Irish Catholics continue to flee the church

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Malachi O’Doherty says his nieces and nephews are helpless at funerals.
 
Raised without religion, they are flummoxed by the practices and customs that accompany a Catholic ritual. 

Though he himself left the church as a teenager in the 1960s, he’s ambivalent about the loss of a binding and, at times, beautiful religious culture.

“People are rejecting something they don’t even remember,” said O’Doherty, whose 2008 book "Empty Pulpits: Ireland’s Retreat from Religion" chronicled the impact of secularization on Ireland. “We may have only a sterile, secular culture that looks at the Catholic Church as an army of priests raping children.”

As Pope Francis takes over the global church, O’Doherty, like many church-watchers in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, ascribe the religion’s current troubles to secularization. 

In 1946, Pope Paul VI called Ireland “the most Catholic country,” but starting in the mid-1960s, a growing number of the Irish — like many in Western Europe and the United States — began questioning the authority of religious institutions. 

Today, the percentage of Irish practitioners remains high compared with most of the rest of Europe.

But attendance at weekly Mass continues to decline, also reflecting fallout from two decades of revelations about clergy sexual abuse. William Crawley, a BBC journalist who covers religion in Belfast, agreed that secularization and the sex abuse crisis have dealt a one-two punch to the faithful.

“There’s no stigma in not going to church,” said Crawley, who is an ordained Presbyterian minister. ”In fact there’s a stigma to going. Parents need to explain why they are sending their children to church.”

Although Catholicism is declining in both the north and the south, the situation is different in each country. The south is 84 percent Catholic, while the north is 48 percent. In both places, however, the number of those practicing their faith is significantly lower than those who just check the census box. 

According to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, in 1984, nearly 90 percent of Irish Catholics went to weekly Mass. In 2011, only 18 percent did. Numbers in the north are harder to come by. Rev. Edward McGee, spokesman for the Diocese of Down and Connor, where Belfast is located, said his jurisdiction has no longitudinal surveys on membership or attendance.

That may be why northerners like McGee say the church merely faces challenges, while southerners tend to call the current situation a “crisis.”

“Northern Catholics were a persecuted people, those in the south were more like landed gentry,” said Rev. Gary Toman, Catholic chaplain at Queens University. “There is a very different experience of being [part of the] church in the north. We came through a difficult time during the Troubles and were grounded in the community.”

The Troubles, which started in the 1960s and ended in the “Good Friday” agreement of 1998, was a period of ethnic and religious violence between Protestants and Catholics. 

According to O’Doherty, years of fighting helped make Catholicism as much an ethnic and political identity as a religious one.

“Leaving your church had the same connotation as leaving your community,” he said.

Another reason for the church’s relative strength in the north may be that neither the northern dioceses nor the local government have thoroughly investigated clergy sexual abuse.

A series of church-based and government investigations in the south revealed widespread abuse of children as well as illicit heterosexual relationships extending over the last quarter of 20th century. 

Compounding the problem, offending priests had been reassigned by bishops, seeking to cover up or ignore problems.

The revelations were particularly painful for a population that revered priests and saw the church as its social bedrock. 

In 2010, Pope Benedict apologized to the Irish Church, admitting there had been “serious mistakes.” 

But victims’ groups felt the statement did not go far enough in accepting responsibility or positing change.

Adding insult to injury, the church may ask parishioners to help pay settlements for abuse victims. 

The estimated cost of claims is 1.36 billion euros (about $1.75 billion). Since the Catholic Church is a state institution in Ireland, the government is expected to pay part of the bill, but wants religious orders and the dioceses to help.

Still, an ongoing economic slump as well as dwindling numbers of worshippers have made collecting donations difficult. In 2011, a leaked document suggested fining local parishes to help pay costs.

The church, which is the biggest property owner in the south, has been slow to turn over real estate to be sold for compensation. 

As of last year, a third of the buildings promised in 2002 have yet to be handed over to the state. 

Some of the buildings may be held in trust and unable to be transferred; others are protected by an indemnity agreement that in 2002 capped the amounts owed by 18 religious orders.

Anger over the handling of the abuse crisis has fueled calls by reformers for a more democratic church. 

According to Rev. Sean McDonagh, head of the Association for Catholic Priests, the clergy now needs to catch up with laity — the legion of faithful.


“The laity is way ahead of the bishops in terms of the ordination of gays and women,” said McDonagh, referring to two issues that many reformers consider basic. “I’d like to see the church as a communion of equals. The question is: How do we get there?”

Royal commission to begin five months of secret sessions

The royal commission into child sex abuse will soon begin five months of secret sessions, but as yet it has not spoken to any victims, reports news.com.au.

The commission will reveal how it plans to structure its investigations at its first public hearing on April 3 in Melbourne when counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, will deliver an opening statement but no evidence will be taken.

The sitting at the County Court of Victoria will be streamed live via webcast on the commission's website.

Its website shows that it has yet to announce the process for submissions to be received. 

However, the commission has already held consultations with the peak bodies representing survivors.

Earlier this month the commission met the country's police commissioners as its terms of reference will cross state and federal jurisdictions.

The first public hearings to take evidence are expected in September after five months of secret sessions when the commission, chaired by NSW Supreme Court judge Justice Peter McClellan, will decide how to split up its immense workload.

It is expected to break the hearings into sections for different institutions and conduct hearings around the country.

