St. Maria Goretti and the Demise of the Catholic Blogosphere

By Austin Ruse

(Crisis Magazine)  Did you know that St. Maria Goretti was even the least bit controversial?

The facts of her case are not disputed.

She was a peasant girl of 11 who came under sexual assault from a twenty-year-old male who shared the building where she lived with her family. She resisted, telling him it would be a sin and that he would go to Hell. He stabbed her 14 times, as she lay before him and as she tried to flee.

It is said to have taken hours to get her the few miles to the local hospital where she was operated on without anesthesia. So primitive was her everyday poverty-stricken existence, some say it was at the hospital where she first saw electric lights. Goretti died but not before forgiving her attacker whom she hoped to see one day in Heaven.

What is controversial is the response to Maria Goretti.

Goretti was beatified in 1947 by Pope Pius XII and canonized by him three years later as a “virgin-martyr.” At her canonization Pius called her “this sweet little martyr of purity.” He said this to a crowd of 200,000, a crowd so large, mostly of young people, that for the first time ever a canonization Mass was held outside in St. Peter’s Square rather than inside the basilica.

At her beatification, Pius said, “Maria Goretti resembled St. Agnes in her characteristic virtue of fortitude. This virtue of fortitude is at the same time the safeguard as well as the fruit of virginity. Our new beata was strong and wise and fully aware of her dignity. That is why she professed death before sin. She was not twelve years of age when she shed her blood as a martyr, nevertheless what foresight, what energy she showed when aware of danger! She was on the watch day and night to defend her chastity, making use of all the means at her disposal, persevering in prayer and entrusting the lily of her purity to the special protection of Mary, the Virgin of virgins. Let us admire the fortitude of the pure of heart. It is a mysterious strength far above the limits of human nature and even above ordinary Christian virtue.”

On the 100th anniversary of her death, Pope St. John Paul the Great underscored the importance of her virginity to her final struggle, “She did not flee from the voice of the Holy Spirit, from the voice of her conscience. She rather chose death. Through the gift of fortitude, the Holy Spirit helped her to ‘judge’—and to choose with her young spirit. She chose death when there was no other way to defend her virginal purity.”

She chose death when there was no other way to defend her virginal purity. And there is the controversy. There are certain voices in the blogosphere who are offended at this notion that Maria Goretti died defending her virginal purity.

Simcha Fisher is so incensed at the notion she wrote a whole column entitled “Maria Goretti Didn’t Die for Her Virginity.” Fisher is smart enough to know she couldn’t get away with that headline so she tries to cover herself with her first sentence, “Or she wasn’t canonized just because she managed to remain a virgin, anyway.”

However, Fisher argues that Goretti was canonized because she focused on her attacker’s soul rather than on her own virginity. Goretti tried to convince him that he was committing a mortal sin and would go to Hell for what he was threatening to do. Fisher says Goretti was not in love with a particular virtue but rather in love with the humanity of a particular person, her attacker.
Fisher says such notions as “holiness, chastity, humility, charity, diligence” are “bathwater” surrounding the “baby” which is “love in action.”

On Facebook, Fisher actually dismisses those who maintain the view held by both Pope Pius XII and St. John Paul the Great as the “Maria Goretti died out of love for her hymen” crowd.
Fisher was not the only one.

Where Pius XII and John Paul the Great called young people to emulate Maria Goretti, a blogger at the ever-diminishing Patheos says, not so fast! Blogger Kari Persson is concerned that Goretti’s response unto death may be considered “normative.” She says such a response to Goretti is “possibly deeply damaging” and could result in “frustration, hatred, and anger, mixed with envy and self-reproach” among those “affected by rape, whether victims or those close to victims.” She also says, “Not everyone can express forgiveness for their attackers as readily as St. Maria…” We should view all of this as miraculous and certainly not normative.

Persson seems fully subscribed to the commonality of our age where trophies are given just for showing up, where winning first prize somehow diminishes those who are second, or third, or last.
Of course, the Church has never taught that all are called to martyrdom. However, we are called to emulate or to draw inspiration from them.

Here is John Paul II on the centenary of her death, “I am especially holding up this saint as an example to young people who are the hope of the Church and of humanity.” He also said her “martyrdom” heralded the beginning of the great century of martyrs, a century where Catholics died for their faith, as she did.

Yet another blogger at Patheos joined the Goretti fray. Mary Pezzulo begins her blog-post with a big sigh: “It’s that time of year again. Today is Maria Goretti’s feast day.” Maria Goretti’s feast day is an annual trial for Pezzulo.

Pezzulo recalls a moment a few years ago when a Franciscan nun exhorted her that Maria Goretti “died rather than give up her purity.” Pezzulo left the bookshop where this horror happened “as quickly as possible” and then regretted not telling the Nun “how many people the sister might hurt by repeating the story in that way.”

Pezzulo writes, “Becoming the victim of someone else’s sin is never a sin. It wouldn’t have been for Maria Goretti, either.” Had she fought her attacker and been raped nonetheless, “she would have incurred no guilt. God would have still known her to be pure.” Pezzulo seems to accuse the nun, and others like her, of canonizing Goretti because Goretti refused to be a victim of rape.

One Patheos blogger named Max Lindeman suggested that Maria could not be considered a martyr since she did not die for hatred of the faith and that “martyr of charity” was not “coined until the beatification of Maximillian Kolbe.” For that, though, we can turn to the Angelic Doctor who wrote, “Not only is he a martyr one who refuses to deny a truth of the faith, but he who dies for the sake of some virtue, or to avoid sin against any commandment.” We also note the words of Pius XII and John Paul the Great.

To see how all this has become so unhinged, when Deacon Jim Russell went to the comment boxes to quote John Paul II on Maria Goretti and her virginity, another Patheos blogger named Cynthia Schrage asked him, “What is your f***ing problem?” and accused him of being a “spiritual stalker.”
It is hard to understand this odd fight over Maria Goretti and her canonization. The Church —as expressed in the words of the Pope who canonized her and his successors—regards Goretti as a martyr to her virginity. That is a fact not even Patheos and Aleteia bloggers can get around, try as they might.

It could be because of our hyper-sexualized world, also a world where there are demonstrations to defend those criticized for the way they dress or how they act-out sexually in ways inappropriate to their station in life. They call this “slut-shaming.” What greater slut-shaming could there be than a feast day for a girl who would rather die than lose her virginity?  Pius XII, in his homily for Maria, exhorted parents to keep their children “away from the training places of wickedness and moral perversion.” Today we march to defend those who so indulge.  These days, it is nearly impossible for anyone to get out of their teens, and even tweens, with their virginity intact. It is possible that Goretti’s purity is an offense to those with a “past” or who are sympathetic to those with such regrettable pasts. We also live in a world inordinately concerned with giving offense, even at the expense of celebrating goodness.  You cannot celebrate the traditional family for fear of offending the children from broken homes. You can’t even say “broken home” anymore. You cannot celebrate the virginity of Maria Goretti for fear of offending those who are not virgins or those who have been raped... (continued)

Read More at Crisis Magazine

Link:

• St. Maria Goretti and the Demise of the Catholic Blogosphere

Pope Francis makes John XXIII, John Paul II saints

By NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has declared his two predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints in an unprecedented canonization ceremony made even more historic by the presence of retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Francis recited the saint-making formula in Latin, saying that after deliberating, consulting and praying for divine assistance "we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church."

