NY Post opines on NY archbishop's approach

By Mary DeTurris Poust

In case you missed it, the Sunday N.Y. Post ran an op-ed piece by Joseph Bottum with this headline:

Dolan's Catholic Crusade: Uncle Tim has taken off the gloves in his fight for the Church

Here's some of what Bottum had to say:

“The revelations in 2001 of decades of priest scandals revealed the existence of a corrupt clergy across the nation, and the Catholic Church watched a now middle-aged generation of believers slip away from the pews. In the midst of all this, how could an archbishop of New York not need to pick some fights? Especially one determined to restore the national prominence that the archdiocese of New York has traditionally had. 'America’s bishop,' John Paul II called Cardinal O’Connor, which is what every archbishop of New York should be named.

“In other words, Timothy Dolan’s swipe at Dowd is just the first blow in a what we should expect to be a long series. Uncle Tim is taking the gloves off, and public fights are coming with City Hall over schools, and with Albany over Catholic hospitals, and with Washington’s health-care reformers over mandatory abortion coverage, and with the Catholic colleges over their abandoning of Catholic principles, and with the blindered and old-fashioned clergy over the business-as-usual attitude that allowed the priest scandals to happen.”

Sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Enough with running away from who we are as Church and what we stand for, for fear that people won't stick around because they don't like this teaching or that priest or those songs. It's time to say, "This is what it means to be Catholic." I, for one, think Archbishop Dolan is a breath of fresh air, and just what the Church in New York and the Church in the United States needs at this moment in time.

Talk to any Catholic in the pews who has had the opportunity to hear or meet Archbishop Dolan in person and they gush with enthusiasm and hope. They recognize, as does the Post op-ed writer, that what the archbishop brings to the table is exactly what true Catholics have been waiting for: someone who not only isn't afraid to be Catholic but is positively bursting with joy over being Catholic. If speaking the truth is a "crusade," if preaching the Gospel can be considered "taking off the gloves," then bring it on.

To read the full op-ed piece, click HERE.

Capital punishment and Church teaching

By Mary DeTurris Poust

As the nation reels from yet another deadly shooting spree, this time at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington, Va., is urging mercy for convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, saying his capital sentence should be commuted to life in prison without chance of parole.

The bishop called the lethal injection that Muhammad is scheduled to receive on Nov. 10 a "manifestation of despair," according to a CNS story.

"And in this despair, in advocating the use of the death penalty, our society has moved beyond the legitimate judgment of crimes," Bishop Loverde wrote in the Nov. 5 issue of the Arlington Catholic Herald. "Brothers and sisters, we are better than this. We are called to be more than slaves to despair; we are called to be heralds of hope."

Muhammad went on a three-week killing spree in the Washington, D.C., are in 2002 that left 10 people dead and three others wounded. His partner in killing, Lee Boyd Malvo, was 17 at the time and is already serving a life sentence.

Bishop Loverde touched on the difficulty of Church teaching on capital punishment, especially when the sometimes-normal reaction to such tragic crimes is a desire for revenge:

"It is understandable for us -- all of us, myself included -- to have these reactions, and to be outraged at the way in which innocent lives were so senselessly taken, with their families left to mourn and to ask questions which have no satisfactory answers...We are called to choose hope -- hope in redemption of an immortal soul -- over the despair embedded in the death penalty."

Click HERE to read the CNS story.

A look at marriage and what's ahead

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany writes an insightful column about the breakdown of marriage in anticipation of the U.S. bishops' upcoming pastoral letter, which will "communicate in contemporary language the Church’s teaching about the beauty, goodness and truth of marriage as revealing divine love."

In the Nov. 5 issue of The Evangelist, Bishop Hubbard writes:

"Last month at our annual Marriage Jubilee Mass, I joined with couples from throughout our Diocese who are observing one, 10, 15, 40, 50, 60 or more years of marriage during 2009.

"It is always such an inspirational and uplifting experience to celebrate with these spouses who offer such marvelous witness to the sacred bond of matrimony, and to the many sacrifices and boundless love which serve as the foundation for this most fundamental human relationship.

"Sadly, fewer and fewer couples are observing these significant milestones, as the institution of marriage and the intact two-parent family is under assault today.

