Real Catholic Speaker of the House: American Political Landscape Shifts
By Deacon Keith Fournier
11/3/2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
What a difference an election can make
The new Speaker of the House will be John Boehner of Ohio. He is a faithful Catholic who fully understands the teaching of his Church and has earned a consistent 100% Pro-Life score from the National Right to Life Committee. Just as importantly, he has also earned a 0% score from the National Abortion Rights Action League, an organization which promotes the killing of children in the womb as a "right".
Speaker of the House Designate John Boehner
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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - What a difference an election can make. Like much of the United States, I have been watching the election returns for the Midterm elections this evening. There is no question that the results are a wakeup call to the Obama administration. Most of the networks are projecting that the Republican Party will now control the House of Representatives, having gained at least 60 seats. The Senate will stay in the hands of the Democrats.
However, the first thing I thought of as the results came in this evening was the immediate change in the leadership of the House of Representatives. As someone who writes frequently on Catholics in Public Life who openly reject the teaching of their own Church, thereby causing scandal to the faithful, there is little doubt that the now former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been one of the worst offenders.
She has been corrected by her Bishop and excoriated by Catholics around the Nation, all to no avail. She openly rejects the unbroken teaching of her own Church concerning the intrinsic evil of every procured abortion and even has the audacity of misrepresenting that teaching to the public. Her intransigence and intentional rejection of the teaching of the Church has been infuriating to watch. Worse than that, she has been one of the main enablers of the Culture of Death, while all the while claiming to be a devout Catholic!
The new Speaker of the House will be John Boehner of Ohio. He is a faithful Catholic who fully understands the teaching of his Church and has earned a consistent 100% Pro-Life score from the National Right to Life Committee. Just as importantly, he has also earned a 0% score from the National Abortion Rights Action League, an organization which promotes the killing of children in the womb as a "right". John Boehner is a truly Pro-Life Catholic and a champion of children in the first home of the whole human race, their mother's womb!
He did not back down in exposing - and opposing - nationalized health care or "Obamacare". He opposed it for many reasons. However, chief among them, he opposed it because it provides for funding for abortions. Even after the President signed the allegedly curative "executive order" claiming to prevent such funding, John Boehner was one of the strongest voices to reveal the subterfuge involved in the action stating " (N)o Executive Order or regulation can override a statutory mandate unless Congress passes a law that prohibits federal funding from being used in this manner."
He is a supporter of a bill sponsored by another real Catholic in the House, Congressman Chris Smith which will codify the Hyde Amendment and make sure no federal money is used to take the lives of our first neighbors under the guise of "Health Care". It is called the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act."
John Boehner is from a working class Catholic family of twelve. He was the first person in his family to go to College. He is a father of two daughters. He is also a man who prays, as evidenced by his open, comfortable and natural acknowledgement of the fact just this week in a radio interview with Mike Gallagher.
Senator Elect Marco Rubio is another example of a consistent Pro-Life Christian. Son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio was raised a Roman Catholic Christian. However, some indications are that he now worships at a non-denominational Church. If so, we need to pray for him to find his way back home. However, he, like John Boehner, is also clear on the fundamental human rights issue of our age, the Right to Life of all human persons from conception to natural death.
Back in February Marco Rubio spoke to my friend Deal Hudson who wrote, "For Rubio, his pro-life convictions are the "cornerstone" of everything else. "A society that does not respect the sanctity of life cannot make sense of anything else, and it leads to absurd and dangerous policies." Without a belief in protecting preborn life, "the entire society is endangered, and social justice cannot be the outcome of such an unjust system."
In his stirring acceptance speech this evening, Marco Rubio acknowledged his background and declared "No matter where I go, or what title I achieve, I will always be the son of exiles". With his family behind him he paid tribute to his father in a manner that should have brought tears to any father watching. It did to me. This is a good man whose Christian faith has obviously informed his public service. Even in a three way race, he sailed to victory with a 20 point lead.
Tonight's election presents a moment of hope and invites us all to focused prayer and persevering Catholic action.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
St Charles Borromeo
St. Charles Borromeo
Feastday: November 4
Patron of learning and the arts.
1538-1584
Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy on October 2. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.
In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius' legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Trent (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect, measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.
He died at Milan on the night of November 3-4, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church, of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times. His feast day is November 4th.
Feastday: November 4
Patron of learning and the arts.
1538-1584
Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy on October 2. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.
In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius' legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Trent (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect, measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.
He died at Milan on the night of November 3-4, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church, of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times. His feast day is November 4th.
St Martin de Porres
St. Martin de Porres 1579-1639
>>>A Saint for social justice and a reminder about racism.
"Father unknown" is the cold legal phrase sometimes used on baptismal records. "Half-breed" or "war souvenir" is the cruel name inflicted by those of "pure" blood. Like many others, Martin might have grown to be a bitter man, but he did not. It was said that even as a child he gave his heart and his goods to the poor and despised.
He was the illegitimate son of a freed woman of Panama, probably black but also possibly of Native American stock, and a Spanish grandee of Lima, Peru. Martin inherited the features and dark complexion of his mother. That irked his father, who finally acknowledged his son after eight years. After the birth of a sister, the father abandoned the family. Martin was reared in poverty, locked into a low level of Lima’s society.
When he was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon. He learned how to cut hair and also how to draw blood (a standard medical treatment then), care for wounds and prepare and administer medicines.
After a few years in this medical apostolate, Martin applied to the Dominicans to be a "lay helper," not feeling himself worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the example of his prayer and penance, charity and humility led the community to request him to make full religious profession. Many of his nights were spent in prayer and penitential practices; his days were filled with nursing the sick and caring for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all people regardless of their color, race or status. He was instrumental in founding an orphanage, took care of slaves brought from Africa and managed the daily alms of the priory with practicality as well as generosity. He became the procurator for both priory and city, whether it was a matter of "blankets, shirts, candles, candy, miracles or prayers!" When his priory was in debt, he said, "I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. I am the property of the order. Sell me."
Side by side with his daily work in the kitchen, laundry and infirmary, Martin’s life reflected God’s extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures and a remarkable rapport with animals. His charity extended to beasts of the field and even to the vermin of the kitchen. He would excuse the raids of mice and rats on the grounds that they were underfed; he kept stray cats and dogs at his sister’s house.
He became a formidable fundraiser, obtaining thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls so that they could marry or enter a convent.
