Lombardi tells BBC bestowal of papal knighthood to Jimmy Savile was a mistake

Jimmy Savile, the late BBC DJ who was posthumously accused of sexually abusing minors, was invested as Knight Commander of St Gregory the Great (an equestrian order recognised by the Holy See) during John Paul II’s pontificate. 

Now, after information requests from the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, the Holy See stated that the knighthood given to the DJ should never have been bestowed. 

It also strongly condemned the acts of sexual abuse committed by Savile and stressed through the Vatican’s official spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi that “the honour expires with the death of the individual.”
 
A spokesman for the Catholic Church in England and Wales confirmed that Archbishop Nichols "wrote last week to the Holy See asking the competent office to investigate whether the papal honour awarded to Jimmy Savile for his charitable works could be posthumously removed and its effects nullified."
 
The Jesuit Vatican spokesman told the BBC that the Holy See "firmly condemns the horrible crimes of sexual abuse of minors," and considers the Savile revelations "very grave".  

He said the Holy See is “deeply saddened that a person who has been soiled in this way could in his lifetime have been proposed for an honour by the Holy See, which in the light of recent information should certainly not have been bestowed."
 
Regarding the removal of the British DJ's knighthood, Lombardi said: "As there does not exist any permanent official list of persons who have received papal honours in the past, it is not possible to strike anyone off a list that does not exist.” 

However, “the names of recipients of papal honours do not appear in the Pontifical Year Book and the honour expires with the death of the individual.”
 
Lombardi concluded: "The most important thing, therefore, is to reaffirm the Church's condemnation of all forms of sexual abuse, and particularly abuse of minors, as extremely grave crimes. The Holy See is adamant on this point."

Head of the Jesuits reflects on the Synod's missed opportunity

Father Adolfo Nicolás , the head of the Jesuits, believes that while the Synod of bishops on the new evangelization did much good work, it missed the opportunity to address some important questions that he believes are highly relevant for the future work of evangelization. 

In particular, he said, the synod did not reflect on the history of evangelization, both ‘the good things’ that were done in past centuries and ‘the serious mistakes’ that were made.   

Furthermore, it did not focus on such sensitive “frontier issues” as the dialogue with other religions and cultures. Consequently, it did not draw lessons that could have contributed positively to future evangelization.
 
The Spanish-born Jesuit who spent most of his life in Asia before his election as head of his order made his comments in a briefing for English-speaking journalists at the Vatican, October 25.
 
In his speech to the Synod assembly, October 8, he spoke about the Jesuit missionary effort over the past four centuries. He noted how Jesuits were trained “to find God in all things” and “to be positive” in their encounter with “other cultures and traditions” but, he admitted, their optic had been mainly European, they had seen “mostly Western, European signs of Faith and Sanctity” and “had not entered with sufficient depth into the cultures where the Gospel was proclaimed” so as to see the signs of God “already there, rooted and active in the hearts and relationships of people.”
 
“By not paying sufficient attention to how God was present and had been working in the peoples we encountered, we missed important clues, insights and discoveries”, he stated.    

He implied the same was true for the general missionary effort of the Church over those centuries too.
 
He suggested that “it is now time, to learn from this history, from what was missing in the First Evangelization, before we move ahead in the New”
 
True, he said, “Many good things have happened that we want to keep, develop and celebrate“.   

At the same time, he added, “We know that many mistakes have also taken place, particularly in terms of not listening to the people, in judging with great superficiality the merits of old and rich cultures and traditions, in imposing forms of worship that did not, in the least, express the relationship and sensibility of the people in their turning to God in prayer and praise.”
 
He concluded by listing seven lessons that can be learned from the past which can help evangelization in the future.   
 
At the synod, many bishops, experts and observers reacted “very positively” to his speech, the Jesuit leader said, but the fact of the matter is that the issue was not addressed by the assembly.
 
From the three-week deliberations, Father Nicolás  concluded that there was “a very low awareness of the history of evangelization” at the synod. He attributed this to the fact that “psychologically the whole project was to look ahead, to see the current changes that show that we are in a new historical set up and therefore humanity changes and so evangelization has to change too. The concern has been looking ahead, what do we do?” 
 
He had expected that the synod could “draw new wisdom from our mistakes”, but he said the synod was moving in another direction, “the awareness was more on what we want to do, and what we want to underline or stress, or affirm of the new evangelization” while “the attention to the past has been very little.”
 
As for the dialogue with other religions, Father Nicolás  said that topic too “has not been very central” to this synod which “spent a lot of energy and time reflecting on the foundations of the new evangelization, or on evangelization in general”.  In actual fact, he said, “This is ‘a frontier issue’, so frontier that you have to walk very carefully not to venture into territory that has no clear boundaries.”    
 
On the other hand, he acknowledged that there was “a higher awareness” of Islam at the synod and “there has been a great effort not to condemn, not to think negatively and, in terms of openness to dialogue, to protect human rights of the Muslims themselves.” 

Bishops had “underlined the desire of more and more Muslims to live in peace and to respect others, and noted how they resent the image of Islam that very radical groups are projecting on the world and said they are harming Islam itself and the majority of Muslims who don’t share this kind of attitude”. 

Father Nicolás  concluded that the real challenge is to find ways for greater cooperation and open dialogue with them.

Lefebvrians ask for more time

Lefebvrians need more time before they can respond to the Vatican’s offer of reconciliation and the Holy See seems willing to concede it. 

A statement issued by the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” - which is in charge of relations with traditionalist communities within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and led by the Congregation’s prefect, Mgr. Gerhard Ludwig Müller – stated that last 6 September the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X asked for “additional time for reflection and study” in order to prepare its response to the Holy See’s reconciliation proposal.
 