Benedict was sitting off to the side with other cardinals in St. Peter's Square during the rite at the start of Sunday's Mass. He and Francis briefly greeted one another after Francis arrived.

Link:

• Pope Francis makes John XXIII, John Paul II saints

Whose Side Is God on Now?

By Pat Buchanan

....In the culture war for the future of mankind, Putin is planting Russia's flag firmly on the side of traditional Christianity. His recent speeches carry echoes of John Paul II whose Evangelium Vitae in 1995 excoriated the West for its embrace of a "culture of death."

What did Pope John Paul mean by moral crimes?

"Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values. Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation." - Vladimir Putin

The West's capitulation to a sexual revolution of easy divorce, rampant promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, assisted suicide — the displacement of Christian values by Hollywood values.

Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum writes that she was stunned when in Tbilisi to hear a Georgian lawyer declare of the former pro-Western regime of Mikhail Saakashvili, "They were LGBT."

"It was an eye-opening moment," wrote Applebaum. Fear and loathing of the same-sex-marriage pandemic has gone global. In Paris, a million-man Moral Majority marched in angry protest.
Author Masha Gessen, who has written a book on Putin, says of his last two years, "Russia is remaking itself as the leader of the anti-Western world."

But the war to be waged with the West is not with rockets. It is a cultural, social, moral war where Russia's role, in Putin's words, is to "prevent movement backward and downward, into chaotic darkness and a return to a primitive state."

Would that be the "chaotic darkness" and "primitive state" of mankind, before the Light came into the world?

This writer was startled to read in the Jan-Feb. newsletter from the social conservative World Council of Families in Rockford, Ill., that, of the "ten best trends" in the world in 2013, number one was "Russia Emerges as Pro-Family Leader."

In 2013, the Kremlin imposed a ban on homosexual propaganda, a ban on abortion advertising, a ban on abortions after 12 weeks and a ban on sacrilegious insults to religious believers.

"While the other super-powers march to a pagan world-view," writes WCF's Allan Carlson, "Russia is defending Judeo-Christian values. During the Soviet era, Western communists flocked to Moscow. This year, World Congress of Families VII will be held in Moscow, Sept. 10-12."

Will Vladimir Putin give the keynote?

In the new ideological Cold War, whose side is God on now?

Excerpt - read the rest at creators.com

Link:

• Whose Side Is God on Now?

Medjugorje and Authority - Michael Voris

So what's the latest on the whole Medjugorje visions?



By ChurchMilitant.TV

To discuss the whole phenomenon of Medjugorje objectively it is necessary to make important distinctions between 1) responses to Medjugorje and 2) the Medjugorje “apparitions.”. Far too often responses are used to validate the “apparitions” themselves in a post hoc ergo propter hoc method of argumentation. That one thing follows another does not make one the cause of the other any more than one’s rising in the morning is the cause of subsequent world events.

With Medjugorje we are dealing with two distinct phenomena: the claim of “apparitions” of the Mother of God and the responses to those claims. It is more than possible for wonderful fruits to be claimed from reading about the alleged “apparitions,” or making a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and for these alleged “apparitions” to be totally fraudulent, deceptive and diabolical in origin. It’s also possible for those same good fruits to be the predictable consequences of a valid Marian apparition. The point is that no valid conclusions can be drawn from good fruits about the validity and reality of the alleged “apparitions.” They are separate issues that must be addressed separately.

By far the most important truth to be determined is whether the alleged “apparitions” are, in fact, from the Mother of God Herself. Given the supernatural character of valid Marian apparitions, the final determination of the truth of the alleged “apparitions” at Medjugorje are beyond the capacity of science and human beings using natural methods. This means that even the one claiming to have had a Marian apparition is unable themselves to demonstrate the truth of their claims. All they can do is report what they have experienced. This experience is capable of being judged as hallucination, mental illness, innocent error, diabolical deception, some combination of the preceding, or completely valid. If the individual claiming to have had an “apparition” is unable to judge the validity of their experience themselves, then no combination of other people studying their experience is capable of anything more.

Given the supernatural character of all alleged “apparitions,” only those charged with the responsibility of teaching, governing and sanctifying within the Catholic Church can render judgments regarding alleged supernatural phenomena. Shepherds must have the power and authority to protect their flocks from whatever may jeopardize their salvation, and it is to these shepherds that the validity of alleged supernatural “apparitions” must be submitted for judgment. Even though Church shepherds are always fallible human beings, they and their office are given whatever grace is necessary to teach, govern and sanctify their flocks. As fallible human beings, they may not always cooperate with divine grace. Even in such cases, however, the final judgment concerning the supernatural character of alleged “apparitions” is their decision alone and the only proper response to their judgments by the Catholic faithful is submissive obedience.

What, then, has been the judgment of those charged with discerning the validity of the alleged “apparitions” at Medjugorje?

Here is the most recent and comprehensive judgment of the Bishop of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, within which Medjugorje is located, Bishop +Ratko Peric, dated September 1, 2007:

On the base of studies made so far, it cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations. … 30 chosen priests and physicians, working together in three Commissions for 10 years, in more than 30 meetings, dutifully and expertly investigated the events of Medjugorje and brought forth their judgement. And not one, but twenty bishops responsibly declared that there exists no proof that the events in Medjugorje concern supernatural apparitions. The believer who respects both principles: ratio et fides, therefore adheres to this criterion, convinced that the Church does not deceive. … The Church, from the local to supreme level, from the beginning to this very day, has clearly and constantly repeated: Non constat de supernaturalitate! This practically means no pilgrimages are allowed that would presuppose any supernatural character to the apparitions, there exists no shrine of the Madonna and there are no authentic messages, revelations nor true visions!

The full statement of Bishop +Ratko Peric can be found on the diocesan web site at http://www.cbismo.com/index.php?mod=vijest&vijest=101. It is a thorough and comprehensive report of the history of the phenomenon of Medjugorje and is far more than the statement of an individual bishop. Multiple studies are referenced, multiple decisions by multiple bishops are cited, even alleged but falsely attributed statements of support from Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope John Paul II are refuted.

On the so-called supportive statements by Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger, in April, 1998, responded in writing:

“The only thing I can say regarding statements on Medjugorje ascribed to the Holy Father and myself is that they are complete invention.”

Bishop +Ratko Peric quotes Cardinal Ratzinger after his election to the Papacy:

"During my official visit to the Holy Father Benedict XVI, I not only expressed my doubts but also my disbelief in the 'apparitions' of Medjugorje. The Holy Father, who prior to his election was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, replied with this thought: 'We at the Congregation always asked ourselves how a believer could possibly accept as authentic, apparitions that occur every day for so many years?' "

The alleged “apparitions” have been studied diligently for more than 30 years and have been judged consistently “Non constat de supernaturalitate!” i.e., not confirmed as of supernatural origin. This phrase occurs three times in the document on the diocesan web site.

