, the Vice-President Joe Biden also declared he
was in favour of same-sex marriage.

In response, Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, President of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commented on the U.S. Administration’s
position in a note in which he underlined the fundamental value of marriage and
the need to protect its traditional definition, the union between man and woman.
“President Obama’s comments today in support of the redefinition of marriage”,
underlined the Cardinal, “are deeply saddening”.

Recalling in particular his letter to President Obama on 20 September 2011,
Cardinal Dolan stated that “the Catholic Bishops stand ready to affirm every
positive measure taken by the President and the Administration to strengthen
marriage and the family. However, we cannot be silent in the face of words or
actions that would undermine the institution of marriage, the very cornerstone
of our society. The people of this country, especially our children, deserve
better”. The Cardinal also observed that “unfortunately, President Obama’s words
today are not surprising since they follow upon various actions already taken by
his Administration that erode or ignore the unique meaning of marriage”.

He concluded his letter by stating: “I pray for the President every day, and
will continue to pray that he and his Administration act justly to uphold and
protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman. May we all work to
promote and protect marriage and by so doing serve the true good of all
persons”.

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Marriage between a man and woman, a cornerstone of the United States

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IEC2012: Dublin’s Archbishop brings Congress to Rome

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

2012-05-10 Vatican Radio

How can the International Eucharistic Congress help bring Irish Catholics back to the sacramental life of the Church? According to the Archbishop of the host diocese, Msgr. Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, by showing them the joy of celebration: “I see a willingness in some people to want to celebrate something different in the Irish Church and actually to use the word ‘

celebrate

is important”. Emer McCarthy reports

Listen:

Speaking to Vatican journalists Thursday as he launched the 1 month countdown to the beginning of the 50th edition of the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC2012), Archbishop Diarmuid Martin directly answered questions over the divisions that currently beleaguer the Irish Church. But he said none of these should overshadow what really is the most pressing challenge in the Church in Ireland: the challenge of bringing Christ to people. This he said will require new pastoral tools and in this sense preparation for Congress has been a learning experience.

The divisions the Archbishop referred to in his address to journalists have a range of causes: the ever present reality of the child sex abuse scandal; the results of the Apostolic Visitation; dialogue with the Association of Catholic Priests; the Churches ongoing journey of internal renewal and the resulting tensions these create within the community.

“The overall crisis of the Church in Ireland isn’t about the child sexual abuse, it isn’t about any one individual it is a much deeper challenge. They are just symptoms of an underlying cause”. Secularisation is there, the Archbishop stated, “and has been there for some time, though it may have surprised some people”.

The leader of Ireland’s largest diocese also spoke of the weekly protests outside Dublin’s pro-Cathedral, however he added that there is a gradual change taking place: “Even in the secularised Ireland there is a recognition that this is an important event for the Catholic Church, that others should respect. And something that they are watching to see what image often Catholic Church will emerge from that”.

The Archbishop said: “The Church in Ireland shouldn’t be associated with problems. It is renewing itself, it is a dynamic Church there are many things happening in the Irish Church. And this Eucharistic Congress I hope will be a moment when we hope to showcase all of those”.

“Like the Congress itself,” he continued “the Irish Church of the future will be a much different type of Church it will be more modest in its dimensions and in its role. It will be and is perhaps today in many ways a minority Church, but that doesn’t mean that its an irrelevant Church. The Church has to learn to present its message toady in Ireland in a secularised society in a different way. The IEC2012 is an example if you look at the program you’ll see this”.

“We have to – and this is a big one in Ireland – we have to really look at how we involve people in the preparation for the sacraments and how to understand them not just as social events but ecclesial realities”

“I remember the first words of Pope John in his wonderful homily during the Second Vatican Council and they were Gaudet Mater Ecclesia!, Mother Church Rejoice!, we have to regain a little bit of that. Pope John in that same homily[…] he spoke about the prophets of doom who see only gloom and frustration in what’s happening. The Church has always gone through this process of having to renew itself and this [the Congress] is not going to be the definitive event, but it is a contribution”.

