The American Catholic Conference: Kung Starts Things Off But I Write About Fox

I have to admit this is too frequently my primary source of knowledge.  It's the discernment thing that becomes an issue.

The American Catholic Conference is off and running.  Last night's opening address was given by Hans Kung via video.  The National Catholic Reporter has this article about Kung's thoughts, and Brian Coyne, editor of Catholica Australia is in attendance and has posted his thoughts in this first article, and then lists the ACC Bill of Rights in this post.  I was actually going to do a post on this Bill of Rights, but decided instead to focus on another of the Council's keynote speakers, Mathew Fox.  Fox has just released a new book, The Pope's War, which maintains that the JPII/Benedict papacies have essentially been schismatic precisely because both papacies have done everything in their power to abrogate the main thrust of Vatican II.  Kung says essentially the same thing, if not so strongly, but even Kung calls for a peaceful revolution and compares the  Papacy to the French monarchy just before the French revolution.

There's an interesting interview with Mathew Fox about his new book, and I am going to excerpt his answer to one question because  my own thoughts echo Fox's.  Lately I've had a number of people (non Catholics) ask me why I bother with this blog or with Catholicism at all, and I blather on endlessly and not too coherently.  Mathew Fox on the other hand, hits most of my reasons in the following answer:

If I am not Catholic (or even Christian), should I be at all interested in this book on the woes of the Catholic Church?

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination by far.  Its global influence is profound for good or for ill.  It has at times drawn many wonderful and generous souls into its service even if today many are tripping over each other to exit.  When it chooses at its hierarchical level to support dictatorships and fascist rulers—and to imitate them—that impacts on all of us.  (On this score, the last two papacies have been following Pius XII's script.  Benny has just substituted secularism for communism.)

When it teaches that birth control and condoms are wrong when the world is being swamped by excessive human population as well as by sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, that affects us all.  

When its theatrical rituals suck all the religious air out of the room because it is pleasing to television’s needs to elevate a person dressed in white to cult status, that affects us all. (There is a great deal of truth to this observation. No question that Papal theatrics are TV friendly.)

When Ratzinger interfered in the US presidential election of 2004 by telling bishops to publicly announce that a Roman Catholic voter cannot vote for a politician (i.e. Kerry) who favors women’s choice and the vote of three states (Iowa, Ohio and New Mexico) was determined by that intervention as studies show, then the fact that the Vatican got Bush elected his second term is of concern for all. (Yes indeedy, which is why we now have the Republican Catholic Church in the US and it's being led by converted southern evangelicals.)

When theological thinkers are suspended and pedophile priests are countenanced and their hierarchical defenders are promoted (a la Cardinal Law), that affects us all. 

When fascist cults like Opus Dei and Legion of Christ and Communion and Liberation are promoted by the Vatican, that affects us all.  (And this is matched by incessant pressure on the historical orders like the Jesuits and Benedictines.)

When base communities and liberation theology are denounced, that affects us all.  When the spirit and teachings of the great Vatican Council including outreach to all world religions are denied, that affects us all.

And when morality is reduced almost exclusively to sexual issues instead of the great issues of planetary survival and social and economic justice, that affects us all.

The hijacking of the name and teachings of Jesus in the name of Ecclesiolatry affects us all.  Ours are not a time for keeping silent about the sins of organized religion.  Ours are a time for starting over.

All of the above is reason enough to be concerned about and active in the attempt to reformat Catholicism, but reform it to what?  It's here where I am really in line with Fox's thinking.  In some respects we have been walking the same path from different starting  points.  In the following Fox is answering a question about the other book on Christian mystics he was writing at the same time he was writing The Pope's War:

Writing The Pope’s War (Sterling, May 2011) was so dour, so dark, so dreary, the news was so much the opposite of uplifting that I told a friend I felt like Oscar the Grouch who lived in the garbage can on Sesame Street.  Yes, it was like living with garbage.  What to do?  I put the project, about 60% finished, on a shelf not sure I would ever return to it.  All my other books had uplifted me in the writing; not that one.  It dragged me down day after day.  It was not fun. (Same with this blog some days. Covering the Vatican is sometimes like wallowing in a big dipsy dumpster full of spiritual and psychological garbage.)

The culmination of the pope book was my conviction that the Holy Spirit is so decimating Catholicism as we know it today that we can and need to push the restart button on Christianity.  This includes “taking the treasure from the burning building” as I put it in the book.  And first and foremost of those treasures is our mystical and prophetic heritage.  Thus Christian Mystics is a deep part of the treasure that our lineage contains.  It points the way to Christianity’s greatest accomplishments and its greatest future potential.  The task is not that complicated: It is about turning out mystics and prophets.  Like Jesus did; and was.

Mathew Fox is onto something about Christianity's task.  I too believe the task is to mentor mystics and prophets and that the teachings of Jesus were all about what it takes to be a mystic, a prophet, and a healer. His teachings were meant to unfold the reality of heaven on earth.  They were not meant to create Vatican City and Catholic clericalism, both of which exist to disempower the laity.  And that to me is the real heresy of the last two papacies--they have been bound and determined to disempower the laity and return to clerical triumphalism.  I will fight that tooth and nail because that path leads to chaos and destruction.  If anyone doubts that, just review the real history of the Vatican and it's support of fascism in World War II.


 

The American Catholic Conference--A Place Where No Roman Catholic Is Allowed To Go

 

 

Detroit's Archbishop Vigneron has laid down the law to priests and deacons in his diocese about this weekends American Catholic Conference.  For even more fun and instruction about the potential evils of this conference, check out this link from the Archdiocesan website.

 

Abp. Vigneron Letter on the American Catholic Council

 

Issued: June 3, 2011

 My dear brother priests and deacons, 

 

As you may be aware, a group calling itself the American Catholic Council will be meeting at Cobo Hall on the weekend of June 11 and 12. Despite my attempts to engage in a dialogue with them about this planned event, the organizers of this conference have not replied to me directly. I have a number of concerns about this event and caution any Catholic against participating for reasons expressed already in previous communications sent by the Archdiocese. (Maybe this has to do with your letter of Oct. 12, 2010.)

Of particular concern is the "Eucharistic Liturgy," noted on the schedule for this conference on Pentecost Sunday, June 12. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council instruct us, "Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of the Christian religion to the divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord's commandments and with the Church's laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese." (Lumen Gentium, 26). I take my role as moderator of the liturgy for the archdiocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 22) very seriously. To confirm the legitimacy of what they had planned, the ACC had been asked to provide details regarding this liturgy. The response received was ambiguous, and there are good reasons for believing forbidden concelebration will take place by the laity and with those not in full communion with the Church.

In order to fulfill my responsibilities, so clearly enunciated by the Second Vatican Council, of fostering of communion with both the local and the universal Church, I am compelled to caution any priests or deacons who may be considering participation in this liturgy. It is not being celebrated with my permission as required by the law and the good order of the People of God. Further, clergy should be aware of the impact of forbidden concelebration with those who are not in full communion (canons 908 and 1365). This is a serious delict, for which recourse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is required, and which may result in dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2001 and 2010). (This kind of thing gives me heartburn.  He's threatening laicization over this, but it took decades to get the Vatican to act on clerical pedophiles?)