Many of his fellow religious took him as their spiritual director, but he continued to call himself a "poor slave." He was a good friend of another Dominican saint of Peru, Rose of Lima (August 23).
Comment:
Racism is a sin almost nobody confesses. Like pollution, it is a "sin of the world" that is everybody's responsibility but apparently nobody's fault. One could hardly imagine a more fitting patron of Christian forgiveness (on the part of those discriminated against) and Christian justice (on the part of reformed racists) than Martin de Porres.
Quote:
In 1962, Pope John XXIII remarked at the canonization of Martin: "He excused the faults of others. He forgave the bitterest injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on account of his own sins. He tried with all his might to redeem the guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon at that time as akin to slaves: thus he deserved to be called by the name the people gave him: 'Martin of Charity.'"
Patron Saint of:
African-Americans
Barbers
Hairdressers
Race relations
Social justice
>>>A Saint for social justice and a reminder about racism.
"Father unknown" is the cold legal phrase sometimes used on baptismal records. "Half-breed" or "war souvenir" is the cruel name inflicted by those of "pure" blood. Like many others, Martin might have grown to be a bitter man, but he did not. It was said that even as a child he gave his heart and his goods to the poor and despised.
He was the illegitimate son of a freed woman of Panama, probably black but also possibly of Native American stock, and a Spanish grandee of Lima, Peru. Martin inherited the features and dark complexion of his mother. That irked his father, who finally acknowledged his son after eight years. After the birth of a sister, the father abandoned the family. Martin was reared in poverty, locked into a low level of Lima’s society.
When he was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon. He learned how to cut hair and also how to draw blood (a standard medical treatment then), care for wounds and prepare and administer medicines.
After a few years in this medical apostolate, Martin applied to the Dominicans to be a "lay helper," not feeling himself worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the example of his prayer and penance, charity and humility led the community to request him to make full religious profession. Many of his nights were spent in prayer and penitential practices; his days were filled with nursing the sick and caring for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all people regardless of their color, race or status. He was instrumental in founding an orphanage, took care of slaves brought from Africa and managed the daily alms of the priory with practicality as well as generosity. He became the procurator for both priory and city, whether it was a matter of "blankets, shirts, candles, candy, miracles or prayers!" When his priory was in debt, he said, "I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. I am the property of the order. Sell me."
Side by side with his daily work in the kitchen, laundry and infirmary, Martin’s life reflected God’s extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures and a remarkable rapport with animals. His charity extended to beasts of the field and even to the vermin of the kitchen. He would excuse the raids of mice and rats on the grounds that they were underfed; he kept stray cats and dogs at his sister’s house.
He became a formidable fundraiser, obtaining thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls so that they could marry or enter a convent.
Many of his fellow religious took him as their spiritual director, but he continued to call himself a "poor slave." He was a good friend of another Dominican saint of Peru, Rose of Lima (August 23).
Comment:
Racism is a sin almost nobody confesses. Like pollution, it is a "sin of the world" that is everybody's responsibility but apparently nobody's fault. One could hardly imagine a more fitting patron of Christian forgiveness (on the part of those discriminated against) and Christian justice (on the part of reformed racists) than Martin de Porres.
Quote:
In 1962, Pope John XXIII remarked at the canonization of Martin: "He excused the faults of others. He forgave the bitterest injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on account of his own sins. He tried with all his might to redeem the guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon at that time as akin to slaves: thus he deserved to be called by the name the people gave him: 'Martin of Charity.'"
Patron Saint of:
African-Americans
Barbers
Hairdressers
Race relations
Social justice
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Ah November
November is month #2 of the good half of the year. Happily, I continue to enjoy the cooler months from October to April; my happiest half of the year! Already hard to believe that October is behind, November ushers in good times. As it rains on this particular afternoon we brace for really cooler weather, the return to normal time, the height of the football season and the holidays that are right around the corner. Man this is all good!
Ministry brings plenty of focus in the weeks ahead. In just 6 weeks we will be ordaining a new class of permanent deacons and I have been privileged to assist them in small ways. As one of the coaches in homiletics the candidates have two more practice homilies to deliver; including one tonight. And in just 3 weeks the candidates and wives will gather to experience their pre-ordination retreat over the Thanksgiving holiday. These are exciting and highly spiritual times as I recall these days just two short years ago. Pray with me for our class of soon to be new deacons and their wives, families and those who they will minister to.
Another big deal this month for me will be the official dedication of the chapel on the grounds of the Rayburn Prison. Many wonderful faith based gatherings occur at Rayburn including Catholic mass, prayer services, communion services and reconciliation. How wonderful will it be to celebrate these blessed events in a chapel. The presence of a dedicated chapel on prison grounds has proven to be not just a blessing but a real aid in helping reform inmates and reduce the rate of recidivisum.
November also brings the faith practice of honoring the dead and understanding the Catholic teaching on eternal life, purgatory, etc. We have already celebrated All Saints and All Souls but we can reflect prayerfully on the beloved dead this month. And as we celebrate Veterans Day later in the month we can remember in a special way those that gave their lives in service to our country.
November will bring some exciting football as we sit back and cheer on those New Orleans Saints and yes the LSU Tigers. Will the Saints play like the team that destroyed the Steelers or will they continue to adjust to life post Super Bowl? Will LSU rise up against the mighty Saban and the Alabama red menance? Can Les Miles generate a 1o win season? And don't look now but basketball has begun and the Hornets have won 3 in a row.
Ah November; thanks for coming along at the right time. I plan to enjoy you for a few more weeks.
Ministry brings plenty of focus in the weeks ahead. In just 6 weeks we will be ordaining a new class of permanent deacons and I have been privileged to assist them in small ways. As one of the coaches in homiletics the candidates have two more practice homilies to deliver; including one tonight. And in just 3 weeks the candidates and wives will gather to experience their pre-ordination retreat over the Thanksgiving holiday. These are exciting and highly spiritual times as I recall these days just two short years ago. Pray with me for our class of soon to be new deacons and their wives, families and those who they will minister to.
Another big deal this month for me will be the official dedication of the chapel on the grounds of the Rayburn Prison. Many wonderful faith based gatherings occur at Rayburn including Catholic mass, prayer services, communion services and reconciliation. How wonderful will it be to celebrate these blessed events in a chapel. The presence of a dedicated chapel on prison grounds has proven to be not just a blessing but a real aid in helping reform inmates and reduce the rate of recidivisum.
