Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

Ex-bishop Lahey dismissed from the clerical state

Posted on 16 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A reader sent me a link to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) Pastoral Letter on Freedom of Conscience and Religion (HERE). While I was rummaging around I ran across this.

What’s New
CCCB Statement on Raymond Lahey [I remember this fellow from his visits to Rome, when he stayed in the same clerical house I was in. Brrrrrrr.]
On May 4, 2011, then Bishop Raymond Lahey entered a plea of guilty in civil court to the possession of child pornography. He was sentenced in accordance with civil law on January 4, 2012. It remained for the Holy See to follow the canonical procedures in effect for such cases to determine what appropriate disciplinary or penal measures would be imposed. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has now been informed by the Holy See that Raymond Lahey has been dismissed from the clerical state. According to Canon 292 of the Code of Canon Law, the penalty of dismissal from the clerical state has the following effects: loss of the rights and duties attached to the clerical state, except for the obligation of celibacy; prohibition of the exercise of any ministry, except as provided for by Canon 976 of the Code of Canon Law in those cases involving danger of death; loss of all offices and functions and of all delegated power, as well as prohibition of the use of clerical attire. Raymond Lahey has accepted the Decree of Dismissal, which also requires him to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in reparation for the harm and the scandal he has caused, and for the sanctification of clergy.

May 16, 2012

This news conveys a bit of information that you might find interesting.

When a cleric is dismissed from the clerical state, he may not be dispensed from some of the obligations. For example, the ex-bishop is still obliged to say the Office.

Posted in Brick by Brick, Clerical Sexual Abuse | Tagged Bp. Lehey, Canadian Bishops Conference, CCCB
25 Comments

Homosexualists threaten parish for standing up for true marriage

Posted on 16 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A press release from The Catholic Action League:

THREATS AGAINST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ACUSHNET

A Catholic parish in the Diocese of Fall River [Massachusetts] has become the object of threats of violence, and vandalism, because of a sign posted on church property supporting the traditional definition of marriage. Yesterday, Saint Francis Xavier Parish in the town of Acushnet displayed a message on the church’s billboard reading “Two men are friends, not spouses.”

In an interview this morning with Boston’s FOX 25 News, Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services for Saint Francis Xavier, said the church has received a number of menacing, obscenity laced phone calls, including one threatening to burn the church down. A sign describing the church’s message as “hate” was nailed to the church’s fence, while additional hostile signs were laid against the fence, and rainbow balloons were attached to it. All references to same gender marriage were removed from the parish’s billboard this morning.

Intimidating or interfering with someone in the exercise of their constitutional rights — such as freedom of speech or the free exercise of religion — is a crime in Massachusetts (Chapter 265, Section 37 of the General Laws). Since 1990, it has been a hate crime (Chapter 434 of the Acts of 1990).

[Note well…] The Catholic Action League characterized the episode as “compelling evidence clearly demonstrating which side in the conflict over same sex marriage engages in hate tactics.” [Get that?]

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: “At a time when homosexual pride parades monopolize public thoroughfares with police protection, it is now unsafe to post a message upholding traditional morality on private property. This event tells us all we need to know about the totalitarian instincts of organized homosexualism in America. What began as a so-called ‘gay rights’ movement, has become a neo-fascist enterprise dedicated to suppressing, harassing, censoring, silencing and punishing anyone supportive of biblical morality. Attorney General Martha Coakley and Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter should investigate the threats against Saint Francis Xavier Parish for possible prosecution as hate crimes.”

What do you want to bet that, if the Attorney General does investigate, no one will be held accountable for a “hate crime”. Instead, the parish will be accused of being the hateful actor in this despicable round of threats and intimidation.

Not long ago I posted something from Life News about a case of church vandalism in Portland claimed by a group called “Angry Queers”.

We are going to be seeing a great deal more of this.

Have you also the impression that what is going in the press about the same-sex and what is rising up right now across every sphere of life, is more than just the usual media feeding frenzy after someone chums the waters?

It is almost as if a signal has been given and a plan is being implemented by an organized community, as it were.

Just as there seems to have been a sharp uptick of racial violence against Caucasians following on the Trayvon Martain case, and following Pres. Obama’s comments about the Trayvon Martin case, so too, following the “First Gay President’s” endorsement of same-sex “marriage”, there will probably be an uptick of vandalism and threats from homosexuals against parishes and churches – anyone, in fact, who openly stands up to defend authentic marriage.

People may have to start thinking about security and security systems for their parish property. It is worth a discussion.

