Monday, August 31, 2009

Why Romero's canonization is stalled (Contribution)

Jon Sobrino, the Spanish Jesuit theologian based in El Salvador, says the delay in the process of beatification of Oscar Romero is essentially political: namely, fear of its impact on the Vatican's relations with the Central-American state.

The martyred Archishop of San Salvador, gunned down at the altar in 1980 after denouncing injustices and army oppression, was formally accepted as a candidate for sainthood in 1997, when he was declared a "Servant of God".

He survived a theological audit by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2005, and there was talk of beatification following swiftly -- especially if he was declared a martyr.

But since then, it's all gone quiet. March next year will be the 30th anniversary of his martyrdom, but there's no sign coming out of Rome that a declaration is being planned.

In an interview with the Spanish press agency EFE in Mexico, where he is attending a congress on a fellow theologian, Ignacio Ellacuria, also murdered in El Salvador, Sobrino said the problem was essentially "political".

A 1993 UN report identified Major D'Aubuisson, founder of the ARENA political party, as the one who ordered Romero's assassination in 1980 -- and therein lies the problem, says Sobrino.

"If they beatify Romero, whether they like it or not all that's going to come out. So it's a big problem for the Salvadoran Government and, I guess, for the public and diplomatic relations between the Vatican and El Salvador".

Can this be true? ARENA is no longer in power -- so what's the fear? That the ruling left-wing FMLN party would exploit the furore to embarrass ARENA? That after all these years the country would erupt in violence?

Sobrino, professor at the Central American University (UCA), fears that, rather than being canonised as a martyr, over time Romero's legacy will be watered down.

Hence the need to redouble efforts to keep Romero's powerful witness alive: this wonderful site on Romero at the Kellog Institute, for example.

Over here in the UK, meanwhile, ROMERO: THE MUSICAL is being performed on 27 September for the first time in a London theatre. It was first put on in 1982 at a Benedictine school, and has been performed at many other schools since. It is fast-paced, with gorgeous music, and brilliantly captures the life and witness of the man known simply as "monsenor".

I know this first hand, because I acted in that first production -- as an American TV interviewer (doubling up as, um, a member of D'Aubisson's death squad). It was a huge hit at the time.

The materials (librettos etc.) for schools to put on a performance are being made available here from October, with profits going to support development projects in El Salvador. Se recomienda.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: AM

New rift may shift Lutherans

A controversial decision about homosexual clergy by the country's largest Lutheran denomination had some of the church's conservatives knocking on the door of the Kirkwood-based Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod last week.

Missouri Synod officials fielded dozens of calls and e-mails from pastors and lay members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America after its biennial meeting in Minneapolis, when delegates voted 559-451 to allow gay clergy in committed relationships to serve as pastors.

That decision disappointed conservatives in the theologically liberal denomination. Callers after the ELCA's Aug. 21 vote wanted to know about the Missouri Synod's teaching and application process, according to the church's first vice president, the Rev. William Diekelman.

But that surge in interest could put the Missouri Synod in an awkward position. Although new members would be welcome, church leaders would like to avoid the charge of sheep-stealing.

At the same time, pastors from both denominations say homosexuality is just one of the issues that differentiates them, and it would be a theological challenge for some individual ELCA members, and especially entire congregations, to move to the Missouri Synod.

Like all mainline Protestant denominations, the Missouri Synod is losing members faster than it can attract them, so new faces in the pews would be a joyful sight for pastors.

"There are people in the ELCA that agree with us that one man and one woman should live together in marriage as husband and wife," said the Rev. Matt Clark, associate pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, a Missouri Synod church in Waterloo. "If they have disagreements with their church body, we invite them to our church to examine Scripture with us."

But Missouri Synod leaders don't want to seem to be benefiting from discord in a sister denomination. The Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, Missouri Synod president, attempted last week to tread the line between offering pastoral care and seizing an opportunity.

"We recognize that many brothers and sisters within the ELCA ... strongly oppose these actions," Kieschnick said of the vote. "To them we offer our assurance of loving encouragement together with our willingness to provide appropriate support in their efforts to remain faithful to the Word of God and the historic teachings of the Lutheran church ... ."

Kieschnick was out of town last week and unavailable for comment, but Diekelman denied there was an organized effort to bring disgruntled ELCA members, or entire congregations, into the Missouri Synod fold.

"I've not been part of any conversation where anyone suggested strategically doing that," Diekelman said.

But being faithful to the historic teachings of the Lutheran church, as Kieschnick put it, would mean a theological adjustment for Lutherans moving over from the more liberal denomination. The Missouri Synod doesn't ordain women or homosexuals, and its members believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God.

Missouri Synod members believe in the Reformation-era doctrine of sola scriptura, which says Scripture is the only inerrant Christian authority. In the 16th century, Martin Luther rejected the Catholic church's hierarchical structure and founded a reform movement within the Christian church based on the authority of the Bible.

Missouri Synod members see their Lutheran brothers and sisters in the ELCA as more willing to interpret Scripture loosely to fit modern cultural norms.

So, for instance, ELCA members who have grown up in a church in which the ordination of women is normal, may have a difficult time adjusting to life in the Missouri Synod, where women cannot be ordained.

The Rev. Richard Mueller is the pastor of Lutheran Church of the Atonement in Florissant, the largest ELCA congregation with 1,700 members. Mueller was brought up in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and disagreed with the ELCA vote. He said he fielded calls from distressed members of his congregation last week.

Despite the concern, "I don't see a lot of folks leaving ELCA churches for Missouri Synod churches," Mueller said. "This isn't the only issue that distinguishes us."

