Catholicana

Gunmen kidnap Chaldean Catholic archbishop in northern Iraq

2008-02-29T14:30:00.001-05:00

From Reuters: Gunmen kidnapped the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul on Friday in the northern Iraqi city and killed his driver and two guards, police said. "He was kidnapped in the al-Nour district in eastern Mosul when he left a church. Gunmen opened fire on the car, killed the other three and kidnapped the archbishop," said provincial police spokesman Brigadier-General Khaled Abdul Sattar. An assistant to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad and spiritual leader of Iraq's Catholics, said they had heard three people were killed and they did not know the fate of the archbishop, Paulos Faraj Rahho. | Read more...

Kansas City Catholic schools advised not to take children to see 'Bodies'

2008-02-28T13:56:00.001-05:00

Matt Campbell in the Kansas City Star: Local Catholic officials say the “Bodies Revealed” exhibit opening Friday at Union Station is not appropriate for church school field trips. The statement (.pdf) was issued by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The officials’ position is the same as that taken recently by the archbishop of Cincinnati, where another exhibit showing preserved human bodies is under way. Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk called the exhibit “unseemly and inappropriate.” Cincinnati church leaders said the exhibit may have educational merit and the creators may be well-intentioned, but the use of the bodies does not respect the individuals involved. | Read more...

Related:

In January, Pilarczyk told Cincinnati Catholic-school administrators, "It seems to me that the use of human bodies in this way fails to respect the persons involved. Therefore, I do not believe that this exhibit is an appropriate destination for field trips by our Catholic schools."
In 2006, the Denver Museum of Natural History featured "Body Worlds 2," a different exhibit of plasticized bodies that was sponsored by a Catholic health care system. In a column in the archdiocesan newspaper, Archbishop Charles Chaput said the exhibit could be a Lenten meditation. "In every previous U.S. appearance of 'BodyWorlds 2,' Catholic moral theologians have been involved in reviewing the exhibition for the local Church and found it to be within acceptable ethical standards. In principle, the Church does not object to the respectful use of the deceased human body for scientific or educational purposes." (It's important to note that the individuals in the Denver exhibit donated their bodies specifically for museum display.)

Photo from the "Bodies Revealed" exhibition

Ireland running out of priests

2008-02-28T13:31:00.001-05:00

David Sharrock in The Times of London: Ireland, a country that used to export its Catholic clergy around the world, is running out of priests at such a rate that their numbers will have dropped by two thirds in the next 20 years, leaving parishes up and down the land vacant. The decline of Catholic Ireland, for decades the Pope’s favorite bastion of faith in Europe, has been regularly predicted, as the economic successes of the Celtic Tiger brought growing secularisation. But new figures have starkly set out the fate of the Irish priesthood if action is not taken by the Church to reverse the trend. One-hundred and sixty priests died last year but only nine were ordained. Figures for nuns were even more dramatic, with the deaths of 228 nuns and only two taking final vows for service in religious life. | Read more...

Priest saluted for guiding young colleagues

2008-02-28T10:44:00.001-05:00

Peter Smith in the Louisville Courier-Journal: It was challenging enough to recruit young men for the Roman Catholic priesthood at a time when few were heeding such a call. But the Rev. Ronald Knott's job with the Archdiocese of Louisville became nearly impossible when the crisis of sexual abuse by clergy and others in the church hit its peak in 2002 and 2003. The crisis also threw Knott into the lowest point of his career, a depression he said many priests experienced then. But it got him thinking deeply about how many priests are overworked, isolated from each other and their parishioners and — in the case of new priests — poorly prepared for the realities of life as a pastor. Knott has published a book on the subject that struck a chord among priests, and he has given talks around the country. This April, his work will be recognized with a top honor by the National Federation of Priests' Councils. | Read more...

