Good, accurate historical records are hard to come by; especially those with names. Thanks to linguistic evolutions, military conflicts and numerous other factors, some periods of history have full, rich accounts while others have splotchy accounts at best. But even in the best of times, finding the names of the king and family is easy. Finding several generations of tenants or farmers can be near impossible.

Fortunately for historians and researchers, the Catholic Church has kept detailed membership registries for over 1,000 years, giving us the names, parents and birthplaces of every church member in society: princes, priests and peasants. In fact, these records have endured as one of the hallmarks of the Catholic clergy. These records have been a valuable asset to scholars, historians and even individuals doing personal research. These documents were of particular interest to Latter-day Saints trying to chart their own genealogy.  [Genealogy!  Okay!  So that’s what they’re doing!]

But not anymore. As of Monday, the Vatican has ordered all Catholic dioceses worldwide to cease showing membership records and registries to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Catholic officials say the order was an effort to prevent Mormons from baptizing by proxy their Catholic ancestors.

Catholic Church members and officials have spit out lots of good reasons and support for this decree. Catholic author Hugh McNichol said that giving out such records could be exposing embarrassing circumstances like a child born out of wedlock or of an unknown father.  [Well… yah!  People have a right to privacy, after all.] McNichol went on to say that this is private information, and "should be considered privileged information by all members of the [Catholic] Church."

If it’s private information, then why would it be issued to arbitrary scholars [What’s an "arbitrary scholar"?   Is this someone who just studies any old thing?  Someone who draws conclusions for no particular reason?] or historians over direct family descendants, if those descendants happen to be LDS? The idea of protecting family secrets is a fair one, but family secrets stay in the family, not the Church. They’re to be preserved only to immediate family lines, not released to Church selected and approved audiences.

Those wishing to access the documents must now prove a "legitimate reason to view these sensitive snippets of a person’s theological history," McNichol wrote. [That sounds reasonable.  Any research library or archive would ask the same.] What more legitimate reason can you get than keeping a continuing documentation of "a person’s theological history"? [A person’s "theological" history…] Or perhaps a better reason is needed before a private institution will release information about an individual to members of their own family.

McNichol even goes as far as to say Mormons taking these names to do baptisms for the dead is "comparable with piracy of a person’s free will and soul as well."

If they really are trying to protect the dead from "piracy of the soul," indulgences might be a better place to start than baptisms.
  [Hardly the same issue, really.]
But the heart of the issue of the Catholic Church’s belief that LDS baptisms for the dead are a "detrimental" practice. Therefore the record keepers are "not to cooperate with the erroneous practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."  [Sounds about right to me.]

Smells like fear.  [Try sound common sense.]

If the Mormon Church is true, then part of LDS Church doctrine says that no one who has proxy baptisms done in their behalf is forced to accept the Mormon faith.  [Ehem… so what?] In a 2005 interview with the Associated Press, President Gordon B. Hinckley said that the baptismal rite is only offered to individuals in the afterlife, not required. "So, there’s no injury done to anybody," he said. So what’s the point of preventing baptisms by withholding names if the proxy baptisms don’t harm the individuals? 

And if the Mormon Church isn’t true – as the Catholics assert – and the practice of baptisms for the dead is false doctrine, then why hide the names? Wouldn’t that be like stopping a child from talking to an imaginary friend? Humor the kid; he and his friend aren’t hurting you. And he might have an imaginary army to back him up.  [Because Catholics would believe that to participate in such a thing, to cooperate materially in such a process, would be to cooperate in a rite of a false religion.]

This editorial represents the opinion of The Daily Universe editorial board. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of BYU, its administration or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here is the prayer to be recited (twice during the year).  It obtains, under the usual conditions, a partial indulgence. 



Here is the indulgenced text (written by Bl. Bartolo Longo), to recite at noon:

PETITION TO OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY OF POMPEII

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I.
O august Queen of victories, Virgin who reignest in paradise, whose mighty name causes heaven to rejoice and hell to tremble, o glorious Queen of the most holy Rosary, we, thy happy children chosen by thy goodness in this century to build thee a temple at Pompeii, kneeling at thy feet on this solemn day to commemorate thy latest triumphs on the spot where idols and demons were formerly worshipped, we pour out with tears the feelings of our hearts and with a filial confidence lay before thee our miseries.

