“Dear Fathers, dear seminarians…” Wherein Fr. Z rants.

Posted on 21 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I was sitting in an airport one day, waiting for a flight. A young family approached the gate area. A youngster, seeing an empty place, jumped into it. It was next to me. Mom pulled the kid by an arm out of the seat hissing, “Not next to him.” The look on her face was not very agreeable.

There is a piece at LifeSite about Card. Sarah’s upcoming book, Le soir approche et déjà le soir baisse (“It is nearly evening, and the day is almost over”). The great Cardinal will address The Present Crisis.

In the LifeSite preview piece I read…

Cardinal Sarah goes on to warn his fellow priests that they will all be tainted by accusations that are true only for a minority. But “may your hearts not be troubled,” he added, recalling that Christ himself was taunted with the words “Crucify him!” and begging them not to be troubled by “biased research” that presents the pastors at the head of the Church as “irresponsible churchmen with an anemic interior life.”

“Priests, bishops and cardinals without morals will not in any way tarnish the luminous witness of more than 400,000 priests in the world who each day loyally, joyously and in a saintly manner serve the Lord. Despite the violence of the attacks that she weathers, the Church shall not die. That is the promise of the Lord, and her word is infallible.”

The Church is not immune to persecution. Her Lord had His Passion. The Church must have hers. A priest, as alter Christus, is not exempt.

But, dear Fathers, dear seminarians, this life is short in view of the future glory of Heaven. Very short. And the days and years fly of the pages of our calendars like dry grass upon which the Lord has blown (Is 40:6-8).

While we breathe, let us do our little little best, in season and out, in this troubled time where God chose to place us, precisely the right place and time for who we are.

Posted in Cri de Coeur, Hard-Identity Catholicism, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries, Wherein Fr. Z Rants |
21 Comments

George Weigel on “Two Georges” and future persecution

Posted on 20 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Do you remember what the late Card. George of Chicago said about future, successor bishops?

George Weigel makes a connection is a recent piece.

Makes you think.

[…]

The acceleration of Cardinal George’s prediction of cardinals-in-jail should also give pause to those who blame the abuse crisis on “clericalism.” Clericalism – the evil misuse of the respect those in Holy Orders rightly enjoy because of their sacred office – facilitates abuse; it doesn’t cause it. Like the charge of abuse, the “clericalism” trope has been weaponized by the Church’s enemies, to the point where it is becoming difficult for any Catholic cleric charged with misconduct to receive a fair hearing or a fair trial. The vicious public atmosphere on display in Australia whenever the words “George Pell” are spoken is not improved by senior churchmen, in Rome and elsewhere, blaming abuse on “clericalism.”

From his present station in the Communion of Saints, I have no doubt that Francis George is interceding for George Pell, and for the vindication of justice by the judges who will hear the Australian cardinal’s appeal – even as the American cardinal regrets how prescient he was.

Posted in The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged
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Bp. Schneider: On the question of a heretical pope

Posted on 20 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

There is an interesting essay by the great Bishop Athanasius Schneider at 1Peter5 today.   I’ve only had a chance briefly to scan it.  However, it, even in that fast look, bore fruit.    Hopefully, I can get back to it.  Travel day today!

Title: On the question of a heretical pope

Here is a quick paragraph.

[…]

The Church in the very rare concrete cases of a pope committing serious theological errors or heresies could definitely live with such a pope. The practice of the Church until now was that she left the final judgment about a reigning heretical pope to his successors or to a future Ecumenical Council, such as in the case of Pope Honorius I. The same would probably have happened with Pope John XXII, if he had not retracted his error.

[…]

Bp. Schneider provides quite a bit of historical examples.

History, friends, is IMPORTANT.   In the Church’s long history, we have encountered many and various problems.  We always get through.  In many cases we emerge stronger and clearer about who we are.

I keep saying that, when you hear something strange from your pastors – of whatever exalted level – go to your sources! Check your catechisms.  Check Scripture.   Get informed.   These odd pronouncements are opportunities to review the old and learn what is new.

