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

Something in the Air, I fear

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Hmmmm

Posted in Just Too Cool |
11 Comments

Which titular churches will the new Cardinals receive?

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Cardinals are the Pope’s special Roman clergy. Historically they were the deacons and priests of diaconal and presbyteral “titles” (parishes) of Rome, while the cardinal bishops were bishops of little dioceses nearby. The College of Cardinals is still divided into the three orders of bishop, priest and deacon. Cardinals these days are nearly always consecrated bishops, but they still fall into these orders depending on which cardinalatial title they receive.

The new Cardinals will need their own titular churches in Rome. The titles will be released close to the consistory itself.

Usually when men are made Cardinal they receive a presbyteral title if they are diocesan bishops somewhere. They become Cardinal priests. Men who are in the Roman Curia are given diaconal titles as Cardinal deacons. Men are raised to be Cardinal bishop if they come, for example, to be Prefect of one of the most important Congregations, such as the “Suprema” (CDF).

Eventually, each Cardinal must go to take possession of his titular church, which he does accompanied by an special “notary” monsignor as a witness for the papal household.

Right now there are 33 titular churches vacant in Rome.

I an assuming His Future Eminence Raymond S.R.E. future-Card. Burke will be appointed to a diaconal title. He was a diocesan bishop, but is not now.

Here are diaconal titles that are open, among them some of Rome’s most ancient churches:

S. Agata de’ Goti
S. Anselmo all’Aventino
S. Maria in Aquiro
S. Maria in Cosmedin
SS. Nome di Gesù e Maria in Via Lata
S. Teodoro
Ss. Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia

It should be interesting to see how this goes.

Posted in Just Too Cool |
14 Comments

National Catholic Reporter bitter about CARDINAL Burke (I repeat … CARDINAL)

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

His Holiness of Our Lord Pope Benedict XVI has seen fit to name Archbishop Raymond Burke a Cardinal of Holy Church.

The National Catholic Fishwrap is not very pleased.

They won’t take the swipe directly. They use surrogates.

Tom Roberts reprints something from a priest Milwaukee, Fr. James Connell, who threw a little nutty about Burke’s appointment calling it “unfortunate and disconcerting.”

They have together, and I think you’ll agree, earned the WDTPRS Bitter Fruit Award.

Bitter Fruit

The attack on soon-to-be-CARDINAL Burke has to do with the Dallas Charter.

The Milwaukee priest thinks Burke did something wrong regarding those provisions, that Burke disregarded the Church’s laws. Most people will simply scoff at that. I will go so far as to suggest that Archbp. Burke probably understood the parameters of the Dallas Charter and his own role as diocesan bishop pretty well.

The Milwaukee priest also thinks that Burke was unreasonable in requiring that people who make an accusation against a priest should have to offer proof.

Furthermore, the Milwaukee priest notes that the laws Burke set down for the Diocese of LaCrosse way back when are still on the diocesan website today. We might point out that Burke hasn’t been bishop there for a long time now.

We might also point out that this Milwaukee priest is actually criticizing his own ordinary in Milwaukee. The present Archbishop of Milwaukee H.E. Most REv. Jerome Listecki, was Burke’s successor in LaCrosse. Listecki chose to keep Burke’s norms. Thus, Fr. James Connell is also attacking Archbp. Listecki.

The priest in Milwaukee didn’t think this through very well before sending his attack on Burke to the NCR. NCR was nevertheless happy to use it to attack Archbp. Burke, thus instrumentalizing that priest in his naivete.

This should play well for subscribers of the National Catholic Fishwrap.

UPDATE:

Check out Fr. Sotelo’s comment, below.

Posted in Throwing a Nutty | Tagged Card. Burke
29 Comments

Death of a comet and meteors from Orion

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From Spaceweather:

SUNDIVING COMET: A newly-discovered comet is plunging toward the sun for a close encounter it probably will not survive. The comet is too deep in the sun’s glare for human eyes to pick out, but it is showing up nicely in coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Visit http://spaceweather.com for latest movies.

ORIONID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, and this is causing the annual Orionid meteor shower. Bright moonlight is reducing the number of visible meteors; nevertheless, sky watchers are reporting some bright Orionids. The best time to look is during the hours before local dawn on Thursday, Oct. 21st, and again on Friday, Oct. 22nd. Check http://spaceweather.com for a sky map and more information.

Posted in Just Too Cool |
1 Comment

What is your good news?

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Holy Church had some good news today.

Do you have good news of your own?

My good news includes the replacement of the Sabine electrical box, which was so eccentric that it was going to burst into flame at any moment. I will not die in a sparking inferno of electrical death … today, at least. Included is a surge protector that can take 150K joules. I am still getting my mind around that.

