Canon Law Conference at O.L. Guadalupe Shrine

Over the last couple days I attended a Canon Law and Civil Law Conference at the beautiful Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Diocese of LaCrosse. A great setting for a great conference.

Alas, the Shrine is in a rather remote area, and there was neither phone coverage nor internet. I was pretty much off the grid for a couple days.

Here, however, are a few pics.

The attendees formed a group of goodly size this year.  I attended 3 years ago and it was smaller.  There were quite a few civil lawyers and non-priests at the meeting.

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Archbp. Sample giving his address.  Sorry… my iPhone isn’t good at low light and distance.

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Here is a shot of the interior of the church.  This proves that we don’t have to build ugly churches if we don’t want to.

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The Shrine is staffed by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, about whom we have thought a great deal of late.

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Last night there was a nice supper and, afterward, Q&A with the speakers.  The food at the cafe is surprisingly good.

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Cardinal Burke asking Bishop Gainer (D. Lexington) a question.

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Card. Burke preached at the noon Mass today.

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Fr. Z and friend doing a little writing after the conference.

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I was deeply edified by the talks and gained a lot of insight into the work of diocesan tribunals.  It was a valuable two days in a beautiful, prayerful setting.

The Shrine is worth the effort to visit.  Make the effort and take the time.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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17 Comments

  1. jhayes says:

    The Shrine is staffed by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, about whom we have thought a great deal of late.

    Fr. Lombardi clarifies that the action on the FFI doesn’t mean that there’s any intention to change Summorum Pontificum.

    Le père Federico Lombardi, directeur de la salle de presse du Vatican, explique que “le fait que le pape François ait ordonné que les prêtres religieux de la Congrégation soient tenus de célébrer la liturgie selon le rite ordinaire – sauf autorisation par les autorités compétentes pour l’utilisation de la forme extraordinaire – n’a pas l’intention de contredire les exigences générales exprimées par Benoît XVI et le motu proprio Summorum Pontificum”.

    Il s’agit, dit le père Lombardi, “de répondre aux problèmes et tensions spécifiques générées dans cette communauté par le rite de la messe”. Il fait observer que ce que Benoît XVI recherchait était en fait exactement le contraire: “surmonter les tensions et non pas en créer”.

    Le père Lombardi répond à des comemntaires affirmant que le pape François contredit ainsi le pape émérite Benoît XVI. Or c’est justement le pape Benoît XVI qui a lancé la visite apostolique, et le préfet de la Congrégation pour la vie consacrée, le cardinal brésilien Joao Braz de Aviz, a été nommé par lui en 2011 …

    On peut donc affirmer que le pape François poursuit l’oeuvre commencée par le pape Benoît XVI, et que selon le père Lombardi la décision du Saint-Siège ne peut pas être réduite à une question liturgique, étant aussi en cause “la vie” et “le gouvernement” de la communauté.

    http://www.zenit.org/fr/articles/commissaire-nomme-par-le-pape-pour-les-franciscains-de-l-immaculee

  2. JARay says:

    I received an email today from “Corrispondenza romana” asking for my support regarding the Franciscans of the Immaculate being forbidden to celebrate the Latin Mass. The petition is addressed to Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life asking for the removal of this prohibition. I realise that I cannot give the email address of “Corrispondenza romana” but perhaps some of you will be able to find them out yourselves and support this petition.

  3. Oh man, that Church is making me drool in ecstacy! And the huge marble/stone baldacchino with the Angels on it! Oh what joy!

  4. Quas Primas says:

    Bishop Gainer is my bishop! Would love to have seen his presentation and the exchange with Cardinal Burke.

    By the way, Cardinal Burke had sent a kind greeting in honor of the Diocese of Lexington’s 25th anniversary that we’re celebrating this year.

    Thanks for posting about this, Fr. Z!

  5. Supertradmum says:

    This Shrine has the same architect as the Church at Thomas Aquinas College, Duncan Stroik. He has also done other beautiful and reverent churches, found http://www.stroik.com/portfolio/

    Wonderful that you could go and I hope the Franciscans get many, many more vocations both in the Midwest and in England.

  6. Supertradmum says:

    I forgot to mention for those who do not recognize Wisconsin hills and miss the words under the main photo, that the firm has the Shrine as the featured project on the link above for lots of great photos.

  7. Father Bartoloma says:

    Are any of the papers and presentations published from this conference or perhaps ever made available as an mp3? The CLSA publishes the proceedings of its annual convention every year; it would be a great thing if this convention began to do the same.

  8. Just wonderin’ what that aspergillum and aspersorium is doing on the table? Is it for your friend to ward evil off from Fr. Z or vice versa? I’ve seen a “food fight” amongst clerics before but never seen an “aspergillum fight.” [Perhaps The Motley Monk is viewing this image through his predominately Augustinian lens? Perhaps the presence of those fine objects is not for the purpose of warding off, but for the purpose of conferring constitutive blessings on holy objects purchase by the faithful at the Shrine?]

  9. Ray says:

    Thanks for this article and pictures. I believe that this shrine and Church were built under the auspices of then Bishop Burke. At one time he was the Bishop of Lacrosse, Wisconsin. Yes, the same who later became Archbishop and now Cardinal Burke. Holy priests lead to the building of holy and beautiful churches.

  10. Father Bartoloma: Yes, they said that the talks were recorded and that they should be available.

  11. ALL: Card. Burke told us that they are now going to build a new catechetical center at the Shrine. Do you think the teaching will be sound?

  12. (One of the ALL I hope referenced above….)

    Resoundingly YES, I think it will be as solid as solid could be, especially if +Cdl Burke has anything to say about it.

    Just the tonic to counteract the toxic emanations from other quarters that call themselves “Catholic”.

  13. tonyfernandez says:

    That church is gorgeous.

  14. one word WOW.wish we couldvisit.

  15. netokor says:

    What a beautiful shrine! God bless them. And may Our Lady watch over them. You don’t have to be a mexicano to be a devoted Guadalupano! :)

  16. amsjj1002 says:

    As sort of an aside, Father Z, have you heard any updates on the health of Archbishop Sample’s mother? The last he’s said on that (that I know) was that she was in hospital again and so I’ve been praying for her special.

  17. Tim says:

    Our family has visited the Shrine twice now and want to make it a yearly event, it is just a fantastic gift to all.

    As an aside, knowing that Card. Burke built the Shrine (with lots of help) and presumably had something to do with FFI being the staffers, I would say that is a strong positive indicator in their favor.

Comments are closed.