The pope, the exorcist, and Dorothy Day

Posted by Mary DeTurris Poust

Today I bring you a diverse collection of links, things sure to inform and inspire. At least that's how they feel to me. First up, we have a USA Today opinion piece by Catholic author and OSV alumna Amy Welborn, who writes about the pope's new book that sparked the recent condom controversy.

From Amy's post:

Now what confuses and even angers some Catholics is that along with this high sense of church is the acceptance of the reality — very clear throughout this interview — that human beings interact with the church at different levels of commitment. Some go to Mass every day, and others once a year. Some are saints, while others are barely hanging on. There certainly have been through history various ways to articulate God's call to humanity, some more forceful and dire, but that is not Pope Benedict's language. The way he has always expressed it is that it's not the church's role to force an individual to come closer, but rather to constantly invite. Not to impose, but to "propose" — one of Pope Benedict's favorite turns of phrase.

So in essence, he's saying some will agree, some won't. But what of "everyone else?" Contrary to popular impressions and maybe even the hopes of some Catholics, Pope Benedict doesn't see it as his job to issue blanket condemnations of that "everyone else." "We are sinners," he says. "We should try to do as much good as we can and to support and put up with each other."

That doesn't sound like "God's Rottweiler," a nickname Benedict earned as a cardinal. Nor does it sound like the words of a man too often condemned as intolerant, rigid and stuck in past centuries. In short, Pope Benedict is saying: It's not my job to either change the teaching or declare you eternally condemned for your failures in living it. That's God's job. And I'm not God.

Read Amy's column in its entirety HERE.

Over at Fathers For Good, there's a great interview with Matt Baglio, author of "The Rite," the book-turned-Hollywood-movie about exorcism.


From the FFG interview:

Baglio: I would say that the devil was never on my radar, but like most Catholics I still had this wariness about the topic of evil. I think I am more respectful of evil but I wouldn’t go so far to say that I am convinced the devil is behind all these problems that people claim are caused by an evil spirit. I will say that there is more to exorcism than just fakers and weak-minded people and this book really helped me to understand that exorcism is more about a person making the right choices. I felt comforted by the fact that at the end of the day, even if evil exists, the choice to open a doorway to it is entirely up to us.

To read the full interview, click HERE.

And finally, on the 30th anniversary of Dorothy Day's death, we have this beautiful post from Bridges and Tangents. There's a lot that could be said, but this post by Stephen Wang says it best:

It was the simplicity of her love – for Christ, for the poor, for whoever was sitting next to her. It was the fact that she took the gospel seriously, and literally; and believed it was something to be lived and not just explained away. It was her intelligence, which made her think about the causes of poverty and injustice, so that talking, writing, publishing and debating (all for ‘the clarification of thought’) were as much a part of her mission as opening soup kitchens and houses of hospitality. And it was her beauty – the beauty of her writing, the beauty of her life. Much of it, I’m sure, was romanticised – I was 19 and looking for heroes and heroines. But she remains one of the most important people in my life, and her life has shaped my own thinking and the way I look at the world as much as anyone else’s has.

Read the full Dorothy Day post HERE.

Ten ways to get more out of Advent

Need help making Advent more meaningful? OSV lays out a nice clear outline for making the most of this season of dark and light:

Reflect on Advent as a time of waiting. The idea of waiting is not popular in our culture of instant gratification, but it creates in us a new kind of self-discipline that helps us to appreciate the present moment and look to the future with peaceful anticipation.

Turn your breathing into a prayer. Take a few deep breaths throughout the day and imagine that God's love is flowing through you to every part of your body. As you exhale, let go of tension, worry and anything else that is not of God.

Long for the Lord. Make it a habit of silently praying, "Come, Lord Jesus."

Unite with Mary. Set aside time once a day to join Our Lady in praying the Canticle of Mary (see Lk 1:46-55).

Do something nice for someone every day. It might be an encouraging word, a phone call, a note of appreciation or a little act of kindness.

Get rid of grudges. Use Advent as an opportunity to let go of any anger or resentment that you might be holding onto.

Pray for patience. If you find yourself becoming anxious or upset, ask the Lord for the gift of patience. Then make a conscious effort to be a more patient person.

Offer up something painful or difficult in your life. The best way to transform trials and tensions is to turn them into a prayer.

Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Attend your parish penance service and take advantage of the opportunity to cleanse your soul in preparation for the coming of Jesus.

Think about the special gifts and talents God has given you. How are you using these gifts?

Click HERE to read OSV's "Definitive Guide to Advent" and get more suggestions for deepening your prayer life this Advent.

Advent begins: Stay awake!

By Mary DeTurris Poust

As I sat down to write this Advent post, I realized that I am way behind where I normally am at the start of the new Church year. We have not yet made our pink and purple construction paper Advent chain that hangs in our kitchen and gets shorter as we get closer to Christmas. We have not moved the Holy Family out onto the front porch, as we usually do to mark the start of Advent. I have not yet blessed our Advent wreath or even wrapped the candle bottoms with tape so they don't wobble and stand all askew for the next four weeks. The wooden Advent calendar is still in its box.

Amid all the hubbub of this holiday weekend, it's been hard to settle into the quiet space I want for the start of Advent. But we're heading to 5 p.m. Mass in a few minutes, and the Advent wreath will be lighted tonight before dinner, so ready or not, our season of preparation begins.