"Ecclesia Dei" recognises that “after thirty years of separation, it is understandable that time is needed to absorb the significance of these recent developments” and that “patience, serenity, perseverance and trust are needed” for a reconciliation to take place.
 
The Vatican proposal was made last 13 June, when the Commission presented Lefebvrian Superior, Mgr. Bernard Fellay, with “a doctrinal declaration together with a proposal for the canonical normalization of its status within the Catholic Church,” through an Apostolic Prelature like the one set up especially for the Opus Dei.
 
Since then, Lefebvrians have held the General Chapter which established three fundamental conditions for reconciliation: the celebration of the Tridentine mass only, the right to criticise the Second Vatican Council’s “mistakes” and the guarantee of having at least one bishop of their own. 

Leaders of the Fraternity have, on many occasions, said that they could not accept the Vatican’s doctrinal declaration, without, however, sending an official response.
 
Then, last week, Lefebvrian leaders announced the exclusion of Mgr. Richard Williamson, one of the Fraternity’s four bishops, from the Society of St. Pius X. Mgr. Williamson had been on a collision course with SSPX leaders because of his refusal to make any compromise whatsoever with Rome and because he had asked Fellay to resign. 

Williamson had been the root cause of a serious crisis in Jewish-Catholic relations in 2009, when he reiterated his denial of the Holocaust, shortly before Benedict XVI revoked the excommunication of the four Lefebvrian prelates. 

The “Ecclesia Dei” statement makes no reference to Williamson’s expulsion, which the Holy See was very much in favour of.
 
The Commission has laid out the rapprochement course for traditionalists and the Vatican, which Benedict XVI has been so eager to establish after “three years of doctrinal and theological dialogues” on “some disputed issues in the interpretation of certain documents of Vatican Council II.” 

A “culminating point along this difficult path was reached when, on 13 June 2012, the Pontifical Commission presented to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X a doctrinal declaration together with a proposal for the canonical normalization of its status within the Catholic Church.” 

This was after the liberalisation of the Tridentine mass in 2007 and the abolition of excommunication in 2009.

Vatican to finally have pavilion at Venice Biennale

The Vatican is finally due to have its own pavilion at the next Venice Biennale (1 June-24 November 2013), after speculation and delays since the idea was first mooted in 2009. 

At a press conference, “the vice president of the promoting committee for the Holy See’s pavilion at the Biennale Arte 2013 was present,” says a statement.  

The Art Newspaper understands that the Venice Biennale president, Paolo Baratta, will make a space available for the Vatican at the Arsenale site. 

Antonio Paolucci, the director of the Vatican Museums, said: “The Holy See wants to choose the best contemporary art and not expose itself to criticism" (The Art Newspaper, November 2010). 

Paolucci declined to comment on the works to be shown in Venice but earlier this year, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that “the artists will include fewer than ten men and women from various countries around the world, some of whom are established artists and others who are just emerging. Their subject matter will be the first 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis.”

Eight countries will also participate for the first time in next year's biennale: the Bahamas, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Republic of Kosovo, Kuwait, the Maldives, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Paraguay. In 2011, 89 international pavilions, the most ever, were accessible in the Giardini and across the city.

Meanwhile, the curator of the 2013 Venice Biennale, Massimiliano Gioni, has outlined his vision for the world's most prestigious exhibition. Organising the biennale's headline exhibitions in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and the Arsenale is the high point of most curators’ career, so all eyes will be on Gioni, the Italian-born associate director of the New Museum, New York, who has devised the title “The Encyclopedic Palace” for the Italian event.

This concept is inspired by the late artist Marino Auriti who, says Gioni, “on November 16, 1955 filed a design with the US Patent office depicting his Palazzo Enciclopedico (The Encyclopedic Palace), an imaginary museum that was meant to house all worldly knowledge, bringing together the greatest discoveries of the human race, from the wheel to the satellite”.

The American Folk Art Museum in New York owns Auriti's 11-foot-tall architectural model of a 136-storey, cylindrical skyscraper entitled The Encyclopedic Palace. The palace was “an entirely new concept in museums, designed to hold all the works of man in whatever field, discoveries made and those which may follow”, Auriti wrote. The artist hoped that the building would be erected on the Mall in Washington, D.C.; the sculpture, however, was stored in a warehouse for several decades.

Adriano Pedrosa, the co-curator of the 2011 Istanbul Biennial, says: “[Curator] Bice Curiger's nostalgic concept for the 2011 biennale [“Illuminazioni”] has contaminated this one, as her theme of Illuminations, and its nod to the Enlightenment, unfolds into Gioni's 'Encyclopedia'. Both hark back to the golden age of 17th-century Europe at a moment when the continent is in crisis. Gioni's challenge is to go beyond the Eurocentric perspective from which his concept departs, a trap that caught his Swiss predecessor in 2011.”

In an interview in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Gioni addresses the issue of incorporating older pieces, saying: “I will go up to the 20th century with some works from the late 19th century.” 

He also discusses the market-driven aspect of the Venice Biennale, adding: “I don't want people to ask the prices of the works and how to buy them, but want them to consider the objects.”

Solemnity Of All Souls

The Commemoration of All Souls

This feast, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is an expression of the doctrine of the communion of saints. As traditionally explained, this doctrine means that each of the three divisions of the Church - the Church Triumphant (all the saints in heaven), the Church Militant (all those still alive on earth) and the Church Suffering (all the souls in purgatory) can help the others by their merits and prayers. 

Ritual surrounding death

In every culture death is surrounded with ritual. There is also a widespread belief that ritual and prayers can affect the fate of the soul of the dead person in the "world to come". Christian ritual expresses what Christians believe about death, the resurrection of the body and what we call "life everlasting".

