Hospitalized NY dad gets to see daughter’s first Communion

By Catholic News Service

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) — Confined to Strong Memorial Hospital as he waits for a heart transplant, Timothy Day of Kenmore, N.Y., wasn’t going to be able to attend his 8-year-old daughter Erin’s first Communion.

So Erin decided the celebration of the Eucharist should come to him.

“I gave her the choice if she wanted to go through with her class or have it here with me, and she said she wanted to do it with me, and that’s pretty special,” said Day, who has been living at the hospital for nearly two months.

“The most special part was just being with my dad,” Erin told the Catholic Courier, newspaper of the Rochester Diocese, in a telephone interview after the Mass April 26.

Several weeks ago, staff at the family’s parish, St. Paul in Kenmore, in the Buffalo Diocese, approached the Rochester Diocese to see if a priest would be available to celebrate a first Communion Mass in the Interfaith Chapel at the hospital.

They were told it would be possible if they were willing to have the first Communion on a Friday, and if they would be willing to have Retired Bishop Matthew H. Clark of Rochester celebrate the Mass. Day also received the sacrament of the sick during the Mass.

Both the Day family and Bishop Clark said the honor was all theirs.

“I am going to go home a happy man for having experienced your company,” Bishop Clark said during the Mass.

Day, a Tonawanda, N.Y., police officer, said the Mass was special not only to have taken place, but to have included the participation of Bishop Clark.

“I think somebody upstairs was pulling strings for us,” he said.

In a telephone interview after the Mass, Sherry Brinser-Day, Day’s wife and Erin’s mother, said the Mass so far exceeded their expectations that the event almost felt surreal. But the family was honored that everyone thought so highly of them to attend, she said.

“We want to make the best memories we can in the midst of all the trials we are going through,” Brinser-Day said. “I am overjoyed at the outpouring of support. I am floored.”

The event also included a large contingent of family, including Erin’s younger siblings Clare, 6, and Henry, 4; representatives of St. Paul Parish; hospital chaplains and personnel; a flock of local journalists; and a choir of local college students from the University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music and Rochester Institute of Technology who skipped end-of-semester activities to attend.

To all of them, Bishop Clark spoke about the importance of drawing the community through the Eucharist.

“I know (Erin) is honored by your presence and draws strength from your company,” Bishop Clark said. “We are companions along the journey, trying to draw strength from each other in our faith.”

The bishop noted that all are subject to the frailty of the human condition and that the faithful draw healing and nourishment from the Eucharist.

“None of us owns tomorrow,” he said. “We don’t own our health.”

That point is keenly noted by Day, who is one of 43 people hospitalized or at home waiting for a heart transplant through Strong Memorial Hospital. He was diagnosed in October with an autoimmune disorder, which damaged his internal organs, including his heart.

He said the hospital staff has been very accommodating, which has made his long-term stay easier.

“They are doing this for me this afternoon,” he said about the first Eucharist Mass. “They have gone above and beyond. I consider that a blessing that I have such great caregivers.”

Through blogs, Catholic moms share their faith as ‘digital disciples’

MOM-BLOGGERS May-9-2013 (940 words) With photo. xxxn

Through blogs, Catholic moms share their faith as ‘digital disciples’

Catholic mom and blogger Lisa Hendey of Fresno, Calif., attends a meeting between bloggers and bishops in Baltimore last fall. (CNS/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

By Maureen Boyle
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — One of Mary’s titles is “Christ’s First Disciple,” and some of Christ’s earliest followers were women, two of whom he appeared to first after his resurrection.

Now, some 2,000 years later, another special group of women, specifically Catholic moms who blog on the Internet about their faith, the Catholic Church, as well as the joys and challenges of parenthood and everyday family life, can be considered among Christ’s newest evangelizers or “digital disciples.”

“Part of our vocation as mothers is to be within our home and do our work with love, and (as Catholic bloggers) we can also do work that draws people closer to Christ and his church,” said Lisa Hendey, a Catholic wife and mom blogger from Fresno, Calif.

In between carpool, dinner and homework duties, a growing number of Catholic moms have turned to Internet blogging as a newfound outlet to enrich their own Catholic faith, as well as the faith journeys of their regular readers, with whom they form a sort of spiritual camaraderie.

“We try to be supportive to parents in the trenches of the domestic church,” said Hendey, a mom of two sons ages 18 and 21. She also is the author of “A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms” and “The Handbook for Catholic Moms.”

Hendey said her 8-year-old blog, www.catholicmom.com, grew out of a website she launched in 2000.

Nowadays, she has about 150 regular contributors, mostly moms, a few dads — all volunteers — who are writing on various topics such as daily prayer, the church’s liturgical seasons, marriage, family finances, books and movies. Hendey stressed that although the blog’s content covers a multitude of Catholic-related subjects, all essays must be in accordance with church teaching and doctrine.

A blog is a website on which an individual or group of users record and share opinions and information on a regular basis. There are more than 150 million blogs on the Internet, with nearly 3,000 of them designated as Catholic blogs. There are no stats on the number of blogs operated by Catholic moms, but it is a growing “ministry” in this era of the new evangelization, said Hendey.

“It allows us to put information and thoughts out there and invite readers into dialogue,” she told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Washington Archdiocese.

“There are comments, more voices and a real sense of being a part of a community,” she said, describing the difference between a website and a blog. “You’re not just reading something. It’s much more interactive.”

Mary DeTurris Poust is a Catholic mom blogger from the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., whose blog, www.notstrictlyspiritual.com, began about five years ago as a sort of “spiritual journal online.”

