Browsing articles tagged with " Conference Of Catholic Bishops"

May 16, 2012

Michael Gadson

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But the Georgetown issue could be worse…

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But the Georgetown issue could be worse…

By Dr. Jeff Mirus (bio – articles – send a comment) | May 15, 2012 2:31 PM

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Phil Lawler rightly notes Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s lack of backbone in doing anything about Georgetown’s invitation of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to speak at commencement (Cardinal Wuerl’s silence on Sebelius: disappointing, not surprising). Nonetheless, it would seem that important messages are being sent by both sides.

First, the very invitation to Sebelius is not just your typical Modernist undermining of Catholic faith and morals against a backdrop of general confusion. No, this invitation is a direct slap at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for its very public and well-known opposition to the HHS Mandate, and to its defense of religious liberty. The Georgetown invitation is on the level of thumbing one’s nose at the bishops on their top priority issue.

Second, it is enormously telling that the editor of Cardinal Wuerl’s newspaper felt at liberty to write clearly on Georgetown’s decision. The editor made it crystal clear that the decision to invite Sebelius was not only wrong but very typically wrong. It stated point blank that Georgetown can be more relied on to attack the Faith than to defend it. This kind of frankness is rare in the diocesan press.

Now it would have been very foolish of the editor to publish this editorial without knowing that Cardinal Wuerl approved. And in the long run it will prove foolish of Georgetown to, in effect, deliberately and directly pick a fight with the bishops. This is not your father’s Church. The Modernists are not as strong as they were forty years ago. Even if they still control many universities and religious orders, they no longer control the episcopate. By a direct onslaught, Georgetown has hastened the day when it will find this out.

I don’t know exactly what can be done about Georgetown at this juncture. Certainly if Cardinal Wuerl can do more, he should; and if he cannot do more, it would be better for him to square off against Georgetown on this issue both personally and publicly. But that he is willing to permit the battle lines to be hardened is not nothing. That the Archdiocesan newspaper should so clearly want the faithful to realize that Georgetown is both wrong and unCatholic is not nothing. Not so many years ago, this would have been unthinkable.

Cardinal Dolan urges graduates to reflect Christ’s self-giving love

COMMENCEMENT-CUA May-14-2012 (860 words) With photo. xxxn

Cardinal Dolan urges graduates to reflect Christ’s self-giving love

By Mark Zimmermann
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan praised the class of 2012 at The Catholic University of America, saying in his May 12 commencement address that the 1,500 students receiving degrees that day had all majored in “the Law of the Gift” — learning to pattern their lives after the self-giving love of Jesus.

Cardinal Dolan noted how Blessed John Paul II described the “Law of the Gift” this way: “For we are at our best, we are most fully alive and human, when we give away freely and sacrificially our very selves in love for another.”

The cardinal noted how Jesus spoke about the “Law of the Gift” when the Lord said, “Greater love than this no one has, than to give one’s life for one’s friends.”

New York’s archbishop, who also is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, encouraged the graduates to draw on their faith to help in the effort to stand up for religious freedom in the United States and to oppose efforts to redefine marriage.

“Religion, faith, the church promote a culture built on the ‘Law of the Gift,’” the cardinal said. “Thus, wise people from Alexis de Tocqueville to John Courtney Murray … have observed that an essential ingredient in American wisdom and the genius of the American republic is the freedom it allows for religion to flourish.”

He predicted that a challenge the class of 2012 “will inevitably face is the defense of religious freedom as part of both our American and creedal legacy.”

Cardinal Dolan has played a leading role in the U.S. bishops’ defense of religious freedom in the face of recent threats, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that would force Catholic institutions including hospitals, universities and social service agencies to provide health insurance coverage to employees for procedures the Catholic Church opposes, including abortion-inducing drugs, artificial contraceptives and sterilizations.

Cardinal Dolan said the “Law of the Gift” also provides special insights into the Catholic Church’s teachings on marriage.

The law “is most poetically exemplified in the lifelong, life-giving, faithful, intimate union of a man and woman in marriage, which then leads to the procreation of new life in babies, so that husband and wife, now father and mother, spend their lives sacrificially loving and giving to those children,” the cardinal said.

“That union — that sacred rhythm of man/woman/husband/wife/baby/mother/father — is so essential to the order of the common good that its very definition is ingrained into our interior dictionary, that its protection and flourishing is the aim of enlightened culture.”

The cardinal said the Catholic University graduates had first learned those lessons from “the most significant of all professors, your mom and dad,” at home, and he led the graduates in applauding their parents.

