Archbishop Chaput urges Americans to 'wake up' on religious freedom

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia says Americans need to awaken to threats against religious freedom given the new revelations about IRS targeting of religious groups and the continued burdens of the HHS mandate.
“The day when Americans could take the Founders’ understanding of religious freedom as a given is over. We need to wake up,” Archbishop Chaput said in his May 24th column for CatholicPhilly.com.
“Selective IRS pressure on religious individuals and organizations has drawn very little media attention. Nor should we expect any, any time soon,” he said.
“But the latest IRS ugliness is a hint of the treatment disfavored religious groups may face in the future, if we sleep through the national discussion of religious liberty now.”
Although the IRS controversy initially focused on allegations the agency selectively targeted conservative-leaning “tea party” groups with burdensome demands, more incidents against other groups and individuals have been brought to light.
Anne Hendershott, a Catholic professor and writer, has said her Internal Revenue Service audit focused on her writings critical of President Obama and the 2010 health care legislation. She said the audit discouraged her from criticizing the president.
The IRS asked pro-life groups to provide large amounts of paperwork. The agency asked the groups to promise not to protest Planned parenthood or to say whether they planned to educate the public about both sides of the abortion issue. An IRS employee in 2012 allegedly leaked a confidential donor’s list from the National Organization for Marriage to the Human Rights Campaign, a backer of “gay marriage” whose president was named national co-chair of the Obama campaign.
Archbishop Chaput said the mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services similarly pressures religious groups.
Although the Catholic bishops have long supported access to adequate health care coverage, he said, “health care has now morphed into a religious liberty issue provoked entirely – and needlessly — by the current White House.”
He said the Obama administration, despite “a few small concessions,” refuses to withdraw or “reasonably modify” the mandate requiring insurance coverage for sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacient drugs. Archbishop Chaput said the mandate “violates the moral and religious convictions of many individuals, private employers and religiously affiliated and inspired organizations.”
He said the mandate “can only be understood as a form of coercion.”
“Access to inexpensive contraception is a problem nowhere in the United States,” the archbishop said. “The mandate is thus an ideological statement; the imposition of a preferential option for infertility. And if millions of Americans disagree with it on principle – too bad.”
He said that these controversies show that the debate on issues of sexual morality needs “a parallel and vigorous defense of religious freedom.”
The U.S. bishops’ conference will hold another Fortnight for Freedom from June 21-July 4. Like last year, it will feature public rallies, prayer vigils and Masses for the defense of religious freedom.

May - Month of Mary

 

Sé do Beatha Mhuire

Sé do Beatha Mhuire,
Tá lán do ghrást, Tá an Tiarna leat.
Is beannaithe thú idir mhná
Agus is beannaithe toradh do bhrionne Íosa.

A Naomh Mhuire mháthair Dé
Ghúi orainn na bpeacaí
Anois agus ar uair ár mbáis. 

Amen.

Pope's Corpus Christi Mass: Sharing gives life a special dimension

Minister offers to meet with church vandals

THE minister of Holy Trinity Church of Ireland parish church, Lisnaskea, has issued a ‘come and meet’ me invitation to vandals who, last week stoned a leaded glass window in his  recently restored church, and chalked lewd graffiti on the driveway at the front entrance.

The chalked ‘message’ read: “Ugly black bastards. Up the RA”.

Reverend Alan Capper, speaking to the Herald after Sunday service, said it was the second time in a fortnight that the church – refurbished last year at a cost of £640,000 – had been attacked. On that occasion, another leaded glass window, since replaced, was smashed.

Prior to its rededication last year, Holy Trinity was the regular target for vandals and, last year, a car belonging to the church caretaker sustained £1,000 of damage when a 6” breeze block was hurled at it.
 
The man, who asked not to be named, said he had asked six young fellows who were playing football on church grounds to leave.

“They refused to move and said they would put me out before I would put them out. They would not let me back near the car and threw a 6’ concrete block at it while I was cutting the grass.”

He said he had to pay out £200 from his own pocket by way of excess on his car insurance.

The church backs on to Trasna Way housing estate where, in the past, the culprits are believed to have come from.
 
However, Rev Capper insisted that these incidents were not a ‘Protestant-Catholic thing’.

“Trasna Way is a mixed estate anyway”, he said. “But, I would like to involve the people who are doing this and try to help them rather than ostracising them.