A former Catholic journalist and currently a monthly columnist for Catholic New York, the newspaper of the New York Archdiocese, Poust said she started her blog as a way to write about things she couldn’t always cover as a Catholic reporter.

“It’s a blend of all areas of my life,” said Poust, a wife and mother to three kids — ages 16, 13 and 7.

When readers respond positively to one of Poust’s blogs, maybe one she based on a personal life struggle, she said, “It really affirms what I’m doing — using social media tools to reach people who aren’t necessarily in the pews or churches,” she said.

“They’ll email or comment and say they are going through the same thing and feeling alone on the journey,” said Poust, who also is the author of several books on the Catholic faith.

Rebecca Teti, a member of St. Jerome Parish in Hyattsville, Md., is the moderator of the blog Coffee Talk, which can be found at www.Catholicdigest.com and was launched more than one year ago.

It is an open forum for readers to discuss, ask a question, share a story or offer advice.

Daily topics include parenting, natural family planning, education, marriage or the different issues facing members of “sandwich generation” — those raising children and also caring for aging parents.

Readers are invited to “raise a question, tell a funny anecdote, share an interesting article, ask for advice or prayer,” with a few ground rules to keep in mind: “Keep it clean, keep it kind, and keep it ‘kosher.’”

An example of a recent Coffee Talk blog post came from a reader expressing her dismay over her 14-year-old son’s reluctance to receive the sacrament of confirmation. Several readers chimed in with suggestions about the importance of keeping the lines of communication open between parents and children, advice on the best catechetical resources, as well as promise of prayers for the woman and her son.

“Many Catholics don’t have the advantage of like-minded Catholics being nearby in their neighborhood who support and pray for each other,” Teti said, adding that the blog offers that notion in an online community. “The whole idea is to create the idea of girlfriends talking over coffee in a living room.”

Teti, a wife, a mom of four children ranging in ages from 9 to 16 and a Catholic convert, said there are downsides to the blogosphere, even among Catholics blogs.

She recommends setting strict limits on time spent online. “It can suck you in. Set objective limits of not spending more than one hour,” she said. “Real relationships can suffer.”

Her own faith, Teti said, has grown, through her work, which allows her to see how many Catholics take their faith seriously in a holy way. “It’s easy to believe you are isolated,” she said, noting that the Catholic blogs sites she’s visited give her a real sense “Catholicism is rich, lively and important, and that is heartening.”

- – -

Boyle writes for the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.

END

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Pope Francis welcomes Benedict XVI back to the Vatican

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI returned to the Vatican on Thursday (May 2), where he will live a few hundred meters from his successor, Pope Francis, in an arrangement that has no precedent in the history of the Catholic Church.

(Left) Pope Benedict photo by Gregory A. Shemitz, (right) Pope Francis photo by Andrea Sabbadini.

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This image available for Web publication. For questions, contact Sally Morrow.

Benedict, 86, flew by helicopter from the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, where he spent the past two months since his resignation on Feb. 28.

All the Vatican’s top officials, including Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, showed up at the Vatican’s helipad to welcome Benedict, while Francis chose to meet the the former pope in front of the Mater Ecclesiae convent where Benedict will live out his retirement.

Francis greeted his predecessor “with great and fraternal cordiality,” according to a Vatican statement, before the two men stopped briefly in the convent chapel to pray.

Benedict was accompanied by his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who is also serving Francis as prefect of the papal household, charged with setting the new pope’s schedule and arranging his audiences.

According to the Vatican’s statement, the former pope is “happy to be back in the Vatican, where he intends to dedicate himself … to the service of the church primarily through prayer.”

Benedict’s return was a low-profile event; Vatican TV didn’t cover it and the Vatican’s semiofficial newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, didn’t mention the former pope’s return in its afternoon editions.

While some church observers worry that Benedict’s presence could overshadow Francis and his course of reforms, John Thavis, a former Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service and a frequent Vatican commentator, said the side-by-side popes shouldn’t cause a “crisis in the church.”

Thavis wrote in his blog that Benedict understands that “even an offhand remark by the retired pope … could echo within the hierarchy or across the blogosphere, and possibly be construed as criticism or divergence from the current pope.”

Before resigning, Benedict said he would “withdraw into prayer” and live his final years “hidden from the world.” He also pledged his “unconditional reverence and obedience” to his successor.

According to Rebecca Rist, a specialist in church history at the University of Reading in Britain, the two popes will have a “very cordial” relationship, unlike the 13th-century scuffles between Celestine V and his successor Boniface VIII.

Boniface persuaded Celestine that it was “in the best interests of the Vatican for him to resign,” Rist said. But Boniface, “fearing that enduring loyalties to the former pontiff could provoke a schism,” ordered Celestine imprisoned until his death.

In the small Mater Ecclesiae convent inside the Vatican walls, Benedict will be assisted by Gaenswein and four members of Memores Domini, the conservative lay group that staffed his apartment during his pontificate.

During the past two months, the convent was renovated to suit the needs of the former pope. His residence will include a guest room for his older brother Georg Ratzinger, who is also a priest.

KRE/AMB END SPECIALE

Pope Francis welcomes Benedict XVI back to the Vatican

c. 2013 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI returned to the Vatican on Thursday (May 2), where he will live a few hundred meters from his successor, Pope Francis, in an arrangement that has no precedent in the history of the Catholic Church.

Benedict, 86, flew by helicopter from the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, where he spent the past two months since his resignation on Feb. 28.

All the Vatican’s top officials, including Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, showed up at the Vatican’s helipad to welcome Benedict, while Francis chose to meet the the former pope in front of the Mater Ecclesiae convent where Benedict will live out his retirement.