I ask that you pray with me for the unity of the Church. As we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin in this upcoming Solemnity, may the Holy Spirit come afresh on all of us, keeping us united in the love of God and keeping our attention and energies focused on the task of sharing Christ in and through His Church.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit

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Honest to God, all I can do any more is laugh.  Seriously.  On one day Benny is telling us all about the sainted war criminal Stepanic and the next day Vigneron is threatening laicization for priests and deacons who might share the Eucharist with people like Hans Kung and Joan Chittister.  It's funny to think wishy washy bleeding heart liberals are a bigger threat to my soul and body than autocratic fascist war criminals and child pedophiles.

Am I the only one who has come to the conclusion Roman Catholicism has degenerated to the level of surreal absurdity.  Are we all waiting for Godot?

I say bring on American Catholicism.  It can't be any worse than what currently passes for Roman Catholicism. 

Benedict Inventifacts The Croatian Catholic History Of WWII

Croatian Archbishop Stepanic maybe 'Blessed' in the Vatican fantasy world, but in the real world he's a war criminal.

It has been a very very long time since our Catholic leadership has really sent me over the emotional edge.  Mostly they make me angry in the 'here we go again' sense, but this time Benedict has turned the pilot light to full bore blazing torch.  Of course the article came from CNA.  It is part of CNA's coverage of Benedict's trip to Croatia.

Pope pays tribute to Blessed Cardinal Stepinac of Croatia
Aboard the papal plane, Jun 4, 2011 / 12:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope has hailed Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, the late Cardinal Archbishop of Zagreb in Croatia, as “a great pastor and a great Christian.” The Pope made his comments during an in-flight interview with journalists as he traveled to Croatia for a two-day visit. (This is the same man under whose Catholic rule, Croatia experienced a full bore Roman Catholic led genocide.  The numbers of murdered at the hands of Catholic clergy alone are staggering.)

Cardinal Stepinac was the leader of the Catholic Church in Croatia during the Second World War when the country briefly regained independence under a Nazi puppet regime, the Ustase.


After the war, the Nazis were replaced with the communists. An outspoken critic of the regime, Cardinal Stepinac was imprisoned following a show-trial in 1946 and later died under house arrest in 1952.
Pope Benedict described both regimes – Nazi and communist – as “anti-humanist.”


The Ustase regime, he said, “seemed to fulfill the dream of autonomy and independence, but in reality it was an autonomy that was a lie because it was exploited by Hitler for his own purposes.” (It was the other way around.  Even hardened Nazi military officers were appalled with the actions of the Ustache.)


The Pope said that in the midst of this turmoil, Cardinal Stepinac was a courageous defender of those oppressed by the Ustase, including Serbs, Jews and gypsies. (This is an utter lie.  Stepanic was the Ustache's great enabler along with the Vatican,  and one of Dictator Ante Pavelic's biggest supporters and benefactors.)

Cardinal Stepinac stood up against “the dictatorship of communism, where he again fought for the faith, for the presence of God in the world, the true humanity that is dependent on the presence of God,” the Pope concluded, calling the Croatian cardinal “a great example not only for the Croats, but all of us.”
Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac was declared a martyr and beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998. (An unbelievable step which put fuel on an already burning sectarian fire in the Balkans.)

When Pope Benedict arrived at the Zagreb Airport, he urged all Croats to pray to Blessed Aloysius Stepinac.
“In view of the challenges confronting the Church and civil society today, I invoke upon this land and all its inhabitants the intercession and assistance of Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, the beloved and venerable Shepherd of your people.”

“May he accompany the young generations as they strive to live by that charity which prompted the Lord Jesus Christ to give his life for all people.” ( I would strongly encourage those young people to read Stepanic's true story, not the revisionist history this pope is using to mask the Vatican's direct participation in the Ustache genocide.)

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For readers who are interested in a well researched introduction into the Ustache genocide which occurred in Croatian territory under Nazi occupation, I strongly encourage you to follow this link.  This article, written by frequent commenter Betty Clermont, is a brilliant synopsis of the truth of this period of history and Stepanic's place in it.  For those who need more info, the list of footnotes and links at the end of the article will give you all you could want.  It is not for the faint hearted Catholic afraid to deal with some very hard Catholic truth about the aims and politics of the papacy and the Vatican.

The following quote from Betty's article is from historian Avro Manhattan's book "The Vatican Holocaust."  It will gives an idea of what things were really like during the Archbishop Stepanic backed Ustache regime. 

"It is an historical fact. Rabid nationalism and religious dogmatism were its two main ingredients. During the existence of Croatia as an independent Catholic State, over 700,000 men, women and children perished. Many were executed, tortured, died of starvation, buried alive, or were burned to death. Hundreds were forced to become Catholic. Catholic padres ran concentration camps; Catholic priests were officers of the military corps which committed such atrocities. 700,000 in a total population of a few million, proportionally, would be as if one-third of the USA population had been exterminated by a Catholic militia." 

Two investigators to the Ustasha arrival into Zagreb in April 1941 wrote that Archbishop Stepinac immediately “offered his congratulations to Pavelic” and held a banquet to celebrate the founding of the new Nazi puppet state. He also ordered the proclamation of the independent state to be delivered from all pulpits of the Catholic Church in Croatia on Easter Sunday and arranged Pavelic’s audience with Pope Pius XII. Stepinac issued a Pastoral Letter ordering the Croatian clergy to support the new Ustasha state:

God, who directs the destiny of nations and controls the hearts of Kings, has given us Ante Pavelic and moved the leader of a friendly and allied people, Adolf Hitler, to use his victorious troops to disperse our oppressors…Glory be to God, our gratitude to Adolf Hitler and loyalty to our Poglavnik, Ante Pavelic. [11]

Oh and guess who held the office of Supreme Military Apostolic Vicar of the Ustasha Army--the now Blessed Martyr Archbishop Stepanic.  No wonder JPII did away with the office of Devil's Advocate.  It would have been far more difficult to accomplish mission 'whitewash' if one had to deal with a legitimate fact based look at Stepanic's career during WWII.

This inventifacting thing the Vatican has done to white wash the Catholic history in Croatia makes me furious.  Part of that is because I have Slovenian and Croatian blood in my veins. When I researched the history of Catholic Croatia in WWII,  I was appalled and sickened.  In retrospect this research instigated the shattering loss of my innocence when it came to my Catholic Identity.  I can see why Benedict would want to completely white wash this truth, especially in view of his repeated stressing of Catholic Identity as the antidote to secular relativism.  That was the whole idea behind backing the Ustache--Catholicism coupled with Catholic fascism as the antidote to godless communism.  It was a policy that failed horribly, but rather than learn any lessons, the Vatican has insisted on attempting to repeat the strategy, and that has called for outright deceit about the truth of it's failures.