From that throne of mercy where thou sittest as Queen, o Mary, turn down thy pitiful eyes on us, on our families, on Italy, on Europe, and the whole Church; take into pity the afflictions which overwhelm us and the cares which embitter our life. Thou seest, o Mother, how many dangers of soul and body, how many calamities and afflictions press upon us.

O Mother, keep back the arm of justice of thy indignant Son, and conquer by thy mercy the hearts of sinners, since they are our brethren and thy children, redeemed through the blood of our sweet Jesus and through the wounds of thy most tender heart pierced with the sword. Show thyself to all in this day, as thou art, the Queen of peace and mercy.

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy,...
        -    Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, o sacred Virgin.
        -    Give me strength against thy enemies.
        -    Pray for us, Queen of the most holy Rosary,
        -    That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

II.
It is but too true that we, although thy children, are the first who crucify Jesus in our hearts and wound anew thy heart by our sins. We confess it, we deserve the severest chastisements; yet remember how thou didst receive, on the top of Golgotha, the last drops of that divine blood, and the testament of our dying Redeemer. And this testament of a God, sealed with the blood of a Man-God, appointed thee our Mother, the Mother of sinners. Thus, as our Mother, thou art our Advocate and our Hope. To thee, amidst sighs,  do we lift up our hands, crying for mercy!

Have pity, good mother, have pity on us, on our souls, on our families, on our relations, on our friends, on our departed brethren, above all, on our enemies, and on so many who claim the name of Christians, yet wound the loving heart of thy Son. Pity, o Mother, we now implore thee for pity on the erring nations, on all Europe, on the whole world, that they may repair repentant to thy heart. Be merciful to all, o Mother of mercy.

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy,...
        -    Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, o sacred Virgin.
        -    Give me strength against thy enemies.
        -    Pray for us, Queen of the most holy Rosary,
        -    That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

III.
What does it cost thee, o Mary, to hear us? What does it cost thee to save us? Did not Jesus entrust to thy hands all the treasures of his graces and mercies? Thou sittest as Queen at the right hand of thy Son, crowned with immortal glory, above all the choirs of angels. Thou extendest thy dominion as far as the heavens expand, the earth and all the creatures that people it are subject to thee. Thy power even reaches hell; and thou alone,  o Mary, canst rescue us from the devil’s grasp. Thou art almighty by grace, and therefore thou canst save us. Now if you sayest thou wilIest not help us because we are ungrateful children and unworthy of thy protection, tell us at least to whom shall we have recourse in order to be released from so many evils? Oh! No, thy maternal heart will never bear to see the ruin of thy children. The divine Child we behold on thy knees, the mystical crown we admire in thy hand, both inspire us with hope that we will be heard. And full of confidence in thee, we throw ourselves at thy feet, we trust ourselves as feeble children into the arms of the tenderest amongst mothers and today, this very day, we expect from thee the graces we are longing for.

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy,...
        -    Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, o sacred Virgin.
        -    Give me strength against thy enemies.
        -    Pray for us, Queen of the most holy Rosary,
        -    That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us ask Mary for her blessing

We now ask of thee, o Queen, a last favor which thou canst not refuse on this solemn day. Grant to all of us thy constant love and in a special manner thy maternal blessing. No, we will not leave thy feet today nor cease clasping thy knees till thou hast blessed us. Bless now, o Mary, the sovereign Pontiff: to the first laurels of thy crown, to the ancient trophies of the Rosary, whence thou art called Queen of victories, add also this one, o Mother, grant triumph to religion and peace to mankind. Bless our bishop, the priests and particularly those who promote the honor of thy Sanctuary; bless finally all those who are associated to thy new temple of Pompeii and who practice and spread devotion to thy most holy rosary .

O blessed rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love, which connects us with the angels, tower of safety against the assaults of hell, sure harbor in the universal shipwreck, never more shall we part with thee; thou shall be our comfort in the hour of agony: to thee the last kiss of our life; and the last word of our dying lips shall be thy sweet name, o Queen of the Rosary of Valle di Pompei. Mother dear, only refuge of sinners, supreme comforter of the afflicted, blessed be thy name, now and forever, on earth and in heaven. Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy,...
         -    Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, o sacred Virgin.
         -    Give me strength against thy enemies.
         -    Pray for us, Queen of the most holy Rosary,
         -    That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Last night Carlos Gomez, a player for my hometown team, the Minnesota Twins, hit for the cycle and I was watching!



