Category: Controversies

…in the Diocese of Richmond.

When will we hear from them about their progress? We’d like to know if they can see any changes since the Bishop DiLorenzo arrived on the scene.

I can’t mention Richmond without mentioning “TQ” – Pastor of Church of the Holy Family in Virginia Beach. Former Pastor of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in the Mount Vernon area, he is known far and wide for driving a VW Bug up the aisle while wearing an Easter Bunny suit some decades ago. He didn’t like Bishop DiLorenzo’s installation. No, not one bit!

For the first time in memory there were no LAY extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist distributing the Body and Blood of Christ. The sea of white vested clerics (deacons and priests) “grabbed “ everything with a sort of “it’s our Church” possessiveness. A GIRMness pervaded all.

Why use EME’s if there are so many ordinary ministers of the Eucharist on hand?

Contrary to what Beregond posted in the comments last week, this does not rise to the level of schism. Perhaps Father JP would care to comment?

Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick downplayed a letter to the U.S. Catholic bishops from the Vatican’s chief doctrinal watchdog on whether priests should refuse Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger sent his letter in early June to Cardinal McCarrick and Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in the context of dealing with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, a Catholic whose positions on several issues, including abortion, contradict church teachings.
But its full text, which was published Saturday in the Italian newspaper L’Espresso, contains much stronger language than Cardinal McCarrick used last month at a meeting of the country’s Catholic bishops near Denver.
Cardinal McCarrick’s nuanced speech during the meeting from June 14 to 19 paraphrased the Ratzinger letter to say that the Vatican had left the issue of Communion in the hands of the U.S. bishops.

Portland Archdiocese Filing Chapter 11

Sandro Magister, writing in L’espresso, presents the letter Cdl. Joseph Ratzinger sent the US bishops supporting the denial of Communion to pertinacious pro-abortion politicians.
(via CWN)

If you think Cosby is wrong, or that this is solely a problem of the supposed appeal of victimhood in the black community, think again. Clearly our expectations of any youngster are too low if the Worcester, Mass. school system thinks it’s ok to put Tupac Shakur’s “poetry” on the summer reading list: Rap Lyrics on Students’ Summer Reading List

The appeal of victimhood is quite paradoxical, because while for a child it may be based in fact rather than imagination, it leads the adult to be a victim of his own sloth, neglect for duties to self, to family, and to community. It’s reinforced by the diminished expectations of students in the public schools and the culture in general. When have you ever heard a rapper laud the virtue of getting his homework done, doing his chores, saying his prayers, and going to sleep early? That simply doesn’t sell music or movies. Indeed the appeal of victimhood is fueled by the entertainment industry. Cosby is right. Whether or not anything will come of his tirades is another matter. I’m glad Jesse Jackson is behind him on this now, though he has made a career of convincing his brothers and sisters believe they are victims of forces outside their own community.