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    13 March 2008

    QUAERITUR: Children playing Mass… but… girls?

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 10:00 pm

    I get a great Quaeritur via e-mail.

     

    Father,

    Thank you for your time and effort with WDTPRS and your website. [You’re welcome.]

    I’m a father of three children, raised with my brother in the early ‘60’s by our wonderful traditional Catholic parents.  (Both of us were busy servers just an alley walk away from Holy Cross Church for many years…how could we have known how close to Heaven we were then?)

    My 6 year old twin girls discovered the "stash" of my brother’s and my play vestments, chalice, paten, and other liturgical items from our youth that we "played" Mass in our fabulous childhood.

    Naturally, my girls immediately begged me and my wife to prepare them an altar so that they may reanact Mass.  They are quite familiar with both the Novus Ordo English and Latin Mass from our parish of Old St. Mary’s in Cincinnati.

    They’re 6 years old.!  What shall we tell them Father?

     

    How sweet!

    I love the idea of children so captivated by Holy Mass that they want to do it also. 

    And I think it is most natural thing in the world.

    Your concern is that girls shouldn’t be encouraged to think that they can say Mass, and rightly so.

    Perhaps there is a way in which you could use those things to walk them through Mass, explaning it, without one of them acting the part of the priest?

    That might give you the chance to spend time with them in a good pursuit, and help them understand Mass?  I am not sure to what extent at 6 years you need to go into roles in the Church and sexual differences.  You are their father and will know best about this.

    I am sure that some of the readers will want to chime in, and as long as they write reasonable things, this is a good topic.

    Finally, I think this is simply wonderful, the idea that children want to have Holy Mass, in their style, in the family home, which is the domestic Church!

    • • • • • •

    WDTPRS: blog or … dating service?

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 9:36 pm

    My phone rang sometime before 6 am.  I was wanted on a radio program to talk about some "Catholic issues" in the media right now.  So, I got on the phone with the producer of Bill Bennett’s morning radio show, one of my favorites.  I am an occasional contributor.

    You never know what is going to happen in a day.

    So we started the morning fast and intensely.

    Mass.  Office.  These staples followed.

    Then I got down to making sure that my weekly article for The Wanderer was complete, and sent, and readable, made coffee and breakfast, got on skype with my thesis director, and started in on some posts for the blog and digging through some of the over 500 e-mails I get each day.

    The phone kept going all day, with various things.  And I was being perpetually annoyed by squirrels outside (thank God), the window, as they profitted  near the birdfeeder from the leavings of the chickadees.

    I went through some books that came in through inter-library loan: the thesis is not too far away, no matter what I am into.

    I was able to follow some of the Holy Father’s penance service today, via CTV.  I simply can’t stomach the awful English voice over through EWTN.  Only as a last resort.  I have to have the live feed.  I spent some time translating for you the Holy Father’s sermon at the penance service.

    At a certain point I felt I had everything under control.  Into town I went to fetch necessaries from the grocer, to go to the post office, and to drop books at the library.

    On my way to the library, my phone rang.  

    A close friend informed me that the blog was down. 

    Not just down. 

    A page was coming up that indicated not only that people could buy cheap land, but also find a date and get other useful services! 

    And, oh yah… my domain had expired.

    Great.  "Try refreshing", quoth I on the phone, "Close and reopen your browser." 

    My mind raced.  What is this?

    SMS’s started to come in from Europe. Phone calls from the UK and the USA.  

    I raced home.

    "Perfect.  Now people will think I am running a dating service from the Sabine Farm.  And WHAT’S WITH MY DOMAIN!?"  I knew I was paid up.

    And so I began to dig into the problem, telephonically.

    "Need a used car?  I DON’T!"

    You veterans of WDTPRS will remember the horrors of February 2007 when the growing traffic of this site crashed the server my former provider had me on. They just, click, shut us off.  A kind soul, at Joyent, came to our rescue and gave us space and so we are happy ever since.  

    Alas, that former provider still was the register of my domain name: wdtprs.com.

    That ever so competent former provider, a reseller for domains, had failed to inform their "parent" domain provider that wdtprs.com was fully paid up and not, in fact, expiring in any way.

    In the meantime, people seeking wdtprs.com were getting the idea that I was actually trying to find them a date, ... or something.

    You know… with all the news these days of the downfall of the Governor of New York I have been thinking this afternoon, in the face of that cyber suggestion that wdtprs was now also a dating service, that maybe I should see this as an opportunity!

    The young "lady" whom the soon-to-be former Governor visited apparently is now getting pretty impressive traffic on her website.  Over a million people have crowbarred from their cyber-wallets ¢99 for some song she created and peddled on her site.  Hmmm… $0.99×1,000,000.  Let’s see…. 

    Could this wdtprs.com dating thing make some cash?  

    Perhaps not.  I have a donation button on the left side bar. I suggested already that people might think about a guerdon for the PODCAzTs. 

    Should I let my domain lapse again and shift gears?

    Hmmm…

    As I mused on folding up my tent and moving on, I got online and began to read e-mail.