“Obviously, we’re talking to the community police about this, but if the church and the community can come together and work together, because we are all part of Lisnaskea society.”

He went on: “I am open to ideas. That is why I am saying this. I  suppose where I am coming from is to help people identify with Lisnaskea and to make them realise when they’re damaging something in Lisnaskea, they’re damaging themselves.”

Meanwhile, police in Lisnaskea are appealing for information about the attack on Holy Trinity Church.

A spokesman said that, shortly after 9.50 on Wednesday night last, 22 May, officers received a report that a window had been broken in the church and that lewd graffiti had been written in chalk on the driveway.

“We would ask anyone who may have noticed any suspicious activity in the area or who has any information to contact us at Lisnaskea on 0845 600 8000.

Columnist Father Andrew Greeley dies at 85

Best-selling author, activist and Chicago priest Father Andrew Greeley died in his sleep Wednesday night. He was 85 years old. 

He died at his apartment at the Hancock Center, said Greeley's long-time spokeswoman June Rosner.

Father Greeley wrote more than 50 best-selling novels and had a column in the Chicago Sun-Times.

His family released a statement," Our lives have been tremendously enriched by having the presence of Fr. Andrew Greeley in our family. First and foremost as a loving uncle who was always there for us with unfailing support or with a gentle nudge, who shared with us both the little things and the big moments of family life. But we were specially graced that this man was also an amazing priest who recently celebrated the 59th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. He served the Church all those years with a prophetic voice and with unfailing dedication, and the Church he and our parents taught us to love is a better place because of him. Our hearts are heavy with grief, but we find hope in the promise of Heaven that our uncle spent his life proclaiming to us, his friends, his parishioners and his many fans. He resides now with the Lord of the Dance, and that dance will go on." 

Greeley was a well-respected sociologist at the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago. 

A family-written biography said he had been recovering and resting at his Chicago home since a serious accident on Nov. 7, 2008. 

At NORC, Greeley was a research associate for the Center for Study of Politics and Society, which investigates societal change in comparative perspective. Greeley's work on the sociology of religion included research on Catholicism, peoples' images of God, trends in belief in life after death and many other aspects of religion.

"Greeley busted myths about American Catholics. In scholarly and popular writings, he brought to light Catholics' upward mobility and interpreted what that meant for American society and the Catholic Church," according to Mike Hout, his longtime collaborator and the Natalie Cohen Professor of Sociology & Demography at the University of California, Berkeley.

He was born Feb. 5, 1928 in Oak Park. And grew up in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side, decided he would be a priest when he was a second-grade student at St. Angela's School. He received a S.T.L. degree from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in 1954, and was ordained a priest the same year. 

He was assigned as an assistant pastor to Christ the King parish in the Beverly neighborhood. He started writing for a religious newsletter, and when a Catholic publishing house asked for something longer, he wrote his first book, The Church and the Suburbs (1963).

While continuing his work as an assistant pastor, he received permission to study at the University of Chicago. He received his Ph.D in 1962, and that year became senior study director at the National Opinion Research Center. Although he continued being a priest, he was not assigned to a parish and allowed to continue his work as a scholar.

At NORC, he forged a research career rich in seeking the details of religious experience, particularly the Catholic experience in the United States. His early research came at a time when the Second Vatican Council, which opened in 1962, was changing Catholicism worldwide.

Greeley was the author of more than 100 non-fiction books and 50 novels. In 1983, his donation to the University of Chicago established a faculty chair in honor of his parents. 

"For the last quarter-century, my life as a priest has been devoted principally to trying to establish a bridge between the church and scholarship, to being a priest in the world of scholars and a scholar in the church," he said at the time of the donation.

Twenty years after making that donation, which he hoped would encourage dialogue between Catholics and academics, he examined the controversies that had fallen upon priests in the wake of sex scandals. The University of Chicago Press published "Priests, A Calling in Crisis" in 2004. 

His findings revealed that priests report higher levels of personal and professional satisfaction than doctors, lawyers or faculty members; that they would overwhelmingly choose to become priests again; and that younger priests are far more conservative than their older brethren.

In 2004 he and Hout wrote "The Truth about Christian Conservatives." It was based on surveys from NORC's General Social Survey on practices, beliefs and attitudes among conservative Christians and found a wider range of opinion than people previously thought.

