#ASonnetADay – 91. “Some glory in their birth, some in their skill…”

Posted on 15 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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ASK FATHER: Since the Church does nothing about Joe Biden, what commandments do I have to follow?

Posted on 14 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

Since the “Church” hasn’t excommunicated Joe Biden for his and the Democratic Party stance on abortion, which commandments/teaching do I/we have to follow?

GUEST PRIEST RESPONSE: Fr. Tim Ferguson

A good and timely question. And a dangerous one to answer.

I think we have to recognize the precarious nature of the times we live in – but at the same time, recognize that the times have always been precarious and the Church has an obligation to preach the same Gospel in season and out of season.

The short answer, of course, is we have to follow ALL of the teachings of Christ and His Church, lest we end up in the situation that Mr. Biden and others of similar mind find themselves in.

Our pattern should not be the greatest sinners and the greatest dissenters from Church teaching, but the greatest saints. Would St. Francis advocate for abortion on demand up to the moment of birth? Would St. Thomas More officiate at the “wedding” of two men? Would St. Therese of Lisieux promote suing the Little Sisters of the Poor to try and force them to pay for contraceptives?

Of course not.

That those who advocate for these positions, which are totally contrary to the teachings of the Gospel, have not been warned by canonical penalties to step back from the brink and consider the fate of their eternal souls is a troubling.

That they have, largely, not even been publicly scolded for their heretical and evil public positions is a scandal.

That some members of the hierarchy have even gone so far as to praise them is gut-wrenching.

The Church has, with varying degrees of success and failure, exercised Her right to excommunicate malefactors with great liberality and with great caution. The prudential judgment that is part and parcel of the decision to utilize this and other canonical penalties is open to legitimate debate.

Would the condition of Catholics in England have been better had St. Pius V not excommunicated Queen Elizabeth in 1581? Would the status of the Church have been better had the Venerable Pius XII excommunicated Hitler in 1940?

These are open and reasonable questions. Certainly, the excommunication of Elizabeth did not cause her to turn from her heresy and repent, nor did the failure to excommunicate Hitler make him any better disposed to the Church.

Whether excommunicating Mr. Biden and his fellow partisans would have a positive effect is an reasonable question to ask.

It is clear by any fair reading of canon law that such persistent, public, and prominent support for abortion, redefining marriage, and pushing contraceptives falls within the realm of “obstinately persisting in manifest grave sin” (cf. canon 915), which make them ineligible to be admitted to Holy Communion, as Cardinal Burke and other wise canonists have noted.

In the end, for all the scandal, we need to be attentive to the state of our own souls.

God will not open the doors of paradise to us if we merely point to another and say, “He was worse than I was.”

We know the fate of the obstinate sinner. It should strike us with holy and reverential fear. We should do all we can to avoid that fate ourselves.

We should cling closely to Christ and strive our best to keep His commands – all of them.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, ASK FATHER Question Box, Canon Law | Tagged , ,
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#ASonnetADay – 90. “Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now…”

Posted on 14 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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JUST TOO COOL: Ecclesiastical Sleuths Website

Posted on 14 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

One of the regular commentators here sent me this. Very cool.

This follow on a tweet I saw a few days ago, I don’t recall whose, which had a photo of a page of a “Miss Marple” book. Her regular bedtime reading was Imitation of Christ.

Just to round out your non-fiction reading list, I thought I would recommend a website that has compiled a list of 376 clerical detectives, including Catholic priests, monks, and nuns, Protestant ministers, and rabbis (and a few non-monotheists of paganism). The site even lists a plot involving Leo XIII and Sherlock Holmes collaborating (story by Ann Margaret Lewis). These can be tools for evangelization. Harry Kemelmen, for instance, created the Rabbi Small series just so that he could proselytize and explain Judaism. I wish we had someone like that writing a Catholic series. I suspect that you may favor more action/sci-fi stories, but outside of Brother Cadfael and Fr. Brown, few people can name Catholic characters in mystery/detective stories. Catholicism is steeped in mystery and the mystery story is a natural vehicle for explaining its theology.

The site – Clerical Detectives – is HERE.

If you are planning on getting any books, or anything else, PLEASE use my links for amazon shopping.  I can’t see who buys what, but I get a small percent of each sale within your session.   It’s an important percent of my income, so I am grateful when you use them.  And I pray regularly for my benefactors.

US HERE – UK HERE

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#ASonnetADay – 89. “Say that thou didst forsake me for some fault…”

Posted on 13 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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Fishwrap – swamp of pseudo-Catholic wokeness: CANCEL JOHN PAUL II!

Posted on 13 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Here is a spectacular example of “fundamental osculation” from the Fishwrap (aka National Schismatic Reporter).

Keep in mind an old principle: Everything before “but” is B as in B, S as in S.

Editorial: US bishops, please suppress the cult of St. John Paul II

In many, many ways, Pope John Paul II was an admirable man. The last decades of the 20th century were enriched immeasurably by his deft use of papal statecraft in raising up the voices of oppressed peoples across Eastern Europe, in his various efforts toward inter-religious dialogue, and by his personal witness to the dignity of aging.

But …

Over the last few years we have seen a systematic attack on the teaching legacy of John Paul II. The deeply flawed McCarrick Report is another shot at that legacy.

