Pope Francis explains helping the poor is far from Communism; it's Catholicism

Pope: Fighting for the poor doesn't make me Communist – it makes me Catholic

                  

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square during the Wednesday general audience on June 4, 2014. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

 

By Elise Harris

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2014 / 12:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis spoke out against oppression of the poor due to greed and warned again of the growing presence of a “globalization of indifference” – a warning, he said, which has wrongly type-casted him.

“It is not possible to tackle poverty by promoting containment strategies to merely reassure, rendering the poor 'domesticated,' harmless and passive,” the Pope told those gathered for his Oct. 28 encounter with leaders of various Church movements.

He called the basic needs for land, housing and work an “aspiration that should be within the reach of all but which we sadly see is increasingly unavailable to the majority.”

“It's strange, but if I talk about this, there are those who think that the Pope is Communist,” he said.

“The fact that the love for the poor is in the center of the gospel is misunderstood,” the Pope added. “Those (values) for which you’re fighting for are sacred rights. It’s the Church’s social doctrine.”

Held in the Vatican's Old Synod Hall, where previous synods took place before the construction of the Paul VI Hall, the meeting was organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, along with the leaders of various movements.

Solidarity, the Pope observed in his speech, is a word that is often forgotten in today’s society, and which extends far beyond sporadic acts of generosity.

Instead it requires thinking in communal terms, and includes fighting structural causes of poverty such as inequality, unemployment, lack of land and housing, and the denial of social and labor rights, he said. It also requires facing the destructive effects of the “empire of money” such as forced displacement, painful migration, human trafficking, drugs, war and violence.

“Today the phenomenon of exploitation and oppression assumes a new dimension, a graphical and hard edge of social injustice,” the Pope noted, explaining that this “throwaway culture” makes it so that those who are unable to integrate are marginalized and discarded as “cast-offs.”

Situations such as this arise when economic systems make money their god and put it at the heart of their work rather than centering on the human person, created in the image of God, the pontiff continued.

He then turned his attention to the phenomenon of unemployment, saying that each person who works, whether part of the formal system of paid work or not, “has the right to fair remuneration, social security and a pension.”

These people, the pontiff noted, include those who recycle waste, street vendors, garment makers, craftsmen, fishermen, farmers, builders, miners, workers in companies in receivership, cooperatives and common trades which are often excluded from employment rights and denied the option of forming trades unions, as well as those who don’t receive a stable or sufficient income.

“I wish to unite my voice to theirs and to accompany them in their struggle,” Pope Francis said.

On the theme of peace and ecology, the Pope said that it is not possible to pursue land, housing or work if we can’t maintain the planet, or if we destroy it.

“Creation is not our property which we may exploit as we please, (and) even less so the property of the few,” he explained, saying that instead creation is a gift from God that we must care for and use for the good of all humanity with respect and gratitude.

Pope Francis went on to question those present in the audience, asking why, instead of viewing the world as our gift and fighting for justice, do we instead see work taken away, families evicted, peasants expelled from their land, war and harm done to nature.

“Because this system has removed humanity from the center and replaced it with something else! Because of the idolatrous worship of money! Because of the globalization of indifference – ‘what does it matter to me what happens to others, I'll defend myself,’” the Pope explained.

The world, said the pontiff, has forgotten God and so become “an orphan” because it has turned away from him.

However, Christians have been given a strong guide and “revolutionary program” for how to act, which can be found in the Beatitudes, the Bishop of Rome noted, and encouraged all to read them.

Pope Francis emphasized the importance of walking together, saying that popular movements express urgent need of revitalizing our democracies, which “so often (are) hijacked by many factors.”

“It is impossible to imagine a future for society without the active participation of the majority, and this role extends beyond the logical procedures of formal democracy,” he said.

