Bishops Required...Applications To Papal Nuncio (Éire)

As I have previously indicated here, there are 3 dioceses in Ireland which require new incumbents and the name of the successor to Ossory is imminent in being named but the process is still that bit slower in getting off the ground in another diocese, namely Down & Connor.

Bishop Patrick Walsh (pic'd here) has been in situ for some years now and has truly passed the retirement age and indeed despite having 2 auxiliaries, still finds himself kept busy.

In recent weeks, the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, ARCHBISHOP GIUSEPPE LAZZAROTTO, has been canvassing the clergy throughout the diocese for possible names to be placed upon the terna which he will then submit to Rome for final decision by the Pope.

At present however, there is a discreet but concerted effort to ensure that one of his auxiliries namely, Bishop Donal McKeown, is prevented from getting the top job in the diocese as he does not seem to be all that well liked by clergy and laity alike and both groupings certainly do not wish to have more of him than they have at present.

Despite a considerable background in Catholic education, Bishop Mc Keown (pic'd here) is regarded as supportive of integrated education.

His defence of Catholic education, particularly against a double onslought from teacher unions (the Irish National Teachers' Organisation) and British government reform, is generally seen as weak and ineffective.

He is also regarded as politically naive.

He famously appeared at a rally in the Ulster Hall in Belfast held in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and against the Patten proposals on reform of policing. He claimed that he was misled by the invitation.

Most commentators see him as the front runner though many informed sources now regard this as unlikely, given his weak performance on the issue of Catholic education, which has angered many priests in the diocese who are heavily involved in education at parish level.

The inclusion of his name as a possible successor in an article in the Belfast newspaper, The Irish News, led to a furious debate on the Slugger O'Toole website, with dozens of commentators expressing either anger or praise for him.

Other names currently being bandied about as possible successors to Walsh include the current incumbent of Dromore, Bishop McAreavey, Monsignor Noel Treanor and the moral theologian of Maynooth, Dr Vincent Twomey (who has also been considered for Diocese of Ossory - he may yet become a mitred one this year).

The latest dispatch from the Papal Nuncio contained the following documentation which is not normally available tot he ordinary laity who end up paying for the person installed as their pastoral leader....enjoy the read and if you feel like contrbuting yourself feel free...



Private and Confidential

15 March 2007


Dear _________________

Since the Holy Father has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of the Diocese of Down and Connor, the Most Reverend Patrick Walsh, I am at present conducting a consultation that will lead in due time to the appointment of his successor. In this contest, I am seeking your assistance.

Bearing in mind the particular situation in the North of Ireland and what you see to be the specific needs of the Diocese of Down and Connor at this time, I would find it helpful to have your judgement as to the specific qualities that you would consider desirable in the new Bishop and to have the names, in the order of your preference, of (three) possible candidates, either bishops or priests, whom you would consider well suited to lead the Diocese.

To facilitate a more comprehensive answer, I enclose a Questionnaire that may serve as a general guideline.

For practical purposes, I would ask that the page(s) relating to each candidate, signed by hand and dated, be presented in each case as a separate unit. Finally, given the confidential nature of this consultation, I would ask that, in sending me your reply, you would also return this letter and the accompanying questionnaire.

I regret imposing upon your limited time, but I am most grateful for whatever assistance you can provide.

With kind regards, I remain,

Yours in Christ

ARCHBISHOP GIUSEPPE LAZZAROTTO
Apostolic Nuncio
183 Navan Road
Dublin 7
Ireland

QUESTIONNAIRE

Please provide on separate sheets the information regarding each candidate, indicating the circumstances and duration of your acquaintance with him.

1. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES: physical appearance; health; capacity for work; family background with particular reference to any possible hereditary condition.

2. HUMAN QUALITIES: intellectual endowment and practical skills; temperament; judgement and balance, sense of responsibility; ability to establish ties of friendship.

3. MORAL CHARACTER: Practice of the human, Christian and priestly virtues such as prudence, justice, honesty, loyalty, sobriety, faith, hope, charity, obedience, humility, piety, (daily performance of religious duties such as the celebration of the Eucharist, and the Liturgy of the Hours, devotion to Our Lady). Personal bearing and conduct with people in the exercise of the priestly ministry and beyond.

4. CULTURAL TRAINING: competent and up to date acquaintance with ecclesiastical studies; general culture; awareness of contemporary problems and responsiveness to them; knowledge of other languages; published works (books or articles).

5. ORTHODOXY: devoted allegiance to the Tradition, Doctrine and Magisterium of the Church; attitude to pronouncements of the Holy See regarding the ministerial priesthood, the priestly ordination of women, marriage, sexual ethics, social ethics and social justice; commitment to the authentic renewal advocated by the Second Vatican Council and subsequent papal teaching.

6. DISCIPLINE: loyal obedience to the Holy Father, the Apostolic See, the Sacred Hierarchy; esteem for and acceptance of priestly celibacy as put forward by the Magisterium of the Church; respect for and observance of the norms governing divine worship and ecclesiastical attire.

7. PASTORAL ENDEAVOUR: experience and achievements in pastoral ministry; work of evangelisation and catechesis, preaching and teaching (preparation, ability to speak in public); sacramental and liturgical ministry (particularly the administration of the Sacrament of Penance and the celebration of the Eucharist); promotion of vocations and the Catholic missions; ecumenical spirit; dedication to family and youth ministry; promotion and defence of human rights; initiative in the area of labour, human development and social action (especially in relation to the poor), culture and communications.

8. ABILITY TO GOVERN: fatherly spirit; spirit of service; sense of initiative; willingness to enter into dialogue, to seek and accept collaboration, to share responsibility; capacity to analyse, to plan, to make decisions and execute them, to direct and carry out projects with others and show due appreciation for the contribution of collaborators, male and female; interest in the concerns of both the local and the universal Church; respect for the legitimate autonomy of civil authorities.

9. ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE: skill in administration; respect for and proper use of the material patrimony of the Church; willingness to seek the collaboration of experts; detachment from self-interest.

10. PUBLIC ESTEEM: does the candidate enjoy the esteem of fellow priests, religious, the laity and authorities?

11. OVERALL JUDGMENT REGARDING THE PERSONALITY OF THE CANDIDATE AND HIS SUITABILITY FOR THE EPISCOPACY: If your concluding judgment is favourable, please indicate whether you deem the candidate suitable to be a Resident Bishop or an Auxiliary, specifying the size and type of the diocese you would envisage (large, medium, small, rural, urban, industrial).

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

To seek further information regarding the candidates you have proposed, it would be appreciated if you could indicate the name, qualifications and address of any priest, religious, or layperson who is well acquainted with them and whose judgment and discretion can be relied upon.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Islamic Countries Can Suck Jesus's Chocolate Covered Cock (Contribution)

Islamic countries want to ban speech that offends religious sensibilities. You want to know why?

Because their religion sucks and they can't defend it.

So instead of engaging others in the marketplace of ideas they try to prohibit speech that they can't counter.

They pushed through a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council that prohibits any speech that offends Islam.

That is so stupid. Oh, have I offended you? I guess I should be banned then.

Meanwhile, over here in this part of never, never land, the Catholic crazies are all freaked out over a chocolate Jesus. So what????????

