What I Used To Do In Rome
4 weeks ago
Showing posts with label Roman Catholics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roman Catholics. Show all posts
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Cardinal Newman Society launched a website, www.NotreDameScandal.com
South Bend, Ind., Mar 21, 2009 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- On Friday Catholic and pro-life organizations responded to the announcement that the University of Notre Dame, one of the oldest and most prominent Catholic institution of higher education, will have President Barack Obama to deliver a commencement address on May 17.
The University of Notre Dame announced on Friday afternoon that President Barack Obama will be the main speaker and the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the University of Notre Dame’s 164th University Commencement Ceremony at 2 p.m. May 17 (Sunday) in the Joyce Center on campus.
According to the Notre Dame press release, “Mr. Obama will be the ninth U.S. president to be awarded an honorary degree by the University and the sixth to be the Commencement speaker.”
In response to the announcement, the Cardinal Newman Society launched a website, www.NotreDameScandal.com, including an online petition to Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins, CSC.
“It is an outrage and a scandal that ‘Our Lady’s University,’ one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage,” the petition reads.
Less than an hour after the petition was posted, it already counted with the support of high-profile Catholics such as Philip F. Lawler, Director of the Catholic Culture Project, Fr. C. J. McCloskey III, and Thomas N. Peters, blogger for the American Papist.
Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, also faxed a letter to Bishop John D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, requesting his intervention.
Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League's national director Joe Scheidler –himself a Notre Dame graduate- called on Fr. John Jenkins to withdraw the invitation to Obama.
“Over the first two months of his administration, Barack Obama has established himself as the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history,” Scheidler said. “My alma mater should not be providing a platform for this president.”
“Starting from his first week in office, President Obama has enacted a string of executive orders, appointments and policy decisions that contradict Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life –a teaching that Notre Dame is supposed to uphold,” he added.
Scheidler is also calling on concerned Catholics, especially Notre Dame alumni, to contact Fr. Jenkins and urge him to withdraw the Obama invitation.
“Father Jenkins cannot expect pro-life Catholics to stand back and allow the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history to make a mockery of Notre Dame's Catholic identity,” Scheidler said.
Austin Ruse, President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) told CNA “the U.S. Bishops are very clear: pro-abortion speakers should not be given platforms or honors by Catholic institutions. Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion president in our history. One wishes that a venerable institution such as Notre Dame could remain stronger on important points of the faith.”
Obama's commencement at Notre Dame was confirmed by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. The future address in South Bend was one of three Gibbs mentioned. Obama also plans to speak to graduates at Arizona State University on May 13 and at U.S. Naval Academy on May 22.
According to Catholic analyst Deal Hudson, “Notre Dame knows this is going to create a firestorm – why else issue a press release late on Friday afternoon? Perhaps they are imitating the example of their presidential honoree who has been bringing in the weekends with one pro-abortion announcement after another.”
“Need I list the reasons why this is a terrible idea? Need I state the obvious reasons why this will feel like a body-blow to millions of Catholics across the country and around the world?” Hudson asks; and recalls that the U.S. bishops’ document “Catholics in Political Life” (2004) states: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
“No statements or press releases will undo what Notre Dame’s position in the eyes of the world is in response: ‘Doesn’t matter.’ We’ve got THE ONE. So much for the One to whom the school’s namesake gave birth,” wrote National Review columnist Kathryn Jean Lopez.
“At Notre Dame, the administration there just made a choice. They took a giant step away from their identity as ‘Catholic.’ They rather be of this world than the one they supposedly exist to bring people toward,” she also wrote.
On May 17, Notre Dame will confer degrees on approximately 2,000 undergraduates, 420 MBA students and 200 Notre Dame Law School students.
The University of Notre Dame announced on Friday afternoon that President Barack Obama will be the main speaker and the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree at the University of Notre Dame’s 164th University Commencement Ceremony at 2 p.m. May 17 (Sunday) in the Joyce Center on campus.