Photo: Michael Clevenger, The Courier-Journal

U.S. Vatican envoy prepares way for the pope

2008-02-28T10:33:00.001-05:00

Cathy Lynn Grossman in USA Today: Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the veteran Vatican diplomat who serves as the Holy See's U.S. ambassador, knows exactly why the world will see — but not hear — Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the bedrock at Ground Zero during the pope's first visit to the USA. The silence is Sambi's idea. "This will be a moment of solidarity with those who died and their families. He will walk alone to indicate the loneliness of those who went to their deaths and the loneliness of the survivors." It is Sambi's job to know what is required, spiritual or political or trivial, to make a success of the shy, scholarly pope's visit. | Read more...

Related:

NY1's Shazia Khan: One of the most important visits the pope will make during his U.S. trip will be to St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., where he will conduct a rally for seminarians and youth — encouraging young people to seek vocations within the church.

Photo: Joe Brier for USA Today

Detroit auxiliary named new bishop of Lansing diocese

2008-02-28T10:22:00.001-05:00

Kathleen Lavey in the Lansing State Journal: Diocese of Lansing, Mich., Bishop Carl Mengeling playfully handed his replacement a full ring of office keys to show how eager he is to retire. Bishop Earl Boyea, 56, auxiliary bishop of Detroit, replaces Mengeling as bishop of Lansing on April 29. "It's a relief not to be boss anymore," Mengeling said. Still, he added: "It's sort of a bittersweet day. I'm not going to give up the priesthood. I'm going to keep working." | Read more...

Related:

The Lansing newspaper has a full package of articles on the changeover, including a report on the sustainability of the diocese's 97 parishes, a list of other challenges Boyea is likely to face, and photos and video of the announcement.

Photo of Boyea (left) and Mengeling: Becky Shink/Lansing State Journal

Arkansas Catholics asked to stop donations to breast cancer foundation

2008-02-28T10:11:00.001-05:00

Jon Gambrel of the Associated Press: The Diocese of Little Rock is urging its members not to donate to a breast cancer foundation known for its fundraising races across the globe because the group supports Planned Parenthood. The diocese says the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, which has invested about $1 billion in cancer outreach and research, gives money to Planned Parenthood to hold breast exams and offer education to women in its clinics. | Read more...

Related:

Last year, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke criticized the Komen foundation for supporting Planned Parenthood and embryonic stem cell research just weeks before he resigned from the board of a second charity for similar reasons.

Cardinal Bertone calls U.S. embargo of Cuba 'ethically unacceptable'

2008-02-27T16:15:00.001-05:00

From Zenit: Benedict XVI's secretary of state has called the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba "ethically unacceptable." Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone reiterated Monday the opposition of the Holy See to the economic embargo against Cuba in a joint press conference with the country's Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque. "The Holy See repeats the words of Pope John Paul II: The embargo is ethically unacceptable," said the Vatican representative. "It is an oppression for the Cuban people and it is not a means to help the Cuban people win their dignity and independence. It's a violation of the independence of the people." | Read more...

Related:

When John Paul II denounced the embargo during his 1998 trip to Cuba, Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) remarked, "This is a landmark event. The Pope's approach is the exact opposite of the American Government's. The Pope is trying to engage the Cuban people. The U.S. policy is to isolate the Cuban people. The contrast is apparent."

Photo of Bertone with new Cuban President Raul Castro: Javier Galeano/AFP @ Yahoo! News

Pew study finds fluid religious life among Americans

2008-02-27T16:06:00.001-05:00

Neela Banerjee in the New York Times: More than a quarter of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join another religion or no religion, according to a survey of religious affiliation by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The report, titled “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” depicts a highly fluid and diverse national religious life. If shifts among Protestant denominations are included, then it appears that 44 percent of Americans have switched religious affiliations. The study shows, for example, that every religion is losing and gaining members, but that the Roman Catholic Church “has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes.” The survey also indicates that the group that had the greatest net gain was the unaffiliated. Sixteen percent of American adults say they are not part of any organized faith, which makes the unaffiliated the country’s fourth-largest “religious group.” | Read more... | More from the L.A. Times...