“In the early Christian community, there was the Word, the Eucharist and charity and communion among Christians they were generous with each other and with others”. Learning from the example of the early Christian community he concluded “can help create a particular lifestyle […] if the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin can make even a modest contribution to that, we’ll have done something”

IEC2012 is taking place in Dublin Ireland June 10-17, and all information on registration and events can be found by visiting the website www.iec2012.ie

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IEC2012: Dublin’s Archbishop brings Congress to Rome

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DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Vatican City, 10 May 2012 (VIS) – The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. During the audience he extended the liturgical cult of St. Hildegard of Bingen (1089-1179) to the universal Church, inscribing her in the catalogue of saints. He also authorised the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

MIRACLES

- Servant of God Tommaso da Olera (ne Tommaso Acerbis), Italian professed layman of the Order of St. Benedict (1563-1631).

- Servant of God Maria Troncatti, Italian professed sister of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Help (1883-1969).

MARTYRDOM

- Servants of Gods Frederic Bachstein and thirteen companions of the Order of Friars Minor, killed in hatred of the faith at Prague, Czech Republic in 1611.

- Servants of God Raimundo Castano Gonzalez and Jose Maria Gonzalez Solis, professed priests of the Order of Friars Preachers, killed in hatred of the faith at Bilbao, Spain in 1936.

- Servants of God Jaime Puig Mirosa and eighteen companions of the Congregation of the Sons of the Sacred Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Sebastian Llorens Telarroja, layman, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1937.

- Servant of God Odoardo Focherini, Italian layman, killed in hatred of the faith at Hersbruck, Germany in 1944.

HEROIC VIRTUES

- Servant of God Raffaello Delle Nocche, Italian bishop of Tricarico and founder of the Sisters Disciples of the Eucharistic Jesus (1877-1960).

- Servant of God Frederic Irenej Baraga, Slovene American, first bishop of Marquette (1797-1868).

- Servant of God Pasquale Uva, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters Handmaidens of Divine Providence (1883-1955).

- Servant of God Baltazar Manuel Pardal Vidal, Spanish diocesan priest and founder of the Secular Institute of the Daughters of Mary’s Nativity (1886-1963).

- Servant of God Francesco Di Paola Victor, Brazilian diocesan priest (1827-1905).

- Servant of God Jacques Sevin, French professed priest of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and founder of the Catholic Scouts of France and of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem (1882-1951).

- Servant of God Maria Josefa of the Blessed Sacrament (nee Maria Josefa Recio Martin), founder of the Congregation of Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1846-1883).

- Servant of God Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, American professed sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Chraity of St. Elizabeth (1901-1927).

- Servant of God Emilia Engel, German member of the Secular Institute of Sisters of Maria of Schonstatt, (1893-1955).

- Servant of God Rachele Ambrosini, Italian lay woman (1925-1941).

- Servant of God Maria Bolognesi, Italian lay woman (1924-1980).

On 14 March, the Supreme Pontiff authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree regarding the heroic virtues of Servant of God Felix Francisco Jose de la Concepcion Varela Morales, Cuban diocesan priest (1788-1853).

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DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS

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JEWS AND CATHOLICS: DIALOGUE, RECONCILIATION AND COOPERATION

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Vatican City, 10 May 2012 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican Benedict XVI welcomed a delegation from the Latin American Jewish Congress, “the first group representing Jewish organisations and communities in Latin America which I have met here in the Vatican”, the Pope said. He went on to recall that “dynamic Jewish communities exist throughout Latin America, especially in Argentina and Brazil, living alongside a large Catholic majority. Beginning with the years of Vatican Council II relations between Jews and Catholics have become stronger, also in your own region, and various initiatives are afoot to make our mutual friendship deeper”.

The Holy Father reaffirmed that the Vatican Council II Declaration “Nostra aetate” continues “to be the basis and the guide for our efforts towards promoting greater understanding, respect and cooperation between our communities. The Declaration not only took up a clear position against all forms anti-Semitism, but also laid the foundations for a new theological evaluation of the Church’s relationship with Judaism, expressing the confidence that an appreciation of the spiritual heritage that Jews and Christians share will lead to increasing understanding and esteem”.

“In considering the progress made in the last fifty years of Jewish-Catholic relations throughout the world, we cannot but give thanks to the Almighty for this evident sign of His goodness and providence. Thanks to the increase of trust, respect and goodwill, groups whose relations were originally characterised by a certain lack of trust, have little by little become faithful partners and friends, even good friends, capable of facing crises together and overcoming conflicts in a positive manner. Of course there is still a great deal to be done to shake off the burdens of the past, to foment better relations between our communities and to respond to the increasing challenges believers have to face in the modern world. Nonetheless, the fact that we are jointly committed to a path of dialogue, reconciliation and cooperation is a reason for thanksgiving”.