Election of Pope Francis raises alarm for some Latin Mass fans

The simplicity dotting the first days of Pope Francis' tenure gave many Catholics seeking a more humble church reason for optimism. 

For others, they represented cause for concern, specifically among those who celebrate the traditional Latin Mass.

Francis' decision to omit the papal mozzetta, or cape, from his clerical attire as he first appeared to the crowd in St. Peter's Square launched a frenzy of worry for the fate of the Latin Mass among forums and comment sections of conservative Catholic blogs and websites:

"This is one of the worst possible men to be elected pope if you are a trad[itionalist]. This is totally depressing! Last one out of the Church please turn off the lava lamp."

"Abito piano? No mozzetta[?] Not even John Paul II appeared for his first Urbi et Orbi without proper dress."

"He referred to himself several times as the mere 'Bishop of Rome.' He only put the stole on for the blessing, and took it off afterward. I'm stunned."

"I'm just sick over this. Traditionalists have nowhere to go. I really fear for the health of the Catholic Church."

These comments and others flooded an initial post March 13 announcing Francis as pope at the traditionalist blog Rorate-Caeli. Its authors held similar apprehensions, and later that evening posted the opinions of a journalist in Buenos Aires, Argentina, sharing their alarm.

"Of all the unthinkable candidates, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is perhaps the worst. Not because he openly professes doctrines against the faith and morals, but because, judging from his work as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, faith and morals seem to have been irrelevant to him," said Marcelo González, calling Francis "a sworn enemy of the Traditional Mass," while rebuking his interreligious relations, lack of curial experience and his perceived soft stances on abortion and gay marriage.

But Rorate-Caeli wasn't the only site fearing the traditional liturgy's future.

Michael Brendan Dougherty, a national correspondent for The American Conservative, alleged March 13 at Slate.com that Francis had blocked adoption of Summorum Pontificum (Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 apostolic letter regarding use of 1962 form of the Latin Mass) in the Buenos Aires archdiocese and had not implemented the new missal translations.

The heightened scrutiny of Francis' liturgical style is a product of too much focus placed on the pope in recent years, said Adam DeVille, an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, Ind.

"Yes, he's the bishop of Rome, yes, he's got a special place in the church … but people need to wean themselves off looking to him constantly and assuming that everything he does we have to do, and everything he doesn't do, we can't do," DeVille told NCR.

Some sites sought to temper the heated response, including the Catholic Answers forum, which posted rules for users when talking about the new pope. Among them: "[No] bashing the Holy Father" or "speaking about his papacy in a negative way, without giving the man a chance."

Others followed suit in policing comments, including the traditionalist blog "What Does the Prayer Really Say?"

"I ask for respect and decorum when concerns or disagreements are expressed. If it turns out that our new Pope starts us down a path you or I don't like, then we will discuss those matters as they come along. But … how long has he been Pope?" the author Fr. John Zuhlsdorf wrote March 14.

A poll on the site soliciting readers' first impressions of Francis (on a 1-10 scale) showed that, as of March 18, more than half of respondents approve of their new pope, rating him an 8 or above.

Fellow Catholic blogger Taylor Marshall at "Canterbury Tales" expressed embarrassment with the vitriolic response among traditionalists and urged them to "take a deep breath!" and give Francis time and prayers.

"If you're really worried, don't log on to a blog combox. Fast on bread and water, pray the Rosary more, go to confession more regularly, give alms to the poor," Marshall recommended, adding, "It's really not our place to sift through what might be the future errors of a Pope that we don't yet know."

At Patheos.com, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, an Anglican priest-turned-Catholic, also encouraged perspective. Francis' own preferences for a simpler Mass likely reflects more informal worship common in Argentina and the region, he said, not a desire to eliminate the Latin Mass.

DeVille agreed, telling NCR he did not interpret Francis' style as a signal he intended to reverse Summorum Pontificum, or make other dramatic liturgical changes.

"I strongly suspect his approach is live and let live. If people want to do Latin and lace, great, go for it. People don't, they want to do something else, that's great, too. He does not strike me as a person who wants to micromanage everybody's life," he said.

Debunking three 'urban legends' about Pope Francis

In the early days of a papacy, absolutely everything the new pope says or does is subject to endless interpretation as a hint of things to come.

At times, the frenzy produces a few instant "urban legends," meaning words or deeds attributed to the new pope that never actually happened, or that are subjected to so much over-interpretation that they become essentially unrecognizable.

During his first ten days in office, the "Francis phenomenon" has given rise to at least three such urban legends worth debunking here, lest they take on a life of their own.

"The carnival is over"

Italian Vatican writer Andrea Tornielli has been the first to use the phrase "urban legend" to describe one report that made the rounds immediately after the new pope's debut on March 13. 

The story goes that when the papal Master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, started to place the mozzetta on Francis, he responded: "You put it on! The carnival is over."

The mozzetta is a shoulder-length cape of red velvet trimmed with white fur. Francis' unwillingness to put it on, combined with the alleged brush-off of Marini, was seized upon as a sign not only of a simpler personal style, but a rejection of the liturgical neo-traditionalism some associate with the papacy of Benedict XVI.

In light of the alleged quip, many have been predicting that Marini may be sent packing quickly back to his hometown of Genoa, in favor of a master of ceremonies less enamored of "smells and bells."

The only problem, Tornielli reports, is that Francis never said any such thing.

"Francis simply said to Marini as he was putting the mozzetta on, 'I prefer not to,'" Tornielli writes. "There was no joke about the carnival, and no humiliation for the obedient master of ceremonies."