November also brings the faith practice of honoring the dead and understanding the Catholic teaching on eternal life, purgatory, etc. We have already celebrated All Saints and All Souls but we can reflect prayerfully on the beloved dead this month. And as we celebrate Veterans Day later in the month we can remember in a special way those that gave their lives in service to our country.
November will bring some exciting football as we sit back and cheer on those New Orleans Saints and yes the LSU Tigers. Will the Saints play like the team that destroyed the Steelers or will they continue to adjust to life post Super Bowl? Will LSU rise up against the mighty Saban and the Alabama red menance? Can Les Miles generate a 1o win season? And don't look now but basketball has begun and the Hornets have won 3 in a row.
Ah November; thanks for coming along at the right time. I plan to enjoy you for a few more weeks.
Catholics murdered at Mass in Iraq and the Pope reacts
Pope calls on world community to help end savage violence in Iraq
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A deadly militant siege of the Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad was a "savage" act of "absurd violence," Pope Benedict XVI said.
The pope urged international and national authorities and all people of good will to work together to end the "heinous episodes of violence that continue to ravage the people of the Middle East." The attack occurred Oct. 31 as about 100 people gathered for Sunday Mass.
"I pray for the victims of this absurd violence, which is even more savage because it struck defenseless people, gathered in God's house, which is a house of love and reconciliation," Pope Benedict said after praying the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square Nov. 1, the feast of All Saints.
The following day, he sent a telegram to Baghdad as Catholics held funerals for two priests and several others among the 58 people killed in the violence.
"Deeply saddened by the violent deaths of so many faithful and of Fathers Tha'ir Saad and Boutros Wasim, I want to participate spiritually in the funeral while I pray that these brothers and sisters would be welcomed into the mercy of Christ in the Father's house," the pope said.
"For years, this beloved country has suffered unspeakable pain, and even the Christians have become the objects of savage attacks which, with total disrespect for life, the inviolable gift of God, try to undermine trust and civil coexistence," he said.
"I renew my appeal that the sacrifice of these brothers and sisters of ours may be seeds of peace and of true rebirth and so that all those who have at heart reconciliation and a coexistence marked by fraternity and solidarity would find reasons and strength to work for good," the pope said.
On Nov. 1, Pope Benedict renewed his urgent call for peace in the Middle East.
While peace may be a gift of God, "it is also the result of efforts by people of good will and national and international institutions," he said.
"May everyone unite their efforts so as to end all violence," he said.
Armed militants wearing explosives first set off a car bomb across the street, killing two people in front of the Baghdad Stock Exchange. Then they stormed the church, killing another two people, according to reports.
The militants, who said they were part of the Islamic State of Iraq -- a group with suspected ties to al-Qaida -- held parishioners and priests hostage in the hopes of leveraging the release of prisoners from their network. The terrorists demanded prisoners linked to al-Qaida be set free from detention in Iraq and Egypt and they threatened to blow up the church if military forces attempted to break the siege.
After a standoff that lasted hours, Iraqi forces stormed the cathedral, and the ensuing firefight and a series of explosions left the 58 dead and 75 injured.
Unconfirmed reports said a third priest was among those who died at the hospital.
Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan was in Canada when the blasts occurred. In an e-mail to Catholic News Service Nov. 1 while he was en route to Baghdad, he criticized the lack of security for Christian places of worship and called on "Iraqi parties to overcome their personal and confessional interests and look for the good of the Iraqi people who have elected them."
"There are a few churches and Christian institutions left in Baghdad, not so great a number that it is not unreasonable for them to be protected, security-wise," he said, noting that the security being provided by the government is "far less than what we have hoped for and requested."
"Christians are slaughtered in Iraq, in their homes and churches, and the so-called 'free' world is watching in complete indifference, interested only in responding in a way that is politically correct and economically opportune, but in reality is hypocritical," said the patriarch, who served as bishop of the New Jersey-based Syrian-rite diocese in the United States and Canada from 1995 until his election as patriarch in 2009.
The patriarch demanded "that the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, the International Commission for Civil Rights and the League of Arabic States" condemn the actions at the church and "take the appropriate action to defend innocent Christians brutally singled out because of their religion, in Iraq and some other Middle Eastern countries."
Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad told Vatican Radio Oct. 31 that at least one child was killed in the incident.
During the siege, he asked people to pray that God would give the hostage-takers the grace to take into consideration the women, children and all the innocent who were threatened by their actions.
Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told reporters at the time of the siege that "it's a very sad situation, which confirms the difficult situation in which Christians live in the country."
"Christians live with great insecurity and we express our solidarity with them," he said.
Iraqi bishops had just participated in a special Synod of Bishops Oct. 10-24 with the pope at the Vatican; the synod drew attention to the challenges facing Christians in the Middle East.
During the synod, Iraqi bishops said kidnappings for ransom, bombings of churches and other Christian buildings and a general lack of security have made life so precarious for the vulnerable Christian community that about half have left their homeland for safer destinations in the past seven years.
At least one bishop raised the question of systematic attacks as part of a "plan" to drive all Christians from the Middle East.
The cathedral and four other churches were the target of a string of bombings Aug. 1, 2004, when parishioners were leaving Sunday Mass; 15 people were killed in those attacks.
- - -
Contributing to this story was Doreen Abi Raad in Beirut.
END
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A deadly militant siege of the Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad was a "savage" act of "absurd violence," Pope Benedict XVI said.
The pope urged international and national authorities and all people of good will to work together to end the "heinous episodes of violence that continue to ravage the people of the Middle East." The attack occurred Oct. 31 as about 100 people gathered for Sunday Mass.
"I pray for the victims of this absurd violence, which is even more savage because it struck defenseless people, gathered in God's house, which is a house of love and reconciliation," Pope Benedict said after praying the Angelus with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square Nov. 1, the feast of All Saints.
The following day, he sent a telegram to Baghdad as Catholics held funerals for two priests and several others among the 58 people killed in the violence.
"Deeply saddened by the violent deaths of so many faithful and of Fathers Tha'ir Saad and Boutros Wasim, I want to participate spiritually in the funeral while I pray that these brothers and sisters would be welcomed into the mercy of Christ in the Father's house," the pope said.