Since I am traveling, and since this is a hot topic, I’ll turn on moderation.

 

Posted in The Drill | Tagged
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ASK FATHER: Father doses off during Mass

Posted on 20 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

I’ve noticed one of our priests frequently doses off and falls asleep…sometimes even during Mass or other liturgical functions. Thankfully, the sleeping is short lived and he wakes back up, but I fear he might fall off into a deeper sleep causing liturgical functions and Mass to be delayed. What would be the appropriate thing to do if such were to happen?

GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. T. Ferguson

In medieval times, especially in England, there developed the customary post of a verger at Divine Services. After the Reformation, the Anglicans threw out much of Catholic theology and devotional practice, but one thing they retained was the verger.

The verger was responsible for order in the Church during worship – something that the English have long been more fastidious about than the Greeks, Latin, French, Spanish… pretty much everybody else.

The verger acted in the nave similarly to the master of ceremonies in the sanctuary. He made sure that the important people got to the right spot in the church – the mayor, sheriff, any nobility in their proper seats; the guilds together; the penitents in their area… If anyone had to process from the nave into the sanctuary (say, for example, the mayor was making a corporate contribution to the pastor, or the penitents were being welcomed back into full communion), they would have been ushered and preceded by the verger.

In prominent Anglican and Episcopalian ceremonies (notably recently the Windsor weddings, and the funeral of Senator McCain) vergers were employed as wonted to accompany lay readers to the lectern to read the Sacred Scriptures or deliver a eulogy.

The verger would usually wear a black cape over a black cassock. Sometimes a cotta or surplice. Sometimes a velvet collar, sometimes a ruff collar. More important than the vesture of the verger was his verge or virge. The virge is a short staff usually made of wood. It was used to shoo unruly animals out of the church, to usher unruly people towards their appropriate place, and even to bop (ceremoniously, I’m sure) those who were either talking too loudly during worship, or who had fallen asleep.

Perhaps encouraging the appointment of a verger in your parish – even though traditionally the verger’s role was outside the sanctuary – might be called for.

Short of that, having the organist “accidentally” pull out a few stops and lean on some keys might work, or teaching the servers to cough loudly when required. A loud “Hallelujah!” outside the Lenten season (or “Hosanna” during Lent) might also do the trick.

More seriously, the pastor should be informed (or if he is the pastor, the Vicar General). It may be that Father is getting to an age where more careful attention should be paid to his health.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Lighter fare, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000 | Tagged
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Officially BADASS CATHOLIC PHOTO

Posted on 19 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Years ago I heard an old bishop growl, “Meno chiacchiere – più processioni. … Less jabbering – more processions.”

This, my friends, is an officially

BADASS CATHOLIC PHOTO.

A procession in honor of St. Joseph in Detroit.

¡Hagan lío!

UPDATE:

Photo by Naomi Vrazo, Archdiocese of Detroit

Posted in ¡Hagan lío!, Just Too Cool | Tagged ,
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Germany: More dissent from nuns

Posted on 19 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today started with a post about that caput malorum omnium that is Germany.  Let’s continue.

The ultra-left La Croix stumps, not reports, on a German nun advocating women priests.

If one had the slightest… slightest… understanding of priesthood as flowing from the creation of Adam and Eve, the OT priestly office, and who Christ is, this would never come up, let alone be seriously proposed.   Let’s see what this German nun has offer.