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will become the third mainline Protestant church to ordain noncelibate gay clergy, after the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church. And indeed, there is fear among ELCA leaders that the church may be at the same crossroads in the debate over homosexuality that is threatening to tear apart the 77 million-member global Anglican Communion.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, and its bishops sparked a fire storm in 2003 when they voted to consecrate an openly gay bishop. In July, the Episcopal Church ended a moratorium on electing gay bishops and approved blessings for same-sex couples.

Other large mainline Christian denominations — the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church — recently voted down similar policy changes. The catechism of the Roman Catholic Church calls homosexual acts "acts of grave depravity" and "intrinsically disordered."

Similarly, the Missouri Synod believes that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior as "intrinsically sinful."

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod isn't the only option for ELCA members who decide their church's decision to ordain non-celibate gays is incompatible with their beliefs. Such souls may find comfort in so-called post-denominational Lutheran organizations such as the Association of American Lutheran Churches and the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.

The Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ was formed in 2001 and is organized as a loose federation of 226 congregations around the world. The organization represents a compromise between the ELCA and the Missouri Synod. It allows for the ordination of women, but it believes that any "genital sexual expression" should be between a married man and woman and that "any other sexual relationship is contrary to Scripture." The organization says about 90 percent of its 175 U.S. congregations are former members of the ELCA.

"In the three months before the vote, I got calls from 150 congregations interested in talking to us if the vote went the way it did," said Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ's Rev. William Sullivan. "Since (the vote), I've talked to 30 congregations a day." Sullivan said that the group had grown 20 percent this year and that he expected it to double in size in the next 18 months.

Anticipating a potential exodus from his pews, Bishop Mark Hanson, the Evangelical Church in America's presiding bishop, pleaded with members unhappy with the vote not to rush into the arms of another church.

"Take time with your decision," Hanson said after the vote in Minneapolis. "Step back and understand the magnitude of the decision if you choose to leave, because we will be diminished by your absence."

Bishop Warren Freiheit, who leads the ELCA's Central/Southern Illinois synod, echoed Hanson's call for patience. "It's my continued counsel to wait and see what filters out of this," Freiheit said.

Some Missouri Synod leaders say that even if their denomination benefits from some who leave the ELCA, the ordination decision hurt the reputation of American Lutheranism.

"Even if people from the ELCA came over in droves, this vote was in no sense good news for the (Missouri Synod)," said Will Schumacher, dean of theological research and publications for Concordia Seminary. "This drives a wedge between American Lutherans and the worldwide church that was not there before."

Missouri Synod president Kieschnick addressed his sister denomination's assembly after the August 21 vote, telling delegates that their decision would "negatively affect" the relationship of the two church bodies.

And yet some Missouri Synod pastors say they will continue to encourage their flocks to look to the true purpose of the church.

"We forget sometimes that denominations and synods are a means to an end — a means to carry out the commission Christ gave us," said the Rev. Paul Schult, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Weldon Spring.

"It's a big decision — which church body to be a part of. But it's a bigger deal to know that Christ has called you to be part of this kingdom."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: STLT

Excerpts of Kennedy letter to pope and response

Excerpts of the letter from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy that President Barack Obama delivered to Pope Benedict XVI earlier this year and an account of the pope's response, as read by Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington:

"Most Holy Father I asked President Obama to personally hand deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him. I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God's blessings as you lead our church and inspire our world during these challenging times. I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines.

"I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago and although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life. I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family and both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured and provides solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path. I want you to know Your Holiness that in my nearly 50 years of elective office I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war.

"Those are the issues that have motivated me and have been the focus of my work as a United States senator. I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I am committed to do everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I will continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone. I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me."

* * * * *

An account from the Vatican of the pope's response, according to McCarrick:

"The Holy Father has the letter which you entrusted to President Barack Obama, who kindly presented it to him during their recent meeting. He was saddened to know of your illness, and asked me to assure you of his concern and his spiritual closeness. He is particularly grateful for your promise of prayers for him and for the needs of our universal church.

"His Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God, our merciful Father. He invokes upon you the consolation and peace promised by the Risen Savior to all who share in His sufferings and trust in His promise of eternal life.

"Commending you and the members of your family to the loving intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, comfort and strength in the Lord."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CNA

September 5 to mark feast day of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

This Saturday, the Church will celebrate the feast day of Mother Teresa, a universal symbol of God's merciful and preferential love for the poor and forgotten.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, the youngest of three children. She attended a youth group called Sodality, run by a Jesuit priest at her parish, and her involvement opened her to the call of service as a missionary nun.

She joined the Sisters of Loretto at age 17 and was sent to Calcutta where she taught at a high school. She contracted Tuberculosis and was sent to rest in Darjeeling. It was on the train to Darjeeling that she received her calling - what she called "an order" from God to leave the convent and work and live among the poor.

At this point she did not know that she was to found an order of nuns, or even exactly where she was to serve. "I knew where I belonged, but I did not know how to get there," she said once, recalling the moment on the train.

Confirmation of the calling came when the Vatican granted her permission to leave the Sisters of Loretto and fulfill her calling under the Archbshop of Calcutta. She started working in the slums, teaching poor children, and treating the sick in their homes. She was joined a year later by some of her former students and together they took in men, women, and children who were dying in the gutters along the streets and cared for them.

In 1950 the Missionaries of Charity were born as a congregation of the Diocese of Calcutta and in 1952 the government granted them a house from which to continue their service among Calcutta's forgotten.

The congregation very quickly grew from a single house for the dying and unwanted to nearly 500 around the world. Mother Teresa set up homes for AIDS sufferers, for prostitutes, for battered women, and orphanages for poor children.

She often said that the poorest of the poor were those who had no one to care for them and no one who knew them. And she often remarked with sadness and desolation of milliions of souls in the developed world whose spiritual poverty and loneliness was such an immense cause of suffering.

She was a fierce defender of the unborn saying: "If you hear of some woman who does not want to keep her child and wants to have an abortion, try to persuade her to bring him to me. I will love that child, seeing in him the sign of God's love."