No doubt, Francis will have his own touches in terms of how he dresses and how he celebrates the liturgy, and there's already alarm in some traditionalist quarters. 

One report immediately after his election, for instance, suggested that implementation in Buenos Aires of Benedict's 2007 document authorizing wider celebration of the old Latin Mass was half-hearted.

Those debates, however, will unfold quickly enough on their own, without the help of false reports about the carnival being over.

Law's exile

On March 14, the day after his election, Pope Francis made a visit to Rome's basilica of St. Mary Major to pay homage to the Virgin Mary. 

As it happens, the basilica is also home to an apartment belonging to Cardinal Bernard Law, who offered the new pope a brief greeting upon his arrival.

Law, of course, resigned in Boston amid protests over his handling of the child sexual abuse scandal in 2002, and then served as Archpriest of St. Mary Major until his retirement in 2011 when he turned 80.

The Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that when Francis saw Law that morning, he brusquely ordered him to stop appearing in public at the basilica. 

The report also said that the new pope, "as his first act of purification," is preparing to dispatch the 81-year-old Law to a cloistered monastery.

Once again, it would be a dramatic insight into the new pope if true – and, once again, that insight turned out to be built on sand.

Basilian Fr. Thomas Rosica, who was acting as an assistant Vatican spokesperson during the papal transition, told NCR on March 16 that those reports were "completely and totally false." 

Both Rosica and Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said that same thing over and over again to other media outlets, and as of this writing Law still maintains his residence at St. Mary Major.

Francis obviously will face mounting pressure to pick up where Benedict XVI left off in terms of confronting the church's abuse crisis, but rational evaluations ought to be based on what he actually says and does, as opposed to false expectations created by misleading reports.

The Jeep hype

In tick-tocks provided to media organizations before the March 19 inaugural Mass for Pope Francis, the Vatican had consistently said he would move through the crowd at the beginning of the ceremony in the "Popemobile," which for most people conjures up images of an enclosed white vehicle with bullet-proof glass.

Thus when Pope Francis appeared instead in an open-air jeep, it was taken as another of his grand surprises, fueling talk of him as the "unpredictable pope." 

It was also styled as another indication of his desire to be close to the people, often set in contrast to the supposedly reserved and distant personality of Benedict XVI.

In this case, however, there was less "there" there than breathless media commentary suggested.

In truth, in Vatican argot the term "Popemobile" actually refers to a variety of different conveyances, including an open-air jeep often used to move through St. Peter's Square and other public settings when the weather is decent.

Benedict XVI used the open-air jeep routinely throughout his papacy, as illustrated by the picture above from his Mass on Oct. 11, 2012, marking the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

That occasion, by the way, came well after a 2007 incident in which a German man lunged over a security barrier in the square to try to board the pope's jeep, and had to be wrestled to the ground by Vatican security personnel.

While Francis does have a more pastoral and less professorial air, his presence in that jeep was hardly the revolution some observers made it out to be – especially since it was quite often Benedict's preferred way of making the rounds as well.

Savannah cathedral's cracked steeples to cost $1.5 million

From scaffolding 120 feet above the sidewalks of downtown Savannah, workers chip away stucco to repair deep cracks discovered between the 137-year-old bricks that form the towering twin steeples of one of the city’s most picturesque churches – the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.

Deep cracks were discovered between the bricks that form the towering twin steeples of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, Ga., and is expected to cost about $1.5 million to fix.

It’s a problem expected to cost the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah about $1.5 million to fix. 

The church’s Gothic architecture has been covered by 16 flights of scaffolding since January, with plywood forming a detoured path to the front door, and it could remain up through June. 

Fortunately, church officials say, the cracks were spotted just before chunks of masonry began raining down on the street below.

Some suspect the damage was caused by an August 2011 earthquake, centered 500 miles away, that gently rocked upper floors of office buildings downtown. 

Monsignor William O’Neill, rector of the cathedral, says there’s no way to know for sure. He blames the inevitable shifting of the sandy coastal soil beneath the weight of the massive church built in 1876.

“Jesus said, build it on a rock,” O’Neill said, referencing a New Testament parable from Matthew. “And we didn’t do that.”

With 28,000 square feet inside, more than 80 stained glass windows and dramatic Gothic spires decorated with terra cotta gargoyles, the cathedral has long been a standout in a city filled with historic churches. 

It was built 26 years after the Savannah diocese was established in 1850 under Pope Pius IX. Decades later, the sanctuary and roof had to be completely rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1898. But the original steeples remain.

What vexes O’Neill and other church leaders is that more expensive repairs are needed after a top-to-bottom restoration of the cathedral was finished in 2000. That work cost $11 million.

The rector said he was conducting his annual inspection last fall inside the south steeple, which holds the cathedral’s 4,730-pound bell, when he noticed deep cracks several inches long in the mortar.

Using a crane to take a closer look at the steeples, they found inch-thick chunks of stucco peeling away from the brick.

“I went up there with a hammer and chisel and busted some off and saw there were cracks all through the bricks,” said Fred Russell, site superintendent for the Rives E. Worrell Company construction firm, which is doing the work.

“The brick itself is sound. It’s the mortar and the joints that are worn by movement and old age.”

Exactly how Russell’s crew will repair the cracks once the stucco has been removed from the steeple bricks hasn’t been decided. 