He also taught sociology at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona. His course "God in the Movies" drew hundreds of undergraduates a year at Arizona; the course "Sociology of Religion in Film" was also popular at Chicago.

One of his novels, "The Cardinal Sins" (1981) sold more than 3 million copies in English and was translated into a dozen other languages. The dozen Nuala Anne McGrail novels reflect on the many changes in Ireland from the 1970s to the current decade, while the O'Malley family series is a microcosm of Catholic Chicago that follows a family of Irish Americans from their immigration in 1900 to prosperity in 1999.

For 40 years, he wrote a syndicated column that appeared in dozens of newspapers, including the Chicago Sun Times and the Tucson Citizen. He was a frequent contributor to the New York Times and Catholic periodicals including the National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal and America.

Kenny hits out at monsignor claims

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has dismissed claims from a senior Vatican official that politicians should resign rather than support Ireland's abortion laws.

A monsignor in Rome called for TDs and Senators to quit as he drew parallels between the contentious reform and Nazism.

But the Taoiseach hit back, warning Catholic hierarchy that it should not interfere in Government business.

"I'm a Catholic and I don't interfere in the messages of the church. I have no comment to make on what the cardinal from the Vatican says," Mr Kenny said. "I set out very clearly what it is we have to do in terms of our constitution and the law, and that's to provide clarity and decisiveness. This is about saving lives, not ending them."

As the Government pushes ahead with plans to legalise abortion where there is a threat of suicide by July, Monsignor Jacques Suaudeau gave an interview to the Irish Catholic newspaper urging politicians to follow their conscience.

"If the Prime Minister as a Catholic doesn't want to impose his belief and the time has come for a more moderate line on abortion, then he resigns," the monsignor said. "If you are faithful to your conviction, then you have to get out."

His remarks come as the Oireachtas Committee on Health published two volumes of evidence it heard over three days on the proposed abortion laws.

Msgr Suaudeau, a scientific director of the Pontifical Academy for Life at the Vatican, added that politicians should not hide behind the claim that they are just doing their job.

"Sometimes people forget Nuremberg. You cannot cover yourself with the cover of party discipline," he told The Irish Catholic newspaper. "Generally, if you are well-known and your party is proposing something that goes against your conscience you need to make it known, you need to speak. Maybe they will ask you to abstain, sometimes people understand that you have an objection of conscience."

Msgr Suaudeau warned practising Catholic politicians who support the abortion changes are pushing themselves out of the church. He said they "cannot live in two houses" when it comes to the contentious issue.

Vatican official says politicians should resign rather than support abortion legislation

A senior Vatican official said that Oireachtas members who describe themselves as Catholics, including Taoiseach Enda Kenny, should resign rather than support abortion legislation.

The Vatican's Scientific Director of 'the Pontifical Academy for Life' has told the Irish Catholic newspaper that Catholics TDs and Senators who vote in favour of abortion are pushing themselves out of the Church.

Monsignor Jacques Suaudeau also told the paper that politicians cannot hide behind a claim that they are just doing their duty, likening that to the Nuremberg Defence used by Nazi officers who said they were following orders.

Priest on leave after abuse allegation

Parish priest of Rosslea, Canon John McCabe, has taken a "temporary leave of absence" from his ministry due to a child abuse allegation from "some years ago." 

Parishioners who attended weekend Masses in St. Tierney's Church reported hearing gasps of shock when Canon Larry Duffy (parish priest of Clones) read out a letter on behalf of Bishop Liam McDaid. 

It said that "your parish priest" (i.e. Canon John McCabe) has requested a leave of absence while the allegation is investigated.

A spokesman from the Clogher Diocese has told The Impartial Reporter: "The Diocese of Clogher has been informed of a child safeguarding allegation in relation to a priest of the Diocese. The allegation relates to some years ago. The allegation has been reported to the civil authorities and all procedures laid down by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland are being observed. The priest involved has been granted temporary leave of absence from priestly ministry while the matter is being investigated." 

He added: "The safety and well-being of children remain of paramount concern to the Diocese and all resources are being used to ensure this. We encourage anyone who has a child safeguarding concern to report the matter to the civil authorities and to the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland."