Leading Benedictine nun in Germany calls for women priests ‘Why shouldn’t we pray for gender equality [First, mistake.  There is a difference between gender and sex.] in the Church? It is most important that all discussions on reform be offered up to God,’ says Sister Ruth Schönenberger

The leader of one of Germany’s most important female religious communities has called into question the Catholic Church’s exclusion of women from the ordained priesthood.”It is surely only natural for women to be priests and I cannot understand the reasons given as to why not,” [“only natural”?  It would be the most unnatural thing imaginable!] said Sister Ruth Schönenberger, head of the Benedictine Priory of Tutzing, the Bavarian motherhouse of a worldwide missionary order.”I am surprised that the presence of Christ has been reduced to the male sex,” [Confusing categories… the “presence of Christ”… ] she said in a recent interview with katholisch.de, the official website of the German Catholic Church.”Here in Tutzing, we, too, have excellently qualified women theologians. The only thing they lack is ordination – nothing else,” said 68-year-old Schönenberger, prioress of Tutzing since 2015.  [I know she’s a nun, but at 68 she should know that, yes, there is something else lacking.]

The priory is one of the most important in the Benedictine world. In 1885 it founded the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing, a congregation that today numbers some 1,300 sisters in 19 countries around the world.

Priesthood should not be based on gender  [IT’S NOT!]

Schönenberger, who is responsible for the 70 members at the Tutzing priory and those at two other Benedictine convents, said the criteria for priesthood should not be based on one’s gender.  [again?] “Our present image/concept of the priesthood urgently needs to be fundamentally revised and I am genuinely surprised that priests themselves don’t protest more against present developments since they involve them,” [Perhaps because not all priests are as stupid as you take them for.  I mean… some are pretty dumb, but not that dumb.] said the prioress, noting that men and women should be treated as equals. [Her vision of priesthood must be based on power.]  “The extent to which this power imbalance [DING DING… say da magic woid, win a hunned dahlahs.] exists the world over is truly alarming and so is the fact that we have not learned to grapple with it more effectively. It is something we must rigorously tackle,” Schönenberger said.

She called for greater and open discussion on the issue to look for concrete steps that could be taken to remedy the imbalance “and not just comfort us women somehow – as, for example, by promising to look into the question of women deacons.”  [yawn] Schönenberger said she and her fellow sisters often discuss the subject.  [I’ll bet they do.]

New forms of Eucharist?

“After all, we experience concrete examples of subordination day after day. [Cf. Genesis… etc.  And, for everyone’s information, so do priests.] If we, as a group of women religious, want to celebrate the Eucharist together, we have to arrange for a man to come and celebrate it, every single day. He stands at the altar and leads the celebration. We are not allowed to,” the Tutzing prioress said. “We intend to look for forms (of celebrating the Eucharist) which suit us and develop new ones,” she added.  [The bare hubris is amazing.  The Golden Calf comes to mind.  The worship of Moloch in the time of Solomon comes to mind.]

Worldwide prayers for gender equality in the Church

She said she and her community fully supported the prayer initiative for gender [again] equality in the Church that was launched in February by Sister Irene Gassman, prioress of the Benedictine Monastery of Fahr (Switzerland).The Swiss religious has invited Benedictine communities around the globe — as well as parishes and other communities — to include the “Prayer on Thursday” during compline (or night prayer) each week.  Schönenberger said prayer alone was not enough, but added: “Why shouldn’t we pray for gender equality in the Church? It is most important that all discussions on reform be offered up to God.”

The sheer hubris of this is nearly palpable.  One almost needs to go and wash after reading this stuff.  There is a strong undercurrent of the Enemy of the soul all through that piece, hardly a surprise given its source.

The whole issue of equality, btw, is explained in two chapters of Genesis, recounting the creation of our first parents.  The creation account shows that there is equality between the sexes, but there is also hierarchy.  Paul was very sensible of this especially in his Pastoral Epistles, esp. 1 Timothy 2.

 

Posted in Liberals, Women Religious | Tagged ,
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“Te, Ioseph celebrent”, a hymn in honor of the Terror of Demons

Posted on 19 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Back in 2009 I made a PODCAzT – TEN YEARS AGO?!? – about the hymn sung in the Liturgy of Hours in honor of St. Joseph.   That post eventually was augmented with photos sent by The Great Roman™ of a terrific procession in honor of St. Joseph in the streets of Rome.  HERE  There are also photos from the now somewhat lamented Holy Innocents in NYC, where good things took place.

