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{]:¬)

Pakistan: Catholic critic of blasphemy law shot dead

Posted on 2 March 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the Catholic Herald. Say a prayer for the repose of the soul of Shahbaz Bhatti.

Catholic critic of blasphemy law is shot dead in Pakistan

By Ed West

Pakistan’s leading Catholic politician has been murdered in the capital Islamabad.

Minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti died this morning after gunmen opened fire on his car while travelling to work through a residential district.

Mr Bhatti, 42, a leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), had just left his home when at least two gunmen ambushed his car, police official Mohammad Iqbal said. He was rushed to the nearby Shifa hospital, but was dead on arrival.

Mr Bhatti had received numerous death threats after calling for changes to the country’s controversial blasphemy law. The blasphemy law carries a death sentence for anyone who insults Islam, and critics say it has been used to persecute minority faiths. In January, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who had also opposed the law, was murdered by one of his bodyguards.

The first Christian to hold a cabinet post in Pakistan, Mr Bhatti spoke about the threat facing him last month, during a visit to Canada to raise awareness about his country’s blasphemy laws. He said: “I have been told by pro-Taliban religious extremists that if I will continue to speak against the blasphemy law, I will be beheaded.”

However, he said: “As a Christian, I believe Jesus is my strength. He has given me a power and wisdom and motivation to serve suffering humanity. I follow the principles of my conscience, and I am ready to die and sacrifice my life for the principles I believe.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but leaflets issued by Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab, a branch of the Taliban in Pakistan’s most populous province, were found at the ambush site, according to the private TV channel Express 24/7.

A government spokesman condemned the assassination. Farahnaz Ispahani, an aide to President Asif Ali Zardari, said: “This is concerted campaign to slaughter every liberal, progressive and humanist voice in Pakistan.

“The time has come for the federal government and provincial governments to speak out and to take a strong stand against these murderers to save the very essence of Pakistan.”

John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need said this morning: “I had the pleasure of meeting Shahbaz Bhatti on a trip to Pakistan with Aid to the Church in Need a few years ago. He was a very kind and thoughtful guide to the region with a deep commitment to improving the lot of the disadvantaged, especially those suffering persecution and oppression on account of their faith.

“Shahbaz Bhatti had the courage to speak out against the suffering that has its root in the country’s blasphemy laws, and we at ACN will be praying for his soul following his murder.

“Despite having received death threats for his stance Mr Bhatti continued to stand up heroically for Christians and other religious minorities who have been victims of mob violence after they were accused of blasphemy.”

Damian Thompson has a piece today entitled: Pakistan’s only Christian minister killed. Copts massacred. Afghan convert sentenced to death. When will Britain wake up to Islam’s persecution of Christians?

Saints Nunilo and Alodia, pray for us.

Posted in The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged Islam, murder, Pakistan, Sts. Nunilo and Alodia
21 Comments

Lent begins in one week!

Posted on 2 March 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

For Latin Church Catholics the beginning of Lent comes in one week with Ash Wednesday.

Are you ready? Do you have a plan for your Lent?

Be prudent as you plan and don’t bite off too much at the beginning. You can always add things – or omit them, if you get my drift. If you not too disciplined, don’t try to much and then get frustrated if you fall down. Baby steps.

Posted in Our Catholic Identity | Tagged Ash Wednesday, LENT
21 Comments

QUAERITUR: Bishop consecrating chalice, vestments during Mass

Posted on 1 March 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sacred vessels are important. They are consecrated (like the hands of priests) to touch the Body and Blood of the Lord.

I had this in my email:

I am trying to locate the rite (prayers and rubrics) for the consecration for a Chalice / Paten and Vestments. There is a local bishop who is willing to do this for the gifts that I will receive when I will be ordained a priest this summer. Can you help me find the resources that I need. I have the Roman Ritual (1962) but it seems that I also need the Roman Pontifical for more of the prayers and instructions. Can all of this be done within a mass that the Bishop celebrates (e.g. after the homily?).

First, I am delighted that the bishop will do that! Second, I hope he knows you mean the older rite! Do all in your power to keep the bishop, and all Christians, away from the horrific De benedictionibus. (Ad flammas!)

Can you do this during Mass? If it is in the Novus Ordo…. [crickets]… sure! Why not! You can do anything in the Novus Ordo at homily time, it seems. No?

If a bishop can impose a video, which is actually forbidden by the Church’s liturgical law, then, yes, he can consecrate a chalice. There can be the administration of sacraments after sermons (e.g., baptism, matrimony, etc.). There can be videos about fund raising. Why not the consecration of a chalice, which is sort of in between?

