Progressive Bishops

Meet Beelzebub, he lives next door.......in the neighbours!

Great news from the US regarding the important ministry of exorcism.   It seems the bishops there realise that there is a real need for exorcists and are going to do something about it.  The National Catholic Register has the story.  My exorcist friend in Rome will be delighted to hear that.  The bishops are sponsoring a two-day conference just before their Autumn meeting, and it is all booked up!  I would love something like that in Ireland, as the problem of extraordinary demonic activity is growing.  Well done, your Excellencies. 

Unpopular Truth

Fr Fitzgerald with some of his sisters

My last post earlier today has led me to reflect on one of the prophets of the modern Church - Fr Gerald Michael Fitzgerald, founder of the Servants of the Paraclete.  He was a diocesan priest in Boston, who went on to join the Congregation of the Holy Cross, and then in 1947 founded the Servants of the Paraclete to assist priests in the process of personal renewal.  He also founded a congregation of sisters, the Handmaids of the Precious Blood.  He died in 1969.  (Biography) Last year he came into the public eye when some of his papers were released, revealing the struggle he had with bishops in the treatment of priest abusers.  His attitude was that genuine paedophiles could not be cured, and would be better off out of harm's way. 

Fr Fitzgerald founded his congregation to help priests who were worn out, disillusioned, struggling with celibacy, alcoholic or considering leaving the priesthood.  His method was one of spiritual renewal to help them rediscover their vocation and to help them with the various problems they had developed.  He had no intention of treating abusing priests, yet the bishops began to send abusers to him and asked him to cure them.  Unlike the psychologists at the time, having observed those sent to him, he was convinced that, in reality, there was little or no hope of a cure, and asked the bishops not to send these men to him because he could do nothing for them - his programme was not designed for a condition which he understood to be incurable.  Some listened to him, but many bishops did not agree - they had been listening to the lastest advances in psychology and were convinced that once the abusers had undergone a programme of treatment, they could be restored to their ministry.  Fr Fitzgerald disagreed.  They are devious, he told the bishops, they will manipulate you because their condition is deep-seated, a distortion of healthy sexuality which dominates them. 

He came up with an idea.  He wrote to the bishops and told them that if they wanted to keep sending their abusing priests to him, then he needed to buy an island in the Caribbean.  There, isolated from children, and living a strict monastic life, these priests might find some peace in their lives and be safely kept out of trouble. He asked the bishops to help him buy such an island.  In a letter to one bishop he wrote:

“May I beg your Excellency to concur and approve of what I consider a very vital decision on our part - that we will not offer hospitality to men who have seduced or attempted to seduce little boys or girls. These men Your Excellency are devils and the wrath of God is upon them and if I were a bishop I would tremble when I failed to report them to Rome for involuntary laicization....It is for this class of rattlesnake I have always wished the island retreat - but even an island is too good for these vipers of whom the Gentle master said - it were better they had not been born - this is an indirect way of saying damned, is it not? When I see the Holy Father I am going to speak of this class to his Holiness.”

Not only did they refuse, but they regarded Fr Fitzgerald as old fashioned and seriously lacking in charity.  They then turned to the experts who were telling them that a cure was possible.  We all know what happened then.  Fr Fitzgerald was, and is, I think, a John the Baptist.  Knowing what was around the corner, God send one who would announce the truth, a truth that had been believed and dealt with for centuries in the Church, but now put aside for pastoral reasons and in favour of the opinions of pyschologists. 

Having consulted my friends over at the Hagiographer's Circle, I see the cause of this prophet has not yet been opened.  I can only hope it will be soon.  We need holy priests like Fr Fitzgerald to help and advise the Church.

Peace and Truth

What happened in that tent when Pope St Leo the Great met with Attila the Hun?  That's a question which, I suppose will not be answered here, we'll have to wait until we meet St Leo in heaven.  More than likely he's up there today, the centre of attention, it being his feast day, and telling the gathered saints for the umpteenth time exactly what happened: "Well, he said to me...but I said to him....and that put him in his place..Isn't that right, Attila?"  "Yeahhh", comes the response.  Heaven will be great.

