Communio – Page 580 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Catholic sports: can we reclaim sport?

“Sport, properly directed, develops character, makes a man courageous, a generous

loser, and a gracious victor; it refines the senses, gives intellectual penetration, and steels the will to endurance. It is not merely a physical development then. Sport, rightly understood, is an occupation of the whole man, and while perfecting the body as an instrument of the mind, it also makes the mind itself a more refined instrument for the search and communication of truth and helps man to achieve that end to which all others must be subservient, the service and praise of his Creator.” (Pope Pius XII, “Sport at the Service of the Spirit,” July 29, 1945)

I am not a sportsman and I barely watch sports on TV. I will make it a point to follow, at some point during the season, college football scores. I am particularly interested in how my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame is doing in football. (The short answer is badly in recent years!) And believe it or not I was an undefeated freshman soccer coach when I taught high school. The amazing –or foolish– thing is that I never played the game.

As a younger man I did go deer hunting with my grandfather and father, tried swimming, and tried baseball. I even tried endurance motorcycling but ended that brief career when I broke my ankle. The point I want to make is that I attempted but did not succeed because I didn’t have the necessary genes. It seems that my mother doesn’t do sports either but she’ll make it a point to attend my sister’s softball game and watch NASCAR with my father. My father and sister are quite intense with sports. Thank God some gives a good face to this aspect of family life. I stick with garden. No competition there.

One of the grand turn-offs to me in the world of sport is the perceived lack of good moral behavior. The use of drugs, betting, ruthless competition, the misuse of money, the extravagant salaries and compensation packages, the high price of tickets, and the flagrant behavior of the players, coaches and staff is unbecoming. In short, the commercialization of the sports world is wrong and it lacks principle. As Christians there is got to be another way to engage in the virtue, honor and dignity of sport.

Writing for The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, Jay Schalin’s February article “A Call to Arms against College Sports’ Dark Side” calls our attention to a corrective for the ugliness of sport by pointing to an initiative of a former sportsman,
business and now college president. He writes: “William Thierfelder wants to reverse this trend toward athletic competition without honor or restraint. He is the president of Belmont Abbey College, a tiny Catholic school in North Carolina that is best known for its affiliation with a Benedictine monastery. It might seem to be an obscure starting point for a personal crusade intended to alter what seems to now be an ingrained feature of the American character.”

Schalin further points to “Thierfelder’s vision of sports is far different from one where 10-year-olds try to crush and humiliate their opponents at the urging of adults. He wants to reintroduce the concept of virtue into athletic competition, and he wants athletic training to be considered an integral part of educating a complete individual. He calls his infant
movement ‘Sports Properly Directed.’ The name comes from an address given by Pope Pius XII called Sport at the Service of the Spirit, which begins, ‘Sport, properly directed, develops character, makes a man courageous, a generous loser, and a gracious victor. It refines the senses, gives intellectual penetration and steels the will to endurance.'”

I want to see more work done in the area of athletics which pays critical attention to the intellectual cultural and spiritual lives we lead. Saint Benedict’s famous Rule for monks is a 6^th century document and therefore does not address the issue of good sportsmanship. Nor does it deal with the contemporary vices we encounter in sport. It does however give a way of proceeding that is balanced as it considers mutuality, authority, balance, respect, fidelity, honor, fraternity, etc. But who is doing this type of heavy lifting of the intellect and faith? My hope is that Dr. Thierfelder and his friends will build a Catholic sportsmanship program at Belmont Abbey College. He’s started but has a long way to go before a total change in attitude about playing a game is effected.

Groups of note are the Sports Faith International, Catholic Athletes for Christ, The National Center for Catholic Youth Sports (NCCYS) and Play Like a Champion off to a good start.

Dr. Thierfelder’s own work with Reclaim the Game needs to be talked up. It is impressive to know that there’s even the “Pope Pius XII Sport at the Service of the Spirit Award” sponsored by Belmont Abbey College which gives $24,000 over 4 years.

Thinking of the work of the Holy See one does not think of church and sport in one sentence. Well, there is a section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (PCL)dedicated to faith and athleticism. Pope Benedict initiated the “Church and Sport” section the (PCL). Read the press release.

If you read Spanish, this article by Father Kevin Lixey “El Deporte y el Magisterio de la Iglesia” is good.