Pastors! Parish Priests! Fathers!

Clear for action!

Posted in O'Brian Tags, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged bullies, bullying, Catholic Action League, Clear for action!, D. Fall River, homosexuals, intimidation, Pres. Obama, same-sex marriage, The First Gay President, vandalism
48 Comments

Card. Ranjith reported to be open to the SSPX running his seminary

Posted on 16 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There are time on this blog when I have openly day-dreamed about what it would be like to have priests of the SSPX involved with local diocesan presbyteral councils, deanery meetings, other diocesan entities and events.

I was not nearly ambitious enough in my day-dreaming.

I picked this up from Catholic Church Conservation and thence from katholisches.info and Messa in latino:

Cardinal Archbishop wants his seminary run by the SSPX

Kardinal Ranjith will sein Priesterseminar der Piusbruderschaft übergeben › Katholisches:

The Archbishop of Colombo, Albert Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith Patabedinge would be ready to entrust the management and training of the seminarians of his Archdiocese to the SSPX. Such a step, according to the Cardinal would be possible if the SSPX is accepted and canonically erected. The The Cardinal expects this project to improve training of future priests. The reports come from the Roman Rite website Messa in latino.

The District Superior of the SSPX in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Father Benoît Waillez made this known in a sermon last Sunday. He stressed that the motives, concerns and arguments of tradition begin to spread in the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Ranjith Patabedinge was appointed by the Pope as Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments of the Roman Curia. Since June 2009 he is the Archbishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka and was made Cardinal in November 2010.

At the time of this writing the National catholic Fishwrap had no comment.

If this report is true, and we take it with a grain or two of salt since it is coming at us by at lest second hand, then this is at the very least a gracious thing to say! Talk about winning gesture.

The sermon mentioned above is HERE. Start listening at about 12:30.

Posted in Brick by Brick, SSPX, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged Archd. Colombo, Card. Ranjith, priesthood, Priests, seminary, SSPX
47 Comments

QUAERITUR: Can “modern” vestments be used for the “Tridentine” Mass?

Posted on 16 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

We are in the final stages of organizing a monthly Tridentine Mass. We have everything but the “traditional” vestments. Can the Tridentine Mass be celebrated by a Priest wearing “modern” vestments? If not, what is the most economical option for obtaining traditional vestments?

Congratulations! I wish your “stable group” every success. May your initiative thrive. “Ut eatis et fructum afferatis”, and all that.

Yes, vestments that are modern in style can be used, provide that the prescribed vestments are included and, then, used. For example, in the Extraordinary Form the maniple must be used. It is an option in the Ordinary Form, but it is obligatory in the Extraordinary Form. Of course if there isn’t a maniple, then Mass goes ahead anyway. But then reasonable steps should be taken so that the set of vestments are complete.

Also, you are not obliged to use Roman style vestments for the Extraordinary Form. Roman vestments seem to be the most appropriate for the Roman Rite. But you can certainly use the fuller, draping, “Gothic” style vestments. No problem.

Furthermore, I don’t see why the vestments could not incorporate some more modernistic designs, provided they weren’t too obviously secular or weird or jarring or distracting or ugly. This would go for the music as well. Just because Gregorian chant and polyphony are to be our first choices in the Roman Rite (thank you, Vatican II!) that doesn’t mean that we cannot include in our choir’s repetoire also music of a modern idiom. I really like Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Masses, but I have also been celebrant for a Solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form with the Mass by Igor Stravinsky. We should have good and worthy new compositions for Mass too!

Holy Church has given two great gifts to all of humanity: saints and art. In the lives of saints, people see the goodness, truth and beauty of God shining through our human words and actions. In true art, we also should see goodness, truth and beauty. When we are dealing with sacred art, appropriate for our liturgy worship, it is absolutely necessary that we see or hear the goodness, truth and beauty of God. And we have to have true sacred art in every age and culture, just as we hope we will have saints.

I digress.

Yes, you can use all sorts of styles of vestments for the Extraordinary Form.

I will let readers chime in about where to get vestments.

(Perhaps you can also start a group who can make nice vestments!)

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged art, beauty, Extraordinary Form, saints, truth, vestments
30 Comments

A Catholic casualty in Pres. Obama’s war on the First Amendment: Franciscan University in Steubenville

Posted on 16 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Pres. Obama – whom Newsweek calls “The First Gay President” – and his administration are actively undermining not only our societal mores, but also our First Amendment rights.