Francis greeted his predecessor “with great and fraternal cordiality,” according to a Vatican statement, before the two men stopped briefly in the convent chapel to pray.

Benedict was accompanied by his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who is also serving Francis as prefect of the papal household, charged with setting the new pope’s schedule and arranging his audiences.

According to the Vatican’s statement, the former pope is “happy to be back in the Vatican, where he intends to dedicate himself … to the service of the church primarily through prayer.”

Benedict’s return was a low-profile event; Vatican TV didn’t cover it and the Vatican’s semiofficial newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, didn’t mention the former pope’s return in its afternoon editions.

While some church observers worry that Benedict’s presence could overshadow Francis and his course of reforms, John Thavis, a former Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service and a frequent Vatican commentator, said the side-by-side popes shouldn’t cause a “crisis in the church.”

Thavis wrote in his blog that Benedict understands that “even an offhand remark by the retired pope … could echo within the hierarchy or across the blogosphere, and possibly be construed as criticism or divergence from the current pope.”

Before resigning, Benedict said he would “withdraw into prayer” and live his final years “hidden from the world.” He also pledged his “unconditional reverence and obedience” to his successor.

According to Rebecca Rist, a specialist in church history at the University of Reading in Britain, the two popes will have a “very cordial” relationship, unlike the 13th-century scuffles between Celestine V and his successor Boniface VIII.

Boniface persuaded Celestine that it was “in the best interests of the Vatican for him to resign,” Rist said. But Boniface, “fearing that enduring loyalties to the former pontiff could provoke a schism,” ordered Celestine imprisoned until his death.

In the small Mater Ecclesiae convent inside the Vatican walls, Benedict will be assisted by Gaenswein and four members of Memores Domini, the conservative lay group that staffed his apartment during his pontificate.

During the past two months, the convent was renovated to suit the needs of the former pope. His residence will include a guest room for his older brother Georg Ratzinger, who is also a priest.

Francis, The Papal Foundation and Cardinal Roger Mahony: Money Talks

By Marielena Montesino de Stuart

ESPRESSO with Marielena…

Recommended roast level: VERY DARK.

Cardinal Roger Mahony does not need an introduction – but what is The Papal Foundation all about, from Francis’ perspective?

The Papal Foundation is based in Pennsylvania. This is an excerpt of their mission statement, as printed on their website [bold added for emphasis]:

“The Papal Foundation began in 1988 as a response to the desire of Catholic clergy and laity in the U.S. for a unique, sustainable way to support the Holy Father and his witness in the world.

The vision was to establish an endowment that would

- Provide an additional source of income for the Holy See

- Strengthen the Holy Father’s ability to fulfill the mission of Saint Peter

- Set the standard for other nations and challenge them to establish similar foundation.

Income generated from the investment of capital creates a perpetual source of revenue. The portfolio does not invest in any companies that engage in activities inconsistent with our faith.”

Here is a PDF file of The Papal Foundation Board of Trustees website page, captured on May 1, 2013:

http://romancatholicworld.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/papal-foundation-board-of-trustees.pdf

which indicates that “a three-tiered Board of Trustees manages Papal Foundation funds. American Cardinals who reside in the United States serve as ex-officio members of the Board. Archbishops, Bishops and elected laity from across the country serve as Trustees.”

This year The Papal Foundation delivered $8.6 million to Francis, “to support his witness in the world.”

Now, take another sip of your espresso and remember, its called The Papal Foundation.

A private audience with Francis

According to the Catholic News Service (CNS is the official news service of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) Francis met on April 11 during a private audience with “about 120 members of the [Papal] foundation and their families, including Cardinals Donald W. Wuerl of Washington; Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington; and Justin Rigali, retired archbishop of Philadelphia.” [Bold added for emphasis].

…about 120 members? How much money was spent on flights, food and accommodation for “about 120″ people, in order to conduct this private visit with Francis? Does The Papal Foundation need 120 people to deliver one check? As a fundraising institution… are they serious?

In light of Francis’ call for “decisive action” against sexual abuse by members of the clergy, let’s review a communiqué issued recently by the Vatican news service, and reflect on some of the records of the Cardinals mentioned in the CNS report:

April 5, 2013 Vatican communiqué :

EXCERPT: “The Holy Father today received in audience Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During the audience, various subjects pertaining to the Dicastery were discussed, the Holy Father recommended in particular that the Congregation, continue the line desired by Benedict XVI of decisive action regarding cases of sexual abuse, primarily by promoting measures for child protection; help for the many who in the past have suffered such violence; due process against those who are guilty; the commitment of Bishops’ Conferences in the formulation and implementation of the necessary directives in this area which is of great importance to the witness of the Church and its credibility.” [Bold added for emphasis].

The witness of the Church and its credibility?

Hmmm…

Let’s find out if Francis is serious about getting rid of pederasts, cowards, liars and thieves

Francis met with THIS Donald W. Wuerl

Francis met with THIS Theodore E. McCarrick and THIS Theodore E. McCarrick

AND Yes… Francis met with THIS Theodore E. McCarrick.

Yes… Francis met with THIS Justin Rigali and THIS Justin Rigali Pages 30-119 Grand Jury report .

I wonder if Francis met with another intriguing member of the The Papal Foundation Board of Trustees, Cardinal Egan? Do you know?

Yes, I’m talking about THIS Edward Egan and THIS Edward Egan and THIS Edward Egan.