If this is the Vatican's idea for the long term survivability of Catholic influence and power, not only can I be counted out, but I will be actively opposing it.
 

 

Why I Would Not Follow Bishop Finn Into Spiritual Battle.

Joan of Arc, by Jules Bastien-Lepage.  Joan was a real 'spiritual warrior', who got the connection between temporal and spiritual authority.

 

 

The following message from Robert Finn is pretty much standard fare for our bishops.  Finn is different though, in that he claims to be a true spiritual warrior.  Based on this letter, Bishop Finn is all talk and no walk on that issue.

Message from Bishop Finn to All in Our Diocese

The following message from Bishop Robert Finn will be read at Masses in the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph this weekend:

These past few weeks all of us have endured the consequences of our human failure. The destructive sins of a few and the serious lapses in communication have caused us shame, anger, and confusion. (This is typical bishop language--all the 'we' statements as if Finn is a victim along with everyone else. He is a main part of the problem, not one of the victims.)

There are victims that are hurting, and others who have been left vulnerable by our processes. As you know, in the past two weeks one priest was arrested and we removed another from ministry. They are the first sitting pastors to be removed in our Diocese in more than 20 years. (Which is a slick way to gloss over the 10 million dollar settlement and it's other specific stipulations from 2008.)

These are sobering realities, particularly for those who knew and trusted them. We are assessing what went wrong and applying our analysis as we move forward. This past week, I met with our Independent Review Board chairman and discussed the objectivity of our decision processes. I have also met with parishioners, our priests and Chancery staff, as well as the media. These meetings and discussions will continue.

As bishop, I take full responsibility for these failures and sincerely apologize to you for them. Clearly, we have to do more. Please know that we have --- and will continue to cooperate with all local authorities regarding these matters.

While we must deal with these difficult and trying issues we also must give thanks for the daily accomplishments of our lay faithful, priests and others for the many good works that continue on behalf of neighbors, sick or poor, young or old. (Thus begins the last section of his letter which jumps totally off topic.)

You generously responded to the need of people devastated by recent storms. Our food pantries and advocacy for the disadvantaged are second to none in our community.

These difficult days have also been marked with celebrations of our faith: First Communions and Confirmations, school graduations, weddings, anniversaries and Ordinations and other ceremonies. These blessings are noticed and counted, not lost.

On Pentecost Sunday, June 12, I will offer the 9:00 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Please join me.  At the same time I ask our pastors to offer the Pentecost Mass in your parishes – for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon this local Church, that God may give us whatever gifts and graces we need to carry forward His commission. 

 

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Bishop Finn has given Catholics another typical response of a bishop who was caught not playing the game by the bishop's own rules.  He too is a victim, and although 'we' didn't quite get things right, 'we' are straightening things out and so back to business as usual because by the grace of God everything in our little diocese is really quite fine.  

 

But then, in this article, from KSHB the local NCB affiliate,  we have the thoughts to two different groups of laity.  One group is protesting outside the cathedral and one group is across the street praying:

 

Bishop Finn has apologized several times for 'not doing enough' to stop the alleged behaviors. However, those words of remorse have fallen on deaf years for some long-time Catholics.
Edith Beverly Hurlbert, a member of Holy Family Parish, explained, “We cannot endanger our children, they are our future generation. They are our future."

However, those who believe in the bishop's abilities argue the battle can only be won through prayer.
Roper said, “The true enemy here, Beth, is not someone in a Roman collar. The true enemy is the one we all fight. It is the evil one."
 

Oh my, it's not Finn and his administration, it's the 'evil one', and the only people really empowered to fight the 'evil one' are Finn and his administration. That's pretty slick if you think about it.  It's also the product of Finn's preaching and teaching.  I've written about Finn and his 'teaching' before.  There is no ideology better at keeping laity powerless and clericalism prominent than that of Satan and his war for our individual souls.  It's militarism on supernatural steroids.  

 

The best part about this ideology, at least for Finn, is that 'we' are under attack and 'we' need to stick together. In Finn's thinking it was those individual priests who succumbed to Satan's power which caused all this, not 'we' who stand right with the Lord and certainly not Finn because Finn is a leader in God's spiritual army on Earth.  Finn is an ordained  bishop in the Church Militant.  Unfortunately for Finn, Jesus taught something entirely different.

In Jesus's teaching, spiritual authority and power came from the proper and demonstrated exercise of temporal authority. Which only makes sense.  Why would one be given power and authority in the spiritual realm if one was brainless about it's exercise in the temporal realm?  It's the whole point about servant leadership and the denial of constantly caving in to ego wants and needs.  One must die to the 'self', and this means giving up ego driven notions of temporal authority and power.  Mathew 16-18 comes right after Peter has been given the power to bind and loose and then demonstrates he totally doesn't get what Jesus is about:

He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."19 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, 20 take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 21
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?

So, based on Finn's actions under temporal duress, would I personally follow Bishop Finn into a spiritual battle with Satan and his minions?  Not in a million years.

 

 

A Catholic Bishop With A GLBT Message Of A Different Sort.

Bishop Sullivan deserves his name in neon for the following op ed piece.  This will have to do.

Bishop Joseph Sullivan, retired Auxilliary Bishop of Brooklyn has written a piece on GLBT inclusion I doubt we will see coming from the USCCB any time in the near future--like at the upcoming June meeting.
 
Catholics are reaching out to the LGBT community

By Bishop Joseph Sullivan - BuffaloNews.com - 6/2/2011

One need only flip through some of today’s cable news channels to witness how some of our society’s most sensitive public policy matters are overly simplified in black-and-white terms, in which only the most strident voices seem to get heard. Of those many hotly debated issues, the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community continue to make headlines.

What you would probably be surprised to learn is that Catholics are among those who increasingly are reaching out pastorally to the LGBT community. A recent study released by the Public Religion Research Institute found that a majority of Catholics believe that job discrimination against gay and lesbian people should be outlawed. By almost 2 to 1, Catholics believe that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to adopt children.

The views of Catholics about the LGBT community have been evolving for years. Catholic teachings compel us to work toward the elimination of unjust structures and to treat people with dignity, regardless of their state in life or their beliefs. My own understanding of this community has also evolved over the course of four decades of ministry.

Given that Catholics represent approximately one-quarter of the U. S. population, the changing attitudes of Catholics toward greater degrees of LGBT equality most likely will be a significant influence in the public square. Across the country there are increasing numbers of parishes that welcome LGBT parishioners and their families to active participation in the church. Catholic colleges and universities are in dialogue with their LGBT students, and Catholic retreat houses provide retreats specifically for LGBT Catholics.
 
Catholics and other religious people who support LGBT rights do so because of their experience of engagement with members of the LGBT community. They are not rebels in their churches, but people who have taken spiritual messages of inclusiveness and welcoming to heart. They are taking the church’s teaching on social justice and applying it to pastoral practice in engaging the LGBT community.

