Real Catholic Blog

One of the most difficult aspects of explaining the Church to Catholics, much less non-Catholics, is that there are different Rites within the Church Universal. When I tell people I was baptised and confirmed Maronite Catholic, some look blankly or confused, while others take a stab at what that means — usually asking if it is a disconnected offshoot of what they understand as Catholicism (i.e., the Latin Rite) and that I must have converted at some point.

Not at all. As John Paul The Great once said, “The Church breathes with two lungs, the Eastern Church and the Western Church.”

The Church is made up of several Rites, or Churches within the Church, the largest of which is the Latin Rite. Each Rite has a patriarch, the head of that Church. The Pope is the patriarch of the Latin Rite as well as the head of the Church Universal. A kind of first among equals.

We don’t quite need an organizational chart, but this is a topic we will write about often here, as it is underserved, and one in which Brother John and I both have some background and expertise. But the reason it comes up today is because last week Pope Benedict heeded a plea from the Middle Eastern bishops to convene them at the Vatican and announced that he is calling a special Assembly of the Synod of Eastern Bishops dedicated to the Middle East, October 10-24, 2010. The theme of the Synod will be, “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Testimony: The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul (At 4,32).”

Pope Benedict added:

On other occasions you have asked for a more regular contact with the Bishop of Rome to enforce the communion of your churches with the successor of St.Peter and to examine together any problems of significant importance.

This proposal has been renewed even in the last Plenary Congregation for the Eastern churches and in the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

The Eastern Patriarchs want to address four points critical to Catholics in the Middle East (from Asia News via CatholicOnline): the growth of fundamentalism and the restlessness of the Christians, the importance of Muslim-Christian dialogue, the position of the Oriental Catholic patriarch in the Universal Church, and the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Kuwait and in the Gulf countries. Iraqi Bishop Louis Sako made the proposal for the special assembly of the synod for the Middle East to Pope Benedict last January.

This is an exciting development for the Church as it will bring to light certain and unique difficulties of the Church in a region dominated by Muslims, and also help Roman Catholics better understand the Church Universal. We look forward to reporting on it.

Pope Benedict told an audience of visiting from Brazil last week that the role of the priest is irreplaceable and that a shortage of priests does not mean the priesthood will secularize anymore than it means the laity will vocationalize. Priests will be priests and laity will be laity, each with distinct and vital roles in the Church.

However, he was clear on the unique nature of the priesthood as an office descended from the Apostles and Christ Himself. From Vatican Information Service via Catholic Online:

. . . the particular identity of priests and laity must be seen in the light of the essential difference between priestly ministry and the “common priesthood.” Hence it is important to avoid the secularisation of clergy and the “clericalisation” of the laity.

He also said:

. . . the lack of priests does not justify a more active and abundant participation of the laity. The truth is that the greater the faithful’s awareness of their own responsibilities within the Church, the clearer becomes the specific identity and inimitable role of the priest as pastor of the entire community, witness to the authenticity of the faith, and dispenser of the mysteries of salvation in the name of Christ the Head.

The function of the clergy is essential and irreplaceable in announcing the Word and celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. … For this reason it is vital to ask the Lord to send workers for His harvest; and it is necessary that priests express joy in their faithfulness to their identity.

The Holy Father also invoked Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of priests. As this is the Year for Priests, marking the the 150th anniversary of the saint’s death, Pope Benedict XVI indicated that St. John Vianney . . .

continues even now to be a model for priests, especially in living a life of celibacy as a requirement for the total giving of self, expressed through that pastoral charity which Vatican Council II presents as the unifying centre of a priest’s being and actions.

In this Year for Priests, with the intercession of Saint John Vianney, let us all make a commitment to pray fervently for an increase in vocations as well as for the spiritual, physical and mental well being of all priests. 

The Vatican’s Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, wrote a beautiful, inspiring piece this week in L’Osservatore Romano warning priests of the dangers of self-interpretation and subjective views of the Gospel, stating, “No priest proclaims himself or his own ideas, nor his personal or subjective interpretations of the one and eternal Gospel”  (see CatholicNewsAgency.com) 

He emphasized the importance and seriousness of the priest’s role in proclaiming the Gospel. Because the Gospel is the undeniable Word of God, it must be preached with dignity and wisdom, with no room for personal interpretation, especially such that rationalizes passing societal fancies. Archbishop Piacenza explained that priests must find this dignity . . .

