Richard Chonak: March 2003 Archives

Father Durine, a Chaplain of the Seventh Marine regiment presides during a Catholic mass in the camp some 150 kilometers north of the town of Nassiriyah, March 31, 2003. (Reuters)

Well, a minor one. The NCR's John Allen (cited by Dom Bettinelli) checks out the rumor that Tony Blair, an Anglican, received Holy Communion during his February visit to the Vatican.

Aside from the Blair family, there were a few seminarians at the Mass. A colleague who has spoken with some of the seminarians reports that one saw Blair move up the communion line with his arms crossed, signaling that he wanted a blessing rather than communion, but the priest administering communion (not the pope personally) gave it to Blair anyway. As a non-Anglo-Saxon, the priest may simply not have been familiar with the gesture.
That gesture -- crossing his arms on his chest -- may be the source of the confusion. It does not universally mean "give me a blessing, not the Host".

In the Byzantine-rite Catholic and Orthodox churches, that gesture is the normal thing to do when approaching to receive. In the Latin Church, too, it's common in Eastern Europe: I've seen people in Poland do it.

Some overly "creative" priests here in the US -- and I suppose in the UK too -- being ignorant of the gesture, must have decided to "invent" a gesture non-Catholics attending Mass could use. After all, isn't it nice to let them participate in the Communion procession and get a personal blessing? Universal niceness and inclusivity are what the trendy church is all about.

Never mind that:

  • they're stealing a gesture that already has a meaning: this is so culturally insensitive;
  • they're confusing priests and leading them to deny Holy Communion to Catholics: this has happened to me;
  • getting a "personal blessing" is redundant, since the celebrant blesses everybody at the end of Mass.

Anybody got any contacts at the Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy? Maybe we can ask them to remind everybody that the Communion procession is for receiving Holy Communion and not for other purposes.

Sorry for the confusion, Tony.

How else could we have maintained our reputation as the elite Catholic Light blog?

Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, POW

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NBC: “You know her [your daughter] better than anyone. What do you think she’s doing to help her get through this?"

Eunice Johnson: “She is praying. She’s praying everyday and every time. And that’s gonna get her through. She’s asking God. I know... I know in my heart because she had a rosary with her. She forgot it. This was the day that she was being deployed. And she called me and she said, ‘I left my rosary, you know, on the dresser upstairs in my house.’ And I had to go back home and get it. So, I’m hoping that she has that rosary with her.”

NBC: “Her faith is important—"

Eunice Johnson: “Yes.”

NBC: “— to her?”

Eunice Johnson: “Yes. And I know she’s praying... When it falls night time in Iraq I think of her in a little cell by herself and it’s dark, it’s black. And there’s no kind of communication so that’s where I know that she’s communicating with God.”

Go to it, Fr. Cregan!

In a comment to my post below about Blessed Sacrament parish in Alexandria, Fr. Jim Tucker remarked:
It's a pity they didn't show a photograph of Blessed Sacrament. That alone would convince even an atheist that the thing needs to be fixed.
Looks like he was right. Here's the parish's current Eucharistic Closet, um, Chapel.

Chaldean Christians in Iraq

If Christians and Muslims can coexist amicably in Iraq now, is it unrealistic to hope that they can do so post-Saddam?

Speaking to The Telegraph (LRR), [Francis] Crick, 86, said: "The god hypothesis is rather discredited." If Crick's concept of "God" refers to something that can be measured empirically, then he and I and the Pope are all unbelievers.

The WaPo goes into some detail about a pastor's plan to beautify his modern and somewhat spartan parish church in Alexandria. From what I've heard of church renovation projects, though, $425,000 is not a shocking amount to spend, and the substance of the renovation -- moving the Eucharist from a "tiny room" to a suitably adorned chapel visible to the faithful -- sounds like it's in conformity with the Church's directives.