Old Testament background

In the Second Book of Maccabees, after some of his soldiers had been killed in battle, Judas Maccabaeus, had their bodies laid to rest among their relatives in their ancestral tombs. 

However, in the process he discovered that they had concealed amulets of idols under their tunics. As this was understood as a sinful act on their part, Judas decided to have a sacrifice for sin offered on their behalf in Jerusalem. 

For this he collected up to 2,000 drachmae and sent it to Jerusalem. The text of 2 Macc 12:44-45 explains:

"For if he had not expected the fallen to rise again it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead, whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. This is why he had this atonement sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be relesased from their sin."

Early Christian customs

In the early centuries, prayers for the dead were inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs where Christians were buried. Some Roman funeral customs were retained by the early Christians once they were sure they were not incompatible with their faith. In the second century, prayers for the dead and celebrations of the Eucharist on the anniversary of a loved one took place. Initially these celebrations were on the third day after burial and the yearly anniversary. 

Later the seventh day, the thirtieth day and the fortieth day also became special days for commemorating the deceased person. These fixed days for the memorial of the dead with the Eucharist probably replaced the ancient sacrifices for the dead and sometimes perhaps the refrigerium, or memorial meal eaten at the graveside of the person.

Commemoration of all the faithful departed

The first mention of a day specially dedicated to commemorating all the faithful departed is found in a monastic rule attributed to Saint Isidore of Seville (died 636), who ordered his monks to celebrate the Eucharist for the souls of the departed on the Monday after Pentecost. 

The choice of this day may be due to the fact that the emerging feast of All Saints was celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost, following some examples from the Christian East.

2nd November

In 998 St Odilo of Cluny set aside the day immediately following All Saints (2nd November) as a day when "the monks at Cluny would keep with joyous affection the memory of all the faithful departed who have lived from the beginning of the world until the end". 

The custom spread to England and to Spain. In Valencia, the custom of saying three Masses was introduced by the Dominicans in the early 14th century. In 1915, during World War I, Pope Benedict XV extended the feast and the privilege of saying three Masses to the universal Church.

The doctrine of purgatory

The feast draws on the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, which itself draws on the practice of praying for the dead. While the Church believes that all those who die in God's grace and friendship can be sure of eternal life, nevertheless after death they undergo a purification to achieve the holiness necessary to enter heaven (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030-32). The Catechism of the Catholic Church also invokes the communion of saints, the teaching on indulgences and the Church's treasury of spiritual goods (CCC 1476-7) to support the application of indulgences by those still on earth to the souls in purgatory.

Popular piety

While encouraging various forms of popular piety in connection with this feast, such as visiting the graves of loved ones and praying for them, the Church warns against any semblance of ancestor worship, belief in reincarnation or divination. On the other hand, it sees this feast and popular customs connected with it as an antidote to the culture of denial of death in contemporary society. It also warns against all forms of "commercialisation of the dead", which exploit the emotions of the faithful in pursuit of commercial profit.

Prayer For The Deceased

Our Father….

Hail Mary….

Glory Be….

Eternal light shine upon them, and may their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us (x3)

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us (x3)

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel: 

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -by the Divine Power of God -cast into Hell, Satan and all the Evil Spirits,who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen

"Mr" and Mrs" to be scrapped from UK official documents over transgender concerns

A council in the UK is examining proposals to scrap the titles Mr and Mrs from its official forms because they supposedly offend the, transgender community.

The plans come after a survey conducted by Brighton and Hove city council into the lives of transgender people.  

The council's deputy leader, Phelim MacCafferty, backs the plans, but a Conservative councillor says the idea is, “political correctness gone too far.”

A scrutiny panel will put forward a number of recommendations, including the scrapping of titles, to the council for approval in December, the Daily Telegraph reports.  

Mr MacCafferty said, “Trans people aren’t necessarily male or female and sometimes they don’t want to be defined by their gender. Putting Mr and Mrs on a form is completely useless. This is an issue that concerns most institutions from banks to mobile phone companies. Why is Mr on my debit card, for instance? We should at least examine the issue.”  
 
Mr MacCafferty said the change would be, “done sensitively,” and with the backing of the public.

Steph Scott, a lesbian, gay and transgender activist, said, “Being called Mr or Mrs forces me to choose between genders. It is assuming people live in a binary world where you’re either one thing or another and it pigeonholes people. I think it’s a good idea to expand across the city because it’s about getting people to be aware that gender isn’t just male or female.”

Dawn Barrett, Tory councillor for Hangleton and Knoll, said, “It’s completely ludicrous and shows a complete lack of respect. How are they going to address letters properly? This is just political correctness gone too far.”

The Trans Equality Scrutiny Panel was set up to examine issues affecting transgendered people’s safety, welfare and job opportunities and visited support groups throughout the city in July.  

The panel’s website, which can be found via the council home page, outlines the main issues for the transgender community when filling out forms.

The panel explains that sometimes, “genderqueer,” people feel there are, “contradictions,” in filling out forms. For example, gender has an, “other,” category but titles e.g., “Mr and Mrs,” do not.

It adds that there are, “no options for non-binary/genderqueer people.”  

The advice given to combat this suggests, “no honorifics,” and to, “ask gender only if needed.”

The themes were described as a preliminary, “snapshot,” and are used as, “rapid feedback,” for those who took part.

Anger management vital for clergy and religious, Jesuit journal says

Anger awareness and management are vital for priests and members of religious orders because they are called to be people of dialogue, fraternity, service, peace and justice, and to treat others with charity, said an influential Jesuit magazine.

