Some lighter fare… though with a serious point.
In Spanish:
The Vatican prohibits the use of Twitter during the Conclave.
“Let me in! I’m not Twitter, I’m the Holy Spirit!”
And, from ZENIT, a recent photo it seems of His Holiness Benedict XVI in the gardens at Castel Gandolfo at one of the pools feeding the goldfish or koi. Looks like he is scattering some old bread and crumbs.
At least it is a photo in which he is wearing the now famous brown shoes.
With all the hoohah going on about the upcoming Conclave, don’t forget that all “Church”, like politics, is local.
In these USA we are facing unprecedented attacks on our religious freedom. The Obama Administration, through Obamatax and the HHS Mandate, is eroding our religious liberty. We have to protect the rights of all who, in their conscience, cannot give in to the evil things the Obama Administration is trying to force on believers. The so-called “compromises” the Administration has feigned to offer are really no compromises at all. We have to stay focused and alert. Our 1st Amendment rights (and 2nd Amendment!) are under attack.
Via the Cardinal Newman Society (check our their useful feed on the side bar of this blog!):
Republican House Members Introduce Conscience Protection Act
March 5, 2013Three Republican members of Congress, along with 47 co-sponsors, have announced a legislative effort to protect conscience rights. House Representatives Diane Black (R-TN), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), and John Fleming, M.D. (R-LA) hosted a press conference this morning to introduce the Health Care Conscience Rights Act (NCCRA). According to a press release, the legislation is designed to protect American’s First Amendment rights and prevent the administration’s assault on religious freedom.
“We have come together to act to protect Americans’ most basic rights – our rights of conscience and religious freedom,” Representative Fortenberry told The Cardinal Newman Society. “The bill simply restores the basic rights in health care that were widely accepted before the implementation of the new health care law.”
[…]
Read the rest there.
I received an SMS from the USCCB about this.
The US Bishops are asking us to call Washington and support HR 940. Read about it HERE.
Latest Title: To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to protect rights of conscience with regard to requirements for coverage of specific items and services, to amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain abortion-related discrimination in governmental activities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Black, Diane [TN-6] (introduced 3/4/2013) Cosponsors (50)
Latest Major Action: 3/4/2013 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
I have the numbers of my US Senators and the Congressman for this district written down and nearby. Do you know who your Representative is? Your Senators?
SIMULATION! DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!
This afternoon the blog was down for a short period. I figured it was just the higher than usual traffic stressing out the poor server.
I am informed that it was an attack that caused the problem.
What’s the old phrase?
“If they are shooting at you, you must be doing something right.”
I wonder how that fits with Zuhlsdorf’s Law.
Years ago in the corridor of the Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio, where I once worked, I asked Card. Ratzinger how he took the constant unfair criticism. I had read that day a terrible article about him in an Italian daily.
He said, “If I don’t read an article like that every week or so, I have to examine my conscience.”
I guess if the black hats are not shooting at you, maybe you are not doing what you ought to be doing.
In the meantime, how about taking a few second and going to VOTE for this blog today?
Click HERE
And the problem with amazon.com is resolved. So, when you need to shop online and use amazon.com, the first thing that should pop into your head is, “Hey! I’ll use the search box on Fr. Z’s Blog! That will help him out a little!”
In any case, please say a prayer to the guardian angels to help out in the matter of the server and of my own sometimes frayed patience.
Over at Catholic Vote (thanks Tom Peters for the link about the Cool Kid’s Conclave and I hope everyone will go read your information about the March for Marriage), there is a good examination of some fantasy literature in the Washington Post about the influence Pope Emeritus Benedict might have in the background after the election of a new Pope. The title of the CatholicVote entry says it all:
WAPO GETS THE DIRT ON THE POTENTIAL POWER STRUGGLE WITH A “POPE EMERITUS.” HILARITY ENSUES.
They did such a good job that I don’t have to do anything. Check it out HERE.
We all help each other out, or ought to, in the Catholic blogosphere. “I have a dream… ” anyway.
That said, check out the pages about the March for Marriage 26 March 2013 in Washington DC. One is HERE
It is being sponsored by great groups. HERE
The March for Marriage site HERE
During the March for Life, I ran into Tom Peters – almost literally – as he was passing out handbills among the marchers for the March for Marriage.
I don’t know if I have mentioned it lately but… GO TO CONFESSION!
For that to be possible priests have to get into the box and hear confessions.
To this end, I point you to an amusing post by Fr. John Valenchek, with whom I once went to a Cleveland Indians game.
He talks about his trepidation about hearing confession for 3 hours straight and his reaction when finished. Note the high tech graphics he posts!
Sample:
Three hours of steady confessions flies by, Fathers. Preach about mortal sin and the Four Last Things. Stir up those consciences! Put on that stole and hear confessions!
This morning at the briefing in the Holy See Press Office, images were displayed of the three “urns” used in the conclave for the collection of the voting slips of the cardinals. Here is some info from VIS:
NEW CHALICE-URNS FOR ELECTION OF POPE
Vatican City, 5 March 2013 (VIS) – On a tapestry hanging in the eponymous gallery of the Vatican Museums, we find one of the oldest witnesses of the chalice-urns that served to gather the ballots of the cardinals voting in the election of a new pontiff.