According to the Notre Dame press release, “Mr. Obama will be the ninth U.S. president to be awarded an honorary degree by the University and the sixth to be the Commencement speaker.”
In response to the announcement, the Cardinal Newman Society launched a website, www.NotreDameScandal.com, including an online petition to Notre Dame president Rev. John Jenkins, CSC.
“It is an outrage and a scandal that ‘Our Lady’s University,’ one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage,” the petition reads.
Less than an hour after the petition was posted, it already counted with the support of high-profile Catholics such as Philip F. Lawler, Director of the Catholic Culture Project, Fr. C. J. McCloskey III, and Thomas N. Peters, blogger for the American Papist.
Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, also faxed a letter to Bishop John D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, requesting his intervention.
Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League's national director Joe Scheidler –himself a Notre Dame graduate- called on Fr. John Jenkins to withdraw the invitation to Obama.
“Over the first two months of his administration, Barack Obama has established himself as the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history,” Scheidler said. “My alma mater should not be providing a platform for this president.”
“Starting from his first week in office, President Obama has enacted a string of executive orders, appointments and policy decisions that contradict Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life –a teaching that Notre Dame is supposed to uphold,” he added.
Scheidler is also calling on concerned Catholics, especially Notre Dame alumni, to contact Fr. Jenkins and urge him to withdraw the Obama invitation.
“Father Jenkins cannot expect pro-life Catholics to stand back and allow the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history to make a mockery of Notre Dame's Catholic identity,” Scheidler said.
Austin Ruse, President of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) told CNA “the U.S. Bishops are very clear: pro-abortion speakers should not be given platforms or honors by Catholic institutions. Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion president in our history. One wishes that a venerable institution such as Notre Dame could remain stronger on important points of the faith.”
Obama's commencement at Notre Dame was confirmed by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. The future address in South Bend was one of three Gibbs mentioned. Obama also plans to speak to graduates at Arizona State University on May 13 and at U.S. Naval Academy on May 22.
According to Catholic analyst Deal Hudson, “Notre Dame knows this is going to create a firestorm – why else issue a press release late on Friday afternoon? Perhaps they are imitating the example of their presidential honoree who has been bringing in the weekends with one pro-abortion announcement after another.”
“Need I list the reasons why this is a terrible idea? Need I state the obvious reasons why this will feel like a body-blow to millions of Catholics across the country and around the world?” Hudson asks; and recalls that the U.S. bishops’ document “Catholics in Political Life” (2004) states: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”
“No statements or press releases will undo what Notre Dame’s position in the eyes of the world is in response: ‘Doesn’t matter.’ We’ve got THE ONE. So much for the One to whom the school’s namesake gave birth,” wrote National Review columnist Kathryn Jean Lopez.
“At Notre Dame, the administration there just made a choice. They took a giant step away from their identity as ‘Catholic.’ They rather be of this world than the one they supposedly exist to bring people toward,” she also wrote.
On May 17, Notre Dame will confer degrees on approximately 2,000 undergraduates, 420 MBA students and 200 Notre Dame Law School students.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Champion for Catholics -- Jewish Rabbi Yehuda Levin
(Please note that throughout the article, there are parenthesis that bear the comments of Fr. Z and many thanks to him for bringing this to our attention)
Left Wing of the Catholic Church Destroying the Faith Says Orthodox Rabbi
By Hilary White, Rome correspondent
Wednesday February 11, 2009
ROME, February 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The dissident, leftist movement in the Catholic Church over the last forty years has severely undermined the teaching of the Catholic Church on the moral teachings on life and family, [fantastic!] a prominent US Orthodox rabbi told LifeSiteNews.com. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, the head of a group of 800 Orthodox rabbis in the US and Canada, also dismissed the accusations that the Holy See had not sufficiently distanced itself from the comments made by Bishop Richard Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) on the Holocaust.