Canon John McCabe has been parish priest of Rosslea since August 2010. Prior to that he had been parish priest in Mucknoo parish, Castleblaney for nine years. Canon McCabe had also served in Aghadrumsee parish in the late 70s and early 80s.

From Ballybay, County Monaghan, a young Fr. McCabe represented Ballybay and County Monaghan on the Gaelic football field. He attended St. Macartan's College, Monaghan and was Dean of St. Michael's, Enniskillen in the 70s.

Rosslea Sinn Féin Councillor Brian McCaffrey stated: "At this stage, people are obviously surprised and confused in that there's minimum detail being released and a lack of clarity in terms of where this goes from here."

He added: "For Rosslea, the memory of Father Jeremiah McGrath is still fresh in peoples' minds." 

This is in reference to the 65-year-old former parish priest in Rosslea, who was jailed for five years for aiding and abetting his lover, paedophile William Adams, to rape a 12-year-old girl.

The procedures laid down by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church under the heading 'Guidance on Leave and Restriction from Ministry' state that when an allegation is made against a priest: 

- the Bishop or congregational leaders should advise the National Office for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church that an allegation has been received, that it has been referred to the statutory authorities, and that a Church enquiry will commence.

- The Church inquiry is simply initiated and then suspended, pending the outcome of the civil investigation.

- No church investigation should interfere with the civil inquiries, which takes precedence at this stage.

- In the absence of an admission, the respondent enjoys the presumption of innocence, and all appropriate steps shall be taken to protect his/her reputation.

- The priest will be offered an adviser who will encourage him to obtain advice from both civil and canon lawyers.

It stipulates that a 'respondent' may be asked to withdraw public celebration of the Mass and other Sacraments during the course of any civil as well as church/canonical investigation and may be asked to cease from wearing clerical attire.

It is unclear at this stage whether An Garda Siochana or the PSNI are investigating the allegation.

Cardinal Pell says legislative change would discriminate against Church

Cardinal George Pell has warned the Victorian government not to pursue legislative change which would help sexual abuse victims sue for greater compensation, saying such a move would amount to discrimination against Catholics, reports The Australian.

In a written submission to the Victorian inquiry examining responses to child sexual abuse, the Archbishop of Sydney said legal changes proposed by victims' rights groups would be a significant departure from the law and “cause considerable injustice”.

Cardinal Pell said a number of submissions to the inquiry, which he testified before on Monday, had shown “misunderstanding of the facts and analysis” underpinning the NSW Court of Appeal decision which found the church did not exist as a legal entity capable of being sued.

Referring to the ruling on 2004 legal action taken against the church by abused altar boy John Ellis, he said: “the Ellis decision stands for nothing more than the commonsense proposition that you cannot be liable for wrongdoing of others unless you authorised, or are directly or indirectly responsible for supervising, their conduct.”

“The body corporate which Mr Ellis sued was created in 1936 by statute and has operated on the same basis in Sydney since its creation.

In the submission Cardinal Pell again acknowledged "with shame and great sadness" the pain caused by the sexual abuse of children and has apologised again to all those who suffered abuse from Catholic priests, religious and lay church workers.

"Along with other leaders in the church, I will continue to work to prevent sexual abuse in the church and to help those who have been abused. Victims of sexual abuse are our first priority. I am committed to preventing abuse and protecting people. Victims should be treated with compassion and provided with financial assistance, counselling and other pastoral support," Cardinal Pell added in a media statement announcing the submission yesterday.

"Our commitment to victims of sexual abuse also means working with the police and other civil authorities to ensure there are no cover ups and no protection of abusers so that Catholic parishes, schools and welfare services continue to be safe places for young people. In many cases the harm that has been done by sexual abuse causes lifelong suffering. In some cases it has even led to suicides, a tragedy which fills me with horror and sadness both for those who have died in this way and for those who love them. Sexual abuse also causes great suffering for the families and friends of survivors, and we try to help them too. Over the years I have met one-on-one with a considerable number of survivors to acknowledge past wrongs and to work towards reconciliation."

AussieMite courts Catholic controversy with 'sacrilegious ad'

Food brand AussieMite has created an ad which seeks to be deliberately controversial showing Catholic worshippers dipping sacramental wafers into the spread, reports Mumbrella.

Sydney’s Grown-Ups created the 30-second ad, which shows several people at a mass receiving communion. 