He said one option is to fill the cracks with epoxy – essentially gluing the bricks back together – then cover both steeples in a fiberglass wrap to make them more resistant to further shifting. Engineers will first have to decide whether that method will hold up for the long haul.

Erecting the scaffolding, fixing the cracks and replacing the stucco are expected to account for about $750,000 of the repair costs. 

The other half of the money will go to repair leaks and other problems with the cathedral’s stained glass windows, including the 20-foot rose-patterned window above the front entrance.

Meanwhile, the cathedral remains open to parishioners and tourists. 

 More than 1,000 packed its pews a week ago for the annual Mass celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, when an Irish flag and other decorative banners were hung from the scaffolding outside.

“Life goes on, but the scaffolding is really covering the front,” said Barbara King, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Savannah. “And there are some brides who are unhappy about it.”

Cardinal Keith O'Brien's accusers deny claims that they were part of a revenge-seeking "gay cabal"

The four men whose accusations led to the resignation of Britain's leading Catholic cleric are rejecting suggestions that they were part of a "gay cabal" seeking "revenge" for the cardinal's publicly anti-gay stance. 

Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigned last month after claims of inappropriate behavior towards several priests came to light. 

His four accusers are dismissing reports that quote church sources saying O'Brien was forced to quit by gay priests angry at his hypocrisy about same-sex marriages, the UK Guardian reports. 

"This isn't about people being gay. It's about abuse of power," said "Father Peter", who revealed in the Observer report which broke the story that he had been involved in an inappropriate relationship with the cardinal that led to him needing counseling. 

"The emotional and psychological power Keith O'Brien had over me was incredible. He was utterly manipulative." Former priest "Lenny," who described how he had rejected the O'Brien's advances while he was a seminarian, said the newspapers were trying to force pieces of the story together. 

 "I was surprised at the suggestion that I was part of a gay cabal. And my partner of 26 years? I'd say she was quite surprised too," he said. 

Details have leaked of a fifth complaint dating to September 2012. That priest reached an "agreement." 

The four men, 'Lenny,' 'Peter,' 'John,' and 'Kenny,' made their complains against O'Brien five months later and were told to stay silent and that the cardinal would retire to Rome. 

The men, fearing another cover-up, went public, leading the cardinal to resign and issue an apology. 

"There have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me," the cardinal admitted. 

"Father Peter" said the complaints were never political or timed to affect the papal conclave. Our complaints were made before the pope resigned. I am now more convinced than ever they played a part in his resignation. But this is not something that all happened last month. I sought help for this a decade ago. I was on antidepressants and I couldn't cope any more." 

The four accusers knew one another but were not close friends. It was only after a chance reunion that Lenny and Peter discovered their common link to O'Brien. 

"We couldn't have acted alone because Keith was too powerful," said Father Peter. "Gradually, we all found one another. We had each thought that Keith had a problem, but then we realised there was more to it. This was a man who was using his power wickedly." 

The four complainants maintain they were not motivated by malice or revenge in any way. 

"This was done for altruistic reasons," says Father Peter, who is still seeing a psychologist. 

"I see the bigger picture: the cleansing of the church." Lenny said he had not received a formal response from the nuncio and did not know whether there would be an inquiry. 

He said he believes the church would make them all disappear if it could. 

"I think we are seeing evidence of this in the sheer anger of these statements. These may be men of the cloth but they are not men of the holy spirit," he said.

U.S. Cardinal Levada travels to Assisi to pray for new pope

When U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada walked through the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi March 23, he took a moment to gaze at the fresco of the 11th-century saint who inspired the new pope's name.

The retired prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said vthat he made the journey to pray for the papal ministry of Pope Francis.

"When I was in the Sistine Chapel and the Holy Father announced that he had chosen the name Francis, I thought, 'Now I must go to Assisi as soon as I can ... so I can ask the intercession of his patron saint -- Italy's patron saint -- for his new Petrine ministry,'" Cardinal Levada said.

The cardinal, who was a member of the conclave that elected Pope Francis March 13, has visited the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi many times throughout the years. He has led pilgrimages that usually involved the Archdiocese of San Francisco -- named after the Assisi saint -- where the cardinal had served as archbishop from 1995 to 2005.

But this time, Cardinal Levada had a much different reason for making the journey.

When Pope Francis was introduced to the world from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, he asked for prayers from the tens of thousands of people packed in the square below him.

The new pope "is a man who says always at the end, 'Pray for me, pray for me,'" Cardinal Levada said. "So I want him to know that I'm taking his admonition seriously, especially at the tomb of his patron, Francis."

The cardinal said he was at first surprised that the first Jesuit pope would take a name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the religious order now commonly called the Franciscans. However, he says the name suits the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was archbishop of Buenos Aires before he was elected pope.

"It's also something original to him, I believe," Cardinal Levada said. "His desire is to serve the poor, which he has done in the past, and make that the image of a servant pope.

"I believe the spirit of St. Francis already diffused in the church and beloved of so many, will only become the stamp of his pontificate and help us all to be people who reach out in a more significant way to our brothers and sisters who are poor, marginalized, in any way that we can help them," the cardinal said.

Pope Francis has said that he chose his name because St. Francis of Assisi was so devoted to the poor, a virtue he wanted to be reminded of throughout his papacy.

Cardinal Levada also said that retired Pope Benedict XVI preached that love and fraternity are at the heart of the church and that reaching out in love to the poor is a vital element of Catholicism.