"For years, this beloved country has suffered unspeakable pain, and even the Christians have become the objects of savage attacks which, with total disrespect for life, the inviolable gift of God, try to undermine trust and civil coexistence," he said.
"I renew my appeal that the sacrifice of these brothers and sisters of ours may be seeds of peace and of true rebirth and so that all those who have at heart reconciliation and a coexistence marked by fraternity and solidarity would find reasons and strength to work for good," the pope said.
On Nov. 1, Pope Benedict renewed his urgent call for peace in the Middle East.
While peace may be a gift of God, "it is also the result of efforts by people of good will and national and international institutions," he said.
"May everyone unite their efforts so as to end all violence," he said.
Armed militants wearing explosives first set off a car bomb across the street, killing two people in front of the Baghdad Stock Exchange. Then they stormed the church, killing another two people, according to reports.
The militants, who said they were part of the Islamic State of Iraq -- a group with suspected ties to al-Qaida -- held parishioners and priests hostage in the hopes of leveraging the release of prisoners from their network. The terrorists demanded prisoners linked to al-Qaida be set free from detention in Iraq and Egypt and they threatened to blow up the church if military forces attempted to break the siege.
After a standoff that lasted hours, Iraqi forces stormed the cathedral, and the ensuing firefight and a series of explosions left the 58 dead and 75 injured.
Unconfirmed reports said a third priest was among those who died at the hospital.
Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan was in Canada when the blasts occurred. In an e-mail to Catholic News Service Nov. 1 while he was en route to Baghdad, he criticized the lack of security for Christian places of worship and called on "Iraqi parties to overcome their personal and confessional interests and look for the good of the Iraqi people who have elected them."
"There are a few churches and Christian institutions left in Baghdad, not so great a number that it is not unreasonable for them to be protected, security-wise," he said, noting that the security being provided by the government is "far less than what we have hoped for and requested."
"Christians are slaughtered in Iraq, in their homes and churches, and the so-called 'free' world is watching in complete indifference, interested only in responding in a way that is politically correct and economically opportune, but in reality is hypocritical," said the patriarch, who served as bishop of the New Jersey-based Syrian-rite diocese in the United States and Canada from 1995 until his election as patriarch in 2009.
The patriarch demanded "that the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, the International Commission for Civil Rights and the League of Arabic States" condemn the actions at the church and "take the appropriate action to defend innocent Christians brutally singled out because of their religion, in Iraq and some other Middle Eastern countries."
Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad told Vatican Radio Oct. 31 that at least one child was killed in the incident.
During the siege, he asked people to pray that God would give the hostage-takers the grace to take into consideration the women, children and all the innocent who were threatened by their actions.
Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi told reporters at the time of the siege that "it's a very sad situation, which confirms the difficult situation in which Christians live in the country."
"Christians live with great insecurity and we express our solidarity with them," he said.
Iraqi bishops had just participated in a special Synod of Bishops Oct. 10-24 with the pope at the Vatican; the synod drew attention to the challenges facing Christians in the Middle East.
During the synod, Iraqi bishops said kidnappings for ransom, bombings of churches and other Christian buildings and a general lack of security have made life so precarious for the vulnerable Christian community that about half have left their homeland for safer destinations in the past seven years.
At least one bishop raised the question of systematic attacks as part of a "plan" to drive all Christians from the Middle East.
The cathedral and four other churches were the target of a string of bombings Aug. 1, 2004, when parishioners were leaving Sunday Mass; 15 people were killed in those attacks.
- - -
Contributing to this story was Doreen Abi Raad in Beirut.
END
Are we still praying for Haiti?
The whole world was stunned at the devastation in Haiti after the earthquake that greeted the poor Caribbean nation at the start of a New Year. The sheer magnitude of the death and destruction moved the world to tears as well as action. Slowly but surely and because of so many dedicated people around the world, Haiti is trying to recover.
Recently the folks of Haiti came face to face with a cholera epidemic; a direct impact of living conditions post earthquake.
And today comes news that Tropical Storm Tomas will pass over the island nation in the coming days. At this moment the NHC is giving a 65% chance that Haiti will indeed face tropical storm force winds.
With so many people displaced from homes, living in temporary shelter that includes tents, and with so many shelters still damaged from the earthquake, the prospects of a tropical storm are especially frightening.
We who live in America have certainly benefitted from various weather patterns that prevented tropical storms and hurricanes this year. Maybe it is hard to put ourselves in the shoes of those living in Haiti. But we all can agree that Haiti has endured more than their fair share of tragedy and we should stand united with them in prayer and support.
As they face the prospects of this tropical storm, once again, let's pray for the people of Haiti!
Recently the folks of Haiti came face to face with a cholera epidemic; a direct impact of living conditions post earthquake.
And today comes news that Tropical Storm Tomas will pass over the island nation in the coming days. At this moment the NHC is giving a 65% chance that Haiti will indeed face tropical storm force winds.
With so many people displaced from homes, living in temporary shelter that includes tents, and with so many shelters still damaged from the earthquake, the prospects of a tropical storm are especially frightening.
We who live in America have certainly benefitted from various weather patterns that prevented tropical storms and hurricanes this year. Maybe it is hard to put ourselves in the shoes of those living in Haiti. But we all can agree that Haiti has endured more than their fair share of tragedy and we should stand united with them in prayer and support.
As they face the prospects of this tropical storm, once again, let's pray for the people of Haiti!
Purgatory, temporal punishment, indulgences; the whole story
Catholic Q and A
Q. Does the Church still teach about Purgatory?
A. The Church does indeed still teach about purgatory. Many people think that the Second Vatican Council abolished the teaching on Purgatory, or at least that post-Vatican II theology has moved beyond it. These people may even see purgatory as an archaic concept, focusing too much on punishment and sin rather than on God's love. However, Second Vatican Council actually affirmed the belief in Purgatory. In the seventh chapter of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (The Sacred Constitution on the Church), the Council states:
Until the Lord shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him (cf. Mt 25:31) and death being destroyed, all things are subject to him (cf. 1Cor 15:26-27), some of his disciples are exiles on earth, some having died are purified, and others are in glory beholding 'clearly God himself triune and one, as he is"; but all in various ways and degrees are in communion in the same charity of God and neighbor and all sing the same hymn of glory to our God (LG 49).
Fully conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead, and "because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins" (2Mc 12:46), also offering suffrages for them (LG 50).