In the older form of Mass… wellllllllll…… maybe. But it really isn’t “foreseen”.

I, because of course bishops ask me stuff all the time, would say to a bishop, “Should Your Excellency desire to consecrate this stuff over here in this box, a great teaching mo, would Your Excellency announce it and teach about it during the sermon, and invite the people to remain to watch Your Excellency do it after Mass?”

In the meantime, for vestments in the older form, you can find those blessings in the back of the Missale Romanum. You might find chalices and patens there also.

For the chalices and patens, (I have written about that HERE) you could use the Pontificale Romanum. Look for it online. For example, HERE, where you can find the whole Pontificale.

VERY COOL prayers.

Also, in the rite, the bishop refers to “fratres carissimi”. Therefore, I think it would be great to have a big audience!

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box | Tagged chalice, consecration, Pontificale Romanum, Rituale Romanum
6 Comments

QUAERITUR: Of blasphemy and sacrilege during Mass

Posted on 1 March 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

The pastor at a local parish has used a “super-soaker” water gun during the sprinkling rite at Mass on several occasions. In a conversation with a parishioner from the parish, I incorrectly described the act as “blasphemous.” I have two questions: (i) Do my remarks constitute grave sin?; and (ii) ought I to contact the other person and amend my description?

Super-soaker? What is this? A kiddie party? Did also he wear big red shoes and jump around like an idiot? Was there a cake?

Let’s not even mention damage to clothing, the parishes books, anger of the congregants, etc.

I am not entirely sure you have to correct your remarks.

Blasphemy involves words or gestures, also thoughts, which show contempt for God or dishonor God regardless of whether the person intends that contempt or dishonor or not. Blasphemy is against the virtue of religion and a mortal sin. Blasphemy is direct when it is aimed at God. It is indirect when aimed at Holy Church or the saints or any sacred thing or person or place. It seems to me that what that priest did, whether he intended it or not, by the mere fact of doing it, was a kind of indirect blasphemy. He detracted from God’s honor indirectly by debasing the rite and the people.

As an aside: a deadly sort of blasphemy concerns the Holy Spirit (cf. Matthew 12, 31-32). This ghastly sin attributes God’s works to the Enemy and which also concerns the denial of the Holy Spirit the power or will to purify and forgive leading to final impenitence and hardness of heart. That sort of sin cannot be forgiven because the person rejects forgiveness. But that sort of blasphemy has nothing to do with what the questioner described. I hope.

Sacrilege, also a sin against the virtue of religion, is the improper or irreverent treatment of something sacred (persons, places, things, etc.). Sacrilege can take various forms including acts of violence, or vandalism, or purposeful harm, such as using something sacred for a sinful purpose or monetary gain.

Our Blessed Lord purified the sacred space of the Temple when he found improper things within and improper conduct. I think there is a touch of both of blasphemy and of sacrilege in the ordained priest, alter Christus, head of the Eucharistic assembly, using a “super-soaker” in church during the sacred action of Holy Church’s liturgical worship among the congregation of baptized members of Christ’s Mystical Body. The blasphemy would come from the gestures which would detract from the honor due to God, and the holy rites of the Church as well in an important matter. The sacrilege would lie in the mistreatment of the sacred rites of the church and the insulting, condescension with which he treated God’s holy people gathered within a sacred space. Beyond that, it was beneath everyone’s dignity.

Keep in mind that some single actions can result in more than one sin. This is important for your examination of conscience before confession. And there should be an app for that.

For example, if you belt a priest in the chops, and he is not at the moment physically attacking you, you commit the sin of unjustifiable violence against your neighbor, but also the sin of sacrilege. If someone else is present, you may have scandalized the person. If you do it during Mass, it is even worse.

Remember that when you are watching especially stupid and insulting liturgical abuses such using a super-soaker during Mass.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged blasphemy, liturgical abuse, sacrilege, scandal, super-soaker
73 Comments

WDTPRS POLL: SSPXers and CATHOLIC TRADITIONALISTS ONLY!

Posted on 1 March 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A discussion under a different entry prompts me to post a poll.

I ask the help of “trad” blogs to get the word out and get a larger sample.

I have rarely met anyone who is firmly attached, even fanatically attached, to the older, traditional liturgical worship in the Roman Rite who will say openly that the Novus Ordo of Paul VI is “invalid”.

I stress “invalid”. They will say many other uncomplimentary things about the Pauline Rite, or Ordinary Form, call it what you will, but they generally won’t say it is invalid.