    A seminarian told me his bishop had forbidden him to learn the older form of Mass… and, well…

    The trumpet sounded between my ears.

    So, wdtprs is back.  One way or another.  For good or ill.

    Did you miss us?

    Sorry about that. 

    I think it was Han Solo who said "It’s not my fault!"

    BTW… vote for us over at the Blog Award thingie…. and don’t forget the donation button.  

    Let’s see…. 2.3 million visitors x .99…

    But I digress…

    Nothing could be more appropriate than to do an inpromptu "Where you at?" installment, after this day.

    At this time of day, I think most of you will be in the USA, since it is about 3:24 in the UK.

    Deer Trail, Colorado
    Seattle, Washington
    Saint Louis, Missouri
    Birkerd, Frederiksborg
    Pinehurst, North Carolina
    Hilo, Hawaii
    Manchester, New Hampshire
    Waltham, Massachusetts
    Peking, Beijing
    Toronto, Ontario
    Santa Fe, New Mexico
    Cebu, Cebu City
    Washington, District of…
    Los Gatos, California
    Washington, District of…
    Saint Paul, Minnesota
    Powell, Wyoming
    Littleton, Colorado
    Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, Pennsylva…
    Mesa, Arizona
    Toronto, Ontario
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Ooltewah, Tennessee
    Columbus, Ohio
    Paragould, Arkansas
    Washington, District of…
    Mississauga, Ontario
    San Diego, California
    Eatontown, New Jersey
    Valdosta, Georgia
    Dallas, Texas
    Atlanta, Georgia
    Mcdonough, Georgia
    Austin, Texas
    Narragansett, Rhode Isl…
    Somerville, Massachusetts
    Cherry Hill, New Jersey
    Phoenixville, Pennsylva…
    Rochester, Minnesota
    Honolulu, Hawaii
    Valentine, Nebraska
    Bexar, Arkansas
    Lincoln, Nebraska
    Emmitsburg, Maryland
    Montclair, New Jersey
    Ridgewood, New Jersey
    Emmitsburg, Maryland
    Dover, Delaware
    Sydney, New South Wales
    Bdingen, Hessen
    Halifax, Massachusetts
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Syracuse, New York
    Crawfordsville, Indiana
    Ocean View, New Jersey
    Philadelphia, Pennsylva…
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Oslo
    Covina, California
    Marietta, Georgia
    San Francisco, California
    Gizeh, Al Jizah
    Toledo, Ohio
    Colorado Springs, Color…
    College Station, Texas
    Singapore
    Beaumont, Texas
    Saint Paul, Minnesota
    Long Beach, California
    Te Kauwhata
    Irving, Texas
    Corpus Christi, Texas
    New York
    Canberra, Australian Ca…
    Beltsville, Maryland
    La Palma, California
    College Park, Maryland
    Edison, New Jersey
    Riverside, Rhode Island
    Mankato, Minnesota
    Leicester
    San Francisco, California
    Wichita, Kansas
    Melbourne, Victoria
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Seattle, Washington
    Richelieu, Quebec
    Kansas City, Missouri
    Syracuse, New York
    Lincoln, Nebraska
    Pinehurst, North Carolina
    Texarkana, Texas
    Round Rock, Texas
    San Diego, California
    Farmington, Minnesota
    Saint Paul, Minnesota
    Iran, Chahar Mahall va …
    Saint Paul, Minnesota
    Arlington, Virginia
    Schaumburg, Illinois
    Peterborough, Ontario
    Lynbrook, New York
    Newcastle, New South Wa…
    Arlington, Virginia
    San Antonio, Texas
    Stillwater, Oklahoma
    Sugar Land, Texas
    Sydney, New South Wales
    Rock Island, Illinois
    Southeastern, Pennsylva…
    Salt Lake City, Utah
    Saint Paul, Minnesota
    Carthage, Missouri
    Portland, Oregon
    Lansdale, Pennsylvania
    Fairfax, Virginia
    Olathe, Kansas
    Saint Louis, Missouri
    Toronto, Ontario
    Vail, Arizona
    Rockwell, Iowa
    Kansas City, Missouri
    Clementon, New Jersey
    Indianapolis, Indiana
    Omaha, Nebraska
    Salt Lake City, Utah
    Beaumont, Texas
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Bratislava
    Winnipeg, Manitoba
    Charleston, South Carol…
    Wollongong, New South W…
    Derby
    Omemee, Ontario
    Saint Paul, Minnesota
    Seattle, Washington
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Aliso Viejo, California
    Manila
    Kansas City, Missouri
    Birmingham
    Longview, Texas
    Rochester, New York
    Notre Dame, Indiana
    Columbus, Ohio
    Oakland, California
    Haslet, Texas

     

    • • • • • •

    There my be a technical problem with the blog

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 4:10 pm

    Expect some problems with the blog for some hours.

    For those WDTPRS vets around here, remember my problems with my old hosting service over a year ago?

    Apparently they didn’t do all that they were supposed to do to keep my domain registered, even though it is all paid up.

    Fun huh?

    I don’t know how this happened, but expect problems.