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997 and was beatified only six years later, on October 19, 2003.

Mother Teresa once said, "A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace."

She also said, "give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CNA

Sen. Kennedy’s letter to Pope said he fell short but ‘tried to be a faithful Catholic’

In his private letter to Pope Benedict XVI, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said he “fell short” as a faithful Catholic.

According to excerpts read at his funeral, the late Senator wrote before his death that though he had “fallen short,” he had always believed in the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The letter, reportedly six pages long, was hand-delivered by President Barack Obama to the Holy Father last July.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, an archbishop emeritus of Washington, D.C., revealed some of the letter’s contents late on Saturday at Sen. Kennedy’s graveside service at Arlington National Cemetery.

The abridged version read by the cardinal, who is a friend of the Kennedy family, began: “Most Holy Father, I asked President Obama to personally hand deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am deeply grateful to him.”

“I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God’s blessings as you lead our Church and inspire our world during these challenging times.”

In the letter, Sen. Kennedy asked the Pope “with deep humility” to “pray for me as my own health declines.”

“I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, and, although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me, the Senator explained. “I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life.”

The Senator also wrote about the Catholic faith of both of his parents.

“That gift of faith has sustained, nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours,” he wrote.

In the letter, Sen. Kennedy also described how he had tried to connect his faith with his political actions.

“I want you to know, Your Holiness, that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I’ve worked to welcome the immigrant, fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and been the focus of my work as a United States Senator.”

“I also want you to know that even though I am ill,” the letter continued, “I am committed to do everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life.”

In the excerpts read by Cardinal McCarrick, the letter makes no reference to the Senator’s militant political positions contrary to core Catholic teachings such as the sanctity of human life from conception and the sanctity of marriage. Sen. Kennedy was a staunch advocate of legalized abortion, embryonic stem cell research and same sex “marriage.”

Regarding proposed health care reform, Sen. Kennedy wrote: “I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health care field and will continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone.”

On a more personal level, the Senator recognized in his letter that “I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path.”

“I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings. I continue to pray for God’s blessings on you and our Church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me.”

Cardinal McCarrick also read during the Rite of Committal the response to the Senator’s letter from a Vatican official, who confirmed that “the Holy Father has read the letter which you entrusted to President Barack Obama” and informed the Senator that “His Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God our merciful Father.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CNA

Vandals will not deter grotto restoration

A voluntary group dedicated to restoring a shrine in Omeath, Co. Louth has said it will not be deterred by an incident in which vandals ripped up the foundations for a new garden at the shrine.

The ‘Friends of Calvary’ have been progressing the restoration project at the site, known locally as Calvary, for the past year.

But late last month, the vandals struck over a weekend and ripped out concrete posts that had just been laid.

The chairman of Friends of Calvary, Mr Peter Mallon, said that the incident was a setback for the group’s plans but he stressed that it will not deter them from continuing and completing the project.

"We took over restoration work at Calvary and had the area tarmacadamed last year," he said.

"We have also been working on a railway line at the bottom of the site which is going to be called the Fr Gentile Garden and we had recently installed concrete posts for a fence, Mr Mallon continued. They were all concreted in and somebody came and pulled most of them; they all have to be redone now.”

“This is a setback for the group but we will push on with our project -we won't let those responsible stop the project."

In a separate incident, vandals broke a statue of the Virgin Mary in the grounds of St Laurence's Church in nearby Omeath.

The area where the grotto is being restored is part of the derelict grounds of a large house that was originally built by a Newry solicitor as a country home. It also contains a tree-shaded graveyard at the centre of which is a granite sarcophagus, which is the final resting place of a Father Aloysius (Luigi) Gentile, who died in 1848.

Fr Gentile was an Italian priest who joined the Rosminian Fathers in Ireland and had a strong devotion to St Jude, which drew him into an arduous vocation of missionary work.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CIN

Secular songs to be banned at cathedral ceremonies

Songs that are not religious in nature will no longer be allowed at ceremonies in St. Aidan’s Cathedral in Enniscorthy.

The cathedral’s authorities, who are concerned at an increase in the use of such songs, in particular during wedding and funeral liturgies, have told parishioners that pop music and folk songs will no longer permitted.

The authorities feel that although pop or folk songs involved may well be beautiful, they do not respect the sacred character of the liturgy.

Curate Fr. Richard Lawless said he and his colleagues were very mindful in particular that newly-bereaved people were going through a difficult time and would be ‘diplomatic and not dogmatic’ in dealing with requests for the use of various songs.

He said the priest involved would explain why a church was, or was not, an appropriate setting for certain music.

“The primary role of a priest is pastoral care, but in the event of a family pointing out the importance of a certain piece of music, that they say must be used for a ceremony, we will look at facilitating and accommodating the request,” he told the congregation.

“We are really asking people to respect the sacredness of the building and also the occasion,” he added.

Fr Lawless said certain songs could be used, if so wished, in a funeral home or in a cemetery when the prayers and the Christian part of a funeral service are over. It was the wish of the parish not to upset or offend parishioners in the matter, he went on.

Fr Lawless pointed out that St Aidan’s parish had a beautiful liturgical tradition and was currently served by four choirs and several solo performers.

Quoting from the words of St. Paul’s Gospel, he told parishioners that churchgoers ‘should sing the words and tunes of the psalm and hymns, and to go out singing and chanting to the Lord in their hearts.’
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CIN

Archbishop: gay unions cannot be equivalent to marriage

The president of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Jorge Ferreira da Costa Ortiga, said this week, “Civil unions can be legalized if that’s what is wanted, but they cannot be made equivalent to marriage. This problem must be dealt with more slowly and with the involvement of society,” he said.

