Man of Leisure

The Anti-Defamation League Defames Pope Benedict XVI

On NPR this morning, normally-excellent Sylvia Poggoli filed a report about Pope Benedict XVI's decision to allow widespread celebration once again of the "Latin Rite" Mass (the 1962 Missal). In the middle of the report was a quotation from a representative of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League which claimed that some of the rite's Good Friday prayers calling for the conversion of the Jews would reopen anti-Semitic feelings among Catholics:

Jewish leaders were particularly hurt that the return of the Latin mass will bring back a Good Friday prayer calling for the conversion of Jews.

Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, said it is a step backward after four decades of Catholic-Jewish reconciliation.

It still talks about the blindness of the Jews, the need to convert them in order to make them whole. It goes so contrary to John Paul. Why go back to painful, insensitive, insulting words?" said Foxman.

However, apparently neither Ms. Poggoli nor Mr. Foxman of the ADL have actually read the document in question. In his Motu Proprio, Pope Benedict XVI allows the celebration of the 1962 Missal on any day of the year EXCEPT during the Easter Triduum - which is Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Here are the paragraphs in question from an unofficial translation of Summorum Pontificum:

"Art. 2: ...In Masses celebrated without the people, each Catholic priest of the Latin rite, whether secular or regular, may use the Roman Missal published by Bl. Pope John XXIII in 1962, or the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970, and may do so on any day with the exception of the Easter Triduum.

"...Art. 4: Celebrations of Mass as mentioned above in art. 2 may - observing all the norms of law - also be attended by faithful who, of their own free will, ask to be admitted."

One is free to speculate that Pope Benedict actually anticipated such a response from the Jewish community, and instituted the limitation in order to assuage such fears. A reading of the actual document (and its accompanying letter to the bishops) would've revealed the care that went into his decision.

Tags: catholic, news, npr, pope, benedict

Who Will Protect the Church from the State?

The New York State Court of Appeals is now telling churches what they can and cannot believe and support. The court upheld a New York law that forces employers to cover contraception, even if the employer is a religiously-affiliated organization that is morally opposed to contraception. Specifically in this ruling, the court found that religious schools and social-service organizations are not exempt from the law, if they do not serve primarily people of their own religion.

This ruling was supported by the ACLU. That's right! When faced with a clear First Amendment case where the state was interfering with the church, the ACLU decided that they'd like to see churches and believers forced to violate their own First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and religion. Way to fail in your raison-d'étre, ACL-osers!

Catholic Comedy

I responded to a challenge over on The Ironic Catholic to come up with some good haiku about the faith. Though I didn't win (nor even make Honorable Mention?!?!), I thought I'd offer here the few that I did submit for the contest:

Father, Son, Spirit
Three in One, plain as can be.
If only it were!

The Popemobile
Has got to be the best perk.
Though the pad's nice, too.

Leo's Last Supper:
Is that John or Mary M?
Dan Brown is no help.

and, my personal favorite:

Michael and the Pope:
"When will you make an end, man?"
"When I am finished."

Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

  Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini 
  Originally uploaded by Zadignose.

My devotion to Mother Cabrini, and my appreciation of her friendship, is deep and heartfelt. While at first I found her to be a useful friend of God for getting good parking, I have since blossomed into a real advocate for her cult on earth. Mother Cabrini is the one I turn to when I lose things or need something good to happen, and she never seems to let me down.

Let this entry stand as another form of fealty to my good friend, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Benedict XVI Faces East

As I suspected when I wrote last week about Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's choice of Benedict as his name, my speculation about his mission of unity and peace within the Church is apparently not far off from his own stated goal. Here's what he had to say to the Cardinals at the conclusion of the Conclave:

"Thus, in full awareness and at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome that Peter bathed with his blood, the current Successor [to St. Peter] assumes as his primary commitment that of working tirelessly towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, this is his compelling duty. He is aware that to do so, expressions of good feelings are not enough. Concrete gestures are required to penetrate souls and move consciences, encouraging everyone to that interior conversion which is the basis for all progress on the road of ecumenism.

"Theological dialogue is necessary. A profound examination of the historical reasons behind past choices is also indispensable. But even more urgent is that 'purification of memory,' which was so often evoked by John Paul II, and which alone can dispose souls to welcome the full truth of Christ. It is before Him, supreme Judge of all living things, that each of us must stand, in the awareness that one day we must explain to Him what we did and what we did not do for the great good that is the full and visible unity of all His disciples.

"The current Successor of Peter feels himself to be personally implicated in this question and is disposed to do all in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism. In the wake of his predecessors, he is fully determined to cultivate any initiative that may seem appropriate to promote contact and agreement with representatives from the various Churches and ecclesial communities. Indeed, on this occasion too, he sends them his most cordial greetings in Christ, the one Lord of all."

