New Survey: 50 percent of US Catholics know what transubstantiation is

Posted on 25 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

It may make a difference at which church these questions are asked.

I read at Crux,

Only half of US Catholics get Church teaching on Communion, study finds

I know that where I am, people know and believe.

ROME – Results from a new Pew survey show that Jews are the most knowledgeable among America’s religious communities about world religions, while only half of American Catholics know what their own Church teaches on core principles such as communion.

According to the survey, exactly 50 percent of Catholics in the United States correctly answered a question about Church teaching on transubstantiation – the belief that during Mass, the bread and wine become the actual flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.

“The other half of Catholics incorrectly say the Church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion are just symbols of the body and blood of Christ,” and a small percentage are not sure, the study found.

Around 34 percent of Americans overall were aware of this teaching, but more than half showed knowledge of the Catholic concept of purgatory as a place of purification for souls who have died before they reach heaven. Nearly a quarter of participants said they believed purgatory was a place of damnation for evildoers.

Only 71 percent of Catholics got the purgatory question right, which, while not a perfect score, significantly outweighs the number of Catholics who showed a correct understanding of Church teaching on the Eucharist.

[…]

Imagine basic knowledge of other teachings, such as the resurrection and virgin birth.

This is a massive condemnation of basic the catechesis, preaching and liturgical ars celebrandi of the last 50 years.  Older priests and bishops should hand their heads in shame.

Younger bishops and priests now have 10 times the weight to carry as they trudge towards a dismal demographic horizon.

What can we do?

  • First, we have to know our Faith well.  As 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence”. Reach constantly for your good and reliable sources for your knowledge of the Faith, whatever they may be. Use them, review them. Talk about them.
  • Teach your children if you have them in your charge. If you have to work with extended family to do this, get to work. Godparents, this means you. Are you involved?
  • It is time to form “base communities” of authentic Faith. These could be small groups by invitation – never underestimate the power of an invitation – to meet at a coffee shop or home or park or the Top Of The Mark. Go through the Catechism of the Catholic Church or – why not? – old Baltimore Catechisms or individual volumes of the Navarre Bible [US HERE – UK HERE]. Go through something… anything… but move forward!
  • Perhaps the same group can approach the parish priests to learn or to celebrate for them the Traditional Latin Mass.  Be ready to supply for them everything they would need, including money to go to a workshop.

Fathers… Bishops… you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. You may want to say that a multitude of things press on you in the administration of the parish or the diocese. I suggest that, of all the things that you are ordained to do, celebrating the sacred mysteries, especially Holy Mass and hearing confessions, is supreme. And, because of supreme importance in the good ordering of life held by the virtue of Religion, unless celebration of the sacred mysteries has pride of place, every other effort and initiative will be enervated from the start.  Together with this must be preaching, and preaching the truths of the Catholic Faith.

What we’ve been doing for 50 years – at least – isn’t getting the job done.

Posted in Si vis pacem para bellum!, The Coming Storm, The future and our choices | Tagged , , ,
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A National Review response to stupefied @JamesMartinSJ

Posted on 25 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The other day Jesuit golden boy and homosexualist activist James Martin tweeted…

Hypocrisy.

Virtually every major order or institute in the Church has a female parallel.   Not the Jesuits, who have opposed women from the start. More HERE  Martin should spend his considerable money and time in the awakening… the “woke”ing? of his own anti-woman Society.

Today at National Review Declan Leary has a piece with a seriously funny title: What America Magazine Gets Wrong about the Mass

Imagine! What Jesuits get wrong about liturgy! You know the old phrase about Holy Week and Jesuits.

Leary comments on Jasmine’s advocacy for women preaching at Mass, about which he had tweeted. Leary writes [NB – hyphen alert!]:

Throughout the piece Molesky-Poz writes positively of women turning away from the Church in protest of their inability to preach at Mass. She quotes, among others, one woman who alleges, “This church is not a healthy place for my soul.” What she means, of course, is that the Church is not a healthy place for her ego.

That’s it, isn’t it.

Moreover…

Catholics have to make a choice about how we approach the Mass. Is it the solemn observation instituted by Christ in which we as a Church constantly live the Passion and experience the real presence of our Lord? Or is it a do-it-yourself liturgy where we play out our fantasies and fulfill our wishes, where we make sure that everyone is included in any way they want, no matter how much attention is shifted away from Christ? One choice serves our egos, the other, our souls.

Reason #87850 for Summorum Pontificum.

The assault on the priesthood, indeed on the natural order, continues.  Make it up at Mass.  Make it up about male and female.

Another apple, please?

