October 2013 – Communio

Catholic priesthood: Beyond the crisis towards renewal

If the Catholic priesthood and its renewal is very important to you, then today’s brief essay by Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller is an extremely important piece to keep in mind. The essay by Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith, Archbishop Müller, “Beyond the crisis towards renewal” (L’Osservatore Romano) reveals a point the Church has to attend to with a certain degree of seriousness. Pay close attention to the proposal Müller makes to us. What the archbishop is doing, I think, is opening the door to genuine dialogue on some very important issues, and I think within the purview of the Holy Father.

Müller wants to challenge our “Protestant” conceptions of priesthood that’s found its way into the reality of Catholic priesthood. Some will be offended by the archbishop’s use of the adjective of protestant but in reality there is much to research here to overcome perceived prejudicial reactions. Protestants are not the same as Catholics; they were there wouldn’t be a so-called “Protestant Church.” Catholics ought to be better formed and have certitude in this fact.

Based at least on the level of experience, and not only academic theology, men are ordained Catholic priests to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, to forgive sins, and to concern itself: that is, cult (worship of the One Triune God) and mediatorship, theological points rejected in Lutheranism, Anglicanism and other ecclesial communities. Do we have to remind ourselves that a Catholic priest acts in persona Christi capitis? That he does indeed consecrate, through prayer and the actions of the Holy Spirit, bread and wine into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ? That the laity consecrate the whole world (marriage, work, play, etc.) to Jesus Christ. The local Lutheran minister does not hold the same, so not teach the distinctions with clarity?

The matter is not centrally located in the question of a married priesthood because the discernment of ordination and celibacy is not the same. The Catholic Church has a married priesthood with former Anglican ministers coming into full communion with the Catholic Church and being ordained, and there are married Eastern Catholic priests. Hence, believe that Catholic priests are not the same as Protestant ministers, even if those of other ecclesial communions use the word “priest” to speak of their ministers.

Additionally, Catholic priests belong to the Royal Priesthood of Jesus Christ, as the laity are, each being anointed priest, prophet and king, yet lived and oriented differently. To refine the point a little more, the global priesthood, that is, the priesthood of the laity, and the ministerial priesthood have their respective vocations given by the Holy Spirit for the good of the world. Admittedly, the priesthood of the laity (priesthood of the faithful) is still maturing and only now coming into its own but not against the ministerial priesthood.

The Church’s theology is based on sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. Catholic theology has its own determinative lens and other communities have theirs. In a more precise way, we have a theology prima that’s not found in the protestant communities. I use the plural communities because the what is understood as a priest is different depending which group you follow.

The publication of Müller’s brief essay today is not to be lost on us: on this date in 1517 Augustinian Father Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses, in Latin, on the Wittenburg Church door according to custom.

What we have are excerpts from a speech the Prefect delivered on Wednesday in Palermo for the introduction of the 12-volume collected writings of Joseph Ratzinger (scheduled for publication first in Italian). The editor was just given the now-famed Ratzinger prize.

Müller’s point is the Catholic priesthood started to develop a “Protestant” of the image/manner of serving when Catholics uncritically started to use Protestant scripture scholarship since the 1950s without noting essential theological differences. Ratzinger’s phrase “culture of relativism” entered into Catholic teaching dismissing the eschatalogical, soteriological and liturgical facts.

What we’ve inherited, and what we see in the priesthood today, at least here in the USA, is indeed a crisis of priesthood which leads to a “radical disorientation of Christian identity” and a manner of knowing that lacks a “transcendental horizon.”

The following is an excerpt of a longer piece.

If Christ, by his Resurrection, has overcome the greatest crisis of faith –the pre-Easter crisis of the disciples– and more particularly the crisis of the apostolic mission and authority, and therefore also of the Catholic priesthood, then it is precisely and only by turning our gaze to the Lord that we may also overcome the crises which have befallen the priesthood over the course of history.

By turning our gaze to him, by meeting his gaze as he looks upon us and upon our priesthood, and by fixing our eyes on those of the crucified and risen High Priest, we can overcome every obstacle and difficulty.