And from the Great Roman…

Bigne di San Giuseppe

Check it out! 

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I drilled into a beautiful Gregorian chant hymn to St. Joseph in the Liturgia Horarum, the Liturgy of the Hours.

The hymn is Te, Ioseph celebrent and it is in the Liber Hymnarius for 1st and 2nd Vespers for the Feast of St. Joseph.

Also of note, Fr. Hunwicke has comments about his hymn at his fine blog, HERE.

Also we listened to an indulgenced prayer written by Pope Leo XIII, Ad Te Ioseph.

Finally, we hear St. Bernardine of Siena (+1444) preach on our Patron of the Universal Church who is Patron of the dying.

Buy a Liber Hymnarius!  US HERE UK HERE

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, LENTCAzT, Linking Back, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, PODCAzT | Tagged
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CRISIS: Keen analysis of the implosion of the German Church

Posted on 19 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Crisis you will find a devastating article by a friend of mine, Msgr. Hans Feichtinger.   He look at recent statistics of abuse in the caput malorum omnium, the German Church and what German bishops are proposing to do.

HERE

This piece reveals what happens when theological liberals/dissenters run the show.  It isn’t pretty.

Samples:

According to a recent study conducted at the University of Ulm (Germany), the number of minors who suffered sexual abuse within the German Church is much higher than previously assumed. In comparison with other countries, however, this is not surprising, and was to be expected. Even more surprising has been another finding in the study: the number of victims is equally high in Protestant churches (which in Germany are mostly Lutheran and Reformed). Another horrific discovery is the high percentage of particularly serious crimes committed by clergy.

When it comes to reacting to abuse in the Church, the Germans are lagging behind the English-speaking world. They are also far behind when it comes to church renewal because the German church establishment is still stuck in the 1970s. Vague concepts of “going further than the changes made by Vatican II” and of updating doctrine and discipline to be more pleasing to the world, are powerful and widespread attitudes among the bishops. This may also have to do with how deeply intertwined the ecclesiastical leadership is with the political and judicial establishment. As elite opinion moves in a progressive direction, the German bishops are sure to follow close behind.

Consequently, now the disappointment is even greater. The Ulm study estimates that over the last 70 years over 110,000 young people suffered sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, and an equal number by Protestant ministers. The state seems to have relied on the churches doing their own internal policing. Society has long treated the churches mostly as providers of moral orientation and, therefore, as good role models. Now confidence in the churches is at all-time lows. In light of the Ulm study, the churches appear to be no better than the rest of the world; for some, the churches are even worse, either because of the number of cases, or because they claim to demand the highest standards but fell far short. In any case, the status of the churches as providers of moral guidance is seriously damaged.

[…]

Instead, the Church needs to take facts and figures seriously, both those that show how the Church is not very different from other institutions, and those that point to specific problems (like the high number of adolescent boys abused and what that might tell us about the presence of homosexuality in the priesthood). Therefore, the German bishops’ plan to launch a synodal process on celibacy, sexual morality, and clerical power is misguided. It does not take the facts seriously, and instead will move the Catholic Church in Germany closer to where its Protestant counterpart has been for decades. The German Episcopal Conference declaring that this process will be “open” to any kind of outcome is disturbing and is reminiscent of the confidence they displayed at the disastrous post-Vatican II Würzburg Synod. That Synod cemented structures of dissent and did not strengthen missionary zeal among German Catholics—quite the opposite. Analogously, we can expect that the now proposed “synodal process” will not help fight sexual abuse in the Church, and it will not lead to the desired ecclesial renewal. This is evident to anyone who knows the situation of the Catholic Church in Germany, and more so to Lutherans, Anglicans, and other denominations who have chosen “synodal progression” in order to review church doctrine. As the late Catholic philosopher Robert Spaemann observed: “A church which takes the course of adaptation will not be able to work in a missionary way.”