I am curious.

Here is a poll only for SSPXers and for traditionalists who might be reasonably considered hard-core.

You don’t have to be registered to vote.

There will be NO discussion in the combox. Vote what you really think.

If you are not an SSPX or otherwise hardcore traditionalist (Sedevacantist, etc. let us not nitpick) then DON’T BUTT IN.

This is an honor thing. Cheat and you are nothing but a scrub.

UPDATE 2 March 01:16 GMT:

From an SSPX priest (edited):

In our SSPX circles the question of the validity of the Novus Ordo divides us from Sedevacantists. It is THE most visible dividing question.

If someone tells me they think the Novus Ordo is invalid, I immediately know I’m dealing with a sedevacantist type of mind.

You can’t maintain that the Novus Ordo is invalid and that the Pope who promulgated it is still Pope, can you?

No, Father, you can’t. Thanks for that!

Posted in POLLS | Tagged invalid, Novus Ordo, Ordinary Form SSPX, traditionalist
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England: Martyrs’ relics escape blaze at Marian Shrine

Posted on 1 March 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I believe that you can still get a discounted subscription to the online, digital full version of the Catholic Herald for a mere “tenner”, £10. Right now about $16.27.

And speaking of the UK’s best Catholic weekly, the lovely and persistent feature-writer Anna Arco posted this piece in the last issue.

I don’t think you can see this article on the Catholic Herald website without the subscription.

Martyrs’ relics
escape blaze at Marian shrine

A collection of relics belonging Reformation martyrs have survived a fire at the Marian shrine of Ladyewell in Lancashire, which left the chapel burned out.
The Burgess altar at which St Edmund Campion, St Edmund Arrowsmith and Blessed John Woodcock celebrated Mass, and other relics of the Reformation, were rescued from the flames of a small fire which broke out at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fernyhalgh, near Preston, last week.
Fr Tom Hoole, the director of the Ladyewell Shrine and parish priest of St Mary’s Fernyhalgh, discovered the fire in the chapel in the morning at Ladyewell House and called the fire brigade.
The rescue team was able to save the Blessed Sacrament at the priest’s instructions, as well as the relics and other religious artefacts. These have suffered from smoke damage. The fire remained contained in the chapel and the shop below it thanks to closed doors. The rest of the house is intact although it has been heavily smoke damaged. The shop and the chapel are almost completely destroyed.
The fire service has said that it is currently discounting arson as the cause for the fire, but is investigating the cause.
Fr Robert Billing, the Bishop of Lancaster’s secretary, said that Fr Hoole and the volunteers at the Shrine were determined to continue as normally as possible and that they would hold Masses at the larger St Mary’s Fernyhalgh, “just down the lane” from the damaged shrine. He said the shrine was not just a popular destination for Roman Rite pilgrims but was also visited by members of the Syro-Malabar Rite and Hindus.
Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster went to inspect the damage on the afternoon of the fire.
He said: “Obviously, at this time, our support and prayers are with Fr Tom Hoole and his dedicated team. Ladyewell Shrine, along with the local area, has suffered from much turbulence over the centuries and survived and flourished. It will do so again.”
The Ladyewell Shrine has been the site of devotion since the 11th century, which became a devotion to Our Lady Queen of the Martyrs’ after the Reformation. The reliquary holds relics and memorabilia belonging to the English Martyrs. The shrine was kept open during penal times, with only a short five year gap, and was the site for pilgrimages despite not having had an apparition. St Mary’s Fernyhalgh was built much later than the shrine in the 18th century.

I was unaware of this shrine. Their website is HERE.

Posted in Saints: Stories & Symbols | Tagged Anna Arco, Ladyewell, relics
7 Comments

Wm. Oddie on the Holy See/SSPX talks.

Posted on 1 March 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

William Oddie, columnist for the UK’s best Catholic weekly, the Catholic Herald, opines about the SSPX.

I have made my own comments about the talks between the Holy See and SSPX, saying that it was no surprise that a first round of talks should not produce unity. More is need on both sides.

My emphases and comments.

The current Catholic Herald debate on the collapse of the doctrinal discussions between the Vatican and the SSPX is getting a substantial response, and has been noticed elsewhere in the blogosphere. The whole debate, according to one blog, The Sensible Bond, [A sensible blog, by the way. I recommend it.] was predictable: “On the one side, high-minded papal loyalists cannot say enough about how disobedient the SSPX is, or how proud. On the other side, SSPX tub thumpers jeer about the hierarchy’s tendency to wink at all rebellions apart from the SSPX’s, and the busted flush of Benedict’s papacy which has seen him gravitate from liturgical traditionalist to Assisi tribute act in a mere four years”.