If clergy and religious don't have "an adequate integration of aggression, they can become hostile, rigid and obstinate and risk exploding the often delicate and complex balance present in the communities" where they live and work, said an article written by Jesuit Father Giovanni Cucci in La Civilta Cattolica.

"The denial of rage certainly does not lead to a calmer or quieter life, but rather to a potentially more explosive situation; emotions rebel when they are not listened to, when they don't find an adequate place" to be expressed, said the article in the journal, which is reviewed by the Vatican before publication. The article was released to journalists Oct. 31.

In fact, many perversions, including the sexual abuse of minors, are linked to the "dynamic of repressed anger" that often is found together with psychological wounds caused by violence and abuse the perpetrator experienced and never "recognized and worked through," said the article written by Father Cucci, a professor of psychology and philosophy at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University.

The Civilta article cited studies done by U.S. Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, a licensed psychologist and clinical associate professor of pastoral studies at The Catholic University of America, Washington.

His years at the helm of the St. Luke Institute, a treatment center in Maryland for priests and religious with addictions or psychological problems, showed that at the root of many "deviancies and sexual pathologies there is a kind of pent-up rage or rage that has been eroticized," the article said.

The monsignor's research showed that many priests who sexually abused minors said their acts were motivated by a desire to be a paternal figure and show the child the love they never received as children from their own fathers.

However, in actuality the behavior against the child was "a destructive act that sprung from their hidden rage and violence, and which leaves their victims terrified. They were reliving the violence they suffered as children with the same destructive results," the journal quoted from Msgr. Rossetti's findings.

An awareness and acceptance of anger is critical then in trying to bring healing to perpetrators and victims of abuse, the article said.

Though it seems counterintuitive, "aggression is the natural foundation of hope" because at the root of anger and rage is the belief that something can or must be done to right a wrong, protect the good or overcome a challenge, it said.

In order for any good to come from feelings of rage, "it is important above all to recognize the presence of anger, paying close attention to how it is then expressed," Father Cucci wrote.

Aggression that is internalized can become "a terrible poison" causing health problems, insomnia, obsessive-compulsive tendencies or passive-aggressive behaviors, he said.

"Suicide is the most extreme manifestation of aggression turned against oneself," the article said.

When anger is denied and pent-up, it becomes "combustible," and instead of solving problems, it makes them worse, resulting in often tragic consequences, it said.

"Hope -- the mirror image of aggression," it said, "fosters vigilance and a sense of expectation," which are unique qualities of the Christian experience.

"The ideal of a Christian life is in fact, holiness, not perfect, unflappable serenity" or to simply "be well," the Jesuit wrote. "Limits and fragility, even if they can become sources of suffering, are not something negative, to get rid of," but are rather signs of being human.

Pope: saints connect us with eternity, fullness of life

Pope Benedict said that the solemnity of All Saints should help people reflect on the link between the Church on earth and the heavenly Church “that celebrates the never-ending feast.”
 
“In the saints we see the victory of love over selfishness and death: we see that following Christ leads to life, eternal life, and gives meaning to the present, every moment that passes, because it is filled with love and hope,” the Pope said Nov. 1 from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square.

“Only faith in eternal life makes us truly love the history and the present, but without attachment, with the freedom of the pilgrim, who loves the earth because his heart is in Heaven,” he said.

Pope Benedict recalled that the feast of All Saints reminds us of the communion of saints, “a reality that begins here on earth and that reaches its fulfillment in heaven.”

The earthly dimension of the communion of saints is founded on Christ and the Church, he explained, adding that Christians should be open to that holy community and strive to sprout “upwards towards heaven.”

Pope Benedict then reflected on how all the saints, those canonized but especially also those known only to God, have “lived intensely” this dynamic connection between heaven and earth.

“In each of them, in a very personal way, Christ was present, thanks to his Spirit which acts through the Word and the Sacraments. In fact, being united to Christ, in the Church, does not negate ones’ personality, but opens it, transforms it with the power of love, and confers on it, already here on earth, an eternal dimension,” he said.

“This insertion in Christ also opens us, as we have said, to communion with all the other members of his Mystical Body which is the Church, a communion that is perfect in 'Heaven,' where there is no isolation, no competition or separation.”

The feast of All Saints is also related to the end of time, the Pope emphasized.

“In today's feast, we look forward to the beauty of this life fully open to the gaze of love of God and neighbor, in which we are sure to reach God and one another in God.”

Following his address the pontiff greeted the English-speaking pilgrims and told them that today’s feast “reminds us of our eternal destiny, where we will dwell, as Saint Thomas Aquinas says, in true and perfect light, total fulfillment, everlasting joy and gladness without end.”

Pope Benedict concluded his address by asking Mary to pray that we receive the grace “to strongly believe in eternal life and feel ourselves in true communion with our deceased loved ones.”

Judge backs Catholic firm over contraception mandate

A Catholic-owned family business in Michigan does not have to comply with the provision of the new U.S. healthcare law that requires private employers to provide employees with health insurance that covers birth control, a federal judge in Detroit has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland, in a ruling late Wednesday, temporarily blocked the government from forcing the owner of Weingartz Supply Company, which sells outdoor power equipment, to include contraception in its health coverage of employees.

The ruling only affects the company's Catholic proprietor, Daniel Weingartz, and the approximately 170 people who work for him. But it opens the door for other firms to seek relief on religious grounds.

Cleland is now the second federal judge to temporarily block part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 from being enforced against the religious owners of a family business. In July, U.S. District Judge John Kane in Denver temporarily prevented the government from requiring the Catholic owners of Hercules Industries Inc, a private manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment, to provide health insurance that covers birth control.

Weingartz was joined in his lawsuit, filed in May, by Legatus, a national association of Catholic business owners.