“The ‘Law of the Gift’ is part of the DNA of any Catholic school, this sterling one included,” he said.

“That we are at our best when we give ourselves away in love to another — the ‘Law of the Gift,’” Cardinal Dolan continued, “is, I’m afraid, ‘countercultural’ today, in an era that prefers getting to giving, and entitlement to responsibility; in a society that considers every drive, desire or urge as a right, and where convenience and privacy can trump even the right to life itself; and in a mindset where freedom is reduced to the liberty to do whatever we want, wherever we want, whenever, however, with whomever we want, rather than the duty to do what we ought. … Well, the ‘Law of the Gift’ can be as ignored as a yellow traffic light in New York City.”

New York’s cardinal also noted how Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized the importance of Catholic universities being faithful to their Catholic identity as they carry out the church’s mission in service to the Gospel. He noted that each classroom at The Catholic University of America features the most effective audiovisual aid of them all — the crucifix.

A big part of the joy at that morning’s graduation, the cardinal said, was rooted in gratitude of the university’s solidarity and communion with the church’s pastoral leadership, knowing “that this university is both Catholic and American, flowing from the most noble ideals of truth and respect for human dignity that are at the heart of our church and our country.”

Earlier, Cardinal Dolan received Catholic University’s President’s Medal, the school’s highest honor. Cardinal Dolan has a doctorate in American church history from Catholic University.

Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, chancellor, offered the invocation at Catholic University’s 123rd annual commencement, asking God to bless the university’s work, and he prayed that at the university, the light of Catholic faith would continue to shine so that those seeking truth will come to know God, who is truth.

Addressing the graduates, John Garvey, president of Catholic University, noted that many commencement speakers encourage graduates “to follow your dreams and wear sunscreen.”

He urged them instead to draw upon the virtue of patience. “Patience is the disposition to await God’s grace. … Get up every morning with the disposition to await God’s grace,” he said.

- – -

Zimmermann is editor of the Catholic Standard in Washington.

END

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May 8, 2012

Craig Hanson

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Pope tells American colleges to strengthen Catholic identity

Published:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI called on America’s Catholic colleges and universities to reaffirm their Catholic identity by ensuring orthodoxy in theological studies and accepting the oversight of bishops. The pope made his remarks May 5 to U.S. bishops from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming, who were making their periodic “ad limina” visits to the Vatican. While he acknowledged recent efforts by America’s Catholic institutions of higher education to “reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the church’s mission,” Pope Benedict said that “much remains to be done.” The pope emphasized the need for compliance with canon law in the appointment of theology instructors, who are required to possess a “mandate” from the “competent ecclesiastical authority,” ordinarily the local bishop. The requirement for a mandate was underscored in 1990 by Blessed John Paul II in his apostolic constitution “Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” but many Catholic theology departments in the U.S. have yet to comply. Pope Benedict said that the need for a mandate was especially clear in light of the “confusion created by instances of apparent dissidence between some representatives of Catholic institutions and the church’s pastoral leadership.”

Copyright (c) Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .

IN MAY

IN 2012

Nuns group sanctioned by Vatican to meet this month

The national group of Roman Catholic nuns led by a Western Pennsylvania woman will meet at month’s end to discuss a Vatican rebuke of the organization.

Last month, the Vatican, which oversees the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, slapped the group with sanctions for promoting “certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.”

The Leadership Conference’s national board will meet in Washington May 29 through June 1, “beginning to look at what the next steps will be in response to this (Vatican) report,” according to Sister Annmarie Sanders, the group’s associate director for communications.

Sister Janet Mock, a Johnstown native affiliated with the Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, was named executive director of the Leadership Conference in early April. Sanders said Mock is not available for interviews.

The conference represents 80 percent of the nation’s 57,000 nuns.

The Vatican announced last month a full-scale overhaul of the group, accusing it of taking positions that undermine Roman Catholic teachings on the priesthood and homosexuality. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said in its report that the Leadership Conference has been “silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States.”

An American archbishop, Peter Sartain of Seattle, was appointed to oversee the reform. Efforts to reach him for comment last night were unavailing. Nor could anyone be reached at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington.

In a statement responding to the assessment, the presidency of the Leadership Conference said it was “stunned by the conclusions. … Because the leadership of the conference has the custom of meeting annually with the staff of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome and because the conference follows canonically approved statutes, we were taken by surprise.”

The Leadership Conference’s national board and conference staff will attend the meeting to discuss the assessment. The 20-member board consists of a three-person presidency, a secretary, a treasurer and 15 regional representatives.