Good vs. Evil

Once you have read the above links you will see that Father James Haley’s testimony about Theodore E. McCarrick is confirmed through the testimonies provided by the former Father Robert M. Hoatson and by psychotherapist Richard Sipe. Hoatson’s testimony, as set forth in Hoatson vs. New York Archdiocese, is considered among the most important, regarding McCarrick, Egan and others. It is not surprising, however, that Father Hoatson could not prevail in Hoatson vs. New York Archdiocese. Remember, the Catholic Church has very deep pockets and it can afford to hire some of the most powerful defense lawyers and public relations firms in the world.

While Hoatson and Sipe are not conservatives, NEITHER ARE THESE CARDINALS AND BISHOPS! This is a clarification for those cynics out there who enjoy diverting attention from the perpetrator of the crime, or the cover-up artist.

Informed Catholics are very much aware that there is a lot of inconsistency and political correctness coming from many individuals who speak out against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, while embracing a liberal social agenda. (Read more about this in the Brief Archive section, at the end of this article). But there is a type of individual who is particularly repugnant: the closet socialist and shameless opportunist, who claims to be a “conservative” – but looks the other way when his or her favorite prelate is immersed in filth.

Indeed, there is much work to be done in this battle between good and evil. But if we were to dismiss testimonies and records of the sexual abuse of children based on the accuser being a conservative or a liberal, then victims would never see justice served; therefore, the focus must remain on the truth – which is that individuals who are homosexuals have entered the priesthood in violation of Church laws.

These individuals have either remained as priests – or have moved up in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and have assumed positions of power. As such, they parade around as compromised Bishops and Cardinals who have destroyed their own moral authority – and are nothing more than charlatans with access to a lot of money.

I call them impostors.

The current panorama

But you say, “… this is old news.”

Precisely!

For a very long time these impostors have benefited from the support of their fellow LAY travelers – and their devoted uninformed and bewildered fans, who pounce (almost always anonymously) on anyone who dares to expose the cover-ups and activities of these prelates. But sometimes the pouncing and destructive tactics are orchestrated by the prelates themselves – as clearly outlined by the former Governor of Oklahoma, the Honorable Frank Keating, in The Last Straw: Quitting the Bishops’ Review Board.

In spite of Grand Jury Reports and public records, some of these supporters appear to have moved forward with their own agendas – while claiming to stand by their beloved favorite prelate – who is either a homosexual, a cover-up artist, or both.

But you say, “… maybe these supporters are trying to protect the Catholic Church from external attacks.”

That’s pure hypocrisy! If Catholics really wanted to protect the Catholic Church, they would begin by demanding the expulsion of the enemies within.

Remembering Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua… the former Chairman of The Papal Foundation

Remember how invaluable Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua was? Well, Grand Jury Reports and legal records have exposed him as one of the most horrific cover-up artists of pederasts in the history of the Catholic Church. Read about the Bevilacqua nightmare and his record at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, through the link in this paragraph – and in the Brief Archive section at the end of this article.

Significant sidebar: pederasty and cover-ups are widespread in the Catholic Church

The following are also examples of cases involving pederasty and cover-ups (not related to The Papal Foundation) but significant because of the tragic consequences and their scope:

Let Him Prey… and For He Has Sinned are a couple of bone-chilling articles that need your attention, involving well known Jesuit priests (you may even know some of these priests). This is the record that emerged from a motion filed on March 28, 2011. It is described as a record that “analyzes and documents in shocking detail the Jesuits’ 50-year history of concealing and enabling sexual abuse.”

Another absolute nightmare is the scandal that affected the Legionaries of Christ and the movement, Regnum Christi. A communiqué from the Vatican best describes their former leader, Father Maciel (now deceased):

EXCERPT OF COMMUNIQUÉ: “The very grave and objectively immoral actions of Father Maciel, confirmed by incontrovertible testimonies, in some cases constitute real crimes and manifest a life devoid of scruples and authentic religious meaning.” [Bold added for emphasis].

Details of Maciel’s life, his revolting crimes and the Vatican investigation, are copiously documented online by journalists and support groups.

What took you so long?

The grave situation of homosexuals and sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church has been outlined in a RECENT article by Fr. Dariusz Oko, Ph.D., a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow and Assistant Professor at the John Paul II Pontifical University in Krakow.

I appreciate Father Oko’s efforts – but frankly and with all due respect, Father Oko reminds me of Captain Louis Renault in the film Casablanca, when he says: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”

Father Oko’s article is simply a synopsis – and a rather LATE reaffirmation by a member of the clergy, of Randy Engel’s The Rite of Sodomy – which is considered the magnus opus for those who conduct in-depth research around the world, about this dark and harrowing subject.

Welcome to reality, Father Oko. What took you so long?

Setting the record straight

It is important to remember that the overwhelming number of victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church are boys – and that their abuse has been committed by adult males. This should not be a surprise to anyone, given the presence and power of homosexuals in the Catholic Church, as described in the aforementioned research and records.

That being the case…

Cardinal Roger Mahony

The CNS report talks about Francis thanking The Papal Foundation for the money and the benefits drawn from it, but mentions nothing about the removal of Cardinal Roger Mahony from the Board of Trustees – another intriguing member of this powerful organization.

Yes… I’m talking about THIS Roger Mahony (Includes links to court documents released earlier this year. You’ll need several espressos after you read Mahony’s record of cover-ups).

A couple of questions come to mind:

Is Cardinal Mahony attracting donors to The Papal Foundation? Given Mahony’s record of despicable cover-ups of the sexual abuse of children – what kind of individuals could possibly provide their financial support, inspired by Mahony? This is a VERY DISTURBING scenario.

How many American Bishops and lay Catholics have said “no, thank you” to joining The Papal Foundation?