Partners in Prayer and Work

Benedictine monks and sisters count on Knights of Columbus as collaborators

in building the kingdom of God

By Molly Mulqueen

At Benedictine monasteries throughout the United States, Knights of Columbus are
working side by side with monks and sisters to build the kingdom of God. The ardent friendship between today’s Knights and Benedictines parallels medieval times. Then, royal patrons such as kings, queens and knights welcomed the followers of St. Benedict as they established abbeys and other monastic centers throughout Europe.

The Benedictines are guided by St. Benedict’s motto, “ora et labora” (Latin for “pray and work”), just as the Knights are guided by theirs, “In service to One. In service to all.” Their similar charisms have allowed for fruitful collaborations on many landscapes: the deserts of Arizona, the banks of the Missouri River in Kansas, the Arkansas River valley, and sunny central Florida.

Helping with Harvest

In Tucson, Ariz., the friendship between Knights and the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration began almost by accident. A little over a year ago, some observant Knights noticed one of the sisters struggling with a lawn mower.

“So may times we would see Sister Sophia out cutting the grass, and it didn’t seem right,” said Grand Knight Donatus Kelch of Regina Cleri Council 5133.

Now Kelch meets with the sisters every month to prioritize their maintenance needs. The 26 councils in the Tucson area have adopted the Benedictine monastery as a joint project. Many of the councils also sponsor an annual fundraiser to benefit the sisters.

“[The Knights] have repaired and painted the hand railings to the stairs and ramps leading up to the entrance of the chapel,” said John Garcia, public relations director for the Arizona State Council and a member of Sts. Simon and Jude Cathedral Council 12708 in Phoenix. “They have repainted rooms within the facility, replaced furniture, and have done air-conditioner repairs, plumbing repairs and other maintenance projects.”

But helping to harvest the sisters’ orange crop is perhaps the most enjoyable project for many of the Knights. Last January, more than 20 Knights and their wives — known as the “Orange Crew” — picked and washed hundreds of oranges. They then fed the oranges through juicers, producing nearly 100 gallons of juice to freeze for the sisters’ use throughout the year.

The sisters have shown their gratitude by inviting the Knights to a Mass of appreciation. According to District Deputy Douglas Cameron, “If you spend even ten minutes with them, you go away a better person. The prayers they offer for us more than thank us.”

Fifty Years of Support

This fall, St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kan., will celebrate 50 years of support from the Knights at Benedictine College. Members of St. Benedict College Council 4708 have heartily embraced the “ora et labora” principle of Benedictine spirituality. This past year, the Knights split wood and shoveled snow at the abbey, and helped with vocations retreats and weekly holy hours.

“As time has gone on, we have fewer monks to carry on the Catholic mission of the college. The Knights of Columbus on campus have cooperated wonderfully with the monks to help promote Catholic identity,” said Benedictine Father Meinrad Miller,
subprior of St. Benedict’s Abbey, the college chaplain and an active Knight.

Father Miller often recognizes alumni at neighboring parishes and at the annual Knights of Columbus state convention. “I am always impressed with the high level of participation of graduates from our college” he said.

“When I was in school [at Benedictine College], we were the top college council in the nation three of the four years I was here,” said Benedictine College President Stephen D. Minnis, a member of Council 4708. “One of the things I am very proud of is that we have several Fourth Degree Knights who participate in special Masses. They led the procession when I was inaugurated as the president of my alma mater, and I’ll never forget how proud I was of our Knights on that day.”

The friendship between the Knights and the monks at St. Benedict’s Abbey is mutual. “I really think that the monks have had a great influence on the Knights here to become holier men,” said Dan Misener of Council 4708. “They have taught many of us the power and importance of prayer…and how to be true Catholic men in the society that we live in today.”

Abbey ‘Work Weeks’

The monks at Subiaco Abbey and Academy in Arkansas count on the Knights to help maintain their working farm and a boys’ boarding and day prep school that serves about 175 students. Benedictine Brother Ephrem O’Bryan, public information coordinator for Subiaco Abbey and Academy, keeps a running list of the ways the Knights have helped.

“The Paris Knights [Logan County Council 3787] provide scholarships for the sons of Knights, contribute funds for the monks’ education, help fund other scholarships for day students, help run a Squires circle [St. Benedict Circle 5073], contribute to the Abbey Health Center and prepare the noon meal for the annual 5th Grade Vocation Day,” recalled Brother Ephrem.