Sartain will not attend the meeting, Sanders said.

The Leadership Conference, based in Silver Spring, Md., released a statement about its upcoming meeting, saying it will “begin its discussion of the conclusions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s doctrinal assessment and the implementation plan put forth by that Vatican office. … The conference plans to move slowly, not rushing to judgment.”

In addition to Mock’s time as a Sister of St. Joseph, she has worked in community outreach at a satellite campus of Carlow University and as an elementary teacher.

May 1, 2012

Michael Gadson

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A faith-based budget lesson for Paul Ryan

There is something un-Christian about the Gospel According to Paul Ryan. So, at least, says Ryan’s Catholic Church.

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody last month, Rep. Ryan, R-Wis., the author of the House Republican budget endorsed by Mitt Romney, said his program was crafted “using my Catholic faith” as inspiration. But theU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was not about to bless that claim.

A week after Ryan’s boast, the bishops sent letters to Congress saying that the Ryan budget, passed by the House, “fails to meet” the moral criteria of the Church, namely its view that any budget should help “the least of these” as the Christian Bible requires: the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the jobless. “A just spending bill cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor and vulnerable persons,” the bishops wrote.

In fact, Ryan would cut spending on the least of these by about $5 trillion over 10 years — from Medicaid, food stamps, welfare and the like — and then turn around and award some $4 trillion in tax cuts to the most of these. To their credit, Catholic leaders were not about to let Ryan claim to be serving God when in fact he was serving mammon.

“Your budget,” a group of Jesuit scholars and other Georgetown University faculty members wrote to Ryan last month, “appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her call to selfishness and her antagonism toward religion are antithetical to the Gospel values of compassion and love.”

Ryan didn’t turn the other cheek. He showed up at Georgetown on Thursday to deliver a previously scheduled lecture, and lecture he did. He said the faculty members would benefit from a “fact-based conversation” on the issue. “I suppose that there are some Catholics who for a long time thought they had a monopoly … on the social teaching of our church,” he said, but no more. “The work I do as a Catholic holding office conforms to the social doctrine as best I can make of it.”

From the balcony, a group of young demonstrators answered Ryan by holding up a banner with the message “Stop the War on the Poor: No Social Justice in Ryan’s Budget.” On the plaza outside, more protesters held a banner asking: “Were you there when they crucified the poor?” A man wearing a bedsheet, sash and sandals, with a name tag identifying him as “GOP Je$us,” read a new version of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the rich: The reign of the world is ours. … “

For the young chairman of the House Budget Committee, it was a timely lesson: However much Ryan may wish it, God does not take sides in politics. Ryan, transparently positioning himself to be Romney’s running mate, may well believe that he is on a mission from God. But in a democracy, such fanaticism makes people such as Ryan unable to make necessary compromises.

The rebuke of Ryan is a credit to the Catholic leaders, because they are displaying their doctrinal consistency even as politicians embrace church teachings selectively. Republicans hailed the Catholic bishops when they were opposing the Obama administration’s policy to expand contraceptive coverage; likewise, they cite the church’s opposition to abortion. But these same lawmakers have little interest in the church’s position against the death penalty or its opposition to the Arizona immigration law.

The bishops, in opposing Ryan’s budget, called for “shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues.” But Ryan challenged the theologians’ theology. “The holy father himself, Pope Benedict, has charged that governments, communities and individuals running up high debt levels are, quote, ‘living at the expense of future generations,’” he said from the pulpit in Georgetown’s ornate Gaston Hall.

Ryan argued that government welfare “dissolves the common good of society, and it dishonors the dignity of the human person.” He would restore human dignity by removing anti-poverty programs. The moderator asked the chairman about “the moral dimension” of a budget that gives tax cuts to the wealthy and cuts spending for the poor. Ryan’s answer included the phrase “subchapter S corporations.”

Spending on programs such as food stamps and college Pell Grants is “unsustainable,” he said. If government does too much for the poor, “you make it harder” for churches and charities to do that work.

It was a bold economic — and theological — proposition. Even Jesus said to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Ryan would rather give the rich a tax cut.

Washington Post Writers Group

Dana Milbank is a syndicated columnist based in Washington.

danamilbank@washpost.com

Apr 30, 2012

Michael Gadson

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Milbank: For Paul Ryan, a faith-based lesson

WASHINGTON — There is something un-Christian about the Gospel According to Paul Ryan. So, at least, says Ryan’s Catholic Church.