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Tour Talk – #TDF2019 – @Le_Tour Stage 15

Posted on 24 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The coverage of the Tour continues, with magnificent coverage. There are closeups in the peleton, cams on bikes, helicopters and motorcycles. Today one of the guys on motorcycle talked about the rules and dynamics of being on the road. Sudden stop, you are a lawn dart.

The heat has hit them. They’ve have temps of 100F. And now they are going to to the Alps.

All along the way, they show beautiful shots of churches and abbeys and castles.  Very often when they describe the view they have to name the Blessed Virgin along with many saints.

What got my attention yesterday, is that the Tour crossed over the bridge built into the ancient Roman aqueduct near Nimes.  And, yes, there were great shots of the amphitheater.  These are from yesterday, but today they were also at the aqueduct on the way to Gap, in Provence.  So beautiful.

It’s the first time, if you can believe it, when they’ve crossed the river here!

This three-tiered structure, about 2000 years old, is the highest of those remaining.

Pretty amazing.

I won’t write about today, since maybe you haven’t seen the results.

It has been great watching the Frenchmen in the lead.  Sagan continues to impress.  My affection for Astana hasn’t waned, in despite of their lack of shining.  One of their guys dropped after a crash.  15 teams have not had a stage win, while Jumbo has had several!

These broadcasts are so well done.  The commentary is great and they show superb landscapes and architecture, very favorable for the Church.  It is a great “tour”.

The beauty of Provence moves me perhaps to watch again the great films of the books by Marcel Pagnol starting with La Gloire de mon père – superb – US HERE – UK HERE  These are beautiful films which, in a way, remind me of how I spent my own summers (including the touches of undeserved and eventually reserved anti-clericalsim – hey, it’s French!).

A shot from the terrain today of the route and from the area where the movies would be.  I can almost feel the heat and hear the cicadas and languorous music.

It’s a shot of the mountains of the Suze.  Up to 6000 ft.

And if you have never had Suze you are in for a treat!  I’ve introduced numerous friends to this fine apperitf and it has always become a favorite.   I first had it with my good friend Fr. Alain, a seminary companion, after visiting Le Barroux.

Serve on ice with a generous sliver of lemon zest.

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The Catholic Church to Jesuits of Amerika: “No one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.”

Posted on 24 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

THIS – at Америка – speaks for itself.

Dean Dettloff.  Who? HERE

I note in particular another of his offerings: “Christian Socialism: The Fusion of Faith and Revolution”.

Here’s a quote from his piece:

Communist political movements the world over have been full of unexpected characters, strange developments and more complicated motivations than a desire to undo the church; and even through the challenges of the 20th century, Catholics and communists have found natural reasons to offer one another a sign of peace.

Unexpected characters, indeed?  Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Mao, Pol Pot, Kim Jong-un, Ceausescu.  Given the essence of Communism, they weren’t unexpected at all.  They were inevitable.  For Socialism and Communism to triumph, a lot of people have to die.  But, hey!  What do a few eggs matter, after all, if you are making an omelette?

BTW… his piece at Америка is sure not going to help the cause of Dorothy Day.

Here’s a screen shot of Detloff’s Twitter page.  I hope you can make out the banner.

Who can forget that iconic moment of Francis receiving the Hammer and Sickle cross. HERE

I am reminded of one of Francis’s predecessors, Pius XI, in Quadragesimo Anno.

That We, in keeping with Our fatherly solicitude, may answer their petitions, We make this pronouncement: Whether considered as a doctrine, or an historical fact, or a movement, Socialism, if it remains truly Socialism, even after it has yielded to truth and justice on the points which we have mentioned, cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Catholic Church because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth.”
[…]
[Socialism] is based nevertheless on a theory of human society peculiar to itself and irreconcilable with true Christianity. Religious socialism, Christian socialism, are contradictory terms; no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist.

The editor of Америка wrote an accompanying piece in which he explains why they published something pro-Communist.  In the first paragraph, he vaunts the denunciation of Sen. McCarthy in the 1950’s.  Problem: McCarthy was more right than he was wrong about the infiltration of the US government by Communist agents.  HERE  The editor does, however, say:

For what it’s worth, my general view of economics begins with the fact that markets, for all their downsides, are the greatest force for economic empowerment that the world has ever seen.

He didn’t write “free markets”, but I think that may be what he meant.  He goes on to praise his choice to publish a defense Arthur Brooks.  In any event, his argument comes down to something like: the piece on Communism is interesting and so we published it.

That’s the criteria for publication there?   That it’s interesting?   There are a lot of things that are interesting, but are downright evil.   Communism is interesting partly because at least 100 million people were slain under that form of government.   That’s pretty interesting, in an obscene way.

I find it obscenely interesting that a theoretically Catholic journal should publish something favorable to Communism.  No… correction.  It’s a Jesuit journal.

The editor, again.