His administration’s HHS mandate is an attack on religious liberty, for it would force Catholic (and other) institutions such as schools and hospitals to pay for abortifacients and contraceptives. That means cooperation in evil. Thus, Card. Dolan, as President of the USCCB, said that Catholics cannot and will not comply.

And so we turn to Life News for this story:

Obama Mandate Forces First Catholic College to Drop Insurance
by Steven Ertelt | Steubenville, OH | LifeNews.com | 5/15/12

Franciscan University appears to be the first casualty of the new Obama HHS mandate that requires Catholic colleges, groups and businesses to pay for drugs that may cause abortions and birth control for their employees.

Although President Barack Obama declared “If you like your health care coverage you can keep it,” [This was, apparently, an untruth. I am reminded of the old phrase of Henry Ford about the Model-T. You can have your automobile in any color you want, so long as it’s black.] when it came to passing Obamacare, a Catholic college in Ohio has determined it will no longer offer a student health insurance plan.

“The Obama Administration has mandated that all health insurance plans must cover “women’s health services” including contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing medications as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),” the university says in a new post on its website. “Up to this time, Franciscan University has specifically excluded these services and products from its student health insurance policy, and we will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life.”

“Additionally, the PPACA increased the mandated maximum coverage amount for student policies to $100,000 for the 2012-13 school year, which would effectively double your premium cost for the policy in fall 2012, with the expectation of further increases in the future,” FUS continues. [It’s all part of Pres. Obama’s vision for wealth redistribution.]

“Due to these changes in regulation by the federal government, beginning with the 2012-13 school year, the University 1) will no longer require that all full-time undergraduate students carry health insurance, 2) will no longer offer a student health insurance plan, and 3) will no longer bill those not covered under a parent/guardian plan or personal plan for student health insurance,” the college said.

Franciscan University says the current student health insurance plan will expire on August 15.

Writing at CatholicVote, Tom Crowe, an employee at Franciscan University, blamed the mandate for Franciscan’s decision.

[…]

Read the rest there.

I hope the Magisterium of Nuns is happy with their efforts.

Sister Keehan! Give back that pen!

Posted in Dogs and Fleas, Emanations from Penumbras, Magisterium of Nuns, Our Catholic Identity, Religious Liberty, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged 1st Amendment, Franciscan University, Give Back That Pen, HHS mandate, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Pres. Obama, religious liberty, Sr. Keehan, Steubenville, The First Gay President
26 Comments

QUAERITUR: Ascension Thursday Mass obligation where Ascension Thursday is really on Thursday

Posted on 16 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

A local priest regularly celebrates Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Wednesday evenings. We are also in a diocese that observes the Ascension on Thursday.

How do vigil Masses work with the EF in this case?

The “Vigil of the Ascension” is different from the actual Ascension, but now a Mass the evening before a Holy Day of Obligation is normally the Mass for that day in the Ordinary Form. If the Mass on Wednesday night is the EF “Vigil of the Ascension” does it, well, “count” for Thursday?

Thanks for that question.

According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law (for the Latin Church) you fulfill your obligation by going to Mass on the day of obligation itself, or on the evening before the day of obligation.

Canon 1248 says:

1. The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.

Thus, since every Sunday is a day of obligation, you fulfill your obligation be attending Holy Mass on a Saturday evening, provided the Mass is in a Catholic rite, such as the Roman Rite in either the Ordinary or Extraordinary Form, or a Maronite Catholic liturgy, etc.

Thus, since you happily live in a place where Ascension Thursday is on Thursday, if you attend Holy Mass on Wednesday evening, the Vigil of Ascension, in either the Ordinary or the Extraordinary Form, or even the Divine Liturgy in, say, a Ukrainian Catholic church, you fulfill your obligation for Ascension Thursday.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged Ascension, can. 1248, Holy Day of Obligation, Mass Obligation, Vigil of Ascension
5 Comments

Holy See Press Office Communique on the Society of St. Pius X

Posted on 16 May 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From VIS:

Communique on the Society of St. Pius X
Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) – Early this afternoon, the Holy See Press Office issued the following communique regarding the Society of St. Pius X:

“As reported by news agencies, today, 16 May 2012, an Ordinary Session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met to discuss the question of the Society of St. Pius X.
In particular, the text of the response of Bishop Bernard Fellay, [Superior of the SSPX] received on 17 April, 2012, was examined and some observations, which will be considered in further discussions between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X, were formulated.

Regarding the positions taken by the other three bishops of the Society of St. Pius X, their situations will have to be dealt with separately and singularly.“

Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity.

Posted in Brick by Brick, SSPX |
39 Comments