Clarksville Council 5725 has likewise provided funds for the academy’s scholarship program, as well as for the renovation of abbey living quarters, for health center equipment and for the Abbey Guest House.

Additionally, Arkansas Knights have organized a five-day work week every summer for the last six years. Knights from throughout the state tackle big projects, such as resurfacing tennis courts, building an irrigation system and adding sidewalks with wheelchair access. Work week volunteers are guests of the abbey and join the monks for Mass, meals, vespers and socializing. It has become an event that many Knights look forward to all year.

“We go up there three months in advance and talk with the abbot and the maintenance people about what needs to be done,” explained A. J. Hambuchen of Father Dellert Council 4143 in Conway. “They never have come up with a project that we have not been able to do.”

Most of the Knights who attend are retired professionals with contracting experience. Many bring their own materials and tools in an effort to cut costs further.

“It is wonderful for us to have Subiaco, and we show our appreciation by helping them out,” Hambuchen said. “The monks thank us by praying for us and our families.”

Rebuilding a Church

On Dec. 1, 2007, when the monks of St. Leo Abbey celebrated the blessing of a new abbot, Father Isaac Comacho, it was fitting that an honor guard of Fourth Degree Knights
was part of the ceremony. Their presence was a testament to the enduring friendship between the Knights and the monks that spans several generations. The Benedictines have been in Saint Leo, Fla., since 1889, and Knights were first established in nearby San Antonio in 1914.

“We have seen the Knights develop in just about every parish in the area,” said Benedictine Father James Hoge, a former K of C chaplain and faithful friar. “One of their principal works has always been to support and assist our schools. They have also always assisted with the charities in the area.”

“The Knights in this part of Florida are a real community organization. They raise money to feed the poor and create recreational activities for kids,” said Brother Stephen Freeman. “They have also helped us a great deal by defraying some of the costs of our Benedictine seminarians.”

In addition, Knights host an annual golf tournament, the proceeds from which go to the restoration of the Church of the Holy Cross. The 60-year-old church is one of three buildings on the abbey campus named to the National Register of Historic Places. It is known for its 86-foot tower, Lombardic-Romanesque design and the crucifix that hangs above the altar, which was meticulously modeled after the figure of Christ on the Shroud of Turin.

“Twice a year, we invite [the Knights] to come for Mass and we have a day just for them. It is our way to thank them for being so supportive of the abbey,” Brother Stephen said. It is simply one more part of the history that the Knights and Benedictines share.

Molly Mulqueen is a wife, mother and freelance writer for the Catholic press from Houston, Texas.

This article was published in Columbia magazine, August 2008. I am grateful to Alton Pelowski, managing editor of Columbia magazine, the monthly periodical of the Knights of Columbus, for allowing this republication.

Pope Benedict meets with Benedictines

On 20 September 2008, Pope Benedict XVI met with the Benedictine abbots and abbesses at Castel
Gandolfo, his summer residence.

The Pope’s address in Italian is found here while we wait for the English translation. The Zenit summary is here.

The Catholic News Agency makes this report.

Vatican Radio posted this story.

In part the Pope Benedict said: the witness of the Benedictine monks, nuns and sisters is particularly important “in a de-sacralized world and an age marked by the worrying culture of the void and the absurd. This is the reason why your monasteries are places where men and women, also in our age, run to seek God and to learn to recognize the signs of the presence of Christ, of his charity and of his mercy.”

The Pope asked the Benedictines to “allow themselves to be led by the profound desire to serve all men with charity, without distinctions of race or religion,” and to found new monasteries “where Providence calls you to establish them.”

The Pope focused the attention of the Benedictine superiors to the work of evangelization and to formative and cultural work that can be done particularly in Europe, “especially in favor of the new generations. Dedicate yourselves to young people with renewed apostolic ardor, as they are the future of the Church and of humanity. To build a ‘new’ Europe, it is necessary to begin with the new generations, offering them the possibility to profoundly approach the spiritual riches of the liturgy, of meditation and of lectio divina.” [While the pope has Europe on his mind he would also support this building up of Catholic culture in the new world, too.]

The abbots are in Rome at an international congress held every 4 years.

Do we seek greater conformity to Christ crucified? St Pio wants to know

Padre Pio’s witness, which is evident from his life and even from his physical condition, suggests to us that this message coincides with the essential meaning of the Jubilee now close at hand: Jesus is the one Savior of the world. In him God’s mercy was made flesh in the fullness of time, to bring salvation to humanity mortally wounded by sin. “By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24), the blessed father repeated to all in the words of the Apostle Peter, he whose body was marked with those wounds.

