Fr. Z's Blog | Formerly entitled: "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" – Clear, straight commentary on Catholic issues, liturgy and life by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf o{]:¬)

More from the mighty pen of Daniel Mitsui

Posted on 30 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

From time to time I post about art from Daniel Mitusi, the talented Catholic artist who has worked under the inspiration of the Medieval period as well as Japanese prints. He gets proper inculturation.

You may recall that his little daughter has spent quite a bit of time in the hospital. You know what that means.

Here are a couple more pieces which he sent recently.

The first is a treatment of a psalm. HERE

I was especially amused by the rabbits, which multiply along the decorative margin.

The second is an ink drawing of the dream of Joseph when the angel reveals Herod’s plot and tells the Holy Family to flee to Egypt. The image of what the angel wants is depicted on the raised fan. Very cool.

Marvelous. And there is a reference to the cherry tree. HERE

His site is HERE. Please visit.

Speaking of the cherry tree, recently when I was in Washington DC, I saw the exhibit of images of Mary. They had a well-known Barocci on loan from the Vatican Museum of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Joseph, with a beautiful smile, hands the diminutive Lord a branch with cherries.

Finding one’s way deeper into the Faith

Posted on 30 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

On the threshold of the big… *yawn* … game, there is something of interest in a piece at the National Catholic Register, an interview with the grandson of the legendary Vince Lombardi.

Joe Lombardi is the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions.

Take note of this in particular:

LOMBARDI: I first started becoming truly interested in the greatness of the Catholic faith around the time I got married 15 years ago. My wife, Molly, and I were concerned about all the health dangers of contraceptive pills, so we looked into natural family planning [which the Church approves]. A priest we met with wanted us to listen to a talk on CD from Dr. Janet Smith called “Contraception: Why Not”; but we said we were already sold on the topic. He insisted that we listen to it anyway, and we were blown away by what Dr. Smith said. Even though we were on the path it recommended, our beliefs and motives were reinforced or augmented in many ways.

Q: That was the first step toward becoming more fully Catholic?

LOMBARDI: Yes, we started looking into what the Church teaches, and our search has produced so many great results. Now, we love being immersed in Catholic traditions, including the extraordinary form of the Mass. We attend a parish that has this one Sunday a month, and the other Sundays they have the ordinary form in English, but with the priest facing ad orientem [“toward the east,” or in the same direction as the congregation] and with suitable music.

Posted in Just Too Cool, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Our Catholic Identity | Tagged Joe Lombardi, Vince Lombardi
6 Comments

Jesuits here, Jesuits there

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

The latest from Sandro Magister involves Pope Francis, a writer for the Jesuit produced journal La Civiltà Cattolica, the bishops of the Philippines, Pope Francis, and Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ.

ROME, January 29, 2015 – They have not gone without notice, the harsh criticisms addressed by an authoritative Jesuit of the authoritative “La Civiltà Cattolica” to the bishops of the Philippines, for their strenuous opposition to the law on “reproductive health” successfully backed in the country by Catholic president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

The criticisms, formulated in a book, were presented in detail in this article from www.chiesa:

> Bishops of the Philippines Under Pressure. Examined and Rejected

The Jesuit who slammed the Filipino bishops for being “backward” and “closed off” not only with respect to the beacons of modernity but also with respect to the requests of Pope Francis is the Frenchman Pierre de Charentenay, a former president of the Centre Sèvres, the Paris institute of higher education of the Society of Jesus, director from 2004 to 2012 of the magazine of the Jesuits of France, “Études,” and since last year part of the team of writers of “La Civiltà Cattolica,” the magazine of the Rome Jesuits printed after inspection by Vatican authorities and directed by a man very close to the pope, Fr. Antonio Spadaro.

His [Pierre de Charentenay’s] dismissal of the bishops of the Philippines made an even bigger impression because it coincided with the journey of Pope Francis to that country, which is not only the only one in Asia with a majority Catholic population, but also distinguishes itself by the strong presence of its bishops in the public sphere. [So, the Jesuits in orbit about Pope Francis right now are against “culture warriors”?]

Receiving the pope on January 16 at the presidential palace (see photo), Benigno Aquino, educated in the Jesuit schools of Manila, also took the opportunity to criticize the Filipino bishops. In welcoming his guest he cited and turned against them the pre-Christmas address of Francis to the Roman curia, with the condemnation of those who by virtue of their roles make themselves “sowers of discord.”

