A Modest Proposal

 

Cardinal Dolan has made an interesting suggestion on his blog.  As a means of praying for our Cardinals and the Conclave and of preparing for the new Pope, he has requested that we join him in a novena to St Joseph, beginning on March 11th and leading up to his feast day on the 19th.  It is an excellent idea: count me in, Your Eminence.

 

St Joseph is of course the Patron of the Universal Church, so it is apt that we should turn to him as we pray for a new Pope. Indeed as the head of the Lord's household, can there be a better intercessor for the election of the one who will watch over God's family on earth? 

 

I think this is most interesting.  I had lunch with a friend of mine and we were discussing potential candidates for the papacy and a certain US Cardinal was suggested and the name it was thought he might take was Joseph I.  And now a certain US Cardinal......    Interesting indeed.  And it seems Sandro Magister is thinking the same thoughts.

"One Of Them Could Easily Have Been You"

I must draw your attention to a wonderful article by Cardinal Dolan of New York on the issue of abortion.  He is speaking to the young, to those he calls the “Ultrasound generation”, those who, thanks to technology, know that what is in the womb is not a clump of cells but a child – as they have seen it for themselves from ultrasound photographs.

Ultrasound has been a blessing to the medical care of pregnant mothers and their children – doctors can keep an eye on the baby and make sure all is going well, and the mother can look at the little one who is growing inside her.  The development of this technology has not been welcomed by all: those who promote an abortion culture are appalled by the widespread use of ultrasound and they want it curtailed: to be used only for those women who have decided to have their babies.  In their view those women contemplating an abortion should not be allowed to have one; why?  Because it might put them off when they see that what is in them is not a clump of cells, nor merely the “products of conception” but rather a child, a human being.  

Ultrasound exposes the lies of the pro-abortion lobby groups and now it is only the uninformed and those most blinded by ideology who now believe the nonsense that comes out of mouths of pro-choice campaigners. Younger generations are not so easily fooled.  Yes, there are young people who support abortion – we met them at the rally last Saturday week.  They are idealistic young people who believe in the tenets of the sexual revolution but have not actually sat down and really thought out the consequences of the revolution for their generation.  In conversation with them they speak but do not listen – they are so convinced they are right they will not tolerate an opposing position.  Anyone who has conversed with passionate teenagers will know all about this.

One of the things these young pro-choicers have not realised is that they could have been victims of the abortion culture they believe in so passionately.  That fact, however, has not been lost on all the young people of that generation – many of them are keenly aware that they could have been deprived of life. In his article Cardinal Dolan reminds them that “one of them [aborted babies] could easily have been you”.  That makes the issue of abortion a very personal one indeed. One need only ask the questions: “Do I have a right to life?  Or can another take my life for their own purposes?”  Whenever I have asked those questions of pro-choicers their response was most dismissive and they returned to the usual mantra of women’s rights and choice.   In one conversation with a young woman on the issue she responded: “I wouldn’t have known because I wouldn’t have existed, so the questions are stupid”.   She was, of course, wrong on all accounts: she would have existed, but never would have lived here on earth; she would have known that she was aborted; and no, the questions are not stupid: they are the most fundamental questions, ones which should be asked when we discuss the issue of abortion, and they are questions the pro-abortion lobby do not want anyone to ask.

But of course for those born of crisis pregnancies they are real questions.  As one born of such a pregnancy they are questions I myself asked a long time ago.  I too could have been aborted – I was conceived after the UK legalised abortion and young Irish women were taking the boat to abort their children in English clinics.  Did my birth mother contemplate abortion?  I do not know, but if she did, in the end she chose life and for that I am deeply grateful (and relieved).   I was adopted to wonderful parents and have had a wonderful life thanks to God, to my parents and to the woman who let me live.  Yet I am acutely aware that it could have been me.  

Life is a gift, a gift that must be nurtured and respected and, if endangered, defended and cared for.  Women with crisis pregnancies have life within them and they too must be nurtured, respected, defended and cared for: they must be loved, and believe me, there is no love in an abortion clinic, only death and profits.    Abortion for me, and for many others, is a personal issue.  We see it from the child’s side – the little one in the womb – the one who is defenceless and voiceless.  It might be no harm for those who are calling for abortion in Ireland now to come and see it from the child’s perspective.  As I can personally attest, the issue of abortion looks very different from inside the womb.