"I support this move" to reconcile the traditionalist faction in the Church, he said, "because I understand the big picture, which is that the Catholic Church has a problem. There is a strong left wing of the Church that is doing immeasurable harm to the faith." [Peter was Jewish. Can Rabbi Levin be Pope after Pope Benedict? Maybe 20 years from now?]
Rabbi Levin said that he understands "perfectly" why the reconciliation is vital to the fight against abortion and the homosexualist movement. [The man-centered view of the left detaches morals from reality.]
"I understand that it is very important to fill the pews of the Catholic Church not with cultural Catholics and left-wingers who are helping to destroy the Catholic Church and corrupt the values of the Catholic Church." This corruption, he said, "has a trickle-down effect to every single religious community in the world." [What an admission!]
"What’s the Pope doing? He’s trying to bring the traditionalists back in because they have a lot of very important things to contribute the commonweal of Catholicism. [YES YES YES!]
"Now, if in the process, he inadvertently includes someone who is prominent in the traditionalist movement who happens to say very strange things about the Holocaust, is that a reason to throw out the baby with the bathwater and start to condemn Pope Benedict? Absolutely not."
During a visit to Rome at the end of January, Rabbi Levin told LifeSiteNews.com that he believes the media furore over the lifting of the excommunications of the four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X is a red herring. He called "ridiculous" the accusations that in doing so Pope Benedict VXI or the Catholic Church are anti-Semitic and described as "very strong" the statements distancing the Holy See and the Pope from Williamson’s comments.
Rabbi Levin was in Rome holding meetings with high level Vatican officials to propose what he called a "new stream of thinking" for the Church’s inter-religious dialogue, one based on commonly held moral teachings, particularly on the right to life and the sanctity of natural marriage.
"The most important issue," he said, is the work the Church is doing "to save babies from abortion, and save children’s minds, and young people’s minds, helping them to know right and wrong on the life and family issues."
"That’s where ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue has to go."
Although numbers are difficult to determine, it is estimated that the Society of St. Pius X has over a million followers worldwide. The traditionalist movement in the Catholic Church is noted for doctrinal orthodoxy and enthusiasm not only for old-fashioned devotional practices, but for the Church’s moral teachings and opposition to post-modern secularist sexual mores. [And this is why progressivists will fight their reintegration in the mainstream Church.] Liberals in the Church, particularly in Europe, have bitterly opposed all overtures to the SSPX and other traditionalists, particularly the Pope’s recent permission to revive the traditional Latin Mass. [The TLM is the monster under their bed.]
The Vatican announced in early January that, as part of ongoing efforts to reconcile the breakaway group, the 1988 decree of excommunication against the Society had been rescinded. Later that month, a Swedish television station aired an interview, recorded in November 2008, in which Bishop Richard Williamson, one of the four leaders of the Society, said that he did not believe that six million Jews were killed in the Nazi death camps during World War II.
At that time, the media erupted with protests and accusations that the Catholic Church, and especially Pope Benedict XVI, are anti-Semitic.
Rabbi Levin particularly defended Pope Benedict, saying he is the genius behind the moves of the late Pope John Paul II to reconcile the Church with the Jewish community. [HO HO! The libs aren’t going to like that suggestion! They will attack the Rabbi especially on this point, suggesting that it was all JP II and had nothing to do with Card. Ratzinger… who is German, btw.]
"Anyone who understands and follows Vatican history knows that in the last three decades, one of the moral and intellectual underpinnings of the papacy of Pope John Paul II, was Cardinal Ratzinger.
"And therefore, a lot of the things that Pope John Paul did vis-à-vis the Holocaust, he [Benedict] might have done himself, whether it was visiting Auschwitz or visiting and speaking in the synagogues or asking forgiveness. A lot of this had direct input from Cardinal Ratzinger. Whoever doesn’t understand this doesn’t realise that this man, Pope Benedict XVI, has a decades-long track record of anti-Nazism and sympathy for the Jews."
