Democrats in Minnesota anti-Catholic political postcard campaign

Posted on 26 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I have seen this story in various places, but LifeSite has a good summary.

A campaign postcard the Minnesota Democratic Party sent to voters in the Midwestern state is causing a strong reaction from pro-life advocates. It claims the Catholic Church is more concerned with abortion than helping the poor.Democrats in Minnesota anti-Catholic political postcard campaign The postcard features a large photo of a older but faceless Catholic priest holding a Bible and wearing the clearly-seen Roman Catholic collar.

The priest sports a campaign button in a red, white and blue motif with the words, “Ignore the Poor.”

The ad, in the estimation of National Catholic Register writer Matt Archbold is blatantly Catholic and meant to tell voters the Catholic Church is more concerned about abortion than the plight of the poor.

“Sometimes there’s a little subtlety to anti-Catholic political rhetoric but not this time. This is in your face anti-Catholicism,” he said. “It’s anti-Catholicism is not one point of many. It’s the point.”

“But this postcard has nothing to do with the poor. What this is about is the fact that the Church stands strong against abortion and gay marriage. And that makes some very angry,” he explained.  [This could very well be payback for Archbp. Nienstedt’s initiatives.]

Archbold says he’s concerned that Minnesota party leaders must believe the postcard could sway enough voters to make the anti-Catholic sentiment useful.

“One of the more worrisome things about this is that this group must believe that there’s enough of an anti-Catholic vote that this would pay dividends. Could that be true?” he said.

“Never mind the factual basis the charge that the Church ignores the poor is absolutely ridiculous because the Church is the most charitable organization on the planet,” he continued.

Stella Borealis of the Northland Catholic blog originally noted the postcard.
She said the DFL in Minnesota is “probably composed of the most radical of the DFL activists (I actually heard at one convention one candidate being asked, “What is your position on abortion and how radical are you?”).”
“I don’t know how many were sent out, but this was received by a Catholic in the Twin Cities. It shows the willful ignorance of Democrats by ignoring what Catholic Charities, the many thousands of Catholic parishes with social justice ministries,” she added. “Is this intended to bring out the Catholic progressive vote? Or those who hate Catholics?”
Posted in Biased Media Coverage, Emanations from Penumbras, Our Catholic Identity, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged , ,
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QUAERITUR: taking a chalice home to pray for vocations

Posted on 26 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

There is a “program” at Church, where a family takes the Chalice Home with them to pray for an increase in vocations. Now, our parish is supposed to be the most conservative in the area, and our Pastor is a genuinely good Priest, so I do not doubt his good intentions. But in my mind, the sacred vessels should not be handled by anyone other than ordained, or appointed (altar boys) ministers. Nor should they leave the Church except to be used for Mass. Am I mistaken in this?

I am of the opinion that a priest’s hands are consecrated for a reason.  They are to handle sacred things.

I have heard something of a program like that which you describe.  I suspect that the chalice is not actually consecrated.

That said, I think this is a pretty good idea.  If this program will spur some prayers for vocations, then all the better.  At the same time, there should be assiduous effort in the parish church as well, and not just in homes.  I am pleased that the priest there at that parish is advancing something this constructive.

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QUAERITUR: Sunday obligation and Communion service

Posted on 26 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

Recently a friend of mine went to what he thought was Mass, but actually turned out to be a eucharistic service on a Sunday. He says the ordinary priest was absent but another person (assuming a priest as they were wearing priestly vestments) lead the service. They say there was a Liturgy of the Word and a homily but no Eucharistic Prayer. Rather, the minister (whom we think was a priest) went to the tabernacle and distributed Communion and seemingly the chalice (my friend actually received from the chalice so it was kept in the Tabernacle!).

Is this allowed? Did my friends fulfil their Sunday obligation?

In one sense, no, it did not fulfill the obligation to participate at Mass, since it wasn’t a Mass.

On the other hand, if there was no Mass then, barring the possibility of seeking Mass elsewhere, the person couldn’t fulfill the obligation and therefore didn’t sin.  We are not bound to do the impossible.  If there is no Mass available, there isn’t much to be done… except pray for vocations!

I am guessing from the description that the “minister” may have been a permanent deacon.

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QUAERITUR: Indulgences for the dead and visiting a cemetery

Posted on 26 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

Your recent answer to a question about prayers and Masses for non-Catholic departed brings to mind a question some friends and I were deliberating over. With regard to the indulgences we can gain for the departed during the month of November by praying at a cemetery:
are the intended recipients the Catholic departed, or could we go to a non-Catholic, or, say, even Jewish cemetery to pray and gain the indulgence?

Here is the text of the concession of the indulgence from the Enchridion Indulgentiarum as it is on the Vatican’s website.