     

    UPDATE: 13 March 23:24 GMT 

    I am getting messages that the blog can’t be accesses right now in the UK, in Switzerland, in some places on the US eastern seaboard, in New Mexico.  However, people are getting it in the midwest and in California.

    I suspect what is happening is that the BAD message is still propagating  through the internet servers, while the GOOD message is chasing it around the world.

     

     

    • • • • • •

    Pope Benedict hears confessions in St. Peter’s Basilica at Penance service

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 12:46 pm

    UPDATE: I added my rapid translation of the Holy Father’s sermon at the penance service, below. 

     

    CTV had a live broadcast from the Basilica of St. Peter during a penance service for young people. 

    It was pretty much a standard Form II ceremony.

    The Holy Father heard confessions.



    Various stations were set up around the basilica, in addition to the regular confessionals.

     

    The period for confessions was punctuated by spiritual readings and the singing of the usual goopy Italian churchy stuff by Marco Frisina (below).  It was enough to make you despair of salvation, had there not been so many confessors around.

     

    The Holy Father eventually got out of the confessional.



    Put on his cope and went to his chair.


     


    After a couple prayers …



    ...and a blessing, people went home… shriven.



    A bonus is to see His Holiness with Pope Pius XII’s coat of arms. [CORRECTION: Innocent X!]

     


    UPDATE:  Here is the Holy Father’s sermon, in my rapid translation:

    Also this year, near to Palm Sunday, we meet again to prepare for the celebration of the 23rd World Youth Day which, as you know, will culminate in the Meeting of young people from the whole world to take place at Sydney next 15-20 July.  You have known the theme for this Day for a while now.  It is taken from the words heard just a bit ago in the first reading: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you"  (Acts 1,8).  Today’s gathering takes on, and not by chance, the form of a penitential liturgy, with the celebration of individual confessions.

    Why "not by chance"?  The response can be dervived from what I wrote in my first encyclical.  There I put into relief that at the beginning of being Christ, there is an encounter with an event, with a Person, who gives a new horizon to life and with it a decisive direction (cf. Deus caritas est, 1).  Precisely to favor this encounter you are readying yourselves to open your hearts to God, confession your sins and receiving, through the action of the Holy Spirit and through the mediation of the Church, forgiveness and peace.  This is how one makes room for the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, who is the "soul" (anima) and "vital breath" (respiro vitale) of Christian life: the Spirit makes us capable of bringing to maturity an ever deeper and joyful understanding of Jesus and, at the same time, to achieve putting the Gospel into effect (Messaggio per la XXIII GMG, 1).

    When I was Archbishop of Munich-Freising, in a meditation on Pentecost I was inspired by a film entitled Seelenwanderung  (Metempsychosis), to explain what the action is of the Holy Spirit in the soul.  The film presents two poor devils who, because of their goodness, weren’t able to get ahead in life.  One day one of them got the idea that, not having anything else to sell, he could sell his soul.  This was bought at a cheap price and put into a box.  From that moment, to his great surprise, everything changed in his life.  The began a rapid rise in the world, he became ever richer, he attained great honors, and at his death he was even Consul, largely because of his money and property.  From the moment when he was freed from his soul, he no longer had any consideration or humanity.  He acted without scruples, aiming only at gain and success.  Man no longer counted for anything.  He himself no longer had a soul.  The film, as I concluded, show in an impressive way how behind the facade of success, there is often hidden an empty existence.

    On the surface, the man hadn’t lost anything, but he lacked a soul, and without it, lacked everything.  It is obvious, as I continued in that reflection, that a human being can’t literally throw away his own soul, from the moment that it makes him into a person.  In fact, he still remains a person. And still there is the frightening possibility of being inhuman, to remain a person selling and losing at the same time one’s own humanity.  The distance between the human person and the inhuman person is immense, even if your can’t demonstrate it; it is that thing which is really essential, even though it is, on the surface, without importance (cf.Suchen, was droben ist. Meditationem das Jahr hindurch, LEV, 1985).

    Even the Holy Spirit, who was at the beginning of creation and thanks to the Paschal Mystery descended abundantly on Mary and the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, offers no evidence to physical eyes. If It penetrates into the person, or not, you can’t see it of demonstrate it; but it changes and renews the whole outlook of human existence.  The Holy Spirit does not change the exterior situations of life, but rather the interior.  On the evening of Easter Jesus, appearing to the disciples, "breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20,22).  In a way even more evident, the Spirit descended on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, like a roaring wind and in the form of tongues of fire.  This night also the Spirit descends upon our hearts, to forgive sins and renew them interiorly, clothing them with a power will make us also, like the Apostles, bold in announcing that "Christ was dead and is risen!"

    Dear friends, let us therefore prepare ourselves, with a sincere examination of conscience, to present ourselves before those to whom Christ entrusted the ministry of reconciliation.  With a contrite spirit let us confess our sins, seriously proposing not to repeat them any more.  This is how we will experience the joy that is true: which comes from the mercy of God, flows into our hearts and reconciles us with Him.  This joy is contagious! "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you", as the bible verse chosen as the theme of the 23rd World Youth Day says, "and you shall be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8).  Make yourselves bearers of this joy which comes from welcoming the gifts of the Holy Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22).