A rare event.

The last Twin to hit for the cycle was Kirby Puckett on 1 Aug 1986.

Twins beat the ChiSox in a squeeker … 13-1

Everytime I go to a ball game, or perhaps tune into one on TV, I always havea bouyant sense that maybe, perhaps, something great may happen.  Maybe this is the game when I will see a triple play?  Perhaps this will be a perfect game? 

You never know.

Not well today, though it is as beautiful as an early spring day can be.   I spent part of it finishing Michael D. O’Brien book Island of the World.  I received mail from Rome of offprints of scholarly articles penned by a friend of mine. 

But I was lifted up today by the arrival of the UPS truck bearing a copy of The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce and Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory by Thomas Habinek.  Both are items from my wish list.  I thank you.  On dismally beautiful days such as this, these surprises help.

ADDENDUM:

A remarkable thing happened on my long trudge out to the mail box. 

As a neared a small landscaped area with some shrubs toward the end of the drive, there was a swift assertive THWIP sound past my ear as a falcon or perhaps harrier swooped upon its prey, in this case a sparrow pecking on the ground.  The sparrow did an incredible tight circle of avoidance and thus lived to chirp a while longer.  The falcon, probably to small to be a hawk, thus thwarted, did not linger.

Our friend John Sonnen in Rome, who has Orbis Catholicus gives us the following news:

It is with great joy that the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter announces the opening of a personal parish in the Diocese of Rome.

The decree of erection of the parish, which is dated Easter day of 2008, states that in conformity with art. 10 of Summorum Pontificum, “and after having received the proposal of the Cardinal Vicar, the Holy Father has established that in the central sector of the Diocese of Rome, in the 1st District, and in a fitting place of worship, namely, the Church of Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini . . . should be erected a personal parish, in order to guarantee proper pastoral care for the entire community of Traditionalist faithful residing in the same Diocese.

The Fraternity of St. Peter is deeply grateful to the Holy Father and his Vicar, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, to be entrusted with this parish in the See of Peter. Of the many dioceses where it serves, this is the tenth apostolate which has been erected as a full personal parish, and the first in Europe. It is hoped that this particular parish will serve not only the local parishioners, but that it will also provide a fine example of the beauty and solemnity of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite to the many pilgrims and students in Rome. Rev. Joseph Kramer, FSSP, has been appointed as the first pastor of the parish Ss. Trinità dei Pellegrini, Rector of the venerable Archconfraternity of the same name, and Rector of the church.

The installation of Fr. Kramer as pastor, and official opening Mass of the parish will take place on June 8, 2008. The Fraternity of St. Peter asks for your prayers in carrying out these new duties towards the faithful, and the Diocese of Rome.

WDTPRS kudos to the group and the men who have all this time been helping out at S. Gregorio.  These folks are top drawer and they have made their apostolate a warm and good place to be. 

]]> http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/official-fssp-parish-in-rome-at-ss-trinita-dei-pellegrini/feed/ http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/need-another-reason-for-summorum-pontificum/ http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/need-another-reason-for-summorum-pontificum/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 13:16:38 +0000 Fr. John Zuhlsdorf SESSIUNCULUM http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/need-another-reason-for-summorum-pontificum/

If you are looking for reasons why we really needed Summorum Pontificum – well – let’s also say the GIRM then take a look at this video which I found at Orate Fratres.

The video is from the May 2008 Call To Action meeting in San Jose, CA.

Many many years ago people attending the midnight Mass for Christmas at the St. Paul Cathedral in St. Paul, MN, were treated before Mass to a giant puppet show by, I am not making this up, The Heart of the Beast puppet troupe. They chose a theme connected to the mystery of the Nativity, namely, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. This giant puppet thing (people had to be able to see them) seems to be medieval, probably having to do with miracle and mystery plays and so forth.  It was strange, but at least it was before Mass.

This thing, however… well… damn!  That’s just wrong.