Related:

Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the extensive survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details the religious affiliation of the American public. Their online section complements the full report.
Terry Mattingly at GetReligion looks at the media's coverage of the report: "In recent years, the pollsters and journalists over at the Pew Forum have been downloading waves of data about into the minds of religion-beat professionals from sea to shining sea and beyond. There are other groups doing research into some of these topics — religion and politics, for example — but no one has been creating as many headlines as the Pew Forum."
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, while not referencing the Pew report directly, commented on the large numbers of Catholics leaving the Church for Protestantism: "Unfortunately, sects represent a phenomenon that not only afflicts the Latin American continent but North America and Europe as well," he said. "The problem -- and I always say this to bishops and priests -- is a problem of bishops and priests being able to welcome and listen to people."

Graphic: New York Times

William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82

2008-02-27T15:34:00.001-05:00

Douglas Martin in the New York Times:
William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn. Mr Buckley, 82, suffered from diabetes and emphysema, his son Christopher said, although the exact cause of death was not immediately known. He was found at his desk in the study of his home, his son said. “He might have been working on a column,” Mr. Buckley said. | Read more...

Related:

Jon Meacham, reviewing Buckley's latest collection of autobiographical stories in 2004, wrote: "Born in 1925, Buckley grew up at Great Elm, a huge house in Sharon, Conn., learned repartee at the family dinner table, was educated privately, went to Yale, served briefly in the Central Intelligence Agency and became one of the most celebrated -- deep breath here -- authors / editors / columnists / pundits / political activists / novelists / Catholic apologists / bons vivants of the American century."

70-year-old chalice getting refinished for Pope's U.S. Masses

2008-02-24T14:06:00.001-05:00

From the Associated Press: When Pope Benedict celebrates Mass on his trip to the United States in April, he's expected to use a chalice that is being refinished in Oklahoma. The gold-plated sterling silver chalice has been housed in the Papal Nunciature, the Vatican's embassy in Washington, D.C., since it was manufactured in London in the spring of 1938. | Read more...

Bertone, unveiling monument to John Paul II in Cuba, hints at papal visit

2008-02-24T13:54:00.001-05:00

From the Associated Press: The Vatican's No. 2 official unveiled a statue here Saturday commemorating Pope John Paul II's historic trip to Cuba 10 years ago, after hinting that Pope Benedict XVI may make a visit of his own. Thousands attending an open-air Mass applauded as Roman Catholic Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, pulled off a white cloth to reveal the bronze likeness of a smiling John Paul, waving his right hand and holding his papal staff in the other. The statue came from Rome as a gift from the Vatican and was placed in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara, the site of John Paul's first Mass during his January 1998 trip, the first papal visit to the island nation. | Read more...

Photo of the new monument to John Paul II: Enrique De La Osa/Reuters @ Yahoo!

At Chimayo, a pastor begs to differ with his flock on miracles

2008-02-20T17:07:00.001-05:00

Erik Eckholm in the New York Times: “It’s not the dirt that makes the miracles!” the Rev. Casimiro Roca said with exasperation. True, discarded crutches line a wall inside the Santuario de Chimayo, a small adobe church in this village of northern New Mexico known as the Lourdes of America. Scores of people visit every day, many hoping to cure diseases or disabilities with prayer, holy water and, most famously, the healing dirt, which visitors collect from a hole in the floor inside the church. Some 50 years ago, Roca took over the abandoned, nearly ruined site of the church, which was first constructed in 1816. He oversaw the rebuilding of the sanctuary — holy hole included — into the spotless place it is today. | Read more...

Castro's resignation, cardinal's visit coincidence a 'great grace from God'

2008-02-20T16:03:00.001-05:00

From Zenit: The Church in Cuba's main obstacle is a lack of staff, especially priests who are natives to the island nation, said Aid to the Church in Need's specialist on Cuba. Javier Legorreta and his aid organization have turned their attention to Cuba, as President Fidel Castro announced Tuesday that he will not seek or accept another term as president, and as the Pope's secretary of state is set to arrive to the island nation tonight. Though Cardinal Bertone's visit was not planned to coincide with Castro's resignation, and in fact marks the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit to the nation, Legorreta called the coincidence "a great grace from God."
| Read more...