“In a world increasingly threatened by the loss of spiritual and moral values – the values that can guarantee respect for human dignity and lasting peace – sincere and respectful dialogue among religions and cultures is crucial for the future of our human family. I hope that your visit today will be a source of encouragement and renewed trust when we come to face the challenge of forming stronger ties of friendship and collaboration, and of bearing prophetic witness to the power of God’s truth, justice and love, for the good of all humanity”, the Holy Father concluded.

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Pope receives Pontifical Spanish College of Saint Joseph

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

2012-05-10 Vatican Radio

Pope Benedict XVI received the students, faculty, and staff of the Pontifical Spanish College of St. Joseph of Rome on Thursday, to mark the 50

th

anniversary of the College’s current facilities. Speaking to his guests in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, Pope Benedict remembered the thousands of priests who have studied at the College since its founding in the 19

th

century, and expressed joy at marking the fiftieth anniversary of its facilities at

via di Torre Rossa

in Rome, just Southwest of Vatican City.

The Holy Father especially invoked St John of Avila, whose liturgical memory comes on May 10th, recalling that he shall declare the saint and Patron of Spanish secular clergy a Doctor of the Church. Pope Benedict reminded his guests that the training of priests is always a top priority for the Church, and that the priest renews his life and his ministry by drawing strength from the contemplation of God’s word and from intense dialogue with the Lord. “You can not bring Christ to your brethren, nor can you find Him in the poor and the sick,” said Pope Benedict, “if you do not discover Him first in fervent and constant prayer.” T

he Holy Father went on to discuss the need to promote a personal relationship with Christ as the one whom the priest then proclaims, celebrates and communicates., saying that this is the foundation of priestly spirituality. Listen to our report:

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Pope receives Pontifical Spanish College of Saint Joseph

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Pope Benedict XVI receives Pontifical Spanish College of Saint Joseph

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

2012-05-10 Vatican Radio

Pope Benedict XVI received the students, faculty, and staff of the Pontifical Spanish College of St. Joseph of Rome on Thursday, to mark the 50

th

anniversary of the College’s current facilities. Speaking to his guests in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, Pope Benedict remembered the thousands of priests who have studied at the College since its founding in the 19

th

century, and expressed joy at marking the fiftieth anniversary of its facilities at

via di Torre Rossa

in Rome, just Southwest of Vatican City. The Holy Father especially invoked St John of Avila, whose liturgical memory comes on May 10

th

, recalling that he shall declare the saint and Patron of Spanish secular clergy a Doctor of the Church. Pope Benedict reminded his guests that the training of priests is always a top priority for the Church, and that the priest renews his life and his ministry by drawing strength from the contemplation of God’s word and from intense dialogue with the Lord. “You can not bring Christ to your brethren, nor can you find Him in the poor and the sick,” said Pope Benedict, “if you do not discover Him first in fervent and constant prayer.” The Holy Father went on to discuss the need to promote a personal relationship with Christ as the one whom the priest then proclaims, celebrates and communicates., saying that this is the foundation of priestly spirituality.

Listen to our report

:

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Pope Benedict XVI receives Pontifical Spanish College of Saint Joseph

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Nigerian Bishop of Sokoto explains ‘Boko Haram’ ….

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

2012-05-10 Vatican Radio

During the dry season the harmattan wind blows here from the Sahara desert bringing dust and disease into the ocre coloured savanna, coating over the occasional baobab tree.

Until the rainy season sweeps all the dust and disease away and the fertile land is suddenly green again overnight.

This is Sokoto once one of the largest empires in Africa. Here lay the centre of politics and economics of what is now the North western region of Nigeria. At its height it extended over 1,000 miles from current day Burkina Faso to Northern Cameroon

A Sultanate founded in 1804 by Uthman dan Fodio, which began to disintegrate by the 1890s. First Internal rivalry brought civil war and then in 1903 Sokoto fell to the French and British colonial armies. Under indirect colonial administration, Great Britain, which assumed control over 80% of the Empire, allowed the Sultan to remain as ruler and ally.

And a sultanate still in place in Sokoto today, where a centre of Islamic studies thrives and where the current Sultan Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III is to this day spiritual leader of Nigeria’s Muslims . A man who works closely with the Catholic Church in an effort to put an end to the current dramatic situation in his nation, voicing his condemnation of all violence be it Muslim or Christian. While the Islamist ‘Boko Haram’ sect continues to kill.