Well, I can’t say I’m neutral between the two points of view, definitely tending towards being a “papal loyalist” (despite some discomfort over Assisi, I think it’s just about defensible), though how high-minded you need to be to hold such views I’m not sure: it seems to me it’s a perfectly normal for a mainstream Catholic to be loyal to the pope. [That sounds about right.]

The real question is whether there was ever any realistic prospect that there might be any kind of rapprochement. Rome’s view is that the SSPX can be as critical as it likes about the distortions of Vatican II – what Pope Benedict calls “the hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” – but in the end it has to accept the essential Catholicity of the Council itself. This seems to me entirely reasonable. SSPX actually demands that Rome should repudiate the Council and accept that the Mass of Paul VI is invalid, even Protestant. [I don’t think many SSPXers think that the Novus Ordo is “invalid”. Am I wrong? That would be, well, kooky. Most of them think that it is valid but not spiritually adequate. Any number of them refer to Protestant influences behind its genesis.]

This is grotesquely unreasonable. It is inconceivable that the Vatican would simply turn against an ecumenical council of all the world’s bishops. SSPX must have known this: so it has been playing an elaborate game whose outcome was probably clearly foreseen by Bishop Fellay. [What would that imply about Fellay? That he was not being sincere from the onset? That he was desperate? That … what?] The Pope, on the contrary, clearly had hopes that the schism [That is not the word the Holy See uses. It is perfectly normal to be guided by the Holy Father in this regard.] might be overcome. Well, he has done everything he could to explore every avenue towards reconcilation. Now it is over. [Who, exactly, says its over?]

The issues involved, however, will be with us for some time, and still have to be faced, since the casual acceptance of some supposedly “traditionalist” views has done considerable damage. One of these was summed up by one participant in the ongoing Herald debate: his view is essentially that the Novus Ordo is an invalid rite:

[…]

The rest of Mr. Oddie’s article includes a defense of validity of the Novus Ordo. You can read the rest over there.

In the meantime, I haven’t seen a formal declaration from the Holy See confirming that the SSPX is in schism. I haven’t seen any statement from the SSPX that they are no longer going to talk with official of the Holy See or delegated theologians.

But I am sure there are people on both sides who would prefer that the status quo be maintained. Some of them are kooky, too, and they get too much attention.

Posted in Pope of Christian Unity |
82 Comments

Dr. Peters: indefatigable vivsectionist – CONTINUED and UPDATED

Posted on 28 February 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

ORIGINAL: Published on: Feb 26, 2011

Dr. Ed Peters, canonist, may be able to add “indefatigable vivsectionist” to his CV if he keeps up this pace.

A few days ago, he exposed problems in a statement from the Diocese of Albany.

Yesterday, he diced a spaghetti flinger from the Fishwrap.

Today, he disemboweled a jackanapes from the Huffington Post.

One of my favorites remarks:

In any case, shuddering even to contemplate the punishment of Hell being visited on a fellow being, and knowing that Church law (my specialty) has no jurisdiction over such eventualities, I said nothing about Hell. Collins did. For reasons he chooses not to share.

Read the whole thing there.

UPDATE 27 FEB 23:27 GMT:

Dr. Peters, the learnéd, the tireless, has responded to the Jesuit darling of the liberal media Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ, of Georgetown University.

Fr. Reese, defending Communion for Gov. Cuomo despite can. 915, has waded in with a personal attack on the person of Dr. Peters.

A good line from Dr. Peter’s:

Reese can hardly be ignorant of the differences between Canons 915 and 916, so I can only take his derisive comments that I must have “some kind of spiritual telescope to look into the soul of Gov. Andrew Cuomo” as a deliberate obfuscation of my position.

And so it continues for Dr. Peters.

UPDATE 1 MAR 04:54 GMT:

Mr. Winters of Fishwrap, reprising the role of the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, has … once again… responded to Dr. Peters.

[wp_youtube]zKhEw7nD9C4[/wp_youtube]

Dr. Peters has patiently responded… once again.

A snip:

If I may be permitted a personal illustration, I remember in college when my Jesuit spiritual director told me in our first session, “Well, Ed, you start by observing the Ten Commandments.” St. Paul spoke from a mystical appreciation of just Who stood behind the Ten Commandments when he warned the Corinthians—and us—against taking the Lord’s Body and Blood outwardly to our condemnation inwardly. Canons 915 and 916, I suggest, simply expresses these same points canonically–you know, f/b/o Catholics who don’t read the Bible but who keep a copy of the Code on their nightstand.