From A to Z a Saint for everyday of the year

Zenobius & Zenobia

Facts

Feastday: October 30
Death: 3rd century

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Zenobius and Zenobia (d. late third century) + Martyrs slain during the persecutions of co-Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). Zenobius was a physician in the town of Aegae, in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and Zenobia was his sister. There is a strong possibility that Zenobius may have been a bishop or may be Zenobius of Antioch. Feast day: October 30.

Archdiocese of New Orleans schools trying to adjust to less events on Sundays to comply with Archdiocesan goal of returning Sunday's to faith and family

Catholic high schools adapting to new ban on Sunday events

Mount Carmel Academy students and faculty rededicate the Catholic school's grotto in 2007. The cancelation of the school's annual fall fair illustrates the complexities of a new archdiocese policy prohibiting most, but not all, Sunday events. (Chuck Cook, The Times-Picayune)

 

By Danielle Dreilinger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on October 29, 2014 

When Mount Carmel Academy's president, Sr. Camille Anne Campbell, sent a letter to alumnae this month canceling the Lakeview school's annual fall fair, she was disappointed - and puzzled. The cause, she wrote, was a new policy from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans against high schools scheduling social and athletic events on Sundays.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond himself had turned down her request for an exemption, Campbell said, resulting in a possible $10,000 hit to the school's bottom line. This "has presented problems to me since we are learning that other high schools are having their usual fair," she wrote.
In a Tuesday interview, Campbell would not identify which other schools she meant. However, in eastern New Orleans, St. Mary's Academy is holding its annual Family-Fun-A-Fair this Friday through Sunday, offering midway rides and games.
But Catholic schools Superintendent Jan Lancaster said Campbell simply misunderstood the policy. And the St. Mary's event, Lancaster said, is fine.
The exchange illustrates the complications that the New Orleans area's 22 Catholic high schools are facing as they adapt to a policy aimed at keeping Sundays clear for what Lancaster described as "faith and family." The rule was announced in the archdiocese's May 2013 strategic plan for schools but was overshadowed by a far-reaching mandate in the document that schools adopt a uniform grade-level structure. The Sunday event change took up only two sentences in the overall religious tune-up, which included reminding administrators and faculty that they must be Catholic role models.
Lancaster said the transition is going well. "All of our schools are in compliance," she said Tuesday. "People are sticking with the guidelines."
Making it easier are three exceptions that significantly ease the policy's effect. They were circulated to schools in a brief letter in March and announced again in the fall.

• Students may attend school-related events that were not scheduled by Catholic schools, such as athletic playoffs, because school administrators can't control the timing. In that case, schools are supposed to ensure students attend Mass.
• Weekend-long events are allowed.
• Events primarily for alumni, donors or other adults are OK.

Lancaster said a weekend event might be a Saturday-Sunday religious retreat for students. But it also covers St. Mary's three-day fair, she said. A one-day fair like Mount Carmel's could be moved from Sunday to Saturday, she said, but a longer event could not.
And falling under the first exemption: Sunday Carnival parades. Lancaster said these are events scheduled outside the archdiocese. Presumably, any band marching in Bacchus must meet early to attend Mass.
In drafting and applying the policy, Lancaster said, church officials wanted to be "realistic." When one school's Saturday festival was rained out, the archdiocese allowed it to be held the next afternoon, she said.
Thus, the varsity wrestlers at St. Paul's School in Covington may compete at the Jan. 4 Prep Slam in Atlanta. St. Katharine Drexel Prep in Uptown New Orleans had no problems holding its "Jazzin' for the Drexel Dream" fundraiser Oct. 20.
But Drexel Principal Cheryllyn Branche said the school is moving its traditional mother-daughter luncheon to another day of the week.
Several school leaders said they had never scheduled many events for Sundays anyway. At Mount Carmel, in fact, Campbell said a previous archbishop many years ago requested schools curtail them.
But Lancaster indicated there were enough to warrant the written policy. "It is a change from what people have done before," she said. "Schedules were getting so full."
There is no such policy for elementary schools because almost all are run by a church parish. With the few that aren't, Lancaster said, "we have not had the same concerns."
Facing packed extracurricular and family schedules, "I think all the schools over time just started allowing things to bleed over into Sunday," said John Devlin, president of Brother Martin High School in Gentilly. "I think it's just a question of getting out of that habit." He was pleasantly surprised his school had been able to work around the new strictures without much trouble.
Devlin acknowledged that alumni events such as the Crusader Cook-Off might disrupt Sunday family time, because they often include parents of current students. However, "in that case, the adult makes the decision" about how to spend the day, he said.
He said Lancaster denied his school's request that the football team be allowed to practice on a Sunday during a short week between games. She seemed to be holding the line, he said: "I think she really did not want to break that mold."
At Mount Carmel, Campbell clarified Tuesday she was disappointed, not angry, with the new policy. "I think it's important for us to support the idea of Sunday as family time," she said. But she repeated what she wrote to alumni: "Who knows, though, what the future will bring?"