So why is this news? Because some parishioners (cue the violins) are disgruntled about a shift away from the parish's old-style liberal manner. The Postista says, "Priest's Vision, Style Deeply Divide Parishioners at Alexandria Church" but the subhead could just have well have run, "Neo-Puritans Oppose Art and Decoration in Worship". Here's a motto if they need one (Jn. 12:5): "Why wasn't the money given to the poor?"

When the Pope has ordered a review (presumably leading to some clean-up) of US seminaries, choosing a vice-rector for Louvain from one of the most "progressive" dioceses in the country doesn't reassure me. But I shouldn't pre-judge. Does anybody know Fr. DeSocio's work?

On July 1, Father DeSocio will begin as vice-rector of the American College of the Immaculate Conception at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. There he will work with major seminarians for a five-year period.

Father DeSocio has served since 1993 as the Rochester Diocese's assistant to the bishop for vocations and priestly formation. He is also vice president of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors.

The Romanian Catholic bishop for the United States, the Most Rev. John Michael Botean (a supporter of Pax Christi), says that participating in the war against Iraq is a mortal sin.

Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA says that that doesn't reflect the US bishops' position.
[Thanks to the CWN Blog for the link.]

[This statement just came in, in French, from a friend; any translation errors are mine. --RC]

Solemn consecration of Iraq to the Virgin Mary
Friday, 21 March 2003 18:00 (local time) [ 10 AM US Eastern time ]

by all the patriarchs and bishops of the various Christian churches of Iraq
in the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph,
before the pilgrim statue of "Our Lady Queen of Peace"

As in all the difficult moments of history, the Christian people of Iraq turns to the Virgin Mary to implore the help of God, certain that the Mother of God never leaves her children without aid.

It is in this spirit that for several days, the Christians of Baghdad have dedicated themselves to praying, in numerous churches of the city, around a statue of the Virgin which was on pilgrimage throughout the country in 1998 and which is named "Our Lady of France, Queen of Peace". This statue of the Queen of Peace, which has already encountered large and very fervent crowds, in the course of its pilgrimages from the north to the center of the country, having been welcomed by Christians and by numerous Muslims, and before which they have prayed, takes up its journey to Baghdad again today, and more and more the world gathers about her.

Following an idea of the Latin Bishop of Baghdad, this movement of prayer around the Queen of Peace will culminate in the Consecration of Iraq to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which the bishops of the Chaldean, Latin, Syrian, and Armenian Catholic Churches and the Syriac Orthodox and Assyrian Churches will pronounce next Friday March 21, at 18:00 (local time) in the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph.

The announcement of this event is being made in all the churches of Baghdad Sunday March 16, and prayers are multiplying today that there may be a great crowd at the celebration on March 21, even if war should begin. This movement, which will bring together Christians and many Muslims, has as its end to entrust the events to come to the Providence of God through the Virgin Mary, and to offer Him everything, visibly and solemnly, that everything be resolved with the least possible suffering.

No one knows how the Virgin Mary will respond and will act to protect her people, but let us have confidence in her. Let us ask her, in Iraq and in the entire world, to intercede, and to intervene powerfully, in the wake of this Consecration, for the true good of all her children, for the greater glory of God.

The participants

The event is organized by the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate (represented by Bp. Shlemon Warduni and Bp. Emmanuel-Karim Delly) in the St. Joseph Cathedral, in the center of Baghdad.

The other Churches joining this Consecration are:
-- The Latin Catholic Church (represented by Bp. Jean Benjamin Sleiman)
-- The Syrian Catholic Church (represented by Bp. Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka)
-- The Armenian Catholic Church (represented by Bp. Paul Coussa)
-- The Syriac Orthodox Church (represented by Bp. Saverius Jamil Hawa)
-- The Assyrian Church (represented by Bp. Ghevargese Warda Daniel Sliwa)

Significant crowds are expected for this event, which is to be broadcast by the international media present in Baghdad.