Furthermore, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, instituted by Pope John Paul II in response to the Second Vatican Council's call for a renewal in catechesis, explicitly teaches about Purgatory in articles 1030-1032 & 1472. The second edition includes the term "Purgatory" in its glossary, defining it as:
A state of final purification after death and before entrance into heaven for those who died in God's friendship, but were only imperfectly purified; a final cleansing of human imperfection before one is able to enter the joy of heaven.
So why do some people believe that the Church no longer teaches about Purgatory? I believe that there are a couple points of confusion. The first point of confusion is between Purgatory and "Limbo. The concept of Limbo is a theological theoretical construct to try to explain what happens to babies who die without the benefit of baptism. The concept of Limbo is an attempt to explain the apparent paradox between the necessity of baptism for salvation, as stated by Christ himself, and the great merciful love of God, which we find it hard to believe would allow him to condemn innocent but unbaptized babies to the eternal loneliness of hell. Limbo was thought to be a place of eternal bliss, where these unbaptized souls enjoy the goodness that comes to us through creation as a sign of God's love, but are unable to fulfill their happiness by being in God's presence in an intimate and personal way.This concept was never officially taught by the Church. It was a model used by theologians to account for both sides of the paradox. Therefore, people have always been free to accept or reject it (and as far as I know, people are still free to make this choice). This concept has fallen out of favor with theologians, and is rarely taught today. The truth is that we really don't know much about God's judgments - and the Church is always hesitant to define what specific people are in heaven or hell since only God can truly judge the heart. That is why the process of canonization of a saint, which declares that the saint is definitely in heaven, is so complex and careful. We do not know what happens to unbaptized babies. We can only speculate because this is not something that God has chosen to reveal to us. However, the Church does officially teach about Purgatory.
The second point of confusion is between the Church's teaching about what Purgatory is and theological speculation about how Purgatory will be experienced. Sacred Scripture reveals to us that nothing that is imperfect can be in God's presence. However, we also know that most of us will die somewhat short of perfection (did you catch the understatement?). Since the effects of grace include healing our sin-damaged nature and elevating it to perfection so that an intimate relationship with God is made possible, we believe that we will truly be perfect as we stand in God's presence. If we die before the process of conversion to perfection is complete, we believe that God, in His mercy, will complete the process of perfection within us as long as we die in "friendship with God" - without mortal sin. This process of completion is what Purgatory is. Our belief in this act of Grace is validated by Sacred Scripture. The fact that the term Purgatory does not appear in the Bible is beside the point. The term is just a label the Church placed on this concept that is indeed found in the Bible (I'll post the scripture verses here in the near future). What we do not know, and can only speculate on, is the experience of Purgatory. Purgatory used to be seen as a waiting room or a jail cell where the soul pays reparation for the "temporal punishment for sin" by "doing time. In fact, some devotionals used to assign a specific number of years in Purgatory for each sin, and a certain number of years that could be taken off of our sentence in Purgatory for an act of indulgence. I do not know much about this practice, and if anyone knows more about it I would really appreciate if you could explain it more clearly by leaving a comment for this post. The vision of Purgatory as a waiting room or a jail cell has somewhat fallen out of favor among post-Vatican II theologians. One reason is the awareness that Purgatory is experienced before the resurrection of our bodies. Without a body, a soul does not experience time in the same way we do now.
One theory that I am personally attracted to is that perhaps Purgatory is actually the experience of the Beatific Vision before our souls are perfectly able to accept God's love. The effect is like walking outside into the brilliance of a sunny day, especially in winter when the sun reflects off the snow (this happened to me just today). Until our eyes adjust, the light hurts our eyes and causes us pain. Once our eyes adjust, we are able to appreciate the beauty of the sunny day and we are hesitant to go back into the relative darkness of the house. In the same way, God's glory burns into our imperfect soul and causes suffering because we are not perfectly oriented to receive God's love. Once our imperfections are burned away, then we are able to enjoy the glory of God's love. I like this theory because it seems to make sense within human relationships. God intended marriage to be a sign of His relationship with us. When I am not perfectly in tuned to my relationship with my wife (in other words, when I am loving her imperfectly), I sometimes find her love annoying. I cringe when she interrupts my activity and tries to talk with me. I balk when she asks me to do things that are good for me, such as not to forget to take something with me or to do something (and anyone who knows me knows that I need such reminders frequently). In other words, because I am not loving my wife perfectly, her love for me causes me suffering. Only when I focus on burning away the imperfections in my love for her am I able to fully appreciate the beauty of the love that she has for us. Since God's love for us is infinitely more intense, it stands to reason that it would cause infinitely more suffering as it forces us to face the imperfections of our love for Him. However, this is not a suffering of evil, and it is not eternal suffering. It is a suffering that burns away our imperfections in the fires of love and drives us to attune ourselves to love Him more perfectly, and therefore to receive His love more perfectly. Once this process is done, our "time" in Purgatory is over and we are able to "enter into" the Beatific Vision and enjoy His glory. Keep in mind that this is just a theory to explain how we might experience Purgatory. The important thing is that what Purgatory is has been defined for us by the Church.
Lastly, I must mention that the Church also still teaches the concepts of "temporal punishment for sin" and "indulgences. Properly understanding what these things are is extremely important. To explain temporal punishment for sin, I give my students an analogy. Let's say you are playing baseball with your friends in the back yard. Your parents have told you many times not to play baseball in the back yard because your yard is too small and you would be playing too close to the house. Sure enough, your disobedience results in the baseball breaking through one of the windows of the house. When your parents confront you with it, you are truly sorry for your disobedience and you beg their forgiveness. Despite their justified anger with you, your parents decide not to disown you. In other words, they forgive you. In fact, they may even be moved by your sincere tears to give you a hug and to bring you comfort in your obvious moral suffering. However, even though they forgive you, the consequences of your sin remain. There is still a broken window that needs to be paid for. A good parent is going to hold you accountable for these consequences, and make you pay for the window. More importantly, a good parent also realizes that the deeper issue than the broken window is that you have a tendency to disobedience. This tendency does not easily go away just because you "learned your lesson" this one time. In fact, without consequences for your disobedience this time, the tendency to disobey may actually increase. Therefore, you parents ground you for a month or two. Far from being a sign of unforgiveness, this punishment is an act of love that shows you that disobedience has consequences on your relationship with your parents. The punishment is intended to motivate you to change that relationship, to get rid of the tendency to disobedience.