Roman Catholic bishops and many Republican lawmakers have opposed the birth control provision, and priests have been speaking out against the law from pulpits across the country. Church doctrine opposes artificial contraception but most American Catholics do not adhere to church policy.

Lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services argued that granting exceptions for small business owners would interfere with the government's ability to implement the law. The contraception mandate serves the government's interests in promoting public health and gender equality, they argued.

The federal government has carved out an exemption from the contraception requirement for religious organizations. Allowing additional relief for Weingartz Supply Co and its 170 employees would not be a much greater burden, the company argued. Cleland agreed with Weingartz.

"The harm in delaying the implementation of a statute that may later be deemed constitutional must yield to the risk presented here of substantially infringing the sincere exercise of religious beliefs," Cleland wrote in a 29-page opinion.

The judge refused to shield Legatus from the law, finding that the non-profit association would likely qualify for the government's accommodation for religious organizations. If the government later tries to enforce the mandate against Legatus, the group can resume its court challenge then, Cleland wrote.

Erin Mersino, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, which filed the challenge, called the ruling "not only a victory for our clients, but for religious freedom."

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 20 lawsuits have been filed against the birth control mandate by organizations including the University of Notre Dame, Catholic University of America and the Archdiocese of New York.

In July, another federal judge in Nebraska dismissed a similar lawsuit brought by seven states, two Catholic individuals and three Catholic non-profit institutions, finding that the plaintiffs did not face any immediate harm from the law.

The case in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is Legatus et al v. Sebelius et al, No. 12-12061.

Catholic Bishop Demands Priests Recite Letter Blasting Obama

Daniel Jenky, the Bishop of Peoria, Illinois, is ordering priests under his command to read an anti-Obama letter he wrote this Sunday, the final services before next week's presidential election.

"I require that this letter be personally read by each celebrating priest at each Weekend Mass," he writes of the letter, which claims that President Obama and his administration's healthcare laws are an "assault on our religious freedom".

In the letter, Jenky cautions parishioners that Obama and a majority of U.S. senators will not reconsider the mandate that would require employers, including religious groups, to provide free birth control coverage in their health care plans.

"This assault upon our religious freedom is simply without precedent in the American political and legal system," Jenky wrote.

"Today, Catholic politicians, bureaucrats, and their electoral supporters who callously enable the destruction of innocent human life in the womb also thereby reject Jesus as their Lord," Jenky added. "They are objectively guilty of grave sin."

Earlier this year, Jenky delivered a controversial homily criticizing the contraception mandate.

The bishop included Obama's policies in a list of historic challenges the Catholic Church has overcome in previous centuries, including Hitler and Stalin's campaigns.

Another Catholic leader in Illinois, Vicar General Eric Barr of the Rockford Diocese, claimed Obama is "steamrolling" his religion's values while arguing for Muslim acceptance. 

"Nothing justifies this peculiar and unreal stance of the president," he said.

Film on boy's struggle with cancer shown at Vatican

A new movie based on the real-life story of a 15-year-old boy who became a source of joy to those around him – despite dying from cancer – recently debuted at the Vatican, reports the Catholic News Agency.  

The film, Cambio de Planes, directed by Mexico native Paco Arango, was released in the country on October 26 and, following its success, premiered on Monday at the Vatican.

“It has received acclaim for conveying a very positive, hopeful and conscience-raising message, appropriate for all audiences and for those who believe in God,” reported the Archdiocese of Mexico City's News Service.

The movie, which means “change of plans” in Spanish, recounts the experience of its director with children suffering from cancer at the Niño Jesús Hospital of Madrid, which he first visited years ago.

There he met 15-year-old Antonio, “who shared with his powerful faith in God, inspiring him to direct this fascinating movie that – in his own words – can do much good.”

Diocese sets up website to fight school funding cuts

A new campaign website set up by the diocese of Parramatta is responding to the State government’s decision to slash $1.7 billion in education funding over the next four years, said the executive director of schools, Greg Whitby, reports the Catholic Weekly.

“At a time when there is general agreement that we need to invest more into the education of our young people, it is mind-boggling that the NSW Government plans to reduce funding to all schools by three per cent,” he said.

“There is no more important investment in society than the one in education.”

Mr Whitby said all schools require the ongoing support of state and federal government 
“through fair and equitable funding”.

He urged schools and parishes to get behind the campaign and to visit www.parra.catholic.edu.au/schoolfunding

The website offers sample letters to MPs, slogans for school signs and newsletter items to raise awareness of this issue, as well as an online petition lobbying the NSW Government to overturn its decision.

Catholic school principals have met state and federal MPs since the budget cuts, including a cap on funding for non-government schools, were announced.

Feast of All Saints reminds us that eternity is our destiny, says pope

Today's Feast of All Saints "helps us to reflect on the double horizon of humanity, which we symbolically express with the words 'earth' and 'heaven': the earth represents the journey of history, heaven eternity," and the saints, "known only to God", remind us that we are called to holiness, that is the eternal life in the glory of the Lord, said Benedict XVI as he spoke about the meaning of today's Solemnity in his address to the 30,000 people who had gathered in St Peter's Square to hear the Angelus.

Today's feast day, in the pope's words, "helps us to think about the Church in its dual dimension: the Church journeying in time and the Church that celebrates the never-ending feast, the Heavenly Jerusalem. These two dimensions are united by the reality of the 'communion of saints': a reality that begins here on earth and that reaches its fulfilment in heaven."