I also saw a cool sundog.

Also, I received via snail mail another intricate print by Daniel Mitsui, who has a blog entitled The Lion and the Cardinal.

This is of The Last Judgment.

The detail is amazing, as we have come to expect from Mr. Mitsui.

Once again, this is a good print for one’s own reflection on The Four Last Things.

Note in this detail… sorry about the shadow… you see the damned. For you fans of the papal tiara a Pope is among them. Into the big crunching maw they go, to their eternal despair and agony.

The whole is set about with text from the Dies irae.

Another detail.

If you are thinking about gifts yet, you might consider Mr. Mitsui’s prints.

His religious art page here.

Beyond this, I must also thank some of you readers for this that have been sent me through my amazon Wish List. Among you benefactors are

TS for volumes of the English translation of the sermons of St. Augustine (ss. 230-272, ss. 151-183). TC send another volume (ss 2–50) SC sent The Old Mass and the New: Explaining the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI. I have a few more which I will get to soon.

Please know that these are all deeply appreciated, as are your donations through the button on the sidebar and on some posts. It is my duty and pleasure to pray for benefactors.

On Friday 22 October, I will say Holy Mass for the intention of benefactors, taking a list with me of those who have been so good as to send support in so many ways.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
37 Comments

Fr. Sirico’s advice to the Tea Parties

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

With a biretta tip to CatholicVote this is from Fr. Robert Sirico of Acton Institute. Find the original on The Detroit News.

Tea party must define ideas
Father Robert Sirico

If the recent analysis by the New York Times on the success of the tea party movement is correct, the influence of this movement favoring limited government and low levels of taxation may have a decided impact in the upcoming elections, particularly in holding the Republican leadership’s feet to the fire on a variety of related issues.

The influence and more especially the authenticity of the tea party movement also is being debated in religious circles where some writers have expressed a skepticism as to how the evident religious sentiments expressed by many (but not all) tea party activists can be compatible with the undeniable Christian obligation to tend to the needs of “the least of these my brethren.” [Liberals want big government nanny state to take care of the poor. Conservatives think that is not the role of government.]

Stephen Schneck, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America, said in critique of the tea party approach, “Much as we might like otherwise, the Catholic argument is that government and citizen are equally expected to be our brother’s keeper.” [Is that the “Catholic” argument?]

One of the leaders of the evangelical left, Jim Wallis, renders what I think is a wholly inaccurate image of tea party folks when he says, “When government regulation is the enemy, the market is set free to pursue its own self-interest without regard for public safety, the common good, and the protection of the environment — which Christians regard as God’s creation. Libertarians seem to believe in the myth of the sinless market and that the self-interest of business owners or corporations will serve the interests of society; and if they don’t, it’s not government’s role to correct it.” [Perhaps this is a use of synechdoche, but… can markets be sinful? People sin and people create markets. Markets can’t sin.]

From my conversations with numerous supporters of the tea party movement from around the country, these comments fail to grasp the essential point of what this movement is about, and why religious people are attracted to it.

I have no doubt there are people on the fringes of the tea party movement who hate government. Most of these, however, I would suggest hate government the way most of us “hate” the dentist — that is, we are not in favor of abolishing dentistry; we just want to make sure it hurts as little as possible and does not do permanent damage.

It is not that tea party folk believe in “the myth of the sinless market.”

It is that they, and most believers, indeed most Americans, do not believe that politicians and bureaucrats are not immaculately conceived and require limits to their interventions.

And so we come to what may be the real deficiency of this popular movement — it has yet to define a set of clear principles that permit it to consistently outline its view of society and the proper role of the state.

Such a set of principles exists within both the Roman Catholic and Reformed Protestant traditions and are known respectively as subsidiarity and sphere sovereignty. Each term in different yet complementary ways states that needs are best met at the most local level of their existence and that higher orders of social organization (that is, mediating institutions and the public sector) may only temporarily intervene into lower spheres of social organization in moments of great crisis. This intervention by higher authorities should happen to assist, not replace, local relationships.

In his monumental encyclical “The Hundredth Year” Pope John Paul II [Centesimus annus] outlined the principle of subsidiarity and demonstrated an understanding of the reaction that can occur in the social sphere when the limits of the state are not clearly maintained. Although written almost a decade ago, his cautions and observations could have been penned today:

“By intervening directly and depriving society of its responsibility, the Social Assistance State leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concern for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending. In fact, it would appear that needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them and who act as neighbors to those in need. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. One thinks of the condition of refugees, immigrants, the elderly, the sick, and all those in circumstances which call for assistance, such as drug abusers: all these people can be helped effectively only by those who offer them genuine fraternal support, in addition to the necessary care.”