If you're looking for some inspiration as you get started with your own journey toward Christmas, here are some links to columns, radio shows, prayer books and more to help you settle into the rhythm of this beautiful season of contrasts -- the lights of our candles against the dark of winter, the silence of our Advent prayers against the insanity of the secular version of this season, the somber tone of the readings warning us to "stay awake" against the Christmas carols that blare from speakers everywhere we turn.

Head over to Fathers for Good for a lovely Advent reflection by one of my long-time friends and colleagues, Patrice Athanasidy. Her family's Advent rituals are very similar to those at our house, so this post really struck a chord. Click HERE to read the first of her Advent series of columns: "Advent: A Time of Blessed Patience." Check back each week to see what else she has to offer us for the journey.

If you're looking for a way to transform some of the typical sounds of the season into a call to prayer, head over to The Evangelist and read this reflection by Father John P. Rosson, pastor of St. Mary's/Our Lady of the Lake in Cooperstown, New York. Father Rosson recommends ringing a special bell on the days of Advent to counter the harried sounds of everyday life and announce a time for prayer -- he suggests the Angelus. Click HERE to read his other suggestions.

Over at The Catholic Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio 159/XM 117, several new shows will debut this weekend to herald the Advent season and provide us with spiritual touchstones throughout the coming weeks.

Cardinal Edward Egan, retired archbishop of New York, will be hosting "The Spirit of Advent: In Scripture, Story and Song," a Catholic Channel exclusive five-part radio series that will combine Scripture with personal stories and powerful song "to inform and inspire in a new way." That show will air on Saturdays at 9 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time and again on Sundays at 8 a.m. noon, 2 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Also on The Catholic Channel, Father Leo Patalinghug, author of Grace Before Meals and winner of a Food Network "throw down" against iron chef Bobby Flay, is bringing his own brand of food-focused theological teaching to radio. He will be hosting a new show called "Stirring the Pot," which will air on the Sundays of Advent from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern time.

And for something more traditional to help you through Advent day by day, you can always turn to Magnificat's Advent devotional with daily reflections on the readings of the day. Click HERE for more information.

Shaw: Vatican flubbed its media relations one more time

By Russell Shaw

The first and perhaps most important thing to say about Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks on the subject of condoms and AIDS is that they in no way change the Church’s teaching that contraception is wrong. If the pope’s comments were a “game changer,” as Jesuit Father James Martin of America magazine says, this wasn’t the game.

Nor did Pope Benedict depart from his previously stated position — the position of the Church — that abstinence is the morally correct course of action for someone infected with HIV. Sexual abstinence may not be popular today, but morality is about what’s right, not what’s popular.

So what did the pope say about these matters that was new in his book-length interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, published in English as "Light of the World" (Ignatius Press)? Just this.

If someone infected with HIV nevertheless persists in sexual activity despite its wrongness, at least it should be in a way that involves the least potential harm to the other party — by using a condom, that is. This is a minimal step in the direction of responsibility. It was here that Pope Benedict offered his now-famous example of a male prostitute.

I don’t mean to dismiss the newness of this papal statement. It will be discussed for a long time to come. But to call it a “seismic shift” in Church teaching, as an AP story did, was over the edge. What the Church has long taught remains fully intact.

Contrary to some of the commentary, Pope Benedict was not advocating the choice of the “lesser evil.” Evil, whether lesser or greater, may never be chosen. If it’s necessary to lift a phrase out of the moral theology manuals, try “double effect.” In a double effect situation, the same action produces two results, one good and one bad, and in certain circumstances it can be allowable to perform the action for the sake of the good, though never the bad. Condom use to prevent HIV transmission could be something like that.

The pope’s remarks do not apply to the situation of a married couple who believe that pregnancy would threaten the woman’s life. Preventing conception (something good in itself) and preventing the transmission of a deadly disease (something bad in itself) are radically different in a moral perspective. The only right — and responsible — course of action for a couple like this is abstinence.

A lot of people have blamed the media for the confusion that has surrounded this incident. In some instances, the media did indeed blow it, but that was hardly their fault.

Seewald’s book carried a Nov. 23 embargo. On Nov. 20, L’Osservatore Romano published excerpts — reportedly with authorization from the Vatican publishing house — and thereby broke the embargo. This in turn led to an eminently predictable media frenzy.

As far as I can tell, moreover, the Vatican had no plan in place to provide journalists with an authoritative background briefing by experts in order supply explanation and interpretation of what the pope had said. Instead, the director of the press office issued a statement and then went ahead with a previously scheduled Nov. 23 news conference to plug the book. The result of that was to keep the story alive and give some newcomers a well publicized opportunity to get their oars in and add to the confusion that already existed.

In sum, nothing fundamental has changed. Pope Benedict shed some new light on a relatively new question. The Vatican flubbed its media relations one more time. That’s about all.

Fessio: Pope doesn't 'justify' condom use in any circumstance

Why all the headlines saying that Pope Benedict XVI in his new book “approves” or “permits” or “justifies” condom use in certain cases?

The book's U.S. publisher, Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio of Ignatius Press, says that description is totally unjustified.