"On earth, the Church is the beginning of this mystery of communion that unites humanity, a mystery totally centred on Jesus Christ. It is He who introduced this new dynamic to mankind, a movement that leads towards God and at the same time towards unity, towards peace in its deepest sense. Jesus Christ, says the Gospel of John (11:52), died 'to gather into one the dispersed children of God,' and this work continues in the Church which is inseparably 'one', 'holy' and 'catholic'. Being a Christian, being part of the Church means being open to this communion, like a seed that unfolds in the ground, dying, and sprouts upwards, toward heaven."

"The Saints-those which the Church proclaims as such, but also all those saints known only to God, and whom we also celebrate today-have lived this dynamic intensely. In each of them, in a very personal way, Christ was present, thanks to his Spirit, which acts through the Word and the Sacraments. In fact, being united to Christ, in the Church, does not negate one's personality, but opens it, transforms it with the power of love, and confers on it, already here on earth, an eternal dimension."

"But this insertion in Christ also opens us, as we have said, to communion with all the other members of his Mystical Body which is the Church, a communion that is perfect in 'Heaven', where there is no isolation, no competition or separation. In today's feast, we look forward to the beauty of this life fully open to the gaze of love of God and neighbour, in which we are sure to reach God and one another in God .With this hope-filled faith we honour all the saints, and we prepare to commemorate tomorrow the faithful departed. In the saints we see the victory of love over selfishness and death: we see that following Christ leads to life, eternal life, and gives meaning to the present, every moment that passes, because it is filled with love and hope. Only faith in eternal life makes us truly love history and the present, but without attachment, with the freedom of the pilgrim, who loves the earth because his heart is in Heaven."

Tragic priest (39) will be 'missed immensely'

TRIBUTES have been paid to a priest described as a "true gentleman" following his sudden tragic death.

Fr Muredach Tuffy (39) was heavily involved in community work in Ballina, Co Mayo where he worked as a curate and was director of the religious education centre -- the Newman Institute.

It is understood no foul play is suspected in the death of the theologian whose body was discovered on Tuesday morning in his apartment at the institute.

Mayo youth mental health group 'Mind Your Mind' said they were "truly saddened" by the sudden loss.

"He was so good to our team, to the 'Mind your Mind' campaign and always facilitated us to the best of his ability," the group stated.

"He was a true gentleman in the community and always a helping hand to anyone who needed it. He will be missed immensely."

Residents in the Ballina community expressed their shock at the death. A close friend said there were no indications there was anything amiss with Fr Tuffy in recent weeks.

The Bishop of Killala, Dr John Fleming, was yesterday meeting with Fr Tuffy's family.

Parishioners and those he had married in recent years all posted tributes and recollections of him on a tribute page set up online by 'Mind Your Mind'.

Director

Fr Tuffy was well known throughout the western region through his work with the Newman Institute since he was appointed its director in 2003.

In addition to lecturing in theology on the institute's courses, he also oversaw a major redevelopment and building project.

In addition to this, he acted as assistant priest in the parish of Kilmoremoy in Ballina, was a spokesman for Bishop of Killala and took on the role of vocations director for the diocese.

He also trained parish pastoral councils and was a member of the National Diocesan Vocations Team. Fr Tuffy was ordained in Castleconnor, Co Sligo in 1999.

Fr Tuffy's body will be in repose at McGowan's Funeral Home Ballina this evening before removal to St Joseph's Church, Castleconnor, for Mass tomorrow morning.

Death of theologian and Newman Institute director

The death has taken place unexpectedly of Fr Muredach Tuffy, director of the Newman Institute in Ballina, Co Mayo. 

Fr Tuffy, a prominent theologian, was a native of Castleconnor, Co Sligo, and a priest of the Diocese of Killala.

Ordained in 1999, he was appointed executive director of the institute in 2003. The institute was founded by the former bishop of Killala, Dr Thomas Finnegan and is a charitable organisation. 

One of its central aims it to provide an opportunity for people to learn more about about their faith through special courses.

In recent years, Fr Tuffy had been working to establish important social links with other service providers in the west and northwest. 

He had also been active in a number of local community organisations.

He was the diocesan director of pastoral renewal and adult faith development, a member of the diocesan liturgy and music commission, and diocesan vocations director and communications officer.

 + + + + + Funeral Arrangements + + + + +

Rev Fr. Muredach Tuffy
St. Muredach’s Cathedral, Ballina and Fiddane, Enniscrone, Co. Sligo.

Reposing at McGowan’s Funeral Home, Ballina on Thursday evening from 5 o’clock with removal at 8 o’clock to St. Joseph’s Church, Castleconnor.
Requiem Mass on Friday morning at 10.30 with the funeral proceeding to Killanley cemetery, Castleconnor.
House private please.
Family flowers only. Donations if desired to a Charity of your Choice, c/o McGowan Funeral Directors, Ballina.

Silence is the sin - Abuse and cover-ups

The focus of the Jimmy Savile affair shifted this week to questioning why the BBC, the press and the Establishment failed to investigate the rumours of his crimes. 

Here, a survivor of clerical abuse in Ireland highlights how a culture of institutional denial allowed these scandals to go unchecked.

I have heard it suggested recently that it was the power of Jimmy Savile’s reputation, his larger-than-life personality, his apparently tireless work for charity and his extensive work with young people that made him invulnerable to suspicion and accusation. 

But it wasn’t. What made the former BBC presenter Savile so invulnerable was the extraordinary determination of so many people to ignore repeated suggestions that he was a serial sexual predator. It’s not that no one knew, it’s that so many didn’t want to know.

We are not talking here about occasional, isolated rumours spoken in hushed tones and never publicly voiced. The suspicions about Savile were explored on numerous occasions by sections of the media; the allegation that he had a sexual interest in young girls was put directly to him by journalists on a number of occasions. 