In 60 years of religious life, practically all spent at San Giovanni Rotondo, he was totally dedicated to prayer and to the ministry of reconciliation and spiritual direction. This was well emphasized by the Servant of God Pope Paul VI: “Look what fame he had…. But why?… Because he said Mass humbly, heard confessions from dawn to dusk and was … the one who bore the wounds of our Lord. He was a man of prayer and suffering” (20 February 1971).

Totally absorbed in God, always bearing the marks of Jesus’ Passion in his body, he was bread broken for men and women starving for God the Father’s forgiveness. His stigmata, like those of Francis of Assisi, were the work and sign of divine mercy, which redeemed the world by the Cross of Jesus Christ. Those open, bleeding wounds spoke of God’s love for everyone, especially for those sick in body and spirit.

And what can be said of his life, an endless spiritual combat, sustained by the weapons of prayer, centred on the sacred daily acts of Confession and Mass? Holy Mass was the heart of his whole day, the almost anxious concern of all his hours, his moment of closest communion with Jesus, Priest and Victim. He felt called to share in Christ’s agony, an agony which continues until the end of the world.

Pope John Paul II
3 May 1999 Padre Pio’s Beatification

What is Communion and Liberation?

I am frequently asked what is Communion & Liberation. Well, an answer is the following:

“A charism,” Fr. Giussani has written, “can be defined as a gift of the Spirit, given to a person in a specific historical context, so that this person can initiate an experience of faith that might in some way be useful to the life of the Church. I emphasize the existential nature of charism: it makes the Christian message handed down by the apostolic tradition more convincing, more persuasive, more ‘approachable.’ A charism is an ultimate terminal of the Incarnation, that is, it is a particular way in which the Fact of Jesus Christ Man and God reaches me, and through me can reach others.”

The essence of the charism given to Communion and Liberation

can be signaled by three factors:

1. The announcement that God became man (the wonder, the reasonableness, the

enthusiasm for this): “The Word was made flesh and dwells among us.”

2. The affirmation that this man – Jesus of Nazareth dead and risen – is a present event in a “sign” of “communion,” i.e., of unity of a people guided, as a guarantee, by a living person, ultimately the Bishop of Rome;

3. Only in God made man, man, therefore only in His presence and, thus only through – in some way – the experienceable form of His presence (therefore, ultimately only within the life of the Church) can man be truer and mankind be truly more human. St Gregory Nazianzen writes, “If I were not Yours, my Christ, I would feel like a finished creature”. It is thus from His presence that both morality and the passion for the salvation of man (which is mission) spring up.

“From the first hour of class at the Berchet high school in Milan,” Fr. Giussani recalls, “I tried to show the students what moved me: not the wish to convince them that I was right, but the desire to show them the reasonableness of faith; that is, that their free adhesion to the Christian proclamation was demanded by their discovery of the correspondence of what I was saying with the needs of their hearts, as implied by the definition of reasonableness. Only this dynamic of recognition makes whoever adheres to our movement creative and a protagonist, and not simply one who repeats formulas and things they have heard. For this reason, it seems to me, a charism generates a social phenomenon not as something planned, but as a movement of persons who have been changed by an encounter, who tentatively make the world, the environment, and the circumstances that they encounter more human. The memory of Christ when it is lived tends inevitably to generate a presence in society, above and beyond any planned result.”

Pope Benedict’s Homily at Albano Cathedral, Italy

ALBANO, Italy, SEPT. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of Benedict XVI’ homily today at Mass in the Cathedral of Albano, Italy, near the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. The cathedral’s altar was dedicated at this Mass. (emphasis mine)

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Today’s celebration is so rich in symbols and the Word of God that has been proclaimed helps us to understand the meaning and value of what we are doing here. In the first reading we heard the story of Judas Macabeus’ purification of the Temple and the dedication of the new altar of holocausts in 164 B.C., three years after the Temple had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes (cf. 1 Macabees 4:52-59). The Feast of the Dedication, which lasted eight days, was instituted to commemorate that event. This feast, initially linked to the Temple, where the people went in procession to offer sacrifices, was also connected with the illumination of the houses, and it survived in this form after the destruction of Jerusalem.