[…]

 

 

Posted in Clerical Sexual Abuse, Liberals | Tagged
3 Comments

Lighter fare

Posted on 18 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

James Lileks was, when I was a student at the U of Minnesota, a clever lad who wrote for the university paper and then went on to do other writerly things. He sends out fun tweets, for a long time using logos that Minnesota natives, more specifically Twin Citians, would recognize.

Here is one of his latest insights.

This sums up soooo much of what happens here in the combox under my posts.  Rem acu.

 

Posted in Lighter fare |
6 Comments

Wherein Fr. Z rants about Hell and sin and Enemy of the soul

Posted on 18 March 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I often read from visitors here that they rarely, if ever, hear anything about the Four Last Things from their pulpits. I mention the reality of our possible eternal destiny with some frequency here and from the pulpit. It is my obligation to do so, precisely because it is my God-given job to get as many of you as I can to Heaven. Put negatively, to keep as many of you out of Hell as possible. This I do in the spirit of Augustine, who preached hard truths to his flock to save their souls and, importantly, to save his own soul.

The priest or bishop who will not preach hard truths will probably wind up in Hell. And, yes, I really believe that.

As if to fill a gap, today Michael Voris has a video in which he contemplates the eternal fate of the late Card. Danneels. He hopes that Danneels was somehow saved before his demise, but the video is, in the main, less than sanguine.

Voris asks the rhetorical question: Now that you are in Hell forever, was the sin worth it?

In my own attempt to get you to think about your eternal reward, I have often posed a project for your imaginations.

Try to imagine what goes through the mind of a soul during the first 20 seconds of its fresh arrival in Hell. Ready? GO!

I’ll wait while you do that.  …

….

….

Now that you have done that, I track back to Voris for a moment.

We don’t know what the punishments of Hell will be like. We have some ideas. Some come from pretty solid sources.  The first and greatest pain will come from separation from God. In itself, that should be enough to scare the Hell out of you. After the resurrection there will also probably be pain of body, since we are both body and soul. Lots of it. How that will work, we are not sure, but it isn’t going to be good and it is going to end neh-vur.

Voris’ video today provides, on a loop, a verbal painting of Hell worthy of Hieronymus Bosch, but with far less whimsy.  A daily diet of this is probably not salutary… but an occasional serving sure is.

Finally, I would remind everyone that our true enemies are not the heretics or schismatics or errant or malevolent or just plain stupid.   The real enemy is the Devil and fallen angels behind them.

We are born into this world, each one of us, under the dominion of the Enemy.   By baptism we are torn from the grasp of Hell and handed over to the King.   God does not compel us to remain united to Him.  We must strive with grace and elbow grease to remain in the Kingdom He opened to us through His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension.  Grace builds on nature, it doesn’t replace it.  Thus, we have a great deal to say about our final end.  And the final chapter of our story isn’t written and the cover is not, coffin-like, closed on our personal history until we breathe our last breath and throb that final heartbeat… which will happen.

You can rejoin the Enemy if you want to. It’s your choice.

Pray for the grace of final perseverance, no matter what the earthly cost.

Nothing that we can gain from this passing world, no creaturely good, is in the balance worth the risk of the lost of eternal Heaven.

Consider the Lord’s words in Mark 9:

καὶ ἐὰν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζῃ σε ἔκβαλε αὐτόν καλόν σοι ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρὸς ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται

And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee with one eye to enter into the kingdom of God than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished. [Douay]

NB: Where their worm dieth not. This is personal. Hell is not “one size fits all”, it is tailor made… just for you. And for you priests and bishops out that, that means you. Like Danneels, you’ll be a priest in Heaven or in Hell, for priesthood is eternal and your judgment – and mine – will be more strict (cf. James 3:1).

Sin.  It’s just not worth it.

GO TO CONFESSION!

Posted in Four Last Things, GO TO CONFESSION | Tagged ,
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