We see these teachings play out as Catholics across the country engage in prayerful and meaningful dialogues about understanding and embracing the LGBT community. This dialogue is happening amongst faithful families, in student groups on the campuses of Catholic universities, and within church congregations. This dialogue is admittedly difficult, at times, but important.

More than a decade ago, the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a graceful message, “Always Our Children,” which reminded us, “For St. Paul love is the greatest of spiritual gifts. St. John considers love to be the most certain sign of God’s presence.” For most Catholics, there can be no statement that better summarizes an attitude of welcoming of our LGBT brothers and sisters than those of Jesus, “love one another as I have loved you.”

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Although I appreciate these words from Bishop Sullivan, I can't help but notice he is another retired Bishop and wonder if Catholicism has reached a point where only retired bishops are free to act Christ like as opposed to Catholic like.  It seems only retired bishops are allowed to see and state truth, while active bishops are stuck with deception and fantasy.  Of course retired bishops are free of the need to pander for money and I know that has a great deal to do with their equal freedom to state truth. 

Bishop Sullivan is not quoting statistics about Catholics that apply to the hierarchy.  The stats he quotes pertain to the laity.  The hierarchy is pandering to right wing money and they are teaching exclusion, discrimination, and outright bigotry.  They call this defending religious freedom.  I call it masking a form of economic slavery.  "Pander to Caesar for the things that are Caesar's, and take from God the things that are God's" seems to be the verse of the day when it comes to the official stance on LGBT issues.  The laity is no longer buying this message and it seems neither are some of our retired bishops.

"How stupid do they think we are?" is becoming a very frequent comment on blogs from across the Catholic spectrum. Whether the issue is clerical cover ups, financial accountability,  LGBT inclusion and other sex/gender issues, or even liturgical changes,  laity are not taking these 'teachings' well, or silently, or in obedience.  And that's true across the ideological spectrum.  The issues might be different but the response is becoming the same. "How stupid do they think we are?"  These are not cases of shooting the messenger. These are cases of refusing the message.  If the Church really was the military style organization it pretends to be, a lot of our officers would be removed.  When the troops stop obeying the officers, the officers need to go---or those officers need to man up and ask for new orders from higher up the chain.  

Catholics won't see either strategy enacted. We only have a pseudo military structure.  We have a hierarchical structure where the level of accountability is in an inverse ratio to level of authority.  Or to put it differently, the closer one gets to "god" the fewer mistakes one is allowed to acknowledge. By the time one reaches the pinnacle, one is infallible and totally unaccountable to mere human beings. Or so we're taught and expected to believe.


I think I mentioned yesterday that I have been reading Acts.  I couldn't help but notice that Peter and Paul and company are not running the early Church like some sort of military organization.  They run it more like an nascent form of social democracy with a lot of help from spiritual mentors outside our reality, starting with the Holy Spirit.  One would have thought if those mentors had seen any advantage in a military hierarchy they would have given a message or two along those lines.  They didn't, but Constantine did.  Maybe the reason they didn't is because spiritual progress is not amenable to a boot camp approach.  It's a lot messier than that.


In any event Bishop Sullivan, who is no longer an active member of our chain of command, is now free to acknowledge the troops aren't stupid and are in fact ahead of the officer corps. In the meantime the active bishops continue to abuse their authority in an attempt to shore up that authority. When it comes to defending religious freedom in opposing LGBT rights, even adoptive children and those that serve them have become acceptable collateral damage.  How is this part of the Gospel mandate? Which again makes me pose the question: "how stupid do they think we are?"

















 

The Finn Fiasco Gets Deeper. The Anger Level Rises

Bishop Finn's cappa magna, a Christmas gift from the the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles convent. This is not the same convent in which Finn deposited Ratigan. Next Christmas perhaps it will be sack cloth and ashes.  For a trip to Finn's 1950's Heartland Catholicism, try this link.

More details have been revealed about the Ratigan case in Kansas City, MO.  They are disheartening to say the least.

Diocese was warned in 2006 about priest now facing child porn charges, lawsuit alleges
By JUDY L. THOMAS and GLENN E. RICE
The Kansas City Star

Local Roman Catholic officials were warned in 2006 about a priest now accused of possessing child pornography yet took no action, a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday alleges.

The lawsuit, filed by the parents of a young girl, also alleges that beginning around 2006 and continuing through 2010 the Rev. Shawn F. Ratigan took photographs underneath her clothing and while the child was nude.

Lawyers for the child’s family said the photographs were taken while Ratigan was assigned in St. Joseph.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, names Ratigan, Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as defendants.

“Another child has been harmed, and more children have been harmed, and this diocese has failed to protect the children,” Jeff Anderson of the Minnesota law firm of Anderson & Associates said in a news conference in Kansas City.

The diocese issued a brief statement in response to the lawsuit.

“First and foremost, the diocese is deeply concerned for the well-being of this child and her family,” the statement said. “The bishop has reached out to a number of parishes and offered listening sessions.”...

....But the lawsuit alleges that as far back as 2006 an employee of the diocese reported to diocesan officials that she observed suspicious behavior involving Ratigan and a young girl. The lawsuit alleges that the diocese and Finn protected themselves and Ratigan from scandal by doing nothing with the report.The plaintiff’s lawyers would not provide further details about the 2006 report, including who made it or specifically to whom it was given.

The lawsuit alleges Ratigan took sexually explicit photographs, uploaded them to his computer and distributed them over the Internet. It also contends that Finn and the diocese possessed and distributed child pornography by viewing and making copies of Ratigan’s photos.
The lawsuit seeks damages, including expenses incurred for medical treatment of the girl.

Two law firms announced the legal action Thursday at a news conference.
Anderson’s firm was joined by the Kansas City firm of Randles, Mata & Brown, which has filed dozens of priest sex-abuse lawsuits. Anderson & Associates has filed about 2,000 priest sex-abuse lawsuits across the country.
The diocese “allowed this predator, Father Shawn Ratigan, to access children with what we believe is sufficient knowledge to not only have removed him but to have reported him,” Anderson said.
Ratigan’s attorney, John P. O’Connor, declined to comment.
One case handled by the Randles firm involved 47 plaintiffs and resulted in a $10 million settlement against the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese in 2008.
Rebecca Randles said the diocese entered an agreement with the plaintiffs when it settled that lawsuit.
“As part of the agreement, the diocese agreed that they would take certain steps to ensure that children were safe from now on,” she said.

Those steps, she said, included setting up victims’ advocacy programs and immediately reporting any abuse or suspicion of abuse to law enforcement authorities in accordance with Missouri statutes.
“Our clients are incredibly upset. They’re angry, and they’re very sad that the steps they took to try to protect children for the future simply seemed to fall on deaf ears,” Randles said. “At the time we negotiated those settlements, the bishop and the monsignor were in the mediations listening to those stories of abuse, listening to the lives that were shattered.” (So much for the impact of listening sessions on the Bishop and his Vicar.)