The sacred author rightly underscores the joy that characterizes that event. But how much greater, dear brothers and sisters, must our joy be, knowing that every day on this altar, that we are preparing to consecrate, the sacrifice of Christ is offered; on this altar he will continue to immolate himself, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, for our salvation and that of the whole world. In the Eucharistic mystery, that is renewed on every altar, Jesus is really present. His is a dynamic presence, which seizes us in to make us his, to assimilate us to him; it draws us with the power of his love, bringing us out of ourselves to unite us with him, making us one with him.

Christ’s real presence makes each of us his “house,” and we all together form his Church, the spiritual edifice of which St. Peter speaks. “Come to him,” the apostle writes, “a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).

Somewhat developing this beautiful metaphor, St. Augustine observes that through faith men are like wood and stone gathered from forests and mountains for building; through baptism, catechesis and preaching they are cut, squared, and filed down; but they only become the Lord’s house when they are ordered by charity. When believers are reciprocally connected according to a determinate order, mutually and closely arranged and bound, when they are united together by charity they truly become the house of God that does not fear ruin (cf. Sermon 336).

It is therefore the love of Christ, the charity that “never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8), the spiritual energy that unites those who participate in the same sacrifice and who nourish themselves from the same Bread broken for the salvation of the world. Is it indeed possible to be in communion with the Lord if we are not in communion with each other? How can we present ourselves divided and far from each other at God’s altar? May this altar upon which the sacrifice of the Lord will soon be renewed be for you, dear brothers and sisters, be a constant invitation to love; always draw near to it with a heart open to the love of Christ and to spreading it, to receiving and bestowing forgiveness.

In this regard the Gospel passage that was proclaimed a little while ago offers us an important lesson for life (cf. Matthew 5:23-24). It is a brief but pressing and incisive call to fraternal reconciliation, a reconciliation that is indispensable if we are to present our offering worthily at the altar; it is a reminder that takes up again a teaching that is already quite present in the preaching of the prophets. The prophets vigorously denounced the uselessness of those acts of worship that lacked the correspondent moral dispositions, especially in relation to one’s neighbor (cf. Isaiah 1:10-20; Amos 5:21-27; Micah 6:6-8). Every time that you come to the altar for the Eucharistic celebration your soul opens to forgiveness and fraternal reconciliation, ready to accept the apologies of those who have hurt you and ready, in turn, to forgive.

In the Roman liturgy the priest, having offered the bread and wine, bows toward the altar
and prays in a low voice: “Lord, we ask you to receive us and be pleased with the sacrifice that we offer with humble and contrite hearts.” The priest thus prepares to enter, together with the whole assembly of the faithful, into the heart of the Eucharistic mystery, into the heart of that celestial liturgy to which the second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, refers.

St. John presents an angel who offers “incense together with the prayers of all the saints, burning them on the altar of gold placed before the throne” of God (cf. Revelation 8:3). The altar of sacrifice becomes in a certain way the point of encounter between heaven and earth; the center, we could say, of the one Church that is at the same time heavenly and in pilgrimage on earth, where, in the midst of the persecutions of the world and God’s consolations, the Lord’s disciples proclaim his passion and death until he returns in glory (cf. Lumen Gentium, No. 8). Indeed, every Eucharistic celebration already anticipates the triumph of Christ over sin and the world, and shows in mystery the splendor of the Church, “immaculate bride of the immaculate Lamb, Bride that Christ loved and gave himself up for to make her holy (cf. Lumen Gentium, No. 6).

These reflections draw our attention to the rite that we are about to perform in this cathedral of yours, which we admire today in its renewed beauty and that we rightly desire to continue to make welcoming and decorous. It is a task that involves all of you and that, in the first place, calls upon the whole diocesan community to grow in charity and in apostolic and missionary dedication. Concretely, it is a matter of bearing witness with your life to your faith in Christ and the total confidence that you place in him.

It is also a matter of cultivating ecclesial communion that is, first of all, a gift, a grace, fruit of God’s free and gratuitous love, that is, something divinely efficacious, always present and working in history, beyond all contrary appearances. Ecclesial communion is, however, also a task entrusted to the care of each individual. May the Lord grant you to live an evermore convinced and active communion, in cooperation and co-responsibility at every level: among the priests, the consecrated, and the laity, among the different Christian communities of your region, among the various lay groups.