Later Finally Comes!

What a week it has been! I have been in overdrive the last few days and catching news in snatches.  As for blogging: later, later, later, and later never comes!  I wonder how some other blogging priests do it - they must be great at multi-multi-tasking (sic).

Well the spectre of child abuse continues to raise its ugly head in Ireland.  This week the Church's internal auditing office released reports into four dioceses and three congregations: not good reading.  Some have not learned the lessons of the last two decades, and in some cases incredible naivety has been displayed by those who should know better.  To be honest it has been known for decades, centuries even, that sexual contact between an adult and a minor was wrong. 

That said, the bias in the media was made very clear again as news programmes spent a long time talking about the reports and getting reactions in comparison with the paltry coverage they gave to the recent report into the State's handling of child care and the deaths of 200 children in State care in recent times: ministers got off light as did the organisations involved.  But then we expect that now, double standards.

Fr Benedict Groeschel has also hit the headlines for unfortunate remarks.  I know Fr Benedict and he was a great help to me in discerning my vocation.  He is one of the holiest people I have ever met, a man who has spent his entire life in the service of the poor and downtrodden seeking nothing for himself but to serve Christ in the most poor and unwanted.  Few people can claim to have done that.  His books and talks have helped millions of Catholics and non-Catholics come closer to God, and as it seemed the Church was in meltdown and the lunatics taking over, he reminded us of the hope Christ offers and encouraged us to take up our baptismal responsibilities to live and proclaim the faith.  I remember one liberal priest once described him to me as "the most dangerous man I know" - indeed he was, he was pulling the rug from under the dissenters! 

Fr Benedict has not been well for some time, and as a saint (which I believe he is) he has tremendous compassion for all, even the most heinous of criminals and sinners.  Living in a culture where we are to understand that forgiveness and compassion are not to be shown to certain people because of their crimes, Fr Benedict's compassion will not be understood.   As Christians, though, we must remember Our Lord died alongside criminals and ate with sinners and, horror of horrors, forgave them, scandalising polite society.  And a note to liberals: as Christians when we speak of compassion it does not mean tolerance, support or condoning sins or crimes; I understand that secular progressives may have a different definition.  Given all he has been through in recent years, prudence failed him here and innocent people were hurt by his remarks.  He has apologised and withdrawn from broadcasting.  We should pray for all involved.

One of Fr Benedict's great themes was that of death and what happens when the last breath is squeezed out of us: where do we go?  Well there is a very good article by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith on this.  As a priest I frequently meet Catholics who do not believe in hell or purgatory and who honestly believe that when we die there is no judgement but immediate entry into heaven.  There, surrounded by family and friends, they will continue the hobbies they had here on earth and live life their way.  A sort of Valhalla or happy hunting grounds, or indeed pastel-coloured clouds floating around the universe - the sort of thing we saw in the movie The Lovely Bones. 

Fr Lucie-Smith experiences the same issues concerning the afterlife and the last things.   The great presumption of these times is that we are all going to heaven the minute we die regardless of how we lived or served God.  This presumption is having devastating effects - people no longer see the need to live moral lives or worship God since we are all going to heaven, so it makes no difference what we do.  The irony here, of course, is that if this is true, then everyone ends up in the same blissful existence all together, even those our society spends so much time demonising.  Imagine it, permissive secular socialists on the same cloud as fundamentalist conservative traditionalist Catholics forever and ever and ever.......  That might get them thinking!

And finally, how do make pro-abortion, anti-God Democrats uncomfortable?  You just pray!  Here is the video of Cardinal Dolan's prayer at the end of the US Democrats National Convention. It was a pointed prayer, as they knew it would be - hence their initial refusal to invite him.  It was a very interesting convention - their pro-abortion and pro gay marriage agenda has now been set in stone and they began their discussions by taking God out of the equation, only to put him back in, though most at the convention seem to boo the reinsertion.  Strange goings on. 

Anyway, over to Cardinal Dolan.  My favourite bit is at 3.55 when he prays for Romney and Ryan, at that moment the camera is on a lady who seems to be expressing a difficulty at the idea of praying for the enemies, or at least that's how I read it.