The "Pilgrim Virgin" movement of prayer and peace

Launched in France in 1995 before 108 statues and icons of the Virgin Mary, pilgrims from town to town, this initiative has spread through the world. Today there are over 8,000 pilgrim statues and icons in support of evenings of prayer in over 120 countries.

The Pilgrim Virgin's visits this past week in Baghdad

* Monday, March 10: the Christians of Baghdad
The statue of the Virgin was welcomed in the Church of Our Lady of Deliverance by Mgr. Matoka, the Syrian Catholic bishop. CNN interviewed Deacon Noel Farman and the Syrian bishop at 16:00

* After that, it was received Tuesday, March 11, in St. Joseph Cathedral by Mgr. Sleiman, the Latin Catholic bishop.

* From Wednesday March 12 to Friday March 14, the Chaldean Sisters of Mary Immaculate welcomed the statue in their large church of the Immaculate, across from the German Embassy.

* Saturday the 15th and Sunday March 16, the Armenian Catholic Church opened its largest church to receive the statue and to intensify prayers.

* Sunday, March 16, the Consecration on Friday March 21 was announced in the major churches of Baghdad, inviting all the population to attend.

* The Virgin will be invoked from church to church, in the coming days, by ever-larger crowds and with the support of all the Christian bishops of Baghdad, who have received this initiative very favorably.

---
Feel free to pass along this message: the entire world is called to support this movement of prayer and peace and to unite in prayer with the Consecration on March 21.

The Holy Father John Paul II, who has called for prayer and fasting to avert war, has been informed of this action. Everyone can send this invitation to others, by Internet or by fax, and respond to this appeal by uniting his prayers and fasting to the intentions of the Virgin Mary for the peace of the world, most especially through this Consecration of Iraq to Mary.

A fallen priest apologizes

Fr. Dan Twomey was pastor of St. Patrick's in Natick, Mass. until 2001. Orthodox and scripturally-minded, he brought an evangelical zeal to the parish, ridding it of its dependence on fund-raising Bingo games, encouraging lay apostolates and starting Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist. When he departed without explanation, parishioners were left guessing for the reason. This week he met with them to provide the answers.

Holy Fence Post! (Again?)

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Remember the crackpots in Australia who thought they saw an image of our Lady in a fence post? Well, it hasn't taken long for somebody to cash in on this new "apparition". You can have your very own prayers e-mailed to Australia to be delivered to the site of the "image" for a mere $16.50 each. That's possible thanks to the folks at virginmaryprayers.com, and it looks like the emphasis should be on the .com, as in "commerce". On the other hand, if you want to give them a voluntary donation of $25 or $100 to "help pay for the administration of this site", they'll take that too, though I doubt they're spending as much as $100 a year to run the thing.

How do I know about all this? Because they spammed a friend o'mine, and they'll probably spam you too before long. That act by itself qualifies them as notorious public sinners.

Ahem, Catholic Light does not endorse the aforementioned site.

Your Wallet Speaks

I don't know if this reflects any larger trend, but here in my town, the local supermarket is selling the French brie -- not the domestic brie -- for 40% off the usual price. Mind you, this is in a suburb of Boston.

Devotees of San Gandolfo brought his statue from Polizzi Generosa in Sicily all the way to Little Italy in Manhattan 105 years ago, but it looks like the landlord is making him move again.

What kind of "Christian" is Tariq Aziz?

(Thanks to The Cranky Professor for the link.)

"H" is for "chutzpah"

Over at the HMS, Kevin Miller gives a rebuttal to my post below about the Dreher column and the overwrought responses it has garnered.

Part of the dispute comes from the suggestion that maybe nobody at NR is "a sincere Catholic". Now, I don't happen to read that magazine these days, but to me, that's a serious charge: yet Kevin openly defends it.