[…]

As the Vatican’s devastating report shows clearly, the late pope’s decision to appoint McCarrick as Washington’s archbishop in 2000 came despite severe warnings from his highest-level advisors on both sides of the Atlantic.

[…]

Here’s the problem. The report, while partially informative, is still flawed in that it doesn’t give us enough information on who was giving whom information and what John Paul was being told.

So, what does this swamp of pseudo-Catholic wokeness want?

CANCEL John Paul!

[…]

There is no way anymore to escape the truth. John Paul, in many ways an admirable man, was willfully blind to the abuse of children and young people.

Suppressing the late pontiff’s cult would not mean telling people they need to throw away their relics or their medals — people could still practice private devotion to him. But [there it is again] for abuse victims, their advocates and many others, John Paul’s memory is no longer a blessing. It should not be celebrated in public.

Liberals. The first thing they want to do is stomp the life out of their enemies – and Fishwrap is the enemy of all things John Paul – and then apply their cancel culture tactics, otherwise know as damnatio memoriae.

I have never been convinced by the hand-wringing of the Fishwrap about abuse of minors.  This issue is just a club with which they can trash those whom they desire to repress for the sake of tearing down structures and rebuilding in their own image.  It’s convenient.

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The best thing I’ve seen, so far, about the infamous McCarrick Report: ‘Status quaestionis’ and sign posts for reform.

Posted on 13 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Sadly, I have found so far one of the best examinations of the infamous McCarrick Report.

My own stomach-turning look at the Report left me with the impression that whoever assembled it had the primary objective of shielding Francis through the means of insinuations about the misfeasance of John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Archbp. Viganò.   That would be consistent with the way all three have been treated over the last few years.  We have seen a systematic attack on the Magisterium of John Paul, marginalization of everything Benedict did, and scorn levelled at Viganò.   These three are easy scapegoats.

Last night my friends Robert Royal, Fr. Gerald Murray and Raymond Arroyo talked about the Report, after Arroyo’s phone interview with Archbp. Viganò.   HERE

However, this morning I read at Crisis Magazine the best look I’ve seen so far.

How McCarrick Got Away by Michael Warren Davis.

Some readers here are not going to like Davis’ remarks about Viganò.  In effect…

We must consider the possibility that Viganò did not carry out his investigation into Priest 3’s abuse. …  If Viganò had the opportunity to provide the Vatican with a substantial case against McCarrick in 2012 but failed to do so, then he must accept his share of the blame. And if he’s as committed to institutional reform as he claims, than he will understand if his fellow reformers feel the need to scrutinize his record. He’ll understand that no bishop can be above scrutiny in this matter.

I’d ask, at this point, that people avoid even thinking about my combox until they have read the whole piece at Crisis.  It often happens that having read two sentences into posts, people channel their inner Leeroy Jenkins and charge into the combox without a clue.  I hope against hope.

Davis look objective about the roles of John Paul and Benedict in the slippery escape of McCarrick.  I must admit that their abundance of caution or perhaps fear of negative consequences resulted in a prolongation and worsening of the inevitable agony.

The penultimate part of the piece, however, concerns “the Francis papacy”.

It isn’t pretty.   And pay attention to the link he provides to another piece he wrote about Francis and the “Deep Church”.  Okay, I’ll just post it…  HERE

Lastly, the writer provides three take-away points, each one heavy.

Over all, this is a good summary – a status quaestionis.  From just that point of view it is useful.  However, it also opens up serious questions about things that need reform.

 

Posted in Francis, Sin That Cries To Heaven, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices | Tagged ,
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#ASonnetADay “When thou shalt be disposed to set me light…”

Posted on 12 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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#SonnetADay – 87. “Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing…”

Posted on 11 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Posted in Poetry, Sonnet A Day |
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ASK FATHER: Funeral after Vanishing Twin Syndrome

Posted on 11 November 2020 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From a reader…

QUAERITUR:

My wife and I have just learned that we are probably losing an unborn child to “Vanishing Twin Syndrome” (where one twin embryo fails to grow on pace with the other and is absorbed back into the mother’s body early on; this occurs in something like 20-30% of pregnancies after a woman’s second pregnancy. Historically most people would never know there was a twin to begin with before recent technological advancements.).

Is it appropriate to ask my pastor to say a funeral Mass for the soul of the twin that didn’t make it? I know there are funeral mass texts that can be used after the death of an unbaptized child in the 2011 Roman Missal with the permission of the local bishop. I’ve heard of these being used after a miscarriage; I assume the same logic would apply in our case since life likely begins at conception, but there seems to be little Catholic info out there on vanishing twin syndrome specifically (since it is medically distinct from miscarriage), nor any pastoral guidance I’ve been able to find.

As we will almost certainly lose this child due to lack of growth and no heartbeat, I feel that the only thing I can do for them as their father is pray, but I don’t know if a request for a funeral mass in this case is a “typical” request, especially as there will be no body.

Firstly, I am impressed with your Catholic sense of the circumstances.

I checked around a little with those whom I trust.   I cannot do better than to share this succinct response from a trustworthy bishop:

The articulation of the situation makes sense to me.  There was a human life there which has now ended.  A Mass would seem appropriate in this case.

You might inform your local priest about this and establish a date when you could have such a Mass.  If permission of your local bishop is required for the use of the texts you mentioned, I am sure that your priest would be able to make the necessary petition.

My prayerful best wishes to you and your wife.

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