The collect of today's Mass asks the Lord that through the intercession of St Leo, that we will be kept "faithful to your truth and secure in your peace".  That sums up the pontificate of the holy Doctor we celebrate today.   Every one who has done theology knows (or should know of) Leo's Tome - his intervention in the Council of Chalcedon reiterating the orthodox teaching of the Church concerning the Incarnation and natures of Jesus Christ, in response to the decisions made by the "Robber Synod", the Second Council of Ephesus, which had embraced the heretical view that Christ had only one nature.  Now lest you think this is all mere history or theology, have a good look at the Church today and you will see that the very arguments and positions which tore the Church apart in the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries are doing the same today.  Plus ça change...  How often have I spoken to Catholics who do not believe Jesus was God, but a "good man" who was put to death because he rebelled against dogma?   Unfortunately many of our young here in Ireland veer in the same direction, if they know anything about Jesus at all.  But that's down to a failure in catechesis - something the Apostolic Visitators are going to have to put very high on their agenda.

And of course there is Leo's dealing with political figures on the international stage - ie Attila.  He struggled with secular authorities who were trying to muscle in on the Church and control her councils and teachings - a curse that we inherited from the interference of Constantine and which continued up to recent times when certain monarchs and governments even had vetoes over papal conclaves.  One thing that gets my goat (here he goes again - Father on a rant) is the whole thing of separation of Church and state.  Here in Ireland not one week passes but some atheist or secularist or politician is lecturing the Church on the need for separation from the state.  It is obvious, of course, that they actually don't mean separation of Church and state, but rather control of the Church by the state.  We have no problem with separation - we get on with our bit and the state gets on with its own, and if the relationship is normal, both can assist the other, with the Church fulfilling her mission of advising and looking after her flock undisturbed.  But the secularists do not see it that way - they want to control the Church, silence her, even banish her from the public square, unless of course they want to use the Church for their own ends, as we saw here in Ireland with the last referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.  When the Church says no to that little tyranny, they weep and wail and accuse the Church of interfering in politics. 

In Ireland we are moving somewhat towards control of the Church by the state, or at least desperate attempts at it.  The recent scandals have not helped, and it seems to me they have allowed the government to take control over some of the Church's activities in the interests of "child protection".  Now I have no problem with stringent child protection procedures - as Christians the last thing we should tolerate is child abuse and the first thing we do is deal with the offenders as quickly as possible - as we used to do before Canon Law was thrown out the window because it was not "pastoral" enough.  Secularists in Ireland have now seen a golden opportunity to dismantle the Church and her influence on modern society, and that is partly our own fault.  They are having a great deal of success. 

With the challenges that lie ahead, and the work that must be done, we certainly need the wisdom and assistance of St Leo the Great, hence the relevance of our collect this morning.  And that reminds us, we have to begin with prayer and with the truth of who Christ is.  Back to basics!

Celebrating Living Stones

Beautiful feast today - the dedication of the Lateran Basilica - more correctly, the Papal Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist at the Lateran.  The Basilica is the Mother and Head of all the churches in the city of Rome and throughout the world: in other words, in the Catholic Church this Basilica is the most important.  As you know it is the Pope's cathedral, and is situated on the site of the ancient palace of the Laterani family.  In the early 300's the Emperor Constantine gave the Laterani estates to the Church as a kind of reparation for the persecutions of the previous three centuries. Pope St Sylvester I built the Basilica and consecrated it in 324 AD.  Since then it has remained the seat of the Bishop of Rome.  Interestingly, the popes lived in the Lateran palace up until the Avignon exile.

This feast celebrates three things: the actual dedication of the building, believed to have taken place on this date; the "living stones" of the Church - us, the members of the Mystical Body of Christ; and our union with Peter and his successors - today Pope Benedict XVI.   And what a wonderful time to be celebrating this feast.  Yesterday five Anglican bishops announced that they were coming into the new Anglican Ordinariates, and hopefully many will come with them.  As I was telling my parishioners at Mass this morning, never before has our relations with the Orthodox Churches been so good.  Is it possible that reunion is not far off? We should pray for it every day, and most certainly today.

