Gerald has made some merchandise available at Cafepress using the logo he first unveiled here. I think the logo is phenomenal and speaks to a truth sometimes not taken sufficiently seriously. So if you’re a lover of good liturgy, and also want to support a fellow Catholic blogger, head on over and buy.
From CWN:
Mar. 1, 2007 (CWNews.com) – A Russian Orthodox prelate has told reporters that a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) and Russian Patriarch Alexei II could take place this year.
Bishop Hilarion of Vienna, who is representating the Moscow patriarchate at a planning meeting for the joint Catholic-Orthodox commission on theological dialogue, said that a meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch would be likely to take place at a “neutral” location, rather than in Russia or Italy.
“It is difficult for me to say when such a meeting could take place,” said Bishop Hilarion. “I think that it could happen shortly, should there be a mutual desire to meet and a common understanding of the fundamental questions.”
For several years, Catholic officials have sought a “summit meeting” between the Russian Patriarch and the Pope. Although concrete plans have been discussed on several occasions, in each case the Moscow patriarchate broke off the discussions, saying that a meeting could not take place until the Vatican renounced “proselytism” by Catholic clerics in traditionally Orthodox lands such as Russia and Ukraine.
Bishop Hilarion told reporters, however, that the prospects for a meeting are now better. “Dialogue is moving forward,” he said, on the issues that have caused disagreements between Rome and Moscow. “We are moving in the right direction,” he said.
The Orthodox bishop added that while a first meeting would probably take place outside Russia, he saw a later papal visit to Moscow as a possibility. “Alexei has said many times that a papal visit to Russia is possible,” Bishop Hilarion.
The Russian prelate said that he had no way of knowing whether President Vladimir Putin will invite the Pope to visit Moscow when Putin travels to Rome for a meeting with Benedict XVI on March 13.
Bishop Hilarion noted that another major event in Catholic-Orthodox dialogue will take place in October of this year, when the joint commission for theological dialogue meets in Ravenna, Italy. He said that Pope Benedict XVI and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople will attend that meeting.
The Vatican has not confirmed the Pope’s participation in the Ravenna talks. Informed sources have reported that Patriarch Bartholomew asked the Pontiff to join him in attending the October meeting, when the two men met in Turkey last November 30. Pope Benedict reacted favorably to the idea, the sources say.
Even just a meeting between the two would be a truly momentous occasion. As the article suggests, it has been a long time since the Vatican and the Russian Patriarchate have been on “good terms”, if you will. I it rather ironic, don’t you think, that this Pope whom the cognoscenti in the press thought would be so divisive has had such a positive impact on the unity of the Church as a whole. The good thing is he’s approaching this from a true spirit of ecumenism, rather than the “I’m okay, but you’re better” approach that has dogged any ecumenical efforts for so long. I’m very curious to see where this goes, even though it’ll probably move at the glacial pace most things ecclesial do.
According to this article there is a new Sanhedrin court in Israel (and there has been one for several years – where have I been?) and they intend, weather permitting, to perform the ritual Passover sacrifice at the site of the Temple this year.
The present-day Sanhedrin Court decided Tuesday to purchase a herd of sheep for ritual sacrifice at the site of the Temple on the eve of Passover, conditions on the Temple Mount permitting.
I can’t even begin to imagine the reaction the Muslim world would have to this. Particularly when their sensitivities to that spot are inflamed by statements like this:
Professor Hillel Weiss, a member of the Sanhedrin, told Haaretz on Tuesday that the action, even if merely symbolic, is designed to demonstrate in a way that is obvious to all that the expectation of Temple rituals will resume is real, and not just talk.
In other words, this is to be viewed as a first step in reconstructing the Temple. Even if that’s not what he means, that’s what he will be perceived as having said. Performing a ritual sacrifice at the Temple Mount will, I would expect, inspire a far stronger response than Ariel Sharon saying prayers there. Something to keep an eye on, one way or the other…
H/T to Dappled Things.
Argent, quoting Zenit, gives us the scoop on Cardinal Biff’s preaching at the Lenten Papal Retreat. People had expected strong words, and the Cardinal did not disappoint.
Quoting the work “Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History,” Cardinal Biffi told his listeners that “the Antichrist presents himself as pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist.”
“He will convoke an ecumenical council and will seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions, granting something to each one. The masses will follow him, with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants,” he said.
Ouch. But if you thought that was harsh, he was much more incisive later:
The 78-year-old cardinal said that if Christians “limited themselves to speaking of shared values they would be more accepted on television programs and in social groups. But in this way, they will have renounced Jesus, the overwhelming reality of the resurrection.”