But what exactly is this ‘Boko Haram’ often described as a sect and which the Bishop of Sokoto Matthew Kukah recently described in an article in a German magazine as a platform for different groups instead.

In an effort to find out more Jesuit Father Bernd Hagenkord who heads Vatican Radio’s German Programme decided to interview Bishop Kukah and began by putting that question to him.
The Bishop of Sokoto replied he personally doesn’t believe a central organization under the control of a single individual exists. Adding how there have been reports of infighting within ‘Boko Haram’ leading to the emergence of splinter groups with different criminal agendas.
Among the root causes for this violence the Bishop identifies a cross section of reasons: from the moral and political to the more basic squabbles surrounding issues such as boundary disputes or theft of cattle.
Asked by Father Bernd what he believes the ‘Boko Haram’ wish to achieve , the Bishop explained how the criminal group actions are that of a people who have no understanding of statehood and use violence as a means to obtain power.
More specifically when asked about the recent attacks aimed at Christians the Bishop of Sokoto was adamant in highlighting how the scenario is not one of Christians versus Muslims. For, he says, while there exist groups that wish to draw Nigeria into a much broader religious conflagration, there are also prominent religious leaders within Islam such as the Sultan of Sokoto who voice condemnation of all violence.
Listen to Jesuit Father Bernd Hagenkord’s full interview with Nigerian Bishop of Sokoto Matthew Kukah:

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Nigerian Bishop of Sokoto explains ‘Boko Haram’ ….

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Are sensitivity and tolerance one-way streets? – UPDATED

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

I read this story over at Deacon Greg’s earlier today and it annoyed me but I was too busy to write about it. My first thought was, “so, you friends at Catholic high school have supported you as you came out and by your own admission, always been respectful, and the school was fine about your bringing a boyfriend to prom, and you’re going to reward them by making commencement all about you? Why all the taking and no giving?”

I think you do nothing to build goodwill when you say, “your friendship, support and all the rest have meant nothing unless this advocacy group is now given a platform at our graduation.” It’s suggests an insensitivity to both one’s classmates and — dare I say it — the very Catholics who have supported you.

Is sensitivity and tolerance something that only goes one way? Is there to be no sensitivity for people of faith, only for “people of [name an issue]“, no tolerance for church views, only secular ones? Unless everything goes your way, and only your way, you feel “invalidated and unaccepted”?

I’m sorry, but that bugs me. Is this a generation that believes everything must be exactly as it wants it or it’s all “hate”? Is that what we’ve come to? Because if so, it’s pathetic. I am strongly of the opinion that a gay high-school student should be treated respectfully by his peers. I am also strongly of the opinion that the school be treated respectfully by the student.

Respect really has to go both ways, doesn’t it?

Too much to ask, apparently.

Like I said, I had no time to write on it, and I still really don’t, and now I don’t have to because Joanne McPortland has said almost everything I would and then some — all passionately articulated.

Long prelude and wandering tangents aside, the decision by Bishop Amos of Davenport not to allow a representative of the Eychaner Foundation to present Keaton Fuller with its Matthew Shepard Scholarship at the Prince of Peace graduation ceremonies is correct, within the bishop’s rights, and completely nondiscriminatory. The Eychaner Foundation advocates for gay rights, among which are engaging in homosexual relationships and gay marriage. This advocacy runs counter to Catholic teaching, so for a Catholic school to provide the Eychaner Foundation with a bully pulpit (and I use that phrase deliberately) at Prince of Peace’s graduation ceremonies would be inappropriate. Bishop Amos rightly congratulates Mr Fuller on his accomplishments and has no problem with the scholarship being announced by a school official–as, by the way, every scholarship I’ve ever seen or read about being awarded is handled, as I am certain all other scholarships being awarded to members of Mr Fuller’s graduating class will be handled. That is not discrimination or, as Salon puts it, “an anti-gay snub.”

Read the whole thing. It’s worth every word.

UPDATE: “Tolerance” and “Sensitivity” and vandalism

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Are sensitivity and tolerance one-way streets? – UPDATED

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When lies come about

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Talking to my sister (SPuff) about our mother.