I think it is also signifigant that at the solemn installation Mass for the beginning of his pontificate, Benedict XVI chose to be invested with an Eastern Orthodox-style pallium (the long white woolen stole embroidered with five crosses), rather than the smaller Roman-style pallium which Pope John Paul the Great and Archbishops throughout the world wear. I haven't heard much discussion about this small gesture, but it seems to me to confirm the concept of Benedict's desire to see real progress made toward the reunification of the West and East, in order that the Church might "breathe with both lungs", as Pope John Paul so often said and taught (especially in his 1995 encyclical on ecumenism, Ut Unum Sint).

Of course Benedict XVI was the right-hand man to Pope John Paul, and so it is not surprising that he would continue to strive for an unrealized goal of his beloved predecessor. And though his time as Pontiff may be short due to his age, I suspect that Benedict's keen theological mind, coupled with genuine "concrete gestures" to reach out, may indeed set us on the path toward full communion at least with the sacramental Orthodox Churches. And, to repeat a theme, that indeed would be a gaudium magnum.

I am struck as I continue to reflect on this transition just how much continuity there truly is in God's Church. For those of us who grew up with Pope John Paul, this is going to be a long period of mourning. I am reminded of him each time I attend Mass, when we come to the point where we pray, "Keep us always in communion with ... our Pope, ... our Bishop, and clergy everywhere." It's odd enough to travel to a different diocese and hear a different name for the local Bishop, since I tend to get into the routine and expect it always to be the same. But always, no matter where I was, I knew I'd hear "John Paul our Pope." To hear "Benedict our Pope" is that dual-edged happy/sad feeling.

May God continue to bless His Church, and help us remain faithful to the truths handed down to us from the Apostles.

(Photo credit: Alessandra Tarantino, Associated Press)

NFLH: Abbreviated Papal Election Edition

I posted this morning a short podcast that gives some of my thoughts on the election of the Pope. Here it is:

nflh042405.mp3 (3:11, 1.4 megabytes)

Please give a listen, then tune back in later in the week for a few thoughts about Millions, as well as some more about Benedict XVI himself as I'm reading his book-length interview Salt of the Earth (linked in the sidebar).

Habemus Papam! God be praised!

I am very glad that the Most Eminent Cardinals have elected a new Pope. Since Portland is 8 hours behind Rome time, the voting sessions were scheduled to finish each day at 3 a.m. and 10 a.m. - and that was going to get old real fast. I mean, there was no way I was going to sleep through the 3 a.m. session and have to wake up hours later only to learn that I'd missed all the fun.

As it is, I stayed up last night (actually, I slept from 12:30 a.m. to 2:45 a.m.) to watch the smoke pour out of the chimney at 2:49 a.m. And it was... grey. So when the bells didn't ring, I went to bed and slept fitfully until 8:30, when I awoke and prepared for the day. I stopped to check the TV at 9:00, and the commentators were speaking about being unable to tell what color the smoke really was. Since it was a full hour before the voting session was due to be finished, I figured something was up... then the bells started moving, and tears came to my eyes. A flood of tears, with shouts of "My God, they really did it... we have a Pope!"

Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez really did a bang-up job of working the crowd for the most anticipated announcement he'll ever give in his life. The greeting to the enormous crowd in St. Peter's Square was charming, in several languages (Italian, Spanish, German, French, and English), and then he started in with the Latin formula:

"Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum [I announce to you a great joy]..."

"Whaaaa! Whaaaa!" went the crowd...

Wait for it... wait for it...

"Habemus Papam!" (Whaaaa! Whaaaaa! Whaaaa!)

The Cardinal Deacon's muted smile was undeniable... he continued in Latin, "His Most Eminent and Reverend Lord, Lord Joseph..."

"Whaaaa! Whaaaa!" went the crowd...

"Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church... (Wait for it...) Ratzinger!"

"Whaaaa! Whaaaa!" went the crowd...

"...who has chosen for himself the name of Benedict XVI!"

"Whaaaa! Whaaaaa! Whaaaaa! Whaaaaa!" went the crowd, whipped into a frenzy.

The name the new Pontiff chose, Benedict XVI, really is an amazing choice. He knew that he couldn't choose John Paul III, because that name is too fraught with expectation. He couldn't choose Paul or John, because that would seem to send a theological and ecclesial message that he preferred one to the other. And Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, having been drafted and forced to serve in the German army, certainly couldn't choose Pius, given the heaps of BS that John Cornwell published, accusing Pius XII of being "Hitler's Pope".