And here's another video from the convention exposing the double standard that is at the heart of the so-called pro-choice position.

Clash Between Church And Obama Heating Up

A quick post to draw your attention to this interview with Cardinal Dolan on Obama's attempt to force the Church infinge her conscience and moral beliefs.   Obama is in serious denial, as he pushes his agenda he just doesn't see that it is a religious rights issue.  

I note with chagrin that the one of the adverts before the interview, and another on the page, is for contraception - was that intentional?  If so, it is in poor taste!

A related article, Mark Dooley has an interesting post on the Irish government's plans to require priests to break the Seal of Confession.

Round Up

What an eventful few days we have all had.  As the struggle against Obama continues in the US, Cardinal Dolan continues to rally the troops against the HHS mandate - faithful Catholics are not going to give up on this one despite the attempts of those Catholics who follow Obama to explain (erroneously) that conscience and freedom of religion are not being infringed. 

I see the White House has told the bishops to abandon orthodox Christian moral teaching in favour of the sort of stuff America magazine peddles.  So there you have it - the Obama administration seems to think that freedom of religion allows the government to tell a particular Church what stance it should take on moral issues: "follow the line of your members who dissent from the magisterium"  I think the First Amendment to the American Constitution forbids such a rebuke.

Meanwhile on this side of the pond, another fine Cardinal is defending the faith, this time in Scotland.  Congratulations to Cardinal Keith O'Brien who has taken on the Cameron administration in the UK.  Cameron and co are committing themselves to introducing full "gay marriage", the Cardinal has reminded them of the natural law and Christian teaching. 

I must say it is rather ironic - Cameron was fulsome in his praise of Christianity recently, and how important it was for Britain and how he is committed to supporting it, he sends Baroness Warsi over to the Pope to reiterate the same message, and now here he is taking a few steps backward.  Was it just all talk?  Another sound byte from a politician who wants to build up his contacts and supporters for the next election? 

On this little island one of our political parties has voted to adopt the same policy as Cameron. Fianna Fail, once considered a party which respected the Christian roots of our country, are now going to support "gay marriage" and adoption.  Given that the grassroots support for this party is Christian and traditional, this policy will alienate many of them. 

Of course this party introduced the Civil Partnership bill a couple of years ago, including penalties for registrars and those who provide wedding services who refused to facilitate these partnership - not only is there is no conscience clause, those who stick to their conscience will find themselves in prison with a huge fine to pay. So much for democracy. 

Fianna Fail was all but wiped out in the last election having ruled the country for three consecutive terms - the financial collapse occurred during their watch.  They need to rebuild, and perhaps this adoption of the gay agenda is an attempt to garner support from more liberal minded citizens.  So be it, but they may well alienate their grassroots supporters, which they deserve if they are taking this path to folly.  I hope our bishops will follow the example of Cardinals Dolan and O'Brien and speak out against this regression in Irish politics, and begin to take on the radical agenda which has been distorting the social fabric of Ireland.  Time for the Catholic Church in Ireland to get out of the trenches.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.  Despite the overwhelming historical evidence, much of it compiled by Jewish historians and writers, the old calumny against the Ven. Pope Pius XII continues to be made, and is taken as truth.   This time a Jewish rabbi is rehashing the old lies. This is like the old chestnut wheeled out by the usual suspects who accuse Pope Benedict, and before him Blessed John Paul II, of murdering millions of Africans because of the Church's teaching on contraception - an accusation that defies common sense.  It seems people prefer the lie to the truth, its more convenient and allows them to nurture their prejudice of Catholicism.

The Fr Guarnizo incident in Washington has taken another turn.  After he refused a lesbian Holy Communion at her mother's funeral, he was reprimanded and an apology sent to the woman from the auxiliary bishop of Washington. It turns out that the priest did not disgrace the woman, he refused her quietly so no one knew, and he had had already met her and her "lover" before the funeral.  At that meeting he told her of the Church's teaching and canon 915 which expressly requires a priest to refuse the Eucharist to those in such situations.  The priest fulfilled the pastoral requirements.  The lady chose to defy the Church's teaching in public.  The matter was not as simple as it seemed at first.  It seems, he is the one who is in the right.