These consequences of sin, the direct consequences, the consequence for our own nature and the consequences on our relationship with God, make up temporal punishment for sin. God tells us that we must pay restitution for our sins, and then he adds another punishment (somewhat mysterious in form) to motivate us to get rid of our sinful tendencies to selfishness and disobedience so that we can perfect our relationship with Him. This is the punishment that must be made up for in this world or in Purgatory after we die. How can we make up for this punishment in this life? That's where indulgences come in. The historical stain on the term indulgences makes people think of them as a payment to the Church that paves our way to heaven. This was a very real abuse of the practice of indulgences that Martin Luther and other protestors (many who did not separate with the Church but worked from within the Church to make the change) were right to protest. However, the historical abuse of indulgences does not remove the validity of the use of indulgences in the Church. Indulgences are simply spiritual practices that are designed to train our hearts to unite ourselves to God and to the Church. These practices are efficacious (I love that term) in giving us extra grace to form our hearts to love and to erase our temporal punishment for sin.
Why do they give us more grace? This is the point that many of our Protestant and Evangelical friends will have trouble with. The truth is that every spiritual exercise (prayer, devotion, sacrifice, suffering, etc.) can be a path to grace thanks to God's mercy. However, Christ made the apostles, and therefore the Church, the stewards of grace that comes from Christ: "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven. Therefore, the Church has the ability to determine specific spiritual exercises to be especially efficacious in giving us grace.
Receiving these graces is very easy. The acts of indulgence are all explained in a little book called the Handbook of Indulgences. To receive the indulgence, one needs to:
•Go to the sacrament of Reconciliation (to gain forgiveness for your sins)
•Receive the Holy Eucharist (to be intimately united to Christ, the source of all grace)
•Pray the Creed (to reaffirm your faith in all that God has revealed about Himself)
•Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father (to unite yourself to the Church)
•Have no attraction to sin (while this phrase is a bit vague, in moral theology it typically means that you have fully chosen to renounce sin through an act of the will - even if your sense appetite is still attracted to it)
•Perform the act prescribed by the Church (the act is usually an act of prayer or devotion done in unity with the Church - for example, praying the Rosary in a Church building, going on a pilgrimage to a designated Church or cathedral)
That's it! Christ's grace is available to all so very easily! I hope you can see that the Church's beliefs in Purgatory, Temporal Punishment, and Indulgences are not beliefs that dwell on sin and punishment. While it is important to be reminded of sin and its dangers and consequences, it is more important to move from an awareness of sin to an awareness of the Good News of God's mercy and grace. These doctrines do just that. They are all about the abundance of God's merciful love and healing grace.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. Does the Church still teach about Purgatory?
A. The Church does indeed still teach about purgatory. Many people think that the Second Vatican Council abolished the teaching on Purgatory, or at least that post-Vatican II theology has moved beyond it. These people may even see purgatory as an archaic concept, focusing too much on punishment and sin rather than on God's love. However, Second Vatican Council actually affirmed the belief in Purgatory. In the seventh chapter of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium (The Sacred Constitution on the Church), the Council states:
Until the Lord shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him (cf. Mt 25:31) and death being destroyed, all things are subject to him (cf. 1Cor 15:26-27), some of his disciples are exiles on earth, some having died are purified, and others are in glory beholding 'clearly God himself triune and one, as he is"; but all in various ways and degrees are in communion in the same charity of God and neighbor and all sing the same hymn of glory to our God (LG 49).
Fully conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead, and "because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins" (2Mc 12:46), also offering suffrages for them (LG 50).
Furthermore, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, instituted by Pope John Paul II in response to the Second Vatican Council's call for a renewal in catechesis, explicitly teaches about Purgatory in articles 1030-1032 & 1472. The second edition includes the term "Purgatory" in its glossary, defining it as:
A state of final purification after death and before entrance into heaven for those who died in God's friendship, but were only imperfectly purified; a final cleansing of human imperfection before one is able to enter the joy of heaven.
So why do some people believe that the Church no longer teaches about Purgatory? I believe that there are a couple points of confusion. The first point of confusion is between Purgatory and "Limbo. The concept of Limbo is a theological theoretical construct to try to explain what happens to babies who die without the benefit of baptism. The concept of Limbo is an attempt to explain the apparent paradox between the necessity of baptism for salvation, as stated by Christ himself, and the great merciful love of God, which we find it hard to believe would allow him to condemn innocent but unbaptized babies to the eternal loneliness of hell. Limbo was thought to be a place of eternal bliss, where these unbaptized souls enjoy the goodness that comes to us through creation as a sign of God's love, but are unable to fulfill their happiness by being in God's presence in an intimate and personal way.This concept was never officially taught by the Church. It was a model used by theologians to account for both sides of the paradox. Therefore, people have always been free to accept or reject it (and as far as I know, people are still free to make this choice). This concept has fallen out of favor with theologians, and is rarely taught today. The truth is that we really don't know much about God's judgments - and the Church is always hesitant to define what specific people are in heaven or hell since only God can truly judge the heart. That is why the process of canonization of a saint, which declares that the saint is definitely in heaven, is so complex and careful. We do not know what happens to unbaptized babies. We can only speculate because this is not something that God has chosen to reveal to us. However, the Church does officially teach about Purgatory.
The second point of confusion is between the Church's teaching about what Purgatory is and theological speculation about how Purgatory will be experienced. Sacred Scripture reveals to us that nothing that is imperfect can be in God's presence. However, we also know that most of us will die somewhat short of perfection (did you catch the understatement?). Since the effects of grace include healing our sin-damaged nature and elevating it to perfection so that an intimate relationship with God is made possible, we believe that we will truly be perfect as we stand in God's presence. If we die before the process of conversion to perfection is complete, we believe that God, in His mercy, will complete the process of perfection within us as long as we die in "friendship with God" - without mortal sin. This process of completion is what Purgatory is. Our belief in this act of Grace is validated by Sacred Scripture. The fact that the term Purgatory does not appear in the Bible is beside the point. The term is just a label the Church placed on this concept that is indeed found in the Bible (I'll post the scripture verses here in the near future). What we do not know, and can only speculate on, is the experience of Purgatory. Purgatory used to be seen as a waiting room or a jail cell where the soul pays reparation for the "temporal punishment for sin" by "doing time. In fact, some devotionals used to assign a specific number of years in Purgatory for each sin, and a certain number of years that could be taken off of our sentence in Purgatory for an act of indulgence. I do not know much about this practice, and if anyone knows more about it I would really appreciate if you could explain it more clearly by leaving a comment for this post. The vision of Purgatory as a waiting room or a jail cell has somewhat fallen out of favor among post-Vatican II theologians. One reason is the awareness that Purgatory is experienced before the resurrection of our bodies. Without a body, a soul does not experience time in the same way we do now.