"The adulterous affairs of politicians Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards and Mark Sanford — and the ultimate married couple, Kate and Jon Gosselin of the TV reality show 'Jon and Kate Plus Eight' — only serve to highlight the perilous state of contemporary marriage."

Bishop Hubbard goes on to cite disturbing statistics showing not only rising divorce rates and increased cohabitation outside of marriage, but also a rise in births to unmarried women, which have reached 39.7 percent, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bishop Hubbard continues:

"These startling statistics (and so many others) prompted Time Magazine to feature a cover story on July 13, 2009, written by Caitlin Flanagan. She states: 'There is no other single force causing as much measurable hardship and human misery in this country as the collapse of marriage. It hurts children, it reduces mothers’ financial security and it has landed with particular devastation on those who can bear it least: the nation’s underclass.'

"Flanagan notes that three presidents in a row (Clinton, Bush and Obama) have sought to address the problem of the number of poor who are uncoupling parenthood from marriage.

"The reason for this presidential concern is simple: On every single significant indicator related to short-term well being and long-term success, children from intact two-parent families outperform those from single-parent households."

Read Bishop Hubbard's full column by clicking HERE. And click HERE to go to "For Your Marriage," the USCCB's National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage

You said it, Sister

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Kathryn Jean Lopez gets it right on NRO Online in her column "Sister Maureen Gets It Wrong," when she takes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd to task for portraying women religious in this country as unhappy, unsatisfied and under the thumb of Rome in a way that suggests constant oppression and submission. Writing of religious sisters who blog (even cloistered ones) and who are happily answering God's call, Lopez reminds us that "there are a lot of happy women behind convent walls. They have answered a Heavenly call. Their submission is not to any man, in Rome or anywhere else, but to the will of the Creator. It’s otherworldly, so it doesn’t fit as well on op-ed pages."

I write for several communities of women religious and on more than one occasion I have been asked to focus a fund-raising appeal on obedience. That's right: obedience. Not usually a money maker in the independent-minded U.S. of A. Yet obedience is at the heart of a religious calling. Obedience to a superior, yes. But more than that. Obedience to The Superior. In writing the appeals, I have learned a lot about the freedom that comes from true obedience to God. It's not a style-cramping, spirit-squelching thing. Rather it is a soul-expanding obedience that comes from being freed from the world's rules by obeying God's rules. But, as Lopez points out, that doesn't make a good newspaper headline.

Lopez writes:

"A Dominican sister in Chicago was recently pictured in the Chicago Tribune standing outside an abortion clinic, where she volunteers as an escort for women who enter to obtain abortions. She belongs to a group of sisters who advocate legal abortion. In case you are confused: This is not Catholic.

"The Catholic Church hasn’t been isolated from the chaos that the sexual revolution wrought. It warned, but that didn’t keep it immune. Yet now, after decades of spirited dissent and too much shameful sin in the headlines, if you look around, what you’ll see is countercultural faith. There’s a rebirth: A 'new evangelization' is what they’re calling it in Rome.

“'Religious community is the visible manifestation of the communion which is the foundation of the Church,' the once Cardinal Ratzinger has written. When some of those communities are so blatantly representing values inimical to the Church, intervention is called for."

Read her full column HERE.

Top OSV newsweekly stories for October

Here are the 10 most-read OSV stories for October:

1. 'Called out of darkness' and into light of Christ (Interview with Anne Rice about vampires and her journey from atheism to faith)

2. Setting a new standard for Catholic colleges (Outgoing president of The Catholic University of America boosts school's Catholic identity)

3. What's behind Vatican's decision to receive Anglicans

4. Popular priest has reluctant jubilee Profile/interview of Father Benedict Groeschel as he celebrates 50 years as a priest.

5. What the Church teaches about (big) government

6. Drawn to the Undead Why Americans love sinking their teeth into vampire stories.

7. Cross bolted to desert rock sparks church-state battle

8. Accent on better relations between international pastors and parishioners 300 Helping priests become better understood through speech training.