****

Certainly … difficulties, challenges and problems are not lacking, but the hopes and the opportunities for announcing and witnessing to God’s love are also great. May the Spirit of the risen Lord, who is also the Spirit of Pentecost, disclose his horizons of hope to you and strengthen the missionary drive in you to the vast horizons of the new evangelization. Let us pray for this, continuing our Eucharistic celebration.

The Last Summer Day

The Summer Fête

“Where are ye now, ye summer days,

“That once inspired the poet’s lays?

“Blest time! ere England’s nymphs and swains,

“For lack of sunbeams, took to coals–

“Summers of light, undimmed by rains,

“Whose only mocking trace remains

“In watering-pots and parasols.”

Thus spoke a young Patrician maid,

As, on the morning of that Fête

Which bards unborn shall celebrate,

She backward drew her curtain’s shade,

And, closing one half-dazzled eye,

Peeped with the other at the sky–

The important sky, whose light or gloom

Was to decide, this day, the doom

Of some few hundred beauties, wits,

Blues, Dandies, Swains, and Exquisites.

Faint were her hopes; for June had now

Set in with all his usual rigor!

Young Zephyr yet scarce knowing how

To nurse a bud, or fan a bough,

But Eurus in perpetual vigor;

And, such the biting summer air,

That she, the nymph now nestling there–

Snug as her own bright gems recline

At night within their cotton shrine–

Had more than once been caught of late

Kneeling before her blazing grate,

Like a young worshipper of fire,

With hands uplifted to the flame,

Whose glow as if to woo them nigher.

Thro’ the white fingers flushing came.

But oh! the light, the unhoped-for light,

That now illumed this morning’s heaven!

Up sprung Iänthe at the sight,

Tho’–hark!–the clocks but strike eleven,

And rarely did the nymph surprise

Mankind so early with her eyes.

Who now will say that England’s sun

(Like England’s self, these spendthrift days)

His stock of wealth hath near outrun,

And must retrench his golden rays–

Pay for the pride of sunbeams past,

And to mere moonshine come at last?

Thomas Moore

Sloperton Cottage, November 1881

Carl Anderson writes to Senator Biden: abortion is the modern American slavery

Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, wrote an open letter to Senator
Joseph Biden, 2008 VP candidate, regarding his remarks on abortion and the teaching of the Catholic Church. The appeal Anderson makes is one Catholic to another. The invitation is personal to discuss Catholic teaching and the importance of true faith.

Biden makes the claim to be a faithful Catholic and his known to attend Sunday Mass among other things. Biden also claims to hold what the Church teaches regarding abortion, “the unspeakable crime,” and yet he is a pro-choice senator. The public record of Senator Biden shows no affection (i.e., he’s not obedient to the Lord and His sacrament the Church) for the Catholic he purports to be convicted by and to sustain him unto salvation. He’s afflicted with the Mario Como disease which says “personally I am opposed to abortion but I am not going to impose my views on others.”

Carl Anderson’s letter to Joseph Biden can be read here. The letter outlines the issues at hand: the misleading statements Biden has made regarding Catholic teaching and reserving Catholic moral teaching from the legislative process and voting.

Instead of writing Biden off from a fruitful conversation, which many would do, Anderson is doing the noble thing by inviting Biden to the table to discuss his statements –Biden’s wrong thinking– regarding what Catholic faith teaches about life and why one can’t claim to be a faithful Catholic and hold that abortion is acceptable, even to the point of voting for legislation securing abortion rights.

Senator Biden has a choice: either accept the Church’s clear, consistent teaching about the value of human life by accepting and working for the uborn or risk salvation.

Abortion violates natural law, the 6th Commandment, New Testament truth, the teaching of the fathers of the Church, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and love.

2008 Elections: What we hold most dear

As the Holy Father taught in Deus Caritas Est, “The direct duty to work for a just ordering of society is proper to the lay faithful” (no. 29). This duty is more critical than ever in today’s political environment, where Catholics may feel politically disenfranchised, sensing that no party and too few candidates fully share the Church’s comprehensive commitment to the life and dignity of every human being from conception to natural death. Yet this is not a time for retreat or discouragement; rather, it is a time for renewed engagement.

(Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

WHAT WE HOLD MOST DEAR

As lay Catholics struggling to be faithful to the call of our bishops, we have arrived at the following judgments.