]]> http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/need-another-reason-for-summorum-pontificum/feed/ http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/ncreg-looking-at-fr-longeneckers-article/ http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/ncreg-looking-at-fr-longeneckers-article/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 12:36:22 +0000 Fr. John Zuhlsdorf SESSIUNCULUM http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/05/ncreg-looking-at-fr-longeneckers-article/

I picked up this piece from the National Catholic Register.  I beleive the author is associated with St. Mary’s in Greenville, SC, where the pastor, Fr. Newman, has been doing the excellent work of helping his parish return to ad orientem worship. 

WDTPRS gives highest kudos to the goings on at St. Mary’s and the work of all the priests there.  That said, let’s have a look at the following, with my emphases and comments.

Why America Needs the Pope

BY Father Dwight Longenecker

April 20-26, 2008 Issue | Posted 4/15/08 at 12:43 PM

The “three-legged stool” is the way Anglicans explain their understanding of authority in the church. The three legs are Scripture, Tradition and Human Reason.

At first, this sounds like a pretty good basis for making decisions. The difficulty, however, is that without a trustworthy external authority all three of the legs are shaky.

Scripture on its own can be used to prove most anything. Both sides have an interpretative tradition that skews the Scripture toward their pre-determined conclusions. The interpretation of Scripture is therefore dependent on the prior assumptions.

If you are in favor of homosexuality you interpret the Scripture one way. If opposed you interpret it another way.

The same is true of the other two legs of the Anglican stool. Tradition and Human Reason should be external forces that shape the minds and hearts of believers. Instead, the hearts are already determined and the minds are already made up.

Subsequently, Tradition is mined for evidence to support one’s case, and Human Reason is used as a tool to win debates, manipulate the evidence, weight the argument and twist the truth.

The result is not a three-legged stool, but a theological pogo stick.  [A good analogy.  Perhaps Card. Kasper could use it when speaking with the Anglicans.]

This is why Anglicanism is in such disarray. Extend the image: Think of every Anglican prelate, bishop, theologian and priest in a desperate race each on his own pogo stick. Each one is desperately jumping around trying to keep his balance, trying to stay on his pogo stick while at the same time trying to make forward progress and fight the other fellows in the race to the finish line.   [Father starts by talking about Anglicans to make a point about what happens when the Petrine ministry is not given sufficient respect.  Then he moves to Catholics.]

Lest Catholics be accused of smug self-righteousness, we have much of the same problem in the Catholic Church today.

Catholics of all stripes are devoted to causes of all kinds that they put before the authority of the Church.

The “Rad Traddies” have a whole range of causes and beliefs ranging from sedevacantism to enthusiasm for traditional devotions, right-wing causes and the traditional Latin Mass.

“Rad Trendies” have a whole range of causes from homosexual rights, women priests, Marxist theory and liturgical reform.

[The word "Rad" in here is a problem.  It suggests an extreme.  But I don’t think it is necessarily true that people who desire the TLM or "traditional devotions" are "rad".  I certainly think that "sedevacantism" is "rad", but if someone is has a devotion to the Most Holy Rosary, is he "rad"?  Probably not.  Also, I am a little disturbed by the moral equivalence the author sets up here between, on the one hand, the TLM and traditional devotions (both of which are legitimate things – nay rather – recommended to a certain extent by the Successor of Peter, and on the other hand, women priests (impossible and wrong), Marxist theory (wrong and probably wicked) and, at least in its more deviant form, homosexual rights.  I admit that sedevacantism is off the tracks, but it is simply wrong to set up moral equivalence between these two sets by calling them both "extreme" or "rad".]

Both ends of the extreme (and lots of people in between) are sincere people. [This sounds a bit like a handful of dirt being thrown in both directions.] They are prayerful people. They all believe they are led by the Holy Spirit. They wholeheartedly believe that Scripture, Tradition and Reason are on their side. But they have all fallen into the Anglican error of using Scripture, Tradition and Human Reason as a resource for proof texts, precedents from the past and sensible reasons for support of their particular cause.  [?]

So the proof texts fly. The examples from the past are presented. The rationale is explained and the reasoning laid out, but no one is convinced. All that happens is that both sides return to their corner, gather their arguments and wait for the bell for the next round.

This is why the modern Church so desperately needs, not a three-legged stool, but the Chair of Peter.  [Did the author just pit a lot of people against what he considers is the true role and nature of the Petrine ministry?]