Puff: The PSW says that we need to order the single sue lancets, so I| am going to take mom to the doctor so that he can put them on her perscription lists. I gave the pharmacist a head’s up about the request and he said he’ll put a package aside and deliver it with her med dosette, I asked how much they’d be and he said “I’ll give them to her.” Is that some sort of code.


Spuff: Yeah, it just means that will provide them. How many lancets come in a box?

Puff About 200

Spuff: Why do they finish so quickly? I only ever use the lancet pen.

Puff: I take mom’s blood sugar every night before meds. Where is the lancet pen??? ( I find this to be an odd statement since I broke the pen months ago so I think maybe she bought a new one)

Spuff: In the glucometer case.

Puff: There is no pen in the case.

Spuff: The Meter came with one, where is it.

Puff: It broke.

Spuff: How, when??

Puff: My fault, I dropped it, about three months ago.

Spuff: Oh. Okay then.

The gall of her. She doesn’t even recognize when she’s been caught in a lie.???

Originally posted here: 

When lies come about

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Catholic bishops publish full text of new prayers for the child in the womb

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The new prayers were approved by the Vatican earlier this year.

May 9, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference has published the full text of a new rite of blessing for children in the womb.

The new prayers, first proposed in 2008, are aimed at helping parents of unborn children “by imparting grace and comfort in time of concern and need,” encouraging parishes to unite in prayer for the child, and fostering “respect for human life within society.”

The prayers, approved by the Vatican earlier this year, may be said either within a Mass or on their own, and have been published as a booklet in both English and Spanish.

“God, author of all life, bless, we pray, this unborn child; give constant protection and grant a healthy birth that is the sign of our rebirth one day into the eternal rejoicing of heaven,” the prayer begins.

Click ‘like’ if you are PRO-LIFE!

The prayer also offers praise for “the wondrous joy of motherhood” and “the grace and pride of fatherhood,” and asks for “faithfulness to the teachings of the Gospel and new resolve to share in the spiritual formation of this child” on the part of the parish community.

“We hope the use of this blessing will provide not only support and God’s blessing for expectant parents and their child in the womb, but also another effective witness to the sanctity of human life from the first moment of conception,” said Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, in a press release Tuesday.

The USCCB has already promulgated other rites of blessing promoting respect for life, including a blessing for a monument to the unborn, a blessing of parents before childbirth, and a blessing for pro-life pilgrims.

News of the prayers surfaced at the USCCB’s 2008 Fall General Assembly, days after abortion supporter Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election.

Source - 

Catholic bishops publish full text of new prayers for the child in the womb

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Ordinations for the Ordinariate

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Monsignor Keith Newton has asked Bishop Alan Hopes will ordain candidates to the Order of Deacon for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 26th May at 10am. All are welcome to attend what promises to be a very joyous occasion.



LATEST NEWS FROM THE ORDINARIATE
The Following are Candidates for Ordination to the Priesthood 2012
08 May 2012



AISBITT Osmond John

ALLDRITT Nicholas Sebastian Fitzansculf

BENNIE Stanley James Gordon

BERRY Kenneth Percy John

BOUNDY David

CANN Christopher James

CORBYN John Robert

COPUS Brian George

GIBBONS Paul James

GILL Brian Alvan

GRIEVES Ian Leslie

GIFFIN Alan Howard Foster

GULL William John

HUNWICKE John William

MAUNDER John David

MINCHEW Donald Patrick

NARUSAWA Masaki Alec

READER-MOORE Anthony

STAFFORD David George

WATTS Franklin Charles

WESTON Ivan John

There is at least one name there that brings me a great deal of joy!

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Ordinations for the Ordinariate

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Vatican Radio tackles organ harvesting in light of questionable ‘brain death’ criterion

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

If the donor “isn’t dead, and you take the organs out, then you might be killing someone,” said Dr. David Albert Jones.

ROME, May 9, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The controversy surrounding the questionable criterion of ‘brain death’ used to determine when life-support devices are turned off in preparation for organ harvesting was addressed in a May 8 interview with Dr. David Albert Jones on Vatican Radio.

Dr. Jones is the director of the UK-based Anscombe Bioethics Centre, a British Catholic institute that tackles the moral questions arising in clinical practice and biomedical research. The organization hosted an Oxford Research Seminar on May 8 on the topic of “Catholic Perspectives on Organ Transplantation.”