9. Inundated with Catholic mail solicitations?

10. Emerging voices energize pro-life movement Young pro-lifers lay claim to their cause with innovation, inspiration.

Amazing turn at one Planned Parenthood clinic

By Mary DeTurris Poust

The director of the Bryan Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas has resigned after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure. "I just thought I can't do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that's it," said Abby Johnson in a report on KBTX-TV. Johnson said the clinic was moving away from prevention and focusing more on abortion, something that didn't sit right with her.

"I feel so pure in heart (since leaving). I don't have this guilt, I don't have this burden on me anymore; that's how I know this conversion was a spiritual conversion," she said in the KBTX report.

Johnson has since joined the Coalition For Life, located just down the street from the clinic where she worked for eight years, the last two as director. She has even prayed outside the Planned Parenthood clinic. Not surprisingly, this turn of events has prompted Bryan Planned Parenthood to seek a restraining order against Johnson and Coalition For Life, contending that business would be "irreparably harmed by the disclosure of certain information." In other words, the truth hurts.

Click HERE to read the full story and watch the video clip of the interview with Johnson.

A view of purgatory on All Souls' Day

By Mary DeTurris Poust

All Souls' Day is a favorite day of mine on the Church calendar. That comes across as morbid to some folks, but it's anything but. Then, again, I'm a big fan of purgatory, too. I like today's focus on the family and friends who have gone before us. I like to remember that we remain connected even though we are separated, that they are experiencing the eternal life that we are working toward. And I love the fact that purgatory hangs out there like a giant safety net, waiting to catch me if I don't measure up. And, really, how can I possibly measure up? I would not be so presumptuous as to assume that I will be fast-tracked to heaven when this earthly life is done. I think working my way toward perfection in purgatory sounds like a pretty generous offer.

I came across this quote from Pope Benedict XVI that really says everything I feel about purgatory but in a much more eloquent way:

"I would go so far as to say that if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say of himself that he was able to stand directly before God. And yet we don't want to be, to use an image from Scripture, 'a pot that turned out wrong,' that has to be thrown away; we want to be able to be put right. Purgatory basically means that God can put the pieces back together again. That he can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with him and stand there in the fullness of life. Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being."

Exactly. And that is why this day is so hopeful. In our remembrance and celebration of those who have died, we see second chances, opportunity, life. We see the path we will one day walk, whether we are ready or not. And if we are not quite ready, well then, purgatory will give us time to polish up our acts once and for all.

Here's another great All Souls' Day quote from Father Hans Urs Von Balthasar:

"Purgatory: perhaps the deepest but also the most blissful kind of suffering. The terrible torture of having to settle now all the things we have dreaded a whole life long. The doors we have frantically held shut are now torn open. But all the while this knowledge: now for the first time I will be able to do it -- that ultimate thing in me, that total thing. Now I can feel my wings growing; now I am fully becoming myself..."

And finally, I found this powerful and personal reflection on All Souls' Day on From the Field of Blue Children. Blogger Cathy Adamkiewicz posts about staring at her own tombstone, the one that marks the grave she will one day share with the daughter who has gone before her:

"Today, on the Feast of All Souls, I stood at my own graveside, but I didn't shed a tear.

"I thought about my daughter, who awaits me there, and I remembered her life with awe and gratitude. I missed her with an ache that will never leave my bones, but my heart is not heavy. It soars to meet her.

"I looked at the descriptions cast in stone: husband and father, baby girl, wife and mother. The roles that will define us for all eternity.

"I suppose it is an excellent practice to ponder the fact that we will all be dust some day. As I stood on the very spot where I hope my grandchildren and their grandchildren will kneel someday, begging mercy on my soul, I realized the truth.

"It will all be over in a flash."

(Read the full post HERE.) Cathy has written a beautiful book about the short life of her baby Celeste. Broken and Blessed: A Life Story is a moving testament to the power of one tiny and fragile life to change the world around her. That book deserves a post of its own, which I promise to write later this month.

Why the chorus of callousness over Benedict's Anglican option?

By Russell Shaw

For me at least, the most dismaying thing about criticism of Pope Benedict XVI’s plan for easing the way for Anglicans who seek to enter the Roman Catholic Church is the critics’ apparent indifference to the spiritual welfare of these Anglicans. As a consequence, a compassionate gesture by Rome is smeared as something sinister.