    Remember that you are "temples of the Spirit"; allow Him to abide in you and obey His directions docilely, to bring forward your contribution to the building up of the Church (cf. 1 Cor 12:7) and discern to what sort of vocation the Lord is calling you.  Today also the world has need of priests, of consecrated men and women, of married Christian couples.  Be generous in responding to a vocation through one of these ways, and help yourselves through recourse to the sacrament of confession and to the practice of spiritual direction in your journey as Christians of consistent character. (cristiani coerenti)  Seek especially to open your heart sincerely to Jesus, the Lord, to offer Him your unconditional "yes".

    Dear young people, this city of Rome is in your hands. Yours is the task to make it beautiful also spiritually with your witness of life lived in the grace of God and in keeping far away from sin, sticking to everything the Holy Spirit calls you to be in the Church and the world.  In this way you will make visible the superabundant grace of the mercy of Christ, which gushed from His side, pierced for us on the Cross.  The Lord Jesus washes us of our sins, heals us of wrongs and strengthens us not to succumb in the struggle against sin and in the witness of His love.

    Twenty-five years ago, our beloved Servant of God John Paul II inaugurated, not far from this Basilica, the San Lorenzo International Youth Center: a spiritual initiative which was united to many others present in the Diocese of Rome, to aid welcoming young people, the exchange of experiences and the witness of faith, and above all the prayer which helps us discover the love of God.  In that occasion John Paul II said: "Whoever allows himself to be filled up with this love – the love of God – cannot deny his own guilt for very long.  The loss of the sense of sin derives in the final analysis from the even more radical loss of the sense of God" (Omelia per l’inaugurazione del Centro Internazionale Giovanile "San Lorenzo", 13 marzo 1983, 5).  And he added: "Where to go in this world, with sin and with guilt, without the Cross?  The Cross takes upon Itself all the misery of the world, which comes from sin.  It is revealed as the sign of grace.  It accepts our solidarity and encourages us to sacrifice for others" (ibid.).

    Dear young people, this experience is renewed today for you: look at the Cross, welcome the love of God which is given by the Holy Spirit, and, as Pope John Paul II said, "Become you yourselves, redeemers of the youth of the world"(ibid.).

    Divine Heart of Jesus, whence Blood and water flowed forth like the wellspring of mercy for us, we trust in Thee.  Amen!

    • • • • • •

    The Novara (Italy) TLM battle continues

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 11:34 am

    Remember the dust up on the Diocese of Novara, Italy, over the implementation of Summorum Pontificum and how some priests are celebrating the older form of Mass in conflict with the wishes of the local bishop?  WDTPRS posted here and here.

    Here is a new story from La Stampa. My translation":
     

    Mass in Latin, ultimatum of the bishop to "rebel" priests

    Renato Balducci

    CREVOLADOSSOLA

    The three priests who celebrate the Mass in Latin have been invited to leave their parishes "voluntarily".  An ultimatum that might precede the decision of H.E. Renato Corti, Bishop of Novara, to transfer them on his own authority.  At Easter, Fr. Alberto Secci, Fr. Stefano Coggiola and Fr. Marco Pizzocchi could find themselves elsewhere, far from their parishes of Santa Maria Maggiore, Crevoladossola and Nibbiola.  This is how they will pay, if they don’t retreat, for their decision to celebrate to the bitter end Masses always and only in Latin.

    The imminent removal of these pastors is arousing protests in Crevoladossola where a group of the faithful have mobilized.  Already in December they wrote, without any result, to Rome, to Dario Card. Castrillòn Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [wow… did they get that wrong!].  Those directly interessted prefer instead to remain silent.  "Today, I am not speaking.  Call me tomorrow," responded Fr. Alberto Secci from Santa Maria Maggiore.  Many of the faithful, including some administrators, entered the fray in his defense, with a petition (signed by over 600 people), sent to the bishop and the Pope.

    The tug-of-war started in December when the priests "went on strike" after receiving the letter with which Fr. Piero Cerutti, director of the Diocesan Office for Social Communications, invited them "not to substitute Masses in the ordinary form (in Italian) destined for the whole parochial community."  Fr. Cerutti wrote: "The ordinary form must be guarateed above all on feast days and Sundays".  He wasn’t kept waiting for the response: the priests continued to pray only in Latin.  "We are not juke-box priests" who, this day, say Mass in one way and, another day, in another" the Ossolan (a region) priests replied, more than ever convinced of their position. They are being "help up" by the solidariety of the faithful.

    The dialogue hasn’t stopped between the Curia and and the "latinist" priests.  Until now the positions have remained far apart.  For several weeks the Latin "rebels" were substituted by priests sent to say Mass in Italian.  But these substitutions, seen like crossing the picket line, have sparked tensions.  At Vocogno, in the Vigezzo valley, someone even dressed down the vicar of the area, Fr. Luigi Preioni.