L’Osservatore Romano reported that the archbishop told Renascenca Radio about the opinion of the Portuguese bishops on a decree modifying the country’s law on civil unions, a decree that President Anibal Cavaco Silva has decided not to promulgate.

The archbishop said the new law on civil unions, which would include homosexual unions, is “inappropriate and hasty” and needs to be debated more widely by all citizens. “This rush is not the best path to take,” he said.

“I am totally in agreement with president about the fact that it should be taken up later and that the Portuguese society should be involved,” the archbishop said.

Several days ago the president said making marriage and civil unions equivalent “could turn into a limitation of citizens’ freedom of choice.”

He said there had not been enough debate on the measure, which could lead to “huge consequences for the lives of thousands of Portuguese citizens.”

Recently Portugal’s Supreme Court ruled against homosexual unions, reaffirming the constitutionality of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CN

Become Good Samaritans in every aspect of life, Supreme Knight says

Supreme Knight of Columbus Carl A. Anderson addressed the Meeting for Friendship Among the Peoples in Rimini, Italy on Friday afternoon.

There, he exhorted charitable groups to cooperate in building a “civilization of love” and to follow in the footsteps of Knights of Columbus founder Michael J. McGivney. Over 700,000 people were expected to attend the week-long meeting, which was organized by the Communion and Liberation movement.

Saying that greed, the “worst of human nature,” has been diagnosed as a large part of the economic crisis, he said:

“Many lost sight of the importance of unity – of communion – with their neighbors. And we must look to the best of humanity – to generosity, solidarity, and communion – with our neighbor as the prescription.”

Citing love of neighbor as the key to a sustainable economy, he urged the audience to replace the motivation of Cain, the first fratricide, with the motivation of the Good Samaritan in “every aspect of our lives,” especially business relationships.

Anderson noted the example of Knights of Columbus founder, the Venerable Servant of God Fr. Michael J. McGivney. He discussed one case where the priest personally helped a teenage boy stay with his widowed mother and his family.

“Only Father McGivney’s help saved young Alfred from being wrested from his mother and siblings, and put in a state institution. And let’s not forget that the state that ran those institutions was quite hostile to the Catholic Church,” he remarked.

He then listed the accomplishments of the Knights of Columbus’ charitable endeavors, their fight against anti-Catholic and anti-black bigotry, their pro-life work in support of pregnant mothers and protection for the unborn, and their work in serving both Catholic and non-Catholic troops in the U.S. military.

Anderson recounted how the Knights began to run sports fields for children in Rome who did not have other sports facilities. During the Great Depression, the organization ran job boards to help those who were out of work.

He also mentioned the Knights’ work with the Special Olympics, founded by the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

“On a weekly basis, our members cook meals for the homeless, help provide for the needs of those with intellectual disabilities, support women in crisis pregnancies, and the children they bring into the world.”

Noting the Knights’ recent summit on volunteerism as a response to the economic crisis, Anderson urged Catholic groups to “exponentially multiply the good that we do by working together with other groups.”

Cooperation with other beneficent organizations, he said, is an excellent model for Catholic movements as they seek to “transform the world by encouraging people to say ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ.”

“Nowhere is the face of our Church more attractive than in our open embrace of our neighbor,” Anderson emphasized. “Each encounter with those in need is actually an opportunity to create a civilization of love, one person, one act at a time.”

The Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic fraternal organization, has more than 1.78 million members worldwide. Last year, the organization and its members contributed more than $150 million and almost 69 million volunteer hours to charitable causes.

Its website is at http://www.kofc.org
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: CNA

Cardinal opens his mouth and puts his carbon footprint in it

THERE are some businesses which, thankfully, are proving resistant to the recession.

Less thankfully, religion is one of them.

Whether it's the uncertainty of the times which is making people turn back to the comforts of the Almighty, or a genuine spiritual yearning for something better after the era of untrammelled greed which the commentators insist we've all been living through, remains to be seen.

Maybe once wages and house prices start rising again, God will be relegated to His usual place on the back burner. But for now, the Church is bouncing back. A total of 38 young men entered the seminaries this year, almost double last year's figure.

It's too early to say if it's a trend, insists an uncharacteristically modest Catholic Communications Office; but coming only a few months after the Church suffered its own version of the credit crunch -- more of a credibility crunch, really -- with the publication of the Ryan Report into institutional abuse, it's a remarkable change of fortune.

If only the Catholic Church realised when it was on to a good thing, and didn't push its luck.

Given all that's happened, you'd think the hierarchy would say to one another: "Phew, lads, that was a close shave. Now let's keep our heads down for a while till it all blows over." Instead they immediately dive head first into yet another row -- thanks to Cardinal Sean Brady's homily last weekend in Limerick.

It all started out innocuously enough, this time as a sermon on climate change. Priests feel the need periodically to do this Save the Planet schtick. It's embarrassing in a Kum Ba Yah sort of way, and, if left unchecked, has been known to lead to the nightmare of acoustic guitar playing on the altar, but probably harmless enough.

The problem was what followed after Cardinal Brady had finished with the usual guff about how churches should measure their carbon footprints and offset the damage by helping baby polar bears to swim or something.

Tangential doesn't even begin to describe the directions which one of Ireland's premier churchmen took from his original starting point. Anybody who nodded off in St John's Cathedral last weekend would have woken up to find that gay marriage was in the firing line, leaving them perhaps with the disorienting impression that homosexuals were responsible for global warming. His Eminence didn't stop there either.

He might as well have called his homily "And Another Thing..." as he strayed far from carbon footprints to touch on such topics as the right to life, to the right to a "natural death", through to research on embryonic stem cells. Meddling with the integrity of the human body and meddling with the environment were, in this light, both aspects of the same disorder.

To be fair, none of this was exactly new ground for Catholic prelates, who have traditionally not been big fans of reproductive interference, Indeed, large chunks of the text were lifted wholesale from the Pope's recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.