I just don't get it. I'm being literal. I don't understand what's offensive about a chocolate Jesus.

Maybe I didn't read the part of the Bible that talks about not making graven images of the Lord in chocolate (and it's possible, since the Bible has so many other things that are institutionally nuts I wouldn't rule it out).

Why does anyone care that it's in chocolate?

I understood when people were freaked out when an artist covered the Virgin Mary in cow dung. That's faeces. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or Biblical expert to figure that one out.

But what's offensive about chocolate?

The other part of this so-called chocolate Jesus controversy is his cock.

Apparently he has one.

Someone hide the children.

It turns out humans have dicks.

No, you don't say.

My guess is that if Jesus actually existed he would get a good belly laugh out of people being offended that he had a penis.

Yeah, don't worry about feeding the poor or anything. Just obsess over Jesus's chocolate covered penis. I'm sure that's what the good Lord would have wanted.

So, is the argument that Jesus didn't have a dick?

Or were people offended because it was too big? Too Small? Too immaculate? Not immaculate enough?

Note to crazy Christians: Male humans have penises! I know that comes as a giant shock and disappointment to you, but I swear you have to get used to it.

And yes, even your Lord and Saviour had one, even if he never used it.

By the way, if Jesus never had an orgasm the whole time he was alive (no premarital sex, no masturbation), he must have walked around with the biggest hard on in creation.

How do you depict blue balls in chocolate?

Since Jesus is also a prophet in Islam, I guess I killed two holy birds with one heretical stone here.

I have offended thee. Whoop dee doo.

Here's the part you don't understand -- I don't believe in your voodoo. So, I don't care that I am offending your mythical, non-existent Gods covered in chocolate with balls that ache like there's no tomorrow.

It's like getting mad at me for offending Zeus and Artemis. I don't care. They don't exist.

Considering their feelings is beyond preposterous. I will not live in your fantasy world.

It must be noted that in this case, the Muslims are even more wrong than the Christians.

The Catholics are being super goofy, but ultimately who cares about their bruised feelings?

If the Norse were pissed at me because I made fun of a fruit-covered Thor with a raspberry cock, I wouldn't much care either.

But when the Muslims try to quiet all dissent because they can't make a halfway decent argument in favor of their religion, they cross a line.

You're allowed to have your wacky and dangerous ideas if I am allowed to have my reasonable ones. But when you try to take away our right to speak, that ends the conversation. Then the free flow of ideas comes to an end.

Even though I think your ideas have led to the senseless deaths of millions upon millions, I still wouldn't prohibit them. I don't need to.

They're asinine and will ultimately be defeated. I believe in the power of reason in the long run.

Ironically, the devout don't have faith in their faith. That's why they have to quash dissent.

That's what they've been doing for centuries now. Both Muslims and Christians have been killing people that challenged their orthodoxy for the last two thousand years.

Remember the Catholic Church imprisoned Galileo when he said the earth went around the sun.

While Galileo sat in prison, the earth still revolved around the sun.

Funny how that works.

You can prohibit certain speech all you want, but it doesn't make it any less true.

So, you take your voodoo and I'll take reason and logic, and let's do ideological battle.

I might not win in the short run because humanity is an infant that is still struggling to open its eyes. But ultimately my victory is inevitable (unless of course the religious kill us all first).

You can make all the loony toon arguments you like.

And you can even whine over cartoons of Mohamed or chocolate covered Jesuses.

But when you says I am not even allowed to speak back, well, that's fighting words.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Milingo Marriages in Brazil

A former Roman Catholic archbishop from Africa, excommunicated for installing married clergy as bishops, celebrated the wedding ceremony of a former priest and a catechist in Brazil, part of his campaign against the Vatican's celibacy policy.

Emmanuel Milingo — whose 2001 marriage to a woman chosen by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon scandalized the Roman Catholic Church — celebrated the Brazilian couple's wedding ceremony Saturday night in a small chapel in Brasilia.

"Your marriage is valid and is licit because it is before God," Milingo told the couple, in Italian. The ceremony was translated to Portuguese by another former priest.

"The priesthood needs to live matrimonial life in order to renovate the church," the 76-year-old Milingo said.

Milingo, who was the archbishop of Zambia, defied the Vatican last September by installing four married men as Catholic bishops, a move that drew his automatic excommunication.

He had already angered the Vatican by taking a South Korean woman as his wife in a group wedding ceremony of Moon's Unification Church.

Saturday's marriage was between former priest Jose Moura, 37, and Sebastiana Moura, 32, who as a catechist taught the Catholic faith and is now four-months pregnant.

"I know this matrimony is not licit according to the Vatican," Jose Moura said.

"To live together in this manner is a sin to the eyes of the Church. But for me this (ceremony) is enough because I'm part of a multitude that asks the Vatican to make celibacy optional, not necessarily end it."

Jose Moura, who met Sebastiana Moura at her church in Brasilia, abandoned the priesthood in 2003 to begin the relationship. Their civil marriage took place in October.

The couple now belong to Milingo's advocacy group Married Priests Now!, which has 18,600 married priests in Brazil, according to Jose Moura.

The Catholic Church in Brazil, the world's largest Roman Catholic nation, has stood by the celibacy requirement.

Last December, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the head of the Vatican's office in charge of priests around the world, was quoted as saying that "celibacy is a discipline, not a dogma of the church."
But he later said the discussion about celibacy was not on the Church's agenda and contended that allowing them to marry would not solve the clergy shortage.

Pope Benedict XVI, who will visit Brazil May 9-14, has reinforced his endorsement of celibacy.

Last month, he reiterated the Church's ban on Communion for divorced Catholics who remarry.
Milingo said, however, that "the Vatican is not the church."

"I was baptized ... nobody can expel me from the church," he said.

Milingo and his wife are expected to stay in Brazil until late April on invitation by a group linked to Moon's church and Married Priests Now!

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Anglicans Submitting To The Pope (??) (Contribution)

England’s King Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.

The Anglican Church has been England’s church since that time.

Some of Britain’s kings, queens and parliamentarians sacrificed blood to establish England’s own church.

Britain suffered some of its worst nightmares when the Catholic Church reigned over it.

However, the people have forgotten that oppressive history.

Now, they are about to embrace the Catholic Church again.

The Times of London reported February 19: “Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the pope are to be published this year, the Times has learned. The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches. In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the pope.”

A key paragraph in the draft document, titled “Growing Together in Unity and Mission,” reads:

“We urge Anglicans and Roman Catholics to explore together how the ministry of the bishop of Rome might be offered and received in order to assist our communions to grow toward full, ecclesial communion.”

Additionally, the Times revealed: “Anglicans are also urged to begin praying for the pope during the intercessionary prayers in church services, and Catholics are asked also to pray publicly for the archbishop of Canterbury.”

This is a shocking development, considering the history of the Roman Catholic Church and England. Anglicans are embracing the bitterest enemy against the British throne!

The history behind that throne is incredibly inspiring. That throne is the greatest of all physical thrones by far, and a supreme blessing from the great God. If you understand its history and prophecy, you know that it is in fact the throne of King David of ancient Israel—the very throne, according to the Bible, from which Jesus Christ is about to rule!