    Two days ago, letters were sent from the Cura by which the three priests were invited to "forsake" their parishes voluntarily.  The sending of the letters was not confirmed either by the Curia or by the vicar at Ossola.  But the customary "no comment" aren’t calming the polemics – on the contrary.

    In Crevoladossola, Marco Tanzarella, in the name of the other faithful, wrote a letter in defense of Fr. Stefano to forestall "that priests be removed from their charges on Holy Thursday, after a painful and vexatious slandering campaign in their regard".  He wrote this, sustaining that he confirmed the imminent transer with the vicar of the area.  Then, Tanzarella’s full-court press: "This is the modern Church, and this is the Church of the 21st century that must retrieve consensus and vocations; perhaps this is the Church that Pope Benedict hoped for in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.  Perhaps not!   This is the arm-chair Church, of chushy posts, and numbers, and priest burocrats who confuse the Gospel with the legder.  The Church hides itself behind the word "change", but it doesn’t really want it, as it brings no advantages, on the contrary it invests it (the Church) even more with the responsibility of the work for the faith it has to carry out.

    • • • • • •

    Pope’s 3rd encyclical: Caritas in veritate

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 11:32 am

    The intrepid Marco Tosatti writes in the Italian daily La Stampa that the Pope’s third encyclical (his first "social" encyclical") will be entitled "Caritas in veritate... Charity in truth".

    Here are the bullet points of Tosatti’s piece 

    • The last social encyclical was Centesimus annus by John Paul II in 1991.
    • Since 1991 there have been many changes, including a speeding up of globalization.
    • The changes are not all positive.
    • Benedict will not spare the West from criticisms.
    • Benedict may take up John Paul II’s point that development must not be reduced simply to "economic growth" but must aim at the integral promotion of man in his completeness. 
    • There may be especially harsh words about care for the environment and irresponsible use of resources.
    • There may be a call for greater austerity of life style.
    • The encyclical may come out after Easter, but recently Card. Bertone suggested perhaps this summer. 
    • The delay might stem from the Italian political scene.
    • The first part might take up Populorum progressio and Centessimus annus.  The second would analyze present conditions and issues and how the Church interacts with the world in their regard.
    • It may be around 70 pages, composed in 5 chapters.
    • It may have a connection with the Compendium of Social Doctrine, which must be updated after this encyclical is released.
    • The Pope is still working on the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth, which will come out after summer is over.
    MARCO TOSATTI

    CITTADEL VATICANO

    «Caritas in veritate»: questo sarà – salvo ripensamenti dell’ultimo minuto – il titolo della terza enciclica di Benedetto XVI, un documento sociale: in effetti il primo testo articolato del Magistero su questo tema dal 1991, quando Giovanni Paolo II scrisse la «Centesimus Annus».

    Da allora il mondo è cambiato in maniera profonda, e soprattutto la globalizzazione è avanzata in forme che nel 1991 si potevano appena intuire. Non sempre positive; e infatti, secondo quanto ci dice chi ha seguito la preparazione del testo, Benedetto XVI non risparmierà critiche e avvertimenti, soprattutto al mondo occidentale, ai paesi ricchi, fino a giudicare «irresponsabili» alcuni aspetti dell’utilizzo attuale delle risorse. Riprenderà il concetto già espresso da Giovanni Paolo II della necessità di uno sviluppo che non deve ridursi «alla semplice crescita economica», ma per essere autentico deve essere «integrale», e cioè rivolto «alla promozione dell’uomo» nella sua completezza, e di ogni uomo, non soltanto della fetta di umanità favorita. Nella sua prima enciclica sociale papa Ratzinger compirà una disamina impietosa dell’attuale situazione, in cui la società globalizzata presenta spesso «squilibri drammatici», e dove troppo spesso è trascurato il rispetto dovuto alle «vere esigenze dell’essere umano», la dignità della persona, e la ricerca del bene comune. Parole particolarmente dure saranno dedicate alla salvaguardia del pianeta, all’inquinamento, «troppo elevato», e all’uso «irresponsabile» delle risorse naturali. Solidarietà e sobrietà, uno stile di vita attento e austero sono le ricette per guarire il mondo, ed evitare crisi di ogni genere.
    L’enciclica era prevista per il dopo Pasqua; ma recentemente, da Baku, il Segretario di Stato, il cardinale Tarcisio Bertone, ha previsto una pubblicazione a ridosso dell’estate. C’è chi ipotizza che lo slittamento sia dovuto alla situazione politica italiana: con le elezioni in programma ad aprile si voleva evitare che il documento potesse essere strumentalizzato in chiave politica.
    Il testo, secondo un’anticipazione dell’agenzia Apcom, è diviso in due parti: una prima sezione rievocativa della «Populorum progressio» a quarant’anni dalla sua pubblicazione (27 marzo 1968) e della «Centesimus annus», scritta da Giovanni Paolo II nel 1991. La seconda parte è invece più legata ai problemi attuali e analizza a 360 gradi i problemi che attanagliano l’umanità, mettendo in rilievo l’attenzione della Chiesa verso l’uomo, in tutte le dimensioni e con uno sguardo globale. Povertà, globalizzazione, pace, cooperazione internazionale, disarmo, guerra fra ricchi e poveri, guerre su fonti energetiche e ambiente, globalizzazione, divario digitale, microcredito: questi i temi contenuti nell’Enciclica, un testo piuttosto corposo, di circa una settantina di cartelle, anche se il Papa potrebbe ritoccarlo ancora. A quanto risulta, l’Enciclica è composta da 5 capitoli ed è indirizzata a tutti gli uomini di buona volontà e a chi ha responsabilità nel Paese, dunque non solo – come le precedenti encicliche di Benedetto XVI solo ai cattolici – ma anche a capi di Stato e di governo.