Writing in The Independent on the occasion of Savile’s knighthood in 1990, Lynn Barber reported that she had put the rumours directly to him. He, of course, denied them. But the fact that the allegations were put to him, and his denial of them publicly reported, speaks to the extent of the knowledge of the rumours.

This raises very critical questions. First, and perhaps most importantly, given the fact that the rumours about Savile had been so widely circulated that Barber felt able to put them directly to him, why were they not thoroughly investigated in advance of him being awarded his knighthood? 

That failure resulted in Savile receiving the honour – a royal seal of approval for a man now widely accepted to have been a serious sexual predator. 

The award made him even more immune to scrutiny, arguably granting him still greater licence to continue his criminal assaults. Savile was granted a papal knighthood that same year. Such plaudits and his celebrity status, combined with his reputation for charitable works, made him a public hero, a national treasure.

In her piece in The Independent, Barber wrote: “There has been a persistent rumour about him for years, and journalists have often told me as a fact: ‘Jimmy Savile? Of course, you know he’s into little girls.’ 

But if they know it, why haven’t they published it? 

The Sun or the News of the World would hardly refuse the chance of featuring a Jimmy Savile sex scandal. 

It is very, very hard to prove a negative, but the fact that the tabloids have never come up with a scintilla of evidence against Jimmy Savile is as near proof as you can ever get.”

But refuse it they did, and not just the tabloids but the entire British media, press and broadcast alike. The only media examin­ation of the widespread suggestions that Savile was sexually assaulting adolescent girls was in a handful of interviews where he denied the accusations in an offhand manner and that was it, case closed. 

The failure of so many powerful institutions, including the Government, to investigate what was serious criminal behaviour granted Savile even greater licence to abuse with impunity. 

He was untouchable, not because he was especially devious or clever, but because those who had some responsibility to act on rumour, suspicion or allegation failed to do so.

There are obvious parallels with other such episodes, the most evident being the child-abuse scandals that have engulfed the Catholic Church for much of the past two decades. 

The BBC was centrally involved in investigating and reporting the crimes of the Church. 

I myself made three investigative documentary films with the BBC which dealt with such abuse. It is a shame that the corporation was not equally courageous in reporting the crimes of one of its own.

What both scandals reveal is that powerful institutions rarely cast an objectively critical eye inwards. 

Power rarely subjects itself to honest and open scrutiny, and when it either discovers serious wrongdoing within its own ranks, or indeed is itself guilty of wrongdoing, it often acts to cover up such corruption in an effort to protect its reputation and its authority.

Such wilful blindness creates monsters. 

The crimes of child abusers like Savile and paedophile priests are only possible within a culture of silence and denial. It has often been said that those who sexually abuse children rely upon secrecy, that sexual abuse is possible because it is a secret crime and that its victims are silent and voiceless. 

Surely, we need to question that view. 

What the abuse scandals in the Church, and now with Jimmy Savile, reveal is that secrecy is not the enabler of such crimes but rather silence is; the silence of those who shared rumour and gossip but who failed to act to protect desperately vulnerable children and young people.

When we trace the “careers” of serial abusers like Savile, or Fr Seán Fortune, who abused me when I was a teenager in Ireland, we see that as their crimes were ignored by those in authority, so their offending became more brazen. 

Complaints of Fortune’s sexual abuse of young boys was first reported to his superiors when he was a seminarian. 

Despite that, he was ordained a priest and continued to abuse with increasing depravity and
violence. Over the course of the 18 years that followed, repeated complaints were made to church authorities – including to the Vatican – about his abusive behaviour.

Fortune became renowned for his work with young people in the village of Fethard-on-Sea, in County Wexford. A larger-than-life character, he pressured villagers for donations for his “youth groups” and other suspect causes. It is also believed that he extorted large amounts of money from government employment schemes. 

After their complaints of abuse were ignored, parishioners organised delegations to two bishops and wrote to the papal nuncio. Bishop Brendan Comiskey ­eventually sent Fortune to London to study media and communications, and under that cover to seek therapy with a number of ­psychiatrists.

Yet when Fortune returned to Ireland two years later, he was made director of a Catholic media organisation, the National Association of Community Broadcasting, and continued to abuse scores of young boys. He was also appointed manager of church-run primary schools, and taught in secondary schools. 

He was only arrested in 1995 after I had reported him to the Irish police. He killed himself four years later, during the first week of his trial on 66 counts of child sex abuse against eight boys, the charges relating to serious sexual assaults and rape.

Fortune abused hundreds of boys, his crimes becoming more horrific as it became clear that no one would step in and stop him. 

I honestly believe he would never have abused with such depravity and on such a scale, had he not been both empowered and emboldened by the wilful blindness of his superiors.

Like Fortune, Savile was brazen, and he had cause to be. Despite all the rumours and gossip, he was free to carry on abusing. Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation into his alleged offences; this week it said it was following up 400 lines of inquiry involving 200 potential victims. 

But Savile died without ever having to face the consequences of his actions and without a single one of his victims achieving justice and seeing him brought before the courts. He got away with it all, scot-free.

Back in 2001, in an interview with an Irish journalist, Joe Jackson, Savile was again questioned about the ­stories circulating of his sexual abuse. Was he “into little girls”? In response, he referred to an earlier interview he had done with psychiatrist and broadcaster Anthony Clare. 

“Anthony Clare asked me my feelings towards children and I said, ‘I couldn’t eat a whole one … I hate them’, but that, too, is because I want to shut up someone who’s trying to go down that dirty, sordid road with questions like that.” Jackson went on to ask him what, if after he dies, all these rumours, or similar stories, were to form part of his legacy? “Bollix to my legacy. If I’m gone, that’s that,” replied Savile.

Well, now he is dead and gone, and he will never face proper accountability for his crimes. 