The tapestry relates an episode narrated in the chronicles of the election of Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644). In the final scrutiny, during the counting of the ballots, one ballot was missing. On the right-hand side of the tapestry, one can see a scrutineer who is looking inside a large chalice with attention and interest, as if to verify the presence of the lost ballot.
A chalice that is very similar to the one seen in the tapestry and a pyx (ciborium) are preserved in the pontifical sacristy of the Sistine Chapel. This chalice and pyx have been used to gather the voting ballots in the conclaves of the last century, up to the election of John Paul II. [See pics below.]
With the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis” concerning the period of Sede Vacante of the Apostolic See and the election of the Roman Pontiff (John Paul II, 22 February 1996), the need arose to adapt the urns to the new norms. It was necessary to add a new urn to the chalice and pyx called for in previous regulations, in order to receive the votes of any cardinals having the right to vote but who were impeded through illness from leaving their room to be present for the voting process in the Sistine Chapel. Rather than creating another urn, three new ones were designed during John Paul II’s pontificate, principally to make them more functional for the intended use, but also to make them uniform.
The function of the urns is described in Chapter V of the Constitution, which also speaks of a plate to be placed on top of the first urn. Every cardinal, in fact, must “place his ballot on the plate, with which he drops it into the receptacle beneath.” The second urn will be used only in the case of the presence in the Conclave of cardinals impeded by illness from leaving their rooms [The “Infirmarii” go to their rooms to collect the votes and bring them back to the Sistine Chapel.] and the third urn will be used to gather the ballots after the scrutiny, before they are burned to produce the traditional smoke announcing to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square either the non-election (black smoke) or the election (white smoke) of the new Pontiff.
The urns are the work of the Italian sculptor Cecco Bonanotte, already known for the new entrance doors of the Vatican Museums that were inaugurated on the occasion of the Jubilee Year 2000. They are made of silver and gilded bronze and their iconography is linked to two fundamental symbols: the first is that of the Good Shepherd and the second of charity. The symbols chosen by the artist for the three urns—a shepherd and his sheep along with more subtle birds, grapes, and ears of grain—are united in a simple and direct way to the meaning that the person of the Pope has in the Church: the shepherd, indeed the Good Shepherd who, in the name of Christ, has the duty of “confirming his brothers” (Luke 22:31) in the faith.
The symbolism of the Good Shepherd, however, also underlines the style of exercising this primacy, which is indissolubly linked to charity. This idea is clearly expressed in the Gospel of John (21:15-25) where “feeding” the flock is joined inseparably to loving care: “Simon of John, do you love me?…” Peter tells him: “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you: “Feed my lambs.” The relationship of love between Jesus and Peter, and as a consequence between the Pope and the Church, is emphasized in the other symbols used to decorate the urns: the birds, grapes, and the ears of grain. Eucharistic bread and wine, which are Christ, accentuate the idea of charity underlined by the sharing of this very bread and the chalice.
As is typical of the art commissioned in that period, the urns remind me of something that might potentially have to be disarmed, but there doesn’t seem to be an LED display with a countdown clock.
In the past the “urns” were more like huge chalices for Mass.
Here are some pics I shot some years ago in Rome during a special exhibit at the Lateran of things used in past conclaves.
The old voting chalice and pyx, which look like a chalice for Mass and a ciborium. The cardinals put their folded slips on the paten on top of the chalice, and tip it to slide it into the chalice. As the votes are counted they go into the covered pyx/ciborium to await their eventual stringing up with thread and subsequent fiery fate.
These are very large, by the way. But the number of electors is higher now and there are, as mentioned above, changes to the process so that a third container was needed (for the votes of the sick cardinals inside the conclave.
Thus, the new “urns”.
To which a third was added. Shots from this mornings streamed briefing.
There they are!
Together with all the papal portents of which I wrote the other day – and let us not be overly worried about these – there is a rare astronomical sight right now, visible in some parts of the world.
In centuries past, comets were thought to be harbingers of catastrophe, or at least as portents of great matters. Those of you who fret a little, can add this to the list.
Right now – just too cool – two comets are visible!
Here is a super photo from Astronomy Pic of the Day.
Both comets will reach their peak brightness during the next two weeks. The comets are C/2012 F6 (Lemmon), visible on the upper left of the above image, is sporting a long tail dominated by glowing green ions, and comet C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS), visible near the horizon on the lower right, is showing a bright tail dominated by dust reflecting sunlight. The tails of both comets point approximately toward the recently set Sun.
As Catholics, you best response to this portentous harbinger presaging ominous ecclesiastical disaster is to stock up on …
MYSTIC MONK COFFEE!
Here is an interesting piece published by Pravda…. yes… you read that correctly. правда means “truth”, by the way.
Typo alert!
A Church Divided
By Paul Kokoski
In a recent interview on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) Cardinal George of Chicago stated; “The conference [of bishops] isn’t suppose to engage the politics of a country directly. It’s suppose to give rules so that the lay people can engage their president, their congressman, their mayor. The bishops don’t elect people…They are elected by lay people and if the world is a mess it’s the lay people’s fault because it’s their business to rule the world. It’s our business to govern the church.