Left Wing of the Catholic Church Destroying the Faith Says Orthodox Rabbi
By Hilary White, Rome correspondent
Wednesday February 11, 2009
ROME, February 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The dissident, leftist movement in the Catholic Church over the last forty years has severely undermined the teaching of the Catholic Church on the moral teachings on life and family, [fantastic!] a prominent US Orthodox rabbi told LifeSiteNews.com. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, the head of a group of 800 Orthodox rabbis in the US and Canada, also dismissed the accusations that the Holy See had not sufficiently distanced itself from the comments made by Bishop Richard Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) on the Holocaust.
"I support this move" to reconcile the traditionalist faction in the Church, he said, "because I understand the big picture, which is that the Catholic Church has a problem. There is a strong left wing of the Church that is doing immeasurable harm to the faith." [Peter was Jewish. Can Rabbi Levin be Pope after Pope Benedict? Maybe 20 years from now?]
Rabbi Levin said that he understands "perfectly" why the reconciliation is vital to the fight against abortion and the homosexualist movement. [The man-centered view of the left detaches morals from reality.]
"I understand that it is very important to fill the pews of the Catholic Church not with cultural Catholics and left-wingers who are helping to destroy the Catholic Church and corrupt the values of the Catholic Church." This corruption, he said, "has a trickle-down effect to every single religious community in the world." [What an admission!]
"What’s the Pope doing? He’s trying to bring the traditionalists back in because they have a lot of very important things to contribute the commonweal of Catholicism. [YES YES YES!]
"Now, if in the process, he inadvertently includes someone who is prominent in the traditionalist movement who happens to say very strange things about the Holocaust, is that a reason to throw out the baby with the bathwater and start to condemn Pope Benedict? Absolutely not."
During a visit to Rome at the end of January, Rabbi Levin told LifeSiteNews.com that he believes the media furore over the lifting of the excommunications of the four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X is a red herring. He called "ridiculous" the accusations that in doing so Pope Benedict VXI or the Catholic Church are anti-Semitic and described as "very strong" the statements distancing the Holy See and the Pope from Williamson’s comments.
Rabbi Levin was in Rome holding meetings with high level Vatican officials to propose what he called a "new stream of thinking" for the Church’s inter-religious dialogue, one based on commonly held moral teachings, particularly on the right to life and the sanctity of natural marriage.
"The most important issue," he said, is the work the Church is doing "to save babies from abortion, and save children’s minds, and young people’s minds, helping them to know right and wrong on the life and family issues."
"That’s where ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue has to go."
Although numbers are difficult to determine, it is estimated that the Society of St. Pius X has over a million followers worldwide. The traditionalist movement in the Catholic Church is noted for doctrinal orthodoxy and enthusiasm not only for old-fashioned devotional practices, but for the Church’s moral teachings and opposition to post-modern secularist sexual mores. [And this is why progressivists will fight their reintegration in the mainstream Church.] Liberals in the Church, particularly in Europe, have bitterly opposed all overtures to the SSPX and other traditionalists, particularly the Pope’s recent permission to revive the traditional Latin Mass. [The TLM is the monster under their bed.]
The Vatican announced in early January that, as part of ongoing efforts to reconcile the breakaway group, the 1988 decree of excommunication against the Society had been rescinded. Later that month, a Swedish television station aired an interview, recorded in November 2008, in which Bishop Richard Williamson, one of the four leaders of the Society, said that he did not believe that six million Jews were killed in the Nazi death camps during World War II.
At that time, the media erupted with protests and accusations that the Catholic Church, and especially Pope Benedict XVI, are anti-Semitic.
Rabbi Levin particularly defended Pope Benedict, saying he is the genius behind the moves of the late Pope John Paul II to reconcile the Church with the Jewish community. [HO HO! The libs aren’t going to like that suggestion! They will attack the Rabbi especially on this point, suggesting that it was all JP II and had nothing to do with Card. Ratzinger… who is German, btw.]