I am thinking especially of the crisis of the doctrine on the priesthood that occurred during the protestant Reformation. It was a crisis at the dogmatic level which reduced the priest to a mere representative of the community by eliminating the essential difference between the ordained priest and the common priesthood of the faithful. Then there was the existential and spiritual crisis that occurred during the second half of the 20th century and exploded after the Second Vatican Council, and from whose consequences we are still suffering today.

In Joseph Ratzinger’s extensive work Proclaimers of the Word and Servants of Your Joy – volume XII in his opera omnia – he proposed a way of overcoming these crises by advancing a high-level theological approach, thereby giving us a guide for fostering a renewal of the sacramental priesthood instituted by Christ.

The scientific studies, meditations and homilies on the service of bishops, priests and deacons contained in this volume span almost fifty years, beginning with the years immediately preceding the beginning of Vatican II.

Many people, depending on their respective positions, associate this event, which has marked the recent history of the Church more than any other, with the starting point of a transformation in keeping with the spirit of the times, or rather with the beginning of a profound crisis in the Church and in particular in the priesthood.

Syrian Patriarch advocates for Middle Eastern Christians

A month ago Patriarch of Antioch for Syriac Catholic Church Ignatius Jospeh III Younan, 68, delivered an addressed entitled, “An advocacy for the survival of Christians in the Middle East,” in Bratislava.

Younan was the first eparch of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance centered in New Jersey. He was elected patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church in 2009. At the time of his election the Syrian Catholic Church numbered c. 132,000.

Patriarch Ignatius offers a perspective not readily heard in the secular media outlets. And while some will say he is advocating for the Christians in Syria, he’s actually advocating for peaceful coexistence for all who live in the Middle East. The sufferings that our brothers and sisters in Syria are facing each day are but a drop in the bucket that others around the world also encounter. While we don’t know the violence and oppression in the Western world as do the Middle Easterners, we are aware of the meaning and contours of human indignities.

When Pope Francis called for a day of fasting and prayer several weeks ago for peace in the world, he didn’t do so without knowing the concrete faces many men and women and children. We all have to make peace in Syria and all the Middle East a priority and not merely a public relations opportunity…and realize that “the war is the defeat of humanity.”

Saint Ephrem and all Syrian saints and blesseds, pray for us.

Younan said,

Since I was elected to Patriarch of Antioch January 2009, I already visited 10 times Iraq, the war torn country, and where we already lost close more than the half of our faithful who emigrated abroad or still waiting to emigrate as refugees in neighboring countries. I visited 3 times Turkey where only a tiny minority of Christians still live, mostly in the huge Istanbul area. I already made visits once to the Holy Land, twice to Jordan and Egypt. I also traveled 3 times to Kerala, India, to strengthen ties with our sister Churches of Syriac heritage, the Syro-Malankara and the Syro-Malabar Churches.

Therefore, by experience, I can tell you that, like all Catholic and Orthodox Patriarchs, I am acquainted with the plight of most Christian communities in the Middle East. Because of the unending spiral of violence, that is undermining the very existence of non Muslim minorities, particularly Christians in lands that was the cradle of early Christian Communities, we have the very reason to fear falling in limbo following the upheaval of the regime.

But the greatest concern we have at the present time is the terrible situation happening in Syria, my birth country where my parents, fleeing Turkey, sought refuge right after the First World War. The last time I could visit Aleppo, the second largest city of Syria was in the summer of last year. Since then I only had to communicate with the bishops, clergy and faithful of our 4 Syriac Catholic Dioceses, Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and Hassakeh by phone calls when available.

Because of the ongoing bloody conflict in Syria, that lasted already more than two and half year, this country so deeply rooted in the ancient civilization, is horribly ravaged by a sectarian religious civil war, that quickly as we warned, turned into a regional even international conflict. We have reason to believe this conflict was triggered by the Sunni Muslim majority supported by some Western countries for a geo-political agenda. Some politicians in the West, pretending to defend democracy, with the complicity of agglomerate media, gave up their own principles and values. It seems that behind this confusing attitude, was the fear of violence coming from radical Sunni Muslims, and the secularist opportunism that worships modern times “Mammon”!