Halloween: really a Catholic and holy thing kidnapped by the world

It's Time for Catholics to Embrace Halloween

by Fr. Steve Grunow . October 27, 2014 . 12 Comments

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As we near All Hallows Eve, aka Halloween, we fired some questions at the walking encyclopedia that is Father Steve Grunow, and he responded with everything you ever wanted to know about Halloween and its deeply Catholic roots.
QUESTION: I always figured that Halloween had pagan roots, but you are telling me they are Catholic. Huh? How so?
Fr. Steve: The origin and traditional customs associated with Halloween require no other explanation than that they are examples of the kinds of festivity that served as a means of celebrating the various holy days of the Catholic Liturgical Year. This includes everything from masquerades, feasting, and the associations of a given day of the year with supernatural or spiritual truths.
I would draw a distinction between the violent, macabre imagery that characterizes the modern appropriation of Halloween as a kind of secular celebration and the more traditional customs that are characteristic of a Catholic cultural ethos. The descent of Halloween into the madness of an annual fright fest is a relatively recent development, but the true substance of Halloween belongs to the Church. Halloween (or “All Hallows Eve”) is the festive precursor to the celebration of the Church’s public commemoration of All Saints Day.
There has been an appropriation of the festivities of Halloween by modern pagans, but please understand that modern paganism is precisely modern and should be distinguished from the cults of ancient religions. The origins and practices of the modern paganism do not extend farther back than the late nineteenth century. Also, remember, the term “pagan” is a slippery one. What does it mean? The worship of the gods and goddesses from long ago? Those cults have long since passed away with the cultural matrix that once supported the world views that were the conditions for their possibility. You can’t just reinvent those cults without the culture that supported them.
The paganism that exists today is a romantic and very selective attempt at a re-appropriation of an ancient religious ethos, but it isn’t and cannot be the same thing that paganism was in its original cultural expressions. I think that the practitioners need to justify their beliefs by insisting on an association with what they are doing and ancient forms and styles of worship. This gives the impression that the modern pagan élan has more gravitas (especially in relation to Christianity) but it doesn’t make it the same thing as the ancient cults. The association that modern paganism makes between itself and the forms and styles of ancient culture is more about desire than it is about reality.
I think that the association of Halloween with paganism has much more to do with the Protestant Reformation than anything else. The Protestant reformers were concerned about the practices of medieval Christianity that to them seemed contrary to what they believed the Church should be. They knew that these practices had clear precedents in the history of the Church, but insisted that they represented a corruption of the original form of Christianity that had become degraded over time. The degradation was explained as a regression into cultural forms that the Protestants described as pagan.
I realize popular religiosity is a complex phenomenon and the Church in Europe did intentionally assimilate many cultural practices that were more ancient than it’s own practices, but it did so selectively and with a keen sense of discernment. The end result was not simply that a veneer of Christianity was placed on top of an ancient pagan ethos, but that a new cultural matrix was created, one that was Christian to its core. It is a gross mischaracterization and oversimplification to assert that you can just scratch the surface of medieval Christianity and what rises up is paganism.
And yet this perception endures in contemporary culture. You see it, for example, in works of fiction like Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, which appropriates ideas from a lot of spurious, pseudo scholarship that permeated British intellectual culture throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Unfortunately, this has become a standard and widely accepted narrative of how Europe became Christian. It is a modern myth born of the prejudices and propaganda of the Protestant reformation that mutated into the secular critique of Catholicism. As an ideological construct it represents the simultaneous fascination and aversion to Medieval culture in general and Catholicism in particular. The reality is far more complex and interesting.
Protestantism was and is proposing what its adherents believe to be an alternative to Catholicism. This means that Protestantism will distinguish itself from the forms and styles of religious life that preceded their own culture and that this culture will be presented as a purified form of Christian faith and practice. One argument that is advanced to justify Protestant distinctiveness is that the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church are pagan.
Placing all this in an American cultural context, the United States set its cultural roots in forms of Protestantism that were keenly aware of the distinction between themselves and a Catholic Europe that they had rejected and whose influence they had hoped to leave behind. Remember, the Puritans left Protestant England for the New World because England wasn’t Protestant enough! The Puritans detested the residual forms of Catholicism that they believed remained in the state church of England.
The arrival of Catholic immigrants to the shores of Protestant America was a source of great cultural consternation. The public festivals of the Catholic Faith were characterized as a corrupting and dangerous form of paganism. Halloween with all its carousing and shenanigans was especially problematic, as it represented the incursion of a specifically Catholic cultural form into a public life that was supposed to be Protestant. Everything associated with these Catholic festivities was caricatured as pagan and the association stuck with even the Catholics internalizing the critique and believing that their own customs were holdovers from paganism.
As a result, the distinctly Catholic nature of Halloween became more and more muted and it was Catholics pulling back from their own festival that gave rise to the contemporary version of Halloween. The goulish version of the festival that we have today is in many respects a result of Catholic accommodation to a Protestant culture. And in a another strange twist in the history of Halloween, most everything that the devout Protestant detests about Halloween have become all the more pronounced as a result of their protests.