In a guest post on a Reuter's news agency blog, Father Fessio attributes some of the confusion to a mistranslation of the German in the Italian text (published before the embargo by the Vatican newspaper). But he points people back to the pope's own words.

[Pope Benedict says]: “She [the Church] does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality” (italics mine).

In the first place a solution which is not “moral” cannot be “justified”. That is a contradiction and would mean that something in itself morally evil could be “justified” to achieve a good end. Note: The concept of the “lesser evil” is inapplicable here. One may tolerate a lesser evil; one cannot do something which is a lesser evil.

And Father Fessio offers up a helpful analogy:

Muggers are using steel pipes to attack people and the injuries are severe. Some muggers use padded pipes to reduce the injuries, while still disabling the victim enough for the mugging. The Pope says that the intention of reducing injury (in the act of mugging) could be a first step toward greater moral responsibility. This would not justify the following headlines: “Pope Approves Padded Pipes for Mugging” “Pope Says Use of Padded Pipes Justified in Some Circumstances”, Pope Permits Use of Padded Pipes in Some Cases."

Of course, one may morally use padded pipes in some circumstances, e.g., as insulated pipes so that hot water flowing through them doesn’t cool as fast. And one may use condoms morally in some cases, e.g. as water balloons. But that also would not justify the headline “Pope Approves Condom Use”, though in this case it could be true. But it would be intentionally misleading.

In sum, the Pope did not “justify” condom use in any circumstances.

Read the entire thing here.

Catholic church damaged by North Korea's shelling

UCAN is reporting that North Korea’s artillery attack on  South Korea's Yeonpyeong-do damaged the only Catholic Church on the tiny island.

All Catholics including Father Joseph Kim Tae-heon, the parish priest, are safe as they evacuated to a bomb shelter as soon as the island came under North Korean shelling on Nov. 23.

While 80 percent of the residents have since left, the parish priest has opted to stay on the island with those remaining.

Two shells fell on the church premises. Windows of the main church building were damaged. The old rectory was partly demolished and a van was destroyed, said Father Johannes Kim Yong-hwan, chancellor of Incheon diocese.

The tiny South Korean island near the maritime border with North Korea on the Yellow Sea has one Catholic Church. There are about 450 Catholics among the 1,700 local residents.

Read more here.

Thanksgiving with the "Egg Lady"

By Mary DeTurris Poust

For one morning 15 years ago, I was privileged to serve alongside the woman featured in the video clip above. It was Thanksgiving 1995, the first major holiday Dennis and I would spend together as a married couple. We had moved to Austin, Texas, only a few months before and decided that since we wouldn't be at any big family celebrations, we'd try to do something for someone else. So we contacted the woman known around town as "The Egg Lady" and offered to help her distribute tortillas and hard-boiled eggs to hungry men and women on Thanksgiving morning down at the day labor corner.

Lynn -- “The Egg Lady” -- founded the Catholic Worker House in Austin, and she was out there with her eggs and tortillas and hot coffee not just on Thanksgiving but every day of the year. She drove homeless people to AA meetings, let them shower at her house, gave them clothes and offered them prayers. She reached out a hand where many would recoil in fear. She told us how one man she’d been helping stole her car. She said it without a hint of anger, without an ounce of regret. Then she boiled more eggs and went back out to the streets. What a powerful witness to what it means to live the Gospel in the radical fashion that Jesus challenges us to embrace. I am in awe of those who willingly take on that challenge not for a few hours once a year but for a lifetime.

This post is a thank you to all those men and women who will spend their Thanksgiving serving the homeless, the hungry, the forgotten. Your example is inspiring and humbling.

Please take a few minutes to watch the clip and catch a glimpse of true saintliness in our midst. Then use the comment section to tell us about the people who inspire you through their example of love and service.

Weighing in on the new papal book

In the new issue of OSV, now available online, contributing editor Russell Shaw shares insights on the new book focusing on Pope Benedict XVI, “Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times,” giving us a view beyond the condom controversy that has dominated headlines surrounding the book this week. Here is is...

By Russell Shaw

Tough and resilient may not be the first words most people would use to describe Pope Benedict XVI, but this scholarly, reserved man of 83, who once said his preferred retirement job would be Vatican librarian, lately has been giving lessons in toughness and resilience that just about anyone might envy.

Pope Benedict is no stranger to being attacked. For many years before becoming pope, and especially as prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was targeted with epithets like “Grand Inquisitor” and “Panzer Cardinal.” Since his election in 2005 to the highest office in the Church, the assault has continued off and on.

Continue reading HERE.

Have you had your free hug today?

Here's a great video (with awesome music) to send you into the weekend with a smile. Give someone an unexpected and free hug today.

Is marriage headed for extinction?

Posted by Mary DeTurris Poust

Is marriage as an institution destined to go the way of the dinosaurs? According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, 44 percent of Americans under 30 believe marriage is "heading for extinction." The strange part is that of that 44 percent, only 5 percent don't want to get married. Interesting, albeit depressing, numbers. The rest of the poll isn't any more hopeful. Forty percent of those surveyed in general agreed that marriage is "obsolete."