The dubious criterion of ‘brain death,’ invented in 1968 to accommodate the need to acquire vital organs in their “freshest” state from a donor who some argue is still very much alive, made headlines two weeks ago when a young British man revealed to the media that he owed his life to his insistent father who would not allow his son’s organs to be removed from his body, despite assurances from four doctors that his son could not recover from the wounds he had suffered in a car accident.

Click ‘like’ if you are PRO-LIFE!

Four years ago, Stephen Thorpe was placed in a medically-induced coma following a multi-car pileup.

Even though his heart was still beating, a team of four physicians insisted that Stephen was “brain-dead” following the wreck. Thorpe’s father enlisted the help of a general practitioner and a neurologist, who demonstrated that his son still had brain wave activity. The doctors agreed to bring him out of the coma, and five weeks later Thorpe left the hospital, having almost completely recovered.

Today, the 21-year-old with “brain damage” is studying accounting at a local university. “‘My impression is maybe the hospital weren’t very happy that my father wanted a second opinion,” he told the Mail.

Charles Collins of Vatican Radio said cases like Thorpe’s have raised questions on the morality of harvesting organs from people who have been declared brain-dead.

Dr. Jones told Collins there are many ethical questions that must be answered before we can know if someone is really dead.

“There are a number of concerns, even if you are in favour of organ donation in principle, which the Church is, very strongly, in principle,” Dr. Jones said. “There are various issues around how to do it practice … the ongoing question of how you determine whether someone has died.”

“Most donation after death in the whole of the western world happens when the heart is still beating, the so-called beating heart cadavers,” Dr. Jones explained, “so it is very important for people, that this body that doesn’t look like a typical dead body, to be sure it really is dead. Because if it isn’t dead, and you take the organs out, then you might be killing someone.”

Dr. Jones pointed out that it is not just brain-death which is an ethical concern, but that there are also ethical issues surrounding organ donation from those whose heart has stopped beating – circulatory death.

“The issue which surrounds circulatory death is mainly how long the heart has stopped before you take the organs out because … you need to take the organs as soon as possible so that they are usable,” he said. “Even though it is true that the heart has stopped, it isn’t absolutely clear that it couldn’t be started again.”

Listen to the full Vatican Radio interview by Charles Collins with Dr. David Albert Jones here.

Originally posted here:  

Vatican Radio tackles organ harvesting in light of questionable ‘brain death’ criterion

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Rome-SSPX:Bp. Arrieta Ochoa, of "Legislative Texts": "I think we were able to clarify the doctrinal problems"

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Secretary of the

Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts

, Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa, was in Louvain-la-Neuve (Wallonia, Belgium, home of the post-1968 Francophone

Université Catholique de Louvain

) this past Monday, and spoke to

Belgian daily La Libre

, mostly about the abuse scandal. He also had the following to say on former Anglicans and on relations with the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX):


“In the first case, it is above all a question of confirmation of the faith and, from there, of catechesis. Regarding the problem of the reintegration of the Lefebvrists, I think we were able to clarify the doctrinal problems, even if it is not easy to put all that onto paper. The true problem, the only one for me, is the separation, the human distance dating from 1988.”

[Tip:

Summorum Pontificum observatus

]

Rorate note: It seems hard to square this claim with the point made by Fr. Nikolaus Pfluger last Sunday regarding the doctrinal views of the SSPX and of the Vatican (as distinct from the issue of the proximity of a practical, canonical solution):



“No practical solution without doctrinal agreement” – such was the principle upon which the Society had started the talks with the Holy See. But the negotiations of the past years have revealed that the different positions regarding central questions of doctrine cannot be bridged.



Recent weeks have revealed that the Pope is so much interested in a canonical solution for the Society that he is ready to seal a deal, even if the Society does not recognize the disputed texts of Vatican II and the New Mass.

(See:

Rome-SSPX. Important: Fr. Pfluger speaks on recent developments

.)

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Rome-SSPX:Bp. Arrieta Ochoa, of "Legislative Texts": "I think we were able to clarify the doctrinal problems"

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Card. Wuerl Silent on Biden Remarks

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

By now, it’s old news that the Vice President of the United States Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden, a nominal Catholic, not only said he supports homosexual “marriage”, but that there’s no difference between homosexual “marriage” and heterosexual marriage (also known simply as marriage). His support for this issue was so persuasive that, about an hour ago, the President of the United States announced his support for homosexual “marriage” as well.