More recently, in October, 2013, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, +Carlo Maria Vigano, wrote to the General Secretary of the USCCB, Monsignor Ronny Jenkins, on behalf of the CDF, with instructions that his communication be distributed to every diocese in the United States:

"[T]he Congregation [of the Doctrine of the Faith] has affirmed that, with regard to the credibility of the 'apparitions' in question, all should accept the declaration, dated 10 April 1991, from the Bishops of the former Republic of Yugoslavia, which asserts: 'On the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural revelations.' It follows, therefore, that clerics and the faithful are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such 'apparitions' would be taken for granted."

This letter can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/m9st8a2.

All of the above has been well and thoroughly documented in at least two books: The Medjugorje Deception: Queen of Peace, Ethnic Cleansing, Ruined Lives by Dr. E. Michael Jones [LINK] and Medjugorje Revisited: 30 Years of Visions or Religious Fraud? by Donal Foley [LINK]. Professor Howard Kainz summarizes everything in a much shorter and accessible presentation online: “What is Happening at Medjugorje” [LINK].

These and many other books and essays documenting the history of the phenomenon of Medjugorje should be sufficient to provide discernment for faithful Catholics. The alleged “apparitions” have been judged not to be of supernatural origin. Therefore, no pilgrimages, conferences, retreats or lectures should be organized around any belief that these “apparitions” are valid and of supernatural origin. This is beyond dispute. Anyone who acts or speaks otherwise is guilty of sin against the Faith and of disobedience to due ecclesiastical and magisterial authority.

Unfortunately, such disregard and disobedience to Church authority has become “Legion” and is now a veritable industry unto itself. Pilgrimages, conferences, books, magazines, blogs and web sites have erupted like mushrooms in response to the “apparitions” and “messages” from Medjugorje. This leads us to the necessary discussion of the second of the two distinctions that must be made when discussing the phenomenon that is Medjugorje: the response of the faithful and the good fruits that have flowed from rejecting what the Church has declared to be “Non constat de supernaturalitate!”
Good fruits have been attributed to devotion to the Mother of God allegedly appearing at Medjugorje. How must we deal with that and what, if anything, does it have to do with the judgment of the Church? Can a “false apparition” produce good fruit? Apparently so, but it proves nothing about the validity of the judgment of the Church. All it proves is that God can bring good to those who seek Him with a sincere desire to find Him and do His Will, even when responding to an Angel of Light.

Books, essays, short articles and blog postings can be and have been written documenting all the good fruits of Medjugorje. Since the Mic’d Up broadcast of February 12, 2014, Medjugorje Madness with E. Michael Jones (embedded video below), ChurchMilitant.TV has been inundated with emails from Catholics witnessing to the good fruits of Medjugorje in their own lives and those of others: stories of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, reversions to the Faith, healed families and marriages, growth in devotion to Our Blessed Mother and the Rosary, the emergence of a new or renewed sacramental and spiritual life, etc. etc. etc., all inspired by Medjugorje. Many have visited Medjugorje, and many have not. What they all have in common is the claim that their good experience validates Medjugorje, even though the Church has judged otherwise. It’s really a variation on “It can’t be wrong when it feels so right. Medjugorje was good for me. Therefore it is good.”

Some even say this while acknowledging that the alleged “apparitions” might, indeed, be false!

Let’s accept all these claims of good experiences and good fruits as valid and ignore, for the moment, that there are also claims of bad experience and bad fruits that could just as easily be advanced as evidence in judging the phenomenon of Medjugorje. Is an “argument from fruits” a valid argument?
No. It is not. Few forms of logical argumentation are more vulnerable to subjectivity and rationalization than the “argument from fruits.” Precisely how does one define a “good fruit”? While a renewed sacramental and spiritual life, or a religious vocation, might seem to be irrefutably “good fruit,” is that always so? Is a religious vocation inspired by a “false apparition” an unambiguously good thing? Is a spiritual life nurtured by the “messages” of a “false apparition” good without qualification? Is a person who leaves a “bad marriage” to marry a fellow devotee of Medjugorje with whom they then have a “good marriage” an example of “good fruit”? Is “whatever makes me feel good about God and Our Blessed Mother” automatically a working of the Holy Spirit? What about those who leave the Catholic Church altogether to be fed in a more “nourishing” Protestant setting? Is that “good fruit”?

No one can say that God isn’t at work striving to bring good out of evil. That is the very nature of God and the spiritual combat in which all souls are (or ought to be) engaged. But it is never permitted to choose or enable something evil so that God can bring good out of it. If the “apparitions” of Medjugorje have been judged false by the Church, which they have, then whatever “good fruit” is claimed for the phenomenon of Medjugorje must have some other explanation than the supernatural character of the “apparitions.” That explanation must be natural, or diabolical, or the power of God overcoming the forces of evil to bring about good. The “good fruit” of Medjugorje can only be judged to be a consequence of the grace of God IN SPITE OF those false apparitions! Knowing that the Church has judged these “apparitions” to be false means that attributing any credibility, much less devotion, to the “apparitions” themselves or the alleged “messages” is a defiant act of disobedience compatible with the “Non serviam!” of Satan himself when he fell.

Bishop +Ratko Peric, in the statement on his diocesan web site referenced above, alludes to the inherent dangers of “bad fruit” attached to the Medjugorje phenomenon:

Regarding Medjugorje, there exists a real danger that the Madonna and the Church could be privatized. People could start contriving a Madonna and a Church according to their own taste, perception and deception: by not submitting their reason as believers to the official Magisterium of the Church, but rather forcing the Church to follow and recognize their fantasy.

When you depart from the clear guidance of the Church, you travel a very dangerous path. You have knocked down the walls of safety erected to protect you and enhance your freedom. You’re pretty much on your own in the land of private judgment and discernment.

Consider another example of “good fruits” flowing from something not just false but evil: the Legionaries of Christ. The history of that religious order is replete with evidence of “good fruit,” even more than what is claimed for Medjugorje, but the entire enterprise was founded and and presided over by a moral monster, Fr. Macial Maciel [LINK]. It should be obvious that Satan can and does orchestrate “good fruit" while reaping less obvious but even greater “bad fruit" that satisfies his utilitarian calculus. We are limited in our ability to discern this utilitarian calculus, so we must trust the Church to guide us.

The Unam Sanctam Catholicam blog [LINK] posted an excellent and thorough dismantling of the “argument from fruits” advanced by supporters of Medjugorje [LINK]. There is also an excellent Blog Talk Radio interview (0:00 - 33:00)[LINK] with a priest who has himself visited Medjugorje and confirmed the many “bad fruits” of the whole phenomenon.