From a Time Magazine story on the Pew poll:

This fall the Pew Research Center, in association with TIME, conducted a nationwide poll exploring the contours of modern marriage and the new American family, posing questions about what people want and expect out of marriage and family life, why they enter into committed relationships and what they gain from them. What we found is that marriage, whatever its social, spiritual or symbolic appeal, is in purely practical terms just not as necessary as it used to be. Neither men nor women need to be married to have sex or companionship or professional success or respect or even children — yet marriage remains revered and desired.

And of all the transformations our family structures have undergone in the past 50 years, perhaps the most profound is the marriage differential that has opened between the rich and the poor. In 1960 the median household income of married adults was 12% higher than that of single adults, after adjusting for household size. By 2008 this gap had grown to 41%. In other words, the richer and more educated you are, the more likely you are to marry, or to be married — or, conversely, if you're married, you're more likely to be well off.

To read more on the Pew study, click HERE. For the Time article, click HERE. And then let us know what you think is behind this view of marriage as an obsolete institution headed for extinction.

Stunt or not, abortion 'vote' is just plain sick - UPDATED

By Mary DeTurris Poust

UPDATED: As suspected when this story first broke, the husband in the vote-for-birth-or-abortion campaign has admitted that the vote was a hoax. Although the good news is that the stunt didn't involve a real life-or-death decision for an actual baby, the hoax is still indicative of an increasingly common need for publicity and celebrity at all costs in our society.

Click HERE if you want to hear the alleged reasons for the stunt, or at least what the husband wants us to believe today.

Voting on whether an unborn baby lives or dies? Some say it's a publicity stunt, but no matter what the twisted reasons behind birthornot.com, it needs to stop. A couple from a Minneapolis suburb say they will decide the fate of their unborn child -- birth or abortion -- based on an online poll that ends Dec. 7. Up until the story posted on gawker.com, the baby was losing, with 54 percent of voters favoring "have an abortion." But the numbers have started tilting toward birth, with 79 percent now voting in favor of having the baby.

From a story on Gawker.com:

That someone would do this is almost impossible to believe, of course. We asked the Arnolds if this was some sort of a prank. "No, it's not. We are taking this very seriously," Pete replied. We then asked if this was some sort of convoluted pro-life stunt. Alisha laughed. "It's definitely not a pro-life campaign," she said. "I believe in a woman's right to choose."

According to the couple, they've been unsure about whether they're ready to be parents and have concluded that the best way to proceed is to ask random people on the Internet if they should have the child. (Tests have revealed that the fetus is a boy.) Alisha said that two pregnancies ended in two miscarriages in the past year and a half. During the second pregnancy, the couple bought the birthornot.com domain, and were in the process of deciding whether to put the birth up to a vote when they lost the baby. When Alisha got pregnant a third time a few months ago, they decided to launch birthornot.com.

Life is not a reality show, and babies are not props. These people need to wake up before they make a decision -- or let a twisted online audience make a decision -- that will end their child's life and ruin their own. Read the story HERE.

Planned Parenthood offers abortion in lieu of car seat

In the ongoing battle by the New York City Council to target crisis pregnancy centers with legislation that would force them to state in all their advertising that they do not offer abortions, a truly frightening story came out.

Over on The Corner today, we learn that staff at a NYC Planned Parenthood last week allegedly offered a "financially strapped" pregnant woman an abortion when she came in looking for a car seat. You did not read that wrong. Which group needs truth in advertising?

From Greg Pfundstein at The Corner:

But the most damning testimony against the law was given by a young lady who was confused by the name “Planned Parenthood,” which led her to have a very strange experience just last week. The address 44 Court Street in Brooklyn is home to EMC, Planned Parenthood, and Dr. Emily’s Abortion Clinic. Twenty-eight weeks pregnant and happily so, but a little “financially strapped,” the young lady went to 44 Court Street looking for an organization that had assisted a friend of hers a few years earlier. She couldn’t remember the name of the organization, just the address. What she wanted was a car seat, since you’re not allowed to leave the hospital without one. Looking at the directory in the lobby, she saw Planned Parenthood and assumed that it must be the organization she was looking for. But when she went inside and explained her situation, she was told that they could not help her get a car seat, but that since she was financially strapped, she could sign documents indicating that she was under psychological stress and get a medical waiver for a late-term abortion. (Abortion is legal only up to the 24th week of pregnancy, even in New York, except to preserve the life or health of the mother).

This young lady was shocked and distressed by Planned Parenthood’s outside-the-box solution to her need for a car seat. She did not want an abortion; she wanted her baby — and a hospital-required car seat. She eventually found her way to EMC and received the help she actually needed and wanted.

Read the full story HERE.

Soul to Soul Conversations

You can check out my latest column on spiritual friendship, Soul to Soul Conversations, up on Faith & Family Live! this week. I'll be taping a podcast for Faith & Family today on my new book, "Walking Together: Discovering the Catholic Tradition of Spiritual Friendship" (Ave Maria Press), so stay tuned for more on when you can download that.

Soul to Soul Conversations
The importance of spiritual friendship
by Mary DeTurris Poust

We live in age when we can strike up a new friendship with the click of a mouse, when our “friends,” many of whom we’ve never even met, can number into the hundreds, or even thousands, thanks to social networking. Yet despite all the connections and links and “likes” about everything from what we cooked for dinner last night to our latest work project, most people are hungry for something more.
We can have 395 Facebook friends and still feel lonely. We can “talk” to people all day in an almost constant stream of e-mail, telephone and online chats and never have a conversation that dips below the surface to touch the soul. We can surround ourselves around the clock with co-workers and neighbors, parishioners and family members and still wonder at times if we’re flying solo.