That royal throne is the hope of this world. But the British have turned their back on God.

Now they are grasping for another throne.

While both Catholic and Anglican leaders have downplayed the contents of the document, such efforts toward church unity nevertheless indicate a clear direction and intention.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the chairman of the Catholic side of the commission that prepared the document, Australian archbishop John Bathersby, said that “it was a significant step forward in an attempt at unity that began 35 years ago” (February 20).

He said the relationship between Catholics and Anglicans was the closest it’s ever been.

Dozens of Anglican married priests, in revolt against women’s ordinations, have already been accepted into the Catholic priesthood.Such efforts at church unity are paving the way for a major prophecy in the Bible to be fulfilled.

It is recorded in the 47th chapter of Isaiah: “Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. … And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children” (verses 1, 7-8).

Here God prophesied that the Catholic Church would experience a great rebellion against her evil deeds—and then, in the very end time, would bring those daughters back under her direction; she would not “know the loss of children.”

The Protestant Reformation was a rebellion against Catholicism.

Today, however, the Protestants are in the process of being reunited with the Catholic Church under the pope’s rule.

The draft statement, the first issued by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, is sure to generate more controversy.

Indeed, biblical prophecy indicates that full unity will not be achieved purely voluntarily.

At a certain point, the mother church will abandon its efforts to woo her daughters back by flatteries and instead revert to the age-old method of preserving “Christian” unity by exerting physical force.

However, thankfully, God says the Roman Catholic Church will again suffer the loss of children “in a moment” (verse 9).

Then Jesus Christ is going to rule the Earth.

Time is accelerating quickly, and all of this will happen in a moment.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Dioceses Of Ireland - Connor (Anglican)

http://connor.anglican.org/

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

'Nazi' Pope Helped Jews Flee Holocaust

Pius XII, the wartime pontiff often condemned as "Hitler's Pope", was actually considered an enemy by the Third Reich, according to newly discovered documents.

Several letters and memos unearthed at a depot used by the Stasi, the East-German secret police, show that Nazi spies within the Vatican were concerned at Pius's efforts to help displaced Poles and Jews.

In one, the head of Berlin's police force tells Joachim von Ribbentropp, the Third Reich's foreign minister, that the Catholic Church was providing assistance to Jews "both in terms of people and financially".

A report from a spy at work in the Vatican states: "Our source was told to his face by Father Robert Leibner [one of Pius's secretaries] that the greatest hope of the Church is that the Nazi system would be obliterated by the war."

La Repubblica, the newspaper that discovered the papers, said they were sent to the heads of the Stasi, after the Second World War.

The revelations they contain will help to clear the name of Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, who has long been criticised for turning a blind eye to the Holocaust. During the war, the British Foreign Office even described him as the "greatest moral coward of our age".

In 1999, John Cornwell's Hitler's Pope suggested that Pius XII, who had been the papal envoy to Germany before the war, was sympathetic to the Nazis.

In addition, an international Catholic-Jewish historical commission, set up by the Vatican, said it was clear that Pius knew of widespread anti-Jewish persecution.

However, the commission was forced to disband before it finished its work, and one member said it had run up "against a brick wall" from the Holy See.

In his defence, the Pope always maintained he did not speak out further against the Nazis for fear of putting more people in danger.

Over the years more documents have come to light as the Vatican has opened its secret archives to scholars in an attempt to clear what it sees as a communist-funded smear on Pius's name.

Giovanni Sale, the author of Hitler, The Holy See and the Jews, said Moscow had deliberately funded operations to discredit the Vatican after the war.

"I have said for 10 years that the Church fought the Nazis on all fronts," he added.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

UN Officials Advance Radical Stand on Homosexual Rights

At the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva this week, a radical homosexual umbrella group released a document that claims that even the youngest children are capable of discerning their sexual identity and they should be given governmentally protected free reign to express it, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) reports.

The document, authored by several UN human-rights officials, goes on to demand revision of international and national laws to reflect these and other ideas on the far frontier of social policy, notes Samantha Singson in C-Fam's Friday Fax.

Called the Yogyakarta Principles, the document lists 29 rights that already exist in binding international law such as the right to life and freedom from torture, and reinterprets each one to include homosexual rights.

Based upon the idea that “international human-rights law imposes an absolute prohibition of discrimination in regard to the full enjoyment of all human rights,” the Principles assert that nations are legally bound to change their constitutions and penal codes to incorporate homosexual rights.

The Principles also assert that states that must force changes in school curricula, facilitating “access" by those who seek sex change operations, “the right to express identity or personhood, including through speech deportment, dress, bodily characteristics, choice of name or any other means,” non-discrimination “against asylum seekers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and “the right to found a family, including through access to adoption or assisted procreation (including donor insemination).”

According to the Principles, “sexual orientation is understood to refer to each person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional [sic] and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations with, individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender.”

The document states that “gender identity is understood to refer to each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, including the personal sense of the body (which may involve, if freely chosen, modification of bodily appearance or function by medical, surgical or other means) and other expressions of gender, including dress, speech and mannerisms.”

Of the 29 human-rights experts who drafted the Principles, 11 are UN special rapporteurs or members of treaty-monitoring bodies. Other members include former UN officials such as Mary Robinson, former High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Conservative observers at the Human Rights Council told the Friday Fax that by signing onto the Jogyakarta Principles, “These UN Special Rapporteurs have betrayed the requirements of impartiality and independence required by their mandates.”

The document concludes by calling on the UN system to endorse the principles and incorporate them into the work of the organization and calls for action from all levels government, the media and civil society.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Pope John Paul II Even Closer To Sainthood

The late Pope John Paul moves a step closer to sainthood tomorrow, the second anniversary of his death, when Catholic Church officials formally conclude the first phase of a probe into his holiness.

As thousands of pilgrims poured into Rome, the Vatican has laid on special events to mark the anniversary of the death of the 20th century's most popular pope.

At midday on Monday, the Rome diocese will officially give the Vatican tens of thousands of pages of documentation and transcripts which propose that John Paul should be beatified, the last step before sainthood.

The documentation includes the case of Marie Simon-Pierre, a 46-year-old French nun diagnosed with Parkinson's -- the same disease that the late Pope had -- until she said it inexplicably disappeared exactly two months after his death.

Simon-Pierre, who worked as a maternity ward supervisor in Aix-En-Provence, could be central to the case since the Church demands proof of a medically unexplained healing before a candidate for sainthood can be beatified.

If the Vatican rules the case a miracle, another would be required before sainthood is bestowed.

At a news conference on Friday in France, the nun spoke glowingly of the late Polish Pontiff as an inspiration because of his very public suffering from Parkinson's.

"My healing was the work of God through the intercession of John Paul," she said.

She said she and her fellow nuns had prayed to John Paul for her recovery after his death and linked her healing to him.

The Church teaches that Catholics can pray to the dead to intercede with God to perform a miracle on Earth.

Starting on Monday, the documentation prepared by the Rome and Krakow dioceses will be reviewed by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

It will study John Paul's writings and spoken words before and after he became pope and a new set of medical experts will determine if the curing of the nun was due to a miracle.