    Il testo riprende i contenuti più importanti del Compendio della Dottrina sociale della Chiesa che al momento è arrivato ad essere tradotto in ben trentotto lingue.

    Dopo la pubblicazione della terza Enciclica di Benedetto XVI, anche il Compendio dovrà essere aggiornato. Benedetto XVI sta anche preparando un’enciclica sulla Fede, che uscirà forse il prossimo anno, dopo la pubblicazione della seconda parte del libro su Gesù di Nazareth, che molto probabilmente uscirà invece dopo l’estate.



    • • • • • •

    No. You can’t ‘go to confession’ online. Period. Can’t. No.

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 11:11 am

    I found this on CNN, having been warned about it by the American Papist.

    First, a few comments.

    Before anything else let this be said…. I changed my mind about that entry head line.  Of course you can confess online!  You can confess anywhere, to anyone, anything you like!  But you can’t have your sins forgiven sacramentally unless you make your confession to a priest.

    This is another way of saying… "No.  You can’t ‘go to confession’ online.  Period.  Can’t.  No."

    This story also reveals how living a cyber-life is becoming increasingly common and even dangerous.

    Let’s look at it with my emphases and comments.

     Forgive us father, we’d rather go online

    By Ashley Fantz
    CNN


    (CNN)—If you can pay for your bills online, why not pay for your sins?
    art.online.confessions.jpg

    "I’m not in a drive-thru business," Atlanta priest Ricardo Bailey said, here with parishioner Kim Schulman.

    Already a repository for too much information from bloggers divulging their every intimate thought, the Web recently extended its reach into territory the church once dominated. [Notice the language of "power" attached to this: "dominated".  The Church has always seen this mission, this use of the Lord’s own power to forgive sins, as service.]

    Tens of thousands of the guilty among us are visiting confessional booths [nooo…] at ivescrewedup.com, mysecret.tv and dailyconfessions.com and unburdening themselves anonymously. [Sadly, the impression of anonymity in making a confession has been damaged enormously by "face to face" style confessionals.  I won’t hear confessions face to face anymore (not that I did often before, mind you), unless it is an emergency of some sort.]

    As priests report a steady decline in sinners showing up to confess in person, [They can’t show up in any other way than "in person", Ashley.] according to a Georgetown University study, and parishes across America staff makeshift confessionals in malls with rotating priests[And excellent idea.] the guilty among us are repenting online. [Which probably means you are not repenting at all.]

    On camfess.com, a woman admitted, "I don’t think my boyfriend is cute." If God is checking his e-mail, He might see the "ask for forgiveness" form you completed on forgivenet.com.  [Okay… there’s some real depth for you.]

    Absolution is also available on YouTube, where videos of members of XXX Church, a team of pastors based in Michigan, discuss their unholy addiction to porn.  [Okay… get the problem here?  "Unburden yourself in public", or "Discuss problems frankly" is NOT the same thing as "confession".]

    Admissions on Christian church-operated sites such as ivescrewedup.com and mysecret.tv range from shoe shopping addictions ("I can’t stop. They are all so pretty") to extramarital affairs ("I’m not sure whether I should tell my wife") to criminal acts ("I have stolen about $15,000 when working for a family member").  [Remember, that only Churches with valid Holy Orders can offer the sacrament of penance.  The rest… say what you want, say what they do might be helpful or nice… they are just shooting blanks.]

    The majority of confessions, [Not confessions.] signed with initials and young ages, are descriptions of shame and guilt associated with sex.  [WOW!  In the next CNN story, "Dog bites man!"]

    Confession 2.0 is a place where anonymity is a substitute for privacy and the intimacy traditionally experienced by talking to a priest, therapist or friend is replaced by a virtual community of strangers. Among the Web site managers CNN spoke with, none has professional counselors monitoring confessions.  [Notice another thing…. the benefit of going to confession is "intimacy".]

    "This is a new genre of confession," [No… it’s not, not in any real Catholic sense of the word.] said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Sherry Turkle, who has researched cyber relationships and interviewed people who post confessions online.

    "They have said to me, ‘This is where hope is for me.’ They think they can find on these sites some kind of goodness that eludes them in real life."  [I have no doubt that they think this.  More and more people are living life through the internet, false chimeric cyber-lives, as their personal and societal bonds unravel.]

    But people who seek something more than their words on a Web site are often disappointed, said Turkle, who’s also a psychologist. Most sites do not invite or allow responses to messages, although grouphug.com allows posters to vote "hug" or "shrug" in response to confessions.  [BLEECH!]