Read it all:  http://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/its-time-for-catholics-to-embrace-halloween/2133/

A young African Priest responds to Cardinal Kasper

I found this a very thoughtful letter penned by a young Dominican Priest from Kenya.  It addresses the issues that Cardinal Kasper brought forward in his now infamous talk about Africa's issues with same-sex attraction, family, marriage and so much more.


The only way I could post this story is by providing the link below.  Please click the link and take the time to read.


http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/3478/a_letter_from_africa_the_church_must_be_a_sign_of_contradiction.aspx

Sorry, But Media Coverage of Pope Francis is Papal Bull

• Elizabeth Dias @elizabethjdias

                                         

Pope Francis leaves at the end of his general audience at St Peter's square on Oct. 29, 2014 at the Vatican.Gabriel Bouys—AFP/Getty Images

The 'Pope Francis supports evolution' story is just the latest example of the press getting the Catholic church completely wrong

It is official: the media has gone bananas in its coverage of Pope Francis.

Read it all, its worth the read:  http://time.com/3545844/pope-francis-evolution-creationism/

Pope remembers those suffering from Ebola at today's general audience

Pope Makes Impassioned Appeal for Those Suffering From Ebola

At Weekly Audience, Urges International Community to Act to Eradicate Virus

    

Vatican City, October 29, 2014 (Zenit.org) Deborah Castellano Lubov   

Pope Francis has made an impassioned appeal for those being tormented by the deadly virus: Ebola.