Fr Longenecker has an excellent article on the coming persecution: he hits the nail on the head: there will be no blood on the streets - it will all happen in courtrooms, with legislation - with penal laws, basically. Ireland knows all about penal laws - the best way to crush Catholic opposition is to wear it out with laws and legal challenges.

And now, news about new Causes - this is getting to be a monthly feature.  This month we in Discalced Carmel are rejoicing as two of our friars are being put forward as candidates for canonisation.  Fr Marcello of the Immaculata, who died in 1984, was an Italian friar who lived in Ferrara and was renowned for his ministry in the confessional.  Fr Maurizio of the Child Jesus, who died in 1997, was also Italian, but ministered in the Holy Land on Mount Carmel.

Other new Causes: Mgr Guissani of Communion and Liberation, whom I mentioned last week.  Fr Edward Flanagan, founder of Boy's Town in the US.  Fr Flanagan was born in Ireland, but emigrated to the US when he was eight - a future Irish Saint we hope.  And two lay people: Marcjanna Grzanka, a Polish woman who died in 1941, and Nino Baglieri, a layman who was also a Volunteer of Don Bosco, who died in 2007: he was a suffering soul who became a model and advisor for many.

Congratulations, Your Eminence!

Hearty congratulations to His Eminence, Cardinal Timothy Dolan on his elevation to the College of Cardinals.  May the Lord continue to bless him in his ministry, particularly in these difficult times for the Church in the US.  We look forward to greeting the new Cardinal in his upcoming visit to Ireland in a few months.

In his homily to the new Cardinals, the Holy Father reminded them that they must serve the Church with many attitudes and virtues, one of them being, with "the courage of martyrs", which is symbolised by the colour of their robes - the red of martyr's blood. 

Cardinal Dolan's Titular Church is the Church of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario - a fitting Church for an American, but one who is also an ardent defender of human life.

Church of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario

A Few Musings When I Should Be Working!

A post after another long day.   A few good pieces to look at on the net. A marvellous article by Cardinal-designate Dolan on Obama's attack on the freedom of conscience, published in the Wall Street Journal.  He makes a very good point about the selective nature of the present administration in the US when it comes to religious liberty:

"The Catholic Church defends religious liberty, including freedom of conscience, for everyone. The Amish do not carry health insurance. The government respects their principles. Christian Scientists want to heal by prayer alone, and the new health-care reform law respects that. Quakers and others object to killing even in wartime, and the government respects that principle for conscientious objectors. By its decision, the Obama administration has failed to show the same respect for the consciences of Catholics and others who object to treating pregnancy as a disease."

As someone once said to me: "They will respect every other religion except the Catholics, to be anti-Catholic is still part of being respectable in the US".  As Philip Jenkins once called it: anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice.  Too true.  I see that the White House is in denial: typical.

Talking with some people here, I asked if Obama would lose the election: they think not.  People here, they say, care little for his foreign policy and the issues such as abortion and freedom of religion and conscience are just too conceptual for many: the economy and people's personal situations tend to decide whether a candidate is elected or not.  The economy is improving little by little, if it gets better before November Obama will get the credit. 

The lack of a good opponent will also ensure Obama's re-election, they say. None of the Republicans seem promising, and many Americans do not trust them when it comes to economics and jobs.  The elderly are fearful that the Republicans will tamper with their healthcare - Obama's plan insures they will have cover - so they will vote for him to protect themselves.  While no Republican has come out and said they will not touch the elderly's cover, none of them have reassured the elderly either.

What about the Catholic votes? I asked. The Church has been too close to the Democratic Party for too long, many will vote Obama because of that connection.  Many Catholics cherish the unions, Obama and the Democrats have supported the unions, the GOP has a tense relationship with them.  Many Catholics have no problem with Obama's HHS bill - they contracept, they abort, they sterilise: their consciences are fine with that - the bishops will be unable to rally them in a fight for religious freedom.

What about the Afro-American community.  Despite their support for Obama, they are worse off now than they were before he was elected.  Many of them are torn, I'm told: some will vote for him because he is black, but those who have lost faith in him will not turn out to vote at all. 

Many Americans will not vote for Obama, but they will not vote for a Republican either.  I asked these people to predict: they couldn't: it's too close to call - just don't presume Obama will lose.