Father Robert Sirico is president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids. E-mail comments to letters@detnews.com.

Posted in The Drill | Tagged Fr. Robert Sirico Centesimus annus, Tea Party
16 Comments

Where you are

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Here is a snap shot of some of the places readers are coming from over the last few minutes.

These are in some cases approximations. I also cut out vague references such as “United States”.

^{Lake Mary, Florida

Rootstown, Ohio

Raleigh, North Carolina

Idaho Falls, Idaho

Holy See (Vatican City State)

Little Rock, Arkansas

Stamford, Connecticut

Victoria, British Columbia

Sacramento, California

Maysville, North Carolina

Cadyville, New York

Waterford, Michigan

Frackville, Pennsylvania

Watford, Hertford

Holiday, Florida

Redwood City, California

Celaya, Guanajuato

Brooklyn, New York

Calgary, Alberta

Dublin

Portage, Indiana

Le Tourne, Aquitaine

Augusta, Georgia

Kingston, Ontario

New York

San Mateo, California

Reston, Virginia

Dunn Center, North Dakota

Reston, Virginia

Washington, District of Columbia

Oakland, California

Sanger, Texas

Northville, Michigan

Knoxville, Tennessee

Toronto, Ontario

Birmingham, Alabama

San Jose, California

Chester, Cheshire

Hayward, California

Rochester, New York

Cincinnati, Ohio

Whiteabbey, Newtownabbey

Taipei, T’ai-pei

Lynnwood, Washington

Oxford, Oxfordshire

Newington, Connecticut

Springfield, Illinois

Nashville, Tennessee

Madrid

Potomac, Maryland

Oxford, Oxfordshire

El Cajon, California

Calgary, Alberta

Santa Ana, California

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mercedes, Texas

Grosse Pointe, Michigan

Clementon, New Jersey

Saint Louis, Missouri

Eaton Rapids, Michigan

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Walnut Creek, California

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Kennesaw, Georgia

Delmar, New York

Monroe, Louisiana

Chicago, Illinois

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Columbus, Ohio

Kansas City, Missouri

Santa Barbara, California

Fremont, California

Indian Hills, Colorado

Smithtown, New York

Grove City, Ohio

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Atlanta, Georgia

Auckland

Flossmoor, Illinois

Lawrence, Kansas

Lynnwood, Washington

Mission Viejo, California

Nuremberg, Bayern

Kelsterbach, Hessen

San Jose, California

Champaign, Illinois

Stamford, Connecticut

Effort, Pennsylvania

Lafayette, California

New Market, Tennessee

Lawrence, Kansas

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Northfield, Minnesota

Bethesda, Maryland

Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemberg

Casper, Wyoming

Kornwestheim, Baden-Wurttemberg

State College, Pennsylvania

Andover, Massachusetts

Los Gatos, California

Bradford, Ontario

Zagreb, Grad Zagreb

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Waukesha, Wisconsin

Katrineholm, Sodermanlands Lan

Baltimore, Maryland

Lawrence, Kansas

Northville, Michigan

Cedar Knolls, New Jersey

Denmark Vejle

Columbus, Ohio

Milford, Massachusetts

Cleveland, Ohio

Dallas, Texas

Bethpage, New York

Saint Meinrad, Indiana

Portage, Michigan

Atlanta, Georgia

Burbach, Nordrhein-Westfalen

Gurnee, Illinois

Amherst, Massachusetts

Rome, Lazio

Portland, Oregon

Walnut Creek, California

Charlotte, North Carolina

San Jose, California

Omaha, Nebraska

Denver, Colorado

Mercedes, Texas

Portland, Oregon

Montgomery, Alabama

Rochester, New York

Silver Spring, Maryland

Indianapolis, Indiana

Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Winter Park, Florida

Lincoln, Nebraska

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Windsor Mill, Maryland

Toronto, Ontario

Savannah, Georgia

Wichita, Kansas

Los Angeles, California

Notre Dame, Indiana

Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Laurel, Maryland

Cincinnati, Ohio

Kristiansand, Vest-Agder}

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
8 Comments

“Oh won’t you staaaaay… just a little bit longeeeerrr…”

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From the UK’s best Catholic weekly, The Catholic Herald comes this interested piece to which I add my usual E&C.

The Catholic group in the Church of England’s General Synod has called for traditionalists to stay, claiming that they have the numbers to ensure provisions for objectors to women bishops. [This time, perhaps. And how about after the next vote? Good argument, huh? We are going to have a vote about female bishops but we will give some people provisions so that they can pretend that we didn’t. This is the sort of thing you can vote on in the Church of England.]