. . . from daily intimacy with Him, from lectio divina, as part of the great tradition of the fathers, from deep meditation that gradually transforms each priest into a “living Gospel.”

We know well that the “Gospel is not only words, Christ himself is the Gospel” and we are called to be conformed unto Him, through the exercise of the ministry of proclamation as well.

He also addressed preaching itself, reminding priests that the only absolute is God, and human opinion cannot be substituted for Him:

Wise preaching always considers first the real demands of those who receive it, never imposing arbitrary and insufficient interpretations, but rather always preferring the one true thing that is necessary: the real encounter with God of those entrusted to our care.

. . . always (be) aware of the work of God in each proclamation: it is He who prepares the hearts, it is He who encounters men, it is He who brings forth the flowers of conversion and ripens the fruit of charity.

Archbishop Piacenza did acknowledge one form of relativism that priests should undertake: To “be totally (related) to God.” The Lord, he wrote, ”loves those who give with joy and never leaves His servant alone.”

In this Year of the Priest, I’m sure His Excellency’s words were especially appreciated by his brother priests.

It’s no secret that marriage — God’s Word — is under assault in America and in many other places around the world. It almost seems as if once a tide starts like that, it’s hard to roll it back. It’s unfortunate, as well, that those who should gladly raise the banner to carry the fight are quick to despair and submit to what seems to be overwhelming “modern norms” — the “dictatorship of relativism” as a wise man (Pope Benedict XVI) put it a few years ago.

Take heart! The Church in New Jersey, Washington state and Washington, D.C. as well as Maine (all per CNA) are taking definitive action to roll back the tide and protect their states from the redefinition of marriage.

Of particular interest is Maine, where citizens there not only are trying to protect marriage preemptively, as about 30 states have done, it has to pull a California and reverse a decision that has legalized homosexual “marriage.” To undertake this task, the Diocese of Portland took up second collections last Sunday so that it could run television ads and other campaign communications to reach the electorate. It is expected that the 140 parishes of the diocese raised between $140,000 – $300,000.

In a disturbing occurrence, two former nuns protested the diocese’s involvement in front of Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. They claimed to represent the so-called group “Catholics for Marriage Equality.”

However, Fr. Louis Phillip, retorted that marriage . . . 

“pre-dates government. … Since the beginning of time, marriage has been understood by people of every faith and culture to be the union of a man and a woman.”

The referendum on restoring the definition of marriage in Maine is November 3. The umbrella coalition for the pro-marriage side is Stand for Marriage Maine.

What do you get when you combine social networking, such as Facebook, and outreach for new vocations? How about VocationMatch. It is the Year of the Priest, and while our prayers for vocations our always needed, some in the Church have added a technological approach as well.

RomeReports.com has the details:

“Friend” Pope Benedict on Facebook? That’s one way to encourage vocations.

For those who live in the Richmond, Va., area, or anyone who may visit here this weekend, I couldn’t resist a plug for the Saint Benedict Church Oktoberfest, which runs September 18-19. (In other words, a real Oktoberfest, held around the days of the actual Bavarian festival.) The hours on Friday are from 5-10 p.m. and from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday. It offers authentic German food, music, dancing and more. If you go, you will want to tour the historic church and see, among other things, its well known sanctuary mural, which the parish restored within the last two years.

The historic sanctuary mural at St. Benedict Church in Richmond, Va. The church is a thriving, growing urban parish that celebrates traditional Catholicism.

Only in its 5th year, this festival is a knock-your-socks off event from an urban parish that is growing because of its unapologetic upholding of traditional Catholicism. The coincidence of a German Pope also named Benedict probably has been a bit of a boon to the parish, but it’s no coincidence the Holy Father is popular there, for they truly practice what he — and the Church — teach, complete with outreach and introduction to the Faith by parishioners who canvass the neighborhood. So, while the festival is great fellowship among parishioners, it’s a reflection of Christ to non-Catholics as well. The festival also kicks off its 40 Days For Life campaign. 