John V. Gerardi provides interesting insight into a "scheduled apparition" event he attended at Notre Dame in November, 2012: A Medjugorje Evening [LINK]. And, generally, there is the chilling example of Sister Magdalena of the Cross [LINK] who, for 40 years, deceived the world, including very high ranking prelates, with preternatural manifestations later admitted and judged to be diabolical in origin, although she died repentant and penitent. “Good fruits” cannot be ignored, but they are neither definitive nor determinative of the validity of an alleged apparition or other spiritual phenomenon. Only the Church can make that judgment and, in the case of Medjugorje, She has done so: “Non constat de supernaturalitate!”

So what should we conclude from all this?

In 1991, the Bishops responsible for investigating the phenomenon of Medjugorje said the following:

On the base of studies made so far, it cannot be affirmed that these matters concern supernatural apparitions or revelations. Yet the gathering of the faithful from various parts of the world to Medjugorje, inspired by reasons of faith or other motives, require the pastoral attention and care, first of all, of the local Bishop and then of the other bishops with him, so that in Medjugorje and all connected with it, a healthy devotion towards the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the teachings of the Church may be promoted. The Bishops will also provide special liturgical and pastoral directives corresponding to this aim. At the same time, they will continue to study all the events of Medjugorje through their commissions ... … [N]o pilgrimages are allowed that would presuppose any supernatural character to the apparitions, there exists no shrine of the Madonna, and there are no authentic messages, revelations nor true visions!

This is the very citation noted in the October, 2013 letter from the Apostolic Nuncio of the United States to the General Secretary of the USCCB [LINK].

It should be clear from this that the Church recognizes that there has been “good fruit” from the Medjugorje phenomenon but that it cannot and will not affirm the validity and supernatural character of the alleged “apparitions” which have inspired this “good fruit.”  It is, therefore, permitted to claim both “good experience” and “good fruit” from Medjugorje but it is not permitted to project that upon the alleged “apparitions.”  In a sense, it appears that the Church is willing to encourage whatever “good fruit” has come from the Medjugorje phenomenon while, at the same time, insisting on a distancing of this “good fruit” from the clearly false character of the “apparitions.”

Somehow those devoted to Medjugorje must cooperate with this separation of their devotion from its false foundations.  They must do this by 1) acknowledging and accepting the judgment and guidance of the Church, and 2) renouncing the supernatural character of phenomena such as “rosaries turned to gold” and “seeing a dancing sun.” Given the judgment of the Church, such preternatural phenomena must be understood as spiritual deceptions and fraudulent.  Any other way forward is movement away from the heart of the Church and, therefore, God Himself and Our Blessed Mother.

Almost all of the references cited above include abundant documentation of “bad fruits” as well as “good fruits.”  These “bad fruits” should no more be ignored than the “good fruits.”  The “good fruits” are evidence of the mercy and power of God, while the “bad fruits” confirm the nonsupernatural character of the events which have inspired the Medjugorje phenomenon.  God is at work in Medjugorje, as He is everywhere, but not through the “seers” and their “apparitions.”

Addendum: For a significantly comprehensive although not exhaustive history and analysis of the Medjugorje history and phenomenon, this article from EWTN [LINK] is excellent.



Link:

• The Phenomenon of Medjugorje - A Response

Related:

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• Medjugorje Ruling - "We are about to make decisions" says Pope Francis
• Medjugorje Madness with Michael Voris & E. Michael Jones
• Medjugorje (EWTN)
• Pope Meets Head of Medjugorje Commission  
• Pope Francis: "Our Lady... is not a postmaster, sending messages every day"
• Father George Rutler: Medjugorje cult "has become an industry from which many have made a lot of money"
• Medjugorje - Clerics and Faithful Not Permitted to Take Credibility of "Apparitions" for Granted (CDF)
• Medjugorje "visionary" Vicka flinches while in "ecstasy" (video)
• Father Mitch Pacwa: Lack of any Spiritual Depth to the Messages May be the Unraveling of Medjugorje
• Our Lady of Medjugorje?: Very Serious Counter-Signs - By Father Jay Scott Newman
• What is Happening at Medjugorje?
• Medjugorje Commission to Present Final Report by End of 2012
• Medjugorje : "The pope wants a decisive conclusion made" - Father Salvatore Perrella, CDF Expert
• Medjugorje Commission Priest: Christian Who Bases His Faith in Apparitions is Not a Christian Adult, It's Not Mature

How Pope Benedict XVI set the stage for Pope Francis

By John L. Allen Jr.

(The Boston Globe) Pope Francis is shaking things up in the Catholic Church to such an extent that many talk about a “Francis revolution.” Yet the single most revolutionary act committed by any pope in at least the last 600 years fell exactly one year ago tomorrow, and it wasn’t Francis who did it.

On Feb. 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI used a meeting of cardinals discussing new saints to deliver the stunning announcement that he planned to resign, effective 8 p.m. Rome time on Feb. 28. The news was a total surprise to everyone except a handful of papal intimates, and it set the stage for all the drama that’s followed.

One cardinal said afterward that he sat in the room well after the meeting broke up, still unable to comprehend what had just happened. He played Benedict’s Latin phrasing over and over again in his mind to be sure he’d understood.

Yes, a handful of popes had resigned before, most recently Gregory XII in 1415. The circumstances, however, were so wildly different as to make Benedict’s decision essentially unprecedented – a pope not facing foreign armies or internal schism who decided voluntarily to step aside, while continuing to live on Vatican grounds and pledging “unconditional obedience” to whoever might succeed him.

Francis wins plaudits for his humble nature, but Benedict’s act was arguably the zenith of papal humility. He’s gone from infallibility to near-invisibility, having been photographed just four times since the resignation, most recently at a Jan. 15 musical recital marking his brother’s 90th birthday.

In the immediate wake of the announcement, the game was afoot to identify the “real” reason Benedict quit. While the pontiff cited age and health, some observers wondered if he was so demoralized by the surreal Vatican leaks affair -- which ended in the arrest of his own butler as the mole -- that he couldn’t go on. Others speculated it was a nebulous “gay lobby” in the Vatican that had brought him down.

Most of that ferment circulated in the Italian press, where no conspiracy theory is ever too wild to get a hearing.

Whatever the reasons, we can see more clearly today how Benedict’s abdication prepared the way for the choice of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as the new pope.

First, making resignation a live possibility effectively took age and health off the table as voting issues. In the past, conventional wisdom had been that the cardinals would prefer a candidate in his mid-to-late 60s. Older, and they run the risk of a short papacy or one immediately submerged into a health crisis; younger, and the danger is being stuck with one leader for too long.

Resignation provides an exit strategy, either way. If an older candidate gets sick, he can step aside and end the paralysis that comes with a weakened pope. A younger candidate can resign after the creative arc of his papacy is over, making way for a new direction.

Without such a release valve, the cardinals might have hesitated before electing a 76-year-old missing part of one lung, especially after choosing a 78-year-old, in Benedict, who occasionally seemed to lack the energy to get the Vatican under control.

Second, the fact that the cardinals were electing a pope after resignation rather than death changed the psychology of the process.