Pat Noaker, of Anderson & Associates, told The Star that the FBI was investigating the case and that the girl’s family had been cooperating with the agency. Authorities in Buchanan County, where St. Joseph is located, also said the FBI was investigating.
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said she could neither confirm nor deny whether the agency was looking into the Ratigan case....

.....Noaker said the lawsuit was alleging that the diocese possessed and distributed child pornography because “they had access, and they in fact made copies of the pornography that they pulled off Father Ratigan’s computer in December 2010, and they possessed that for six months before turning it over to law enforcement authorities.”“They also distributed it to different people along the way.”
The lawsuit cites Masha’s Law, a federal law enacted in 2006 that gives child-pornography victims the right to sue anyone who produces, downloads, distributes or possesses sexually explicit images of them.
The law was named after a girl from Russia who was adopted at age 5 by a man who sexually abused her and made recordings of it.
Victims can recover damages of no less than $150,000.

Randles told The Star that she also had been contacted by six members of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Kansas City, North, who allege that their children are victims of Ratigan. He was at St. Patrick from July 2009 to December 2010.

Police have said they had contacted families at the church in an attempt to identify the girls in the photos. Lawyers in the case filed Thursday said that’s how their clients learned of the abuse.
The diocese on Thursday also asked for the public to help police with the case......

.....Finn is to meet with members of St. Thomas More parish in south Kansas City at 7 p.m. today.On Wednesday a review board established years ago by the diocese to assess sexual abuse allegations met privately for two hours and came up with a recommendation to deal with cases such as Ratigan’s.
Review board chairman Jim Caccamo and a diocesan spokeswoman said it would be up to the bishop whether to discuss the content of the proposal. (Uhhm, what have they been doing all these years?)


Thursday night dozens gathered at the Kansas City, North, Community Center to discuss the Ratigan case at a meeting organized by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
The meeting was closed to the media “out of consideration for the privacy and feelings of parishioners,” SNAP leaders said. Organizers said there was a standing-room-only crowd.

“It’s packed,” said Judy Jones, SNAP’s Midwest associate director. “As you can imagine, things are pretty tense in there. People are very upset. Almost everyone is angry at the church officials.”
Stephanie Gunn, of St. Thomas More parish, said she was “sick and fed up of the whole situation.”
“I came here because I’m devastated,” she said. “I’m embarrassed, and I am so angry at the religious leaders of the Catholic Church. … They have put children’s lives in danger. They knew it, and they tried to sweep it under the covers like they have in the past.


“It’s not going to work this time. There are too many people who are fired up, and we intend to go as far as we can to remove these people from the diocese office.”
Gunn said numerous people talked about wanting the bishop to step down.
“They’re sick of it,” she said. “They’re not willing to listen to any more excuses.”

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/02/2922692/diocese-was-warned-in-2006-about.html#ixzz1ODKzpi9l

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I see a number of things that make this Kansas City case more immediate and anger inducing for practicing Catholics.  First, Finn made an issue of his orthodoxy and piety.  He used these aspects of his pastoral approach to burnish his credentials and brow beat his flock.  Guess what, he's as big a fraud as any so called progressive liberal.  Secondly, this case is acting out in the heartland of America--where these things don't happen.  This one is not happening on either of the 'left' coasts.  Guess what, the myth of the right and proper heartland is just that--a myth.  Oh and while were are on myths, perhaps we can begin to see the problem of child sexual abuse as an equal opportunity exploiter--an issue of abuse of power and not sexual orientation.  After all,  Ratigan's alleged targets were young girls.  This situation is exploding a lot of myths used to delude the average Catholic.

There is hope in all the myths being exploded in Kansas City.  Laity who might have swallowed some of these myths whole are now not swallowing anything.  They are finally choking on them.  As the one woman interviewed in the above article states: "It's not going to work this time."  Finally.  Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.  Fool me four and five times--what the hell is wrong with us?  Good question.  An important question.  It's a question whose real answer is wrapped up in traditional Catholic Identity. The clerical caste are not little gods.  They are flawed human beings, as equally flawed as any laity.  I just  hope there is enough anger for laity to finally process that fact and get past all the conditioning that is designed to prompt us to ignore these truths.
 

With Pentecost coming up I have been perusing the Acts of the Apostles.  Peter is not infallible by a long shot.  One of the things that has struck me is the Acts describe Peter as under going a sort of post Pentecostal  learning curve. He is always learning, always being forced to re evaluate his thinking and belief structure.  Perhaps this is one lesson we can take from the past few months.  Catholicism, like it's first leader, needs to continually undergo a learning process and re evaluate thought and belief structures. To pretend other wise is a straight road to all kinds of abuse.  Peter survived his learning curve, and the whole Church can survive this learning curve as well.  But not if it's clergy refuses the lessons.

This link will take you to Bishop Finn's official excuses letter.  


 

Jamie Manson Hits A Homerun.

This is taken from Catholica. AU.  Australia is another Western country where the laity may have had enough.  Tom McMahon is an American married priest whose essays in Catholica.Au are well worth reading.

This is a solid, powerful statement from someone who is tired of the way things are progressing in the Church.  I wish I had written it, but brothers and sisters, it sure does give voice to my own insight and anger.  And yes, some of that anger is self directed.  The entire NCR article is here.


..........The St. Patrick’s saga is but one example of the fascinating fear that many Catholics seem to have of calling church leaders to accountability the way they would elected officials, educators, and other non-clerical folk. This double standard that Catholics have in dealing with the clergy, I believe, is a result of the internalized clericalism that the laity inherited as part of their Catholic inculcation. (especially us cradle Catholics.)


Critics of the institutional church frequently point to the corrosive arrogance of the Catholic clergy as the root cause of so much abuse of power. It is important, however, to consider the extent to which the clericalism of the laity enables these abuses to take place, and to reflect on the multitude of ways this phenomenon affects a spectrum of Catholics, including some of our most progressive voices.

I have seen the effects of lay clericalism among professors at Catholic colleges and universities, who fret about discussing controversial issues about gender and sexuality in an academic forum. Tenured scholars, who are exponentially more educated than most Roman Catholic priests, can quickly become terrified of the reactions of bishops to their academic programs. (It broke my heart and almost my spirit, to see what Morlino's mandatum and Focus students did to one of my most cherished priest professors.)

I have seen lay clericalism in parishes considered “prophetic” because of their commitment to social justice, service to the poor, and welcoming of marginalized Catholics. And, yet, in many cases these progressive voices will not challenge the parish priest, even when he makes decisions that compromise a parish’s legacy of advocacy.


I know many lay women and men who have labored on parish staffs and have suffered the fruits of lay clericalism. Regardless of a lay minister’s education level, years of experience, and ministerial gifts, parishioners almost always have a submissive “preferential option” for the priest -- even if they disagree strongly with his policies and practices. A lay person’s degrees and pastoral presence are no match against the power of simply being “Father.”  (Or your Eminence.)

