Fr. Z's Blog | Catholic commentary by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

QUAERITUR: Legal name changes and baptism certificates

Posted on 25 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

When you get married in the Catholic church, you are required to obtain a baptismal certificate. If you have your name legally changed such that it no longer matches the name on the baptismal certificate, where do you stand. Is there a way to update the baptismal certificate?

Take the civil certificate proving the name change to the church where you were baptized (or the parish, in the case of mergers). Call the diocese if you are not sure where. At the parish, they can make a notation in the baptismal record. They don’t change the record, but the note the fact of a name change. They can then reiussue a certificate reflecting the change.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged baptismal certificate, name change
7 Comments

My View For A While

Posted on 25 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Ah! the distinction, the allure, the romance, the prestige of travel.

If you are ever flying through Rome – Terminal 5 would make certain people from the 1930’s proud – and you are tempted to get a day pass for the lounge … so-called VIP lounge… don’t bother. The Rome lounge used by Delta is a joke. I have a high miles status so I don’t have to pay extra for it… Deo gratias.

After cleaning my area, including the old chocolate of the seat and the angels only know what from the tray table using antibacterial wipes, I am ready for another hopefully boring trans-Atlantic flight.

Don’t worry, you liberal readers out there. I’m in what is now called “Bergoglio Class”.

Posted in On the road, What Fr. Z is up to | Tagged Bergoglio Class, travel
21 Comments

The First Gay President wants to make male Marines wear girly hats.

Posted on 25 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The First Gay President wants to make our Marines wear girly hats.

From the NYPOST:

Obama wants Marines to wear ‘girly’ hats
By Jeane MacIntoshOctober

A change to the Marine Corps’ uniform hats could take the hard-nosed Leathernecks from the Halls of Montezuma to the shops of Christopher Street.
Thanks to a plan by President Obama to create a “unisex” look for the Corps, officials are on the verge of swapping out the Marines’ iconic caps – known as “covers” — with a new version that some have derided as so “girly” that they would make the French blush.
“We don’t even have enough funding to buy bullets, and the DoD is pushing to spend $8 million on covers that look like women’s hats!” one senior Marine source fumed to The Post. “The Marines deserve better. It makes them look ridiculous.”
The thin new covers have a feminine line that some officials think would make them look just as good on female marines as on males — in keeping with the Obama directive.
“The Marine Corps is being ‘encouraged’ by DoD to standardize on a unisex/universal dress and service cap,” Marine brass noted in an internal memo obtained by The Post.

[…]

And don’t gimme that B as in B, S as in S, about the “Dan Daly” look. This new cover for men is creepy.

Posted in Dogs and Fleas, Liberals, Pò sì jiù, You must be joking! | Tagged The First Gay President, USMC
40 Comments

Bl. John Paul II: “it is very difficult to speak of obsession” concerning abortion

Posted on 25 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I picked this quote up from a piece by my friend Fr. George Rutler, who recently wrote about “obsessing”.

There are those who would stifle the Pro-Life cause by calling it a single-issue obsession. Few would say that about the Abolition movement or the struggle against child labor, even though such worthy causes did attract a fair share of distempered monomaniacs. But slaves and children have to be born first, and so the protection of life from conception must rank first among all dedications of philanthropy.

Blessed John Paul II once submitted to an interview with the respected journalist Vittorio Messori, who asked him if he was perhaps “obsessive” in his preaching against abortion. The Holy Father replied:

“The legalization of the termination of pregnancy is none other than the authorization given to an adult, with the approval of an established law, to take the lives of children yet unborn and thus incapable of defending themselves. It is difficult to imagine a more unjust situation, and it is very difficult to speak of obsession in a matter such as this, where we are dealing with a fundamental imperative of every good conscience — the defense of the right to life of an innocent and defenseless human being.”

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged abortion, Bl. John Paul II, Pope Francis
16 Comments

Omnium Gatherum: All Souls Masses where YOU are

Posted on 24 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

2 November, All Souls, is around the corner. This solemn observance, while not a Holy Day of Obligation, has always aroused in the faithful a strong response and turn out.

Many people have been asking me to post their parish’s Mass schedules and what they are doing. I can’t do that.

However, under this entry you can post on what is going on in your neck of the woods. Touch the bases: who, what, when, where, etc…

I remind priests that they can say Mass three times on 2 November, but they can accept only one stipend.

Also, on the sidebar I have an ad for travel altar cards. They are compact, and helpful. They make a set for Requiem Mass as well. You might consider getting your priests a set of each. Good gift for new transitional deacons, as well.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged All Souls, All Souls Day, Requiem Mass
37 Comments

Request for prayers

Posted on 24 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I am slated to head back to the USA tomorrow. Alas, I have come down with an awful cold.

Please, dear readers, I ask your prayers for a sudden, complete and lasting recovery. I dread the international flight, lay-over, second flight while feeling like this.

I am canceling most of what I was going to do today and will try to rest. Happily, I have all my critical errands done but one.

Posted in PRAYER REQUEST |
35 Comments

“A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…”

Posted on 24 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the Beeb:

An international team of astronomers has detected the most distant galaxy yet.

The galaxy is about 30 billion light-years away and is helping scientists shed light on the period that immediately followed the Big Bang.

It was found using the Hubble Space Telescope and its distance was then confirmed with the ground-based Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

The study is published in the journal Nature.

Because it takes light so long to travel from the outer edge of the Universe to us, the galaxy appears as it was 13.1 billion years ago (its distance from Earth of 30 billion light-years is because the Universe is expanding).

Lead researcher Steven Finkelstein, from the University of Texas at Austin, US, said: “This is the most distant galaxy we’ve confirmed. We are seeing this galaxy as it was 700 million years after the Big Bang.”