If so, John Paul can be beatified by his successor. The nun wrote of her experiences in a magazine published by Italy's Catholic Church.

"I was losing weight day by day. I could no longer write and if I did try to, it was difficult to decipher. I could no longer drive ... because my left leg became rigid," she wrote.

On June 2, 2005, two months after the Pope's death, she said she felt the sudden urge to pick up a pen. "My handwriting was completely legible ... my body was no longer pained, no longer rigid ... I felt a profound sense of peace," she wrote.

Her neurologist and other doctors and psychologists who later examined her were at a loss for a medical explanation.

The day of events commemorating John Paul starts early on Monday when his former private secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, says a Mass at his tomb in St Peter's Basilica.

Later in Rome's Basilica of St Johns in Lateran, officials in charge of the sainthood case will close its first phase. Many Catholics are convinced of John Paul's holiness.

Crowds at his funeral chanted "Santo Subito" ("Make him a saint now").

In May, 2005, Pope Benedict put John Paul on the fast track by dispensing with Church rules that normally impose a five-year waiting period after a candidate's death before the procedure that leads to sainthood can even start.

On Monday afternoon, Pope Benedict will say a Mass in the Vatican commemorating the second anniversary of John Paul and may hint of whether he is considering any other dispensations.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Christ For All, Not The Few (Contribution)

Recently I came across a report in my Catholic weekly trying to explain in detail why Protestants cannot receive Holy Communion at a Catholic liturgy.

In fact of late in many of our Churches there are announcements and LCD projections reminding the congregation that Holy Communion is reserved only for baptized and practicing Catholics.

This attitude of our Church, to me is very puzzling as I feel it is very disturbing, misleading and discriminating.

Who is a practicing catholic – one who observes strictly all the rituals of the Church or one who genuinely carries Jesus into his daily living?

What about a Catholic politician who abuses his power to subdue his people and amass large amount of wealth?

What about glamorous celebrities who live immoral lives against the teachings of the Church?

This discriminatory action of our modern Church poses one important question in the minds of many liberal thinking Catholics – Is Christ for all or is He reserved for an exclusive few?

Yes, Holy Communion is not a trivial matter and the Eucharist is not to be toyed with, but denying our separated brethren the Eucharist because of their dispute with Catholics is definitely tantamount to revenge especially when this dispute is as ancient as the Church itself.

If this is not a spiteful policy then what is it?

The practice of excluding some people from Communion may be Biblically based, and it reflects the mind and heart of the early Church, as they were taught by the Apostles.

Wouldn’t it be morally wrong on our part to carry the ancient animosity created by our ancestors onto the present generation of Christians who had no part whatsoever in that ancient dispute?

None will deny that there must be conditions for receiving Christ in Holy Communion.

These should be however,based on the condition of the heart of the receiver and not rituals he performs or group to which he belongs.

The fundamental requisite should be faith and a sincere eagerness to welcome Christ into his life.

In a world torn apart by hate and revenge, Christ should an instrument of unity and peace among not only Christians of the various denominations but of the whole human race.

Christ belongs to all, including sinners, not to just a chosen few.

He is not the founder of an exclusive club called Christianity or to be more specific Catholicism.

Let’s not confine him to this club by imposing man-made rules and rituals.

As his faithful we have a far greater obligation, to bring His love to all mankind.

(Article By: Dr. Chris AnthonyButterworth, MalaysiaOp/EdCatholic Online)

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

What it Means to Be Anglican in the 21st Century

Heightened controversies mainly around homosexuality in the Anglican Communion have forced the worldwide denomination to address more deeply what it means to be Anglican in the 21st century.

"To speak of Anglicanism today, either as a church tradition or as an ecclesial communion, is to speak of one of the most vibrant and unstable expressions of Christianity within the world," said the Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, archbishop of the West Indies.

The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian body in the world with around 77 million members. Many, however, predict a breakup as the Communion's U.S. wing - the Episcopal Church - shows no sign of pledging not to consecrate another gay bishop, as it did in 2003.

The homosexual debate among Anglican churches has gone on for decades.

And conservative leaders say the Episcopal Church has departed from Anglican tradition and scriptural authority.

But Gomez says the gay debate is only "the tip of the iceberg."

"The deeper issue is, in reality, a test of the nature of our communion and interdependence."

Some say the Episcopal Church would choose autonomy over interdependence.

"In the past, the Episcopal Church has stressed its autonomy with little to no regard for the rest of the Anglican Communion," said Ralph Webb, director of Anglican Action for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, in a statement last month. "Sadly, its actions to date suggest that if push comes to shove, it will choose independence over fellowship."

While the Episcopal House of Bishops expressed desire to remain a part of the Anglican Communion, it reaffirmed the U.S. church's stance on the "full inclusion" of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons earlier this month.

Episcopal leaders are expected to respond to the Primates (Anglican leaders)' moratorium on the consecration of homosexuals and the blessing of same-sex unions in a September meeting. Their deadline to respond is Sept. 30.

The challenges in the Communion point to the question of Anglican identity.

"One of the problems that has been faced as the Communion has developed is its lack of an explicitly stated self-understanding of what it means to be Anglican and what it means to recognize others as Anglican and live in interdependent, mutually accountable communion with one another as part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church," said Gomez, adding that there is a lack of agreed and stated principles of what it means to be interdependent.

Alluding to the growth of plural identities, often in contrast to one another, within and among Anglican churches, Gomez warned that there is a danger of having "a collection of culturally limited churches and perspectives and theologies." He urged churches to give up the cultural captivities.

"The idea of communion, however, is a multiple series of learnings and giving ways," he said, urging churches to submit to one another in a way that makes for deep mutual commitment.

As Anglicans look for a way forward, the Anglican Covenant is currently in progress to articulate the identity of the Anglican Communion. The covenant is meant to articulate and clarify the common faith of Anglicans and to "hold together and strengthen the life of the Communion."

At the heart of Anglican identity is "the global, missionary and ecclesial vision of Anglicanism" to witness effectively in all the world, Gomez indicated. And the covenant seeks to express that, he noted.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Pope's Aide Blasts Church Media Coverage

A top aide to Pope Benedict has blasted the media for highlighting the Vatican's views on sex while maintaining a "deafening silence" about charity work done by thousands of Catholic organisations around the world.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who as secretary of state is effectively the Vatican's prime minister, also accused the media of deliberately misinterpreting the Pope's speeches, especially his Regensburg address last September which angered Muslims.

"We face an extremely grave problem. The church's messages are subject to a type of manipulation and falsification by some western media," Bertone said in an interview with Le Figaro Magazine published in Paris on Saturday.

"I see a fixation by some journalists on moral topics, such as abortion and homosexual unions, which are certainly important issues but absolutely do not constitute the thinking and work of the church," he said.

"Why this deafening silence?" he asked. "We have to say the press does not write much about the social and charity work of thousands of Catholic organisations around the world."

Bertone said journalists had twisted the Pope's Regensburg address - in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor linking Muslims and violence - into a speech on Islam rather than the discussion on the role God played in society.

"Pope Benedict's thoughts were neatly blacked out," he said.

"Commentators who take phrases out of context in a misleading extrapolation are exercising their trade dishonestly."

