What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

News is getting around that my "Alma" Mater, the University of Minnesota Theatre Department will be going ahead with a production of the execrable Dario Fo’s anti-Catholic play The Pope and the Witch.

This play is pretty vile. The Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Most Rev. Harry Flynn, protested loudly in the local paper which Minnesotans often call "The Star and Sickle" (Star/Tribune).

We must not allow ourselves to be driven from the public square by anti-Catholic bigotry.

Many are protesting the play. One site of TFP has a form you can sign and sent comments on.

This is my open comment.

To Mr. Robert H. Bruininks
President of the University of Minnesota
CC: Theatre department

1) I have lived in Rome for many years. I have read Dario Fo. It astonishes me that anyone would waste time on a production of his work.

2) I am a graduate of the University of Minnesota. I have a B.A. in THEATRE, i.e., from your U. of M. Theatre Department.

3) I am a Catholic. In fact, I am a Catholic priest.

Therefore, I believe I am fairly well-informed about the issues involved in the matter of The Pope and the Witch.

4) I now wonder how a land-grant institution, paid for by TAXPAYERS in Minnesota, can tolerate this choice, to so single out members of the Catholic Church for scheduled and then repeated insult and ridicule.

Taxpayers will be footing the bill for a scheduled and then repeated offense to Catholics.

You bear part of the responsibility.

Therefore, I respectfully suggest you might report yourself to your own Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. That office’s webpage (http://www.eoaffact.umn.edu/biasreporting.html) has the following:

"PLEASE LET US KNOW if you, someone you know, or a group within our university community, has experienced bias, discrimination or hostility. We are concerned about incidents based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, gender identification, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status and/or sexual orientation. The University of Minnesota is ready and willing to provide support, and address disrespectful bias and discrimination within our community. We need to know what happens and how often, so that we can respond and help those who are targeted. By reporting incidents, you become part of the solution."

Simply attaching a schedule of the Theater Department’s season will indicate the religious dimension of the violation of your University’s policies as well as the where, by whom, and how often.

Kindly take action in this matter. It would be the right thing to do and you would be "part of the solution".

Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf
Rome

The Pontifical Academy for Life is having its 13th General Assembly here in Rome from 23-24 Feb. The topic, "La conscienza cristiana a sostegno del diritto alla vita … Christian conscience in support of right to life."

They will be studying among other things the tension of tolerance, democracy, moral autonomy in reference especially to scientific research and the necessity of forming the conscience under the light of Faith.

One of the very good lines of the chief presenter today, His Excellency Most Rev. Elio Sgreccia, Pres. of the P.A.V. was this: "A Christian may not ignore the distinction between sin, which is prevented, or avoided or amended, and the sinner who is helped."

Another presenter, H.E. Most Rev. Anthony Fisher, of Australia, had a marvelous introduction to the conference. He explained that it is often thought now that conscience confers "private infallibility". The problem is that two people can differ. Conscience is not a GPS, which gives us directions from outside, like "Tom Tom" gadget, something alien to us and we can ignore of follow as we wish. Neither are we slaves to some voice outside us, of the state or another authority. Nor is conscience like a tax lawyer which tries to get us out of things: "Can I reclassify something and then do it? Can I do just a little (abortion)?" In the 1960’s conscience was a code for "strong feeling" or "personal preference". Card. Ratzinger referred to this misunderstanding of conscience as "a clock thrown over human subjectivity" allowing people to avoid hard questions.

Mons. Laffitte spoke about “conscientious objection”. Conscientious objection is often applied to military situations or issues of defense of life. In Great Britain in April, according to new laws Catholic adoption agencies will be obliged to entrust children to homosexual couples. Does the question of objection of conscience apply to this? Will these agencies have to close (rather than cooperate in sin)?

Prof.ssa Lopez Barahoma, who is a bioethicist and director of a bank of stem cells, explained that today legislators are giving in to the demands of scientific research in such a way that the laws are creating problems for the dignity of life. Present laws are inadequate to respond to the questions we are facing. The over arching “rights” of people are also creating problems. For example, when a child is seen as an object to which people have a right, there are demands for laws favoring in vitro fertilization. Then there could be demands for a certain kind of child, leading to genetic manipulation. On the other hand, there if there is a “right” not to be inconvenienced, there are demands for laws for abortion and euthanasia and assisted suicide. In the face of many of these unacceptable demands, even on the level of laws that confer or support the claims of rights, what do Catholics whose conscience is properly formed do? “The solution to the dilemmas that the scientist has to confront throughout all his/her professional life is given in Donum Vitae (22 Feb 1987) that recommends conscientious objection against those civil laws.” Moreover, “We have to bear in mind that silence usually means complicity so let us raise out active voice and search the Truth”.

I was rather amazed to see that most of the journalists were silent after the presentations and did not ask questions.

Attention priest readers!

The Holy Father received in audience the Penitenzieria Apostolica and the confessors of the Major Basilicas along with those who participated in the annual course held on the internal form. I have attended that course a half dozen times or so during the years and each year it is rich with helpful information and insights.

This year Pope Benedict addressed the gathering and spoke, as usual, about the Sacrament of Penance. Here are a couple of paragraphs with my rapid translation (my emphasis):

In the mystery process of interior renewal, the confessor is not a passive spectator, but persona dramatis, that is, an active instrument of divine mercy. Moreover, it is necessary that he untie a serious theological, moral and pedagogical preparation to a good spiritual and pastoral sense which makes him able to grasp the lived reality of the person. It is very useful then to know the social, cultural and professional conditions of those who approach the confessional, in order to be able to offer appropriate counsel and spiritual and practical advice. Let the priest not forget that in this Sacrament he is called to fulfill the role of father, of spiritual judge, of teacher and educator….

Dear priests, your ministry above all bears a spiritual character. It is necessary to unite a profound spiritual disposition (vena) nourished by contact with Christ, Teacher and Redeemer, to human wisdom and theological preparation. By virtue of priestly ordination, in fact, the confessor carries out a special service "in persona Christ", with a fulness of human gifts reinforced by Grace. His model is Christ, sent by the Father; the source he draws upon is the life-giving breath of the Holy Spirit. Before such a great responsibility, human powers are surely inadequate, the humble and faithful adherence to the salvific plans of Christ makes us, dear brothers, witnesses of the universal redemption which He enacted, putting into effect the warning of St. Paul, who says: "...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself … entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor 5,19).

To fulfill such a tasl we much above all root this message of salvation in ourselves and allow it to transform us profoundly. We cannot preach forgiveness and reconciliation to others if we have not been personally embued with it. If it is true that in our ministry there are various means and ways to communicate the merciful love of God to the brethren, it is however in the celebration of this Sacrament that we can do it in most complete and observable form. Christ chose us, dear priests, to be the only ones able to forgive sins in His Name: we are therefore dealing with a specific ecclesial service to which we must give priority.

When the Holy Father made a visit to one of his seminaries, the Seminario Maggiore, he said this:

On his memories of the seminary, the Holy Father recounted that among the subjects of study, he preferred philosophy and exegesis.

"I was fascinated from the beginning especially by the figure of St. Augustine and then also the school of St. Augustine in medieval times, St. Bonaventure, the great Franciscans, the figure of St. Francis," the Pope said.

"Especially fascinating for me was St. Augustine’s great humanity," he added. "He had to struggle spiritually to find access to the Word of God little by little, access to life with God, to the great yes to his Church."