When I was studying in Rome, the Lateran Basilica was our parish church - our college was just two minutes walk from it.  In fact, it was also our local post office and gift shop.  In the basilica itself is a shop which acts as a mini post office  - Vatican, not Italian.  So whenever dutiful son here was writing to the beloved Mater, it was Vatican post from the Lateran - only the best for the Ma!  Otherwise if it was Italian mail, she'd still be waiting.  Also in the basement of the Lateran palace was a pretty good gift shop with a good selection of liturgical gear and cards for almost every occasion - most of them were "Auguri" cards and that covers everything.   Prices were not too bad, although the salesperson tended to shrug when an impetuous (and poor) seminarian pronounced the magic word, "Sconto?"  Often in times of distress one or more seminarians contemplated running across to the Basilica and seeking refugee status (it is Vatican territory), such were the times we endured.  Hopefully things are about to change.

The Basilica itself is beautiful.  In the great nave huge statues of the apostles lead up to the Papal Altar over which a majestic baldacchino holds the heads of SS Peter and Paul.  Another precious relic is an ancient table on which St Peter is believed to have said Mass.  We got used to the basilica, but never lost appreciation for it; and it was always wonderful to see the pilgrims and tourist walk around with their heads in the air and mouths wide open - it is a stunning building.  But of course, what it represents is even more stunning - the faith and holiness of the Church, of the "living stones". 

The Basilica is a fully functioning Cathedral.  Daily Masses and daily adoration and always a priest on duty to hear confessions.  I tended to go to St Peter's for confessions on Saturdays - Padre Alberto was a holy Maltese priest whose heart I broke every week with my woes - he will be canonised for his endurance.  But some of the lads went to the Lateran and to a priest who topped it all.  He listened attentively and then, for penance, began to list out a load of intentions to be prayed for. He would go on and on: you would need the memory of an elephant to remember them all.  It was great fun, but we all knew he was a good priest, a good intercessor for those in need.  And that, I suppose is what this feast means to me: the reality of the Church - its members, its history, our pope and the daily life of our faith be it the great ceremonies or the dedicated priest sitting in the confessional day in and day out helping the people of God achieve that holiness which is the greatest splendour of the Church.

Turning Back To You!

Father Z (peace be upon him) has an interesting post here.  He reproduces an article written by a priest who celebrated the Mass (Novus Ordo) as it was intended to be celebrated by the liturgical reforms of Vatican II - ad orientem.   The reactions of the laity were as expected, from enthusiasm to white hot fury.  He regrets doing it, not because some of the congregation were livid, but because once will not be enough for him - he found it was the best way to offer the Holy Sacrifice.    It is a lovely piece, but one which should make us priests have a good think, and our father bishops to look again at the intentions of the Council Fathers, the teachings of Pope Benedict and the nature of the liturgy as the celebration of the community in the worship of God rather than the community celebrating itself.  Time to turn the liturgy back towards God.  But how do we do that, given that many of the laity will not accept it?  Pope Benedict realises it will take time, perhaps a generation or two.   But that does not mean we leave the issue for a future generation of clergy - it has to start with us.  How?  Food for thought there.

Didn't He Do Well

Pope Benedict is a most astonishing man.  There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit has chosen the right man for these times.  The recent visit to Spain was a triumph and, once again, he silenced his critics.  The gay activists were out kissing in the streets in protest, Benedict didn't bat an eyelid and just got on with preaching the Gospel. 

I noted with interest the profound respect the royal family showed to the Pope.  First the Prince and Princess of Asturias bowed low and kissed his hand, and then the next day, in Barcelona, the King and Queen did the same.   I wonder how that went down with Spanish secularists and atheists.  Interestingly part of the King's official title is "His Catholic Majesty", so traditionally the Spanish monarchy cherish close ties with the papacy (when politically expedient, of course).  I would have liked to have seen the King make a stand when it came to recent abortion legislation, unlike the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein, he signed a more liberal abortion act into law.  He is a good man, and if he had refused not onlu would it have produced a constitutional crisis in Spain, but would have also send a message to the Spanish government that His Catholic Majesty would not cooperate with the destruction of innocent human life.

Interestingly, this was the pope's message during his trip as he encouraged Spanish Catholics to stay true to their faith, reminding them of the great Christian heritage which was theirs, and the of the many great Saints and Founders who have emerged from among their countrymen and women.  In a strong homily in Santiago he defended the faith with a passion which would have rallied St James himself.  The dedication of Gaudi's Church of the Sagrada Familia and its elevation to the level of Basilica, was the perfect opportunity for the pope to take on the anti-family, anti-marriage and anti-life agenda of modern European secularism, and he did so in his usual poetic and gentle way, extolling the faith of the Servant of God, Antoni Gaudi, and culminating in this marvellous paragraph:

This church began as an initiative of the Association of the Friends of Saint Joseph, who wanted to dedicate it to the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home formed by Jesus, Mary and Joseph has always been regarded as a school of love, prayer and work. The promoters of this church wanted to set before the world love, work and service lived in the presence of God, as the Holy Family lived them. Life has changed greatly and with it enormous progress has been made in the technical, social and cultural spheres. We cannot simply remain content with these advances. Alongside them, there also need to be moral advances, such as in care, protection and assistance to families, inasmuch as the generous and indissoluble love of a man and a woman is the effective context and foundation of human life in its gestation, birth, growth and natural end. Only where love and faithfulness are present can true freedom come to birth and endure. For this reason the Church advocates adequate economic and social means so that women may find in the home and at work their full development, that men and women who contract marriage and form a family receive decisive support from the state, that life of children may be defended as sacred and inviolable from the moment of their conception, that the reality of birth be given due respect and receive juridical, social and legislative support. For this reason the Church resists every form of denial of human life and gives its support to everything that would promote the natural order in the sphere of the institution of the family.

Can't put it any better than that!   He ends his sermon with a renewal of the call to holiness and a prayer to Our Lady, the April Rose - the title of affection of Our Lady of Monserrat.  I hope his words were heard by those who need to hear them, and give courage to Spanish Catholics to profess unashamedy, and live without fear, their ancient Catholic faith.  I noticed this morning the press are furious, that can only be good.

Got to love this - the Holy Father and the great botafumiero of Santiago de Compostela, I'm sure the video is all over the net, but I have to include it - this is liturgy!  Every church should have one of these! If for nothing else but to take out a few liturgists!  (There I go again, back to confession!)

Does It All End Here?

I don't really like to open up a can of worms, or disturb the hornet's nest, but given that the movie event of the year is about to happen, may I ask, in tradition of the evangelicals, "What think ye of Harry Potter?"  God help us, I can hear the groans already!   Well, the end is nigh as next week the first of the last two movies comes to our cinemas, part one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.   As millions of young people have followed the books and movies with heightened interest, almost as many Christians have been arguing over the role magic plays in the stories.

Now I can see both sides of the argument, and both camps have valid points to make.  But I must put my cards on the table: I have read the series and I have watched the movies.  I have enjoyed them, and, yes I see that there is magic and aspects which are not ideal, but then I also see that the author has gone to great lengths in her books to make her readers understand that life and goodness are not about magic or power - it is about love.  Simplistic message?  Some may say so.  Secularised?  Possibly.  True?  Yes, it is.  Overall the message is positive towards Christianity.  And the story is the ancient one of good versus evil in which the main character discovers that he must choose good and even be prepared to sacrifice himself for good.  It is like may of the fairy tales we all grew up with where the hero or heroine did use magic to defeat the baddie. But yes, some may not see that and think magic is cool and next thing they're hopping off the walls with a ouija board spinning in the air.  But then again, we have had Christians who have misread the Bible and caused just as much chaos. 

A topical book, then, to bring to your attention.  Baptizing Harry Potter: A Christian Reading of J. K. Rowling by Fr Luke Bell, a Benedictine Monk of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight, is an interesting addition to the mountains of commentary and criticism which has built up over the last ten years.  I have been reading it, and would be interested to hear what others think about it.  Fr Bell looks at the series in depth and sees many Christian parallels and he reflects on them in the light of many of the criticisms which have been made.    The book is a good read, and while I think some of his points are laboured and may not really stand up, many are valid and worth thinking about.  I think this is a book everyone engaged in the Harry Potter debate should read.

Trailer:

Business As Usual

In a quick visit to Veritas, our national religious bookstore, I picked up a copy of the Brandsma Review to see what they had on offer.  There were a couple of interesting articles, so I bought a copy and rushed for lunch.  For those who know the Brandsma Review the word compromise does not register or appear on its horizon - it is Catholic without any apologies.  It is also has links with the Latin Mass Society in Ireland, and has been promoting the Extraordinary Form as a means of helping restore reverence to the liturgy for a number of years.  Many movers and shakers in Ireland balked at such an idea, but interestingly, as we have seen in Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI agrees with the Brandsma Review on that one.

As I was munching my sandwich in my regular haunt in Dublin, one article jumped out at me: "The Good Side of Having A Bad Press".  Written by Chene Richard Heady, Assistant Professor of English at Longwood University in Virginia, and reprinted from the New Oxford Review, the article reminds us that if we are to be true to the Gospel of Christ, then we will be hated by the secular authorities and the secular media.  In fact, when they start to get too friendly with us, then we get worried.  We all know that to be true - Jesus told us in the Gospel.  It is when we start throwing out the "hard teachings" that the media begin to like us. I was interested in one thing he said: our good press in the 1960's and 1970's was not a softening towards Catholicism, but the media actually thought that the Church was getting ready to abandon "her oppositional stance towards the dominant culture".  It was only in the 1980's under the pontificates of John Paul II, and now Benedict XVI, that it dawned on the cultural elites that that was not going to happen, hence the gates of Mordor opened up and hoards of orks have been rampaging inside and outside the Church ever since.   (Where are the hobbits when we need them?!). 

Heady reminds us that Blessed John Henry Newman saw the same thing happening in his day.  Blessed John Henry experience the anti-Catholicism of the media many times, but one episode stood out for him: when he had a vegetable cellar dug, it was front page news and proof positive to the media that Catholic priests kidnapped children, hid them in dungeons and molested them there.  Sound familiar? 

So I suppose now that we Catholics are being dragged through the dirt in these times, or our press conferences end up like battles in Middle Earth, it means that it's just business as usual.    All of this is most interesting given the Gospel for next Sunday when Jesus tells us to prepare for persecutions and misunderstandings.  Heady rejoices in it:  "Let us rejoice: The Church has not been assimilated; she remains, as always, a sign of contradiction".  Indeed.   One has to wonder then, why some in the Church are so desperate to restore our reputation with the media?   Perhaps it is when we have no reputation that we can get on with preaching the Gospel, otherwise we would be too concerned about what others think about it.  Jesus did not care what the Scribes and Pharisees thought about him, so why worry about the modern Scribes and Pharisees - the media and cultural elite?

Prayer for the Pope

As Pope Benedict begins his visit to Spain to consecrate the Church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, and to make his pilgrimage to the tomb of St James in Santiago de Compostela during their Jubilee celebrations, let us accompany him with our prayers.  Spain's agressively secular and anti-life government has demeaned vulnerable human life through various legisilative acts, and seem to have brought the country back to a position it was in during the Spanish Civil War when tens of thousands of Catholics were murdered for their Catholic faith by socialists and anarchists.  Pope Benedict goes as a servant of God, the servant of the servants of God, and a servant of life to preach the Gospel of life - he needs our prayers.  The usual suspects are out on the streets protesting using the same arguments the British atheists and pro-abortion lobby used before his visit to the UK in September.   See official website here.

Father, we pray for your protection and guidance over our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.
Give him strength and wisdom to stand as a prophet for our times.
May he be a light in darkness around which we gather in hope.
We ask you to bring about reconciliation through his faithful teaching of peace and justice.
Grant him compassion and care to live the gospel in love and service to all people.
Let him follow in the path of Peter and Paul who, filled with the Holy Spirit,
reached that the Lord saves all who call upon his name.

The Saint with Heart

In Carmel, today we celebrate the feast of the Carmelite martyrs of the Spanish Civil War. They were beatified in October 2007 among a group of 498 martyrs, the largest number of people beatified in a single ceremony in the history of the Church.    Of those Carmelites, one stands out for me: Blessed Hermilo of St Elias.  He was twenty-three years old, and had just been a month solemnly professed when he was shot in July 1936.   