"Anyone who understands and follows Vatican history knows that in the last three decades, one of the moral and intellectual underpinnings of the papacy of Pope John Paul II, was Cardinal Ratzinger.
"And therefore, a lot of the things that Pope John Paul did vis-à-vis the Holocaust, he [Benedict] might have done himself, whether it was visiting Auschwitz or visiting and speaking in the synagogues or asking forgiveness. A lot of this had direct input from Cardinal Ratzinger. Whoever doesn’t understand this doesn’t realise that this man, Pope Benedict XVI, has a decades-long track record of anti-Nazism and sympathy for the Jews."
Monday, December 15, 2008
Destruction of Monastery
Vietnamese officials reaffirm plans to demolish Catholic monastery
Candlelight vigil in Saigon / Photo credit: Fr. J.B. An Dang
Vinh Long, Dec 15, 2008 / 09:36 pm (CNA).- Repeating a government tactic used in disputes with Vietnamese Catholics seeking the return of confiscated property, the People's Committee of Vinh Long on Friday announced that it will demolish the city’s St. Paul Monastery to build a public park.
Prior to the announcement, numerous meetings had been held in Vinh Long to accuse the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of "taking advantage of religious freedom to inspire protests against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and hence damage the united block of the people," J.B. An Dang tells CNA.
In May, the Sisters began protesting government plans to convert their monastery into a five-star hotel.
Thomas Nguyen Van Tan, Bishop of Vinh Long, wrote a May 18 letter to priests, religious, and lay people of the diocese, recounting the history of the dispute.
On "a day of disaster," September 7, 1977, local authorities mobilized armed forces to blockade and raid Holy Cross College, St. Paul Monastery, and the Major Seminary, the bishop wrote.
"Then, they seized all these properties and arrested those who were in charge of the premises. I myself was among the detainees," his letter continued.
He reported that since the confiscation of the property, representatives of the Provincial Superior of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and representatives of the Bishop’s office have repeatedly sent petitions to local and central governments.
"However, these petitions have gone unanswered," the bishop added.
Reporting confirmation from local officials, he reported in his May 18 letter that the local government had issued a decree that a hotel should be built on the land of the Sisters, the size of which he reported to be 10,235 square meters or about 2.5 acres.
His letter also reported that town residents had been summoned to government meetings to vow to take "strong actions" against opponents of the construction. The bishop called the loss of their monastery a "great suffering" for the Sisters.
Sister Marie Nguyen from Saigon explained that the Sisters had been in Vinh Long since 1871 and have been "continuously serving" people in the provinces of Vinh Long, Ben Tre, and Tra Vinh.
"Their monastery had also been used as an orphanage, and they just wanted to get it back to run an orphanage. The need for such a charity institution is more urgent than ever as HIV infection and drug addiction keep claiming more and more people's lives in the area," she said, according to J.B. An Dang.
"Obviously, while the Church is seeking innovative ways to serve people, this government chooses to turn its back against them," she commented.
On the evening of Sunday, December 14, more than five thousand Catholics gathered at another disputed site, Redemptorist Monastery in Saigon, to celebrate a thanksgiving Mass after the conclusion of the trial of eight parishioners.
"The Candlelight vigil was an open defiance against a prohibition of the local government for massive vigils," J.B. An Dang tells CNA.
On December 5, eight parishioners of Thai Ha Church were put on trial under what many Catholics considered to be false pretenses. Accusations against them concerned their actions in protests seeking the return of confiscated Church property.
Their trial ended on December 8, but reports that the accused had pled "not guilty" apparently had resonated throughout Hanoi.
"It seems the trial has turned the table around for the eight defendants, whose courage has become symbolic of defiance and grace under fire. They are viewed as heroes in the eyes of their fellow countrymen, while the Vietnam government -the accuser- now becomes the accused for imposing such an unjust, immoral and unconstitutional [process] on its citizens," said Fr. John Nguyen from Hanoi.