He said the German-born Pontiff had made clear in Regensburg that he wanted "a healthy confrontation" with Islam and that several Muslim thinkers had welcomed his invitation to dialogue.

Bertone has been one of the church's harshest critics of Dan Brown's popular novel The Da Vinci Code.

In the interview he also took aim at The Lost Tomb of Jesus, a new film claiming that archaeologists have found the tomb of Jesus and his family and indications that Mary Magdelene, one of his followers in the gospels, was his wife.

According to the Bible, Jesus never married and rose bodily from the dead after his crucifixion.

"This is a strategy against the church and the divine figure of Christ," he said.

"These campaigns try to sap the faith of Christian people and the trust the faithful have in the church."

The apocryphal gospels used as sources for popular books and films were not new discoveries but well-known books written a century or two after the original gospels, he said.

"Authors who try to sow confusion between these two different sources profit from religious ignorance," he said.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

In Reconciling Its Past, Poland Is Divided Anew

Almost two decades have passed since dictatorship gave way to democracy in Poland, but after years of burying memories and avoiding the subject, this country is finally grappling with its communist past.

On March 15, a controversial law went into effect requiring an estimated 700,000 civil servants, teachers and journalists to sign an oath declaring whether they collaborated with the communist secret police before the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Anyone caught lying, or who refuses to sign, is to be fired.

In January, the new archbishop of Warsaw quit after admitting he had been an informer. Since then, dozens of priests in this devout Catholic nation have likewise been outed as collaborators, shaking public faith in an institution that was long seen as the only reliable refuge from totalitarian rule.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are expected this spring to put on trial an 83-year-old man whose unsmiling visage and dark eyeglasses still symbolize the country's tribulations under communism. Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, Poland's former military ruler, faces charges that he illegally declared martial law in 1981 to suppress the Solidarity labor movement that arose in Gdansk's shipyards.

The accusations and recriminations about who did what during the communist era have split Polish society. Proponents of the current purges say that they are long overdue and complain that ex-communists unfairly profited during the country's transition to capitalism. Critics, including many former foes of the communists, describe the campaign as a modern-day Red Scare that is driven more by political machinations than an honest desire to hold people accountable.

Few people have gone unscathed, including Lech Walesa, the Gdansk electrician who led Solidarity and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for confronting the communists. Walesa has had to go to court twice to clear himself of allegations that he served as an informer.

"Some people will never believe that I managed to accomplish as much as I did without the help of the secret police," Walesa, 63, said in an interview in his office in Gdansk, where he has led a pro-democracy foundation since he served as Poland's president from 1990 to 1995.

Walesa resisted opening Poland's communist-era intelligence archives during his presidency, saying the new republic was too fragile to endure a direct reckoning with its past.

Today, however, he supports opening them and said the purges are painful but necessary.

"Only cowards and those who didn't fight didn't have any files," he said. "But we need to get it over with as quickly as possible and do it once and for all. We need to make this issue disappear forever."

Unlike in some of its revolution-minded neighbors in Eastern Europe, Poland's transition from communism to multiparty democracy was a carefully negotiated one.

In February 1989, the country's communist rulers opened talks with a delegation of Solidarity leaders and other activists in Warsaw. After two months, they reached an agreement that led to the first partially free elections in the Soviet bloc.

Although the communists soon lost their grip on power, for the most part they avoided prosecution; many, in fact, joined new political parties and restyled themselves as democrats.

Some former Solidarity activists and other communist foes seethed at what they saw as a lack of accountability. After years of operating on the political fringe, they swept into power in late 2005, led by identical twins Jaroslaw and Lech Kaczynski.

The Kaczynskis -- Lech is president, while Jaroslaw serves as prime minister -- have called for a "moral renewal" in Poland. "The problem of confronting the communist past in Poland was always addressed in a weak and inefficient way," said Ludwik Dorn, a deputy prime minister and a close ally of the Kaczynski brothers. "If problems are left unresolved, it's quite normal for them to resurface."

In an interview, Dorn said the new government had already had a cleansing effect: About 1,200 local police officers who had worked for the communists have resigned in the past 18 months.

The Kaczynski government is also targeting the country's military intelligence agencies, he said, prompted in part by Polish voters who came of age after 1989 and are demanding to know why the purges didn't happen earlier.

"They are the judges," Dorn said. "They were 4-year-olds during martial law, and they're asking their fathers and grandfathers: 'Who are you? Who were you?' "

The backbone of the de-communization campaign is the new law that requires civil servants, journalists and academics to declare whether they ever collaborated.

Critics said the law could be easily abused. Jacek Zakowski, a television commentator and columnist for Polityka magazine, said the statute was poorly worded, defining a collaborator as anyone who was in "a position of trust" with the communist authorities.

"I was in the underground in the 1980s, but even I don't know if I could be labeled a 'person of trust' or not," he said. "This is a way to blackmail people, because anybody who says, 'No, I did not collaborate,' could be in trouble."

Jacek Kucharczyk, deputy director of the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw, said the vetting law is likely to be overturned or modified by the courts. Regardless of its legality, he said, the measure reflects a broader social divide over the 1989 revolution.

"You have a coalition of people who disliked the new division of authority and power that evolved in Poland," he said. "There are people who genuinely think it was a moral scandal and that it should be rectified in some way. But there are also those who see this as a convenient way to remove the older generation and to take their place."

Millions of pages of security archives have been placed in the custody of the Institute of National Remembrance, an agency with authority to prosecute crimes committed against Poles during the years of Nazi and communist rule.

Under the new anti-communist vetting law, the institute will be required to publish a comprehensive list of collaborators this year. Some researchers at the institute questioned how reliable it would be.

"A lot of people just consider it as black or white -- either you were a collaborator or you were not," said Antoni Dudek, a historian at the institute. "But a lot of times, when you look at the files, it's much more complicated."

Dudek estimated that as many as 1 million Poles could have served as informers during the communist era. But only about 100,000 people had case files that clearly identified them as collaborators, he said.

The remainder, he said, must be reconstructed from a variety of documents that often contain fleeting references to individuals or people operating under aliases. Sometimes, people were falsely identified as informers by intelligence agents trying to impress their superiors.

In disputed cases, people tagged as collaborators can appeal to a special commission to ask that their names be cleared. But it can take years for cases to be heard.

Meanwhile, prosecutors from the Institute of National Remembrance are preparing to try Jaruzelski. After beating similar legal action in the '90s, he was indicted again in March 2006 on charges of "communist crimes," stemming from his decision to declare martial law. Dozens of people were killed in clashes that resulted in 1981, and thousands of underground activists were arrested.

Jaruzelski has maintained his innocence and portrays himself as a Polish patriot, arguing that he did what was necessary to stabilize the country and prevent an invasion by Soviet troops. The elderly general spends his days in the institute's reading rooms combing through historical archives to gather evidence for his defense.

Although Jaruzelski was a reviled figure during his rule, surveys show that many Poles today view him more sympathetically.

Mieczyslaw Rakowski, one of Poland's last communist prime ministers and a former deputy to Jaruzelski, said there was no doubt that the Soviets would have intervened in 1981. He said the general avoided a bloodbath by declaring martial law and also by agreeing to negotiate with Solidarity in 1989.