Records of letters that further expose Mahony’s modus operandi are now available as part of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke’s archives, at DePaul University in Chicago. Anne Burke was a Justice of the Illinois appellate court, at the time that she served as vice chairwoman of the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People, the church-appointed panel that sought to resolve the sexual abuse scandal involving priests and minors. Judge Burke later took over as interim chairwoman, when former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating resigned, having reached the end of his rope with Mahony and his cronies. Keating’s famous letter of resignation included the following statement:

”To resist grand jury subpoenas, to suppress the names of offending clerics, to deny, to obfuscate, to explain away; that is the model of a criminal organization, not my church.” Former Gov. Frank Keating. – New York Times, June 17, 2003.

If Francis is not willing to demand the immediate removal of someone like Mahony from The Papal Foundation Board of Trustees (as part of the new “decisive action” program) – how can anyone expect Francis to take any action against other Bishops and Cardinals, who are mired in cover-ups and scandals involving homosexuality and pederasty?

Putting on an act

What we are witnessing is the on-going hypocritical and dysfunctional stage production of modernist Bishops and Cardinals – who put on an act about changing the world by helping the poor, while covering up homosexuality in their midst – and the sexual abuse of innocent children behind the scenes.

CASE IN POINT: Cardinal Roger Mahony has nearly become the “patron saint” of undocumented aliens. His public militancy in support of undocumented aliens knows no bounds – including posts on his Twitter account and on his blog. Yet, court documents released earlier this year show how Cardinal Roger Mahony covered up the sexual abuse of undocumented children in predominantly Spanish-speaking parishes, at the hands of a monster known as Monsignor Peter Garcia, who even used threats of deportation as a means to continue his sexual abuse of young boys.

How in the world is someone like Cardinal Roger Mahony going to “set the standard for other nations...” as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Papal Foundation? Was it not Mahony who nearly destroyed the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, by spending millions of dollars on legal fees, in order to maneuver his cover-ups of homosexual priests and pederasts?

Given this scenario of tolerance by Francis, we should also NOT expect that he will take any action against another member of The Papal Foundation Board of Trustees, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

Yes… I’m talking about THIS Timothy M. Dolan.

I’m also talking about THE Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan who happily endorses Gay-friendly meetings and parish activities at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, in his Archdiocese of New York, in violation of the rules of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). But the CDF did not seem interested in enforcing the rules, either under the 24-year praefectura of Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) or the six-year praefectura of Cardinal William Levada.

Here are the rules set forth by the former Cardinal Ratzinger, regarding the use of Church buildings and Church property by homosexual groups – calling it “misleading and often scandalous:”

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
ON THE PASTORAL CARE OF HOMOSEXUAL PERSONS

“Special attention should be given to the practice of scheduling religious services and to the use of Church buildings by these groups, including the facilities of Catholic schools and colleges. To some, such permission to use Church property may seem only just and charitable; but in reality it is contradictory to the purpose for which these institutions were founded, it is misleading and often scandalous.” – Signed in Rome by Joseph Ratzinger, on October 1, 1986, when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The entire text can be read HERE.

The current Prefect of the CDF is Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller (appointed by Benedict XVI in July, 2012). Will Archbishop Müller enforce these rules under Francis’ watch? As you will see below… he hasn’t so far!

Screen captions of St. Xavier Parish’s website, in Cardinal Dolan’s Archdiocese of New York:

A crash course on raising more money for the poor by auctioning off undesirable Cardinals and Bishops

Remember, the Catholic News Service report says that this year The Papal Foundation delivered $8.6 million. I say, imagine how much more they could deliver if Francis demands that Mahony be removed from the Board of Trustees! If Francis is really serious about raising money for the poor, he needs to start by auctioning off the undesirable Cardinals and Bishops. Now, that would be a real fundraiser!

Start the bidding process at $30 million and work your way up!

But with Mahony you can start the bidding at $100 million. He’ll be gone fast!

Of course, the best gift that Francis could offer to the poor is to let Holy Mother Church guide them by presenting her beauty, greatness and traditions. But that is not part of Francis’ modernist vision, which is rooted in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. Indeed, Francis will end up with his “poor Church for the poor.”

What about Francis’ concern for “the Church and its credibility?” Isn’t it reasonable to expect that Francis would at least care to deal with the removal of an undesirable element like Mahony, from an organization using the term “Papal”?

Oh… but wait, we have a problem!

Francis does not like to be “papal” – since he does not like to call himself Pope.

But now that The Papal Foundation has already delivered the money, will Francis turn around and give it to someone else?

Maybe Francis’ close friend, the liberal Rabbi Abraham Skorka, will manage the money – in order “to improve the world through a special leadership” that supports Francis “and his witness in the world” – which is centered, as I have said, on militant interfaith dialogue and ecumenism.

Money talks

Francis is making statements about the Church acting “decisively” against sexual abuse – but his lack of “decisive” action concerning Mahony (and others) staying on the Board of Trustees of The Papal Foundation, speaks louder than words.

This confirms what I have thought from the beginning: Francis may take action against some protectors of pederasts and others mired in scandals, as long as it doesn’t affect the bottom line for “works of charity.” This would be an act of treachery which will never end the cycle of corruption. The poor deserve better.

Such a materialistic approach completely delegitimizes any “decisive” program of action to clean up the Church of pederasts, cowards, liars and thieves.

Come back for another Espresso with Marielena… where the roast is very dark, the coffee is very sweet – and the words flow with tenacity.