    "Some responses are empathetic and kind; others aren’t so nice," Turkle said. [No kidding?  You ought to see some of the mail I get!] "The expectation of what you can get out of these sites far exceeds what some ultimately get, and that, in its own way, can be harmful."

    "What these sites say to me is what are we are increasingly missing in our lives—a sense of community and real, tangible connection with other people," Turkle said.  [As I said…]

    "Community" should have a broader definition, said Pastor Bobby Gruenewald of Oklahoma-based LifeChurch.tv, an evangelical consortium of 13 churches that launched mysecret.tv in 2006. 

    "This might be the first time some of these people are opening up about not just secrets in their life, but things they have felt embarrassed about for many years," he said.

    About 30,000 people have posted "secrets" on mysecret that are linked to categories such as "lust," "cheat," "steal" and even "beastiality." When the site was featured on AOL’s homepage, more than 1.3 million people clicked on it in a single day, he said. [Put bestiality on a list and you get lots of clicks…. what a surprise.]

    LifeChurch members monitor messages, deleting those that are, in their view, too graphic or fabricated. [Not just pretend confession, it is censored, too.] Like ivescrewedup.com, which is also run by a large church, IP addresses are not tracked. If someone posts a confession of a criminal nature—someone who says they enjoy child porn or they’ve committed murder—there’s not much the site managers can do about it.

    A recent message on ivescrewedup.com reads: "I have killed four people. One of them was a 17 year old boy."

    "We suspect that is a soldier," said Pastor Troy Gramling of South Florida’s Flamingo Road Church, which launched ivescrewedup.com last year. "We don’t want to track IP addresses, because that would compromise the authenticity of a site that says it’s anonymous."  [hmmm… d’ya ‘spose there might be some legal problems with this?  Call me suspicious, but this could lead to real problems for real confessors.  If the government were to go after such sites and require them to turn over information given in what some are going to try to admit as "confession", that will undermine the priviledged positions of priest confessors who are not required (yet) by law to divulge information received in the internal forum.]

    The churches’ phone numbers are on their sites, both pastors note.

    "We’re hoping that if they want to reach out and give their name, or talk to someone, they will," said Gruenewald.  [Even though we still can’t validly absolve their sins as Christ desired.]

    The Georgetown University study, which came out in 2005, found a significant decline in Catholics who go to confession.  [Wow!  Cutting edge reporting!] Although the Roman Catholic Church officially opposes online confessions, [Look that that phrase…. "officially" opposes.  The idea is that "official" things don’t count.  Unless they are false reports of "official" lists of new sins, of course.] the Archdiocese of Washington used radio advertisements last year to encourage sinners to return to the sacrament. And in Chicago, Illinois, five parishes hosted "24 Hours of Grace" with rotating priests. Read more about the sacrament known as confession »  [Okay… did you what a foolish piece of thought this was.  1) Even though the Church officially says you can’t go to confession online 2) the Church in Washington and Chicago encourages people to go to confession, real confession in person and provides opportunities.  Get the connection?  Get it?  Oh brother!]

    But the Web does not offer a road to "true absolution," said Father Ricardo Bailey of Holy Spirit of Atlanta, Georgia.  [Finally.]

    "I’m not in a drive-thru business," he said. "Confessing means you’re taking accountability for the things we’ve done wrong, that you understand the impact you’ve had on other people."  [It also means saying your sorry and you won’t do it again.]

    "As a priest, we ask people questions, we tell them to approach the person or persons they’ve wronged," [We don’t if that’s the wrong advice, as it sometimes is.] Bailey said. "This [online confessing] is another way for people to avoid taking responsibility."  [Exactly.  And let’s not be hard on Fr. Bailey.  After all, he is being interviewed by CNN.]

    Holy Spirit parishioner Kim Schulman, 38, called online confession "horrible." [Yep.  I also like "abominable" and the ever useful "stupid".]

    "It’s easy to send an e-mail without emotion or remorse. ... Tone is hard to see in an e-mail," she said. "How do you know that people aren’t lying, doing it for the shock value, someone trying to outdo the confession before them?"

    But Gramling said online confession is not meant to replace traditional confession.  [Oh really?]

    "Just because confessions don’t go directly to God through a priest or a church doesn’t mean they aren’t sincere," he said. "And there’s something healing about just going on the site and reading it, seeing all these other confessions. Some people might realize, ‘Maybe I’m not alone.’"  [And…. then they go to confession?]

     
      

    • • • • • •

    Get yourselves ready: WICKED STUPIDITY ALERT

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 10:40 am

    I think we had better gear up for series of truly stupid, as a matter of factly, wickedly stupid, news stories and TV spots about the Catholic Church in the next few weeks, ‘till after Easter.

    • • • • • •

    Statement on recent Vatican meeting about the Letter to Catholics in China

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 8:26 am

    The Holy See Press Office issued a statement about the Commission Pope Benedict set up to examine reactions to the Letter to Catholics in China. 

