ecclesiology – Page 5

By the numebrs: Catholic grow and diminishment around the world

On February 19th,
the Cardinal Secretary of State, His Eminence, Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone SDB
and Archbishop Fernando Filoni, the assistant for General Affairs, presented
the Holy Father the 2011 Annuario Pontificio. The Annuario is the pontifical
yearbook with everything you want to know and more. Highlights in this edition:

In 2010, the
Pope erected 10 new episcopal sees, 1 apostolic exarchate and 1 apostolic
vicariate. One diocese was elevated to the rank of metropolitan see, two
prelatures to the rank of diocese, and two apostolic prefectures and one
apostolic administration to the rank of apostolic vicariates.

The world’s Catholics
increased from nearly 1,166 million in 2008 to 1,181 million in 2009, an
increase of fifteen million faithful which corresponds to a growth of 1.3%.

The distribution
of Catholics among the continents. Between 2008 and 2009:

Continue reading By the numebrs: Catholic grow and diminishment around the world

SSPX detente?

The religion editor for Reuters published an article “Catholic splinter group sees no Vatican accord” on the eve of Vatican-Society of St Pius X talks ending but with no resolution. Why this group of priests persists in living outside the Catholic Church and under the unity of Pope Benedict is beyond me. Hubris is a good word but the issues are complex. Certainly there are some legitimate doctrinal issues that have surfaced following the Second Vatican Council on which the SSPX adherents are correct in objecting to. But their manifest schism from the Church of Rome is not the way to renew doctrine and to have care for the salvation of souls. I think Bishop Bernard Fellay is too obstinate to accept any offer of Divine Grace from the Trinity.

Transitioning from Husar to new era in the Ukrainian Church …?

In the past weeks we’ve seen the Pontiff accepting the resignation of His Beatitude Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, 78, as the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Bishop Ihor Voznyak is the temporary administrator of the Church until a new leader is elected.

The Ukrainian Church is the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches with its own tradition, law, discipline, and customs; in Church law we’d call the Ukrainian Church an Ecclesia sui juris. As a note, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is alternately called the Union Church, Ukrainian Catholic Church, Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite or the Kyivan Catholic Church. Empress Maria Theresa introduced the designation of Greek-Catholic in the title of the Church in 1774. In 1999, the Synod of Bishops introduced the name “Kyivan Catholic Church.”

Continue reading Transitioning from Husar to new era in the Ukrainian Church …?

Severed from dependence & completion in God we forget about our eternal destiny in communion with God, Pope reminds Filipino bishops

The Philippines is the most populous Catholic nation in Asia. We ought to be aware that the Catholic faith has been in the Philippines for 5 centuries now!!!!

These days, among the many things Benedict XVI is doing, he’s meeting with the Filipino bishops who are praying at the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul, all in an effort to strengthen the bond of unity between the universal Church and the Church in the Philippines. This is the second group of bishops from the Philippines led by Archbishop Palma of Cebu, is in Rome for the ad Limina. A third group will begin their visit on the 21st. Benedict addresses the body the bishops and also meets individually with each bishop. Every 5 years a bishop who heads a diocese is to make a pilgrimage to Rome to pray, to visit with the pope to report on the state of evangelization of the local church and to visit with the various departments at the Holy See. A quinquennial report is sent ahead of a bishop’s visit to the Eternal City so that the pope can study the good and areas of need of a particular diocese. It is the expectation that the ad Limina Apostolorum, to the threshold of the Apostles, helps in the transparency in bishop’s concern for the salvation of souls. What Benedict told the Filipino bishops today is appropriate for us here in the USA. A portion of the text is given below with my notations for emphasis.

Filipino culture is also confronted with the more
subtle questions inherent to the secularism, materialism, and consumerism of
our times. When self-sufficiency and freedom are severed from their dependence
upon and completion in God, the human person creates for himself a false
destiny and loses sight of the eternal joy for which he has been made. The path
to rediscovering humanity’s true destiny can only be found in the
re-establishment of the priority of God in the heart and mind of every person.