Plenty of what he had to say was also right on the money. Marriage and the raising of children in a loving two-parent environment as the cornerstone of a stable society? Nobody's quarrelling there, not least the vast majority of people who already live in precisely that way -- though the warning does invite a sarcastic response about what exactly the Church was doing to protect family life when it let its priests get away with molesting children.

More than that, though, it was the faint undertone of menace which stuck in the craw. Cardinal Brady's homily was addressed not to his small audience of listeners in the cathedral that evening, so much as over their heads towards the politicians in Dail Eireann who have to make a decision on legalising civil partnerships for gay people, allowing them to avail of the same legal rights and protections as heterosexual married couples. This was against the Constitution, Brady claimed. It was against the common good, he added.

Then the killer blow: those who supported the legislation, the Cardinal stated, would be making a choice to "depart" from God. That's a heck of a sword to dangle on a thread over your opponents' heads. Hilariously, Sean Brady then went on to insist that freedom of conscience must be respected.

So you respect your opponents' right to disagree, but if they do disagree, then they're to be denounced as having turned their backs on God Himself?

That's a strange kind of respect, to say that anybody whose understanding of their faith leads them to sincerely espouse a different view is to be banished from the tent and ejected into some kind of godless wilderness. God's not big enough to make room for people who think gay couples should have legal rights? Impertinent as it may sound to chastise a cardinal on matters of theology, I really hope God would beg to differ on that one, especially since the alternative for Him is spending eternity with a tiny group of smug, self-satisfied know-it-alls who think their particular ideologies make them the chosen ones.

Brady's whole tone was one of righteous entitlement. The choices for Ireland, he averred, were between "personal greed" or the "common good", a "civilisation of selfishness" or a "civilisation of love", a "culture of death" or a "culture of life".

No chance of merging shades of grey in the middle then? No space for honest disagreement among fellow Christians?

Basically, what he seemed to be saying is that anyone who differed from his interpretation of Christian teaching wasn't a proper Christian at all. And the last person I heard talk like that was the Reverend Ian Paisley. Some role model.

It's surely this arrogant air of proprietory rights regarding God's mind which Fr Aidan Troy, formerly of North Belfast's sectarian interface, now transferred to Paris, was referring to in a recent interview when he spoke of how the Catholic Church had thought simply saying sorry for the decades-long abuse scandal was sufficient, without facing up to the need to change its way.

Fr Troy wants his superiors to "halt recruitment, reform and reorganise, then begin again".

Fat chance of that happening, as he well knows.

To do that, they'd have to admit that they might be wrong, and Cardinal Brady's homily made it abundantly clear last weekend that it's only the hierarchy's detractors who can ever be that.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: II

O’Malley encounters Obama at funeral for senator (Contribution)

For those of us on the O’Malley beat, there were lots of interesting moments yesterday, but none more so than the lengthy greeting that Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley had with President Obama.

O’Malley, of course, is the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston and has been sharply critical of Obama’s support for abortion rights (“This man has a deplorable record when it comes to prolife issues,’’ O’Malley told me after the election).

I asked O’Malley’s spokesman, Terry Donilon, what the two men talked about, and he e-mailed back, “If he chooses to speak about it, he will in the blog, but it was a pleasant and gracious chat.’’

He said that the conversation lasted two to three minutes and that the cardinal welcomed the president to Boston and the basilica. He would not say whether there was a more substantive exchange.

O’Malley technically presided over the Mass, but he was not the principal celebrant or the homilist, and he was visible mostly at the end, as he said the final prayers of commendation over the late senator’s body.

O’Malley’s tone, even on the happiest of occasions, is somber, and he added a funereal touch to the funeral’s close as he honored the body with incense, a sign of respect for the body and a sign of God’s blessing.

O’Malley’s participation in the Mass has been controversial in some particularly conservative corners of the antiabortion movement, but drew strong praise from the Rev. James Martin, associate editor of America magazine, who blogged: “Cardinal O’Malley’s decision to attend the funeral is large-hearted, compassionate, pastoral, sensitive and, above all, Christian. . . . Cardinal O’Malley has been clear about his strong opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, his simple presence at the funeral shows his support of forgiveness, compassion and that quality perhaps most missing in today’s church: mercy.’’

Religious leaders reflect on Kennedy dedication to others

The big story this week, in religion as well as in politics, was the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Multiple religious leaders offered thoughts on the senator’s death. Here are some excerpts:

From Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston: “We join with his colleagues in Congress and the people of Massachusetts in reflecting on his life and his commitment to public service. For nearly half a century, Senator Kennedy was often a champion for the poor, the less fortunate, and those seeking a better life. Across Massachusetts and the nation, his legacy will be carried on through the lives of those he served. We pray for the repose of his soul and that his family finds comfort and consolation in this difficult time.’’

From Barry Shrage, president of Combined Jewish Philanthropies: “Whenever the Jewish community needed help, Ted Kennedy was always there. . . . If his brothers were the symbol of the dream that drove and continues to drive my generation, Ted represented the hard work required, day in and day out, to turn those dreams into reality. Boston, Massachusetts, our people, the Jews of Greater Boston, and all the oppressed of the earth will all miss him.’’

From the Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association: “Senator Kennedy had a gift for reaching out to religious people and lifting up our shared commitment to equality and the betterment of humanity. We can honor Senator Kennedy by carrying forward his legacy of working on behalf of those who are marginalized in this country. . . . By giving our resources and commitment to the causes of fairness and equality, we move toward realizing the American dream to which Kennedy dedicated his years of public service.’’
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: BG

Pro-Vicar criticises Mgr Vella on divorce

Pro-Vicar General Anton Gouder has openly criticised Mgr Charles Vella, saying he made a number of "contradictory" statements about divorce in an interview with The Sunday Times earlier this month.