"A few months ago, nobody would even know the names of the defendants. Now their names and story have become the talk of the town, the topic in every household and coffee shop, when it comes to [the question of] how can they resist the pressure and say 'enough is enough' to one of the most dictatorial regimes in the world today." he added, J.B. An Dang reports.
Candlelight vigil in Saigon / Photo credit: Fr. J.B. An Dang
Vinh Long, Dec 15, 2008 / 09:36 pm (CNA).- Repeating a government tactic used in disputes with Vietnamese Catholics seeking the return of confiscated property, the People's Committee of Vinh Long on Friday announced that it will demolish the city’s St. Paul Monastery to build a public park.
Prior to the announcement, numerous meetings had been held in Vinh Long to accuse the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of "taking advantage of religious freedom to inspire protests against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and hence damage the united block of the people," J.B. An Dang tells CNA.
In May, the Sisters began protesting government plans to convert their monastery into a five-star hotel.
Thomas Nguyen Van Tan, Bishop of Vinh Long, wrote a May 18 letter to priests, religious, and lay people of the diocese, recounting the history of the dispute.
On "a day of disaster," September 7, 1977, local authorities mobilized armed forces to blockade and raid Holy Cross College, St. Paul Monastery, and the Major Seminary, the bishop wrote.
"Then, they seized all these properties and arrested those who were in charge of the premises. I myself was among the detainees," his letter continued.
He reported that since the confiscation of the property, representatives of the Provincial Superior of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and representatives of the Bishop’s office have repeatedly sent petitions to local and central governments.
"However, these petitions have gone unanswered," the bishop added.
Reporting confirmation from local officials, he reported in his May 18 letter that the local government had issued a decree that a hotel should be built on the land of the Sisters, the size of which he reported to be 10,235 square meters or about 2.5 acres.
His letter also reported that town residents had been summoned to government meetings to vow to take "strong actions" against opponents of the construction. The bishop called the loss of their monastery a "great suffering" for the Sisters.
Sister Marie Nguyen from Saigon explained that the Sisters had been in Vinh Long since 1871 and have been "continuously serving" people in the provinces of Vinh Long, Ben Tre, and Tra Vinh.
"Their monastery had also been used as an orphanage, and they just wanted to get it back to run an orphanage. The need for such a charity institution is more urgent than ever as HIV infection and drug addiction keep claiming more and more people's lives in the area," she said, according to J.B. An Dang.
"Obviously, while the Church is seeking innovative ways to serve people, this government chooses to turn its back against them," she commented.
On the evening of Sunday, December 14, more than five thousand Catholics gathered at another disputed site, Redemptorist Monastery in Saigon, to celebrate a thanksgiving Mass after the conclusion of the trial of eight parishioners.
"The Candlelight vigil was an open defiance against a prohibition of the local government for massive vigils," J.B. An Dang tells CNA.
On December 5, eight parishioners of Thai Ha Church were put on trial under what many Catholics considered to be false pretenses. Accusations against them concerned their actions in protests seeking the return of confiscated Church property.
Their trial ended on December 8, but reports that the accused had pled "not guilty" apparently had resonated throughout Hanoi.
"It seems the trial has turned the table around for the eight defendants, whose courage has become symbolic of defiance and grace under fire. They are viewed as heroes in the eyes of their fellow countrymen, while the Vietnam government -the accuser- now becomes the accused for imposing such an unjust, immoral and unconstitutional [process] on its citizens," said Fr. John Nguyen from Hanoi.
"A few months ago, nobody would even know the names of the defendants. Now their names and story have become the talk of the town, the topic in every household and coffee shop, when it comes to [the question of] how can they resist the pressure and say 'enough is enough' to one of the most dictatorial regimes in the world today." he added, J.B. An Dang reports.
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