There was no outpouring of grief and tributes to the deceased pontiff, for the obvious reason that the pope wasn’t dead. There were no vast crowds of mourners in Rome, no appreciative obituaries in the global press, no emotional crescendo of a funeral Mass – none of the forces that can make it more difficult for cardinals to opt for a break with the papacy that has just ended. Eight years ago, the massive “funeral effect” surrounding the death of Pope John Paul II was a hugely important factor in shaping a continuity vote.

Resignation allowed the cardinals to take a more critical view, which helps explain why the 2013 conclave was the most anti-establishment papal election of the last 100 years. In this case the cardinals weren’t rejecting the teaching of Benedict XVI, which most of them admired, but patterns of business management in the Vatican they believed had become corrupt and dysfunctional.

They wanted change and Francis is delivering, perhaps to greater degree than some of them anticipated.

Finally, resignation encouraged the cardinals to roll the dice on a Latin American outsider with no Vatican experience because, frankly, some had in the back of their minds that if the new pope turned out to be a flop, they could come back a few years down the line and pick somebody else.

Catholics traditionally believe the Holy Spirit guides the process of picking a pope. On a more worldly level, however, the prime mover in the chain of events that led to Francis actually was Benedict XVI, the improbable revolutionary, who set the wheels in motion one year ago.

John L. Allen Jr. is a Globe associate editor, covering global Catholicism. His e-mail address is john.allen@globe.com and his Twitter handle is @JohnLAllenJr.

Link:

• How Benedict XVI set the stage for Pope Francis

Blood of Pope John Paul II stolen in possible 'satanic' theft

By Nick Squires, Rome

(The Telegraph) A religious reliquary containing blood from the late Pope John Paul II has been stolen from a remote mountain church in Italy, with speculation that a Satanic group could be behind the theft.

A team of around 50 Carabinieri police officers with sniffer dogs were on Monday searching for any trace of the reliquary, which was stolen from the Church of St Peter of Ienca in the Abruzzo mountains at the weekend.

The ornate gold object contains a fragment of material, stained with blood, which was purportedly taken from the clothing worn by John Paul II after he was shot during the failed attempt on his life in St Peter’s Square in 1981.

It was donated to the church in May 2011 by Stanislaw Dzuwisz, a Polish cardinal and the Pope’s former personal secretary.

The reliquary is one of just a handful in the world that contains the blood of the Polish pope, who died in 2005 and was succeeded by Benedict XVI.

It was stolen along with a cross from the church, which lies close to Gran Sasso, a 9,550ft- high mountain in the Apennines east of Rome.

The theft was discovered on Saturday by a priest from the religious sanctuary, which is dedicated to the memory of John Paul II.

The Pope was very fond of the region and used to spend holidays there, walking, meditating and skiing at the nearby resort of Campo Imperatore.

It is also famous as the place where Benito Mussolini was interned after Italy swapped sides during the war, and from where he was rescued by a team of German paratroopers in Sept 1943 during a daring airborne raid.

“It’s possible that there could be Satanic sects behind the theft of the reliquary,” said Giovanni Panunzio, the national coordinator of an anti-occult group called Osservatorio Antiplagio.

“This period of the year is important in the Satanic calendar and culminates in the Satanic ‘new year’ on Feb 1. This sort of sacrilege often take place at this time of the year. We hope that the stolen items are recovered as quickly as possible.”

The theft of the reliquary comes as the Vatican prepares to canonise John Paul II, along with another former Pope, John XXIII, at a ceremony on April 27.

At John Paul II’s funeral in 2005, crowds of mourners cried "Santo Subito!" - "Sainthood now" - prompting the Vatican to speed up the Polish pontiff’s path to canonisation.

In Aug 2012, another relic containing a vial of the late Pope’s blood was stolen from a Catholic priest while he was travelling on a train north of Rome.

The relic was in his backpack, which was swiped by thieves but later recovered in a thicket of cane grass by police.

Link:

• Blood of Pope John Paul II stolen in possible 'satanic' theft

Pope John Paul II to get sainthood, Vatican says

By Hada Messia

(CNN) -- The Roman Catholic Church will declare the late Pope John Paul II a saint, the Vatican announced Friday.

Pope Francis signed the decree Friday morning, the Vatican said. John Paul was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005, and was in a way the first rock star pontiff, drawing vast crowds as he criss-crossed the globe.

At his funeral, thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square and chanted "Santo Subito" -- Sainthood Now! The Polish-born pope was fast-tracked to beatification and became "the blessed" John Paul II barely six years after his death, the fastest beatification in centuries.

Pope John XXIII, who convened the Vatican II council in the 1960s, will also be declared a saint, the Vatican said

No date has been announced for the canonization ceremony.

Pope John Paul II, the third-longest serving pope in history, died in April 2005 at the age of 84.

He had suffered from Parkinson's disease, arthritis and other ailments for several years before his death.

During his tenure, he became the most widely traveled pope in history, and canonized more saints than any other pope.

His papacy included a lot of firsts. He was the first modern pope to visit a synagogue, and the first pope to visit Cuba.

There are essentially three steps to becoming a Catholic saint after death.

First, the title "venerable" is formally given by the pope to someone judged to have exhibited "heroic virtues." Second, a miracle must be attributed to the deceased person's intervention, allowing beatification. Canonization -- or sainthood -- requires a second attributed miracle.

In 2010, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI approved John Paul's first reported miracle: a French nun supposedly cured of Parkinson's disease.

Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, a nun whose order prayed to the pope after he died, said she was cured of the disease, an ailment that also afflicted John Paul.

The second miracle reportedly occurred in Costa Rica, where a woman said she recovered from a severe brain injury thanks to the intervention of John Paul, sources told CNN Vatican analyst John Allen.

Patrick Kelly, executive director of the Blessed John Paul II Shrine in Washington, explained the church's process for investigating reported miracles.

"A team of doctors first examine the miracle. Secondly, the team of theologians look at the miracles and then they discuss amongst themselves the legitimacy and all the facts surrounding the miracles," he said.

Despite being so beloved, John Paul didn't live up to expectations at a crucial moment in the church's history, as revelations of sexual abuse scandals involving thousands Catholic priests erupted across the world in the early 2000s, critics say.

In the United States alone, the scandal involved more than 16,400 victims or alleged victims and cost the church $2.6 billion in settlements, therapy bills, lawyers' fees and care for priests removed from ministry, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Link:

• Late Pope John Paul II to get sainthood, Vatican says

Cardinal Mahony Versus Mother Angelica

Repost from November 18, 2009:

By John Zmirak

...The source of Mother Angelica's Olympic-level diligence was the fiercely protective love a woman bears her husband -- especially when he suffers innocently for others. She couldn't bear to see her Beloved mocked, and she wouldn't stand idly by. So when that network flippantly questioned the Resurrection, she did found her own network. When U.S. bishops greeted a visit of Pope John Paul II with a show that featured Christ as a female mime, she stopped accepting their programming, despite their string-pulling and threats. When Roger Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles issued a pastoral letter she thought watered down the Real Presence, she critiqued him, point-by-point, on television -- and refused to offer a false apology, even when Cardinal Mahony's machinations got her threatened with interdict (the loss of the Sacraments) and the closure of her community. When still other bishops tried to gain control of EWTN and stifle her loudly orthodox voice, she famously said, "I'll blow the damn thing up before you get your hands on it." Her eyes always focused on the eyes of her Beloved, she was almost blind to the worldly obstacles thrown in her way. She stepped right over them...