Writing in The Sunday Times today Mgr Gouder hits back at comments by the Cana Movement founder which many believe were directed at the senior Curia official.

Mgr Gouder says: "Does it not occur to him that once divorce legislation is introduced (which means therefore that marriage does not remain a lifelong commitment), couples would take their marriage preparation more lightly? This is worrying because of the negative effect it would have on the family and on society."

In the interview, Milan-based Mgr Vella had said he was not scared of divorce, provided marriages were built on rock. While warning against "crusades", he insisted the Church should focus on preparing couples better for marriages.

And writing in The Sunday Times today, Mgr Vella says that some have misinterpreted his comments because he does not support the "havoc and problems" created by divorce. "I would not like to see divorce introduced, but as a priest and as a human being I cannot be blind to the existence of the problem. I wish that, like me, others would stop seeing things in black or white, but also see the different shades of grey."

But Mgr Gouder says that contrary to Mgr Vella's claims, his comparisons with Milan clearly showed a disintegration of marriage. Statistics show the rate of divorce in Italy is far from levelling out - from 1995 to 2005 legal separations in Italy increased by 57.3 per cent and divorces increased by 74 per cent, he says.

Mgr Gouder says it is incorrect to say that children of cohabiting couples have no identity, since the law has always catered for the status of children born outside marriage.

He also refutes Mgr Vella's statement that very often the first marriage of cohabiting couples is a mistake and that many yearn for a happy second marriage.

He says social sciences prove that second marriages are less stable than the first.

Despite the criticism he has received from his colleagues within the Church, Mgr Vella makes it clear he has no regrets over the interview.

On the contrary, he says he was moved by the letters and comments posted on the timesofmalta.com forum as well as the contacts it created on a pastoral level. He says he was impressed by the constructive dialogue provoked by the interview, which in the vast majority of cases were in his favour.

Mgr Vella says this is part of his pastoral and social mission of nearly 60 years 'with' families in many countries, especially as the voice of those whose marriage is in crisis.

Mgr Vella reiterates that the State should base any divorce legislation on European Christian traditional values, and says he hopes Malta will never have a so-called 'easy divorce' like many countries. "I do not enter into the technical aspect of the legislation, but I have confidence in the social and ethical conscience of our legislators.

"I repeat that divorce legislation does not scare me, if it comes in a democratic, scientific (even with statistics) and genuine manner. I do not believe these ethical values are the monopoly of a few, who seem to believe they are the lords of truth."

Mgr Gouder is not the only member of the clergy to criticise the Milan-based priest.

Writing in Catholic Action's newspaper Lehen is-Sewwa last week, Fr Paul Camilleri compared a number of Mgr Vella's former writings with his recent comments, before concluding:

"I thank Fr Charles for all he has written and done for the family in the past. When I was still a youngster (1956) I remember him defending Bishop Pietro Fiordelli of Prato, who suffered so much because of his opposition to divorce in his country, while becoming very popular in Malta for his defence of marriage. Ironically, he died on December 23, 2004 - two weeks before Fr Charles marked his 50 years as a priest. Let's pray for both of them."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: TOM

Berlusconi-Church relations sour over newspaper report

Relations between Italy's government and the powerful Catholic Church soured on Friday after a newspaper owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's family ran a scathing report on a top Catholic.

Berlusconi, whose private life has come under media scrutiny and Church criticism, abruptly canceled a visit to the central Italian city of L'Aquila, where he was to have attended an annual religious ceremony for the forgiveness of sins.

A dinner that was to have been attended by Berlusconi and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, second only to the pope in the Vatican hierarchy, was also suddenly called off only hours before, despite weeks of planning.

The Vatican's official reason was to give the money that would have been spent on the dinner to victims of the earthquake that hit L'Aquila in April. But Church sources said this was a diplomatic excuse and the real reason was Vatican anger.

The rapid sequence of events began when Il Giornale, a national newspaper owned by Berlusconi's brother Paolo, ran a banner front-page headline against Dino Boffo, editor of Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops Conference.

Il Giornale said Boffo, whose paper has been very critical of Berlusconi's private life, had accepted a plea bargain in a court in 2002 after he was accused of harassing a woman. The paper said Boffo had a homosexual relationship with her husband.

Il Giornale regularly attacks Berlusconi's critics but rarely if ever targets the Church.

It called Boffo, one of the most influential Catholic opinion makers, a hypocritical "supermoralist" who should not criticize Berlusconi's lifestyle when it said he has sexual skeletons in his own closet.

VATICAN GOES "BALLISTIC"

One Church source said Vatican officials "went ballistic" when they saw the Il Giornale report and ordered the bishop of L'Aquila to cancel the dinner Berlusconi was to have attended.

"I can't remember a darker day in relations between this government and the Church," the source said.

In a statement, Boffo, whose editorials reflect the views of the Catholic Church and often the Vatican, called the attack on him "absurd." He said he was not the perpetrator but the victim of what he said was "telephone harassment" in the 2002 case.

The Italian Bishops Conference, which owns Avvenire, issued a statement fully backing Boffo and his work at the newspaper.

Late on Friday afternoon, Berlusconi issued a statement "disassociating" himself from the article in his brother's newspaper, saying respect for private lives should be "sacred."

Berlusconi is going through a messy divorce from his wife Veronica Lario, who in a new book says wants out because she can no longer stop him from "looking ridiculous before the world."

He has been at the center of media attention in Italy and abroad over the nature of his relationship with an aspiring model whose 18th birthday party he attended in April. He has denied that anything "spicy" happened between them.

The Italian media has also been agog over allegations that Berlusconi spent the night with call-girl Patrizia D'Addario in his Rome residence in November. He has never denied sleeping with D'Addario, saying has was "no saint," but says he never paid for sex in his life.