Not just ignored Jesus – renounced Him. The Cardinal makes the strong point that ecumenism can be a good, but it can (and has, if you read between his lines) been taken too far. Honesty is a practice of God, not equivalence.
Particularly interesting is Catholic Mom’s take on this. She notes the contrast between the Cardinal’s words and those of Katherine Jefferts Schori. The Cardinal reminds us that when you’ve walked away from God the path to Him is back from where you are, not continuing down your own self-made road. So far this looks to be a very interesting choice by the Pope for this retreat.
Dom has a very interesting point in his post about the Diocese of San Diego declaring bankruptcy. I’ll let him do the talking first:
However we got here, with whomever the fault lies, the fact is that it is the whole Church that must dig ourselves out of this mess. The solution isn’t just found in the Pope or the bishops or the priests, but in all of us because we are all the People of God, the Body of Christ, a Universal Family.
I’m afraid the worst may be yet to come, but I believe that it behooves the rest of us to continue to pray, repent, and reform. Yes, I said repent, because if there’s one lesson we learn in the Scriptures, it is that the sins of my brother are indeed my responsibility. For whose sins did Christ climb that cross? His? Of course not. It was our sins He carried and for which He suffered and in that He taught us a valuable lesson about how to conduct ourselves. We are our brother’s keepers and our duty is not just to point out faults and complain and demand that someone else clean up the mess, but for us to start with ourselves and to pray and sacrifice. And, yes, to point out the problems and complain too. No one says we have to be silent about the problems we see, but we can’t be passive observers either.
Now if that isn’t a Lenten message, I don’t know what is. I, for a variety of reasons, have begun flipping through Genesis recently which is the reason for the post title. We cannot be the Cains of the modern world asking God, “am I my brother’s keeper?” and acting as if there was never anything we could have done differently, even in the slightest way.
Someone, somewhere will tell me this is suggesting the laity are to blame for the abuse scandal. Remeber Dom’s words: “we are all the People of God, the Body of Christ, a Universal Family.” You are your Bishop’s keeper, and that duty starts with prayer for him and continues with repentance and reform on our parts to help him do his job. As a liturgical nit, I often have thought that the “in union with XXX our Pope, YYY our Bishop…” section of the prayer was always under-valued. Yet another opportunity for good catechesis.
After reading this very long and very interesting post over at Open Book (and I can’t wait for her to continue this series on what promises to be a very interesting book
But that, frankly, doesn’t matter at this point. After having read just a few pages I’ve realized this book speaks directly to much that I’ve been ruminating about theologically and certainly seems a basis for (or perhaps a parallel corollary to) much of the theology I’ve been reading from then-Cardinal Ratzinger. After our discussion this weekend (the launch point for the “interesting” part was a combination of statements that when put together said effectively the Church has effectively left decisions on birth control up to the person since no one ever talks about them from the pulpit…I think I maintained admirable composure, thank you very much) I realized that this was one area of my theological formation that needed some significant plumping up.
It should be an interesting ride. I’ve already realized how long it’s been since I read anything significant by John Paul II, a rather unfortunate coincidence of timing and priorities rather than a specific plan. The positive part is that my von Balthasar book still won’t be here from Amazon until around March 5, so I have some time to get a jump on things.
There’s a great discussion on tradition and traditionalism going on at The Shrine of the Holy Whapping. The discussion started with Dan’s post Tradition and Traditionalism and is continued today with What We’ve Learned and Why It Matters. I have to admit, living in a diocese where the TLM is not celebrated at all (the nearest TLM is, I believe, in Still River, MA – over an hour away) and entering the Church well after the Pauline Missal was well-established I have never seen a TLM in person so I’m not the best commentator on the subject. But what catches me in the discussion is the desire, in part, to utilize the TLM (or its dialog mass variant) as, among other things, a font of refreshment for the Pauline Mass and not just as a way to assuage those who feel some attachment to the older rite.
Indeed, that is my true interest in seeing the TLM opened for free celebration as the community needs (i.e. more Masses for those parishes who are overflowing their TLM celebrations without the need to get special permission from the Bishop). I will assert, and argue if necessary, that the Pauline Mass can be prayed in an honest, faithful and yes even vertical fashion. I will further assert and argue that it is not prayed in that fashion more often than it is. This is precisely where I hope the TLM can provide an opening into the deep treasure of the possibilities of a properly prayed Mass and perhaps impress upon those willing to listen the possibility that “full and active participation” need not involve clericalization of the laity, waving arms or holding hands – that the participation of a soul in deep and intimate communion with the God becoming present in substantial form at the hands of the priest at the altar is, in the end, the greatest “active” participation one can have.