One must recognize that after Turkey a century ago, Palestine and Lebanon some decades ago, and Iraq for the past 20 years, it is Syria now that knows the frightening exodus of its Christian population living there for millennia. This country has been rocked since March 2011 by a conflict triggered by opponents and rebels, who initially pretended a peaceful change of a regime blasted as a dictatorial. Although Syria was commonly known as the second country in the Middle East, after Lebanon, that respected all religious denominations and exercised tolerance towards all minorities including Christians.

Now it is a common understanding that Syria well rooted in ancient civilization like Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley, is ravaged by a sectarian war, between two religious denominations: the Sunnis who make the majority of the population and the Alawites (a Muslim sect not recognized by the Sunnis as true Muslims) who used to be marginalized even mistreated for centuries, because of hateful discrimination, until they ascended to power in the 1970s.

As a result of the violent turmoil in Syria, over one hundred thousand were killed, millions were displaced inside the country or became refugees in neighboring countries, living in a horribly inhumane conditions.

Fighting, bombing attacks, kidnapping and killing horrified and alienated mostly innocent population looking for peace and security. The chaos that led to the civil war, brought a horrendous destructions of a country known to be one of the safest in the region. Massive emigration resulted that needs immediate intervention for humanitarian assistance, as the winter is approaching, while spring seasons seem fading!

We still remember the insidious Machiavellian assertions of Western politicians telling publicly since the beginning of Syrian tragedy, that it will be soon an end by the fall of the regime. On the contrary, as we feared, the crisis turned into chaos, and the chaos ultimately led to the most horrible sectarian civil war in recent generations.

As you are well aware, this sectarian war spread to many areas, and Christians have been targeted by radical groups. Several churches and monasteries have been heavily damaged and even burned.. Exactly what we, Christian leaders, warned most often of, since the beginning. (Maaloula and Raqqa are the latest examples.)

We, Christians of the Middle East, we really do not understand why politicians of the Western World, believing in principles of democracy, ignore that what is happening now in Syria, is far from seeking a true democracy, freedom and equality for all citizens. At one hand, those politicians profess a separation of Church and State in their own countries, while they tolerate emerging regimes based on political Islam with a clear agenda of applying the Sharia and professing an amalgam between the religion and every aspect of life, individual or public!

Christian Leaders in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, made many statements that clearly say that they do not side with any governing person or family, neither with any regime or political party. They did urge all parties in conflict to act for reconciliation and to seek reforms by a patient dialog not with violent means.

Looking at what did happen to the Christians in neighboring Iraq, we have believed that any political change of the regime in Syria should have been solely peaceful. First of all we feared that this sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites with their multiform denominations, will undoubtedly spread to Lebanon that hangs to a very delicate balance and other Middle Eastern countries. It is primarily the duty of the Sunni majority to inspire confidence and respect the civil rights of all minorities.

This is the message of the Holy Father Pope Francis, who kept praying for peace and calling for a reconciliation among all components of the Syrian people. We owe the Successor of Peter a lot of gratitude for his courage following the steps of the Divine Master and proclaiming that “the war is the defeat of humanity.”

Christians of the Middle East are facing in recent times the greatest challenge of their history that put their very survival at risk. Given the spreading of violent radicalism in political Islam, the young generations instead of remaining rooted in the land of their ancestors, to be witnesses to the Lord, they are seeking freedom and dignity in the lands of emigration. Let us remember any evangelization is still a proselytism forbidden in countries where Islam has the majority. Because Islam does not recognize the religious freedom, it condemns those willing to embrace the Christian faith even to death! Unless, the community of nations clearly and without any politically correct language or condition, defends the Charter of Human Rights, as it was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, the Middle East will continue to sink in a fatal hemorrhage emptying itself of Christian communities that lived for millennia in that region.