LINK TO IMPORTANT BRIEF ARCHIVE: http://romancatholicworld.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/brief-archive-related-to-article-titled-francis-the-papal-foundation-and-cardinal-roger-mahony/

© Marielena Montesino de Stuart

Maria’s faith helped her through the dark years of communism

Published: 5 May 2013
By: James Martone

Free to play: Maria Dhimitri plays the organ daily at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tirana, Albania. A nationwide ban on religion from 1967 to 1990 prevented her and others from worshipping.
Photo: CNS/James Martone

ALMOST every day at 6pm, the sounds of the organ resonate in the brick Catholic church on Kavaja Street, in Tirana, Albania.

The hymns may vary, but the organist, Maria Dhimitri, is always the same.

It had been that way for nearly 23 years and could have been double that, Mrs Dhimitri said in a recent interview, if it had not been for a brutally enforced ban on religion in her country in south-eastern Europe from 1967 to 1990.

“They banned all religious practice,” the 76-year-old musician told Catholic News Service from an annex of Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Her smile belied the “long” and “painful suffering” that she agreed to talk about one recent Saturday in April.

“They said God didn’t exist. I couldn’t come to church or pray or speak of God at all,” she said of the communist regime that came to power in her country soon after the Second World War.

The regime made worshipping increasingly difficult and finally imposed a ban on religion in the country in 1967, making Albania the first and only constitutionally atheist state.

Mrs Dhimitri was teaching piano at one of the country’s top conservatories for music in the capital, Tirana, and was married with two small children when the ban went into effect.

“All the priests were arrested and killed, or put in jail,” she said of its rapid and violent enforcement by government officials, who immediately closed off every church and mosque in the country.

Having been raised by a “staunchly Catholic family” from the traditionally Catholic stronghold of Shkoder, Mrs Dhimitri said “to stop praying … never crossed my mind”.

She said she knew that to show any sign of faith in public would endanger not just her, but the lives of her entire family, so she resorted to praying in the secrecy of the family’s Tirana apartment, with utmost care and sometimes “under the covers”.

“As they say, walls have ears, and there were (state) spies everywhere,” said Mrs Dhimitri, who said her children understood instinctively not to speak of their Catholic faith.

“We prayed at home, in private, out of sight of the neighbours,” Mrs Dhimitri said, adding that “many other Catholics and Orthodox prayed secretly as well … and many Muslims, too”.

“On Christmas or Easter we might cook a chicken, or have a small cake,” she said of the “hidden celebrations” during the years of the ban.

She said her husband, now deceased, had been raised Orthodox Christian but had joined the Communist Party after World War II.

He did not pray, Mrs Dhimitri said, but never tried to prevent her or her children from doing so at home.

“He became disillusioned with the party and hated it, after he saw how it operated. But he remained a member,” she said, surmising that this official affiliation allowed her to keep her job teaching, despite her reputation of having been from a religious family.

“When you were from Shkoder, with a name like Maria, everyone knew you were Catholic,” she said.

Under the ban on religion, Sacred Heart was converted into “first a cinema, and then a theatre and then a club”, none of which Mrs Dhimitri ever thought of frequenting “because I knew it had been a sacred place”, she said.

After the fall of communism in Albania in the early 1990s, the still-standing churches and mosques around the country started to reopen.

Sacred Heart was completely dilapidated, with no glass in the windows and no furniture left inside.

“When it rained, the water poured right in. There was only a table left, in the middle of the church,” Mrs Dhimitri said.

She organised a small choir of neighbourhood children and taught them how to sing by listening to her.

“My voice was the organ,” she said.

Italian priests finally donated an organ, which Mrs Dhimitri has played at Masses ever since, “every day … unless I am sick or something”, she said, adding “I feel I do something beautiful for the Church.”

She said one of the first to come to Mass and hear her play after Sacred Heart reopened was Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, possibly the world’s most famous Albanian.

“She was cordial and saint-like and blessed me and my children,” Mrs Dhimitri said.

Despite many hardships, Mrs Dhimitri insisted God has given her miracles: her daughter, son and grandson – “and the fact that I am in good health and can continue to come here and play”, she said.

Asked if she resented people of the former regime – some of whom are still in power – for the ban on religion and consequent jailing and death of so many faithful, Mrs Dhimitri paused, then stood up.

She pointed to a painting of a Catholic priest she said died a few years ago and said he had spent many years in Albanian prisons because of the ban.

Before dying, the priest “met by chance the man who had informed on him … and forgave him”, she said.

 

Father of boy killed in bombings grateful for ‘thoughts and prayers’

Father of boy killed in bombings
grateful for ‘thoughts and prayers’

BOSTON (CNS) — The first name released of someone killed in the April 15 explosions at the Boston Marathon was that of 8-year-old Martin Richard, whose picture in newspapers showed him grinning broadly, apparently at his first Communion.

Two bombs that exploded near the end of the marathon route, about four hours into the race, left at least three people dead and more than 170 injured. The Dorchester Reporter, the local newspaper in Martin’s hometown, said his sister, Jane, 7, suffered a “grievous injury” to her leg and their mother, Denise, was critically injured.
In a statement released April 16, Bill Richard thanked family, friends and strangers for their thoughts and prayers for his family.

“My dear son Martin has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston. My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries,” said the statement, published by the Boston Globe. “We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin.”

The Richard family was described in the Dorchester paper and other publications as well-known and very involved in their community, in children’s sports leagues, local redevelopment and their church, St. Ann Parish Neponset, in the Dorchester section of Boston.

An employee who answered the phone at the parish April 16 declined to talk to Catholic News Service about the family or how parishioners were responding.

A widely circulated photo of Martin shows him in a white suit and tie, with a gap-tooth grin, holding what apparently is a banner made for his first Communion last year. It has his name, a chalice, a loaf of bread and other symbols of the Eucharist.