From CNA:
.- A group of Trappist monks have plans to return to Algeria, following an 11-year absence, to establish a new community. The monks left the country for Morocco in 1996, after the murder of seven French Trappists during Alegeria’s bloody civil war.
Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon shared the news with reporters during a visit to the monks’ graves at Our Lady of Atlas monastery. The now-abandoned monastery is located near Medea, 70 km south of Algiers.
The Cardinal called for prayers for this new effort, especially since previous attempts at establishing a new community had failed.
Cardinal Barbarin was on a tour of the country with Azzedine Gaci, President of the Rhone-Alpes Regional Muslim Council, in an effort to promote inter-religious understanding. Both men led prayers in the monastery’s courtyard, calling for brotherhood and dialogue.
In the 1990s, the Trappists at Our Lady of Atlas monastery — the only monastery in Algeria — had decided to stay on despite threats against them by militants. Seven were eventually abducted in March 1996 and killed two months later by the Guerrillas of the Armed Islamic Group, after France refused to negotiate the release of Algerian-Islamist detainees.
The monks had worked among the people in the poor district. They had provided free medical care, a service that is deeply missed by the locals.
Pray for them and their apostolate. It is a mission the Church cannot ignore, and an area of the world sorely in need of all the services the Church has to offer.
Reading Fr. Martin Fox’s post about the “Jesus tomb” fiascostory got me to thinking. Among other very insightful statements, he says:
It’s providential insofar as it will occasion quite a bit of discussion about what Resurrection means.
Another way it’s providential is that it will help clarify who stands for what, and help Christians realize the scalding hatred that is and always will be directed against our Lord.
Some will no doubt say that’s a case of whistling past the graveyard, that this is yet another heavy attack on Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular (albeit only slightly more in this case, unlike Da Vinci). Certainly, there will be some few whose already very weak faith in Christ and his Church is shaken to the breaking point, and for them we feel and moreso pray. But the truth is simply that this attack will not lead to the emptying of churches, just as Da Vinci failed to spark mass exodus.
More is waiting for us, however. God does not waste opportunities, and it is up to us to make true and full what Fr. Fox states above, that this attack of woefully inadequate intellectual proportions becomes instead a providential opportunity to reinforce the faith of those who may be inclined to believe in it and find their faith in a loving God who lived, breathed, suffered, died and rose for each and every one of them and maybe, just maybe it will become an opportunity for the catechesis we have been longing for.
We should be thankful Mr. Cameron was, frankly, stupid enough to bring this story out at a time when the Church (Catholic and catholic) is more focused on what it is and what it is called to be than at any other time in the year. Deny Easter when people are so tightly focused on deepening their understanding of what Easter is, how it is true and why it matters. What a feat of incompetent marketing. They’ve done their part – the question is, do we do our part? God doesn’t waste opportunities – will we?
Update: I see The Anchoress has also made the same type of statement, saying, “I think it’s an extraordinarly good thing that this issue is coming up during Lent, when we’re already supposed to be in a mindset of humility and conciliation.” I’d say great minds think alike, but I don’t want to insult her.
From CWN:
Vatican, Feb. 26, 2007 (CWNews.com) – Attacks against the right to life are increasing, Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) warned members of the Pontifical Academy for Life during a private audience on February 24.
The Holy Father expressed particular concern about “the obsessive search for the perfect child.” The use of advanced biotechnology, he warned, threatens to unleash “a new wave of eugenic discrimination.”
In his remarks to the members of the Pontifical Academy, who had gathered in Rome for their 13th general assembly, the Pope remarked that arguments in defense of life are based not upon sectarian religious beliefs but on “the natural law written on the heart,” and therefore accessible to “all people of sound conscience.”
Despite the inherent logic of the arguments for life, the Pontiff continued, assaults on human dignity are proliferating. He listed the drive for legalization of abortion in Latin America, the use of “new forms of chemical abortion under the pretext of reproductive health,” the mounting international campaign for population-control measures, the quest for “designer babies,” the pressure for legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and the drive to obtain government recognition for “forms of cohabitation alternative to marriage and closed to natural procreation.”
In light of these dangers, the Pope said, Christians have an urgent responsibility to educate their neighbors, to counteract “the inclination of the masses and the flattery of propaganda.”
“Life is the primary good we have received from God, the foundation of all the others,” the Pope pointed out. The campaign to protect that gift “is a duty upon which the future of humanity depends.”
Some will say there isn’t much we can do about this. I say we must remain vigilant and not lose heart for it is truly not our work that will bring an end to this scourge but that of God Himself working through us. We must not allow people to sink into the comfortable self-assurance that these things of which the Pope speaks do not all have a common root and a common aim. Satan does not stop – neither can we.