We have confidence that you, dear brother shepherds, will do whatever you can to bring Catholics to awareness to the plight of Christians in the Middle East. We need you to waken up the silent majority of citizens, who are lovers of truth in charity, seekers justice to all and who want to be peace makers in our turbulent world.

“…Remember in your prayers the Church which is in Syria, from which also I am not worthy to receive my appellation, being the last of them.” (From the Letter of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Trallians)

Mother Celestine Bottego moved closer to beatification

Pope Francis accepted the findings of the Congregation of Saints today that Mother Celestine Bottego lived a life of heroic virtue. She is now given the title of Venerable Servant of God. Mother Celestine was founder of the Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary, was born on 20 December 1895, in Glendale, Ohio. She lived in Butte, Montana until she was almost 15, when she then moved with her mother to Italy.

Bottego was teaching English at a school of the Xaverian Fathers; One priest, Father Giacomo Spagnolo, asked her to consider forming a women’s branch of the order. Her discernment led her to form the congregation in 1944. She died in Italy in 1980 at the age of 84. A miracle attributed to Mother Celestine’s intercession still is needed before she can be beatified. She would add brilliantly to the constellation of US saints and blesseds.

All Saints and the high adventure of Christian discipleship

I love the feast of All Saints and All Souls the following day. I happen to find holiness attractive. Saints make the journey of being Christian reasonable. On the eve of All Saints we do indeed need to reflect on what it means to be saints, to venerate —not worship— the saints. We owe worship to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit alone; Catholics honor, venerate the Mother of God and the saints. We need witnesses; I follow the experience of another, and not the person himself. There are distinctions here. In his weekly column for CatholicPhilly.com Archbishop Charles J. Chaput penned, “The meaning of sainthood: To be fully alive in Jesus Christ,” where he reflects on the Catholic teaching and experience of holiness. I always have to remind myself that saints are not plastic people; they are sinner who the love of God, who show us that the promises of Jesus Christ are true and that each one of can live the Gospel. As the Chaput notes so well, sainthood is experience, not the theory of,“the high adventure of Christian discipleship.”

The Archbishop writes,

Some years ago a friend told me that she secretly thought of the saints as boring. They smile at us sweetly from holy cards. Their lives can seem implausible compared to people more famous for their vices. And who would really want to be a saint, anyway? As Billy Joel once said, “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun.”

But when we come to understand holiness rightly, we see that it’s anything but boring. Sanctity isn’t a matter of sentimental posturing or being nice. Sanctity is about being passionately in love with Jesus Christ.

The saints are men and women who glowed white-hot with the Holy Spirit. They lived fully what Father Richard John Neuhaus once called “the high adventure of Christian discipleship.” And that’s truly what the heart of sainthood is: not a life of legalistic drudgery, but a high adventure.

Think about the women and men we venerate as saintly: Mother Teresa, Francis Xavier, King Louis IX of France, Gianna Beretta Molla, Pier Giorgio Frassati, Catherine of Siena. They lived some of the most compelling lives in history. Their roads were hard. They endured great sacrifices and self-denial. But those sacrifices led to greater love and joy than many in the world have ever known.

If we think about sainthood like that, it can seem like the saints are a special class of people. Sainthood is for people like them, we think, not everyday people like us. And how do you live like a saint if you’re just an ordinary worker, a father or a mother? The good news is that the saints were ordinary people like us. Their “secret” was not something they possessed, but Someone who possessed them.

The saints were men and women whom Jesus Christ made his own. As baptized Catholics, we too have been made Christ’s own. We receive Jesus Christ’s healing mercy and forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation. We eat his body and drink his blood in the Eucharist. We speak with him in moments of quiet prayer.

This love that we receive from Jesus should break out into the rest of our lives. St. Josemaria Escriva put it this way: “When a Christian carries out with love the most insignificant everyday action, that action overflows with the transcendence of God.” This means that even when we fix another family’s plumbing, or fill out their legal paperwork, or drive our kids to soccer practice, we can act with the love of Jesus Christ in the same way that the saints did.

The great second century bishop, Irenaeus of Lyons, once said that “the glory of God is man fully alive.” First and foremost, this refers to Jesus Christ. Jesus shows us what it looks like for a human being to live life abundantly. This means that the closer we are to Jesus, the more intensely alive we become. And the saints are examples of men and women who have lived their lives to the fullest. Because of the love of Jesus, they glow with the glory of God. Because of the love of Jesus, they’re fully alive.

The saints aren’t just our models, though. They form what Paul called “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1). The saints in heaven pray for us on earth, urging us on as we run the race of faith. They offer us hope in two ways. First, they show us that, by God’s grace, heroic Christian lives are possible. Second, they remind us of the destiny God has in store for those he loves. This life is a preparation for eternal union with God in heaven. That doesn’t mean sitting around forever with a pious halo, strumming a harp. Heaven is an eternity of the greatest love we have ever tasted in this life – growing deeper and stronger without end.

This All Saints’ Day, November 1, let’s reflect on what the saints really mean for us. Let’s remember the holy men and women whom we can emulate and to whom we can pray for help and guidance. Jesus said that he came so that we would have life, and have it abundantly (Jn. 10:10).

Let’s pray that we find the courage to seek out that abundant life with the saints. Let’s be women and men of love, witnesses of the glory of the God who makes us fully alive in Jesus Christ. There is no greater joy, no greater vocation.

New cardinals to be created in February 2014

Vatican Radio and the French news agency I-Media broke the news today that the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, will create new cardinals in a Consistory to be held February 21 and 22, 2014. No names have been mentioned and there won’t be names likely until February.

At the same time, Pope Francis is holding a meeting with all cardinals in Rome to discuss possible reforms.

By February 2014, there will b 14 vacancies of 120 that are noted in Canon Law. By March, there would be 16. The 120 limit is an arbitrary number established by Pope Paul VI.

Possible cardinals to serve in the Roman Curia: Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the new Secretary of State, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Beniamino Stella, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. There could be more if Pope Francis makes more changes in his curia.

Plus, there are residential archbishops around the world. I would not expect new cardinals in the USA.

Gaudium et Spes: The Right Reading of Vatican II

In a 55 minute presentation Father Robert Barron takes a keen review and analysis of Gaudium et Spes for the 5oth anniversary of Vatican II.

The Benedictine monks of Saint Procopius Abbey (Lisle, IL) and Benedictine University have offered several presentations to help us understand the importance of the key documents promulgated at the Second Vatican Council.

Father Barron is the author and host of the critically acclaimed Catholicism series. Barron is trained in theology. His full time ministry as a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago is to serve at the President/Rector of Mundelein Seminary.

Blessed Chiara Badano

A little known young blessed of our Church, Chiara “Luce” Badano, is gaining popularity. You may remember seeing her name among 18 people revered as saints and blesseds chosen by Pope Benedict as intercessors for the 2013 World Youth Day in Brazil. A commentator said, “she was chosen because Luce is a model of sainthood that is simple, and not someone spectacular.”

Known among family and friends as Luce, she died of bone cancer in 1990 at the age of 18.

Luce was a member of the Focolare movement since she 9 years old.

Pope Benedict XVI declared her “Blessed” in 2010 he said “Only Love with a capital L gives true happiness, and that’s what Blessed Badano showed her family, her friends and her fellow members of the Focolare movement.” When Cardinal Angelo Amato offered Mass at which Chiara was beatified he spoke of her as having “a crystalline heart, like water from the source.”

Blessed Chiara Badano said, “What a free and immense gift life is and how important it is to live every instant in the fullness of God. I feel so little and the road ahead is so arduous that I often feel overwhelmed with pain! But that’s the Spouse coming to meet me. Yes, I repeat it: ‘If you want it Jesus, so do I.’”

Through the intercession of Blessed Chiara Luce Badano may we live more closely with Christ crucified and may we all, including those who follow Focolare, be blessed.

Leonard P. Blair appointed next archbishop of Hartford

Pope Francis appointed Leonard Paul Blair, 64, as the 5th archbishop of Hartford, a community faith for nearly 175 years.