"I think we will see Pope Francis, with his love for the poor, being in strict continuity with that," the cardinal said. Pope Benedict taught the importance of charity and Pope Francis "will be putting it into action."

St. Francis' poverty often misunderstood, priest explains

Saint Francis of Assisi's concern with poverty was secondary in his life and stemmed from his utter reliance on and love for God, a priest familiar with the saint said.

“The usual image of Francis and poverty is skewed...poverty is important, but it is secondary to something else for Francis, which is absolute dependence on God,” Dominican priest Father Augustine Thompson told CNA March 21.
While many associate the 13th century saint with poverty, he wrote little about it and when he did, he was pointing to the humility of the Incarnation and the death of Christ, said the Berkeley, Calif.-based priest.
“The one time he talks about poverty itself – he mentions it very rarely in his own writings – he gives as the perfect example of poverty that the second person of the Blessed Trinity became a human being and took on the lowliness of the human condition, and then offered himself on the cross, and offers his body to us in the Eucharist.”
“The Eucharist and poverty for St. Francis are two parts of the same thing,” said Fr. Thompson, author of the 2012 book “Francis of Assisi: A New Biography.”
While believing in service to the lowest of the poor, St. Francis also “sees the Eucharist as worthy of the utmost respect, as it is itself the greatest act of humility and poverty when God gives himself as food to ordinary people.”
Thus the saint “had very strong opinions” about “proper celebration” of Mass, and also “was concerned that the chalices, corporals and altar cloths be fitting and beautiful.”
Rather than being offended by the use of precious materials in relation to Mass and the Eucharist, Saint Francis actually wanted to ensure that his friars would have silver vessels to bring to priests “who didn't have suitable things to keep the Eucharist in.”
Fr. Thompson explained that “there's no evidence anywhere in any of the early writing about Francis, or in any of his own writings, that he was critical of the papacy for having big buildings, for example. His ideas about poverty are not political in that sense, and they're often made that way today.”
It was in this context that Fr. Thompson explained how he understood Pope Francis' comment to media representatives March 16 saying, “how I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor.”
“I think that's his gloss on the title 'servus servorum Dei.'”
This title – usually translated as 'servant of the servants of God' – originated with Pope Gregory the Great around the year 600. Fr. Thompson said that a better translation of 'servus' is the more radical “slave.”
“The slave is the poorest, the lowest you can get; and Christians, no matter what their material resources are, are called to be ultimately slaves of God. St. Paul says this, that freedom comes from being a slave of Christ, being subject in every way to him.”
“That's how I think Pope Francis understands poverty, and he wants to be slave of the slaves of God. He's using Franciscan-style language, but I think it's just a gloss on how he understands one of the papal titles.”
“I don't think it means something like he's going to sell the Vatican art collections, although I suspect he'll feel very uncomfortable living in a building built by the Renaissance Popes.”
Father Thompson concluded that “if there's anything about Pope Francis' entire life, it's his attempt to put himself at the service of others, and that expresses itself in his simplicity of life too.”
For St. Francis, the reason for embracing poverty was not poverty itself, but that with no resources of your own, you are “totally dependent on God.”
He explained that “human poverty can only reflect the great condescension of Jesus, who is God and yet dies for us, and then offers his body.”
Fr. Thompson said that for St. Francis, “poverty and service are part of a subordination of himself to God, through the service of others.”
St. Francis' encounter of service to lepers was “the point that changed his life, not giving up his property,” Fr. Thompson explained.
In his Testament, which he dictated on his deathbed, St. Francis said that “when I was in my sin, just to see lepers was very bitter for me. And the Lord himself took me among them, and I showed mercy to them. And on leaving them, what had seemed bitter to me had turned for me into sweetness of soul and body.”
Brother Charles Sammons, a priest of the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor who serves in the order's General Curia, agreed that this passage shows that “Franciscan poverty isn't only about money.”
“So for Francis poverty was also about going to the place of social poverty and serving, accepting that one might himself be rendered unfit to rejoin respectable society,” Brother Charles told CNA March 21.
“In this way it was also for him a following of the poor and humble Christ...the poverty of Christ is a footstep to follow,” explained the Capuchin Franciscan.

Two books by Pope Francis due to be published in Italian

Two books written by Pope Francis while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires will be available on March 26, according to the Vatican.
 
Both texts were written in Spanish in 2006. They are entitled “Humility, the road towards God,” and “Recovering from Corruption” – also called “Corruption and sin: some thoughts on corruption.”

Both draw upon Jesuit spirituality, offering solutions for the corruption of society based on the wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. 

Among the solutions offered by Pope Francis is the need for an ecclesial life characterized by fraternal charity.

“Corruption and Sin” examines corruption in Argentina and the world, finding its roots in the human heart. 

It distinguishes between corruption and sin in a novel way, according to the Vatican.

The Pope’s book on humility discusses a text by Saint Dorotheus of Gaza, a sixth century abbot, and is strongly spiritual.

The writings of Pope Francis are not yet widely available in English. Image Books, an imprint of Random House, is due to publish “On Heaven and Earth” in May. 

That work is a conversation between Pope Francis and the rabbi Abraham Skorka on various theological and worldly issues. 

It was first published in Spanish in 2010.

Pediatricians group accused of ignoring data in endorsing 'gay marriage'

The American Academy of Pediatrics’ recent support of “gay marriage” is drawing criticism from those who argue that it disregards evidence about the well-being of children of same-sex couples.
 
Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, noted that there are “at least four reviews or studies in peer-reviewed literature that contest the claim that children do equally well with same-sex parents.” 

None of these studies were “mentioned by the American Academy of Pediatricians in their endorsement of gay marriage,” she wrote for National Review Online.

On March 21, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a statement entitled “Promoting the Well-Being of Children Whose Parents Are Gay or Lesbian,” as well as a report supporting same-sex “marriage” as a family structure that is beneficial for children.

Benjamin Siegel, chair of the organization’s Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, said that the academy “believes there should be equal opportunity for every couple to access the economic stability and federal supports provided to married couples to raise children.”

The press statement and report endorsed “gay marriage,” adoption by single parents and adoption by the gay partner of a child’s parent.

While advocating for these changes, Ellen Perrin, a co-author of the policy statement, said that the “updated policy reflects a natural progression in the Academy’s support for families.”

The statement said that research indicates “there is no cause-and-effect relationship between parents’ sexual orientation and children’s well-being, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics policy.”

Gallagher criticized the statement and its dismissal of studies finding that children raised by same-sex partners face disadvantages.

She said that the academy “cannot cite a single scientific study in a peer-reviewed journal showing children with gay parents are better off if their parents are considered legally married.”

“How serious are we about children’s well-being in this country?” she questioned.

Last summer, University of Texas sociology professor Mark Regnerus published one of the first studies based on a large, random and representative sample of children raised in different situations. It found that children raised by same-sex couples experienced less stability and faced more problems in a variety of areas than those raised by their biological mother and father.

Soon after it was released, the study was criticized as being limited and “anti-gay,” with accusations of ethical violations and scientific misconduct raised. However, an official inquiry conducted by the university rejected these charges, finding them to be unsubstantiated.

Regnerus said in an article for National Review Online that he was “neither surprised at the statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsing gay marriage nor at its timing.”

“Whether the statement adequately captures the consensus of pediatricians across the country is, of course, unknown,” he added.

He cautioned that the science “on same-sex parenting remains comparatively new” and that the studies that do exist “foster skepticism about moving quickly or universally to deny children their right to a mom and a dad.”

“In the end, we all want children to thrive,” said Regnerus. “Many organizations and scholars assert that same-sex marriage is a step toward that end, ensuring household stability.”

“Others remain skeptical, and wonder whether this isn’t more about parents’ wishes than those of children.”

Pope's election changed headlines but decisions loom

“The election of Pope Francis marked a change in the newspapers headlines regarding the Church,” according to Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, the secretary of the conclave that elected the new pontiff.
In a March 20 interview with CNA, Archbishop Baldisseri invited journalists “not to speculate too much” about why the cardinals chose Pope Francis, but he also maintained that “there was a need for a Pope of this kind, a shepherd able to guide and reform the Church.”
The “kindness of this Pope, who is very close to people, marked a changed in the newspaper headlines,” he underscored, adding, “his gestures will surely give a different image of the Church to the world.”
Right after the election, Jorge Mario Bergoglio put his red berretta on Lorenzo Baldisseri’s head. According to an ancient tradition, the newly elected Pope passes his berretta to the secretary of the conclave, thus indicating that he will be made a cardinal at the next consistory.
The last secretary of the conclave who inherited the berretta rossa from a new Pope was Cardinal Di Jorio, who received the red hat of John XXIII at the end of the 1958 conclave. Popes Paul VI through Benedict XVI decided not to follow the tradition, but Pope Francis returned to it.
Archbishop Baldisseri is not yet a cardinal, but he can wear the red hat.
For the time being, he no longer has to carry out his duties as secretary of the Congregation for Bishops. Instead, he will wait for the next consistory and a job that is in keeping with his new standing.
Meanwhile, Vatican analysts are poised to capture any sign that might indicate what Pope Francis will do with the high profile positions.
Whenever a new Pope is elected, the heads of all the Vatican departments offer their resignations until they are confirmed or replaced by the new pontiff.
So, right after Easter, Pope Francis will have to face some difficult choices, including the appointment of a new Vatican secretary of state.
The current secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has been confirmed “donec aliter provideatur” (until it is differently provided), but he is 78, three years beyond the age of retirement.
According to officials who work for the Vatican Secretariat of State and who requested anonymity, the frontrunners for the new secretary are Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, who leads the administration of Vatican City State, and Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
But Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, who served as diplomat before taking the post as secretary of the Congregation for Bishops, is also in the running.
A secretary of a cardinal who took part to the conclave, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, speculated that Cardinal Bertello will be the final choice because he played a key role in the election of Pope Francis.
He explains that the cardinals in the Roman Curia “did not have a common line, and so Bertello worked with the uncertain cardinals, after their vote had been scattered during the previous ballots.”
The source also added that “cardinals wanted somebody able to give a fresh image to the Church.”
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga underlined in a March 21 conversation that “now it will be easier for people to meet the Pope: his doors are always open.”
But officials within the Vatican Curia are still worried that Pope Francis’ honeymoon with the press will soon end.
An official who served in a Vatican pontifical council said on the condition of anonymity, “things will break up when the Pope will take position about in vitro fertilization or same-sex marriages.”
When Pope Francis was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he stood strongly against the “same-sex marriage” legislation that was eventually signed into Argentinean law in 2011.
On the other hand, Virginia Bonnard, an Argentinian journalist, claimed that “he simply followed the Episcopal Conference of Argentina line. He is a man of dialogue, more than a man of crusades.”