One theory that I am personally attracted to is that perhaps Purgatory is actually the experience of the Beatific Vision before our souls are perfectly able to accept God's love. The effect is like walking outside into the brilliance of a sunny day, especially in winter when the sun reflects off the snow (this happened to me just today). Until our eyes adjust, the light hurts our eyes and causes us pain. Once our eyes adjust, we are able to appreciate the beauty of the sunny day and we are hesitant to go back into the relative darkness of the house. In the same way, God's glory burns into our imperfect soul and causes suffering because we are not perfectly oriented to receive God's love. Once our imperfections are burned away, then we are able to enjoy the glory of God's love. I like this theory because it seems to make sense within human relationships. God intended marriage to be a sign of His relationship with us. When I am not perfectly in tuned to my relationship with my wife (in other words, when I am loving her imperfectly), I sometimes find her love annoying. I cringe when she interrupts my activity and tries to talk with me. I balk when she asks me to do things that are good for me, such as not to forget to take something with me or to do something (and anyone who knows me knows that I need such reminders frequently). In other words, because I am not loving my wife perfectly, her love for me causes me suffering. Only when I focus on burning away the imperfections in my love for her am I able to fully appreciate the beauty of the love that she has for us. Since God's love for us is infinitely more intense, it stands to reason that it would cause infinitely more suffering as it forces us to face the imperfections of our love for Him. However, this is not a suffering of evil, and it is not eternal suffering. It is a suffering that burns away our imperfections in the fires of love and drives us to attune ourselves to love Him more perfectly, and therefore to receive His love more perfectly. Once this process is done, our "time" in Purgatory is over and we are able to "enter into" the Beatific Vision and enjoy His glory. Keep in mind that this is just a theory to explain how we might experience Purgatory. The important thing is that what Purgatory is has been defined for us by the Church.
Lastly, I must mention that the Church also still teaches the concepts of "temporal punishment for sin" and "indulgences. Properly understanding what these things are is extremely important. To explain temporal punishment for sin, I give my students an analogy. Let's say you are playing baseball with your friends in the back yard. Your parents have told you many times not to play baseball in the back yard because your yard is too small and you would be playing too close to the house. Sure enough, your disobedience results in the baseball breaking through one of the windows of the house. When your parents confront you with it, you are truly sorry for your disobedience and you beg their forgiveness. Despite their justified anger with you, your parents decide not to disown you. In other words, they forgive you. In fact, they may even be moved by your sincere tears to give you a hug and to bring you comfort in your obvious moral suffering. However, even though they forgive you, the consequences of your sin remain. There is still a broken window that needs to be paid for. A good parent is going to hold you accountable for these consequences, and make you pay for the window. More importantly, a good parent also realizes that the deeper issue than the broken window is that you have a tendency to disobedience. This tendency does not easily go away just because you "learned your lesson" this one time. In fact, without consequences for your disobedience this time, the tendency to disobey may actually increase. Therefore, you parents ground you for a month or two. Far from being a sign of unforgiveness, this punishment is an act of love that shows you that disobedience has consequences on your relationship with your parents. The punishment is intended to motivate you to change that relationship, to get rid of the tendency to disobedience.
These consequences of sin, the direct consequences, the consequence for our own nature and the consequences on our relationship with God, make up temporal punishment for sin. God tells us that we must pay restitution for our sins, and then he adds another punishment (somewhat mysterious in form) to motivate us to get rid of our sinful tendencies to selfishness and disobedience so that we can perfect our relationship with Him. This is the punishment that must be made up for in this world or in Purgatory after we die. How can we make up for this punishment in this life? That's where indulgences come in. The historical stain on the term indulgences makes people think of them as a payment to the Church that paves our way to heaven. This was a very real abuse of the practice of indulgences that Martin Luther and other protestors (many who did not separate with the Church but worked from within the Church to make the change) were right to protest. However, the historical abuse of indulgences does not remove the validity of the use of indulgences in the Church. Indulgences are simply spiritual practices that are designed to train our hearts to unite ourselves to God and to the Church. These practices are efficacious (I love that term) in giving us extra grace to form our hearts to love and to erase our temporal punishment for sin.
Why do they give us more grace? This is the point that many of our Protestant and Evangelical friends will have trouble with. The truth is that every spiritual exercise (prayer, devotion, sacrifice, suffering, etc.) can be a path to grace thanks to God's mercy. However, Christ made the apostles, and therefore the Church, the stewards of grace that comes from Christ: "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven. Therefore, the Church has the ability to determine specific spiritual exercises to be especially efficacious in giving us grace.
Receiving these graces is very easy. The acts of indulgence are all explained in a little book called the Handbook of Indulgences. To receive the indulgence, one needs to:
•Go to the sacrament of Reconciliation (to gain forgiveness for your sins)
•Receive the Holy Eucharist (to be intimately united to Christ, the source of all grace)
•Pray the Creed (to reaffirm your faith in all that God has revealed about Himself)
•Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father (to unite yourself to the Church)
•Have no attraction to sin (while this phrase is a bit vague, in moral theology it typically means that you have fully chosen to renounce sin through an act of the will - even if your sense appetite is still attracted to it)
•Perform the act prescribed by the Church (the act is usually an act of prayer or devotion done in unity with the Church - for example, praying the Rosary in a Church building, going on a pilgrimage to a designated Church or cathedral)
That's it! Christ's grace is available to all so very easily! I hope you can see that the Church's beliefs in Purgatory, Temporal Punishment, and Indulgences are not beliefs that dwell on sin and punishment. While it is important to be reminded of sin and its dangers and consequences, it is more important to move from an awareness of sin to an awareness of the Good News of God's mercy and grace. These doctrines do just that. They are all about the abundance of God's merciful love and healing grace.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, November 1, 2010
All Souls Day
All Souls Day
By Scott P. Richert, About.com Guide
Date:
November 2
Type of Feast:
Feast
Prayers:
Eternal Rest, Eternal Memory, Weekly Prayers for the Faithful Departed
History:
Often overshadowed by Halloween (October 31) and All Saints Day (November 1), All Souls Day is a solemn feast in the Roman Catholic Church commemorating all of those who have died and now are in Purgatory, being cleansed of their venial sins and atoning before entering fully into Heaven. The importance of the feast was made clear by Pope Benedict XV (1914-22), when he granted all priests the privilege of celebrating three Masses on All Souls Day: one, for the faithful departed; one for the priest's intentions; and one for the intentions of the Holy Father. Only on a handful of other very important feast days are priests allowed to celebrate more than two Masses.