Clueless as usual where Catholicism is concerned, the secular media have tended to treat Benedict’s action in political terms, as a power grab. This interpretation ignores the fact that the Anglican traditionalists most likely to take advantage of the new provision for “personal ordinariates” have been pleading for something like this for years. The pope has simply responded to those pleas.

But secular journalists aren’t the only ones to get it wrong. Catholic voices also have been raised in this chorus of callousness. Consider the final paragraph of an article in the London Tablet, a reliable platform for progressive Catholic views: “It is hard to see how this new development will do anything but further sow division in the Anglican Communion and confusion among Catholics who have long been committed to the work of ecumenism.”

As to Anglican “division”: The departure of Anglicans who’ve anguished for a long time over the direction of their fractured communion is much more likely to restore a semblance of unity to that deeply troubled body than it is to create more division.

As to Catholic “confusion”: The confusion admittedly felt by many Catholics about the nature and intent of ecumenism is largely a product of a post-Vatican II interpretation that reduces the ecumenical enterprise to endless dialogue leading — God knows how — to some sort of corporate merger in an unimaginable future. Confusion is a mild word for it.

Most of all, though, such critical comments miss the fundamental point — the relief potentially afforded to those Anglican groups most directly affected by Benedict’s generous gesture. That is best understood in human terms.

A year ago in Rome I had a substantial chat with an Anglican woman who is a member of one of these groups. Moved by her faith and her ardent desire for communion with the Holy See, I told her at the end of our conversation: “I can only hope and pray that you get what you want — and get it soon.”

It’s often said that conservative Anglicans are upset about things like women bishops and openly homosexual bishops. No doubt they are. But much else is involved.

Several years ago an American woman — a contented member of the Episcopal Church — told me an anecdote concerning an Episcopal clergyman which she insisted was true. It seems that this gentleman, in a fit of whimsy, was seen one day to give communion to a dog. The lady seemed to think that was just fine. I was appalled — at what had happened, at her approval of it, and at what it disclosed concerning the state of Episcopalian belief in the Eucharist.

A man who’d been an Episcopalian for years but finally came over to Rome once shared a useful insight with me. “The trouble with those people,” he said of his former co-religionists, “is that they’re sentimental.”

A number of present Anglicans seem to agree. I am glad that Pope Benedict has offered these troubled believers a congenial way out of the dilemma in which their sentimental Anglican brethren placed them. As for those who don’t like what the pope has done, I suggest they remove their blinders and congratulate him on an act of Christian charity.

Russell Shaw is an OSV contributing editor.

Halloween and All Saints

By Mary DeTurris Poust

For a little informative fun this Halloween and All Saints' Day weekend, check out this clip from Busted Halo, featuring Jesuit Father James Martin, author of My Life With the Saints. Father Martin not only covers the connection between Halloween and All Saints, but also how saints are made and why praying to the saints is not idolatry. If you stay to the very end, even after the book promo, you'll get a side of silly with your saints.

Archbishop Dolan takes on anti-Catholicism

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York takes a scathing look at anti-Catholicism in this country, specifically in the pages of The New York Times, in a post on his new blog The Gospel in the Digital Age. The column was originally submitted to and rejected by the Times.

Read his column HERE.

Building a better marriage

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Ask any Catholic couple for the secret to their marital success and they're likely to focus on two key things: communication and faith. Without those crucial elements, marriage can quickly become a business partnership rather than the sacramental relationship it is meant to be. The Church tries to ensure, through Pre-Cana programs, that young couples are aware of that reality before they say walk down the aisle to say, "I do."

Now the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., is offering a DVD, "When Two Become One: An Introduction to Sacramental Marriage," to give engaged couples a first-hand look at what it means to make a sacred vow to another person. Four couples -- engaged, newlywed, married with children, and one celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary -- talk directly to the camera, sharing their stories, their joys, their struggles and their wisdom. The couples, as well as Msgr. Jim Lisante, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle parish in West Hempstead, N.Y., and a regular contributor to various TV news shows, talk about what must be present in a marriage to make it sacramental -- and happy.