Continue reading...

An earthquake in Baltimore with Dolan’s election

By Greg Erlandson

A rather uneventful fall meeting of the U.S. bishops was shaken by the unexpected election of Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York as the next president of the bishops’ conference. The earthquake was that the anointed candidate, the current vice-president of the conference, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, was defeated in three rounds of voting.

Until only a few days ago, the prospect of the election of Kicanas was seen as a given. One had to go back decades to find another occasion when the vice president was not then elected president. Indeed, noted bishop watcher Father Tom Reese, S.J., wrote a column last week that treated the elevation of Kicanas as a certainty, praising the bishops in advance for electing a bishop from a small diocese and thus showing that they were not as deferential to rank and size as he felt Rome is.

“Not to elect Kicanas would be an earthquake of monumental proportions,” Reese wrote in his “Dewey beats Truman” column.

The election was, if not an earthquake, at the very least a sea change for the conference. This sense of some dramatic tipping point having occurred was underscored by the subsequent vote for vice president. Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput was runner up to Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, both of whom would be viewed as members in good standing of the conservative camp.

After several years where the balance of the conference seemed to tilt narrowly progressive in close votes, the election of Archbishop Dolan over Bishop Kicanas suggests that the majority of the conference is now tilting more conservative, though members of this voting bloc often reject the political labels of conservative and liberal. One bishop said that the “Bernardin era was now over.”

Archbishop Dolan is, of course, highly popular among his brother bishops, and is recognized as a genial conservative with a strong sense of Catholic identity and a willingness to engage robustly in the issues of the day.

It is also significant, and welcomed by many bishops, that the tradition of recent decades for the conference to automatically considering the vice president to be the next president has been broken. Younger bishops seemed particularly supportive of this change.

In a bit of irony that was much appreciated after the news broke, the story circulated of the National Catholic Reporter’s news alert that “bishops spurn tradition” in the Dolan vote. Wags suggested that, given the Reporter’s own track record of spurning tradition, this must mean that the liberal paper was supportive of the vote.

In terms of practical direction, there is not likely to be any significant change from the Cardinal Francis George presidency to the Archbishop Dolan presidency. The bishops seem resolved to reinforce and teach on traditional Catholic topics, to speak out on topical issues like physician-assisted suicide, but to avoid large-scale debates on very broad topics such as the economy. The intent of the majority of the bishops now seems to be to “right size” the bishops’ conference and more narrowly focus its public presence.

Greg Erlandson is OSV president and publisher, and filed this from the bishops' Baltimore meeting.

Upset in USCCB election of president. Archbishop Dolan wins over sitting VP - UPDATE

Posted by Mary DeTurris Poust

In an unprecedented move, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops over sitting the vice president, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, in a 128-111 vote.

UPDATED:

Archbishop Dolan on Telecare-TV right now says he'll have to give up role as head of CRS and will miss it. But says he needs to be "at people's service" and be available to do what he's been called to do. He says -- in between jokes about promising donuts and sundaes to the bishops in order to win -- that he'll officially become president this Thursday.

Behind closed doors at the exorcism meeting

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Do you believe in ghosts? Demons? Possession? Certainly many of us must have at least a passing interest in these other-worldly things or we wouldn't being seeing so many stories on the recent exorcism conference sponsored by the U.S. bishops. (The New York Times ran this story this week. We posted about it here last week.)

We are at once intrigued by and cynical about the existence of evil as an actual physical force in our world, one that can cause destruction and, at its worst, possess another person and cause them to do harm to themselves or others. Why is it so easy to believe in God and the power of good in our world, and not the reality of the Devil and the power of evil?

A good friend of mine -- Msgr. William Benwell, vicar general for the Diocese of Metuchen, N.J. -- was at the Conference on the Liturgical and Pastoral Practice of Exorcism sponsored by the USCCB’s Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance. He's not involved in exorcism ministry in any way but was attending in order to get information for his diocese. I asked him what he took away from the conference, and here's his report just for you:

1. There is a need for balance and prudence in approaching the subject of the demonic. It is equally dangerous to see personified evil nowhere and everywhere.

2. Exorcism ministry is more than the celebration of a ritual. It involves the pastoral care of the Church for the possessed before and after the actual ceremony of exorcism. An exorcised person is freed, but will remain wounded by the experience of having been in relationship with the demonic.

3. Demonic possession is rarely an arbitrary action by the demonic. Possession is a relationship where the possessed has given the demonic some opening. That relationship is broken when the demonic is driven out and replaced with loving relationships with God and family.

4. The primary pathways by which human beings can create an opening for the demonic include curiosity for the occult/demonic that is often coupled with an emotional/psychological need caused by trauma, fear, isolation; and direct engagement in occult/demonic activities.

5. An exorcist never works alone. It is essential that he gather around himself people of deep prayer and experience in the medical and behavioral sciences to assist in both evaluating and addressing cases of possession. (An exorcist must a priest.)