While All Souls Day is now paired with All Saints Day, which celebrates all of the faithful who are in Heaven, it originally was celebrated in the Easter season, around Pentecost Sunday (and still is in the Eastern Catholic Churches). By the tenth century, the celebration had been moved to October; and sometime between 998 and 1030, St. Odilo of Cluny decreed that it should be celebrated on November 2 in all of the monasteries of his Benedictine congregation. Over the next two centuries, other Benedictines and the Carthusians began to celebrate it in their monasteries as well, and soon it spread to the entire Church.
On All Souls Day, we not only remember the dead, but we apply our efforts, through prayer, almsgiving, and the Mass, to their release from Purgatory. There are two indulgences attached to All Souls Day, one for visiting a church and another for visiting a cemetery. While the actions are performed by the living, the merits of the indulgences are applicable only to the souls in Purgatory.
Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. In the modern world, when many have come to doubt the Church's teaching on Purgatory, the need for such prayers has only increased. The Church devotes the month of November to prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and participation in the Mass of All Souls Day is a good way to begin the month.
By Scott P. Richert, About.com Guide
Date:
November 2
Type of Feast:
Feast
Prayers:
Eternal Rest, Eternal Memory, Weekly Prayers for the Faithful Departed
History:
Often overshadowed by Halloween (October 31) and All Saints Day (November 1), All Souls Day is a solemn feast in the Roman Catholic Church commemorating all of those who have died and now are in Purgatory, being cleansed of their venial sins and atoning before entering fully into Heaven. The importance of the feast was made clear by Pope Benedict XV (1914-22), when he granted all priests the privilege of celebrating three Masses on All Souls Day: one, for the faithful departed; one for the priest's intentions; and one for the intentions of the Holy Father. Only on a handful of other very important feast days are priests allowed to celebrate more than two Masses.
While All Souls Day is now paired with All Saints Day, which celebrates all of the faithful who are in Heaven, it originally was celebrated in the Easter season, around Pentecost Sunday (and still is in the Eastern Catholic Churches). By the tenth century, the celebration had been moved to October; and sometime between 998 and 1030, St. Odilo of Cluny decreed that it should be celebrated on November 2 in all of the monasteries of his Benedictine congregation. Over the next two centuries, other Benedictines and the Carthusians began to celebrate it in their monasteries as well, and soon it spread to the entire Church.
On All Souls Day, we not only remember the dead, but we apply our efforts, through prayer, almsgiving, and the Mass, to their release from Purgatory. There are two indulgences attached to All Souls Day, one for visiting a church and another for visiting a cemetery. While the actions are performed by the living, the merits of the indulgences are applicable only to the souls in Purgatory.
Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. In the modern world, when many have come to doubt the Church's teaching on Purgatory, the need for such prayers has only increased. The Church devotes the month of November to prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and participation in the Mass of All Souls Day is a good way to begin the month.
The Catholic Vote
Surveys and polling by the Catholic Advocate provide powerful insight on the Catholic vote in America:
Here are the five things we know about the Catholic vote:
1. Candidates and parties should focus on the religiously active Catholic voters, not those who are only self-identified. Those Catholics who attend Mass regularly are the voters most likely to be motivated by their Catholic values and worldview. Without this distinction, the Catholic vote will not appear much different from the general electorate. When Jody Bottum, former editor of First Things, argues there is Catholic vote that’s because he ignores this basic distinction.
2. Active Catholic voters care about social issues and what appears to them the steady moral decline of our nation. This is true, regardless of the state of the economy. Candidates who want to win Catholic voters should not dismiss social issues impacting the family, raising children, and education.
3. Catholics want candidates to address social and moral issues but in a compassionate way. Catholic voters don’t respond well to a tone of angry moral indignation or denunciation.
4. Catholics are pro-military, patriotic, and they view the United States as possessing a unique historical role. Thus, Catholic voters are extremely sensitive to gestures, symbolic or otherwise, that show disrespect to our country or its military. Two reasons for this are the immigrant background of many Catholic families and the fact that Catholics have served in disproportionate numbers in the military since World War II.
5. Catholics care about the disadvantaged, such as those living in poverty, those children who receive substandard nutrition and education, or the elderly who can no longer take care of themselves.
>>>Whatever you do, vote tomorrow and as a Catholic vote with a properly formed conscience and candidates who promote pro-life!
Here are the five things we know about the Catholic vote:
1. Candidates and parties should focus on the religiously active Catholic voters, not those who are only self-identified. Those Catholics who attend Mass regularly are the voters most likely to be motivated by their Catholic values and worldview. Without this distinction, the Catholic vote will not appear much different from the general electorate. When Jody Bottum, former editor of First Things, argues there is Catholic vote that’s because he ignores this basic distinction.
2. Active Catholic voters care about social issues and what appears to them the steady moral decline of our nation. This is true, regardless of the state of the economy. Candidates who want to win Catholic voters should not dismiss social issues impacting the family, raising children, and education.
3. Catholics want candidates to address social and moral issues but in a compassionate way. Catholic voters don’t respond well to a tone of angry moral indignation or denunciation.
4. Catholics are pro-military, patriotic, and they view the United States as possessing a unique historical role. Thus, Catholic voters are extremely sensitive to gestures, symbolic or otherwise, that show disrespect to our country or its military. Two reasons for this are the immigrant background of many Catholic families and the fact that Catholics have served in disproportionate numbers in the military since World War II.
5. Catholics care about the disadvantaged, such as those living in poverty, those children who receive substandard nutrition and education, or the elderly who can no longer take care of themselves.
>>>Whatever you do, vote tomorrow and as a Catholic vote with a properly formed conscience and candidates who promote pro-life!
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