29
Pro fidelibus defunctis

§ 1. Plenaria indulgentia, animabus in Purgatorio detentis tantummodo applicabilis, conceditur christifideli qui

1°55 singulis diebus, a primo usque ad octavum novembris, coemeterium devote visitaverit et, vel mente tantum, pro defunctis exoraverit;

2°56 die Commemorationis omnium fidelium defunctorum (vel, de consensu Ordinarii, die Dominico antecedenti aut subsequenti aut die sollemnitatis Omnium Sanctorum) ecclesiam aut oratorium pie visitaverit ibique recitaverit Pater et Credo.

§ 2. Partialis indulgentia, animabus in Purgatorio detentis tantummodo applicabilis, conceditur christifideli qui,

1°57 coemeterium devote visitaverit et, vel mente tantum, pro defunctis exoraverit;

2°58 Laudes vel Vesperas Officii defunctorum, vel invocationem Requiem aeternam devote recitaverit.

Competentes Coetus episcopales curabunt addere in editionibus Enchiridii pro sermonum varietate preces pro defunctis magis in suis territoriis usitatas et christifidelibus caras.

Requiem aeternamdona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.
(Ordo exequiarum)

From this we see only the word “coemeterium” without further distinction. I think we can say that it is better to go to a Catholic cemetery. But that is not what the grant of the indulgence says.

Also, the grant states seems to make some distinctions. We see “pro defunctis” without further specification: “for the dead”.

There are “animabus in Purgatorio detentis … souls detained in Purgatory”. They wouldn’t be in Purgatory if they weren’t going to be in heaven with the blessed one day.

It doesn’t say “Catholic souls detained in Purgatory”.

So, while I think it is better to go to a Catholic cemetery, which is consecrated ground and is, well, ours, it seems you could go to any cemetery.

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QUAERITUR: Can non-Catholics be saved?

Posted on 25 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

Can non-Catholics who die outside formal union with the Church be saved? I’ve had the statements of the Council of Florence pointed to as proof to interpret extra ecclesiam nulla salus. This seems to contradict what’s said in the modern CCC, and in Lumen Gentium. Basically, if none are saved outside formal union with the Church, then what would be the point of masses for dead Protestants?

Yes, non-Catholics who die outside formal union with the Church can be saved.

St. Augustine dealt with a similar question concerning the non-baptized.   He explained that God, who is all-powerful, can do anything in this regard that it pleased Him to do.   God can save whom it pleases Him to save.   We cannot say that God cannot.  Augustine admitted that the non-baptized could possibly be saved, but He didn’t know how God did that, so important is the need for baptism.

Non-Catholics can be saved.   Most non-Catholic Protestants are validly baptized.  By that baptism they belong in some way to Christ’s Mystic Body, the Church.  I don’t know how this works according to God’s plan.  People must stand before God and be judged, and God cannot be fooled.  He will, with the person who dies, judge the mind and heart and there will be no room for self-deception.

I think it must be very hard indeed to come to salvation without the advantages God offered in His Church.  Very hard indeed.  I quail at the idea of it, as a matter of fact, and I am less than optimistic.  I am hopeful for people and desire their salvation, but… how that is worked out is a mystery.

Any way you look at it, however, if a person is saved she is saved because of the merits of Christ’s Sacrifice mediated through the Church He founded.  There is no other way of salvation, whether a person ever heard of the Catholic  Church or not.

Think of the advantages we have as Catholics.  We have sure membership in the Church Christ gave us, without the doubts that come from vague or imagined membership.  We have all the sacraments that Christ established as the ordinary means of our salvation.  We have the clear teaching of the Church, who teaches and governs with Christ’s authority.  We have the possibility of knowing with certainty that we belong to this Church because we have a visible reference point in our Holy Father, Successor of Peter, who points us to the Head of the Church, Christ Himself.    Who would hold themselves away from that, once they know about it?

We also affirm with Lumen gentium that any person who rejects the Catholic Church knowing that the Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded, that person cannot be saved.   The Church does not say in an absolute and entirely exclusive way that non-Catholics cannot be saved.

Let’s see Lumen gentium:

14. This Sacred Council wishes to turn its attention firstly to the Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church. Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved.

Yet, for many people, they do not know who and what the Church is, usually through no fault of their own.  Woe to anyone who is responsible for a person leaving the Church from disillusionment or lies or sin or scandal or who is an obstacle to their entering.

Your question comes back to the issue of Masses for dead Protestants and you call into questions Masses – prayers – said so that God will be merciful to them.

No prayer we offer to God asking for mercy for the living or the dead is in vain.  We propose and God will dispose.  Also, I cannot fathom a Christian who will not ask God in His mercy to give graces to those who are formally separated from the Church.   What sort of spiritual stinginess or pride is that?