But at least no one can say any more that his victims are silent. 

Finally, after all these years, their voices have been heard, because finally, we have decided to listen.

* Colm O’Gorman is founder and former director of One in Four, a non-governmental organisation that supports women and men who have experienced sexual abuse, and author of the memoir Beyond Belief.

Canadian Traditionalists Hold Their First Synod

The Traditional Anglican Church of Canada, formed and incorporated in 2010 after the Ordinariate controversy divided the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, has linked itself as a "missionary district" with the Anglican Catholic Church Original Province worldwide, while maintaining links as well with the Anglican Province of Christ the King. 

The Rev. Father Robert Mansfield of St John's, Parry Sound, Ontario, convener of the synod, will serve as Vicar- General.

The province was taken at the young church's initial synod, held October 23-25 at Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga near Toronto, Canada, ironically the location where an attempt was made earlier to form an Ordinariate in Canada.

A highlight of this gathering was the ordination of The Reverend George Betsos to the Sacred Order of Deacons by Archbishop James Provence of the APCK, to serve as Assistant Curate in Saint Mark's Parish, Victoria, British Columbia. Betsos holds the Master of Divinity degree from the University of Toronto and a degree in psychotherapy. He will join the Victoria congregation later this year.

Archbishop Mark Haverland gave the address and charge to the ordinand. This was the third ordination to the diaconate this year for Canadian traditionalists: the others were of The Rev. Steven Beyer of Holy Trinity & St Jude, Thunder Bay, and The Rev. Jonathan Carrothers of St Mark's, Victoria.

Archbishop Mark Haverland (ACCOP) presided at the meeting, which approved the "missionary" status of the Traditional Anglican Church of Canada unanimously. Thus the original eight parishes will be affiliated with 250 ACCOP parishes in the U.S., U.K., India, Africa, and Asia. The connection between St Mark's in Victoria and the APCK, formed before the other parishes existed or had withdrawn from the ACCC, has the approval of Archbishop Haverland, who strongly supported the parish's wish to continue this connection whilst maintaining full participation in the Canada-wide organisation. The two archbishops presented a united front and spoke movingly to the assembled clergy and lay leaders.

The theme of the synod was "Pastoral Availability and Organisational Stability," and speakers from each of the parish described the efforts being made to implement the aims of the Traditional Anglican Church. A series of addresses on the theme given by The Rev. Father Stanley Sinclair of Victoria will be published.

Mrs. Marie Tetlow was chosen as secretary by acclamation. The five-member elected executive council of the TACC will remain in place, but a treasurer and a chancellor must be found. Dr Millo Shaw of Thunder Bay, who drafted the Constitution, asked to be relieved as Chancellor because of the pressure of work.

The Anglican Catholic Church in the U.S. was formed in 1978 as the aftermath of the Congress of St Louis a year before, which brought together thousands of disaffected traditional Anglicans, who wanted to maintain their tradition unimpaired by the changes made in the American and Canadian churches, replacing the Prayer Book with contemporary rites that diminished orthodoxy, and approving the ordination of women; although other issues were also involved. ACCOP and ACPK were created as the outcome of the "Affirmation of St Louis."

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada began under Archbishop Robert Morse of APCK, who had taken the Victoria congregation founded by former bishop Peter Wilkinson [St Athanasius, later St John the Evangelist] under its wing prior to the formation of the Canadian body. At a 2010 synod near Vancouver the ACCC voted to join in an Ordinariate, but subsequently the parishes in Victoria and Halifax withdrew, and other parishes had a long period of uncertainty. Some have still not made a decision about their future affiliation. The Church of the Resurrection, Walkerville [Windsor], ON, under The Rev. Fr. James Chantler, voted to join the ACCOP prior to this development.

The Traditional Anglican Communion was formed as an international body in 1991, under Archbishop Hepworth, who after much controversy intervening is now a Roman Catholic layman. He gave the impression on a swing round the international TAC circuit that the church was seeking uniate status.

The appeal to the Vatican had actually been made by Evangelical bishops in the Church of England to the Vatican. Given the very cordial interaction through the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, it was thought that a way might be found to establish a "uniate" relationship. In 2005 the proposed terms were presented to the English bishops as well as to TAC bishops at a meeting in Washington, DC, with Cardinal Wuerl.

At that time unknown to the rank and file membership, most of the bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion had signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church at a meeting in Portsmouth, England in 2007. [This was a tacit approval of papal infallibility, transubstantiation, and Marian dogmas adopted by Rome in the 19th and 20th centuries, along with the Catholic faith of the "undivided church" prior to the Great Schism.]

The publication of Anglicanorum Coetibus in 2009 made Anglican Catholics in Canada aware that under its terms the eligible clergy must be re-ordained and re-trained, and laity would undergo some rite, either Confirmation or Chrismation, at the hands of a Roman bishop.

When the Vatican document was released the now former Archbishop John Hepworth and other bishops denied that it meant the necessity of becoming Roman Catholic ["we will be united, not absorbed"], although subsequent events showed that this was indeed expected. In Canada two out of three ACCC bishops have now been laicised, although they are seeking Roman Catholic ordination, along with several ACCC clergy. Bishop Craig Botterill of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is the remaining ordinary of the ACCC.

So far there is no Ordinariate in Canada, but "fellowships" in Ottawa and Victoria, related to the "Anglican Use" and Ordinariate parishes in the U.S. One lone Anglican parish, historic St John the Evangelist, Calgary, has joined the "Anglican Use" group. 

At the moment these congregations have no clergy of their own but rely on regular R.C. clergy for ministrations. This of course reflects the very limited interest expressed in the Ordinariate proposal by Anglicans in the U.K., Australia, India and Africa.