I wanted to know what he found most surprising during the conference. Msgr. Benwell said he was most surprised to learned just how many priests in the United States are involved at some level in this ministry. Although his diocese gets an average of six exorcism requests each year, they do not have a team in place to deal with it. Not so in other dioceses.

"It's a subject that’s going to take some getting used to for some people," Msgr. Benwell told me.

Here's a little info for the Church history buffs: Before there was an actual Rite of Exorcism, which goes back only to the 17th century, the exorcism prayers that would be said when trying to expel a demon were passages from the Gospel. The most common passage used was the prologue of John’s Gospel, Msgr. Benwell said.

Personally, I get that. I have that very passage hanging by my desk. The reminder that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" is powerful. Apparently even more so than I had ever imagined.

Msgr. Benwell also explained that the theology of the Rite of Exorcism has changed over the years:

"In the old rite in use from about 1614 up until more recent times... exorcism was described as being like a weapon, where you confronted the devil. The prayers were addressed to the devil. The theology was to confront, to go into battle. The theology behind the new rite is not so much confronting the devil but praying for the possessed, asking God to deliver that person. It’s not so confrontational with the devil. The focus is more the person.

"Some bishops have remarked to the Holy See that their exorcists find this new rite ineffective. The Holy See will grant permission, if it’s asked, to use the old rite. So the old rite is probably used more than the new rite."

Interesting. So confronting the devil directly has more power than tiptoeing around. And, according to those speaking at the conference, so does the thoughtful and prayerful blessing of objects. One exorcist at the conference stressed that priests today are too quick to dismiss or do by rote blessings over an object or house.

"If the demonic has power, we have power through Christ," Msgr. Benwell explained.

Some may read all this and smirk or shake their heads, brushing it off as something out of the ancient past, but I think it's a mistake to dismiss evil so easily. I remember when my son was very much into the Harry Potter series. We had no problem with him reading the books, and yet we explained to him that you don't want to spend too much time even with a fiction story that delves into darkness. I believe my exact words to him were: "You don't want to invite darkness into your life. You don't want to get too close to it." Turns out I was onto something.

I asked Msgr. Benwell if he got the sense that there is an increase in the presence of or activity of evil in our world. He told me that the experts at the conference are definitely concerned by what they see as a growing interest in the occult, covens, black magic and other dark arts. He was told that in some dioceses covens outnumber churches, and it's not just a radical fringe involved in covens; it reaches "all strata of society."

If we believe it happened in the past, why can't we believe that it still happens now? Is it because it's too scary to consider, or do we think of it as preposterous? Tell me, I want to hear what you think.

In 2010 midterm, a Catholic vote or Catholics voting?

By Russell Shaw

A Catholic vote or Catholics voting? The recent election sheds fresh light on that question.

On Nov. 2 about 54 percent of the Catholics who voted, give or take a percentage point or two, voted Republican. In the two previous elections, Catholics as a group had tilted to the Democrats. This has been the pattern for years, with Catholics mirroring the electorate at large in their back and forth swings between the two parties.

Yes, certain Catholic subgroups — notably, weekly churchgoers and Hispanics — are consistent in their voting, though in quite different directions. The rest are not.

If, then, there ever was such a thing as a Catholic vote, there evidently isn’t one now. As Joseph Bottum, editor of First Things correctly remarks, American Catholics as a group have “ceased to be any kind of a distinct voting bloc” — provided by that one means an identifiable body of voters who consistently vote along lines defined by specific values and commitments.

In the present lull between election seasons — destined, certainly, to be all too brief — it’s worth reflecting on these matters before the campaign of 2012 goes into hysteria mode.

Fifty or 60 years ago, it was relatively easy to talk about the responsibilities of Catholic voters. All that really needed saying was something like this: “When it comes to participation in politics, Catholics should observe the teaching of the Church and the principles of natural law where these are clear and well defined, but in regard to everything else — and that includes a great deal — Catholics are free to use their consciences and make up their minds for themselves.”

But that was before the authority of the Church was undermined by, as Bottum puts it, “the priest scandal and the constant attack from the nation’s press” and before the moral consensus sustained by natural law largely broke down in American society.

In his eloquent defense of natural law, "We Hold These Truths," published in 1960, Father John Courtney Murray, S.J., conceded that even then natural law thinking had for a long time been abandoned in key sectors of American academic and intellectual life, and the consensus sustaining politics and society in general was in danger of collapse.

Father Murray was right. And over the past half-century the nation has continued to experience that collapse and its consequences. Now America is a country of well over 300 million people loosely organized into frequently competing interest groups that lack a shared moral compass to shape their decisions and actions in common.

All this impacts as much on Catholics as it does on any others. It’s visible in the fact that Catholics taken as a body are about as inclined (or disinclined) as other Americans to support candidates for office who back legalized abortion, liberalized "gay rights" laws including same-sex marriage, and other items on the agenda of libertarian individualism that has taken the place of the natural law consensus in significant sectors of today’s America.

There are no quick and easy remedies for this state of affairs. From the standpoint of the Church it constitutes what, in religious terms, is frequently described as a serious catechetical problem. That is to say, it’s a matter of education. But to say that simply points to another problem: How many Catholics who need instruction are in fact listening these days?

Meanwhile, hold on to your hats — 2012 is just around the corner, and it’s anybody’s guess which way Catholic voters will swing that year and, more important perhaps, what will move them.