Fr. Giussani taught us that in front of life’s real problems and challenges, what we hold most dear surfaces. Thus, within the privacy of the voting booth we will see “whether faith is really in the foreground, whether faith truly comes first, whether we really expect everything from the fact of Christ or whether we expect what we decide to expect from the fact of Christ.”

We welcome the opportunity to vote as an educational one that will allow us to witness to what we hold most dear. We do not hope for salvation from politics or politicians. Yet we understand the critically important role that politics plays in our common American life.

For this reason two concerns matter most to us and we will vote according to which candidates and parties demonstrate an authentic care for these concerns.

First: Freedom of Religion. Political power must recognize faith’s undeniable contribution to the defense and broadening of human reason and its promotion of authentic human progress. This is a guarantee of freedom for everyone, not only for Christians. And this freedom must include the freedom to speak, convince, act, and build in the public square; religious freedom relegated to one’s private life is not religious freedom at all.

Second: The Common Good. Those who hold political power must do so as a service to the common good of the entire nation.

We consider the recognition and defense of three self-evident truths regarding human beings the minimum commitment to the common good: the right to life from conception to natural death; the irreplaceable value of the family, founded on the marriage between a man and woman; and freedom of education.

For the common good, we further seek politicians and political parties that value subsidiarity, a partnership between the public and private sectors facilitated by a robust non-profit sector. At the same time, we seek persons engaged in politics who recognize that subsidiarity can never annul the solidarity we owe to all our brothers and sisters living in this nation. There is no care for the common good that ignores basic human needs of millions in our nation.

These judgments will determine our support for particular candidates and political initiatives in the upcoming elections.

September 2008
Communion and Liberation – USA

Pope Benedict addresses Pope Pius XII study group

Pope Benedict met today with the Pave the Way Foundation (PTWF). The PTWF met in Rome this week to hold a symposium to study the papacy of Pope Pius XII. “Pave the Way has identified this period in history as one of the most difficult between Catholics and Jews, and so we have taken on this challenge in the furtherance of our mission” says PTWF President, Gary L. Krupp. “PTWF has launched an independent investigation by video interviewing eye witnesses to events of war years. We have uncovered a great deal of information which is not known by any of the scholarly institutions including the Vatican itself.” Krupp believes there is considerable evidence from eye witnesses and other archival materials to help to answer questions of what in fact the Pius XII papacy did during World War II and its importance today.

In his audience the Pope said:

The focus of your [Pave the Way Foundation] study has been the person and the tireless
pastoral and humanitarian work of Pius XII, Pastor Angelicus. Fifty years have passed since his pious death here at Castel Gandolfo early on the ninth of October 1958, after a debilitating disease. This anniversary provides an important opportunity to deepen our knowledge of him, to meditate on his rich teaching and to analyze thoroughly his activities. So much has been written and said of him during these last five decades and not all of the genuine facets of his diverse pastoral activity have been examined in a just light. The aim of your symposium has been precisely to address some of these deficiencies, conducting a careful and documented examination of many of his interventions, especially those in favour of the Jews who in those years were being targeted all over Europe, in accordance with the criminal plan of those who wanted to eliminate them from the face of the earth. When one draws close to this noble Pope, free from ideological prejudices, in addition to being struck by his lofty spiritual and human character one is also captivated by the example of his life and the extraordinary richness of his teaching. One can also come to appreciate the human wisdom and pastoral intensity which guided him in his long years of ministry, especially in providing organized assistance to the Jewish people.

Thanks to the vast quantity of documented material which you have gathered, supported by many authoritative testimonies, your symposium offers to the public forum the
possibility of knowing more fully what Pius XII achieved for the Jews persecuted by the Nazi and fascist regimes. One understands, then, that wherever possible he spared no effort in intervening in their favour either directly or through instructions given to other individuals or to institutions of the Catholic Church. In the proceedings of your convention you have also drawn attention to his many interventions, made secretly and silently, precisely because, given the concrete situation of that difficult historical moment, only in this way was it possible to avoid the worst and save the greatest number of Jews. This courageous and paternal dedication was recognized and appreciated during and after the terrible world conflict by Jewish communities and individuals who showed their gratitude for what the Pope had done for them. One need only recall Pius XII’s meeting on the 29th of November 1945 with eighty delegates of German concentration camps who during a special Audience granted to them at the Vatican, wished to thank him personally for his generosity to them during the terrible period of Nazi-fascist persecution.