"My generation saw Budapest on fire in 1956," he said, referring to the Soviet suppression of a rebellion in Hungary. "I saw the Prague Spring uprising and how [Czechoslovak leader Alexander] Dubcek and his people were taken on a plane to Moscow with their heads in a sack. I also witnessed the next Russian invasion, of Afghanistan, in 1979. Why do you think it would have been any different for us?"

Among the general's defenders today is his old foe Walesa. "He believed, and the communists believed, that there was no other choice, that the Russians had directed missiles at every Polish city," Walesa said. "I do not punish people for faith, and they believed in that. I'm leaving the judgments to God."

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Warsaw Gets New Archbishop

Warsaw's new Roman Catholic archbishop was installed at a simple ceremony today, three months after his predecessor resigned in a scandal over ties with the communist-era secret police.

Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz, 57, appeared to be fighting back tears as a papal decree appointing him to one of the top church posts in the late Pope John Paul II's homeland was read out at the start of a Mass in the Warsaw Cathedral.

At a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and President Lech Kaczynski, Nycz received a silver staff — the symbol of his new position — from Poland's primate, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, who served as Warsaw archbishop for more than 25 years.

Glemp said that, under communism, Nycz defended the Church amid the "official hostility of the authorities."

Some 1,500 people inside and outside the cathedral applauded as Nycz sat in the archbishop's chair.

The ceremony was kept simple, with Nycz installed during a regular Palm Sunday Mass rather than at a special service — reflecting the new archbishop's modest, low-key approach.

Nycz told worshippers he felt "great responsibility" for the faithful of his new diocese.
"I ask for your prayers to help me become a strong link in this long chain of succession," he said.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Nycz, previously the bishop of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg, last month.

His previous choice, Stanislaw Wielgus, resigned at the start of what was to be his opulent inauguration Mass on Jan. 7 in a move that rattled the Polish church — long revered in the overwhelmingly Catholic country for what Poles have seen as its staunch resistance to the communist regime.

Wielgus' dramatic resignation at Warsaw Cathedral — to cries of "No, No!" and "Stay with us!" from the congregation — came after a church historical commission said it had found evidence that he had cooperated with the secret police.

Wielgus initially denied that, but then acknowledged that he did sign an agreement in 1978 promising to cooperate with the security force in exchange for permission to leave Poland to study in West Germany.

However, he said he did not inform on anyone or try to hurt anyone, and he expressed remorse both for his contacts with the secret police and his failure to be forthcoming from the start.

Church officials and historians say that, while the church was a pillar of resistance, about 10 to 15 percent of Poland's priests were pressured into informing or otherwise cooperating with the secret police.

Nycz is widely seen as holding an impeccable record under communism. John Paul nominated him bishop of Krakow in 1988, where Nycz later organized the last three visits of the Polish-born pope to his homeland.

In 2004, John Paul named Nycz the bishop of the Koszalin-Kolobrzeg diocese on the Baltic Sea coast.

Papal Bull Of Appointment (Polish Only)

Ceremony of Installation

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Catholic Can't Withhold Dues Over Union's Same-Sex Stand (Canada)

A devout Catholic who opposes paying dues to one of Canada's largest unions because of its strong support for gay marriage lost a key legal challenge yesterday.

Susan Comstock of Toronto, who has worked as a senior federal public servant for almost 35 years, had sought to divert the money to her church in protest.

She unsuccessfully argued that forcing her to pay about $800 a year in dues to the Public Service Alliance of Canada violated her right to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.

"This is important because it demonstrates that your right to practise your religion is not impaired by paying dues to a union whose views you do not share," said Andrew Raven, a lawyer for the 150,000-member union.

"This was an attack on the right of the union to have a policy that supported the rights of gays and lesbians."

Comstock's lawyer, Phil Horgan, said the ruling is a chilling sign that courts and human rights commissions are increasingly hostile to Canadians who are trying to assert their rights to religious freedom when opposing gay marriage.

"I think it's indicative of a problem Canadians will have in addressing what is becoming a somewhat oppressive environment," said Horgan, president of the Catholic Civil Rights League.

"The reach of these decisions is only starting to be felt."

Horgan cited other rulings that have gone against religious groups, including a fine slapped on the Knights of Columbus in British Columbia for refusing to rent out their hall for a same-sex marriage party.

Comstock, a senior intergovernmental relations officer with the Indian Affairs Department, said she was deeply disappointed by yesterday's decision and would like to appeal it, especially since there is a provision in the federal same-sex marriage law that asserts freedom of religion will be protected.

"I thought this would be a test case for that," said Comstock, who hopes to retire in the next year or so.

She said she found out about her union's support for gay marriage in a memo distributed during the 2004 federal election campaign, in which PSAC vowed "zero tolerance" for homophobia and "heterosexism," which it defined as "the presumption that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is superior to other forms of loving."

At the time, the then Liberal government had taken steps to make same-sex marriage the law of the land, after a string of court rulings declared the ban on it unconstitutional.

Comstock said in court documents she is so strongly opposed to same-sex marriage that she left the Anglican church because of its "ambiguous" position, becoming a Catholic in 2004.

PSAC's aggressive policy on same-sex marriage "has the effect, at the very least, of making me a moral and social outcast within my union, creating the impression or belief that my contribution in the workplace ... is unwelcome, inferior, and of little or no positive value," she said.

The Federal Court ruling backed the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which rejected Comstock's complaint that she is being discriminated against based on her religious beliefs. "The evidence does not show how her freedom of religion and conscience was compromised by this policy," wrote Justice Frederick Gibson. "The fact that she opposes the union's political or social causes does not force her to act in a way contrary to her beliefs or her conscience."

Comstock had argued she should be able to divert her dues because of a collective agreement clause allowing union members to give their dues to charity when they are members of a religious organization "whose doctrine prevents him or her as a matter of conscience from making financial contributions to an employee organization."

The court, however, noted the Catholic Church does not oppose labour unions and has, in fact, recognized their value.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Archmere Grad Gets $41 Million In Abuse Suit (USA)

A U.S. District Court jury Friday awarded $41 million in damages to an Archmere Academy graduate who testified he was sexually abused hundreds of times by a faculty priest at the prestigious Catholic school.

The jury award -- which includes $6 million in compensatory damages and $35 million in punitive damages -- is believed to be the first made to a victim of child sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in Delaware.

The only defendant in the case was the Rev. Edward J. Smith; the school, the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and Smith's Norbertine order were dismissed from the suit months ago.

Navy Cmdr. Kenneth J. Whitwell (pic'd here), 39, of Stafford, Va., a 1986 graduate of Archmere, told jurors Thursday that he was orally and anally raped by Smith, a Norbertine priest, more than 230 times over the course of 33 months.

The abuse started, Whitwell said, when he was a 14-year-old freshman at the school.

Smith, who now lives at the Norbertine priory in Middletown, was not present in court and offered no defense to the civil lawsuit. Neither he nor the superior of the Norbertine order, the Rev. James Bagnato, returned phone messages Friday.

Whitwell covered his face in his hands and wiped tears away when the final verdict was read Friday.

