Let's apply the principles of the French Revolution to the Latin Mass

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Liberty for the Latin Mass.

Equality between the "extraordinary" and "ordinary" forms- putting to one side that the extraordinary form is in a superior class of its own.

Fraternity directed towards those that seek to attend or celebrate the Latin Mass.

There again perhaps more Faith, Hope and Charity should be preferred to all things and charity above everything.

If Cardinal Lehmann wants to live the principles of the French Revolution, he should give greater mind to the consequences.

http://cathcon.blogspot.com/2009/08/lets-apply-principles-of-french.html

twins battling for the latin mass

Most Holy Father,We are humbly writing to you, wishing to inform you of what lies deep in our hearts.

First of all we would like to thank you for the teaching which you have lavished on us, in audiences, homilies, letters and encyclicals that for many years now have been accompanying our spiritual growth. This has been of great benefit to us, and we believe to the whole Church, especially in these times of big “crisis”.
Indeed your teaching represents liberation from the spiritual horrors of modern times, a true refuge and a good relief for the soul after having been indoctrinated by such an amount of false sagacity and personal interpretations, elevated to false dogmas.
Thanks to you, people are beginning to find some relief and solutions to the spiritual malaise which for many years has been hanging over the Church and which we had felt sorrowfully. A malaise which was due to a confusion and inability to separate between truth and falsehood, between what is just and what is erroneous, more and more difficult to distinguish and to perceive, even for the pastors themselves.
However, we wish to inform you of something which lies in our hearts, and which we have experienced after the 7th of July of 2007, in the simple ordinary life of a parish.
In particular, we would like to bring to your knowledge what has become of our lives, as has become the lives of many others, after the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.
Thanks to this and to the liturgical sensibility of your Holiness [which is near to the heart of those, like us, who do not see anything “evil” in the liturgical expression of the Faith which has given spiritual nourishment to so many Saints in the passing centuries] we had obtained, even by so many sacrifices, sufferings and humiliations imposed on us by our Bishop, the celebration of the Holy Mass of all Ages, in an oratory outside of our parish. The joy of discovering the Holy Mass, loved by our parents and which we thought was lost forever, has somewhat made up for the big disappointment in noting that this sacred liturgy has not found any place within our so much-loved parochial community.
In the article 5 § 1 of your Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, your Holiness gives a great gift to the whole church, when you reaffirm the importance and central position of the parish and of the parochial community. This unity is formed and comes into existence by way of the liturgy, for which there has for many years been a demand that the justice sees to it that it is shown.
The liturgical tradition has for almost twenty centuries shown with clarity that it has not been “excommunicated”, but always has been valid, legal, legitimate and sanctifying. Summorum Pontificum has indeed been a great act of justice.
The extraordinary riches of this document reside, we believe, in the fact that the Mass has finally returned to the parochial life of every day and is no longer relegated only to the hands of private persons and associations, to whom most certainly we owe the merit of having conserved this treasure.
True tradition lies not only in words and gestures that were codified in the antiquity and then during centuries handed over by the Church.
Tradition is also the bond of one’s own blood with one’s own land. The roots that sink down in one’s own community, that is where one truly experiences the mystical meaning of the tradition: not a law or a rite, but a communion in the spirits who, united and living, not even death has had the power to pull apart.
In the parish our ancestors, our parents and our descendants are all united spiritually with us, like one people, living and gathered together in front of the sacrifice of Christ. That is the meaning which we give to the notion “local church”.
It is with great sorrow that we discover the tragic choice that has been imposed upon us: to choose our roots to be maintained but (at the price of the) humiliation of our liturgical sensibility, or else to nourish this sensibility by uprooting our bond to the parish, and forcing us to become fugitives, exiled, relegated in chapels, without a parish, without true peace of mind.
Often these chapels become “mass centres”, gathering persons from many parts of the region, all on the run from their respective parishes. However, they do not have any possibility to sanctify themselves there, neither in the parish, the place where this should manifest itself.
This exclusion from the life of the community and the parish is a true “ghettoization” and moreover the real cause of the division, which we did not wish to happen but had to endure!
It is almost as if Tradition was an infectious disease of which one must keep clear in order to avoid getting into contact with any still unaffected Catholics. How great is our wish to participate in the Holy Mass of all Ages, celebrated in our own parish by our own parish priest, in the same way in which we attend the Holy Mass in its sacred Ordinary form!
And yet it is relegated far away from us, almost as if it was a by-product of the Catholic liturgy, of inferior dignity, and worthy of being frequented only by Catholics of an inferior class! Nothing to say of the many problems encountered by us when making available to priests in the whole world the Missal of the Blessed Pope John XXIII with all the explanations and spiritual comments on every gesture of the Holy Mass. There were many problems and sufferings that we had to encounter, both from our parochial community and from the Diocese.
Not even to take into account the slander endured by us every day, the mockery, which we at first did not understand, the hostility, and sometimes outright improper reactions from priests, either absolutely unwilling to celebrate the Holy Mass, which according to them – and in this opposing Your Holiness’ wish – should not be celebrated in a way considered by them henceforward obsolete and superseded, or because there is nobody in the parishes who is at all disposed to teach them the “ars celebrandi”.
It is almost as if our love for the Sacred Liturgy of all times and our obedience to its law which invites us to reach out for the treasures of the traditional cult, instead of being appreciated by the clergy as a manifestation of the Christian spirit, is represented as something ignoble, impure and polluted.
As a consequence of our fidelity to Your Holiness and to Christ we are being made to feel as lepers, kept at a due distance and being abused!
There are moments when the parish priests, with their continued accusation, critics and calumnies, make us feel as outsiders in the parochial community and even outsiders of the Church. If we would not participate in the Mass of all Ages, those persons would certainly not reprimand us in this wicked way.
The result is that NOW, thanks to these continuous and subtle persecutions, we feel, in spite of ourselves, that it is WE who are far from the Church. With aching pain we feel that our mother, the Church, has expelled us, turned her back against us, and humiliated us. The void this makes us feel is terrible! In other words, the distress that we feel when noting that many priests and many bishops interpret (our) Catholic faith and (our) divine liturgy, which is the final expression of that faith, as not being in “continuity” with its millenary tradition (something which Your Holiness has explained more than once), but in open and incurable “discontinuity”.
Thereby they are really making of us a banner to be shown defiantly to the world.
It is terrible to learn each day, in a tangible way, that in the same Church it is impossible to have the freedom to fully adhere to all what the Magisterium teaches us, without being subject to a snorting and a condescending attitude!
This is completely absurd. We are only Catholics, sons and daughters of the Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, obedient to the Vicar of Christ and to his laws, faithful to his teaching and desirous to participate in the same Sacrifice of Christ that materializes in the ordinary, modern, form as well as in the extraordinary and older form of the one and only Catholic Mass (of the Roman Rite -- CAP).
We feel as if we had been left alone, at the mercy of people who hate us. When the Motu Proprio was promulgated, its implementation was constantly being obstructed, in some cases even arbitrarily hindered, with intimidations, arrogance, defamation, retaliations, either against us laymen or above all against the priests who would like to offer this mass to the People of God.
No really effective measures have been taken, in order that our Catholic Church ensures the peaceful cohabitation of the two forms of the same Sacrifice, with reciprocal enrichment.
Instead of receiving this torrent of insults and humiliations from Christians and also from the same pastors, who ought to excel in their obedience towards you, we prefer to almost go back into the catacombs, where the Christians were real brothers, and the enemies, on the other hand, could be easily identified. The Church of that time, humiliated and hidden as it was, still seemed more united and faithful than the one we see in our days, torn to pieces in its interior by various currents, factions, religious or non-religious interpreters, heretics, independent and fanciful malevolent people.
Judging from the continued testimonies which we receive on our webbsite for many months now, we may be sure that what we are experiencing is not an isolated case.
We have chosen to make public our letter of concern, which we in humility have chosen to address to you, in order to gather in the same spirit the invocations and sufferings from many other Catholics finding themselves in the same conditions as us, having endured the same vexations and humiliations.
We would like you to know the reality. In the same way, we would also like the faithful, who do not know the traditional liturgy of the Church, realize that as matters stand today, there is a problem regarding peaceful cohabitation inside the universal Church, and this for sure is not the fault of those who love the Tradition.
We ask you with all our heart, Your Holiness, to take the appropriate measures, which only you are in a position to take, in order to see to it that the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum becomes applied in every parish.
With your permission, Your Holiness, (we ask you) if you could help us, in a natural and simple way, without unnecessary discrimination, to obtain those fruits of sanctification in our parochial community. Please permit the faithful to really be able to chose, without having to meet with repercussions, humiliations and heavy burdens.
We are sure that we are joined in this request also by our brothers in Italy and in the world, experiencing the same affliction, but sometimes not having the possibility to express their discomfort. We ask it of you in the name of HISTORY and also in the name of future generations, as well as in the name of the true unity of our Church.
WE BEG YOU, HOLY FATHER, DO NOT LEAVE US ALONE! We pray that the Holy Spirit, with the intercession of Blessed Virgin Mary the Immaculate, keep you in good health and give you strength and courage to ever more efficiently guide the Church, helping us to celebrate the Mass according to the Traditional Liturgy in our parishes.
The 1st of July 2009, on the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, with the expression of our high esteem and respect, we remain, Your Holiness,
your most devoted servants in Christ,
Paolo and Giovanni
Gandolfo Lambruschini
Many thanks for the translation to Natasja Hoven of Katolsk Observator, with some editing by Rorate. The remaining rough edges in some places will be edited shortly.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2009

Why Pope John Paul II should not be canonized

Once again, the Catholic world has been rocked by yet more allegations of sexual impropriety by Legionnaires of Christ founder, the late Fr. Marcial Maciel. It seems the now-disgraced founder-cum-pervert fathered more children than previously suspected; the latest claimants to his paternity purport to have evidence that the late Pope John Paul II knew of Maciel's sexual dalliances, and turned a blind eye to them. (If true, it would confirm the prior journalistic scholarship of author Jason Berry.)

The allegations highlight what for all too many Catholics is the elephant-in-the-room when discussing the ills which beset the modern Church: the extent to which the late Pope John Paul II was an enabler of these perversions, from sexual and liturgical abuse to theological dissent and the scandal of Catholic politicians who support the most immoral of social policies with the tacit or express blessings of their Church.

One does not need to deny or disparage the personal sanctity, thoughtful conservatism, or religious orthodoxy of the late Pontiff in order to acknowledge that his Pontificate, by all accounts, was a glorious failure. Yes, he aided in the fall of Eastern European Communism, but the Pope of Rome is not primarily a mover and shaker of state politics, but a Christian pastor whose mission it is to save souls, convert the lost, and govern his church in such a way that it resembles, as best as possible, the city on a hill, the light of the world whose radiance cannot be hid under a bushel-basket.

In terms of raw statistics, the Catholic Church shrank under the late Pope. Catholics comprised 18 percent of the world's population in 1978, the year Karol Wojtyla assumed the Chair of St Peter. At his death Catholics comprised 17 percent.

It'd be foolish, of course, to let such numbers stand alone as leading Catholic indicators, but in terms of the quality of world Catholicism the evidence, while not as quantifiable, is no less apparent or tangible. If one is looking for the fruits of the Wojtylian pontificate, several studies of the modern church paint a representative picture: Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church, Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, Amchurch Comes Out: The U.S. Bishops, Pedophile Scandals and the Homosexual Agenda, The Rite of Sodomy: Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church, Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal, Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II, and the pioneering work of Dr. Richard Sipe and Roman Catholic Faithful. These sources approach their subject matter from very varied ideological backgrounds, but they all paint a very bleak, but well-documented, picture of the prior pontificate.

Though Catholics and others are loathe to admit it of an otherwise beloved Pope, John Paul II oversaw a church which deteriorated in both its inner and outer life. His callous indifference toward the victims of priestly sexual abuse in refusing to meet personally with a single one of them, and his stubborn refusal to compel the resignation from office of any of the bishops who aided, abetted, and covered-up the abuse, are testamentary to his utter failure: not as a Catholic or a theologian, but as a Pope.

And this is precisely why he should not be canonized. For in the Catholic (and popular) understanding, canonization is not simply a technical decree indicating one's everlasting abode in Paradise; it is, in addition, the Church's solemn endorsement of a Christian's heroic virtue. The question the Catholic Church must ask herself is: Was John Paul II a model of "heroic" papal virtue?

Contrary to leftist media reportage, the late Pope was not an authoritarian despot, bent on enforcing Catholic orthodoxy on an unwilling church. Quite the contrary: theological liberals and dissenters flourished in all of the Church's structures, from lay politics and Catholic universities, to the ranks of priests and bishops. Not a single pro-abortion Catholic politician has been excommunicated from the church; only a handful of openly heretical priests were asked to stop teaching theology, but were otherwise permitted to exercise their priestly ministry unhindered. The Church in Austria openly dissents from orthodox Catholicism with papal impunity. Fr. Richard McBrien, Sr. Joan Chittiser, Roger Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles, Hans Kung, Charles Curran, Notre Dame University, dissenters galore: the overwhelming majority of prominent far-leftist, theologically modernist Catholic organizations, speakers, and theologians are Catholics in good standing with their church, and are frequently given an official platform at church-sponsored institutions and events. To give just two more examples, several Catholic parishes and universities flaunt themselves as "gay-friendly" in a directory published by the Conference of Catholic Lesbians. These speakers and institutions are in just as good standing with the Church as so-called "orthodox" Catholic pundits and writers.

After John Paul II, the Catholic Church is virtually indistinguishable from the Anglican Communion. Everyone has their seat at the table, liberal and conservative, high church and low. The "official" teaching of the Church may lean toward religious conservatism, but this is just one option out of many which a loyal Catholic may avail himself of and remain in good standing with his Church.

The late Pope's governance of his church was laissez-faire, he personally adhering to conservative Catholic orthodoxy but not wishing to impose such on Catholic clergy or institutions. Ironically, the Papacy has been rather critical of governments who take such approaches to their economies; should it be the model for a church which regards itself as the one true religion?

The canonization of Pope John Paul II is an issue which concerns not only Catholics, but allWashington Times recently named Pope Benedict the de facto

As noted earlier, the Papacy is the third-rail of orthodox Catholic discourse. The respect Catholics have for the Papal institution renders the living or recent claimants of that seat virtually impervious to criticism, as if such critique automatically rendered one implacably uncharitable or schismatic. When civil society regains its conservative bearings, history will not be kind to what any unbiased observer must regard as the gross pastoral negligence of the 21st century's first Pope; if Catholics want to come out of the present cultural quagmire with their intellectual integrity intact, they must fearlessly shed the light of truth on that Pontiff's pastorship, and be sure to end up on the right side of history's verdict.
traditionalist conservatives. For better or for worse (depending on one's religious outlook), the Catholic Church is the largest religious institution on the planet, and historically regarded as a fairly conservative one. The leader of world conservatism. Just as conservatives do not wish to see their foundational principles redefined by the nomination and election of conservatives-in-name-only, so the canonization of the late Pope would represent (among other things) his church's influential imprimatur on a model of Christian pastorship that has eroded the foundational conservative principles of one of the world's oldest and most venerable conservative institutions.

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/giunta/090814

Vatican Denies Reports that Liturgical Reforms Being Formalized

Vatican City, Aug 24, 2009 (CNA).- The Press Office of the Holy See today denied reports in the Italian press that Pope Benedict is poised to make changes to enhance the sacredness of the liturgy. The statement added that there are currently no institutional proposals to alter the rites being used to celebrate the Mass.

The Assistant Director of the Press Office, Father Ciro Benedettini, said that "so far there are no institutional proposals for amendment of the books currently in use."

Fr. Benedettini made the statement after the Vatican watcher Andrea Tornielli wrote that the bishops who comprise the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments had voted on March 12 to recommend a series of liturgical reforms to the Pope.

Tornielli wrote that the bishops of the Congregation voted almost unanimously to “restore greater sacredness to the rite, to recover the meaning of Eucharistic adoration, to restore Latin in the celebration and to revamp the introductory parts of the Missal to put an end to abuses, experimentation and inappropriate creativity.”

The bishops also reportedly voted to reaffirm that the norm for receiving Holy Communion is on the tongue and not the hand. However, noted Tornielli, some bishops’ conferences have received an indult from Rome to allow the reception of the Eucharist on the hand.

http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=97201

Tulsa Bishop Explains Why He 'Faces East' at the Mass

8/20/2009
source: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=34284

From ancient times, the position of the priest and the people reflected this understanding of the Mass.

'When we study the most ancient liturgical practices of the Church, we find that the priest and the people faced in the same direction, usually toward the east, in the expectation that when Christ returns, he will return 'from the east.'

TULSA, Oklahoma (Zenit.org) - The bishop of Tulsa explains his decision to celebrate Mass at the diocesan

cathedral "ad orientem" -- facing east -- as an effort to recapture a "more authentic" Catholic worship.

Bishop Edward Slattery affirmed this in an article featured in the September edition of the Eastern Oklahoma Catholic, titled "Ad Orientem: Revival of Ancient Rite Brings Multiple Advantages, Some Misperceptions."

In a discussion about liturgy, the prelate said, it is necessary to grasp this "essential" truth: "At Mass, Christ joins us to himself as he offers himself in sacrifice to the Father for the world's redemption."

He reminded his readers that "all of the faithful offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice as members of Christ's body" through baptism.

The priest has a unique role in this offering, the bishop affirmed, to stand "in the person of Christ, the historic Head of the Mystical Body, so that, at Mass, it is the whole body of Christ -- Head and members together that make the offering."

Bishop Slattery explained that "from ancient times, the position of the priest and the people reflected this understanding of the Mass."

As well, he added, "everyone -- celebrant and congregation -- faced the same direction, since they were united with Christ in offering to the Father Christ's unique, unrepeatable and acceptable sacrifice."

The prelate continued: "When we study the most ancient liturgical practices of the Church, we find that the priest and the people faced in the same direction, usually toward the east, in the expectation that when Christ returns, he will return 'from the east.'

"At Mass, the Church keeps vigil, waiting for that return. This single position is called 'ad orientem,' which simply means 'toward the east.'"

This traditional posture lasted for nearly 18 centuries in the Church, he noted, as something that was handed on from the time of the Apostles.

Journey together

The bishop observed that this single eastward position "reveals the nature of the Mass" as an act of worship shared by the priest and the congregation.

However, he said, this "shared orientation was lost" as the priest and people became accustomed to facing opposite directions.

Bishop Slattery explained, "This innovation was introduced after the Vatican Council, partly to help the people understand the liturgical action of the Mass by allowing them to see what was going on, and partly as an accommodation to contemporary culture where people who exercise authority are expected to face directly the people they serve, like a teacher sitting behind her desk."

Unfortunately, he added, this change had some "unforeseen and largely negative effects."

Not only was it a "serious rupture with the Church’s ancient tradition," the prelate asserted, but it also "can give the appearance that the priest and the people were engaged in a conversation about God, rather than the worship of God."

He stated that it also "places an inordinate importance on the personality of the celebrant by placing him on a kind of liturgical stage."

The bishop noted Benedict XVI's appeal to "draw upon the ancient liturgical practice of the Church to recover a more authentic Catholic worship."

He continued, "For that reason, I have restored the venerable 'ad orientem' position when I celebrate Mass at the cathedral."

This gesture, he stated, is not one of rudeness or hostility toward the faithful, nor an attempt to "turn back the clock."

Rather, Bishop Slattery affirmed, it represents the fact that "we journey together to God."

As well, he continued, it is an attempt to respond to the Pope's invitation to "discover what underlies this ancient tradition and made it viable for so many centuries, namely, the Church's understanding that the worship of the Mass is primarily and essentially the worship which Christ offers to his Father."

U.S. Vocations Choosing Traditional Orders

21-August-2009 -- Zenith.org News Agency

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, AUG. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Vocations in the United States are attracted to religious congregations by the example of the members, particularly by their testimony of joy, a down-to-earth attitude, commitment and zeal.

This was affirmed in a recently released report from Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The report on "Recent Vocations to the Religious Life" was prepared for last week's National Religious Vocation Conference, which took place in New Orleans.

In the study that surveyed new members of the various religious orders and institutes, 85% said that they chose a particular community because they were "very much" attracted by the example its members.

Of these new vocations, some three-fourths reported that they initially felt drawn to religious life by a sense of a call and the desire for spiritual growth.

The research, which was conducted over the past year with institutes representing 80% of all religious in the country, shows that the groups that are most successful in attracting and retaining new members follow a more traditional style of religious life.

In this style, "members live together in community and participate in daily Eucharist, pray the Divine Office, and engage in devotional practices together."

As well, the report continued, they "wear a religious habit, work together in common apostolates, and are explicit about their fidelity to the Church and the teachings of the Magisterium."

"All of these characteristics are especially attractive to the young people who are entering religious life today," it affirmed.

Generation gap

One aspect of religious life that most attracted these new members, according to the report, is common prayer.

The majority stated that this is what also most sustains them now, especially daily Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours.

The research noted significant generational gaps in the communities, especially between "the Millennial Generation -- born in 1982 or later -- and the Vatican II Generation -- born between 1943 and 1960.

"Younger respondents are more likely than older members to report attraction to religious life due to the desire to be "more committed to the Church and to their particular institute by its fidelity to the Church."The report noted that many of these also said that their decision about a particular institute was "influenced by its practice regarding a religious habit."

In general, the U.S. religious are aging, with 75% of finally professed men and 91% of women reaching age 60 and over this year.

Overall, the majority of religious who are under age 60 are in their 50s.

However, the report noted that although most groups are undergoing aging membership, a few institutes continue to attract new members and some are "experiencing significant growth."

On average, the new male members were 30 years old when entering an institute, and the females were 32.

New energy

These new members are from a more diverse ethnic background than the current group of finally professed religious, which is 94% Caucasian.

By contrast, the new vocations include some 58% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic/Latino, 14% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 6% African/African American.

The majority of these, 68%, considered a religious vocation by the time they were 21, and 53% said that they thought about it before age 18.

As well, 27% of female respondents and 19% of the males considered the vocation even before age 14.Many of the institutes reported a variety of vocational and discernment programs, targeting young people in various age groups.

The most common programs are "Come and See" experiences, live-in events, discernment retreats, and mission or ministry activities.

However, beyond these programs, the study showed that the members themselves, and their example of living religious life, were the most important factor in influencing people to choose their institute.

Currently, there are at least 2,630 new vocations in the initial stages of religious formation throughout the country.

The study noted that many of the religious expressed the hope in a "younger generation that they believe is bringing a new energy and optimism to religious life."

source:

http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=97162

US Jewish groups declare that they are not open to conversion

Major Jewish groups and rabbis from the three largest branches of American Judaism said Thursday that their relationship with Roman Catholic leaders is at risk because of a recent U.S. bishops' statement on salvation. Source

Jewish groups said they interpret the new document to mean that the bishops view interfaith dialogue as a chance to invite Jews to become Catholic. The Jewish leaders said they "pose no objection" to Christians sharing their faith, but said dialogue with Jews becomes "untenable" if the goal is to persuade Jews to accept Christ as their savior.

"A declaration of this sort is antithetical to the very essence of Jewish-Christian dialogue as we have understood it," Jewish leaders said in a letter to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The signers were the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and rabbis representing the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements.

The statement fueling the tension was issued by the bishops in June to clarify a 2002 document called "Covenant and Mission." The bishops said the earlier document mistakenly played down the importance of sharing the Gospel and was therefore misleading.

"While the Catholic Church does not proselytize the Jewish people, neither does she fail to witness to them her faith in Christ, nor to welcome them to share in that same faith whenever appropriate," said Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman of a bishops' committee on doctrine. He had said the revisions affirmed statements from the Holy See.

SOURCE

http://cathcon.blogspot.com/2009/08/us-jews-declare-that-they-are-not-open.html

New Nuns and Priests Seen Opting for Tradition

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: August 10, 2009

A new study of Roman Catholic nuns and priests in the United States shows that an aging, predominantly white generation is being succeeded by a smaller group of more racially and ethnically diverse recruits who are attracted to the religious orders that practice traditional prayer rituals and wear habits.

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The study found that the graying of American nuns and priests was even more pronounced than many Catholics had realized. Ninety-one percent of nuns and 75 percent of priests are 60 or older, and most of the rest are at least 50.

They are the generation defined by the Second Vatican Council, of the 1960s, which modernized the church and many of its religious orders. Many nuns gave up their habits, moved out of convents, earned higher educational degrees and went to work in the professions and in community service. The study confirms what has long been suspected: that these more modern religious orders are attracting the fewest new members.