Link:

• A Most Diligent Mother: Angelica

Related:

• Cardinal Mahony 'stripped of duties' over sex abuse
• Card. Mahony’s next move? Deflect responsibility to Archbp. Gomez

Happy Anniversary of Ordination Father Zuhlsdorf

Father Z was ordained on May 26, 1991.

 

WDTPRS

Jimmy Carter Releases Bible, Supports Same Sex Marriage

Jimmy Carter's 'Killer Rabbit' – 1979

by Ben Johnson

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, March 20, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former president Jimmy Carter has been strongly identified as a “Born Again” Christian and as a liberal Democrat for nearly five decades. He is once more blending those roles as he promotes “his” latest book, his own study Bible.

The NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter contains the full text of the New International Version of the Bible and the former president’s prayers, reflections, and asides.
During his book tour to promote a study of the Scriptures, Carter mentioned he supports same-sex “marriage...”

“Fundamentalists,” he wrote in his 2005 book Our Endangered Values, tend “to demagogue emotional issues” and “are often angry and sometimes resort to verbal or even physical abuse against those who interfere with the implementation of their agenda.” Carter applied this term to figures as divergent as the Ayatollah Khomeini and Pope John Paul II, to atheist neoconservatives and his fellow Baptists.

Carter wrote that he exchanged harsh words with the late Pope John Paul II during a state visit over what Carter classified as the Pope’s “perpetuation of the subservience of women.” He added, “there was more harshness when we turned to the subject of ‘liberation theology’...”

In addition to nuptial vows, Carter encouraged the military to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 2007, and in 2010, he told the website Big Think it was time to elect “a gay person” as president...

Link:

• Jimmy Carter supports same-sex ‘marriage’ as he launches his new Bible

Related:

• Jimmy Carter's 'Killer Rabbit' – 1979

Christopher West says critics are on 'religious right, ends sabbatical with new Theology of the Body show

Colorado Springs, Colo., Sep 20, 2010 / 09:50 pm (CNA).- Christopher West, the popular author and speaker whose presentation of Pope John Paul II's “Theology of the Body” has provoked controversy, will return from a six-month sabbatical with a new multimedia show this weekend. Maintaining that his goal is to correct common misconceptions of Christianity, West added that he is most often criticized by members of “the religious right.”

Click here to read. "The 80-page, heavily footnoted thesis is a critique of Christopher West's presentation that reveals the substance behind recent criticisms of his approach, contains new information (including how the fathers of Vatican II condemned the Jungian phallic interpretation of the Easter Candle ritual), and makes positive suggestions for improving instruction on the TOB." - Dawn Eden

His upcoming show, titled “Fill These Hearts: God, Sex and the Universal Longing,” is a collaboration with the young folk-rock group Mike Mangione & The Union. West's teaching will also be illustrated visually through film and sand paintings. The show was initially developed for Sydney's World Youth Day in 2008, and performed earlier this year in New York City.

The performance at Colorado Springs' Pikes Peak Center this Saturday will be West's first public appearance since his announcement of a six-month break in April. His “personal and professional” sabbatical followed a spate of critical comments from Catholic theologians and authors, such as Dr. Alice von Hildebrand and David Schindler, who claimed that West was ignoring the weakness of human nature and presenting an overly sexualized vision of Christianity.

West was also criticized for comparing Pope John Paul II to “Playboy” founder Hugh Hefner in a 60 Minutes interview, a comparison he said was misconstrued in the television profile.

Speaking to the Colorado Springs Independent last week, West said that his motivation is not to offer a new Gospel, but “to blow the lid off the common idea of what Christianity teaches,” which he has described as puritanical and negative. “Christianity isn't an invitation to starve,” he explained, but rather “the invitation to a banquet that really feeds the hunger.”

The show, he told the Independent, is “for everyone,” including non-Catholics and the non-religious, “because it's an appeal to the longing for love that every human being has.”

However, West acknowledged that “there will inevitably be some who are offended” by his non-traditional presentation of Catholic teaching on sexuality. He specifically singled out religious conservatives --a group with which he himself has been identified, by groups such as People For The American Way-- as being the most offended by his talks.

“You'd probably be surprised as to who (the critics) are,” he told the Independent, saying that those offended by his presentations are “usually from the religious right.”

Link to original:

West ends sabbatical with new show, says critics are on 'religious right'

Related:

• Dawn Eden's Critique of Christopher West's Presentation of Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body - Her Master's Thesis Now Available Free
• Dawn Eden releases free copy of Theology of the Body thesis on CNA
• Christopher West Takes Sabbatical to Reflect on Approach 
• Christopher West’s ideas on sexuality ignore ‘tremendous dangers,’ Alice von Hildebrand says (May 12, 2009)
• The Dawn Patrol
• Dawn Eden's Full Thesis (.pdf)
• Gaits of Eden 
• Book: The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On - by Dawn Eden
• Thrill of the Chaste Web Site

Dawn Eden's Critique of Christopher West's Presentation of Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body - Her Master's Thesis Now Available Free

From Dawn Eden:

Following Cardinal Justin Rigali's homily at the Theology of the Body urging that the "rich content" of John Paul II's Wednesday catecheses "be mined and proclaimed," I have decided to make my master's thesis, "Towards a 'Climate of Chastity': Bringing Catechesis on the Theology of the Body into the Hermeneutic of Continuity," available to all, free of charge. The thesis critiques the presentation of John Paul II's theology of the body that has been popularized by Christopher West and the Theology of the Body Institute, which was founded to promote West's presentation.

Catholic News Agency has generously agreed to host the thesis on its Web site so that the paper may be downloaded for free. The link for downloading the thesis may be found at the end of CNA's interview with me. That article also has space for comments, if you would like to add your own thoughts to the discussion.

"The 80-page, heavily footnoted thesis is a critique of Christopher West's presentation that reveals the substance behind recent criticisms of his approach, contains new information (including how the fathers of Vatican II condemned the Jungian phallic interpretation of the Easter Candle ritual), and makes positive suggestions for improving instruction on the TOB." - Dawn Eden

The version of my thesis available from CNA is a brand new revision that includes a new preface in which I answer some criticisms that have arisen since I first made the work available. In addition, since some West fans have claimed I do not give his teachings sufficient context, I have included additional examples from his work.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has encouraged me in my research, as well as everyone who has shown their support by donating to support my doctoral studies. (As I have previously noted, my goal is to become a professor of moral theology at a small Catholic college.) If you have benefited from my thesis and would like to support my studies, you may click here to donate.