Russell Shaw is an OSV Newsweekly contributing editor.

Six "insights" from Dorothy Day

6 Insights from the Life of Dorothy Day from Province of Saint Joseph on Vimeo.

By Mary DeTurris Poust

"Dorothy Day is one of the most significant women in the life of the Church in the United States." That's how Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York began a moving and inspiring talk about the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement on the anniversary of her birthday Nov. 9 at St. Joseph's Church in Greenwich Village. The video clip above is worth watching to the end. I had tears in my eyes by the time it was over, but I'll give you the synopsis of what Archbishop Dolan labeled the six "insights" we can take from Dorothy Day.

1. "She was quintessentially American." The archbishop went on to emphasize that Dorothy's faith was freely chosen. She was raised Protestant and converted to Catholicism. Her faith was "her free choice," something Archbishop Dolan said should resonate particularly well with Americans who more and more reject the faith of their births.

2. "Dorothy was from the beginning a social critic and activist in the best prophetic sense of American Christian spirituality, whether Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox." The archbishop said that Dorothys' vision and her intellectual contributions may well have "foreshadowed" what Pope John XXIII, Vatican II, and Pope John Paul II tried to advance "relative to the dignity of each person as a worker, as a human being created in the image and likeness of God."

3. "Dorothy's mission to the Church in every area -- social and legal reform, workers' rights, publications, her renowned pacifism, the ability to prophetically challenge even Church authority -- all of that found its taproot in prayer," something the archbishop said is too often reversed by reform-minded leaders. He stressed that Dorothy began and ended each day with prayer and rarely missed daily Mass, adding, "Her activism was the fruit of a profound prayer that I would say bordered on the mystic."

4. "Dorothy lived through two experiences of her day that are particularly enlightening for us today. Experience one: loneliness, alienation and disconnection to foundational institutions such as marriage and family. Secondly, the sexual revolution..." Archbishop Dolan called her life one of "upheaval," but said that her Augustinian model of faith reminds us that our sexuality cannot be cast aside as a weakness but is integral to our lives as an expression of our likeness to God. "She invites us to watch her grow in integrity in this most precious act of being human," he said.

5. "Dorothy neither hid from sin nor would allow any person, no matter their motives, to be simply equated with the sum of their sins. We are not ever or only the sum total of our sins, are we?" The archbishop said that Dorothy's life was "ever in process" and she was ever more converted to Jesus Christ every day. "Holiness of life, Dorothy would tell us, would have no chance without honesty at its base," he said, stressing that we cannot deny or lawyer up when it comes to our mistakes.

6. "Dorothy was a woman of the Church. She loved being a Catholic. She loved the Catholic Church. I'm not talking about some nebulous, generic Church. She loved the one, holy, catholic, apostolic, Roman church...She was proud to be Catholic."

Finally, Archbishop Dolan went on to say that our greatest pastoral challenge as Catholics today is to "respond to those who want Christ without his Church, and their name is legion." Saying that many people don't have a problem with Jesus but have "tons of problems" with his Church, he pointed out that Dorothy knew full well the flaws of her Church and loved it anyway:

"She loved the mystical body, but she knew the mystical body had warts galore...Here's one of her saltier quotes, and there were many: 'Yes, the Church is the spotless bride of Christ, but at other times, she's the whore of Babylon.' Dorothy was well aware of the flaws, the wounds, the imperfections, the ugly side of the Church, but she loved it all the more."

Amen.

About that Facebook friend... UPDATED

As promised yesterday, I've posted my response to my Facebook friend's question about converting to the Catholic faith over at my personal blog, Not Strictly Spiritual. Click HERE to read my words of "advice, encouragement, warning," as she requested.

Please add your own comments if you have something to share with this potential convert. And thanks to everyone who left their words of encouragement on yesterday's post here at OSV Daily Take.

UPDATE: I'll be talking about this topic on the Son Rise Morning Show with Brian Patrick tomorrow, Nov. 12, at 6:50 a.m. Eastern time. If you're not in the Cincinnati area, you can listen live online by clicking HERE.

Wanted: Online evangelist to answer tough questions

By Mary DeTurris Poust

Facebook often gets a bad rap as a superficial meeting ground where people participate in silly games (like Farmville) or post photos that should have been kept private (like that drunken pirate pic that got one teaching student fired). But if you’re a regular on Facebook, you know that many times per day really serious stuff comes across your screen. Status updates asking for prayers. Status updates about situations around our world that deserve our attention and action. Status updates like this one that came through today:

“Ok, all you Catholics out there - what words of advice, encouragement or warning would you share with someone who is thinking of converting to Catholicism?”

Wow, that’s way more than a comment on the weather or the latest hit TV show, no? So, I’m asking all you OSV readers to answer this question here in the comment section today, and I’ll pass on your words of “advice, encouragement or warning.”

Tomorrow I’ll post my personal response to this Facebook friend’s very important question over at my own blog, Not Strictly Spiritual.

Can we exorcise evil in our midst?

By Mary DeTurris Poust

I have to admit that I'm fascinated with the topic of exorcism -- not with the spectacular and sensationalized Hollywood version of the deeply religious rite but with the reality of evil in our world and the possibility of pulling that evil out of another person.