So often it is the clericalism of the laity, rather than the clericalism of the clergy, that undermines the power of the laity in our church.

No one knows what the future holds. People are waiting to see how the ordinariate in England progresses, and what the Church of England does next. But what remains with me is the joyful relief and commitment of these newcomers. At last, they feel, they are understood and wanted. 

Though many have rejected the paternalism of church teachings, especially on issues of sexual morality, so many Catholics have not been able to wipe away the residue of experiencing the Catholic clergy as a disapproving parent, capable of banishing us from the love of God. (The same attitude is extended to "the Church."

In the comments section of one of the NCR reports on the Ratigan case, several readers noted that Hess would surely be fired eventually for exposing both a predator priest and the mishandling of the case by a bishop who is a favorite of traditionalists.

Responding to this claim, an anonymous commentator, seemingly connected with St. Patrick’s, responded emphatically: “If this principal catches any grief over this[,] a full riot will occur at St. Pat's[.] I will help incite it. We will not let mis-conduct by the diocese punish our excellent school and its stellar leader.”
I pray that this person’s convictions will find support within St. Patrick’s lay community.

By risking their relationship with the institutional church in order to uphold a layperson of integrity, the laity of St. Patrick’s have the opportunity to join the growing ranks of Catholic communities that refuse to collude in the hierarchy’s abuse of power, like the administration of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz.

As the tales of the institutional church’s deception and negligence continue to mount, lay Catholics must stop making themselves subservient to their imagined notions of the power of the hierarchy, and must instead allow themselves to be channels of the power of God that is made manifest through sacrifice, courage, and truthfulness. 

They must recognize how their internalized clericalism may be impeding their prophetic participation in the Spirit’s unfolding work in our church.

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I have just a few things to add to what Jamie has written.  I told a friend of mine that the Finn fiasco in Kansas City seems to have ignited real honest anger in a lot of  people.  I don't know why that would be, except that Finn sort of proves even the most devout and pious and traditionally conservative of bishops is not any different than the most liberal and secular.  When it comes to the priesthood, for almost all of our bishops,  there is no bridge too far when it comes to valuing priests over the laity.  But in point of fact it might just be Finn's unbelievable comment about not having enough priests that was the spark that brought out all this anger.  There is no rational reason Catholicism has a priest shortage. None.  This one idiotic statement of Finn's, used to justify his failure to act in the case of a real problem priest,  may just actually be the bridge too far.

I now really strongly believe the Church has lost the laity in the West.  It's not a question of when the Church will fold it's tent, but rather, when the laity will recognize the vast vast majority of us have already had enough, we just couldn't admit it, but now are getting ready to act.  The new question is what happens now?  Well, there is a gathering of laity in Detroit over Pentecost weekend, June 10-12.  I suspect the Spirit will be blowing pretty strongly in Detroit that weekend.  I wish I could go, but the Spirit is sort of suggesting I stay where I'm at and honor some other commitments. I will be thinking, praying, and following it very closely.  There's an anger rising through out the Catholic West, and it's not against secularism.  It's against clericalism.  It just has to change and permanently.

For me personally there was another NCR article that had even more impact.  It's this one on the Anglican Ordinariate.  It was this paragraph at the end of the article: 

No one knows what the future holds. People are waiting to see how the ordinariate in England progresses, and what the Church of England does next. But what remains with me is the joyful relief and commitment of these newcomers. At last, they feel, they are understood and wanted.

I just couldn't compute that one thousand Anglican's are made to feel 'understood and wanted' at the expense of tens of millions of Catholics, both men and women, who don't feel either understood or wanted.  In my book that's abusive.  That's clericalism protecting clericalism.

Pope Benedict On The New Evangelization--And Some Thoughts Of My Own

The Vatican has certainly got the poverty witnessing thing down.

Yesterday, as in Monday, Pope Benedict spoke to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.  He had a few interesting takes on some modern issues.  Modern man may be a number of things, but Christian isn't one of them.  The following is from Zenit.org.

Modern Man Is Distracted, Says Holy Father
Says Proclamation of Jesus Needs More Effective Method

VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is expressing satisfaction that his reflection on the crisis in Christian life has taken concrete form in the new Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.

But the council, the Pope said today as he addressed its members at the conclusion of their first plenary assembly, has its work cut out for them.

Modern man is "often distracted and insensitive," he observed. "Because of this, the New Evangelization will have to be responsible for finding the methods to make the proclamation of salvation more effective."
The Holy Father's address was one of encouragement as he recalled his June 2010 announcement that set in motion the Curia's newest organization. (Wow, it's only taken a whole year to get this idea off the ground.)

Though secularization has left "heavy traces even in countries with a Christian tradition," he said, the Gospel "is the ever new proclamation of the salvation wrought by Christ to render humanity a participant in the mystery of God and in his life of love and to open it to a future of sure and strong hope."

Proclaiming Christ, the only Savior of the world, might seem more complex today than in the past, the Pontiff acknowledged, "but our task remains the same as at the dawn of our history. The mission has not changed, just as the enthusiasm and the courage that moved the Apostles and the first disciples must not change.
"The Holy Spirit who pushed them to open the doors of the Cenacle, making them into evangelizers, is the same Spirit that moves the Church today in a renewed proclamation of hope to the men of our time." (Hard to imagine those first Apostles were able to accomplish all that with out the supervision of the Vatican curia.)

Vigor

The "new" in a new evangelization, Benedict XVI proposed, is "intensifying missionary action to correspond fully with the Lord's mandate."

"In the course of the centuries the Church has never ceased to proclaim the salvific mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that same proclamation today needs a renewed vigor to convince contemporary man, often distracted and insensitive," he said. (I thought Jesus said the whole thing was about love.)

The Bishop of Rome said that even those who still maintain a link to their Christian roots need to understand that the faith is not a uniform to put on and take off at will, but rather "something alive and all-encompassing, able to take up all that is good in modernity." (Then why was the Vatican so worried about Bishop Morris wearing a suit and tie, and so indifferent to his pastoral ability?)

He urged the pontifical council members to devise a plan that can help the universal Church and particular Churches, one that is mindful of the lack of formation in younger generations.

And the key to success, the Holy Father reflected, citing Pope Paul VI, is holiness: "It is therefore primarily by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world, in other words, by her living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus -- the witness of poverty and detachment, of freedom in the face of the powers of this world, in short, the witness of sanctity." (Uhhmmm, poverty and detachment?)

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I sure hope Pope Benedict doesn't make this whole thing an exercise in dumping old wine into new wine skins.  He can't seriously think that anyone observing the actions of the Vatican curia would believe the line about poverty and detachment, or that there is freedom in the face of Vatican centrality, or that we're witnessing any form of real sanctity.  If he does, he should consider retirement.  The first thing the Church needs, if Benedict is serious about re evangelizing the west, is to live the countersign he wants the rest of us to be.  He should demonstrate a little poverty and in his case, less detachment.  He should demonstrate freedom in the face of the  powers of the world by refraining from being one of the powers of the world.  He's number five last I saw.  He could also stop confusing piety with sanctity.  Just because one beats oneself bloody or wears a cilice, or prostrates oneself in front of the Eucharist, that doesn't mean one has any sanctity.  Benedict's ideas about evangelization would go much further if he himself was the chief witness.