But neither in the discourse delivered immediately after that circumstance – where he nonetheless struck a blow for the “inalienable right to life, beginning with that of the unborn” – nor in other moments of his visit did Pope Francis expend a single word in defense of the bishops.

Not everyone, however, among the Jesuits agrees with the accusatory theses of their confrere of “La Civiltà Cattolica,” […]

From San Francisco, after reading the rejection of the Filipino bishops decreed by Fr. de Charentenay because of their closure to modernity, the Jesuit Joseph Fessio reacted by sending us the letter reproduced below.

Fr. Fessio is not an unknown. Formed in the theological school of Joseph Ratzinger – and a prominent member of the circle of his disciples, the “Ratzinger Schülerkreis” – he founded and directs the publishing house Ignatius Press in the United States, which recently made an impression with the book “Remaining in the Truth of Christ,” with contributions from five cardinals against communion for the divorced and remarried.

The following are the “errors of reason and of fact” that Fr. Fessio sees present in Fr. de Charentenay’s criticisms of the bishops of the Philippines, on matters of “reproductive health.”

[…]

Read Fr. Fessio’s letter there.

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, The Drill, The Olympian Middle | Tagged Fr. Joseph Fessio, La Civiltà Cattolica, Pierre de Charentenay, The Philippines
27 Comments

Videos of Solemn Masses 1960, 1962 at Ushaw Seminary

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A priest friend sent a link to this film from 1960. A Solemn Mass at Ushaw College (Seminary).

Notice that the place is full.

And there is this Christmas Mass from 1962.

The next year Vatican II started.

Ushaw is pretty much empty now. HERE

BTW… notice the rabbit on their logo HERE.

Posted in "How To..." - Practical Notes, Liturgy Science Theatre 3000, Mail from priests, Priests and Priesthood, Seminarians and Seminaries | Tagged Ushaw Seminary
17 Comments

Pope Francis will no longer impose the pallium on Archbishops

Posted on 29 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A letter dated 12 January was sent out to all the nunciatures by Msgr. Guido Marini, the papal Master of Ceremonies. HERE

Pope Francis has changed the way the pallium will be distributed to new Metropolitan Archbishops.

The pallium is a liturgical vestment comprised of strips of white wool embroidered with black crosses, held together with pins, worn over the shoulders at certain solemn events. It symbolizes the close union of the archbishop, and his region, with the See of Peter. For a long time, new Archbishops would travel to Rome to receive the pallium from the hands of the Roman Pontiff in St. Peter’s Basilica on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Before they receive the pallium, the archbishops take a public oath in Latin:

Ego… Archiepiscopus… beato Petro apostolo, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae, ac tibi, Summo Pontifici, tuisque legitimis Successoribus semper fidelis ero et oboediens. Ita me Deus omnipotens adiuvet.

I… Archbishop of the _____ diocese (these are adjectives) will always be faithful and obedient to St. Peter the apostle, the Holy Roman Church, and to you, the Supreme Pontiff and to your legitimate Successors. So help me God Almighty.

No longer.

Now the pallium will be put on the Archbishops in their local churches.

It seems that the Pope will give the archbishops the pallium, but out of the limelight. Then the archbishops take the pallium back home and they arrange to get it from the nuncio. So, they’ll have a Mass, and then there’s the “Here’s this thing” moment.

I suppose that will give bishops of suffragan dioceses a chance to be present, as well as more people from the region.

Once upon a time, the pallium was simply sent out to those who were to receive it. There is nothing new here, historically speaking. Also, there is nothing magical about the pallium. It doesn’t make an archbishop more of an archbishop.

However, …

Although the pallium will still probably be blessed by Pope Francis on 29 June, and although the pallium is still supposed to symbolize the union of the archbishops with the Bishop of Rome, and although I imagine that the archbishops will still make the same oath, probably in the vernacular (since, after all, who uses Latin?), the sign value of the archbishop receiving it from the hands of the Successor of Peter will be lost.

Keep in mind that Pope Francis has as part of his project for his pontificate, to weaken the Roman Curia and decentralize the Church. Whatever other value sending the pallium out to local churches might have, I see this move also as part of that project.