I take "sincere" to mean such things as "honest", "unfeigned", "heartfelt", "genuine in feeling" -- and to call someone "insincere" is tantamount to calling him a hypocrite. Our Lord was entitled to do that, or maybe a reader of souls like Padre St. Pio, but for you or me, or Kevin or Victor to do that strikes me as somewhere between imprudent and impudent. It's an accusation about the person's inner intentions, so there's a pretty high burden of proof. On the other hand, if they want to say that this or that fellow Catholic (Dreher or Fr. Schall or whoever) is in error, or is inconsistent, that would be fine with me.

Kevin defends Greg Popcak's analysis (on the Pope's role vis-ŕ-vis bishops) as based on sound theology, but I think it's hard to tell, because Greg uses some vague language to express his thoughts. He writes:

Likewise, the Pope cannot "unmake" a bishop at his will, he may, however, ask a bishop to resign if he is SURE that it is God's will that he do so.
There are a couple of ambiguities here.

First, no one, not even God, can "unmake" a bishop, in the sense of undoing the sacramental character of ordination, so the terminology here is confused.

As for the talk about being "SURE" of God's will, what is Greg's basis for writing this? A bishop can either be deprived of office or be asked to resign. Either way, the grounds are relatively objective and stated in church law, not based on anybody's discernment of God's will.

I don't think this is such clear theology.

Jumpin' on Dreher

A few of the bloggers took Rod Dreher to task Friday for his latest WSJ column, in which he compares the Vatican's full-court press against a war on Iraq with its less vigorous approach with respect to the sex-abuse scandals in the US, and grouses at the latter.

Greg Popcak called the article "idiotic" and the sentiments "bordering on irrational". I expected him to grill Dreher: are you now or have you ever been an Ultramontanist? And Victor Lams, seldom given to harsh judgments, wonders whether no-one writing for National Review is "a sincere Catholic". Considering the company that Rod is in as an NR writer, that sort of talk was over the top.

When orthodox Catholics express the wish that Pope John Paul would intervene more vigorously in Church life over here to correct abuses, they're often told: sorry, dears, things just don't work that way; the Pope is fulfilling his role, and it's up to the bishops here to fulfill theirs. Can't argue with that.

This notion that Pope John Paul passed up opportunities to discipline bishops must be some fringe view held by people who really don't understand the Church's tradition on governance -- unless you want to take seriously people like James Hitchcock, Ralph McInerny, George Weigel, and Tom Bethell.

Tucson bishop resigns

Maybe for health reasons, maybe due to his role in the scandal. I hope it's not the latter: that would make the Mass in Bp. Moreno's honor today a bit sticky.

Hey, Gordon Zaft, you're on the scene: can you add anything?

Feria Quarta Cinerum

Adiuva nos, Deus salutaris noster: et propter gloriam nominis tui, Domine, libera nos: et propitius esto peccatis nostris, propter nomen tuum.

Have another one

The Drinking Game that Kathryn Lively invented for readers of "St. Blog's Parish" needs a new rule: you can take a drink whenever our co-blogger Pete Vere turns up as a participant in yet another weblog. With Gratian's Commentary, Catholic Light, Envoy Encore, maybe Caritas Unitas et Veritas, the non-functional "catholic,eh.blogspot.com" blog [Thou shalt not put a comma in a host name and expect it to work well], and his own blog, plus appearances at TCRNews and Onerock, our Pete is well on his way to earning the epithet "promiscuous". Which ones have I not yet spotted? Cheers!

Our Lord's mullet

Fr. Sibley, chef of the Saintly Salmagundi, thinks that in this image, our Lord has been given His worst hairstyle ever.

I'm surprised Father doesn't appreciate it, especially since he writes to us from Louisiana. I expected him to recognize that work of art as an example of inculturation.


And now, a hymn:
O Sacred Head surrounded
with mullet tawny brown,
No, no -- I'd better stop there. I don't want to spoil this Holy Week hymn for everybody.

What? Who?

On life and living in communion with the Catholic Church.

Richard Chonak

John Schultz


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