Led by Canon Simon Killwick, the group claims that a reshuffle in the Church of England’s legislative body means that Anglo-Catholics and evangelicals could successfully oppose legislation on women bishops in 2012 unless it is amended to meet their demands.

They hope to establish a rival organisation to the Personal Ordinariate offered by the Pope, through which Anglicans can convert in groups while retaining their distinctive patrimony and practices, including married priests. [I’m still waiting for Romanorum coetibus.]

[…]

Meanwhile the Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda, set up last month with the backing of senior Church of England bishops, will offer a structure which closely resembles the Catholic ordinariate. The society will not have women priests or bishops or geographical boundaries and its members will obey their own bishop rather than fall under the authority of the local diocesan bishop, if the General Synod accepts amendments.

Instead of being in communion with the Pope members will be in communion with the Church of England, even if its members consider sacraments performed by women priests invalid. [Think about that.]

[…]

You can read the rest there.

In the meantime ….

[CUE MUSIC]

After a long day of wondering why some churches think they can vote about matters such as the ordination of women as anything, much less as bishops, relax with a WDTPRS mug filled to the brim with piping hot Mystic Monk Coffee.

Bask in the safe-haven of Holy Catholic Church and refresh your coffee supply today!

Not just Monk Coffee … Mystic Monk.

It’s swell!

[Music fading….

Now, how your daddy don’t mind
And your mommy don’t mind
If we have another dance
Yeah, just one more
One more time

…. ]

Posted in SESSIUNCULA | Tagged Anglicanorum coetibus
17 Comments

For tech oriented readers: Fr. Z getting rid of an iPhone 3GS

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Anyone want to buy a black 32GB ATT iPhone 3GS with Apple Care still on it (until September 27, 2011)? It is in great condition. I have two cases for it, one dark blue, the other Say The Black and Do the Red.

Drop me a note with “Fr. Z’s iPhone” in the subject line.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
Comments Off

Statement from soon-to-be Cardinal Burke

Posted on 20 October 2010 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Archbp. Burke released a statement on having been named Cardinal.

From St. Louis Review:

Statement by Cardinal-designate Raymond L. Burke on the announcement of the consistory for the creation of Cardinals.

I am deeply humbled and honored by the announcement that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI intends to name me to the College of Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church at the Consistory which he has convoked for this coming November 20th. Having received the news of the Holy Father’s intention, I express my deepest gratitude to His Holiness for the great confidence which he has placed in me, and I renew my commitment to serve Him, as Shepherd of the universal Church, in total fidelity and with all my being.

Considering the weighty responsibilities of the members of the College of Cardinals in assisting the Holy Father as his closest co-workers, even “to the shedding of blood,” I am more than ever conscious of my own weakness and of my total dependence upon the help of divine grace, in order that I may fulfill worthily and generously the responsibilities which will be mine, God willing, as a Cardinal of the Church.

I count upon the continued intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Communion of Saints, and the prayers of the many faithful whom I have been blessed to serve as priest and Bishop, especially in my home diocese, the Diocese of La Crosse, and in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, and of those with whom I have been, in the past, and am now privileged to serve in the Roman Curia, especially my co-workers at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Only the knowledge of God’s immeasurable and unceasing outpouring of mercy and love from the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus gives me the confidence to accept the great honor and burden which His Holiness intends to confer upon me.

Today’s announcement turns my thoughts with deepest affection and gratitude to my late parents and all my family, living and deceased; and to the priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful who have assisted me to know my vocation to the Holy Priesthood and to respond to it with an undivided heart over the more than thirty-five years of my priestly life and ministry. Today, with all my heart, I humbly thank God for the gifts of life, of the Catholic faith, and of my vocation.

At the same time, my thoughts naturally turn to the many challenges which the Church faces in our day in carrying out her divine mission for the salvation of the world. In particular, I am deeply conscious of the critical importance of the loving witness of the Church to the truth, revealed to us by God through both faith and reason, which alone is our salvation. It is a witness which Our Holy Father tirelessly gives with remarkable wisdom and courage. I pledge myself anew to assist Pope Benedict XVI in this critical witness and in the many works of his pastoral charity on behalf of all our brothers and sisters in the Church and in the world.

I ask for prayers that I may be able to assist our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the best of my ability and with every ounce of my strength. I, once again, place my whole heart, together with the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, into the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, I am confident that I will find the purification, courage and strength which I will need to carry out the new responsibilities to be confided into my hands. I thank, in advance, all who will pray for me, and ask God to bless them abundantly.

(Most Rev.) Raymond L. Burke
Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Louis
Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
October 20, 2010