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QUAERITUR: homemade marriage vows

Posted on 25 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader:

I recently attended a Catholic wedding between two Catholics. During the ceremony, I believe the couple did the declaration of intentions according to the Rite of Marriage. When it came to the wedding vows, instead of using the prescribed vows, the couple recited vows that I think they had written themselves. The vows were of a personal nature; specific to each person, as compared to the universal nature of the Church’s vows. I do not remember all of the specifics of the vows, but I have doubts as to whether or not they expressed the same ideas that are in the Church’s vows; i.e. to be true in good times and in bad, etc.

Is this marriage valid? How should I proceed? Do I need more information or should I not worry about it?

First, I must observe that your account is rather sketchy.  You don’t have any clear knowledge of what happened.  That in itself suggests that what was done should not have been done.  It also means that it would be difficult to do anything about it.

Second, if they wrote the texts themselves, I assume they read them from something.  They would have the texts.   However, it might be hard to get that text: “Hey, I think your marriage may be invalid.  Can I have the texts?”   I can see that that approach might be problematic from various points of view.

Third, is this any of your business?  It is the business of the pastor of the parish to see to things like this.  I you are deeply concerned, you could address the issue with the pastor and try to convince him to look into it.  However, if he permitted it in the first place, then he probably doesn’t see anything wrong with it.  I suppose it would be possible to send a note to the local bishop asking if it is permitted for people to write their own vows.  That might get some interest going.

That said, priests should make sure that the rites of the Church should be followed so that there is NO DOUBT about what happened.  If the pastor isn’t smart enough to do this, perhaps he needs to be doing some other good and useful work.

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APNews: “Catholic bloggers aim to purge dissenters”

Posted on 24 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From Townhall comes this:

Catholic bloggers aim to purge dissenters

APNews

Pressure is on to change the Roman Catholic Church in America, but it’s not coming from the usual liberal suspects. A new breed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube to say the church isn’t Catholic enough.

Enraged by dissent that they believe has gone unchecked for decades, and unafraid to say so in the starkest language, these activists are naming names and unsettling the church.  [Based on the word choices, what do you think is the writer’s take on this?]

_ In the Archdiocese of Boston, parishioners are dissecting the work of a top adviser to the cardinal for any hint of Marxist influence.

_ Bloggers are combing through campaign finance records to expose staff of Catholic agencies who donate to politicians who support abortion rights.

_ RealCatholicTV.com, working from studios in suburban Detroit, is hunting for “traitorous” [Again, I wonder what the writer’s take is.  Do you think the writer is trying to connect this to the eeeeeevilllll of “McCarthy-ism”?] nuns, priests or bishops throughout the American church.

“We’re no more engaged in a witch hunt than a doctor excising a cancer is engaged in a witch hunt,” said Michael Voris of RealCatholicTV.com and St. Michael’s Media. “We’re just shining a spotlight on people who are Catholics who do not live the faith.”

John Allen, Vatican analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, has dubbed this trend “Taliban Catholicism.” But he says it’s not a strictly conservative phenomenon _ liberals can fit the mindset, too, Allen says. Some left-leaning Catholics are outraged by any exercise of church authority.

Yet on the Internet and in the church, conservatives are having the bigger impact.

Among Voris’ many media ventures is the CIA _ the Catholic Investigative Agency _ a program from RealCatholicTV to “bring to light the dark deeds of evil Catholics-in-name-only, who are hijacking the Church for their own ends, not the ends of Christ.”

[…]

Catholic officials are struggling to come to terms with the bloggers and have organized several recent media conferences on the topic, the latest at the Vatican this month. The U.S. bishops’ conference issued social media guidelines in July calling for Christian charity online.

Still, no one expects the Catholic blogosphere to change tone anytime soon. Many of the conservatives most active online had spent years raising the alarm about dissent on their own in their local dioceses without much effect. Now, they feel they are finally being heard online.

“There’s a general sense among many faithful Catholics that no matter how much they write their bishops, no matter how much they go to the pastors, all of these unfaithful things keep getting taught,” Voris said. “I think enough Catholics are saying, ‘That’s it. I’ve had it.‘”

Posted in Throwing a Nutty |
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Some critics of the new translations: “radioactively cynical”

Posted on 24 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Over at First Things Fr. Rutler has some comments about the new translation and liturgy in general.

Here are a few excerpts. We join him in medias res with my emphases and sinographs:

[…]

Publicly owned corporations are more accountable to their shareholders than tenured bureaucracies, which may explain why it took the Ford Motor Company only two years to cancel its Edsel, and not much longer for Coca Cola to restore its “classic” brand, while the Catholic Church has taken more than a generation of unstopped attrition to try to correct the mistakes of overheated liturgists. The dawning of the Age of Aquarius is now in its sunset repose and the bright young things who seem to be cropping up now all over the place with new information from Fortescue and Ratzinger, may either be the professional mourners for a lost civilization, or the sparks of a looming golden age.