What’s most troubling is the deafening silence stemming from the Ordinary of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction where the Vice President, his diocesan faithful, works – Cardinal Wuerl. Wuerl, who is accustomed to giving our Lord to pro-abortion politicians and celebrities, such as Nancy Pelosi, Chris Matthews and other nominal Catholics in not-so-good standing, has been silent on Biden’s remarks. In fact, when contacted by Rorate Caeli, his communications office refused to comment and said it was “highly unlikely” Wuerl would ever say anything publicly.

Yet, he sure was vocal and public when it came to Father Marcel Guarnizo, who is STILL suspended in the Archdiocese of Washington, all for refusing to give Holy Communion to a lesbian Buddhist.

Maybe you, your family, friends, and everyone else who cares about the name of the Church can get the good Cardinal to speak up. If you get a statement, any statement, please let us know:

Office of Media and Public Relations
Secretariat for Communications
301-853-4516

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Card. Wuerl Silent on Biden Remarks

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Blogmeet Update

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Blogmeet Update

Posted onMay 9, 2012by

I will see if I can meet up with the Socon and any others who are meeting at the Centennial Flame at noon for a blogmeet there.

As soon as the speeches start on the Hill I’ll be around the steps in front of Centre Block and we can have another meet for anyone who wants to say hello *after the speeches* near the steps as the March begins to leave the Hill, which should be 1:30 ish.

Please introduce yourself to me.  I’ll be wearing a light moss green jacket and possibly a beige sun hat, depending on the weather.  I’ll have a camera and notebook, and maybe a black knapsack.

And red sunglasses, maybe, depending.

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Obama the Theologian invokes Christ while endorsing unnatural sexual acts, same-sex “marriage”. Fr. Z rants.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

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Obama the Theologian invokes Christ while endorsing unnatural sexual acts, same-sex “marriage”. Fr. Z rants.

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Obama Comes out for Gay Marriage

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The day after so-called same sex “marriage” was very soundly CRUSHED in North Carolina, and an amendment will go into the State’s Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and also slamming the door on Civil unions or any other type of arrangement.

He must be an absolute lunatic, politically speaking.

North Carolina is the 32nd state to either defeat it or pass an amendment to ban it. To date not ONE state has voted for it. Not one. Even liberal California has rejected it… TWICE. Even liberal Maine….. why? because it is INTRINSICALLY wrong and disordered. People with same sex attraction can have relationships, but such relationships cannot be called “marriage” because they are not.

After the defeat some so called same sex “marriage” activists in the State’s Senate gallery had to be removed after started shouting things like “I hope you all $&*^% DIE!” . What wonderful people. Can you Feel the love.

So today on the heels of that stinging rebuke, Barack Hussein Obama has reversed his previous statements and come out in FAVOUR of so-called same sex “marriage” .

Yes. In an election year. In a country where voters have massively rejected it everywhere it has been put to a vote… Every single time.They cannot point to a single time that the people have embraced it. In fact, it is coming up for a vote in liberal states like Washington and Maryland, where angry voters got it put on the ballot. We can expect the same results.

A few short months ago I recall former President Jimmy Carter telling Obama to stick to the straight and narow, and avoid taking controversial positions on things like this. What does he do? First the mandate for birth control,which has angered Catholics and other people of faith as an attack on religious freedom, now so-called same sex “marriage”

What that tells me is this: IF he is able to win the election in November, he is going to double down hard on social conservatives, especially Catholics in the most vicious persecution since Cromwell or even Diocletian.

I am also convinced that in the event he does win again, he will ram so called same sex “marriage” through by executive order. It would not surprise me if he issued such an order before the election.

However, Given the positions he is taking, it is hard to see how he puts together the coalition he will need to win again. Even the vast majority of black voters do not support homosexual “marriage” . Unlike Joe Biden, they are not “”comfortable” with it.

Can someone explain to me how he expects to win the presidency by taking such a position on an issue where most Americans, even in blue states have consistently demonstrated that they are very strongly opposed? Seriously, how can he expect to hold Ohio, Iowa, Nevada, Virginia, Florida, (States he’s trailing in at this point)? If he was still competitive in such states, that will not remain the case for very long.

I think we can start getting used to hearing the words “President Mitt Romney”, who by the way, responded by saying: “My view is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney said. “That’s the position I’ve had for some time, and I don’t intend to make any adjustments at this point. … Or ever, by the way.”

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Obama Comes out for Gay Marriage

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