Thanks also to those who have written me with any kind of feedback on my thesis, whether supportive or not. Submitting my work for public discussion has been a great learning experience. If you would like to contact me, I invite you to do so via my feedback form. Also, I am grateful for any and all "knee-mail"--that is, prayer. I am sending it heaven-ward daily for everyone who reads my thesis, and for everyone involved in the TOB discussion.

---

Excerpt from the preface of the 3rd edition of Dawn Eden's Thesis: Towards a "Climate of Chastity": Bringing Catechesis on the Theology of the Body Into the Hermeneutifc of Continuity:

"...Having followed West’s work for some years, I had hoped he might take a more reflective and irenic approach, particularly given the ever-more urgent need to evangelize a culture in which the family and human life itself are under assault. That is why, for my master’s thesis, I decided to assess his presentation and prominent critiques. My goal was to offer positive correctives that would help catechists give a fuller, deeper, and more accurate presentation of Church teachings on marriage and sex.

In an unexpected development, after I submitted my thesis, the TOB Institute announced that West, after consulting with its board, “agreed” to take a six-month sabbatical “to attend to family needs, and to reflect more deeply on fraternal and spiritual guidance he has received in order to continue developing his methodology and praxis as it relates to the promulgation of the Theology of the Body.”3

It now appears that, at the least, he recognizes a need to consider changes to his presentation of the TOB—though whether he will in fact make such changes, and revise his published works accordingly, remains to be seen..."

Read More

• The Dawn Patrol
• Dawn Eden's Full Thesis (.pdf)
• Dawn Eden releases free copy of Theology of the Body thesis on CNA
• Gaits of Eden 
• Book: The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On - by Dawn Eden
• Thrill of the Chaste Web Site
• Christopher West’s ideas on sexuality ignore ‘tremendous dangers,’ Alice von Hildebrand says (May 12, 2009)
• Christopher West Takes Sabbatical to Reflect on Approach

h/t to Diane

'We Want God' - When John Paul II Went to Poland, Communism Didn't Have a Prayer.

By Peggy Noonan

"...Why, the pope asked, had God lifted a Pole to the papacy? Perhaps it was because of how Poland had suffered for centuries, and through the 20th century had become "the land of a particularly responsible witness" to God. The people of Poland, he suggested, had been chosen for a great role, to understand, humbly but surely, that they were the repository of a special "witness of His cross and His resurrection." He asked then if the people of Poland accepted the obligations of such a role in history. The crowd responded with thunder.

"We want God!" they shouted, together. "We want God!"

What a moment in modern history: We want God. From the mouths of modern men and women living in a modern atheistic dictatorship.

The pope was speaking on the Vigil of Pentecost, that moment in the New Testament when the Holy Spirit came down to Christ's apostles, who had been hiding in fear after his crucifixion, filling them with courage and joy. John Paul picked up this theme. What was the greatest of the works of God? Man. Who redeemed man? Christ. Therefore, he declared, "Christ cannot be kept out of the history of man in any part of the globe, at any longitude or latitude. . . . The exclusion of Christ from the history of man is an act against man! Without Christ it is impossible to understand the history of Poland." Those who oppose Christ, he said, still live within the Christian context of history.

Christ, the pope declared, was not only the past of Poland--he was "the future . . . our Polish future."
The massed crowd thundered its response. "We want God!" it roared.
 
That is what the communist apparatchiks watching the mass from the hotels that rimmed Victory Square heard. Perhaps at this point they understood that they had made a strategic mistake. Perhaps as John Paul spoke they heard the sound careen off the hard buildings that ringed the square; perhaps the echo sounded like a wall falling.

The pope had not directly challenged the government. He had not called for an uprising. He had not told the people of Catholic Poland to push back against their atheist masters. He simply stated the obvious. In Mr. Weigel's words: "Poland was not a communist country; Poland was a Catholic nation saddled with a communist state."

The next day, June 3, 1979, John Paul stood outside the cathedral in Gniezno, a small city with a population of 50,000 or so. Again there was an outdoor mass, and again he said an amazing thing.
He did not speak of what governments want, nor directly of what a growing freedom movement wants, nor of what the struggling Polish worker's union, Solidarity, wanted. 

He spoke of what God wants.

"Does not Christ want, does not the Holy Spirit demand, that the pope, himself a Pole, the pope, himself a Slav, here and now should bring out into the open the spiritual unity of Christian Europe . . .?" Yes, he said, Christ wants that. "The Holy Spirit demands that it be said aloud, here, now. . . . Your countryman comes to you, the pope, so as to speak before the whole Church, Europe and the world. . . . He comes to cry out with a mighty cry."

What John Paul was saying was remarkable. He was telling Poland: See the reality around you differently. See your situation in a new way. Do not see the division of Europe; see the wholeness that exists and that not even communism can take away. Rhetorically his approach was not to declare or assert but merely, again, to point out the obvious: We are Christians, we are here, we are united, no matter what the communists and their map-makers say.

It was startling. It was as if he were talking about a way of seeing the secret order of the world.

That day at the cathedral the communist authorities could not stop the applause. They could not stop everyone who applauded and cheered. There weren't enough jail cells..."

More

Bishop Amos issues statement on ‘ordination’ of women

 

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 11:28 AM CDT

(Bishop Martin Amos issued the following statement May 25:)

 It has come to my attention that the issue of the “ordination” of women to Holy Orders has been raised in the Diocese of Davenport. With the following statement it is hoped that the position of the Roman Catholic Church is made clear.

The role of women has been held in high regard by the Church for centuries. As one example, the late Holy Father, John Paul II wrote in his 1988 apostolic letter to women entitled, “The Dignity and the Vocation of Women” (Mulieris Dignitatem): “the Church desires to give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the ‘mystery of woman’ and for every woman — for all that constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity, for the ‘great works of God,’ which throughout human history have been accomplished in and through her” (No. 31, www.vatican.va). The absolutely vital role of women in the Church extends to all women through the example of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ.

The need for the Church to respond to the “ordination” of women was addressed in an apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II dated May 22, 1994, “On Ordination to the Priesthood” (Ordinatio Sacerdotalis). Quoting Pope John Paul: “[4.] Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church’s judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Gospel of Luke 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.” (www.vatican.va)

The current decree regarding the “ordination” of women

On May 29, 2008, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a department of the Vatican, published a decree in order to protect true doctrine, to safeguard the communion and unity of the Church and to guide the consciences of the faithful regarding the “ordination” of women. The decree stated that those who attempt to confer Holy Orders on women are excommunicated, as are the women who attempt to receive Holy Orders. This includes the attempted “ordination” for a deacon, priest or bishop.

“The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in virtue of the special faculty granted to it by the Supreme Authority of the Church (cf. Can. 30, Code of Canon Law; www.vatican.va), in order to safeguard the nature and validity of the sacrament of Holy Orders, decreed, in the Ordinary Session of Dec. 19, 2007:

In accordance with what is disposed by Can. 1378 of the Code of Canon Law, (www.vatican.va) he who shall have attempted to confer holy orders on a woman, as well as the woman who may have attempted to receive Holy Orders, incurs a latae sententiae excommunication, reserved to the Apostolic See.”