One thing is certain to a pastor: the only parishioners fighting the old battles are old themselves, their felt banners frayed and their guitar strings broken, while a young battalion is rising, with no animus against the atrophied adolescence of their parents, and only eager to engage a real spiritual combat in a culture of death. They usually are ignorant, but bright, for ignorance is not stupidity.

They care little if the Liturgy is in Latin or English or Sanskrit, as long as they are told how to do it, for they were not told. Some critics of the new translations have warned that the changes are Shishi qiu shi : Seek truth from factstoo radical, which is radioactively cynical from people who in the 1960’s wantonly dismantled old verities overnight, in their suburbanized version of China’s Cultural Revolution.

[…]

I think there should be few options in the Liturgy, and no attempt to be “creative,” for that is God’s particular talent. As Vatican II taught in Sacrosanctum Concilium, “[T]here must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing.”

[…]

While I am glad for the new and more accurate translation of the Mass, which is not perfection but closer to it than one deserves in an imperfect world, a far more important reform would be the return of the ad orientem position of the celebrant as normative. It is the antidote to the tendency of clerisy to impose itself on the people. When a celebrant at Mass stops and says, “This is not about me,” you may be sure he thinks it may be about him. It would be harder for him to harbor that suspicion were he leading the people humbly to the east and the dawn of salvation.

[…]

Posted in Mail from priests, The Drill | Tagged , ,
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QUAERITUR: Old Rituale Romanum and “churching” of women

Posted on 24 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a deacon:

May God Bless you for your work. I will be traveling home for
Thanksgiving break to Baptize my twin brother’s newborn son. He and
his wife are faithful, traditional Catholics. I was wondering if it is
still possible to celebrate for his wife the Churching of Women (or
the “Blessing of a Mother after Childbirth”), perhaps before the
Baptism? I’m assuming Summorum Pontificum expanded use of the older Blessings as well. But the new Book of Blessings, n. 237, says, “But the blessing after childbirth provided here is intended only for a mother who was unable to take part in the celebration of her child’s baptism.” And n.
257 indicates that there is a blessing of the mother at the end of the
Rite of Baptism, there n. 105 (but it is not quite the same). Can the
old Blessing still be done? If so, can a deacon do it?

Yes, the older Rituale Romanum can be used for the churching of women after childbirth.   Pastors may use the Rituale Romanum.

I am not sure that this can be delegated to a deacon.  The Rituale says “priest” throughout.  I think it must be done by a priest.

Furthermore, I hope that one of the results of the “gravitational pull” created by Summorum Pontificum, is that the “Book of Blessings” (a misnomer, since most of the prayers in the book don’t actually bless anything) gets pulled into a black hole and is never seen again.

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The 2012 Synod of Bishop will focus on…

Posted on 24 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From CNS comes this news.  Woo hoo.

Next synod theme: New evangelization

October 24, 2010 by John Thavis

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict announced today that he’s chosen “new evangelization” as the theme for the next world Synod of Bishops in 2012.

The pope said the topic reflects a need to re-evangelize in countries where Christian faith and practice have declined, and where people “have even moved away from the church.”

The pope made the announcement at the end of his homily at the closing Mass for the special Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, which focused on the pastoral challenges of the region. He said that in this synod, too, bishops spoke of the “need to offer the Gospel anew to people who do not know it very well.”

“What was often evoked was the need for a new evangelization for the Middle East as well. This was quite a widespread theme, especially in the countries where Christianity has ancient roots,” he said.

The pope said he chose the next synod topic, “The new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith,” after consulting with the world’s episcopate. He recently created the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, and has made re-evangelizing a main theme of his pontificate.

In his homily, the pope also touched on the sensitive subject of religious freedom in the Middle East, especially in predominantly Muslim societies:

Another contribution that Christians can bring to society is the promotion of an authentic freedom of religion and conscience, one of the fundamental human rights that each state should always respect. In numerous countries of the Middle East there exists freedom of belief, while the space given to the freedom to practice religion is often quite limited. Increasing this space of freedom becomes essential to guarantee to all the members of the various religious communities the true freedom to live and profess their faith. This topic could become the subject of dialogue between Christians and Muslims, a dialogue whose urgency and usefulness was reiterated by the synodal fathers.

The pope made a plea for peace in the region, saying it was the best way to stop Christian emigration:

Conflicts, wars, violence and terrorism have gone on for too long in the Middle East. Peace, which is a gift of God, is also the result of the efforts of men of goodwill, of the national and international institutions, in particular of the states most involved in the search for a solution to conflicts. We must never resign ourselves to the absence of peace. Peace is possible. Peace is urgent. Peace is the indispensable condition for a life of dignity for human beings and society. Peace is also the best remedy to avoid emigration from the Middle East.

The Holy Father has for years been deeply concerned about the identity of Europe.

Posted in New Evangelization, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
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