After court was dismissed, he turned and embraced his wife, Amy, and they wept together.

"The jury spoke out very loudly that all Delaware officials must do everything in their power to hold these persons accountable for their past crimes," Whitwell said at a news conference later.

"I want to thank the judge and jury for allowing me to expose the truth about matters which have been hidden away for far too long, and for seeing that justice was done not only for me, but also for all the many other victims who have been denied their day in court by armies of lawyers and church bureaucrats who are more interested in a cover-up than in protecting innocent children and revealing the truth of what happens behind closed doors in their church."

Following The Money

In testimony Thursday, Whitwell and his mother, Joyce Casey, testified that Smith had told them of a large inheritance that his father had protected for him so that church officials would have no claim on his riches.

They testified that Smith provided many costly gifts, always had large amounts of cash on him, tried to give Whitwell a car for his 16th birthday and offered to pay the boy's tuition at Archmere if financial needs overwhelmed the family.

"We expect we will collect every penny that he has hidden away," said Thomas Neuberger, who with his son, Stephen, represented Whitwell and has several other such cases pending in Delaware courts. "And after our appeal, when we succeed in taking Archmere and the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington back into the case, we expect a similar award when we retry the case."

One legal expert doubted Whitwell will see the full amount. If there is no insurance or property that can be leveraged to pay the award, defendants in this type of case can either appeal the award or declare bankruptcy.

"In my experience, unless there's insurance coverage, an award like this probably would never be paid to the plaintiff," said Joe Weik, past president of the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association. Weik said Smith's absence could have contributed to the size of the jury's award.

Statute Of Limitations

The suit was filed in federal court to leverage the Vermont statute of limitations, which allows plaintiffs six years after they discover the cause of their injury to file suit in sexual-abuse cases.

Delaware's civil statute, now under review in the General Assembly, is two years.

Whitwell testified that Smith abused him on two separate ski trips to Killington, Vt. Whitwell said his memory of the abuse was triggered during an argument with his wife in 2000, and he did not link his personal problems with the abuse until he was under treatment with a Navy psychiatrist in 2003.

Chief Judge Sue L. Robinson had dismissed Archmere, the diocese and Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli from the suit, saying they had no part in the Vermont matter and that the Delaware statute would apply in their cases.

Archmere school officials issued a statement late Friday: "Archmere hopes that the trial and the jury's verdict lend some measure of comfort to Kenneth Whitwell and his family, as well as sending a clear message that sexual abuse of any child can never be tolerated."

Long-term Impact Of Abuse

Jurors heard expert opinion Friday from Dr. Carol Tavani, a neuropsychiatrist, who said Whitwell was permanently injured by the abuse and would need intensive treatment to have a chance at improving the quality of his life and marriage.

"These things leave scars -- they're pervasive," Tavani told the jury. "It's not that they [victims] don't go on to have a life, but it colors the way you look at the world. ... It affects your relationships, especially your close relationships, and affects your ability to trust anybody."

Tavani, who does more than 2,000 consultations a year at Christiana and Riverside hospitals and founded the Psychiatric Consultation Service 25 years ago, said Whitwell's problems with anxiety, mood disorders, fears, nightmares, severe stress levels, and personal intimacy were caused by the abuse.

Tom Neuberger urged the jury to provide justice for Whitwell and protection for children of other predators with a "colossal" award.

He acknowledged the difficulty of placing a dollar value on the damage done by sexual abuse that Whitwell estimated happened 234 times, a "conservative" guess.

"What is one sodomization of a 14-year-old worth? Your mind recoils at it," Neuberger said, "but it's your duty to face it. Two hundred thirty four separate horrible wrongs."

Worse, Neuberger said, Smith explained his behavior to Whitwell in spiritual terms, saying such activity was a natural way of expressing God's love.

'They'll take notice'

Neuberger urged jurors to send an especially strong message in punitive damages: "Without a colossal award, the Smiths and enablers, who blow you off when you confront them -- the Norbertines and Archmeres of the world -- won't take notice. Make the award enormous enough that they'll take notice."

Whitwell testified Thursday that he was sexually abused by Smith in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Vermont. He also testified that other priests from the school, the headmaster and dean of students saw him emerge from Smith's bedroom at the Archmere priests' residence but neither challenged the behavior nor warned his mother of any concern.

Whitwell said he drank with priests during happy hours at the residence.

Smith was on the Archmere faculty from 1982-84 and banned from the school's campus in 2002, officials say, when allegations of abuse at a Philadelphia school were reported by the news media.

Whitwell said pursuing the suit was "the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life."

And, he said, it is not over. "I quietly and fairly asked for justice from those who enabled these crimes, but I was ignored and belittled," Whitwell said.

"So I will march on until all the wrongs done to me and countless others are made right. It is a glorious day when the American justice system works, a glorious day when a wrong can be righted."

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Former Local Priests Named On Possible Abuse List (USA)

Ten priests who once served at North County churches, including four now deceased, are on a list of 38 priests for whom the Catholic Church says exist credible complaints of sexual abuse during their tenures.

The list posted on the Web site of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego was released as part of a promise to show its members and the public the extent of its financial jeopardy, which prompted it to file for bankruptcy protection in February.

Two of the priests served at churches in Escondido, and two served in Oceanside.

The cities of Vista, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Solana Beach, Ramona, Fallbrook, Poway and Temecula each have the name of one priest on the list.None of the priests are still active, according to the list.

The diocese is the largest of the five throughout the country to have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of misconduct by priests.

The North County priests served between 1968 and 1994 and held various duties.Countywide, 20 of the 38 priests are deceased, according to the list published on the diocese' Web site at http: www.diocese-sdiego.org under it Chapter 11 Reorganization notation

http://www.diocese-sdiego.org/set.asp?link=Chapter11Reorganization.htm&in=Bishops

Diocese Bishop Robert Brom has said the church would disclose the names as part of its decision to seek bankruptcy protection because of more than 100 lawsuits it faces.

The diocese has broken down all the claims throughout the county by decade.

The accounting shows 45 allegations arise priests who served in county churches from the 1930s through the 1950s.

There were 86 allegations in the 1960s and '70s.Ten claims were from the 1980s, and two in the 1990s.

There have been no claims in the 2000s, according to the diocese.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Palm Sunday - A Personal Journey (Contribution)

Life hasn’t always been easy for Manuel Zamorano, and there are no guarantees it will get any easier, but he has hope.

Zamorano, 36, never set foot in church or talked about God.

His life was absent of religion.

That changed three months ago.

Tired of the direction of his life, Zamorano walked into to St. Luke Catholic Church looking for answers.

“My life has been hard,” Zamorano said. “Everywhere I turn, there are problems. I’m trying to find out what (religion) is about. So far, it’s been real nice.”

Zamorano regularly attends church with his three children and wife, but this Sunday is special.

Today, Palm Sunday, is the beginning of holy week. Palm branches are blessed and carried in procession to mark Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

According to the Gospel, Jesus was welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd, crying hosanna to the son of David, king of Israel. The practice of carrying palm branches in procession dates back to the fifth century, and by the year 600, Palm Sunday had become common place.

Blessing the palm branches didn’t become custom until the middle of the eighth century.

