Christian father and sons killed in their Mosul home :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Christian father and sons killed in their Mosul home :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

"Scholars" Ask Pope to Stop Canonization of Pius XII

This is too good. Sometimes company problems make themselves known in a definitive way. Personell at the Vatican should take note of the names of the signators of this inane and mendacious document and make sure that tenures get revoked and certain people get laicized.

VATICAN CITY — Catholic historians and theologians are urging Pope Benedict XVI to suspend the sainthood process for the controversial World War II pontiff Pius XII until further research clarifies Pius' record during the Holocaust.

"Holy Father, we implore you, acting on your wisdom as a renowned scholar, professor and teacher, to be patient" with the sainthood cause, the academics wrote to the pope. "History needs distance and perspective to arrive at these conclusions."

The 19 scholars — 17 of them based in the United States — warned that prematurely moving Pius toward sainthood would disrupt Catholic-Jewish relations and make it harder for Catholic scholars to study Pius' legacy objectively.

Prominent signers included the Rev. John Pawlikowski of the Chicago Theological Union and Eugene J. Fisher, former associate director of the U.S. Catholic bishops' ecumenical office.

Link to original...

CCHD Defunded in Green Bay

Wisconsin diocese withholding 2010 funds from CCHD :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Wisconsin diocese withholding 2010 funds from CCHD :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Another small step in kicking the Socialists posing as Catholics who are impeding the Church in its great commission.

Green Bay, Wis., Feb 25, 2010 / 06:15 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin has chosen to withhold its annual funding of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) until further information has been gathered on allegations that recently surfaced.

The CCHD, which is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. bishops, has recently come under fire for alleged connections with a network of community organizations that have promoted homosexual causes and abortion advocacy. In response to recent allegations the CCHD subcommittee has been investigating claims.

Lutherans seeing fallout from gay clergy issue

If anything demonstrates the inherent weakness of protestantism, it's this, once again.

From Baltimore Sun Blog

While the Anglican church has gotten much of the attention relating to differences
over gay clergy, questions of embracing or condemning homosexuality are roiling many Protestant denominations. The Associated Press has a story about the debate within the nation's largest Lutheran denomination:

Read further...

But we have Cardinal Mahony too:

Knights of Columbus Study Youths believe Morals are Relative

But... the group specified as "Practicing" Catholics only go to Mass at least once a month including people who go during funerals. We're sure that people who are scrupulous enough to go to Mass every Sunday would be much more certain about absolute morality.

In one of the defining works of his historic papacy, Pope John Paul II argued that if people -- believers and nonbelievers alike -- want true freedom and peace, they must accept the reality of "universal and unchanging moral norms."

"When it is a matter of the moral norms prohibiting intrinsic evil, there are no privileges or exceptions.

[chop]


"Practicing Catholics" were defined as "those who attend religious services at least once a month," explained Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll. This group included "Catholics who attend services more than once a week, once a week, or once or twice a month excluding weddings and funerals," she said.

Link to original...

Cardinal tells Gordon Brown: your government has systematically and unrelentingly attacked family values

Cardinal tells Gordon Brown: your government has systematically and unrelentingly attacked family values

Nepal pro-monarchy party protests in capital city

KATMANDU, Nepal – Thousands of supporters of Nepal's deposed king blocked the main government offices in the capital city and clashed with police Tuesday to demand a referendum on restoring the monarchy and the country's status as a Hindu state.

Supporters of National Democratic Party Nepal, the only group to openly support the monarchy, gathered in the heart of Katmandu and blocked roads leading to Singhadurbar, the complex that houses key government offices including the prime minister's office.

The supporters briefly scuffled with police who were trying to remove them from the area where protests are banned by the government. No major injuries were reported in the scuffle.

Link to original...

Germany's First Woman Bishop Arrested for Drunk Driving

It's unlikely she will resign, but she's a living advertisement for the relative stability of the Catholic Church.

FOUR MONTHS ago, Bishop Margot Kässmann made headlines as the first woman to head Germany’s Lutheran church. Now she is back in the headlines and her job is on the line after police stopped her for drink-driving at the weekend.

“I’m very shocked at myself that I made such a terrible mistake,” said Pastor Kässmann, a 51-year-old mother of four.

Police in Hanover stopped the bishop after she ran a red light in her official car on Saturday night. According to press reports, police officers smelled alcohol in the car and asked Pastor Kässmann to perform a breath test.

Read further...

Patriarch of Constantinople’s new encyclical defends Catholic-Orthodox dialogue :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Patriarch of Constantinople’s new encyclical defends Catholic-Orthodox dialogue :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

The FSSP Withdraws from Toronto

After waiting 19 months to be given a promised parish, the FSSP has withdrawn from Toronto. The given reason is "personnel pressures" within the Fraternity, but it likely has much to do with the internal politics of the Archdiocese. You might remember that the fraternity was given a parish this past summer, until it was mysteriously withdrawn.