Speaking to faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square toward the conclusion of his weekly General Audience on Wednesday, the Holy Father expressed his closeness to those suffering and called on the international community to put in place every necessary effort to eradicate the virus.
“Facing the worsening of the epidemic of Ebola,” the Holy Father said, “I wish to express my deep concern about this relentless disease that is spreading, especially on the African continent, especially among disadvantaged groups."
The Argentine Pontiff expressed his affection and prayers to those affected, as well as doctors, nurses, volunteers, religious institutions and associations, who, he noted, are “working heroically to help our brothers and sisters who are sick.”
“I renew my appeal,” he continued, “that the international community will do all necessary efforts to eradicate this virus, to effectively alleviate the hardships and sufferings.”
Concluding, Pope Francis invited those gathered in the square to pray for those suffering and for those who lost their lives.
According to the World Health Organization, Ebola is a viral illness whose initial symptoms include a sudden fever, muscle pain, intense weakness, and a sore throat. The conditions of those infected rapidly worsens and it is often fatal.
The outbreak of the virus in West Africa is the deadliest to date. The WHO has declared an international health emergency as it has claimed more than 3,800 lives in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria this year.
Added to this, it is appearing in other continents, including North America, with cases in New York and Texas.

20th century nun & martyr; beatified by Saint Pope JP II

Bl. Maria Restituta

Facts

Feastday: October 29
Birth: 1894
Death: 1943
Beatified By: 21 June 1998 by John Paul II

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Sister Maria Restituta (1 May 1894, Husovice, Austria-Hungary (now part of Brno, Czech Republic)  30 March 1943, Vienna, Austria) was a nun and a nurse. Her birthname was Helen Kafka.[1] She was a shoemaker's daughter.  Imprisoned by the Nazi regime, she was beheaded in 1942, becoming a martyr for the faith

A great interview with a Permanent Deacon who ministers in prison; even to those on death row

Deacon: God's love is available for all, even those on death row  |  Oct. 28, 2014 

Richard Tolcher
Age: 71

Who he is: Director of the Atlanta archdiocese's prison and jail ministry; deacon
Lives in: Hapeville, Ga.