His predecessors, as in Peter, were highly effective at evangelizing because they actually lived what they taught.  They did as Jesus did.  It's pretty easy to get people to think about the importance of the Resurrection if you actually heal people, raise a few from the dead, or cast out a few demons--and then convince a whole bunch of other people they too can do the same.  I don't happen to think writing books has the same immediate effect.  Actually, I personally know it doesn't.  The operative word in the above sentences is THEY did it. 

The power of Christian witness is in community, and that community must be two or more.  Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs.  He said when 'two or more are gathered'. He hand picked twelve men and an unknown number of women to follow Him around.  He was never a solo act until the end--when He was seemingly powerless.  Think of the Garden of Gethsemane when He was at his most powerless and lowest point.  Where were His disciples? They were all sound asleep.  Just in case someone thinks Jesus was alone in the dessert, or at His resurrection.  Think again.  He was not alone.  There were just no humans around.

Christianity is not a solo act about saving ones soul.  It is all about communal witness. Unless Catholicism returns to that original teaching and witness of Jesus,  the new evangelization is not going anywhere.  Christianity was never about saving our own individual soul.  It was about building a collective consciousness and changing the world.  On earth as it is in heaven.

Chaput News Agency Runs Cardinal Pell's Thoughts On Bishop Morris--It's All Morris's Fault

Cardinal Pell's vibrant Catholic youth marching off to school.

I am shocked, shocked I say, that CNA (Chaput News Agency) would run an article with Cardinal Pell wholy supporting the Vatican in sacking Toowoomba's Bishop Morris.  Nothing like birds of feather flocking together--and covering each other when their feces hit the oscillator.

Cardinal Pell says Bishop Morris sacking 'a tragedy' but also 'a useful clarification'

Sydney, Australia, May 28, 2011 / 04:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).-
It’s been nearly a month since Bishop Bill Morris of Toowoomba in Australia was dismissed from office by Pope Benedict XVI. Now the country’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, has given his first in-depth interview on the controversial sacking to CNA. (Of course it would be CNA, since Archbishop Chaput is being thoroughly hammered over his secret participation in the sandbagging of Bishop Morris.)


“Well, it was a tragedy. It should never have come to this,” Cardinal Pell told CNA while on a visit to Rome.

“Rome was very patient. You could say the dialogue had continued on for 13 years and unfortunately Bishop Morris felt unable to give satisfactory clarifications.”  (cough, cough)
Bishop Morris’s dismissal followed comments he made in a 2006 pastoral letter. In it he called for the ordination of women and married men, and suggested that protestant ministers could offer Mass to compensate for the lack of priests in his diocese. This in turn led the Vatican to order an investigation. (Morris called for no such thing.  He called for discussion.  But what's truth to CNA/EWTN and I think I remember more than one time when Chaput himself was a little loose with the truth.)

“Catholics stand with the Pope as the successor of Peter and his role is to strengthen his brothers and to defend the apostolic tradition, and it’s now Catholic teaching that women cannot be ordained priests. That’s not an optional belief; it’s now part of the Catholic package,” said Cardinal Pell. (Well now we get some truth, the Pope's role has nothing to do with insuring Catholics actually get the services and sacraments the Church exists to offer.)

Critics of the bishop who’ve spoken in recent weeks to CNA suggest that the problems in Toowoomba went far beyond the bishop’s public disagreement with Catholic doctrine on the priesthood.

They’ve claimed Bishop Morris - who preferred a shirt and tie to a priestly collar and bishops’ attire - did much to undermine Catholic identity and teachings during his 18 years in office.  (What is it with the uniform thing? A bishop is now his clothes?  Actually that might be true in Pell's world.)
Cardinal Pell was both balanced and charitable in his assessment of Bishop Morris’s legacy. (Cough, cough.)

“He’s a very good man. He had a lot of pastoral strengths. He’s got a lot of good points. He’s done of lot of good work. He’s got quite a strong following in the diocese.” (Except for the heresy and destruction of Catholic identity thing.)

“But the diocese was divided quite badly and the bishop hasn’t demonstrated that he’s a team player. I mean even at the end he didn’t wait for the official Vatican announcement.” (This is true only if one member of the Temple Police equals 10,000 other Catholics.)
“He sent around messages to every parish, to all his priests, the Australian bishops before the official announcement and since then he’s made a number of public announcements which haven’t been helpful.”

As for critics of the Pope’s decision to sack Bishop Morris?

“There’s been a predictable chorus from a minority but such is life.” (In his wildest dreams.) 
The job of rebuilding things in Toowoomba now falls to Bishop Brian Finnegan of Brisbane who has now been appointed apostolic administrator until a new bishop can be found. Cardinal Pell said it’s time “to look to the future.”
“You know, life moves on, but also I think it will be a useful clarification for people that Catholic doctrine is there to be followed and bishops take promises to defend the integrity of Catholic teaching.” (They certainly don't take any vows to defend Catholic children or provide Catholic sacraments.  That's the certain message I've gotten in the last month.)

Cardinal Pell believes that it’s this orthodox approach that is reaping apostolic benefits in many parts of Australia including Sydney. He points to an increased number of priestly and religious vocations, vibrant university chaplaincies and the legacy of World Youth Day in 2008. (I notice he doesn't mention anything about benefits like increased Mass attendance or happy and content laity.)

“Young people don’t see the Catholic Church as being inevitably in decline at least in most parts of Australia.” (That's most likely true because the vast majority of them don't actually give a damn.)
“We’re doing what Christ wants, and I think that if you do that you’ve always got to be optimistic”
“There’s life and energy and promise.” (cough, cough)

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It has been a long long time since I have ever read anything this self serving.  Chaput and Pell are truly in world of their own.  It's a world where they can drag out their own publications in which they more or less interview themselves, claim it's truth because they said so, and then fly off to their Vatican nest where they can indulge in Vatican plumage.  I think there's a part of this Church that has truly gone off the rails.  The inmates really are running the asylum.  No wonder Benny is talking to astronauts.  At least the astronauts are are in fact out of this world.  Maybe that 's a start.

The line that really got me was the one in which Pell castigates Bishop Morris for not being a team player and sticking with the Vatican game plan.  EXCUSE ME, Morris had already been kicked off the team.  Why should he continue playing on the Vatican team, by the Vatican game plan?  Only in a world of their own.

I really am beginning to believe the Holy Spirit is indeed inspiring the Pell's and Chaput's of the Catholic world to concretely show us how little they are attached to our actual world. We are being presented with a choice of cosmic proportions.  We can choose to support this nonsensical world of Pell and Chaput or we can choose to follow the teachings of Jesus. 