…

But… wait…

Posted in Francis, The Drill | Tagged Pallium, Pope Francis
67 Comments

Of Cardinals and Canaries

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A post by the distinguished scholar Fr. John Hunwicke caught my eye. Here it is, in toto, but do check the comments over there as well. My emphases:

Cardinal Rodriguez [That’s Oscar Card. Rodiguez Maradiaga… Archbp. of Tegucigalpa, sometimes referred to only by the second (matronymic?) of his parental, family names.]
I have tried to read carefully a paper by a Cardinal Rodriguez. [Not in Tegucigalpa, but in California at Santa Clara Univ, run by, who else, Jesuits. Coincidently, around the same time, Card. Marx, speaking in California, did an interview with American Magazine, Jesuit run. HERE] There are entire paragraphs that I actually don’t understand. Perhaps there are problems of translation; Fr Lombardi will know. But three points do strike me: (1) Christology. The Second Person of the Glorious and Undivided Trinity is referred to in phrases like “The God of Jesus” [I believe Card. Kasper has a book called “The God of Jesus Christ”.] and “God through Jesus”. I did not identify language clearly affirming that our Redeemer is God. [Odd.] (2) “Mercy” seems to be construed as being at the heart of theology. [I wonder if “mercy” can be entirely disconnected from justice and truth.] But any attempted reconstruction of Christianity which concentrates singlemindedly on one word or slogan (“Justification by Faith Alone”, for example, or “Sola Scriptura”) has tended, throughout history, to have disastrous effects. [A key phrase in the Cardinal’s talk: “The Pope wants to take this Church renovation to the point where it becomes irreversible. The wind that propels the sails of the Church towards the open sea of its deep and total renovation is Mercy.”] (3) The Roman Pontiff’s role is to protect the Tradition and to define and exclude heresy. [NB] This paper seems exclusively concerned to prepare the way for an agenda of radical but unspecified change centred upon the non-Magisterial utterances of just one pope during a ministry of less than two years. This is accompanied by a bizarrely curious suggestion that the Holy Father’s public style and personal gestures are his Magisterial Encyclicals. [Have you noticed that on the Vatican website there is now a page dedicated to his non-Magisterial, off the cuff, fervorini at daily Mass? HERE]

Even during the pontificate of Pius XII and his canary, did papolatry go quite as far as this?

Posted in The Drill | Tagged Card. Rodriguez Maradiaga, magisterium, papolatry
62 Comments

Life with Capuchins? Take me back to jail!

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

A priest friend sent this, no doubt to amuse and edify.

From the Daily Mail:

Criminal serving his sentence with monks pleads to be sent back to prison… because monastery life is too hard

A convicted criminal who was serving out his sentence in a monastery has escaped for the second time and asked to be sent back to prison because life was too tough.
Thief David Catalano, 31, was sent to a Santa Maria degli Angeli community run by Capuchin monks in Sicily last November.
But he found their austere lifetstyle too tough to handle and soon escaped. After a short while on the run he was caught by police and sent back.

On Monday he fled for the second time in six weeks, only to swiftly turn himself in at a police station and beg officers to send him back to jail in the nearby town of Nicosia.
He told the stunned policemen: ‘Prison is better than being at that hostel run by monks.’
A police spokesman said: ‘Catalano arrived out of the blue and said there was no way he could stay on with the monks.

‘He said it was too tough and he wanted to go back to prison, so we happily obliged and he is now back behind bars serving the rest of his sentence.

[…]

Not exactly three hots and a cot.

Read the rest there.

Posted in Lighter fare, Mail from priests | Tagged Capuchins, Franciscans
14 Comments

Washington DC attacks religious freedom of Catholic schools

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I was alerted to this terrible development.

From the Cardinal Newman Society. Check out their feed on my sidebar.

Mayor Signs Coercive Bills Damaging Religious Freedom of D.C. Catholic Schools, Colleges

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed into law two bills that will severely damage the religious freedom of Catholic educational institutions and organizations in the nation’s capital.

The first bill, the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act, could coerce religious organizations to work with and hire those in favor of abortion and force employers to cover elective abortions in their health plans, regardless of their religious objections.

The second, the Human Rights Amendment Act, repeals an exemption that protected religious schools and universities from approving or funding homosexual advocacy. This new law would effectively force schools to recognize LGBT student groups or advocacy groups on campus.

In October, The Cardinal Newman Society joined The Catholic University of America and the D.C. Catholic Conference in warning the D.C. City Council that such a bill would violate the religious freedom of Catholic schools and universities.

According to the Council’s interpretation, the exemption allowed “religiously-affiliated educational institutions to discriminate based on sexual orientation.” However, the exemption gave Catholic schools the ability to uphold their religious beliefs for the past 25 years and was not problematic, argued Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly.