Sr. Camille: This past summer, I came on your invitation to the chancery offices in the Atlanta archdiocese as one of three people invited to speak about the death penalty. Approximately 90 participants arrived to hear Dale Recinella, an author, lawyer and chaplain to Florida's death row inmates, and Amy Vosburg-Casey, staff attorney with the Georgia Resource Center, which provides free representation to death row inmates. You recruited me because I've been a longtime spiritual adviser to a man on death row in Terre Haute, Ind., and because I am the founder of The Cherish Life Circle, a New York-based group that opposes capital punishment and has an outreach to families of murder victims.
We presenters were inspired by the spirit and organization of this inaugural event of Georgia Catholics Against the Death Penalty. You were one of its organizers. What drew you into this ministry?
Tolcher: I felt I could make a difference if I immersed myself totally and listened for God's plan for me on a daily basis.
Who are your closest collaborators on this project?
Mary Boyert, Kat Doyle, and Joy Place
How did they assist in preparing for and overseeing this successful event?
Mary Boyert did the budget, marketing and lunch. Kat Doyle arranged the photos, emcee and marketing. Joy Place helped with registration, folders and breakfast. All task force members played a significant role.
Please describe the attendees, many of whom seemed to be deacons.
There were many deacons and deacon candidates. In addition, we welcomed sisters, prison ministers, death penalty opponents, Respect Life representatives, justice and peace promoters, and relatives of incarcerated men.
When did you become a permanent deacon?
1987
What was your profession before you assumed this full-time work?
I was a prison chaplain for 13 years and a youth retention center director for five. I served as a spiritual director for three inmates on death row, and I chaired the task force for Georgia Catholic Against the Death Penalty. I continue to coordinate all liturgies on death row.
Please say something about your responsibilities.
I recruit and train volunteers to bring the word of God and sacraments to inmates in 22 prisons and 69 jails. Volunteers include clergy, religious, and laypeople.
That is a massive undertaking! What have you learned from incarcerated people you have visited?
God's love is available for all. All humans have human dignity and inmates have needs, desires and issues similar to all those outside the prison or jail.
How do you think the prison system might be improved?
It would do well to provide more of the tools needed for an incarcerated person to make it upon release. There's a great need for assistance that will enable prisoners to obtain a high school diploma or GED diploma. Many would benefit from alcohol and drug abuse counseling and job training.
Where, with whom, and in what circumstances did you spend your childhood?
I was one of five children. My mother was Catholic; my father had no religious affiliation. I spent the first 21 years of my life in Cleveland.
What schools did you attend?
Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Elementary School and St. Ignatius High School, both in Cleveland. I went on to John Carroll University and the University of Virginia and received my Juris Doctor from Woodrow Wilson Law School in Atlanta.
Would you please describe your current family? Where and with whom do you now live?
I live in Hapeville, Ga. (seven miles south of Atlanta), with my wife, Martha. Our six children are all college graduates. These include a doctor, engineer, teacher, nurse and musician. They have given us nine grandchildren.
How, when and where did you meet your wife? Please tell us a little about her.
I met Martha shortly before her graduation from Mary Washington College. I was an officer in the Marines. We were married in 1969, soon after the Vietnam crisis. She has been a wonderful wife for 45 years.
What do you consider your everyday challenges?
Slowing myself down, completely trusting in God's presence.
What gives you the courage and wisdom to address them?
Great supervision and support from Archbishop Wilton Gregory and his staff. My long, abundant experience in prison ministry assures me that I can learn to handle most situations as related to prison ministry.
Where do you worship?
I'm drawn to Our Lady of Lourdes, an African-American parish. Their liturgy is very inspirational.
What is your favorite Scripture passage or Bible story?
With great liturgies, Matthew 25 and Matthew 5: Both address issues relative to prison ministry.
Do these Scripture passages make a difference in your life?
Yes, and receiving the Eucharist and hearing the word of God energize me immeasurably.
What is your image of God?
I think of God as loving, forgiving, merciful, caring -- above all, available.
Has this image changed?
Not for a long time -- not since 1981. That was the day I grew into my faith.
Can you say why?
A Cursillo helped me see God in a more personal way.
What about your faith is most meaningful to you?
It has openness to us who want to explore the truth. I also appreciate Catholicism's reliance upon Dcripture and tradition
Where do you see our faith in action?
Pope Francis is a man of action. I anticipate his influence will take hold over time. He has many barriers to overcome.
Who most influenced your belief system? Please explain.
My experience as a permanent deacon has shaped my belief system. Other deacons provide role models.
How do you pray?
With my wife in the evening. Sometimes, we use contemplative prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours or the rosary. At other times, it's extemporaneous.
What does Christianity ask of you?
To love God and our neighbor as ourselves, and it encourages us to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. It tells us to believe in the two great commandments and directs us to live the Creed.
What do you want from it?
Guidance and encouragement leading toward occupying one of the many rooms in the house of the Lord.
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
My service as an officer in the Marines in Vietnam.
What in contemporary Catholicism or distresses you?
Nothing. I refuse to be distressed. I am more encouraged by our churches. However, I would like to see the gifts of laypeople and religious utilized more extensively.
Is there anything you would change?
The hearts of legislators, judges, district attorneys and fellow Catholics who still support the use of the death penalty.
What causes you sorrow?
Very little. I trust in God's presence and his plan for me and others; however, the deaths of close relatives call upon my reserves.
What causes you joy?
Many different things: seeing my children and grandchildren be happy, loving, caring people. Love abounds in our family. I also rejoice when an inmate is released from death row.
What gives you hope?
I think people are beginning to see how devastating the death penalty is. Change is forthcoming.
How do you relax?
I enjoy biking, walking, attending football and baseball games. Dinner with my wife and family. I am relaxed when I am ministering in a prison or jail. I truly love all aspects of my ministry. I also love to preach, and I do a fair amount of that.
Is there something you wish I had asked?
I am thankful for people like you who provide energy and motivation for me to stay the course.
And I am thankful for people like you.