Exorcism is one of those topics that makes people sit up and pay attention. I was giving a workshop at a conference in New Jersey this weekend (on spiritual friendship, not exorcism) and one of the attendees happened to mention that her son's secular college held a lecture on exorcism given by a Catholic priest and more than 600 kids showed up for it. Sure, some of it's simply curiosity about something that seems so far removed from our everyday lives, but I think part of the response to a lecture like that is a recognition on some level that there is still deep-seated evil in our world -- just look at the headlines -- and that the devil is very much among us.

This week, CNS is running two separate stories on exorcism. One story is about a priest whose life sparked a major motion picture -- "The Rite" -- soon to be released, starring Anthony Hopkins. The other story is about a conference on exorcism being sponsored by the USCCB next week.

From CNS:

In response to growing interest in the rite of exorcism and a shortage of trained exorcists nationwide, the bishops are sponsoring a two-day conference just prior to their 2010 fall general assembly Nov. 15-18 in Baltimore.

Interest in the Nov. 12-13 Conference on the Liturgical and Pastoral Practice of Exorcism proved great. When registration closed Nov. 1, 56 bishops and 66 priests had signed up.

Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., chairman of the bishops' Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, told Catholic News Service he knows of perhaps five or six exorcists in the United States. They are overwhelmed with requests to perform the rite, he said.

"There's this small group of priests who say they get requests from all over the continental U.S.," Bishop Paprocki said.

Bishop Paprocki went on to say: "The sacrament of penance is much more powerful than an exorcism. The work of the devil is much more regular and our response to that should be rather regular. It's not that you need a special exorcism to deal with the devil."

The CNS story outlines some signs of demonic possession:

-- Speaking in a language the individual does not know.
-- Scratching, cutting, biting of the skin.
-- Profound display of strength.
-- Sleeplessness.
-- Lack of appetite.
-- Aversion to anything holy, such as mentioning the name of Jesus or Mary, or the act of praying.
-- Strong or violent reaction to holy water.

I think a lot of us read that and tend to get a little uneasy, even if we acknowledge the presence of evil in our world. Hearing symptoms spelled out like a spiritual version of the latest strain of flu can almost seem more than a little unreal, and yet, according to Church officials, the need for exorcists is so great that more are needed to ease the load on the five or six men trained to perform exorcisms in this country.

So what's your take on all this? Do you believe in the need for exorcism in the world today? Or do you think it's an ancient ritual best left in the past?

Responding to the 'neediest cases'

A Catholic Charities case story from New York kicks off the 2010 New York Times Neediest Cases Campaign, which aims to raise funds throughout the holiday season for those who most need help. Each day, the paper runs a profile story to give readers insights into the real-life struggles of people with various needs and worries and the non-profit organizations that aim to ease their burdens.

The first story in the series focusing on a 102-year-old woman who has outlived her family and friends and savings account is a reminder that there are many people, often hidden in plain sight, who could use our help. It's a beautiful story of determination, strength, and the importance not only of monetary donations but person-to-person contact in programs that serve the poor.

From the NY Times:

Mary Spencer was born during the Roosevelt administration. Theodore’s.

The granddaughter of a slave, Ms. Spencer, 102, was born before the fight for women’s suffrage and a civil rights movement that would pave the way for the black president she voted for. Ms. Spencer witnessed a turbulent century, but she lived a quiet life: performing domestic work for a few loyal families for 78 years before retiring at age 90.

One afternoon recently, after she had relaxed into an armchair in her one-room apartment in an assisted living center in Port Chester, N.Y., Ms. Spencer was asked how she managed to outlive most of her peers...

Continue reading HERE to learn how Catholic Charities is helping people like Mary Spencer.

Lamentations of a (very funny) parent

If you have never read this piece and you're a parent, you're in for a treat. Even if you have read it, read it again. It's just as funny the second (or third or fourth) time around. I'll start you here:

Old Testament Parenting
'Lamentations of the Father'
by Ian Frazier

Laws of Forbidden Places

Of the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea, and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the hoofed animals, broiled or ground into burgers, you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the cloven-hoofed animal, plain or with cheese, you may eat, but not in the living room. Of the cereal grains, of the corn and of the wheat and of the oats, and of all the cereals that are of bright color and unknown provenance you may eat, but not in the living room. Of quiescently frozen dessert and of all frozen after-meal treats you may eat, but absolutely not in the living room.

Of the juices and other beverages, yea, even of those in sippy-cups, you may drink, but not in the living room, neither may you carry such therein. Indeed, when you reach the place where the living room carpet begins, of any food or beverage there you may not eat, neither may you drink. But if you are sick, and are lying down and watching something, then may you eat in the living room.

Laws When at Table

And if you are seated in your high chair, or in a chair such as a greater person might use, keep your legs and feet below you as it were. Neither raise up your knees, nor place your feet upon the table, for that is an abomination unto me. Yea, even when you have an interesting bandage to show, your feet upon the table are an abomination, and worthy of rebuke.

Continue reading HERE.

'Random Act of Culture' to brighten your day

I absolutely loved this. Just what I needed on this dreary November day. (Well, it's dreary here in upstate New York.) A big h/t to Deacon Greg Kandra for this one. I smiled the entire time this played. Do yourself a favor. Check it out.