Today, the palms are a reminder of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem and his death and resurrection.

For Zamorano and 561 others in the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, Palm Sunday is the final phase of his symbolic journey, culminating with his initiation into the church.

Hellen Vargas is a coordinator of religious education at St. Luke. She has been working long nights, but she finds her energy in people like Zamorano and 7-year-old Michael Rojas.

Typically, people going through Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults meet for a couple years, but during the Lenten season, the church has them sit in on disciples in mission class.

On a recent Wednesday evening, Zamorano and Michael attended such a class. A fragrant candle burned in the middle of the room to symbolize the light of Christ. Students sat in a circle around the candle.

Michael is precocious and bubbly. He couldn’t stop himself from fidgeting, but Hellen managed to keep him in his seat with a biblical questions. “Why are we baptized with water?” Hellen asked. “To wash away our sins,” Michael answered, bouncing in his chair.

Michael and Zamorano will be baptized on Holy Saturday, or the Easter Vigil, when the church celebrates the Paschal Mystery. Michael told his parents he wanted to be a minister since then he has been attending Rite of Christian Initiation for Children.

Michael and Zamorano are a microcosm of Catholicism’s newest initiates.

In an adjacent room, Zamorano sat with his hands folded in his lap. His presence is a stark contrast to the others. His arms are covered in tattoos, his appearance coarse, but he feels welcome.

The students discussed the priest’s most recent homily. Zamorano was asked to if he had ever felt that God couldn’t or wouldn’t love him.

A difficult question, but Zamorano answered without hesitation. “When my parents died, I felt buried, like he didn’t love me,” he said.

Vargas is excited for Zamorano and Michael. This is the last Sunday before their baptism, and they have a lot to look forward to.

“They feel all the joy and excitement of beginning to enter the final stages of sin of being welcomed into the faith,” Vargas said. “But, there is a deep sadness, too.”

Vargas explained that amid the excitement of the newly initiated, there is the recognition Christ’s fate. The only way for mankind to have communion, she said, was through Christ’s death.

“The church is leading them to know that people might fail them, but Jesus won’t,” Vargas said.

“That’s really underlying what the church is saying.”

Michael can hardly wait for the process to begin. He asked Vargas a dozen times to see where he will be baptized. Zamorano is more cautious.

“Yeah, I guess you could say I’m nervous,” he said.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Papal Palm Sunday

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Palm Sunday mass with tens of thousands of faithful in glorious sunshine on St Peter's Square in Rome.

In his sermon, the head of the Catholic church said "truth and love should be authentic criteria of life" as opposed to a life lived only for oneself.

After the mass, the pope was driven in an open-top jeep across St. Peter's Square which was full of palm leaves and to rapturous cries of "Benedetto."

On Palm Sunday, the Catholic church recalls Jesus entry into Jerusalem on a donkey where he was greeted by people waving palm leaves.

The Sunday before Easter marks the start of Holy Week.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Palm Sunday Mass, opened the Roman Catholic Church's most solemn week by urging young people to live pure, innocent lives.

This year, Holy Week also includes the second anniversary of the April 2, 2005, death of Pope John Paul II.

On Monday, the Catholic Church will close one phase of its investigation into John Paul's saintliness as it keeps up the momentum to have the beloved pope beatified.

Holding an intricately woven palm frond, Benedict opened the Palm Sunday celebration by processing through the sun-filled St. Peter's Square and up the steps of the basilica.

He was preceded by dozens of priests, bishops and cardinals who clutched palms and olive branches as their red vestments fluttered in the breeze.

Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and is the start of the church's Holy Week, which includes the Good Friday re-enactment of Christ's crucifixion and death and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Benedict continued the tradition started by John Paul and dedicated Palm Sunday to the young, who were out in force in St. Peter's.

He told them that to follow God they should have "innocent hands and pure hearts.""Innocent hands are hands that are not used for acts of violence," he told them. "They are hands that are not sullied by corruption and bribes."Hearts are pure when they are not "stained by lies and hypocrisy," he said. "A heart is pure when it is estranged from the intoxication of pleasure; a heart for whom love is true and not just the passion of a moment," he said.

Benedict has an unusually busy schedule this week: In addition to the traditional Holy Week ceremonies, he will preside over a Mass on Monday afternoon in honor of John Paul to mark the second anniversary of the pontiff's death.

He is not expected to attend the ceremony earlier in the day closing the church probe into John Paul's life and virtues.

That ceremony will be headed by the archbishop of Rome, who has guided the diocesan investigation that will be turned over to the Vatican to decide whether John Paul can be beatified, the last formal step before possible sainthood.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Palm Sunday - April 1st 2007

Palm (Passion) Sunday signals the beginning of Holy Week which joins the foretelling of the regal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem and the proclaiming of the Passion of Our Lord.

Holy Week begins today and celebrates the mysteries of the salvation of each and all of us through Christ and His last days here on earth, and the Lenten season lasts until Holy Thursday when the Passion of Christ sees the beginning of the Easter Triduum.

“Hossanah!

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13)

The meaning of Palm Sunday, also known as “The Triumphal Entry”, is celebrated to commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey following his miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead.

People of Jerusalem greeted him waving palm branches as a symbol of victory and shouting praises to him in jubilation. On this day we worship Jesus Christ in the same manner, acknowledging Him as our King and Lord.

Palm Sunday is one of the Great feasts of the Orthodox Church and its celebration takes place on the Sunday before Easter or Pascha. It always falls on one of the dates between March 15 & April 18.

This year in 2007, Palm Sunday is on April 1.

The Miracle of Resurrection

Lazarus was Jesus’ friend. When he fell ill, Jesus was called.

But before Jesus could reach Lazarus died.

With tears in his eyes for his friend, Jesus Christ went to his tomb and brought him to life.

This event revealed Jesus as “The resurrection and life “ of all the mankind.

The feast of Palm Sunday commemorates the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus recorded in all four of the Gospels (Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44 and John 12:12-19).

The feast is celebrated, but this day also marks Jesus’ last week on Earth, which eventually follows crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

So the day is celebrated with the realisation of the sad days that are soon to come.

On this Sunday a basket of woven palms crosses is placed in front of the icon of the Lord and a prayer for the blessing of the Palm (Ainoi) is read. The palms are then distributed among the followers who keep them in their home icon corner.

In the Orthodox and Jacobite Churches, the palm leaves are burnt as part of the rituals during Christmas.

In some parts of the country where Palm is not available due to climatic conditions, boughs of yew, willow or leaves of other native trees like Olive is also used.

The custom of using pussy willows instead of Palm fronds can be seen in countries like Russia and Ukraine, however the meaning of Palm Sunday stays the same..

Importance of Red Egg

At the end of the Divine Liturgy on Palm Sunday, the presentation of red eggs is a tradition.

The red egg represents Christ in the tomb and the breaking of the eggs is symbolic of the resurrection.

Slavic People and Greek families bring baskets containing bread, cheese, meat, eggs, butter and other foods to be blessed after the Divine Liturgy.

According to the tradition, a candle is also lit to symbolising the Light of Christ.

Fasting is also modified and fish is permitted due to the triumphant joyous mood of Palm Sunday.

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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself 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 I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce