Metropolitan Hilarion on the offensive

It’s not been a week into the exercise of the Petrine ministry of Pope Francis and members of the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy are “expressing hope” about the Bishop of Rome will or will not do with regard to the so-called “expansion” of the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church. Really, they are setting conditions for dialogue and fraternal cooperation.

Recognizable is the fact that Russians want to be the dominant Church body in Eastern Europe and they want no “competition” from anyone else. They believe that to be Russian, or Ukrainian, for that matter, is to be Orthodox. They will not accept the possibility of a person’s freedom in choosing which Church to belong and that historically the Byzantine and Latin Catholics have been part of the cultural makeup of the Christian East. As a condition for good relations Metropolitan Hilarion and other Orthodox leaders want to pressure the Bishop of Rome not to work with the Byzantine Ukrainian Church in any way. Pope Francis, and the entire Roman Church wants good and fruitful relationships with the Orthodox Church worldwide, and in Russia. It will not be the case that we turn our back on the Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk and Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Synod. Lingering disagreements are not resolved by pressure and being agenda-driven.
You would never know that Metropolitan Hilarion was educated at Oxford and that he’s spent much of his youthful days enjoying certain freedom of education and culture in the West with ignorant comments such as he’s made about the Jesuits. His suspicion is greatly exaggerated and offensive. It betrays another level of insecurity of his person and his Church. His comments about the Jesuits, and therefore, Pope Francis, show yet example of that he is not a serious churchman. One only has to recall that it’s been the Jesuits in the 20th and 21st centuries who have provided rigorous educational opportunities at the Pontifical Oriental Institute (PIO) in Rome for the service to the Churches. And an education, I might add, to plenty of Orthodox priests, bishops and laity at the expense of the PIO. An anti-Jesuit stance in this case is clichéd and will bear no fruit.
May the great Mother of God bless the Churches.

Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary

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O Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, protector of the Holy Family and its consoler in adversity, I recommend to your pastoral care the Universal Church, and in a more especial manner the sons and daughters of Saint Benedict.

Obtain for the spiritual family of Saint Benedict his virtues of obedience, humility and self-denial. Infuse into their hearts his spirit of prayer and of holy joy, his love of solitude and of labor, his zeal for the salvation of souls, his tender and childlike devotion to the Queen of the Rosary.

Obtain for them O Great Saint Joseph, the gift above all gifts, a true knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, so that like you they may merit the happiness of bearing him in their arms by their labors for his glory. Obtain for them the grace to resign in their hearts unreservedly to his keeping, and to strive earnestly and prudently to make him known to the world as its merciful and loving Savior.

On the feast of Saint Joseph there’s a horizon of hope, horizon of God, Petrine ministry of Francis inaugurated

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HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

INAUGURATION OF THE
PETRINE MINISTRY

ST PETER’S SQUARE
19 March 2013


Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude.

I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.

In the Gospel we heard that “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: “Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model” (Redemptoris Custos, 1).

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Bestowal of the Fisherman’s Ring

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The Cardinal Dean prays,

Most Holy Father, may Christ, the Son of the living God, the shepherd and guard- ian of our souls, who built his Church upon rock, grant you the ring, the seal of Peter the Fisherman, who put his hope in him on the sea of Galilee, and to whom the Lord Jesus entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.


Today you succeed the Blessed Apostle Peter as the Bishop of this Church which presides over the unity of charity, as the Blessed Apostle Paul has taught. May the Spirit of charity, poured into our hearts, grant you the gentleness and strength to preserve, through your ministry, all those who believe in Christ in unity and fellowship.

Note on the ring


The ring was designed by the Italian sculptor Enrico Manfrini; he died in 2004. The ring belonged to Archbishop Pasquale Macchi (1923-2003), secretary of the Venerable Servant of God Pope Paul VI. Later in life Macchi was the Prelate of Loreto. It is reported that the use of three rings was a suggestion of Monsignor Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies and Giovanni Cardinal Re, Prefect-emeritus of the Congregation of Bishops. The Pope chose this one.


Imposition of the Pallium

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The Senior Cardinal Deacon prays,


May the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, bestow upon you the Pallium taken from the Tomb of the Apostle Peter.

The Good Shepherd charged Peter to feed his lambs and his sheep; today you succeed him as the Bishop of this Church to which he and the Apostle Paul were fathers in faith.


May the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, grant you his abundant gifts of wisdom and eloquence in the ministry of confirming your brethren in the unity of faith.


Let us pray.


O God, who do not disappoint those who call upon you with upright and devout hearts, hear the fervent prayer of your Church and pour forth your blessing upon your servant Francis, our Pope, to whom, through our humble service, you have granted primacy in the apostolic office. May he be strengthened by the gift of your Holy Spirit and worthily exercise his high ministry in accordance with the eminent charism he has received. Through Christ our Lord.


Bishop of Rome –appreciating its significance for the churches

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The chair of the Bishop of Rome, Basilica Saint John Lateran, Rome.

In the first moments of his introduction to the world, Pope Francis has spoken of his ministry as the bishop of Rome, and his exercise of said ministry. Nine times, in fact. I think many were surprised at the theological precision that Pope Francis expressed so quickly. How is this possible? Because Francis is clearly Christocentric, and the Petrine ministry located in service of the other and at the foot of the Cross.

We ought to recall that ministries in the Church have gradually taken on new significance over time as the issues of teaching, preaching and sanctifying and governing (leading) surfaced and challenged the unity of the faithful. We know historically that by the third century the parameters of the bishop of Rome began to develop because of the work of Saints Peter and Paul, and because of the importance of the imperial city of Rome, and by the fourth century the influence of the Roman bishop was well-situated; and by the fifth century “canonical” letters, i.e., decrees, were sent to the world’s bishops carrying with them certain authority. One can posit that from almost the beginning bishops from across the Christian world had appealed to the bishop of Rome for assistance in resolving with pastoral problems. 

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Pope Francis’ coat of arms

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Pope Francis has decided to stick –more or less, with the heraldic art, that is, his coat of arms that he had when he was called to the Order of Bishop and then as a cardinal. The most identifiable change made is the replacing of the red cardinal’s galero and tassels with the papal keys and miter that Pope Benedict XVI chose for his arms in 2005 when he accepted the pontifical dignity but gone is the pallium. The other change is turning the star representing Mary, the Mother of God and the flower of nard representing Saint Joseph, to gold as opposed to silver. Add to the artscape is the image most associated to the Society of Jesus with the IHS sunburst. The Holy Family, hence, is illustrated here.
The keys of Saint Peter refer to the gospel passage of Saint Matthew 16:16 where Jesus says to Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom.” The keys represent the pastoral authority of Jesus given to Peter and thus to Peter’s successor to forgive sins, and lead us to salvation. The silver key concerns things of earth, and the gold key things of heaven joined together by the red cord symbolizing the common witness of the blood of the Savior shed for humanity. You may want to read the Catechism on the Petrine ministry at paragraphs 880-882, the whole section “I believe in the holy Catholic Church is worth” some study and prayer.
“By having mercy and making decisions” by following Christ
~the way Pope Francis intends to exercise the Petrine ministry he’s been called to~

Smearing the Pope

English: Monochrome version of the IHS emblem ...

The honeymoon was very short-lived: as tools of communication fling far and wide information and misinformation, social media gurus are now producing conflicting information about Pope Francis. But if you think I am talking exclusively of those who are Catholic haters think again; the Church has her detractors –enemies?– and sadly from within. There are some insightful readers that help us to connect the dots of a new papacy. Father Raymond de Souza, John Allen and John Thavis comes to mind as credible.

I am not surprised that smear campaigns are spreading pretty fast with a click of the button, for example of topics being covered: Francis dealing with dictatorships; Francis and liturgical practice; Francis and the moral teachings of the Church; Francis, the poor and the papal ministry; Cardinals turning on Benedic; Francis and the Ignatian (and Jesuit charism); Francis and Communion and Liberation; Francis and Benedict.

Many have fallen in love with Pope Francis –at the moment he’s the People’s Pope. It won’t be long before concerted ugliness is mainstream seeking to discredit, distract and divide, and lead away from the faith in Christ and the Church. Division has appeared and it’s the work of the devil, not of the Holy Spirit. Don’t believe me, just wait and see…

Stuff to read first…

Mary Anastasia O’Grady, “Behind the Campaign to Smear the Pope” (WSJ, March 17, 2013) —a must-read, a good job done

John Allen, “Path to the papacy: ‘Not him, not him, therefore him,” (NCR, March 17, 2013) –lots of good details and analysis

Ross Douthat, “What the Church Needs Now,” (NYT, March 15, 2013) –key points need heeding

To understand the problem of Ms Manson’s thinking see article below, you need to read what Father John Zuhlsdorf writes, “Liberals will soon turn on Pope Francis” -(my thoughts later on what Manson wrote).

A sampling of the detractors:

  • Jesuit Father Thomas Reese, “Francis, the Jesuits and the Dirty War,” (NCR, March 17, 2013) –gives very questionable analysis of the political and religious landscape but identifies Francis’ “acceptability” within the Society of Jesus; recall that Father Reese was sacked by Pope Benedict

Novena of Prayer to Saint Benedict, Day 7

The order of prayer

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The holy monk Benedict could not have lived differently from what he taught. (antiphon)
Pray Psalm 34: 11-16
The prayer of petition to Saint Benedict may be found here, and then pray the following prayer.
Let us pray.
God of wisdom and of counsel, raise up in Your Church the Spirit which guided the man of God, Benedict, so that, filled with that same Holy Spirit, we may seek to love what he did, and to practice what he taught. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.