Related:

Cardinal Bertone's schedule for his Cuba visit is detailed here.
Pope John Paul II was greeted by a suit-clad Fidel Castro when the pontiff visited Cuba in January 1997. | Also: Excerpts from a homily delivered on the trip

Image: from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum

This Week in Catholic Higher-Ed: Lockdown in NJ, ND mourns, and St. Thomas in Minn. gets a house

2008-02-20T15:38:00.001-05:00

David Porter of the Associated Press: Jesuit-run St. Peter's College locked down its campus Wednesday after the discovery of a note threatening violence at the northern New Jersey school. Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said the handwritten note made no mention of bombs or guns, but did threaten violence against the school. | Read more...

Chris Hine in The Observer: University of Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins called Sunday, the day he learned Timothy Aher and Connor McGrath died, his "worst day as president of Notre Dame." Jenkins presided over a Mass Tuesday at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart held in memorial of Aher, a 25-year-old Law School student, and McGrath, a 20-year-old sophomore, who died in unrelated incidents over the weekend. | Read more...

Steve Delahoyde of UnBeige: Diocesan-run University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota is reporting that they've received a donation of "1 Frank Gehry House, Used." And not just any house, but a one time award winner of Time Magazine's House of the Year, a building he designed on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. The only trick now is that the University is planning to pick the thing up and move it onto their campus, which probably isn't such an easy thing to accomplish. | Read more...

Oxford to launch $4M study on why we like God

2008-02-20T15:08:00.001-05:00

From the Associated Press: University of Oxford researchers will spend nearly $4 million to study why mankind embraces God. The grant to the Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion will bring anthropologists, theologians, philosophers and other academics together for three years to study whether belief in a divine being is a basic part of mankind's makeup. "There are a lot of issues. What is it that is innate in human nature to believe in God, whether it is gods or something superhuman or supernatural?" said Roger Trigg, acting director of the center. | Read more...

New rules designed to slow canonization process

2008-02-18T15:23:00.001-05:00

From the BBC: The Vatican has issued new rules making the route to sainthood more difficult. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins called for more rigour and sobriety in the Catholic Church's saint making process. Cardinal Martins, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, issued new guidelines to clarify and modernise the procedure. He stressed the need for a "true reputation for holiness" among sainthood candidates to be established before the process begins. | Read more...

Related:

In a April 2006 letter to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Benedict emphasised the need to study "deeply" the subject of miracles, especially "in the light of the tradition of the Church, of modern theology, and of the most accredited discoveries of science".

Dateless this Valentine's Day? An archangel could help

2008-02-14T19:37:00.001-05:00

From Zenit: Singles worried about spending Valentine's Day by themselves are being encouraged to seek help through the prayers of an angelic matchmaker. A Web site of the Catholic Enquiry Office, part of an agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, is encouraging Catholic singles to pray a novena to the Archangel Raphael. Raphael is traditionally considered an ally in the realm of love and relationships thanks to the role he played in helping Sarah and Tobit in the Old Testament. | Read more...

Related:

From the aforementioned web page: "In the run up to Saint Valentine’s Day the pressure is on to find, or at least be seen with, someone special. Chocolates, cards, flowers and gifts fill shops in the weeks preceding the big day. But what do you do if you’re not in a relationship? Well, for generations of singles looking for their soulmate, Saint Raphael, has proved himself to be a powerful spiritual friend."

Image: Monastery Icons

SSPX high school bans female ref from officiating baskeball game

2008-02-14T19:33:00.001-05:00

From the Associated Press: Kansas activities officials are investigating a religious school's refusal to let a female referee call a boys' high school basketball game. The Kansas State High School Activities Association said referees reported that Michelle Campbell was preparing to officiate at St. Mary's Academy -- affiliated with the schismatic Society of St. Pius X -- near Topeka on Feb. 2 when a school official insisted that Campbell could not call the game. The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy's beliefs. | Read more...

Related:

In 1998, after ex-communicating the society's leader, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Pope John Paul II urged a reconciliation, and sent then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to mediate.