The woman who approaches the alter last dips her sacramental wafer in a jar of AussieMite before offering it to the priests.

According to the announcement the ad “is bound to attract publicity due to its contentious nature”. 

Mick Hunter, Grown-Ups creative partner: “AussieMite is very much a challenger brand, positioned on taste, quality and proudly Australian owned and made – unlike Kraft Food’s US owned Vegemite. So we needed an idea that would not only convey the quality of the product but also get noticed and generate publicity and debate.”

Elise Ramsey AussieMite managing director said: “We couldn’t afford to play it safe so the brief to the guys was to get AussieMite noticed and show how tasty our product is. They did that with humour that very much suits our brand.”

The brand has no relation to the similarly named Dick Smith Foods product Ozemite, which also competes against Vegemite by taking an “Australian-made” line.

Pope shuns luxury apartments for a 'normal life'

POPE Francis has revealed for the first time the reasons for his decision to shun the official papal apartments and instead live in a much more modest Vatican 'hotel'.

He has told a friend that he likes being in daily contact with ordinary people, does not want to be isolated and enjoys sitting down to meals with visiting clergy.

The Pope (76) – who, on first seeing the papal apartments, reportedly exclaimed: "But there is room here for 300 people!" – hinted that the arrangement may be permanent.

He broke with Vatican tradition when he decided not to live in the apostolic apartments.

MODEST

Instead, he opted to remain in the Casa Santa Marta, a Vatican residence which accommodates visiting clergy and lay people, where he had stayed with his fellow cardinals during the conclave.

He lives in a suite of rooms in the residence, which sits in the shadow of St Peter's Basilica, on the other side of the Vatican city state to the apostolic apartments.

The Pontiff explained his choice in a letter written two weeks ago to an old friend, Father Enrique Martinez, a priest at the Church of the Annunciation in La Rioja.

The Pontiff wrote: "I didn't want to go and live in the apostolic palace. I go over there just to work and for audiences.

"I've remained living in the Casa Santa Marta, which is a residence that accommodates bishops, priests and lay people."

There he feels "part of a family", he wrote in the letter, which was obtained by 'Clarin', an Argentinian daily newspaper.

"I'm visible to people and I lead a normal life – a public Mass in the morning, I eat in the refectory with everyone else. All this is good for me and prevents me from being isolated."

He added: "I'm trying to stay the same and to act as I did in Buenos Aires because if you change at my age you just look ridiculous."

The Pope, the first Jesuit pontiff and the first to come from the Americas, said his election was "totally surprising" and he considers it to be "a gift from God".

His predecessor, Benedict XVI, is now living a quiet life of retirement in a former convent on the other side of the Vatican.

Delay communions until adulthood, says priest

First communions and confirmations should be delayed, potentially into adulthood, to prevent the events from becoming hollow moments that mean nothing to those taking part.

The claim has been made by a leading Catholic priest, who said the age-specific system has lost almost all connection to what is meant to be intended.

 

Speaking on RTÉ Liveline programme yesterday, Fr Paddy Byrne said the modern-day version of the religious rites of passage has become a “hostile” event involving families who do not want to be there.

He said cultural changes in recent years mean many ceremonies now involve parents who have moved away from the Church, but feel peer pressure to allow their children to join the ceremonies.

In other cases, he said, otherwise religious families see the events more as family parties and opportunities for their children to be given money and presents.

The Laois-based priest said: “One of the big initiatives in South America in the past few months was to implement a lot of the sacraments of initiation — ie, baptism, communion, confirmation — much later on in life.

“It should be when people have choice, when they have proper formation [of faith]. What I’m saying isn’t off the wall, it’s realistic.”

Speaking afterwards to the Irish Examiner, Fr Byrne said he wants to see this non-age-specific reform considered for this country.

The priest said such a change would remove the issues surrounding the rites of passage. He said while the current system has worked in the past, it is now causing situations where up to “85% of children taking first communion are not seen again by the Church”.

While Fr Byrne stressed he is not criticising the changing nature of Irish society and people’s right to have different faiths and none, he said communion and confirmation are losing their real meaning for Catholics. 

“There’s a majority [of parents] who are quite unruly when it comes to the basic etiquette of how to behave. I’ve often been asked do you have wi-fi here, can people go on Facebook.

“It’s time for a wake-up call, to be pragmatic and honest in changing the way we do our business.”