The far-off galaxy goes by the catchy name of z8_GND_5296.

[…]

z8_GND_5296 is churning out stars at a remarkable rate, say astronomers

The system is small: about 1-2% the mass of the Milky Way and is rich in heavier elements.

But it has a surprising feature: it is turning gas and dust into new stars at a remarkable rate, churning them out hundreds of times faster than our own galaxy can.

It is the second far-flung galaxy known that has been found to have a high star-production rate.

Prof Finkelstein said: “One very interesting way to learn about the Universe is to study these outliers and that tells us something about what sort of physical processes are dominating galaxy formation and galaxy evolution.

[…]

Posted in Look! Up in the sky! | Tagged galaxy
48 Comments

Rome Update: Of chasubles and cheese

Posted on 23 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Even though we have apparently now moved into a time when nothing can be beautiful again in the liturgy and we are entirely focused on cars with at least 100k miles, market forces are till at work in Rome.

I stopped at Leoniana bookstore and saw that they are now selling the scudi with the papal stemma that you will see over the doorways of Roman churches and sundry other buildings. Two sizes. I love the free market.

By the cash register, which is where savvy shopkeepers put things that are selling, we find…

And a resource for the older form of Mass.

I stopped at a clerical shop to find more linen collars and, lo and behold, what do I spy in the window?

Not shabby at all.

It is machine stitched but… who cares?

The answer is, “Yes, I want it.” The question is, “Are there matching dalmatic, tunic, cope and humeral veil?”

And just because I thought you needed a glimpse of some cheese I shared with a friend.

Posted in On the road, SESSIUNCULA, What Fr. Z is up to |
17 Comments

REMINDER: Bl. Karl of Austria Events (23 Oct in NJ and 28 in NYC) et al.

Posted on 23 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Last week I posted a note from my good friend, Fr. Robert Pasley, pastor of Mater Ecclesiae Parish about the Pontifical Low Mass (Extraordinary Form) and Conference there on Blessed Karl of Austria. This is a reminder that the Mass and Conference are today. If you are in the area, you will definitely want to make it to these events, especially if you have never been to a Pontifical Low Mass.

The events at Mater Ecclesiae are part of a week-long series sponsored by several Knights of Columbus Councils working together to promote the cause of Blessed Karl, whose feast is on October 21st, the anniversary, I believe, of his wedding. His Excellency, Don Teodoro de Faria, Bishop Emeritus of Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, will celebrate the Mass. At the Conference, the main speaker will be Ricardo Dumont dos Santos, the leader of the Emperor Karl Prayer League in Portugal.

And, if you cannot make it to Mater Ecclesiae, the last Mass and Conference in the series will be hosted next week by the Church of the Holy Innocents in Manhattan (see the attached flyer). On Monday, 28 October at 6PM, His Excellency will celebrate Pontifical Solemn Mass at the Faldstool for the Feast of Ss. Simon and Jude. My good friend, Fr. George Rutler, the newly appointed administrator of the Church of the Holy Innocents, will preach at the Mass. The choir will sing a setting of the Ordinary by Josef Rheinberger. The Conference will follow in the Church Hall.

For those of you who do not know, Blessed Karl was the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was exiled to the island of Madeira, Portugal after World War I, where he died in 1922. As Bishop of the Diocese where Blessed Karl died, Bishop de Faria has long been active in Blessed Karl’s cause for canonization. A native of Madeira, Bishop de Faria was ordained in 1956 and consecrated Bishop in 1982. It was he who presented the formal petition to beatify Emperor Karl to His Holiness, John Paul II, at the Beatification ceremony on 3 October 2004.

Other Events in the Series.

Friday, 25 October, 8AM
Pontifical Solemn Mass
Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Elysburg, PA

Sunday, 27 October, 11AM
Pontifical Solemn Mass & Conference
St. Anthony of Padua Oratory, West Orange, NJ

Monday, 28 October, 6PM
Pontifical Solemn Mass & Conference
The Church of the Holy Innocents, Manhattan, NY

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Bl. Karl of Austria
6 Comments

Colorado city officials forbid “Jesus” on cemetery grave marker

Posted on 23 October 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From Todd Starnes at Townhall:

City-Owned Cemetery Refuses to Engrave ‘Jesus’ on Preacher’s Wife’s Headstone

The family of a Colorado preacher’s wife is still fuming after the director of the city-owned cemetery refused to engrave her final resting place with the name ‘Jesus’ because it might offend people. The city eventually reversed course under public pressure.

“We were in disbelief,” said Stacy Adams, the daughter-in-law of Linda Baker. “Who tries to censor Jesus from a cemetery?”

Linda Baker lost her battle with cancer last week. She was the wife of Mark Baker, the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Ovid.

Adams said her mother-in-law was passionate about her Christian faith and her family. Her final wish was to have her cemetery marker engraved with the ichthys, a symbol of early Christianity. She also wanted the word ‘Jesus’ written inside the fish.

“At first they told us it wouldn’t fit,” Adams told me. “But after we kept pushing them the cemetery director told us that it might offend somebody. They weren’t going to allow it.”

The family was devastated and asked the cemetery director to reconsider. He refused.

“He said, ‘What if somebody wanted to put a swastika?” she recounted. “My reply was, so what if they do? It’s not my business how they want to be remembered.” [Did that blatteroon really draw a moral equivalence between the Holy Name and the swastika?]

The family then took their concerns to the Sterling city manager – but once again they were rebuffed.

“He refused to work with us,” she said. “He said he would have to take it to the city attorney. They were being difficult.”

She said city officials kept telling them that people would be offended by the name of Christ.

[…]