As investigators pieced together clues and asked the public to send them any photos or video that might help, faith leaders reached out to a grieving, stunned city.

A second person who died in the explosions was identified by various media outlets as Krystle Campbell, 29, of Medford, Mass. No information had been released yet about the third fatality.

The routine schedule of four daily Masses was to proceed as usual at St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential Center, a large office building close to the bombing scene. A recording on the center’s phone advised people wanting to come to pray in the chapel that, because of street closures for the investigation, access was limited to doors on Huntington Street only.

Around the region, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and interfaith organizations scheduled prayer services and vigils for the days after the bombings.

One Web listing included more than two dozen Masses and prayer services in Boston and surrounding towns.
The public was invited to attend a Mass celebrated at 12:05 p.m. April 16 at the Boston archdiocesan Pastoral Center, followed by a eucharistic prayer service and recitation of the rosary. The prayer service included intercessions for those who died and those injured as well as the first responders and all mourning the tragedy.

The later afternoon broadcast of the archdiocesan radio program “The Good Catholic Life” was to address various aspects of how the Catholic community can help all those suffering and grieving.

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, who was returning April 16 to Boston from a retreat in the Holy Land with several dozen priests, called St. Ann in Dorchester to share his concerns and prayers for the Richard family, according to a statement from the archdiocese. It also said he offered Mass that morning for the Richard family and all who were affected by the bombings.

In a statement the day before, Cardinal O’Malley expressed deep sorrow after the “senseless acts of violence.”

He said the community was “blessed by the bravery and heroism of many” who responded to help the wounded.

Father of boy killed in bombings grateful for ‘thoughts and prayers’

BOSTON-BOY Apr-16-2013 (640 words) With photos. xxxn

Father of boy killed in bombings grateful for ‘thoughts and prayers’

By Catholic News Service

BOSTON (CNS) — The first name released of someone killed in the April 15 explosions at the Boston Marathon was that of 8-year-old Martin Richard, whose picture in newspapers showed him grinning broadly, apparently at his first Communion.

Two bombs that exploded near the end of the marathon route, about four hours into the race, left at least three people dead and more than 170 injured. The Dorchester Reporter, the local newspaper in Martin’s hometown, said his sister, Jane, 7, suffered a “grievous injury” to her leg and their mother, Denise, was critically injured.

In a statement released April 16, Bill Richard thanked family, friends and strangers for their thoughts and prayers for his family.

“My dear son Martin has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston. My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries,” said the statement, published by the Boston Globe. “We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin.”

The Richard family was described in the Dorchester paper and other publications as well-known and very involved in their community, in children’s sports leagues, local redevelopment and their church, St. Ann Parish Neponset, in the Dorchester section of Boston.

An employee who answered the phone at the parish April 16 declined to talk to Catholic News Service about the family or how parishioners were responding.

A widely circulated photo of Martin shows him in a white suit and tie, with a gap-tooth grin, holding what apparently is a banner made for his first Communion last year. It has his name, a chalice, a loaf of bread and other symbols of the Eucharist.

As investigators pieced together clues and asked the public to send them any photos or video that might help, faith leaders reached out to a grieving, stunned city.

A second person who died in the explosions was identified by various media outlets as Krystle Campbell, 29, of Medford, Mass. No information had been released yet about the third fatality.

The routine schedule of four daily Masses was to proceed as usual at St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential Center, a large office building close to the bombing scene. A recording on the center’s phone advised people wanting to come to pray in the chapel that, because of street closures for the investigation, access was limited to doors on Huntington Street only.

Around the region, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and interfaith organizations scheduled prayer services and vigils for the days after the bombings.

One Web listing included more than two dozen Masses and prayer services in Boston and surrounding towns.

The public was invited to attend a Mass celebrated at 12:05 p.m. April 16 at the Boston archdiocesan Pastoral Center, followed by a eucharistic prayer service and recitation of the rosary. The prayer service included intercessions for those who died and those injured as well as the first responders and all mourning the tragedy.

The later afternoon broadcast of the archdiocesan radio program “The Good Catholic Life” was to address various aspects of how the Catholic community can help all those suffering and grieving.

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, who was returning April 16 to Boston from a retreat in the Holy Land with several dozen priests, called St. Ann in Dorchester to share his concerns and prayers for the Richard family, according to a statement from the archdiocese. It also said he offered Mass that morning for the Richard family and all who were affected by the bombings.

In a statement the day before, Cardinal O’Malley expressed deep sorrow after the “senseless acts of violence.” He said the community was “blessed by the bravery and heroism of many” who responded to help the wounded.

END

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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Growing presence demands increased responsibilities, say Latino leaders