Berlusconi's lawyer told Reuters on Friday he is launching legal actions against media in Italy and abroad for libel in their coverage of his private life.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: Reuters

Families are “fertile ground” for priestly vocations, says the Pope

“When husband and wife devote themselves generously to the education of their children, guiding and steering them towards the discovery of God’s loving plan, they prepare the spiritually fertile ground from which vocations for the priesthood and consecrated life spring and mature. This shows how closely tied and mutually enlightening marriage and virginity are, beginning with their joint rootedness in Christ’s nuptial love,” said Benedict XVI during his reflection before today’s Angelus in Castel Gandolfo.

The Pontiff said that in this ‘Year for Priests’ we must pray so that “through the intercession of the Saint Curé d’Ars, Christian families may become small churches, and every vocation and every charism, given by the Holy Spirit, may be welcome and valued.”

In order to highlight the importance of family education in stimulating vocations for the consecrated life, Benedict XVI gave as an example the life of Saint Monica, Saint Augustine’s mother, whose liturgical memories were celebrated in the last few days. Saint Monica is in fact viewed as a “model and matron for Christian mothers.”

“A lot of information about her is provided by her son in his autobiographical book, the Confessions, one of the most read masterpieces of the ages. In it we learn that Saint Augustine drank the name of Jesus with his mother’s milk and that he was educated in the Christian religion by his mother, and that its principles remained with him during years of spiritual and moral disorientation. Monica never stopped praying for him and his conversion, and was rewarded for this when he came back to the faith and was baptised. God answered the prayers of this holy mother, to whom the bishop of Thagaste said: ‘it is impossible that the son of these tears should perish.’ In fact, not only did Saint Augustine convert, but [also] chose to lead a monastic life and, upon his return to Africa, founded a community of monks. In a quiet house in Ostia (Italy), the final spiritual exchanges between him and his mother —who was waiting to return to Africa— were moving and uplifting. For her son Saint Monica had become ‘more than a mother, the source of his Christian faith.’ For years her one wish was to see Augustine convert, and now she could see him even consecrate his life to the service of God. She could thus die a happy woman, which occurred on 27 August 387 AD, at the age of 56, after she asked her children not to worry about her burial, but to remember her, wherever they were, on the altar of the Lord. Saint Augustine used to repeat that his mother had ‘generated him twice’.”

The history of Christianity, the Pope stressed, “is marked by countless examples of holy parents and truly Christian families, who accompanied the life of generous priests and pastors of the Church.” As an example, in addition to Basil and Gregory of Naziansus (4th century), who came from a “family of saints”, the Holy Father mentioned Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi Mr and his wife Maria Corsini, who lived from the late 19th century till the middle of the 20th, both of whom were beatified by John Paul II in October 2001.

After the Marian prayer, Benedict XVI said that in Italy ‘Save Creation Day’ will be celebrated on 1 September this year; its theme, “air, an element indispensable to life.” He explained that working on behalf of the environment is ecumenically significant because it is an issue that fruitfully brings together Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.

“As I did during the general audience last Wednesday, I urge everyone to do more for the protection of God’s gift, Creation. In particular I encourage industrialised countries to work together responsibly for the future of the planet so that the poorest populations are not the ones to bear the heaviest burden for climate change,’ he said.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: AN

Prayer for the Assumption of Mary


Father in heaven,
all creation rightly gives you praise,
for all life and all holiness come from you.

In the plan of your wisdom
she who bore the Christ in her womb
was raised body and soul in glory to be with him in heaven.

May we follow her example in reflecting your holiness
and join in her hymn of endless love and praise.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Year Of The Priest Prayer


PRAYER FOR THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST

Lord Jesus, that in St. John Mary Vianney
you wanted to donate to the Church
a moving image of your pastoral charity,
he,that, in his company and supported by his example,
may we live in fullness this Priestly life.

Pausing as he was before the Eucharist,
we can learn how simple,every day of your words that teaches us;
tender love to welcome repentant sinners;
consoling abandonment confidente your Immaculate Mother.

Lord Jesus, who, through the intercession of the Holy Curé d'Ars,
the Christian families to become "small churches"
in which all vocations and all the gifts,
donated by your Holy Spirit,
can be welcomed and valued.

Grant us, Lord Jesus,
you can repeat with the same fervor of the Holy Curé
the words with which he used to contact you:

"I love you, O my God,
and my only desire is to love you
till the last breath of my life.

I love you, infinitely loving God,
and I prefer to die a man
rather than live one moment without love.

I love you, Lord,
and the only grace that you wonder
is to love you forever.

My God, if my language can not tell you
at all times
that I love you,
I want my heart we'll repeat times as many times as breathing.

I love you,
O my Divine Savior,
because you have been crucified to me,
and keep me down here with you crucified.

My God, make me the grace to die a man and knowing that I love you."

Amen.

Prayer For Priests


O Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father [N].

Give him a deep faith a bright and firm hope
and a burning love
which will ever increase
in the course of his priestly life.

In his loneliness, comfort him

In his sorrows, strengthen him

In his frustrations,
point out to him that it is through suffering
that the soul is purified,
and show him that he is needed by the Church,
he is needed by souls,
he is needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests,
take to your heart your son who is close to you
because of his priestly ordination,
and because of the power
which he has received
to carry on the work of Christ
in a world which needs him so much.

Be his comfort,
be his joy,
be his strength,
and especially help him
to live and to defend
the ideals of consecrated celibacy.

Amen.

Prayer During Recession


In this time of recession,
we remember all those who have financial problems
and are finding life difficult.

We hold before You, O Lord,
all those who are fearful for their jobs,
all those who are desperately looking for work
and all those who have become depressed and have given up looking.

May Your Holy Spirit
come among us to heal the tensions of this time
and calm the many fears.