Converts buck the trend of people leaving Catholic, mainline Protestant churches

Recent studies suggest the Roman Catholic Church is in crisis: Infant baptisms are down, and some cradle Catholics are leaving. 

But this Easter weekend, the church will see an uptick in new members, converts who are bucking the trend.

It's a special Sunday morning inside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago holynamecathedral.org. 

The priest wears violet for Lent, the congregation sports green for St. Patrick’s Day, and the gospel reading is a crowd-pleaser: Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. And a few pews from the front, Carol Rose is about to change her life.

She stands to recite the Roman Catholic Profession of Faith, a vow Catholics around the world repeat at every Mass. 

But like the Argentinian Cardinal just named the church’s new Pope, Rose is crossing a threshold. Except she’s not Catholic. Not yet anyway. This Saturday, March 30, the night before Easter, Rose plans to convert to Catholicism.

“I don’t know how many times someone has asked me, “Oh really, you’re doing that?”  Very judgy. And I’m, “well, thank you for not holding back.”

Rose is 28, and she describes herself as an actress by profession and a nanny by day job. She’s the daughter of Baptists and Catholics.

“I grew up a second-generation religious mutt,” she said. “My parents were kind of (a) split religious family and they weren’t sure who to make mad. Which church to take us to. So we didn’t really grow up in a church.”

This Holy Saturday, Cardinal Francis George will baptize Rose. If past years are an indication, more than 100,000 Americans will join her that day – about 1,100 in Chicago.

But the tide is turning the other way: Pew Studies show that for every new Catholic who joins, four others walk away. The Catholic Church isn’t alone  – about a quarter of all Americans switch religions at some point – but Pew says Catholicism has taken the biggest hit.

Converts like Rose defy the trend. Rose spent years visiting all sorts of churches  – Pentecostal, Presbyterian, even a temple – but nothing felt right. Then she watched her beloved grandmother die of cancer.

“I became very afraid of what happens after we’re gone,” she said. “I was just like, I need a faith, I need to build my faith stronger, I need to know what I believe so that I can not worry about this. It was just such a weight on me.”

She went to church with her boyfriend, a Catholic, and the faith started to feel like a good fit.

But she struggled with some church teachings. She’s not the only one: Polls show most American Catholics disagree with church policies against birth control and gay marriage.

“That’s a really hard thing for me, because being in theater, obviously, I have a lot of homosexual friends, a lot of them,” she said. “And I love them. And I support them.”

But she says the church has a right to its beliefs, and she ultimately found its message of love and the beauty of the ritual too powerful to ignore.

“When you think about the history of it, when you think that Peter did this, and you think that this went back for 2,000 years, more than that, it’s moving to watch it on a daily basis and it’s you being part of that history.”

Rose is getting married in October. She started the church’s official conversion process last fall, a journey of faith that takes about a school year. After the homily on St. Patrick’s Day, Rose and 49 others in the conversion class quietly slip out of Mass before communion starts. 

They have breakfast of fruit and pastries and study the gospel.

Their guide during the mass and weekly classes is a 78-year-old woman with a seminary degree and a grandmotherly warmth, Anne Klocke.

Over Klocke’s 20 years at Holy Name, she’s shepherded hundreds of  Catholic converts.  She says half her students, like Rose, are marrying Catholics; the others enter alone, many drawn to the church’s commitment to the poor.

They enter at a pivotal time for the church: The day Klocke chatted with me, she was anxiously awaiting the announcement of the new pope. White smoke blew out of the Sistine Chapel chimney and the bells at Holy Name rang out a short time later.

“All of the excitement may perk some interest, and somebody who maybe thought of being Catholic two years ago may say, oh, I’ll take another look at that.” Klocke said.

“They’re all welcome here.”

It’s too soon to tell whether Pope Francis will inspire more converts. 

But as he settles in, Klocke will prepare to welcome her next flock – and she’s hoping for a papal bump in attendance.

"What is Easter Sunday?"

There is a lot of confusion regarding what Easter Sunday is all about. For some, Easter Sunday is about the Easter Bunny, colorfully decorated Easter eggs, and Easter egg hunts. Most people understand that Easter Sunday has something to do with the resurrection of Jesus, but are confused as to how the resurrection is related to the Easter eggs and the Easter bunny.
Biblically speaking, there is absolutely no connection between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the common modern traditions related to Easter Sunday. Essentially, what occurred is that in order to make Christianity more attractive to non-Christians, the ancient Roman Catholic Church mixed the celebration of Jesus' resurrection with celebrations that involved spring fertility rituals. These spring fertility rituals are the source of the egg and bunny traditions.

The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, Sunday (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19). Jesus' resurrection is most worthy of being celebrated (see 1 Corinthians 15). While it is appropriate for Jesus' resurrection to be celebrated on a Sunday, the day on which Jesus' resurrection is celebrated should not be referred to as Easter. Easter has nothing to do with Jesus' resurrection on a Sunday.

As a result, many Christians feel strongly that the day on which we celebrate Jesus' resurrection should not be referred to as "Easter Sunday." Rather, something like "Resurrection Sunday" would be far more appropriate and biblical. For the Christian, it is unthinkable that we would allow the silliness of Easter eggs and the Easter bunny to be the focus of the day instead of Jesus' resurrection.