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Aware of the sign of the times, the Catholic Church is reaching out and assigning greater responsibility to the growing Latino Catholic population, said a group of U.S. Catholic Latino leaders.
The March 13 election by the College of Cardinals of a pope from Latin America made that task even more evident, three top leaders of the Los Angeles-based Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) told Catholic News Service.
Pope Francis’ election “is a sign of the importance of Latinos and the people of ‘the continent of hope’ as the popes have called the American continent,” said Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles.
Having a pope from Buenos Aires, Argentina, also “really shows the maturity of the Catholic faith in the American continent,” he said.
A Latino pope “will bring our community together; a lot of our Hispanic communities truly are going to identify more with the church and feel more connected,” said Diana Vela, president and CEO of CALL.
The key will be for the Latino communities to capitalize on “this gift of a Latino pope,” their growing population, and their own leadership skills, spirituality and culture in ways that can benefit all of society as well as the universal church, said Tommy Espinoza, chairman of the board of CALL.
Espinoza, Vela and Archbishop Gomez, who is the organization’s co-founder and episcopal moderator, were part of an April 7-12 pilgrimage to Rome that included about two dozen representatives from six of the group’s 10 U.S. chapters. The group has gone on pilgrimage to Rome every three years starting with its founding in 2007.
This year’s pilgrimage was made even more special, Vela said, because it came in the wake of the election of the first pope from Latin America and because the group was staying at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the same Vatican guesthouse where the pope has been living. The group met the pope a number of times in the common dining area, and Archbishop Gomez celebrated Mass with the pope in the residence’s chapel.
The three CALL leaders all agreed that the large and growing presence of Catholic Latinos, especially in the United States, means they are also called to greater responsibility in knowing, living and sharing the faith and being an active part of the church.
“Sometimes there is a tendency to just do the ordinary things, like go to Mass and so on,” Archbishop Gomez said.
“But I think it is important for all Latinos to feel they are an essential and important part of the church in the United States,” he said, which is why he, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead of Phoenix, and a number of Latino leaders in San Antonio and elsewhere decided to form CALL.
Businesses and politicians have recognized that the Latino community is critical for their own continued viability and success, Espinoza said.
“Everybody wants a piece of the Hispanic population because they see how much it’s growing. They want its purchasing power, its vote, its business,” Vela said.
But, she said, “it’s been beautiful to see” how the church has already seen this shift and has been “reaching out to us.”
The group’s aim is to network Latino business leaders and professionals, help them grow in their faith and use their resources and influence to bring Gospel values to the larger community, Espinoza said.
The group met with representatives and heads of several Vatican offices to learn more about what the different Vatican offices do, Vela said. The talks also let the Vatican see how the face of the church in the United States is rapidly changing and how the Latino community can be of service to the universal church.
The first to ask the group to contribute was Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He encouraged the group a few years ago to show how Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate,” could be lived out by today’s professionals.
The result was CALL’s 28-page reflection, “Caritas in Veritate — Charity in Truth: Our Response in Faith,” which is meant to help all women and men of faith think about what they can do differently in their professional, economic and public duties to live and promote Gospel values.
Vela said this year the Vatican is challenging them yet again.
She said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, “wants us to help get 1 million people” to attend the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.
The council also wants their input on evangelizing and catechizing first-, second- and third-generation Latinos, since each learns about the faith in different ways, not just because of varying language proficiency levels, but also because some are more social media savvy, she said.
The Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, led by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, wants “a cultural revolution,” Vela said, meaning it wants to help build in Catholics “a sense of community” and help them ground their primary identity in their faith, “not our work or family, but what we believe in.”
The council also wants the group involved in the new evangelization of the Americas as the council studies “how Latinos gather, how they celebrate the liturgy,” she said.
Archbishop Gomez said he hoped Catholic Latinos will grow in their faith and take on the responsibility “of carrying on the truths of the Gospel and living and sharing the Gospel with the people around us.”
“The present and future of the church is in the American continent,” he said, and “we also need to feel that responsibility of being apostles of Jesus Christ in the 21st century.”
- – -
Contributing to this story was Francis X. Rocca in Rome.

Latino Catholics filled with hopes for new pope

The concerns before his election were many for the Latin American faithful gathered at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, where they attended a Mass marking the beginning of Pope Francis’ reign.

Their worries included seeing family members and friends leave the Catholic faith for Protestant sects in their native cities and towns in Latin America and the United States.

In interviews with Catholic News Service, they also spoke of the erosion of trust that others have of the church because of the sex abuse crisis and a perception that the church hierarchy excluded Latin Americans at its highest rungs — until now.

Their worries seemed to dissipate in the midst of the joy that came with the historic election of Pope Francis.

Carola Cerezo-Allen said the even though “the pope’s a pope for everyone,” it is natural to be excited to have one who comes from her native Argentina.

Even though she had planned to go to Mass the day the announcement of a new pope came, the moment was particularly joyous. Even her U.S.-born son was excited about it, she said. And it couldn’t come at a better time since the church has been going through “a hard time,” she said.

Fredis Hernandez, 32, is originally from El Salvador but lives in Washington. He also marked the moment by attending Mass.

“We deserved a Latin American pope,” he said.

Latin American Catholics make up more than 40 percent of the world’s Catholic population. Yet they haven’t played a role of visible importance at the Vatican, Hernandez told CNS.

“This gives us relevance,” he said.

Hernandez said that since Pope Francis understands the landscape of Latin America, his pastoral experience may be able to help stem the loss of faithful. Hernandez said he has seen and felt the pain of having family and friends move away from the Catholic Church. It’s a loss that has spread among Latinos in the United States, too, he said.

Lilibeth Diaz said she held hope that with arrival of Pope Francis something could be done so that, like the prodigal son, those who have left the church could return and be welcomed with happiness.

“Faith is not something we practice alone. It is something we are as a community,” said the 24-year-old from Maryland.

She said she watched the developments on the Internet and it would be a moment she would one day tell her children about. Inspired by the events, her fiance Nelson Bernal, 32, drew a large poster of Pope Francis. He took it to church, where it was displayed near the altar.

Bernal said that as a Latin American, Pope Francis would understand what it’s like to be part of a people who struggle, yet do so with humility. That humility and dialogue will help at a critical time in the history of the church, Bernal said.

Along with Hernandez, he said he admired the humility with which Pope Francis embraced his first public acts: not donning the cape, bowing for the public’s blessing, choosing a simple cross.

“It caught my attention,” Hernandez said, referring to what the pope chose not to do or wear. “He didn’t put on anything except the feet of Christ.”

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