Founded by the Benedictines from Belmont Abbey in North Carolina in the early part of the last century, the church shares a square block area with an all-male military high school the monks still run. However, some years ago, the monks started their own (Mary, Mother of the Church) Abbey in the Virginia countryside and turned over the parish to the Diocese of Richmond. The parish runs a K-8 co-ed school two blocks away.

Who here is afraid to breach the taboo of talking politics and religion, especially to strangers? Most people won’t, of course, because it’s deemed impolite. However, John Paul The Great had another view, which is why he was the greatest man of the 20th century, in my view.

We are all called, as Catholics, to bring the Lord to all. It is not a calling the Lord limits to priests, bishops and religious; being Catholic is more than attending Church and, literally preaching to the choir. Nothing so important should be restricted by an arbitrary social norm, probably constructed by secularists anyway. Of course, we must be mindful of how we approach people and the particular situations in which we find ourselves. But if volunteers can go door to door for any number of secularcauses (many worthwhile), why don’t Catholics go door to door, or speak up more often publicly, about the Faith?

It is not enough to call, to summon, and to wait for people to come. … You must be a Church which seeks people out, which invites them not only through  the general appeal of the media, but also by personal invitation, from house to house, from street to street, in an unflagging effort, respectful but present in all place and social environments.

- John Paul II, from his Address to the Bishops Conference of Brazil, Ad limina visit, September 5, 1995

John Paul II: He was Great and loved for a reason.

We’re expecting a lot of new visitors today and over the next week as we are finished with our “soft launch” phase and fully into formal, grand opening launch! We’ve contacted thousands by e-mail and social networking sites since yesterday since Saturday. So, if this is your first visit to RealCatholicBlog, or if you haven’t been back in a few weeks since our soft opening, and want to get to know us better, feel free to visit our very first post, a welcome statement, from our first day, July 31. Additionally, be sure to check out the entire blog, including our About page, Blog Contributors page, and About RealCatholic/Ave Maria at the top of the home page to get a further sense of our mission, history and background. 

We think you’ve landed in the right place and look forward to you joining with us to create a vibrant, growing online community of fellowship and faith in which to further understand the Catholic Church and spread the Gospel.

May the Lord’s Peace and Blessings be upon you always!

John Paul II and Benedict XVI teach us about adoration of the Holy Eucharist in their words and actions.

UPDATED 9/14/09

Cardinal John Henry Newman is set to be beatified in the near future now that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, officially has recognized a miracle attributed to Cardinal Newman’s intercession. The approved miracle was the inexplicable cure of a spinal condition suffered by permanent Deacon Jack Sullivan of the Archdiocese of Boston.

Deacon Sulllivan prayed daily for the intercession of Cardinal Newman for the Lord to relieve him of his debilitating ailment and intense pain, which had him hunched over and unable to read and study for his deaconate classes. When he was relieved of his disability, a team of medical doctors found no plausible human medical cure was responsible. 

Beatification is the step that precedes canonization. The candidate for sainthood can be beatified in his diocese.

From RomeReports.com/YouTube.com:

Cardinal John Henry Newman was an Anglican presbyter who converted to Catholicism in 1845. He was one of the most important figures of the Oxford movement that advocated for the Church of England’s return to its Catholic roots.

One of his biggest admirers is Benedict XVI, who during his years in the seminary, studied Newman’s life and writings.

The date for Cardinal Newman’s beatification is undecided, but may be celebrated next year in Rome or London, the cardinal’s place of birth.

From Catholic News Agency Television/YouTube.com:

Cardinal Newman, an English convert to Catholicism, tried to reconcile the Church of England to the Church of Rome. As a seminarian, Pope Benedict XVI studied Cardinal Newman’s life and writings. Now he will beatify him, probably in early 2010.

From RomeReports.com/YouTube.com

An American Deacon, Jack Sullivan, sought Cardinal Newman’s intercession for the healing of a serious spinal ailment that would have kept him from finishing his deaconate classed and eventual ordination.