The Chair of Peter has four legs: Scripture, Tradition, Human Reason and I would add, Facts — Common Sense. On top of these four legs is the seat into which they all fit, and this — to extend the metaphor — is the magisterium. The magisterium is the united, continuous, living, universal teaching authority of the Catholic Church.

The magisterium keeps Tradition, Scripture, Human Reason and Facts together and in balance. The magisterium prevents Scripture, Tradition and Human Reason from becoming proof text mines for people with preset agendas.

To show that the Chair of Peter is not simply a museum piece, someone sits on it: the pope, [Pope Benedict?] the successor of Peter. The reason the pope is so important to modern Christianity is because he is one person who, through depth of knowledge, breadth of vision, wealth of advice and expertise, can see the big picture. [This Pope, at least.]

The pope’s authority transcends vagaries of individual fashion, time and political expediency. The pope’s authority transcends local pressures, intellectual trends, moral dilemmas and subjective social opinions. There is simply no other authority system in the world that is universal in such an expansive and objective way.

This is why, as the Holy Father leaves America after his short visit, Americans need the Holy Father. We need him because he helps us transcend America. He helps us realize that there is something bigger than ourselves; something greater than our great nation. [From Anglicans, to Catholics, and now to Americans? or American Catholics?]

He gives us a universal perspective — universal in time and universal in place. The Holy Father’s authority transcends our isolated and narrow-minded political correctness, our petty relevant religious agendas, our private views of “how the Church should be,” our individualistic opinions on Catholic morality and our private views on Church doctrine.  [If those views are not in fact shaped in reference to the Church’s Magisterium, Scripture and Tradition, right.  However, I get the sense there is a bit more room in each direction than the author perhaps wants to accept.  Perhaps I am wrong about this.  Moreover, I don’t think that desiring the older form of Mass, according to Summorum Pontificum and Ecclesia Dei adflicta, is a descent into the ditch of "petty relevant religious agendas".  I don’t see a desire for traditional devotions, even in parishes, as a "private view of ‘how the Church should be’".]

Submission to the bishop of Rome is not subservient toadyism. Through submission to the pope we gain an expansive perspective. We see history, and our place in it from a wide panorama. 

Living in continuity and community with the pope is to build our house upon a rock. It is to transcend our blinkered vision and glimpse the larger world and the greater plan. In short, to submit to the authority of the pope is not to place ourselves beneath the feet of a tyrant, but to sit on the shoulders of a giant.

Father Dwight Longenecker
is chaplain to St Joseph’s Catholic School
in Greenville, South Carolina.

 

The late Msgr. Richard Schuler used to say, "You can go into the ditch on either side of the road, right or left.  Either way, you’re in the ditch." 

For the most part, Father seems to be expressing the same sentiment and I entirely agree.  Leave the Barque of Peter, you are in the drink.  Leave the road mapped by the Church with the Vicar of Christ, and you stray into dangerous wilderness.

But the road we can follow, though not without its limits is actually pretty wide.  I suspect it may be a little wider than the author thinks.

The folks on the extremes, the true extremes, are careening into the ditch if they are not there already.   These are the folks who have what I call not tunnel vision, or as the author calls it "blinkered view", but funnel vision – they not only refuse to see what is to either side of them, take what they could see and make it as narrow as possible.

Is it possible that the author is applying a kind of funnel vision to this fabled center of the road where proper unity with Peter is found? 

Father’s description may not take into consideration that people can both desire the TLM (without bizzare ideas about the intrinsic evil of the Novus Ordo), or desire traditional devotions (I am partial to Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament myself) and still be properly Catholic.  On the other hand, people may want to embrace liturgical reform (at least properly understood – excluding illegitimate creativity, etc.), or homosexual rights (at least properly understood – excluding acts against nature, etc.), and still remain Catholic.

People who want the TLM and those who defend the authentic rights of homosexuals (just as an example) are not extremists.  They are simply Catholic, a wide and welcoming reality. 

When you start pressing these issues to the point where the only valid Mass must be the TLM, or that homosexuals should be able to marry and adopt children, then I will stipulate that the ditch is pretty darn close.

But if you narrow the road we can walk to the point where legitimate differences are squinted at, then you turn the road itself into a ditch.

I don’t want to hammer this article. 

Father makes good points, chief of which is that if we separate ourselves from Peter, we are in serious trouble.  There is no doubt about that.

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