Archbishop designate Blair was ordained a priest of Detroit in 1976. John Paul nominated him an auxiliary bishop in 1999 and in 2003 he translated to Toledo, Ohio. He received word on October 17 that he was being appointed to Hartford while he was in Rome.

Blair succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell who has been the Diocesan Ordinary of Hartford since 2003. Mansell turned 76 on October 10.

Academically, Blair is trained in the study of the Church Fathers and in Historical Theology from the Gregorian University, Rome.

His Excellency has served Jesus Christ and His Church as pastor, seminary professor, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Detroit and he’s been in the service of the Holy See. Additionally, he’s known to be a strong supporter of Pro-life gestures attempting to give a coherent Catholic vision and voice for life issues. For example, he has stood his ground against Planned Parenthood and the Susan G, Komen Foundation which supports the former. He’s clear on the theology of marriage proposed by the Catholic Church.

According to Vatican published statistics, the archdiocese has an “area 5,926, population 1,996,000, Catholics 718,000, priests 393, permanent deacons 289, religious 818.”

The archbishop works on the doctrine committee, the evangelization and catechesis committee and was on the catechism subcommittee.

The new archbishop will be installed as the Archbishop of Hartford on Monday, December 16th, at 2pm, at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, 140 Farmington Ave., Hartford. Vespers will be prayed Sunday.

As Archbishop Blair said, we begin all things with the words of the Church, Praised be Jesus Christ!

May Our Lady help to guide the new archbishop and the people of God.

Kurt Burnette next bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic

Pope Francis has appointed the Very Reverend Kurt Burnette, Rector of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as fifth Bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic. Burnette replaces Archbishop William Skurla who was translated to the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh on April 18, 2012 when he was enthroned Fifth Metropolitan of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of America and Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.

According to Vatican published statistics, this eparchy has “Catholics 14,729, priests 80, permanent deacons 26, religious 27.” The Eparchy of Passaic was established by the Holy See on July 31, 1963.

Bishop-elect Kurt will be ordained and enthroned in Passaic on Wednesday, December 4, 2013.

The Holy Father has also appointed Metropolitan Archbishop William C. Skurla as Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Passaic. The Reuthenian eparchies number 4 in the USA.

Bible study resources

Bible study Catholics is no longer optional. Everything, and I mean everything in the Church, must be dependent on sacred Scripture, even the Magisterium. I came across this quote from Bishop Christopher Butler, OSB, which may be a bit cheeky, but to my mind it shows the degree of seriousness that we ought to think in biblical terms, “It is all very well for us to say and believe that the Magisterium is subject to holy Scripture. But is there anybody who is in a position to tell the Magisterium: ‘Look, you are not practicing your subjection to Scripture in your teaching’?” (in JJ Miller, ed., Vatican II: An Interfaith Appraisal, 1966). Indeed, we all need to be subject to Revelation.

We need to keep on top of our study and love of God’s revealed word: the study of Scripture is a non-negotiable for Catholics if they think they are going to be saved on the Last Day. Pope Benedict spoke of lectio divina as the springtime of the Church and organizations like the American Bible Society have spent lots of time and money trying to help Christians, including Catholics, to the biblical narrative of redemption.

Here are some bible resources:

Pope Pius XII, Divino Afflante Spiritu

Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum)

The Letter of Saint Athanasius on the Interpretation of the Psalms

Scott Hahn, Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI (Baker Brazos Press, 2009).

Scott Hahn, Consuming the Word: The New Testament and The Eucharist in the Early Church (Image, 2013)

Richard John Neuhaus, ed., Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: The Ratzinger Conference on Bible and the Church, (Eerdmans, 1989).

Some other things to have on your shelf, virtual or otherwise:

Understanding the the readings of the Liturgy (scroll down on the calendar to the month and day and click on the link)

Scott Hahn’s website, the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology

Scott Hahn also has a great short summary of the Sunday readings that you can get sent free via e-mail once a week