Other news.  According to newspaper reports, the new Nuncio has arrived in Ireland.  God bless him in his mission to the Church in Ireland.  I got some texts today which tell me that a Papal visit to Ireland may again be on the cards.

And some good news; the Causes of five Catholics have been opened and are being filed with the Congregation of the Causes of Saints.  The new Servants of God are:

Fr Pedro Arrupe (1909-1991) former Superior General of the Jesuits [biography].

Benigna Cardoso da Silva (1928-1941) a Brazilian child who was murdered as she tried to defend her chastity - she is being proposed as a martyr.

Sr Mary Rosina Gladman (1922-1964), a professed sister of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart - she was beheaded while working as a teaching sister in Papua New Guinea, perhaps a  martyr also [article]. 

Maria Elizabeth de Oliveira (1951-1965), a Brazilian child renowned for her holiness.

And Maria Rachele Ventre (1939-1995), a lay woman from Bologna in Italy.  She was a musician and singer, renowned for her work among young people [biography, her foundation].

Back to work - more prep for tomorrow's shoot. We are also on Fr Mitch Pacwa's live show tomorrow night (Wednesday) - say a prayer that all will go well.  Thanks.

Ambrose Is Back!

Among the great Bishops of the Church, St Ambrose ranks as one of the most prominent.  As a preacher, he was lauded for his style and catechetical genius, as an administrator, he was efficient and human, and as a defender of the faith, he was mighty and strong.  The Holy Spirit possessed this humble bishop and formed a powerful disciple of Christ, a loving father, a wise soul and a heroic man.  He is the model, par excellence, for all bishops.

He had to face the tyranny of the secular state and did so without fear.  He was compassionate and understanding, but he was a servant of the Truth, and so he was fearless when he had to proclaim that truth even to an emperor.  Remember when we Catholics speak of Truth, we do so not only as objective reality as opposed to relativism, but we also speak of a person - Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Many of you will know of St Ambrose's struggle with the Emperor Theodosius.  There was a tense relationship anyway between the saintly bishop of Milan and the Imperial Court: politicians and rulers tend to feel very uncomfortable when they hear of a man of holy principles.  Such a man tends not to compromise for the sake of the state, but rather, inconveniently for the seculars, holds fast to the rules of God.  Such holy people are too "rigid" to be pliable and manipulated.

When the emperor, Theodosius II massacred 7,000 people in Thessalonica in 390 in revenge for the murder of the governor, Ambrose excommunicated him and imposed several months of severe penance on the emperor to atone for his sin before he was readmitted to communion with the Church.  Ambrose did not give in, he stood steadfast even in face of the considerable pressure imposed by the Imperial Court.   Despite this Theodosius did his time, saw the error of his ways, and he was readmitted.  He and Ambrose developed a good relationship, one which so good that at Ambrose's funeral Theodosius was gushing in his praise; embarrassingly so, some thought.  Ultimately, despite a violent nature, Theodosius was a good man, and Ambrose had to help him break that flaw in his character which made aspects of his rule tyrannical.

Ambrose was not a hard man, he was gentle and understanding, but there were times when he had to use his power and faculties for the good of the Church and her members, and, as in the case of the massacre of the people of Thessalonica, he had to defend the dignity of human life.  It seems another Ambrose has arisen, this time in the US: Archbishop, soon to be Cardinal, Timothy Dolan, has been forthright in meeting the challenge Barack Obama has created for the Church. 



In meeting this challenge, Cardinal-designate Dolan must be supported, and I hope the Church in the United States will fall in behind him and face down this secular ruler who seeks to impose his will on Catholic citizens and make them conform to his anti-life agenda.  In other words, it is time to break that tyrannical streak which is in Obama and the pro-abortion brigade in the US.  After all, that very streak has left a body count of 54 million children in the last 40 years. 

As for those of you in Ireland who may be asking the question, "Such issues do not concern us" - well, they do, because we now have a government in Ireland which has a similar tyrannical streak.  Given the developments with this commission examining the European Court of Human Rights's decision on abortion in Ireland, we may soon see infanticide legally established in Ireland.  Three members of that commission are in fact die-hard advocates for abortion on demand, so we need to learn from our brothers and sisters in the US.

O Lord, we pray, send us an Ambrose!