Fr. Venette has been reassigned to Orlando, Florida. Daily Mass will come to an end, and an aging, frail priest of over 70 years will now be forced to travel over 100 kilometers every Sunday to celebrate Mass for the community. The future looks grim.

http://voxcantor.blogspot.com/2010/02/fssp-apostolate-in-toronto-comes-to-end.html

http://www.fssptoronto.com/

Read original with some comments....

Glasgow Headmast Laments Loss of Catholic World

The Scotsman

THE head of one of Scotland's leading Catholic schools has said the religious world he and others grew up in "is gone".

John Stoer, headmaster of St Aloysius' College in Glasgow, said it was quite painful that a joined-up "Catholic world" of school, parish and home was no more.

He said Scottish Catholics needed to "re-invigorate" the Church and adults needed to avoid the "Ladybird" version of religion.

The Scotsman....

TLM in Portugal: The Beauty and the Spirituality of the Traditional Latin Mass

It is the Mass that Cardinal Newman, the leader of the Oxford movement into the Church, said that he could attend forever, and not be tired. Father Faber, priest of the Brompton Oratory in the last century, described the Mass as the "most beautiful thing this side of heaven", and he continued:

"It came forth out of the grand mind of the Church, and lifted us out of earth and out of self, and wrapped us round in a cloud of mystical sweetness and the sublimities of a more than angelic liturgy, and purified us almost without ourselves, and charmed us with the celestial charming, so that our very senses seemed to find vision, hearing, fragrance, taste, and touch beyond what earth can give"

Missa Gregoriana en Portugal...

Stop the massacre of Christians in Iraq, bishop pleads :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Stop the massacre of Christians in Iraq, bishop pleads :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Cloistered nun tells of life in Alaska monastery :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Cloistered nun tells of life in Alaska monastery :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Immemorial Mass to be Celebrated at Fordham

In all fairness, we'd like to report this without any suspicion or acrimony. As Rorate Caeli says, this is being promoted by some Jesuits who undoubtedly have a love for Tradition.

Scranton Diocese Struggles Financially

Despite receiving substantial subsidies from the government, Scranton Diocese is still struggling. Catholic Social Services appeal for funds was %15 short of goal. We'd like to think it's the result of anti-CCHD campaigning, but Catholic Culture points to this being another factor toward explaining Bishop Martino's resignation last year.

Diocese faces 'formidable challenges'
By Erin Moody (Staff Writer)
Published: February 19, 2010

As the Diocese of Scranton reports a third-straight year of multi-million dollar losses, officials say social services remain intact but the future of Catholic education faces additional changes.

Deficits for fiscal year 2009 totaled almost $15.5 million, according to financial statements published Thursday in the Catholic Light, the diocesan newspaper. That is more than twice the $7.1 million loss reported in 2008 and the $6.7 million in 2007 by the 11-county diocese.

"While the diocesan finances are deeply troubling and present formidable challenges, with God's help we will find creative ways to meet the challenges and reverse the significant losses that are evident in the published financial statement. I ask for your prayers for our Diocese," interim leader of the diocese Cardinal Justin Rigali wrote in a letter accompanying the annual report.

[chop]

While the diocese contributes a small portion of funding for the agency, most of the money used to operate kitchens, counseling services, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and programs for children, seniors, the unemployed, homeless and others comes from federal, state and county grants, he said.

Read entire article...

The Search For Raj Mahony's Succesor Continues

By GILLIAN FLACCUS (AP) http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEwTB_IgbZSMxV7xASXHhrATOeSAD9DQBBCG0 LOS ANGELES — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles said Thursday a search is under way for a successor to Cardinal Roger Mahony, who has spent 25 years as the spiritual leader of the nation's largest diocese and presided over a record-breaking clergy abuse settlement. Mahony, the longest-serving U.S. cardinal since the Second Vatican Council, turns 74 on Feb. 27, and under church rules, bishops submit their resignation at age 75 to the pope. The pope can decide whether to keep a bishop on the job longer. Auxiliary Bishop Edward Clark notified his pastoral staff of the news in a memo Wednesday and included a prayer to be recited by parishioners for the success of the selection process. The memo was first posted on the Catholic Web site Whispers in the Loggia. A spokesman for the archdiocese confirmed to The Associated Press that the prayer was distributed. "It's just an acknowledgment that the Cardinal is turning 74 and we have a year to go before he turns 75 and is required to submit his resignation," said Tod Tamberg, the spokesman. During his tenure in Los Angeles, Mahony has been dogged by the clergy sexual abuse scandal. In 2007, he agreed to a record-setting $660 million settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse. A federal grand jury is also investigating how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles handled claims of abuse, and has subpoenaed several witnesses, including a former Los Angeles priest convicted of child molestation and a monsignor who served as vicar for clergy under Mahony. Mahony's attorney has said the cardinal is not a target of the investigation. The Rev. Thomas Reese, author of "Archbishop, Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church," said it's unusual for an archbishop or cardinal to so openly indicate their departure before turning 75 and submitting their resignations to the pope. Cardinals often stay on as archbishop of the diocese for several years past the retirement age. Cardinals can continue to vote until age 80 for the election of a pope. "This seems to indicate that he's already talked to the pope or someone in the Vatican and made it clear that he's not kidding — he wants out when he turns 75 and the pope has said OK," said Reese, [Once again, the usual non-credible source] senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. Mahony, who was born in Hollywood, was appointed archbishop of Los Angeles on July 16, 1985, and was elevated to cardinal by Pope John Paul II on June 28, 1991. Before coming to Los Angeles, he served as bishop in the Diocese of Stockton for five years in the early 1980s.

AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York contributed to this report.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Grave of Charlemagne Possibly Found

From the De Limburger/Limburgs Dagblad

Translation:

Archaeologists in Aachen are excited. This is because the [lost]grave of Emperor Charlemagne, after centuries of confusion, seems tohave been found.The sarcophagus containing the remains of Charlemagne was excavated inthe twelfth century and placed in the Aachen Cathedral to venerate.The exact spot where Charlemagne was buried has been unknowncenturies.In the beginning of the last century, researchers discovered a grave,but went no further. This same grave - into the vestibule of thecathedral - has again attracted attention. The sizes are are exactlythe same as the sarcophagus. A study will include the mortar used toprovide definitive proof. The results of the investigation areexpected to be in by mid-July.

Translation by Patrick Hall
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Irish Bishops to Do Severe Public Penance for their Negligence

We suggested this, being especially inspired by the scene where Henry II was whipped by Benedictine Monks after he had St. Thomas Becket murdered, that the Bishops would do well to make public acts of penance, but you don't have to be a genius to see that was where Holy Father was going. St. Thomas Becket himself walked 20 miles to his Cathedral after he was consecrated, in his bare feet. Nothing inspires so much as when you set the example, especially if it costs something to do it, as Holy Father says, "we must follow Christ into the desert."

@2:30

The Irish bishops will perform an act of penance during Lent, equivalent to putting on 'sackcloth and ashes' to demonstrate their humility and their empathy with victims of clerical child sexual abuse, Cardinal Brady has said.

Speaking after the 24 Irish bishops' meeting with the Pope and flanked by four bishops, Cardinal Seán Brady told the world's media that a victim told him that he wanted the see the bishops humiliated and this is what is happening.

He said that the bishops had discussed penitential acts, such as climbing Croagh Patrick or going to Lough Derg but that whatever they do, it will be the equivalent of ''sackcloth and ashes''.

Link to original...

h/t: LA Catholic....

Pro-Homosexual Keillor to Speak at Catholic Education Conference in St. Paul Archdiocese

What's really a reminder about the depressing state of Catholic Education in the United States, and the failure of lay-leadership in general, a suitably inter-faith-like event is about to take place in April, and pro-abortion/pro-homosexual Garrison Keillor is its Keynote Speaker.

Garrison Keillor is the man in Minnesota, and he's the goto guy if you want to host something that demeans Catholicsm and promote smug scandanavian liberal values. The Modernist Benedictine Monastery in Collegeville loves him and trots him out to assuage the anger of the local populace whenever they have PR troubles.

Well, NCEA, an organization founded, suspiciously, around the same time the forerunner of the USCCB was founded, is hosting a convention dealing with "education" this April. There will be talks by David Haas and some heretical Taize music.

"9 am to 1015 am – Keynote address – Garrison Keillor – Convention Center
1015 am to 1045 am – Meet & Greet/Photo Op with Garrison Keillor – Invitation Only"

The real question is whether or not Garrison Keillor will be permitted to speak at a Diocesan event featuring the Catholic Church in Archbishop Nienstedt's Archdiocese, given the speaker policy in place which is selectively enforced, if it is enforced at all, and you'd hope that it would prevent a pro-homosexuality, pro-abortion Garrison Keillor, at least from speaking. After all, other Bishops disinvited pro-homosexual +Gumbleton, why not condemn the NCEA?

In any event, Colleen Perfect has already contacted Archbishop Nienstedt and he has responded with his complaint:

It is scandalous that Garrison Keillor has been invited to be a keynote speaker for the National Catholic Education Convention. It is only right that Mr. Keillor's invitation be rescinded and that he be removed as a speaker from the Convention this April.

We have already contacted Archbishop John Nienstedt. He was very gracious and responded immediately to our concern. He reported that the decision was made at the national level of the NCEA and he was only informed of it afterwards. The Archbishop told us he has contacted the NCEA with his own criticism of their decision to select Garrison Keillor as keynote speaker.

The Archbishop also encouraged us to contact the NCEA and express our opinion. He included the following address:

Dr. Karen M. Ristau, Ed.D.
President, National Catholic Educational Association
1005 North Glebe Road
Arlington, VA 22201

Interestingly, teachers can use title-II funds associated with "No Child Left Behind" to attend the parts of this conference which are secular. It all looks secular, so perhaps it can all be written off?