Dr. Peters laments that there is no moderator for this sort of discussion, or any judge to determine who won.

I hereby volunteer.

Another snip for your delectation:

I am not going to convince Winters of the persuasiveness of my position over his, because he believes that (take your pick): my interpretation of canon law represents horrible theology, I engage in sneering, I don’t quote Scripture in my canonical writing, I am given to plunging canonical daggers into straw men, I feel mighty self-satisfied with the 99 sheep instead of looking for the lost one (indeed I pose a threat to the returning sheep), I must see law as a purely penal instrument, I am more prone to condemning instead of using the medicine of mercy, and so on and so on and so on. Well, okay. I am none of these things. But so what?

Mostly, though, I sense the futility of debating Winters further because he still defends a fundamentally skewered understanding of the role of canon law in the Church.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE!

UPDATE 3 March 1640 GMT:

Again, Dr. Peters. This time, on his excellent blog, we find a reaction to a column by the distinguished Phil Lawler. NB: This is not an adversarial exchange.

However, in the context of his most recent entry, Peter also educates a “young Franciscan” who, it seems, thinks that St. Francis would have given Communion to anyone no matter what that implied or what the Church’s law is.

I am right now thinking of some of the things the real Francis wrote and did in his life. Francis wasn’t just bunnies and birdies and Sister Moon.

Posted in Our Catholic Identity | Tagged c. 915, Dr. Peters, Fr. Reese, Huffington Post
58 Comments

WDTPRS POLL: How do you pray the Rosary?

Posted on 28 February 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

NB: Don’t forget the Spiritual Bouquet (you can participate daily) for Pope Benedict!

The Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is prayed according to different methods in different parts of the world. For example, in Italy it will usually include a litany at the end. In Germany you will sometimes hear a line about the mystery being prayed interjected into the Hail Mary.

And… to my point… in the English speaking world you will not rarely hear after the Gloria following each decade the addition of a little prayer associated with Fatima:

“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen.”

However, not everyone adds this. I, for example, do not.

What I am curious about is… do you add the Fatima prayer when you say the Rosary? This may be in individual or public recitation.

It may be that you do it own way when alone or with one group, and another in other instances.

Just pick then which you prefer.

Please make a choice and add your comment to the combox, below.

Posted in POLLS | Tagged Fatima Prayer, rosary
135 Comments

Concerning the “liturgical vigilante”

Posted on 28 February 2011 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Be sure to check out Pat Archbold’s perspicacious and amusing piece over at the National Catholic Register entitled, “Liturgical Vigilantes“.

A few of good bits:

As general rule, vigilantes are not born, they are made. Their steely resolve to right the wrong, forged in the fires of un-rectified lawlessness, transforms them into self appointed guardians of the good. They become—watchmen.

The Mrs. McGillicuddys of the world have had much to endure these last forty years. They sit in their pews and watch as liturgical experimentation and improvisation transform the holy mass into a vehicle of self expression for those who do not understand what it truly expresses. They sit and wonder, when will somebody do something about this? When? When they finally reach the reluctant conclusion of never, what follows results in either resignation or transformation.

Now a confession, I’m a Mrs. McGillicuddy. But I don’t want to be.

And…

I resolved to call the diocese. I got the Director of Worship on the phone. I said, “I want to report some liturgical abuse.” I never knew this before, but you can actually hear eye-rolling over the phone.

And this is something about which I both agree and disagree at the same time:

This is not my job. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be that guy.

Point is, somebody has to care for the law and I don’t want it to be me or the Mrs. McGillicuddys of the world. Its not our job. It’s someone’s job, if they would only do it.

In Redemptionis Sacramentum we read (my emphases):

6. Complaints Regarding Abuses in Liturgical Matters

[183.] In an altogether particular manner, let everyone do all that is in their power to ensure that the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist will be protected from any and every irreverence or distortion and that all abuses be thoroughly corrected. This is a most serious duty incumbent upon each and every one, and all are bound to carry it out without any favouritism.

[184.] Any Catholic, whether Priest or Deacon or lay member of Christ’s faithful, has the right to lodge a complaint regarding a liturgical abuse to the diocesan Bishop or the competent Ordinary equivalent to him in law, or to the Apostolic See on account of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff. It is fitting, however, insofar as possible, that the report or complaint be submitted first to the diocesan Bishop. This is naturally to be done in truth and charity.

I posted tips about writing to ecclesiastical authorities HERE.