Discussions of sexuality, NFP, marriage as vocation, grace through challenges, domestic church, and public witness of faith through marriage are all part of the mix in this well-produced program. My favorite couple had to be the husband and wife married for more than half a century. They talked about how they continue to "date" and how they relish their time together. The husband reminds viewers that marriage is "a lifelong love affair...Every day I renew the commitment."

The diocese's Office of Faith Formation also offers a DVD on NFP called "Plan Your Family Naturally: An Introduction to Natural Family Planning." The DVD covers the basics: What is NFP? How does it work? How does it improve a relationship? What are the challenges? Why is NFP acceptable for Catholics? Is it effective?

The program features conversations with couples who use NFP and one couple trained as NFP educators. There is heavy emphasis on the fact that fertility is not a disease to be treated but a gift to be celebrated and that rather than leading to problems in marriage the periods of abstinence required in this method actually improve communication and bring couples closer together.

For more information on the DVDs or to place an order, click HERE.

Changing our prayers, for better and for worse

By Mary DeTurris Poust

When I was writing The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism a couple of years ago, one of the most powerful and beautiful parts of the writing experience came during the many chapters dedicated to the creed. I sat with the creed for days, even weeks, on end. During that time, my faith was reinvigorated by the beautiful words of the prayer we say each Sunday. I found myself caught up in the poetry of the prayer, the powerful way in which our beliefs are expressed through the written word. Even now, with that book far behind me, I find myself mesmerized week after week by our Profession of Faith.

But now, as part of the new translation of the Roman Missal that is awaiting final approval by the bishops, that prayer along with many others familiar to Mass-goers will be changed in order to be more faithful to the original Latin. The result, unfortunately, is that in many places the vocabulary and sentence structure will be awkward and confusing.

Things like "one in Being with the Father" will be changed to "consubstantial with the Father," a change that will probably not make the prayer more clear or more meaningful to pray-ers. That line will go from being poetic and powerful to a line that is probably glossed over because its meaning is lost, especially on young Catholics.

Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie, Pa., former chairman of the U.S. bishops’ liturgy committee, has criticized the new translation, calling it "slavishly literal" and saying that the changes are "elite and remote" from what we consider to be everyday speech.

“The vast majority of God’s people in the assembly are not familiar with words of the new missal like ‘ineffable,’ ‘consubstantial,’ ‘incarnate,’ ‘inviolate,’ ‘oblation,’ ‘ignominy,’ ‘precursor,’ ‘suffused’ and ‘unvanquished.’ The vocabulary is not readily understandable by the average Catholic,” Bishop Trautman said at an Oct. 22 lecture at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., as reported by CNS. “The (Second Vatican Council’s) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stipulated vernacular language, not sacred language,” he added. “Did Jesus ever speak to the people of his day in words beyond their comprehension? Did Jesus ever use terms or expressions beyond his hearer’s understanding?”

Other changes will affect everything from the Greeting and Penitential Rite to the Gloria and Eucharistic prayers. Bishop Trautman gave several examples during his lecture, but one in particular stood out as a perfect example:

"The bishop complained about the lack of 'pastoral style' in the new translation. The current wording in Eucharistic Prayer 3 asks God to 'welcome into your kingdom our departed brothers and sisters,' which he considered 'inspiring, hope-filled, consoling, memorable.'

"The new translation asks God to 'give kind admittance to your kingdom,' which Bishop Trautman called 'a dull lackluster expression which reminds one of a ticket-taker at the door. ... The first text reflects a pleading, passionate heart and the latter text a formality – cold and insipid.'"

Now, I'm not saying every change is a bad change. There are some that will be considered welcome, or at least reasonable. For instance, with in the new translation, instead of saying, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed," we will say, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." That seems like a fitting and proper change because it brings the prayer back to the scriptural reference, reminding us where this prayer came from to start with. (Matthew 8:8, centurion asking Jesus to heal his servant.)

It's a tough call. At a time when we are trying to hang onto the people who are going to Mass and to woo back those who only stop in now and then, bringing in changes that will make people feel like strangers in their own Church might not help the Mass attendance situation.

Read the full CNS story HERE. To read examples of changes from the USCCB's Committee on Divine Worship, click HERE. Then tell us how you feel about the coming changes in the comment section.