 Accordingly, we publish something in almost every issue with which I personally disagree. I hope we publish something you disagree with, too. If not, we are not doing our job.

So, it’s their aim – their “job” – to be provocateurs, agitators.

What’s next for Америка  Porn merchants?  Porn is interesting, after all, and doubly useful because it’s provocative!  They’ve already gone down that road by not correcting their highly visible golden boy homosexualist activist.

UPDATE:

From Damian.

Posted in Liberals, Pò sì jiù, What are they REALLY saying?, You must be joking! | Tagged ,
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Another assault on Holy Orders

Posted on 24 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

At Lifesite I read that in the caput malorum omnium, Card. Marx, Archbishop of Freising-Munich has proposed that lay men and (of course) women should preach at Mass.

Given the general state of things in Germany… they probably couldn’t do any worse.

But that isn’t the point.

It is really quite an assault on the priesthood.

These comments come shortly after a private and unannounced pre-Amazon Synod meeting took place near Rome, at which several German prelates and theologians participated, among them Cardinal Walter Kasper and Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck. An official summary of that meeting called for the introduction of female deacons.

It is an assault on Holy Orders.

Since “talents are different,” the German prelate raised the question of lay preachers. “Do we not want to say: he who has a talent, he shall speak?” he asked. “May only the priest preach?” In general, Cardinal Marx hopes for “a greater diversity of that which is the homily.”

What this is is a reduction of orders simply to functions.  Hence, the ordained are simply functionaries, who do things, then why not pick the people who are good at those things.  That’s a Protestant view of “minister”, not a Catholic view of “orders”.

But, hey!, maybe this sort of talk slowed for a few minutes the number of people leaving the Church in Germany and, therefore, the decrease in the Kirchensteuer.

Posted in Liberals, Priests and Priesthood | Tagged ,
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Fr. Z’s Kitchen: Remembrance of Madeleines Past

Posted on 23 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Yesterday I wrote about the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene and averted to “Madeleines”, the Marcel’s immortalized morsel. I had made Madeleines last year for the day and determined that I would do the same this year. However, because of the structure of my day, I didn’t get to them until nighttime while taking in a couple episodes of DCI Banks.

Would I be more successful this year than last? Would the advice I garnered last time be of service this time?

I decided to do this in two batches.  I used the same temperature as indicted on the recipe, but I used one pan and made sure the rack was in the middle.  The results.

First batch, much like last year.

Second batch, with just four in the lower rack (yes, close the element).

Second batch.  I lowered the temperature.  I didn’t get quite the “reverse dimple” as the other.

The smaller and darker ones were from that lower pan.

I learned from a comment last year that Madeleines are good dunked in red wine. I happened to have an open bottle of a California Cab.

Yes, I can confirm that Madeleines are good dunked in red wine!

I’m not much of a baker.  Baking mystifies and intimidates me.  But it’s good to push to do new things.

I am left to consider variables, such as the size of the eggs and the amount of lemon juice. “Zest from half a lemon and then the juice of the lemon”.  Not all lemons and eggs are equal.  Whole milk?  Fat reduced?  I suspect some of you will have observations.

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YOUR URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS

Posted on 23 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Please use the sharing buttons! Thanks!

Registered here or not, will you in your charity please take a moment look at the requests and to pray for the people about whom you read?

Continued from THESE.

I get many requests by email asking for prayers. Some are heart-achingly grave and urgent.

As long as my blog reaches so many readers in so many places, let’s give each other a hand. We should support each other in works of mercy.

If you have some prayer requests, feel free to post them below.

You have to be registered here to be able to post.

I still have a pressing personal petition.

Posted in SESSIUNCULA |
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Concelebration, the rights of priests, and changing times

Posted on 23 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

My kind of concelebration.

At NLM Peter Kwasniewski has a piece about how concelebration has been and still is being forced on priests.   For some, this is almost a mania and you incur their wrath if you don’t con-comply.

I say that concelebration should be “safe, legal and rare”.

Thus, Peter…

[…]

Clearly, the modernists and progressivists are fuming and plotting against the young priests going to side altars to “say Mass,” or the parochial vicars who set up dignified altars in their rooms for their day off, or the clergy who with curious consistency absent themselves from the sacramental jamborees that pass for special occasions like the Chrism Mass. They can see the writing on the wall. There comes a time when the threat of tradition becomes felt in earnest, and all kindness, real or simulated, is laid aside. It is indeed a threat to the postconciliar house of cards that many have substituted for the rock-solid Church of Christ and its perennial doctrine and liturgy.

The older generation, still paddling and sputtering in a lake of Kool Aid, wants to thwart the revival of private Masses [1] above all because these Masses are so often in the usus antiquior. Thus, two canonical offenses are committed at once: an action against the Code of Canon Law, and an action against the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum and its authoritative applications in Universae Ecclesiae.