     

     

    Communique of the Holy See Press Office regarding the meeting
    of the Commission for the Church in China

    The Commission established by Pope Benedict XVI to study the most important questions concerning the life of the Church in China met in the Vatican from 10 to 12 March.

    The meeting had as its theme the Letter which the Holy Father sent to Chinese Catholics on 27 May 2007. Participants first examined the reaction to the pontifical document both inside and outside China. They reflected on the theological principles that inspired the Letter in order to comprehend the future prospects they bring for the Catholic community in China. In concrete terms, in the light of the papal text consideration was given to certain important aspects regarding the Church’s mission as ‘instrument of salvation’ for the Chinese people: evangelisation in a world experiencing globalisation; the application, in China’s current situation, of the Vatican Council II doctrine on the nature and structure of the Church; forgiveness and reconciliation within the Catholic community; the requirements of truth and charity; the government of dioceses, which has great relevance for pastoral activity and for the formation of priests, seminarians, religious and lay faithful. In line with the indications expressed by the Pope in His Letter, the will for a respectful and constructive dialogue with the authorities was reiterated. Finally, and still in the light of the pontifical document, the participants exchanged information and experiences concerning the life and activity of the Church in China.

    The meeting concluded with a meeting with the Holy Father. He listened to a brief report of the work accomplished over the three days and encouraged the participants to continue their commitment in favour of the Catholic community in China. He also mentioned the forthcoming event of 24 May, the Universal Day of Prayer for the Church in China.

     

    One wonders about the question of the location of the Holy See’s diplomatic representation in China. 

    • • • • • •

    Kidnapped Chaldean archbishop of Mosul is dead

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 7:38 am

    I regret to report some bad news.  From Asia News.

    The archbishop of Mosul is dead
    Bishop of Arbil: "A heavy Cross for our Church, ahead of Easter".

    Mosul (AsiaNews) – The Chaldean archbishop of Mosul is dead. Archbishop Faraj Rahho was kidnapped last February 29 after the Stations of the Cross.  His kidnappers have given word of his death, indicating to the mediators where they could recover the body of the 67-year-old prelate. "It is a heavy Cross for our Church, ahead of Easter", Rabban al Qas, bishop of Arbil, tells AsiaNews in response to the news.


     

     

     

     

    BAGHDAD (AP) – Gunmen kidnapped a Chaldean Catholic archbishop Friday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police and the church said, in another attack targeting Iraq’s small Christian community.


    An aide to Iraq’s Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, leader of the church, said he did not know who was behind the kidnapping of the 65-year-old archbishop.

    Last year’s International Religious Freedom Report from the U.S. State Department noted that Chaldean Catholics comprise a tiny minority of the Iraqi population, but are the largest group among the less than 1 million Christians in mostly Muslim Iraq.

    Churches, priests and business owned by Christians have been attacked by Islamic militants and many have fled the country.

    "Particularly in Iraq, Christian families and communities are feeling increasing pressure from insecurity, aggression and a sense of abandonment," Benedict said at the time.

    Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also pledged last fall to protect and support the Christian minority.

    In an interview with AsiaNews, a Vatican-affiliated missionary news agency, in November, Rahho said the situation in Mosul was not improving and "religious persecution is more noticeable than elsewhere because the city is split along religious lines."

    • • • • • •

    Card. Castrillon Hoyos to pontificate at Westminster Cathedral

    CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 7:03 am

    I got this via e-mail:

    Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos to Celebrate Pontifical High Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite in Westminster Cathedral, Saturday 14 June 2008

    The Latin Mass Society is proud to announce that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission in Rome and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy, has accepted its invitation to celebrate a Pontifical High Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite (the Extraordinary Form) in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 14 June at 2.00 pm.

    Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos is one of Pope Benedict XVI’s closest collaborators and is charged with oversight of the Vatican’s relations with the religious communities and laity committed to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

     

     

    ...

    The LMS hopes to arrange for Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos to call on Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, at Archbishop’s House close to the Cathedral on Saturday morning. Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos will then deliver an address at the LMS’s AGM in Westminster Cathedral Hall later in the morning. He will then take lunch with the LMS’s Committee members before celebrating Mass in the Cathedral at 2.00 pm.

    As befits a Prince of the Church, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos will be welcomed at the Cathedral west door in full cappa magna before processing to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to pray; he will then vest in the sanctuary whilst the Cathedral choir sings. Pontifical High Mass will then be celebrated at the High Altar with all the breathtaking ceremony and music integral to the Traditional Rite. Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos will also preach.

    Julian Chadwick, Chairman of the LMS, said, “This is the highlight of the LMS’s 43 years of struggle on behalf of the Traditional Latin Rite. It will be the first time since the liturgical changes of 1969 that a Cardinal will have celebrated the Extraordinary Form in Westminster Cathedral [Note: Cardinal Alfons Stickler, Vatican Librarian Emeritus who died in December last year, presided at a High Mass in the Cathedral organised by the LMS in 1992 but did not celebrate]. Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos has been unstinting in his work on behalf of the Extraordinary Form and this Mass is a clear signal from Rome that it wants the Traditional Rite reinserted into the heart of the Church’s liturgical activity. We are extremely grateful