Here is a short biography in Spanish.  Hermilo was born Pedro Ramon Rodriguez Calle on the 14th April 1913 in Valladolid, Spain.  His father’s work took them to Laguna de Duero where Pedro grew up.  When he was nine his father died, leaving his mother in straitened circumstances.  She returned to Valladolid in the hope of making a living to support her children.  However, tragically, she was diagnosed with breast cancer less than a year after her husband’s death.  Anxious to find a place for her children, she brought them to a newly established institute for orphans.  Three of the children went into the orphanage run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul; a sister, Petra went to live with her uncles. A few months later, their mother died.  

In 1925 the sisters sent Pedro to the Teresian College in Medina del Campo to continue his studies, and it was there that he discerned the call to the religious life, finding his spiritual home among the Discalced Carmelites who ran the college.   On the 22nd July 1928, he was accepted into formation in the Order, and on the 13th August he began his novitiate, receiving the habit and new name, Br Hermilo of Saint Elias, on the 16th.  He made his first profession on the 27th August 1929.  As he was destined for the priesthood, he was sent to a number of colleges to pursue the various courses.  He studied Philosophy in Avila, the hometown of his foundress, St Teresa of Avila, then in Toledo and in the University in Salamanca began his studies in theology.  In 1934 he returned to Toledo for his second year of theology.  While he was working hard in Toledo, he reached a crisis point spiritually.  The crisis was severe and Hermilo suffered much, but thanks to the wisdom and care of his student master, the future Blessed, Fr Eusebio of the Child Jesus, Hermilo found peace and was strengthened in his faith.  On the 29th June 1936 Hermilo reached his goal as a Carmelite when he made his Solemn Profession in Toledo.  Now, after all he had suffered, he was a member of St Teresa’s Order for life: his dear Fr Eusebio who had helped him through his crisis was now Prior of the community and joyfully approved Hermilo’s advancing towards Solemn Vows.  With this major milestone reached, he now began his preparation for major orders: he looked forward to being ordained deacon and then priest.  Events, however, would overtake him.

With the outbreak of hostilities against the Church on the 21st July 1936, Fr Eusebio thought it prudent for the members of the community to go into hiding.  Hermilo and two other brothers, Perfecto and Clement, took refuge in the home of Doña Cecilia Criado, whose son, Antonio, was a priest and Navy Chaplain, and was staying with her at this time.   Hermilo and the others spent the night of the 21st July in prayer and spiritual talks.  It was obvious to them that martyrdom lay ahead, and they encouraged each other.  Each of them also went to confession to Fr Antonio in preparation.  Given the dangers, the three Carmelites decided to go seek a safer refuge.  Creeping up onto a terrace, they were spotted by a sniper and recognised: with the first shot Br Clement was killed outright.   Despite their efforts to hide from a hail of bullets over a period of time, Hermilo and Perfecto were also shot dead.  The Republicans came onto the roof and took the bodies down into the street where they discovered the brothers’ scapulars.  For three years, despite all efforts to erase them, the brothers’ blood stains marked the roof.   Hermilo’s body was buried in a mass grave.  In all, sixteen members of the community were martyred, including the prior, Fr Eusebio. 

Hermilo is a most attractive figure.  He did not have things easy, he suffered as he grew up, and then, when discerning his vocation, he endured a dark night which, I think, prepared him for his martyrdom.  Some may say he never reached his goal - the priesthood - but he did offer a priestly sacrifice - a sacrifice in union with Jesus Christ our High Priest - he laid down his life for his Lord and for the faith.  I think he has much to say to us in these times, and I hope and pray he will become a popular saint, especially among the young.  If you are impressed with him, spread the word about him, and pray to him. I have found he has a tender heart and he looks out for those who invoke him: may you find a place in that heart too.

Prayer to Blessed Hermilo
 Blessed Hermilo,
Pray for us who seek to do the will of God. 
Give us the same courage you had
to lay down your life for Christ. 
Stay with us, and teach us how to love God and Mary. 
Bless us so we may imitate the humility of your life
and the joy of your sacrifice.

Dear brother in Christ, pray for me.