Continue reading Severed from dependence & completion in God we forget about our eternal destiny in communion with God, Pope reminds Filipino bishops

Problems with the NeoCats? Are changes in the Neocatechumenal Way coming, too???

Problems with the Neocatechumenal Way? There seems to be problems with the NeoCats with some of the bishops in Japan to the point that mediator is being appointed. You will recall that the Holy See asked the NeoCats to conform their liturgical ceremonies –Mass included– to what the Church teaches and expects. They did an odd ceremonial for Mass and claimed some sort of historical precedence. In a church with 2000 years of history, there’s precedent for everything. Plus, they’ve been accused of setting parallel church structures in the parishes where they have a following. I have to say, I think the Church ought to listen to the Japanese bishops. Some of the problems with the NeoCats sound similar to those with the Regnum Christi when talk like “cult like” sensibilities. Also, with lots in the high placed churchmen supporting the work and life of the NeoCats it will difficult to unravel some facts from fiction. This was also true of the Legionaries of Christ.

The story…

Non-discrimination admission policy for schools issued by Boston Archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Boston, under the direction of His Eminence, Seán Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap., issued a new educational policy for its schools which includes a non-discrimination policy and reiterates that Catholic teaching will be taught in the curricula. There’s an openness to the real life situations people face and live each day but there is no compromise in the passing on the Truth to others: care for the whole person and concern for the eternal destiny of souls.

Read the admission policy here

The parish community is an expression of beauty & unity, Pope says

Pope Benedict visits a parish in his diocese a few times a year as any good bishop would do. Yesterday, Gaudete Sunday, he visited the parish community of Saint Maximilian Kolbe. Here are few paragraphs of the Pope’s homily.

Together with all of you I
admire this new church and the parish buildings and with my presence I desire
to encourage you to realize in an ever better way the Church of living stones
that you yourselves are. I know the many and significant efforts at
evangelization that you are engaged in. I exhort all of the faithful to make
your own contribution to the building up of the community, in particular in the
field of catechesis, the liturgy and charity — pillars of the Christian life
— in communion with the whole Diocese of Rome. No community can live as a cell
that is isolated from the diocesan context; it must rather be a living
expression of the beauty of the Church that, under the bishop’s leadership —
and in the parish, under the pastor’s leadership — walks in communion toward
the Kingdom of Heaven.

Continue reading The parish community is an expression of beauty & unity, Pope says

Gianfranco Ravasi on the move to Milan, next Pope?

A week ago today, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, 68, was created a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI. Ravasi, since 2007, is the well-equipped, critically acclaimed, lover of art and music, and a man who has a great sense of humor President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the “Minister of Culture” (some might say he’s a “culture vulture”) and he heads the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology. He’s the former head of the Ambrosian Library in Milan. He turned the Library into a cultural and intellectual destination.

Continue reading Gianfranco Ravasi on the move to Milan, next Pope?

The two new American Cardinals of the Roman Church

Left: His Eminence, Raymond Leo Burke

Above: His Eminence, Donald William Wuerl

New cardinals assigned a Roman titular church

The tradition is that when a cardinal is made by the pope, the cardinal becomes a priest of the Diocese of Rome. As members of the Roman clergy, he receives a church, though now in title only, (which he vicarious takes care of by finding the funding for projects), and has the responsibility of entering a conclave to elect a new pope and when asked, to provide his consultation on certain topics.

The new cardinal will take possession of his new church within the next six months.

Interesting to note: Cardinal Antonios Naguib is not assigned a titular church because he uses Saint Paul outside the Walls because the church’s close, historic connection with the See of Alexandria; Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli is assigned the Benedictine church of Sant’ Anselmo (replacing the recently deceased Cardinal Mayer, OSB); Cardinal Raymond Burke is assigned Church of Sant’ Agata de’ Gotti, the church where the Stigmatine Fathers have the generalate (replacing the recently deceased Cardinal Spidlik, SJ); the 93 year old Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci is assigned the Church of Santissimi Nomi di Gesù e Maria in via Lata (replacing Cardinal Dulles, SJ).

The complete list of the assignments of the churches is here.