And with Christ by our side,
make us aware of each other's troubles
so that we may
reach out our hands with His friendship
and give unstintingly of His love.

AMEN

A Prayer For Healing - Victims Of Abuse


God of endless love, ever caring, ever strong, always present, always just:You gave your only Son to save us by the blood of his cross.

Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace, join to your own suffering the pain of all who have been hurt in body, mind, and spirit by those who betrayed the trust placed in them.

Hear our cries as we agonizeover the harm done to our brothers and sisters.

Breathe wisdom into our prayers, soothe restless hearts with hope, steady shaken spirits with faith.

Show us the way to justice and wholeness, enlightened by truth and enfolded in your mercy.

Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts, heal your people's wounds and transform our brokenness.

Grant us courage and wisdom, humility and grace so that we may act with justice and find peace in you.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

Amen

Prayer to St Mark the Evangelist


PRAYER
(traditional language)

Almighty God, who by the hand of Mark the evangelist hast given to thy Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God:
We thank thee for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER
(contemporary language)

Almighty God, who by the hand of Mark the evangelist have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God:
We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Kremlin vs. the Cardinals

It has been a tough year for former Soviet spies.

The most recent volume by researchers Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes solved many of the remaining mysteries surrounding Soviet spy networks in early Cold War America, while an upcoming book on Soviet espionage by Cambridge historian Christopher Andrew promises to reveal "the identities of previously unknown enemies of the United Kingdom."

An indispensable addition to this long overdue hit parade is Spies in the Vatican, an intriguing account of the KGB's secret war against the Catholic Church.

Author John Koehler is uniquely suited to tell the story having served as both a US intelligence officer and an AP journalist in Europe.

Upon leaving the media, Koehler spent the better part of the last decade delving into volumes of dusty Cold War-era intelligence documents. His dedication is apparent: Spies tells a fascinating alternate history of the final two decades of the Cold War as written by tyranny's custodians.

Koehler abruptly begins the story in the Chekist dungeons of the early 1920s as a gleeful Chairman Lenin oversaw the mass murder of thousands of clerics.

The decades of atrocities that followed drive home the central theme of Spies: beginning at its inception, the Soviet government was willing to use all available tools to counter religion's influence.

Overseeing this effort, Stalin's successors relied less on brute force and more on the panoply of covert tools wielded so ruthlessly by the KGB and its sister services in East Germany and Poland.

Especially wary of the curia's influence in the Soviet sphere, Moscow's spymasters relentlessly pushed their field officers to target church institutions for subversion. As Koehler deftly recounts using actual Communist source reports, the result was startling: Soviet leaders enjoyed regular access to the inner deliberations of Vatican leaders for years, secured by the work of several spy networks.

Access to internal Vatican politics was only one of the benefits derived from infiltration. The Vatican's role as a forum for policy discussions granted Communist intelligence chiefs' victory after victory as American and European leaders bared sensitive diplomatic strategies before the Holy See.

When Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge visited Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Jean Villot in 1970 to discuss the President Nixon's intentions regarding Southeast Asia, Middle East tensions and SALT negotiations, the KGB was present.

The word for word account of the meeting was soon placed on the desk of Leonid Brezhnev.

The book's simple title, however, somewhat belies the fact that although Communist intelligence services worked tirelessly to embed sources within the Vatican leadership in Rome, their greatest successes were enjoyed home.

The KGB, the East German Stasi, the Polish SB and other Eastern Bloc services collaborated to infiltrate bishoprics and dioceses throughout Eastern Europe and ran hundreds of church--affiliated sources.

The campaign escalated in 1978 with the elevation of the energetic Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyła.

Already concerned over political tumult in Poland, Soviet leaders authorized the KGB to: Use all possibilities available to the Soviet Union to prevent the new course of policies initiated by the Polish pope; if necessary with additional measures beyond disinformation and discreditation."

Was this a tacit go-ahead for an assassination attempt? Koehler argues as much, although he admits the mystery of the failed 1981 assassination attempt will likely never be fully resolved.

What is certain is that many of the Pope's movements and statements were subsequently betrayed by an army of informants.

The inspiring story of John Paul II's 1979 trip to a seething Warsaw takes on a more sinister air as Koehler weaves together the hundreds of informant reports that kept Soviet leaders informed of the Pope's every utterance.

Who were these informants?

Koehler does not expend many words detailing their motivations, but we do learn they were a diverse lot including a Polish Bishop codenamed IGNACY, a German monsignor (PAUL), and a monk from Aachen (LICHTBLICK). Others included local priests and Catholic journalists.

Most of the former informants suffered little more than stunted careers following communism's collapse in return for their perfidy, generous fates for men who had sold their coreligionists to the wolves. Koehler personally confronts several of them; the aged traitors usually excuse their interactions with secret policemen as involuntary, although records of lavish lunches and generous cash allowances granted to such men by their handlers cast doubt on their alibis.

Despite the extent of their infiltration, Communist intelligence services were ill-equipped to interpret the data flow. Monumental errors, such as one Stasi report that credits "Zionists" with considerable influence over the Church in Poland testify to the level of Eastern Bloc misconceptions.

Koehler suspects a secret Vatican disinformation campaign threw off Moscow's analysts, but ideological rigidity and groupthink appear to be the more likely culprits. Indeed, the inability of Kremlin leaders to understand the incoming information bolsters a core theme of the book: regardless of how extensive Communist penetration was, the grey men in the Kremlin were powerless to respond in a coherent manner.

The book's faults -- lackadaisical editing and a proclivity to add superfluous quotes -- turn a captivating volume into a sometimes tepid read.

Those willing to plough through the rough patches however will be rewarded with a vivid depiction of European Communism's death throes.

In the end, the Kremlin's spy networks only attuned it to the strength of the volcano of public resentment, but offered little guidance on how to suppress it.

It is history worth remembering.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

SIC: AT