By all means, celebrate Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday. Christ's resurrection is something that should be celebrated every day, not just once a year. At the same time, if we choose to celebrate Easter Sunday, we should not allow the fun and games to distract our attention from what the day should truly be all about—the fact that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and that His resurrection demonstrates that we can indeed be promised an eternal home in Heaven by receiving Jesus as our Savior.

Why Western, Orthodox Easter Fall On Different Days

In the Western Catholic and Protestant church, Easter falls between late March and late April, in the Orthodox Church, between early April and early May. 

In the 16th century, the Roman church abandoned the Julian calendar in favor of the Gregorian calendar.

As a result, the Catholic church needed to convert the originally Julian-based date of Easter into a Gregorian date.

The date for celebrating the Easter holiday differs because both churches use a different system for calculating the date of the vernal equinox and the first full moon.

Originally, the Western church decided to set a fixed date, March 21, for the vernal equinox and then determine the appearance of the full moon using ecclesiastical calculations.

This was only true, however, prior to the year 325 A.D. Over the course of history beginning in 325 with the Council of Niacea, the Western church decided to establish a more standardized system for determining the date of Easter.

The Orthodox church, on the other hand, set the date for Easter based on the astronomical definitions of the full moon and the equinox, as they are observed along the meridian of Jerusalem.

Western Christianity always celebrates Easter on the Sunday immediately following what is known as the Paschal Full Moon, which is determined from historical tables and does not correspond to lunar events.

Catholics used these calculations to establish a table of Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates. These dates would determine the Holy Days on the Ecclesiastical calendar. Though modified slightly from its original form in 1583, the table for determining the Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates was permanently established and has been used ever since to determine the date of Easter.

The Paschal Full Moon is the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 21, which also happened to be the date of the vernal equinox in 325. As a result, in Western Christianity, the Easter holiday is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the date of the Paschal Full Moon, which is why it sometimes falls on the same date as the Orthodox Easter.

The Paschal Full Moon can vary as much as two days from the date of the actual full moon, with dates ranging from March 21 to April 18.

As a result, Easter dates can range from March 22 through April 25 in Western Christianity.

Easter and its related dates are based on a lunar calendar very similar to the Hebrew calendar.

Some Eastern Orthodox churches not only maintain the date of Easter based on the Julian calendar, they also use the actual, astronomical full moon and the actual vernal equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem.

Due to the inaccuracy of the Julian calendar, and the 13 days that have accrued since 325, this sometimes complicates the matter. In order to stay in line with the vernal equinox, Orthodox Easter cannot be celebrated before April 3 in the present day Gregorian calendar.

Additionally, in keeping with the rule established by the First Ecumenical Council of Niacea, the Eastern Orthodox Church followed the tradition that Easter must always fall after the Jewish Passover, since the death, burial and resurrection of Christ happened after the celebration of Passover. 

Eventually, the Orthodox church came up with an alternative to calculating Easter based on the Gregorian calendar and Passover, and developed a 19-year cycle, as opposed to the Western church’s 84-year cycle.

Complicating the matter is the fact that Jesus’ followers never recorded the date of his resurrection.

In sum, Easter Sunday is the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon date for that particular year. 

In June 325, astronomers approximated astronomical full moon dates for the Christian church, calling them Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates. 

Since 326 the Paschal Full Moon date has always been the Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 21, which was the equinox date in 325.

Prayer to St Joseph

O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers.

O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart.

Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us.

Printer refuses to publish gay magazine

An editor is seeking legal advice after a printing firm refused to publish his magazine as it is aimed at the gay market.

Danny Toner, the founder and editor of MyGayZine, an online magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Northern Ireland, was hoping to produce the first print edition in June, to coincide with Belfast Pride.

But after approaching a local printer for a quote he was "hurt and embarrassed" to receive an email refusing to work with the magazine because of its readership.

"There are some types of work I do not feel comfortable taking on and this is definitely one them," wrote printer Nick Williamson from Blufire Media in County Armagh, who had advertised his services on Gumtree.

"To work alongside (even printing for) the LGBT [community] would be in contradiction to my own faith and so I will have to let this quote slide."

Initially, Williamson, a former director of a local Christian bookshop, had replied: "Unfortunately due to the nature of the magazine we are unable to give a quote." 

After Toner asked for clarification, the printer specified the reason.

MyGayZine.co.uk does not contain any adult content. 

Recent issues carry features about homophobia, gay life, travel and culture, as well as crosswords and recipes for carrot and ginger soup.

"This is my seventh month producing the magazine," Toner told the Guardian. "I started it up as a home project and it's grown and grown. So after a couple of months building up enough capital, I started looking into getting it printed. We'd been advised not to go to local printers but to opt for foreign ones because it'd be cheaper, but we were against the idea – we wanted to stick with local people. Once he [Williamson] came back and was open about the reasons for refusing, I was shocked about how blatant he was. I felt hurt and annoyed and confused. Why? How could anybody refuse a service just for that one reason? It was embarrassing too – it's shaming."

Refusing to offer goods or services on the grounds of sexual orientation contravenes the Equality Act 2010, the same legislation used last year to successfully sue Susanne Wilkinson, the owner of a bed and breakfast, who refused a room to gay couple Michael Black and John Morgan.

Toner has forwarded the emails to the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland and has approached a solicitor who specialises in LGBT rights.

"If we can take the printer to court, we will," he said. "Part of the reason we started this magazine in the first place was in order to fight homophobia and to bring it to people's attention. Things have improved for gay people in Northern Ireland in the last five or six years but there's still a long way to go."

Williamson said he did not wish to comment.