Their business is to rule the world. It’s very easy for Catholics to write to their bishops and say ‘Why don’t you do this?‘ and I write back all the time and say ‘Why don’t you do it?’ because after all it’s you job and it’s not my job.” The Cardinal’s statement indicates the reason why the church is presently paralysed to effect moral change in society.To a certain extent the Cardinal is right. The laity are called to live a life of holiness while working within the world to transform it. So in a certain sense one can say it is the laity’s responsibility to ensure the world does not become corrupt.
However, the Cardinal fails to mention that, since Vatican II, the bishops have not governed the church as they should have due to their own house being divided. This division within the ranks of the Episcopate has lead to a division within the ranks of the laity. Roughly only half of all Catholics today stand behind the Pope and the orthodox teachings of the Church’s Magisterium. This is why the laity have only minimally been able to influence society. So the underlying fault for the way in which we find the world today lies with our bishops.
Of course the bishops will never admit that they are divided or that they are in any way to blame for the world’s situation and this in turn makes it doubly difficult for the laity to effectively wage a positive war against modernity. As long as the bishops keep up their facade they will not be able to govern the church and the world will continue its descent into spiritual darkness. Sadly, after Vatican II, numerous bishops quietly recruited modernist theologians in an attempt to adapt church teachings to modern times.
Thanks to a series of strong Popes, however, they have failed miserably. Nonetheless, they have succeeded in sowing mass confusion in regards to the ever changing New Mass – the summit towards which the Church’s action tends and at the same time the source from which comes all her strength – and have allowed dissenting teachers and theologians to control and ultimately to compromise the Catholic identity of our Catholic schools and seminaries. As a result many of the laity and most of our catholic politicians today publically oppose church teaching on almost all the major moral issues including abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and embryonic stem cell research.
And if they took a lie detector test they would no doubt pass it if they answered “yes” to the question “Are you a devout Catholic?” Do Our bishops govern these wayward Catholics the way they should by, for example, withholding from them Holy Communion? No! On the contrary they are given places of high honour at funerals and even at papal Masses. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI tried to rectify this by investigating our Catholic seminaries and religious orders and by bringing back into prominence the more reverent and more sacred Latin Mass. He has also demanded that all his Novus Ordo communicant more piously receive Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue according to official Church norms.
But do any of our bishops dare to follow his lead? Few, if any. Almost all our Catholic bishops have adamantly refused this latter papal gesture. Not only will they not encourage any of their priests to learn the Latin Mass but they even go to great lengths to quell it. Many of our bishops, priest and religious have also been highly critical of the Vatican’s recent internal investigations of U.S. nuns as if they were part of an inquisition ordered by an archaic and meddlesome pope.
Just as the secular world has consciously cut off its own historical and religious roots leaving itself without orientation, so the Catholic Church finds itself, in the throes of modernism, in a similar situation. There needs to be an energetic counter-cultural movement on the part of all priests and bishops acting in unison with the new successor to Peter if both Church and Society are to survive the negative influences of secularism, technology, science and materialism in the Third Millennium. Happily, there are signs in our younger priests that an energetic counter-cultural movement is already taking place. The horizon looks bright. These new priests, inspired with holiness and glowing with a more profound sense of the sacred will, in unison with the Successor of Peter, help to usher in a new springtime for the church. When they do the laity will be unfettered in their sacred mission to spread the gospel message to all corners of the world.
Paul Kokoski
Canada
Apart from some typos (have no idea if this was submitted first in Russian and then translated into English), this fellow makes a strong case for the election of a Pope who shares the major points of what I called Benedict XVI’s “Marshall Plan”… now on hold.
Therefore, I repeat…
Click to buy this and others
Are any priests who are readers here thinking about going to Rome for the time of the conclave and, hopefully, inaugural Mass (which I’ll guess could be on the Feast of St. Joseph)?
One of the putative front-runners as the next Pope is Marc Card. Ouellet, 68 (about the right age) presently Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, formerly Archbishop of Quebec City, polyglot, firmly in the same “Communio” theology line with Joseph Ratzinger, who once said becoming pope “would be a nightmare”, etc. etc. A strong favorite of Fr. Z for the election. I talked about him already in 2005 during “Papal April” on Fox News as the guy to watch.
There was an article about Card. Ouellet from Reuters about an interview he did with the CBC in which His Eminence speaks about the prospects of being the next Vicar of Christ.
Some quotes:
“I have to be ready even if I think that probably others could do it better.”
“I can’t not think about the possibility. Reasonably, when I go into the conclave of cardinals, I have to say to myself, ‘What if, what if…’ It makes me reflect, it makes me pray, it makes me somewhat afraid. I am very conscious of the weight of the task,” he said.
“So you have to be ready for any outcome, but I think a certain number of people have more chance of being elected than me.”
I am more comfortable with the Electors choosing a man who really doesn’t want the role than one who really does want it.
Of course, the one elected has to say “Accepto“.
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
A Daily Prayer for Priests
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