In all honesty I can't see a photo of St Peter's anymore without thinking of it as the Catholic Hogwarts and the Pell's and the Burke's as faculty members of school of religious magic.  Like Richard Sipe has observed about the seminary system, it's the stuff of fourteen year olds.  I'd rather be a muggle than have to swallow the 'teaching' coming from our clerical wizards.

Pope Benedict Ministers To Shuttle Astronauts

Here's a story about an interaction of Pope Benedict's that is forward --as in progressive-- in it's look. Since we haven't gotten too many of these kinds of messages lately, I thought I'd print the article in full. I hope this means it is now OK for Catholics to admit heaven is not 'up there' or 'out there'. For some folks, this would be a major re orientation in their thoughts about God and the supernatural.

Pope Benedict XVI Makes 1st Heavenly Call to Astronauts in Space

Robert Z. Pearlman, SPACE.com Contributor, Space.com – Sat May 21, 6:30 pm ETHOUSTON — In a first for The Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI called to the heavens on Saturday, but instead of reaching God, he spoke to two Italian astronauts and their 10 colleagues working on board the International Space Station (ISS).
"Dear astronauts, I am very happy to have this extraordinary opportunity to converse with you during your mission and especially grateful to be able to speak to so many of you as both crews are present on the space station at this time," said the Pope, reading in English from prepared remarks. [Video: Science & Faith Merge in Pope's Space Station Talk]
The video call, which began at 7:11 a.m. EDT (1111 GMT), originated from the Foconi Room of the Vatican Library in Rome, Italy. It was organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), whose astronauts Paolo Nespoli and Roberto Vittori are currently working in space.
The conversation marked the first time that the Pope has spoken with astronauts in orbit.
"This conversation gives me the chance to express my own admiration and appreciation to you and all those collaborating making your mission possible and offer my heartfelt encouragement to bring it to a safe and successful conclusion," the Pope said. [Photo: Pope Benedict XVI speaks with astronauts]
Joining the two Italians for the space-to-ground conversation were the U.S. and Russian crew members of space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission and the space station’s Expedition 27.
ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, who like Pope Benedict XVI is German, joined His Holiness in The Vatican together with the president of the Italian Space Agency Enrico Saggese and General Giuseppe Bernardis with the Italian Air Force.

"An adventure of the human spirit"
After a brief introduction, the Pope asked the astronauts and cosmonauts questions concerning their unique vantage point in space and how it affected their view on a variety of subjects ranging from the violence experienced between nations to protecting the Earth's environment to their personal connection to God.
"Space exploration is a fascinating scientific adventure. I know you have been studying your equipment to further scientific research and to study radiation coming from outer space. But I think it is also an adventure of the human spirit. A powerful stimulus to reflect on the origins and on the destiny of the universe and humanity," the Pope said.
"In the midst of your intense work and research, do you ever stop and reflect like this, perhaps even pray to the creator? Or will it be easier for you to think about these things once you have returned to Earth?" he asked.
"When we have a moment to look down [at Earth], the beauty is the three-dimensional effect and the beauty of the planet is capturing our heart ... capturing my heart," replied Vittori. "And I do pray. I do pray for me, for our families, for our future."
The Pope, speaking in Italian, also addressed Nespoli about the recent death of his mother, mentioning that he had prayed for her.
"Holy father, I felt your prayers and everyone's prayers arriving up here, where outside the world we orbit and we have a vantage point to look at the Earth and we feel everything around us," Nespoli replied. "I felt very far but also very close and the thought of feeling all of you near me at this time has been a great relief."

"Tell me of your experiences"
Turning to the subject of practical concerns, the Pope asked the crew members about the absurdity of violence seen on Earth, specifically citing the assassination attempt earlier this year on the wife of Endeavour’s commander, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
"I know that Mark Kelly's wife was a victim of an attack and I hope her health continues to improve,” he said. "When you are contemplating the Earth from up there, do you ever wonder about the way nations and people live together down here and about how science can contribute to the cause of peace?"
"Thank you the kind words, your holiness, and thank you for mentioning my wife Gabby," Kelly replied. "It's a very good question. We fly over most of the world and you don't see borders. But at the same time, we realize that people fight with each other and there's a lot of violence in this world and it is really an unfortunate thing."
"On Earth, often people fight for energy. In space, we use solar power and we have fuel cells on the space shuttle, but on the space station, it's the science and technology that we put in to the space station to develop a solar power capability [that] gives us pretty much unlimited amount of energy. And if those technologies could be adapted more on Earth, we could possibly reduce some of that violence," Kelly said.
The Pope also asked the astronauts if they saw "signs of phenomena" that we need to be more attentive to protecting the Earth’s environment.
"On the one hand, we can see how indescribably beautiful the planet that we have been is, but on the other hand, we can really, clearly see how fragile it is," replied Ron Garan, a NASA astronaut serving as a flight engineer on the space station. [Amazing space photos by astronaut Ron Garan]
"The atmosphere for instance," he continued. "The atmosphere when viewed from space is paper thin, and to think that this paper thin layer is all that separates every living thing from the vacuum of space and all that protects us is really a sobering thought."
Asked by the Pope what the most important message the astronauts could convey on their return, Endeavour mission specialist Mike Fincke stressed exploration and cooperation.
"We can look down and see our beautiful planet that God has made and it is the most beautiful planet in the whole solar system. However, if we look up, we can see the rest of the universe. And the rest of the universe is out there for us to go and explore. The International Space Station is just one symbol, one example of what human beings can do when we work together constructively," Fincke said.
"So our message I think, one of our many messages, but I think one of our most important messages is to let the children of the planet, the young people know, that there is a whole universe for us to go explore. And when we do it together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish," he said.


"Spearheading humanity's exploration"
Vittori, who launched with Endeavour on its 16-day final mission, carried to space a silver medal donated by the Pope. [Photos of Space Endeavour's Final Launch]
"We are struck by the mystery of His Greatness," said the Pope. "That is why the medal I gave Robert as a sign of my own participation in your mission represents the creation of man as painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel."
Vittori displayed the medal during the video conversation, letting it float in front of him.
"I took with me the coin and I allow this coin to float in front of me to demonstrate microgravity. I shall thank you very much for this opportunity and I would like to allow this coin to float to my friend and colleague Paolo," Vittori said. He will make return on Earth on the Soyuz. I brought it with me to space and he will take down on Earth to then give back to you."
The Pope thanked the crew members for this "wonderful opportunity" to talk with them.
"Humanity is experiencing a period of extremely rapid progress in the fields of scientific knowledge and technical applications," he said. "In a sense, you are our representatives spearheading humanity's exploration of new spaces and possibilities for our future, going beyond the limitations of our everyday existence."
"You have helped me and many other people to reflect together on important issues which regard the future of humanity. I wish you the very best for your work and for the success of your great mission in the service of science, international collaboration, authentic progress and for peace in the world. I will continue to follow you in my thoughts and prayers and in bidding I impart my historic blessing."