The study was already well under way when the Vatican announced this year that it was conducting two investigations of American nuns. One, taking up many of the same questions as the new report, is an “apostolic visitation” of all women’s religious orders in the United States. The other is a doctrinal investigation of the umbrella group that represents a majority of American nuns, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The new study, being released on Tuesday, was conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, for the National Religious Vocation Conference, which is looking for ways for the church to attract and retain new nuns and priests. It was financed by an anonymous donor.

“We’ve heard anecdotally that the youngest people coming to religious life are distinctive, and they really are,” said Sister Mary Bendyna, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. “They’re more attracted to a traditional style of religious life, where there is community living, common prayer, having Mass together, praying the Liturgy of the Hours together. They are much more likely to say fidelity to the church is important to them. And they really are looking for communities where members wear habits.”

Of the new priests and nuns who recently joined religious orders, two-thirds chose orders that wear a habit all the time or regularly during prayer or ministry, the study found.

The study also showed that whites account for 94 percent of current nuns and priests but only 58 percent of those in the process of joining orders.

Asians and Pacific Islanders are disproportionately represented among the newcomers, accounting for 14 percent, far above their 3 percent share of the Catholic population in the United States, Sister Bendyna said.

Hispanics are 21 percent of the newcomers, compared with only 3 percent of the current priests and nuns.

Of women who recently entered religious orders, the average age is 32; for men, it is 30. But retaining new recruits is a challenge. About half of those who have entered religious orders since 1990 have not stayed, and almost all who left did so before making their final vows.

“People come to religious life because they feel they’re being called,” said Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference, adding that the purpose of the church’s training process “is to discern that call before a commitment is made.” So “it’s not surprising,” he said, “that you would have people that would leave.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/us/11nun.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimes

Support Bishop Williamson - Sign Up for Petition!

+ + + SUPPORT MONSEIGNEUR RICHARD WILLIAMSON + + +

(ORIGINAL TEXT FROM FRENCH) source: http://petitions.tigweb.org/FSSPX

On 21 January was published an interview of Bishop Richard Willamson attached to a chain of Swedish television in which he stated in substance and in English that "there were no Jews killed by Germans in gas chambers .

As expected some of Judaism Talmudic authorities tore their shirts and threatened.

As expected, the vast majority of the world press has been unleashed against him and against Rome.

As might be expected, many bishops of France have once again professed their faith in the religion of the Holocaust to condemn and dispose of the anathema against those who profess the religion of Golgotha.

It is with great concern that we later learned that the higher the FSSPX, Bishop Bernard Fellay, demanded Bishop Richard Williamson silent. Bishop Williamson can no longer defend his honor and that of Rome against the pack of dogs launched by the world against him.

It's even more concern that we learned that Bishop Fellay would have said that the Jews of today would be his "elder brothers in faith."

How can those who deny the faith of patriarchs and prophets of his could be his older brothers in faith?

Catholic or not, but committed to defending the historical truth, and that all bishops and priests of the FSSPX continue to fully defend the Catholic faith, we express our support to Bishop Richard Williamson, and we pray, Bishop Bernard Fellay, on behalf of the One who is Truth and the sign of contradiction in the world, to lift the ban on his colleague in the episcopate.

Bishop Williamson is not thrown it up and delivered without defense to internal and external enemies of the Catholic Church!

CHRISTUS VINCIT + + regnat CHRISTUS CHRISTUS IMPERAT

source: http://petitions.tigweb.org/FSSPX

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR PETITION
http://petitions.tigweb.org/FSSPX

August 2009 schedule FR NELY'S VISITATION

Schedule for August 2009

Special schedule for August 2009!

Mass Offered by:
Fr Adam Purdy (Prior - Our Lady of Victories, Manila) together with
Fr Marc Alain Nely, (2nd Assistant to Superior General)

August 22, 6:00pm Saturday

August 23, 8:00am Sunday

CONFESSION ONE HOUR BEFORE EACH MASS

Venue:
Our Lady Help of Christian Mass Center
Del Pillar-Tiano Streets,
Cagayan de Oro City
Come with your family and friends.

For more information please contact us:

09262736572 John
09154666741 Raul
09157992824 Shannah
09052195742 Mark Andrew
09224488340 Marissa
09166837511 Pio

Ave Maria!

Vespers