Photo: Michelle Campbell referees a basketball game Tuesday night in McLouth, Kan. (Fred Blocher/AP @ WIBW, Topeka)

Piece of Chicago cathedral's ceiling falls down, closing church

2008-02-14T11:44:00.001-05:00

Manya A. Brachear in the Chicago Tribune: A fist-size piece of the wooden ceiling inside Holy Name Cathedral reportedly plummeted 70 feet and damaged a pew on Tuesday, prompting staff to close the cathedral until Saturday. Rev. Daniel Mayall, pastor and rector of Holy Name, said the cathedral at State and Superior Streets would maintain its regular schedule of masses and other events. Weekday masses will be held in the basement of the parish center while workers erect a scaffolding above the pews to assess the damage, he said. | Read more...

Photo: Gerald C. Farinas @ Wikipedia

Australians readying bevy of papal tchotchkes

2008-02-13T23:03:00.001-05:00

Shannon Deary in the (Melbourne) Herald-Sun: The Pope's visit to Australia in July will be a godsend for souvenir manufacturers - with papal pendants, hats and beer mugs heading for stores. The Pope will lead more than 500,000 youths in the Catholic Church's 23rd World Youth Day Celebrations. A barrage of papal merchandise is expected to follow. Event organisers expect big sales of merchandise, but are urging pilgrims to stay away from "tacky" paraphernalia. Unofficial items already on offer overseas include the "popener," a bottle opener graced with a picture of the Pope, papal beer, Vatican bread, papal nutcrackers, teddy bears and a cake called "slice of Ratzinger". | Read more...

Photo: A John Paul II-themed "popener"

Colleges launch degree programs in church management

2008-02-13T22:41:00.001-05:00

Kathy Matheson of the Associated Press: The globe-trotting priest from Connecticut drove a Jaguar, shopped at Bergdorf Goodman and bought jewelry from Cartier, all of it with money stolen from his church's coffers. By the time the parish finance council caught on, he had embezzled $1.3 million. Many U.S. churches have been victims of embezzlement over the years, reflecting not just moral weakness on the part of the wrongdoers, but lax financial controls. Often, church budgets are overseen by volunteers or employees with little guidance or professional training. Now, some colleges are hoping to prevent such faith-shattering abuses by offering programs devoted specifically to managing church finances and personnel. Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and Boston College started programs in September, and Villanova University outside Philadelphia is offering an online master's degree in church management beginning this summer. | Read more...

Singapore retailer withdraws Jesus-themed cosmetics line

2008-02-12T13:35:00.001-05:00

The BBC reports: A leading retailer in Singapore has withdrawn a cosmetics range with a Jesus theme after complaints from local Roman Catholics, local media report. The range, named Looking Good for Jesus, was on sale at three Top Shop outlets in the Asian city state. Catholics complained the cosmetics' marketing was disrespectful, full of sexual innuendo and trivialised Christianity. The products included a "Virtuous vanilla" lip balm and a "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream, featuring a picture of Christ flanked by two adoring women. | Read more...

Image from the line's packaging

Mafia threatens Sicilian bishop after he refuses to celebrate funeral

2008-02-12T13:23:00.001-05:00

David Willey of the BBC: A Sicilian bishop is under police protection after receiving death threats for refusing to celebrate the funeral of a Mafia boss. The funeral was held instead in another nearby town with a Franciscan monk conducting the ceremony. Crocefisso Emanuello, the head of a notorious Mafia family, died earlier this week of natural causes at the age of 81. The mourners at the funeral were almost all women - most of the men present for the ceremony were plain clothes detectives. | Read more...

Collection basket now online in Cincinnati

2008-02-10T17:38:00.001-05:00

Bob Driehaus in The New York Times: For generations of Roman Catholics in the United States, the ritual of attending Mass on Sundays has been intertwined with slipping a numbered envelope into the collection basket. But in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, churchgoers are letting the basket pass them by in favor of donating online, part of an effort to meld time-tested fund-raising with 21st-century technology. In October, the archdiocese, which includes 221 parishes in 19 southwestern Ohio counties, became the first in the nation to put in place a comprehensive Internet donation system for its weekly collections. The goal was to generate consistent revenue and to cater to parishioners who have grown accustomed to paying their bills online. | Read more...