So Benedict is a name that indicates that this Pope will be in continuity with the tradition of the Church, while at the same time indicating that with which he will be primarily concerned, namely peace within the Church and strengthening the bonds of charity among all peoples. I discern these goals of the new Pope Benedict XVI by referring to the first encyclical written by his Papal namesake, Benedict XV, on November 1, 1914, as World War I was beginning:

Such, moreover, has been the change in the ideas and the morals of men, that unless God comes soon to our help, the end of civilization would seem to be at hand. Thus we see the absence from the relation of men of mutual love with their fellow men; the authority of rulers is held in contempt; injustice reigns in relations between the classes of society; the striving for transient and perishable things is so keen, that men have lost sight of the other and more worthy goods they have to obtain. It is under these four headings that may be grouped, We consider, the causes of the serious unrest pervading the whole of human society. All then must combine to get rid of them by again bringing Christian principles into honour, if We have any real desire for the peace and harmony of human society. (Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum, no. 5)

I highly recommend a thorough reading of this brilliant encyclical, for Benedict XV's words are as trenchant today as they were when he set them to paper 91 years ago. If we were to take this letter to heart and implement it in our own lives, we would be doing the world, and ourselves, a favor. And that truly would be a gadium magnam.

NFLH: Tax Day Edition

Here it is! This week's News From Lower Hallenia:

nflh041505.mp3

Topics in this week's podcast:
I. Opening Rite
II. Max Kalchthaler for Pontiff (no Friday Five this week)
III. Internet Filters: A rant against stupidity
IV. Kaiser Permanente's "Thrive" Campaign: A rant against stupidity
V. Shout-Outs
VI. Closing Rite (no Favorite Song anymore, to avoid the RIAA)

Many thanks to Stephen Koeth, CSC, who provided the voice talent for the "Max Kalchthaler as Servant of the Servants of God" adverts! While you're at it, treat yourself to Stephen's review of the brilliant film "Millions".

On Signal Graces and Legacies

A thought has been nagging me for a week now: Pope John Paul II died on Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast that he instituted in 2000 when he canonized fellow Pole St. Faustina Kowalksa, the mystic to whom Jesus revealed himself in a series of messages in the 1930s. The fact that the Holy Father died on this particular feast is rather signifigant, and was not lost on those who practice devotion to the Divine Mercy, in particular the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, who maintain America's national shrine in Stockbridge, MA.

Events such as John Paul's date of death, which many people might simply regard as nothing more than coincidence, are a form of grace - a gift from God which reveals His mercy and care for each soul. In particular, this is a "signal grace" - one which points to a reality, a sign that directs the viewer to a truth but does not force acceptance. These graces happen to all of us, if only we have the eyes to see them. With the eyes of faith, I see that Pope John Paul's death is a signal grace pointing to the importance of the message of Divine Mercy.

The Pope said, "The Message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me… which I took with me to the See of Peter and which it in a sense forms the image of this Pontificate." His second Encyclical (the highest form of ordinary Papal teaching) was "Rich in Mercy" (Dives in Misericordia), a profound reflection on the meaning of God's mercy. Looking back through this lens, the date of the Holy Father's death becomes more signifigant - even in his very death, John Paul was teaching about Divine Mercy.

The Pope's work of teaching never slowed, even has his body did. As John Paul was suffering from the effects of Parkinson's and old age, he did so in full view of the world, one might even say "in the limelight." Not surprising, given that he was an actor by avocation. As the first Pontiff of the CNN era, Pope John Paul had the means to actually be seen at the very ends of the earth, and he augmented this ability by travelling to as many countries as physically possible (the notable exceptions being Russia and China, prevented by their socialist and religious leaders from visiting), with his trip to the Holy Land being perhaps his most memorable.

The fact that the Pope aged before the eyes of the world brought a real sense of dignity to the natural life process that we all will experience. My own 85-year-old grandfather, himself not Catholic, said upon John Paul's death that he had been inspired by the man through watching him age and die. In 1999, the Pope wrote a letter to the elderly, in which he was able to speak out of his own experience, to provide comfort in the struggle.

This from a man who also instituted the World Youth Day celebrations, which drew over 800,000 people from around the world to a rainy Toronto park for Mass in 2002. And how many youth travelled to Rome to be with the Holy Father as he was laid to rest? The estimated 4,000,000 pilgrims were not enumerated by age group, but the youth were certainly well-represented. I've mentioned before that I was present in Denver in 1993 for the World Youth Day; it was a powerful experience to be among so many of my peers from around the world, joined in prayer and devotion to our Pope.

Speaking out against the attacks on human life from conception to natural death, and practicing solidarity with all those in-between, Pope John Paul leaves a legacy that will be nigh-on impossible for the next Pontiff to match. However, the Church and the world are better for having known and walked alongside Karol Wojtyla, the man who became Pope John Paul the Great.

NFLH: Papal Funeral Edition

Here's the News From Lower Hallenia, Number 2: the Papal Funeral Edition.

nflh040805.mp3 (15:50, 4.8 megabytes)

Topics in this week's podcast:
I. Introduction
II. Five Questions: Appearance
III. John Paul II's Funeral: thoughts
IV. Shout-Outs: Ryan & Tom
V. Favorite Song of the Week: "Blow It Out", by The Features
VI. Over and Out