In a column published in The Wall Street Journal, Reilly went on to note that the Council’s decision “has the appearance of an attack on traditional religious teachings on sexuality, rather than any substantial victory for gay rights.” He stressed that the “narrow exemption was never intended to hinder human rights, but to put a stop to the unreasonable demands of city officials.”

[…]

Posted in Emanations from Penumbras, One Man & One Woman, Our Catholic Identity, Religious Liberty, The Coming Storm, The Drill, The future and our choices, The Last Acceptable Prejudice | Tagged abortion, homosexual agenda, religious freedom
1 Comment

ACTION ITEM! Help Franciscan Friars!

Posted on 27 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

UPDATE 27 Jan:

I thought you might like a follow up about the collection taken for the Franciscan Friars.

Here is what I received from my friend who is coordinating the project for them.

I wanted to give you an update on the action item for the friars and ask you if you could publish it, also to say thank you to all the donators so far.

The Friars of the Family of the Immaculate and the Familia Christi who is hosting them got about 8.000$ from nearly 160 donators. Thank you to everyone who could give these young men a helping hand. They need you. They pray for you. The goal is to get 50 000$. God bless your generosity.

____

Remember the pictures of the Friars of the Family of the Immaculate I posted when I was in Rome recently? HERE

These young men, between 19 and 40 years old (in total there are about 40 of them), are hosted in one of the oldest Capuchin convents in Italy which belongs to the Familia Christi, a new Religious Congregation recognized by Bishop Negri of Ferrara. These two young communities are helping each other.

They need your help.

The old monastery needs a a lot of work. HERE There are bills to be paid. First and foremost they need to rebuild an old chapel. Prayer first.

They need $50,000.

I hope 1,000 of you, in your goodness, would give $50 dollars.

Sure, you can give less, but… 1000 x 50… hits the goal.

I am told that the plan is that two Masses a month will be offered for donors who helped to rebuild the Lady Chapel.

You can donate via Paypal to only4ourlady@gmail.com or click HERE

Posted in ACTION ITEM! | Tagged Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate
17 Comments

Another triumph for peace in our day

Posted on 27 January 2015 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Huge progress has been made in the Vatican in the cause of peace! In the wake of the planting of the peace tree (HERE) and the peace match (HERE), a bold new policy initiative will certain have a calming, peaceful effect on all onlookers, as well as the rights and feelings of Rome’s non-human citizens.

Via the Winnipeg Free Press:

VATICAN CITY – Dove lovers, rejoice.
Balloons, not doves, were released as a gesture of peace Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, a year after an attack by a seagull and a crow on the symbolic birds sparked protests by animal protection groups.
For years children, flanking the pope at a window of the papal studio overlooking the square, set free a pair of doves on the last Sunday in January. The Catholic Church traditionally dedicates January to peace themes.
Last year, the feel-good practice became a public relations disaster. After the children with Pope Francis tossed a pair of doves from the window, first a seagull and then a crow swept down and attacked the doves. Those doves’ ultimate fate was unknown.
Advocates for animals demanding an end to dove releases swiftly appealed to Francis, the first pontiff to adopt the name of Francis of Assisi, the saint famed for his love for birds and other creatures of the wild.
“Here’s the balloons that mean, ‘peace,'” said Francis when children in the square let go of their balloons.
Gulls nest atop the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square, not far from the Tiber River, and scavenge for garbage. One animal advocacy group likened freeing doves in Rome to issuing a death sentence.
Another saint, Pope John Paul II, began the dove release tradition to draw attention to the need to work for peace in the world. Since then, children have been invited to join pontiffs at the window to release a pair of doves.
Until this year.
The Vatican didn’t mention last year’s flap when it said in a statement Sunday that children would release balloons, including a hot-air balloon containing messages of peace. One of the children at the window read a speech about peace.

The Vatican version of a hashtag.

Sylvia the Dove Defender

I wonder if animal rights activists will now take up the cause of Sylvia, the Sharris Hawk employed to protect all Vatican peace doves. HERE Pope Francis has been a staunch defender of the unemployed, calling unemployment one of most urgent problems of our time. HERE

This does raise another issue, however.

I am now deeply worried that the helium – itself a diminishing resource – in the balloons might contribute to ~~global warming~~ ooops … climate change.

The cause of world peace is really complicated.