The phrase, “latae sententiae excommunication” means excommunication is incurred as soon as the offence is committed and by reason of the offence itself.

Purpose of Excommunication

The purpose of excommunication is always to bring the person back into communion with the Church. It is hoped that, “sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, those who are excommunicated discover the path to conversion and return to the unity of faith and to communion with the Church, a communion broken by their action.”

By their choice to be excommunicated, that is, to be separated from the Roman Catholic Church, they are forbidden to celebrate sacraments or sacramentals, to receive the sacraments and to exercise any function in an ecclesiastical (church) office, ministry or assignment (cf. can. 1331 §1 CIC)

How does someone who is excommunicated return to the Church?

In this case, the Holy Father reserves to himself the ability to return the person who is excommunicated back to communion with the Church.

I ask that all the people of the Diocese of Davenport prayerfully reconsider any participation in the process or advocacy of ordaining women to Holy Orders. Such participation does not foster unity in the Church and jeopardizes the communion of the faithful with each other and with God. On my part, I will continue to pray for unity throughout the Church and for those people who struggle with this issue.

• Link

Man Who Attempted To Murder Pope John Paul II Due To Be Released

January 18, 2010

ANKARA -- The Turkish man who shot and seriously wounded Pope John Paul nearly 30 years ago is expected to be released from prison today.

Mehmet Ali Agca, now 52 years old, is due to be released from a high-security prison near the Turkish capital, Ankara.

His lawyer, Haci Ali Ozhan, said on January 17 that following his release, Agca may be taken by authorities to a Turkish military facility for a medical check before potential service in the Turkish military.

Agca was said to be a militant linked to the far-right Turkish Grey Wolves organization when, at the age of 23, he opened fire on the pope on May 13, 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Rome.

No clear motive for the attack has ever emerged.

Pope John Paul met and forgave Agca for the assassination attempt in 1983 while Agca was serving a 19-year-sentence in an Italian prison.

After he served that sentence, he was transferred to Turkey to serve a 10-year sentence for killing a Turkish journalist in 1979.

from agency reports

• Man Who Attempted To Murder Pope Due To Be Released

Pope John Paul II 'whipped himself in remorse for sins'

Pope John Paul II regularly whipped himself in a sign of "remorse for his sins", a nun has claimed.

By Nick Pisa in Perugia
Published: 6:00AM GMT 23 Nov 2009

The Pope, who died five years ago, is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.

As part of the Vatican's investigation thousands of documents have been collected and examined by officials from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Among them is the testimony of Tobiana Sobodka, a Polish nun of the Sacred Heart of Jesus order, who worked for Pope John Paul in his private Vatican apartments and at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome.

Sister Sobodka said: "Several times he (Pope John Paul) would put himself through bodily penance.

"We would hear it – we were in the next room at Castel Gandolfo. You could hear the sound of the blows when he flagellate himself. He did it when he was still capable of moving on his own."

The flagellation is also confirmed by another bishop who has given testimony. Emery Kabongo was a secretary for Pope John Paul.

"He would punish himself and in particular just before he ordained bishops and priests," he said.

"I never actually saw it myself but several people told me about it."

Self flagellation is sometimes used by devoted Catholics as it reminds them of the whipping endured by Christ at the hands of the Romans before he was crucified.

It is still common in the Philippines and Latin America, some members of strict monastic orders and some members of the lay organisation Opus Dei – who feature in the Dan Brown blockbuster The Da Vinci Code.

In the film – which was condemned by the Vatican – murderous Albino monk Silas, who is a member of Opus Dei is seen in a brutal scene whipping his back and drawing blood as he prays on his knees.

A Vatican spokesman said: "The investigation and documentation is still secret and as such we can make no comment on it until the final report is published.

"I know that the nun in question has returned to Poland and she would have spoken with the Congregation as she was with an order that worked in the apartments of Pope John Paul."

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has been investigating the case for Pope John Paul since he died and has approved the late pope's "heroic virtues" and the paperwork has been sent to his German successor.

The late Polish pope's beatification is expected to take place sometime next year, perhaps in April, to coincide with the fifth anniversary of his death or in October to coincide with his election in 1978.

• Link
  

Pope John Paul II - General Audience - Wednesday 12 September 2001

I cannot begin this audience without expressing my profound sorrow at the terrorist attacks which yesterday brought death and destruction to America, causing thousands of victims and injuring countless people. To the President of the United States and to all American citizens I express my heartfelt sorrow. In the face of such unspeakable horror we cannot but be deeply disturbed. I add my voice to all the voices raised in these hours to express indignant condemnation, and I strongly reiterate that the ways of violence will never lead to genuine solutions to humanity’s problems.

Yesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity. After receiving the news, I followed with intense concern the developing situation, with heartfelt prayers to the Lord. How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it.

With deeply felt sympathy I address myself to the beloved people of the United States in this moment of distress and consternation, when the courage of so many men and women of good will is being sorely tested. In a special way I reach out to the families of the dead and the injured, and assure them of my spiritual closeness. I entrust to the mercy of the Most High the helpless victims of this tragedy, for whom I offered Mass this morning, invoking upon them eternal rest. May God give courage to the survivors; may he sustain the rescue-workers and the many volunteers who are presently making an enormous effort to cope with such an immense emergency. I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to join me in prayer for them. Let us beg the Lord that the spiral of hatred and violence will not prevail. May the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Mercy, fill the hearts of all with wise thoughts and peaceful intentions.

Today, my heartfelt sympathy is with the American people, subjected yesterday to inhuman terrorist attacks which have taken the lives of thousands of innocent human beings and caused unspeakable sorrow in the hearts of all men and women of good will. Yesterday was indeed a dark day in our history, an appalling offence against peace, a terrible assault against human dignity.

I invite you all to join me in commending the victims of this shocking tragedy to Almighty God' s eternal love. Let us implore his comfort upon the injured, the families involved, all who are doing their utmost to rescue survivors and help those affected.

I ask God to grant the American people the strength and courage they need at this time of sorrow and trial.

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PM lauds Pope's leadership after meeting at Vatican

TAZIANA FABI/REUTERS

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a private audience and exchanged gifts with Pope Benedict XVI July 11, 2009 at the Vatican.

Jul 12, 2009 04:30 AM

Tonda MacCharles
OTTAWA BUREAU

VATICAN CITY – Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised Pope Benedict XVI as a moral and humanitarian leader after a private audience at the Vatican yesterday.

"It was an honour to meet Pope Benedict and hear his perspective on a number of important issues, including human rights and an ethical response to the global economic crisis," Harper said in a written release.

"I expressed my deep appreciation for the Holy Father's moral and humanitarian leadership as an advocate of human dignity, peace and religious liberty, and for the spiritual leadership he provides to Catholics in Canada and throughout the world."

Harper's wife, Laureen, and his children Ben and Rachel joined the Prime Minister and the pontiff after the private audience. The family later viewed the tomb of John Paul II and the ancient tomb of St. Peter.

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