Let us, them, be as clear as we can be. It is impossible to force a priest to concelebrate, even to establish that he should “as a rule” do so. It is still more impossible to exclude the usus antiquior for a priest’s “private” Mass — that is, when he is not scheduled to offer Mass in public with a congregation. [2]

[…]

Yes.  I believe that there is a connection between the waning desire to concelebrate and the waxing use of the Traditional Mass.

I was recently at a wonderful conference for priests.  I had written that, before I went I had inquired about the possibility of celebrating Mass on my own, and indeed the TLM.  The organizers could not have been more gracious and accommodating.

Thereafter, quite a few priests at that conference asked me what my arrangements were.  They, too, would have preferred to celebrate Mass on their own, rather than concelebrate, and indeed most of them in the Traditional manner.   It was enlightening.

I mentioned this fact to one of the organizers and we had a short chat about how that could be done next year with the addition of individual altars.  My suggestion was that they could obtain, perhaps, 4 or 6 of the altars by St. Joseph’s Apprentice and, as I do, assemble a set in a Pelican case.  Thus, could they easily store and transport them.

In any event, the younger clergy are not slaves to the aging hippies and their acolytes who are basking still in the halcyon days of the spirit of Vatican II.

Posted in Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM, The future and our choices | Tagged
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@JamesMartinSJ – “It is stupefying that women can’t preach”, says the Jesuit. Oh, yeah? Here’s what’s truly stupefying.

Posted on 22 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Get a load of this…

Oh, that’s stupefying, is it?

The Augustinians, the Benedictines, the Cistercians, the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Trinitarians, Trappists, Basilians, and just about every major religious community founded admits men and women; that is, most of the major ones have men’s and women’s branches of the order or congregation.

Which one does not?

The Jesuits, who have resisted having “Jesuitesses” since the beginning – and the Institute of Mary (Mary Ward’s community) does not count.

St. Mary Magdalene pray for Jesuits.

Posted in Liberals, What are they REALLY saying? | Tagged
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GREAT NEWS! Bp. Wall of @DioceseofGallup will celebrate Sundays ‘ad orientem’

Posted on 22 July 2019 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I don’t know about you, but I needed some good news.

Here’s some good news.

His Excellency Most Rev. James S. Wall, Bishop of Gallup, on 22 July, Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, issued a letter to the people of the diocese entrusted to his care.  HERE

Citing that we have become too lax in our approach to the Eucharist, citing the and citing Benedict XVI’ teachings and his recent letter about The Present Crisis, Bp. Wall has determined that …

For all these reasons, I have decided that, since the recent solemnity of Corpus Christi, the 11:00am Sunday Mass will henceforth be celebrated ad orientem at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Gallup.

In the letter the bishop provides exemplary catechesis in which he cites the best sources, such as my friend Fr. Lang’s book Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer [US HERE – UK HERE] and also Ratzinger’s Spirit Of The Liturgy. [US HERE– UK HERE].

He also, and this was very good, deals with issue of “preference”.

Finally, let me say a few words on the matter of preference. There is an old saying that holds de gustibus non est disputandum: when it comes to taste, there is no room for dispute. To a point, that is true. Nobody can fault anybody for liking chocolate chip ice cream more than mint, or Chevrolet more than Ford. When it comes to the ways in which we worship God, however, nothing is simply a matter of taste. Msgr. Charles Pope explains this well: “Preferences should be rooted in solid liturgical principles. […] People matter, and they should be nourished and intelligently engaged in the Sacred Liturgy—but not in a way that forgets that the ultimate work of the Liturgy is not merely to please or enrich us but to be focused on and worship the Lord” […]

Exactly.  One can dispute taste.  Not all preferences are of equal value.  It might be that you have chosen something inferior.  Yes… let that sink in.  It’s better to set this category aside in these matters.

I also like the photo on the page that serves up the bishop’s letter.  In the background is the tabernacle (which needs a veil, the true sign of the Real Presence, but I digress) surmounted by words set in stone: SANCTUS SANCTUS SANCTUS.  Just right.

May I say that I am reminded of the late, great Extraordinary Ordinary of Madison.  Bp. Morlino made a strong argument and determined to celebrate ad orientem on Sundays.

Fr. Z kudos to Bp. Wall.

UPDATE:

On Twitter my friend Sam Howard remarked.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some nitwit labelled this “racist”. After all, isn’t everything that actually makes sense “racist”? Like, say, logic?

So, what’s next for Bp. Wall and his valiant staff?

YouTube thumbnailYouTube icon

Is that an ancestor of Susan of the Parish Council?

Posted in Fr. Z KUDOS, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Turn Towards The Lord | Tagged , ,
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