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody this month, Ryan, the author of the House Republican budget endorsed by Mitt Romney, said his program was crafted “using my Catholic faith” as inspiration. But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was not about to bless that claim.

A week after Ryan’s boast, the bishops sent letters to Congress saying the Ryan budget, passed by the House, “fails to meet” the moral criteria of the Church, namely its view that any budget should help “the least of these” as the Christian Bible requires: the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the jobless. “A just spending bill cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor and vulnerable persons,” the bishops wrote.

“Your budget,” a group of Jesuit scholars and other Georgetown University faculty members wrote to Ryan last week, “appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her call to selfishness and her antagonism toward religion are antithetical to the Gospel values of compassion and love.”

From the balcony, a group of young demonstrators answered Ryan by holding up a banner with the message “Stop the War on the Poor: No Social Justice in Ryan’s Budget.” On the plaza outside, more protesters held a banner asking: “Were you there when they crucified the poor?” A man wearing a bedsheet, sash and sandals, with a name tag identifying him as “GOP Je$us,” read out a new version of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the rich: The reign of the world is ours. … ”

The rebuke of Ryan is a credit to the Catholic leadership, because they are displaying their doctrinal consistency even as politicians embrace church teachings selectively. Republicans hailed the Catholic bishops when they were opposing the Obama administration’s policy to expand contraceptive coverage; likewise, they cite the church’s opposition to abortion. But these same lawmakers have little interest in the church’s position against the death penalty, or its opposition to the Arizona immigration law.

The bishops, in opposing Ryan’s budget, called for “shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues.” But Ryan challenged the theologians’ theology. “The holy father himself, Pope Benedict, has charged that governments, communities and individuals running up high debt levels are, quote, ’living at the expense of future generations,’” he said from the pulpit in Georgetown’s ornate Gaston Hall.

Ryan argued that government welfare “dissolves the common good of society and it dishonors the dignity of the human person.” He would restore human dignity by removing anti-poverty programs. The moderator asked the chairman about “the moral dimension” of a budget that gives tax cuts to the wealthy and cuts spending for the poor. Ryan’s answer included the phrase “subchapter S corporations.”

It was a bold economic — and theological — proposition. Even Jesus said to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Ryan would rather give the rich a tax cut.

Dana Milbank can be reached at danamilbank@washpost.com.

Apr 29, 2012

Michael Gadson

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Ryan’s faith-based budget plan doesn’t fly with Catholic bishops

1:00 AM

Ryan’s faith-based budget plan doesn’t fly with Catholic bishops

Dana Milbank

There is something un-Christian about the Gospel According to Paul Ryan. So, at least, says Ryan’s Catholic Church.

A week after Ryan’s boast, the bishops sent letters to Congress saying the Ryan budget, passed by the House, “fails to meet” the moral criteria of the church, namely its view that any budget should help “the least of these” as the Christian Bible requires: the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the jobless. “A just spending bill cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor and vulnerable persons,” the bishops wrote.

In fact, Ryan would cut spending on the least of these by about $5 trillion over 10 years — from Medicaid, food stamps, welfare and the like — and then turn around and award some $4 trillion in tax cuts to the most of these. To their credit, Catholic leaders were not about to let Ryan claim to be serving God when in fact he was serving mammon.

“Your budget,” a group of Jesuit scholars and other Georgetown University faculty members wrote to Ryan, “appears to reflect the values of your favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her call to selfishness and her antagonism toward religion are antithetical to the Gospel values of compassion and love.”

“I suppose that there are some Catholics who for a long time thought they had a monopoly … on the social teaching of our church,” he said, but no more. “The work I do as a Catholic holding office conforms to the social doctrine as best I can make of it.”

A man wearing a bedsheet, sash and sandals, with a name tag identifying him as “GOP Je$us,” read out a new version of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the rich: The reign of the world is ours. … “

For the young chairman of the House Budget Committee, it was a timely lesson: However much Ryan may wish it, God does not take sides in politics.

Ryan, transparently positioning himself to be Romney’s running mate, may believe that he is on a mission from God. In a democracy, however, such fanaticism makes people such as Ryan unable to make necessary compromises.

The rebuke of Ryan is a credit to the Catholic leadership, because they are displaying their doctrinal consistency even as politicians embrace church teachings selectively.

Republicans hailed the Catholic bishops when they opposed the Obama administration’s policy to expand contraceptive coverage; likewise, they cite the church’s opposition to abortion. These same lawmakers, however, have little interest in the church’s position against the death penalty, or its opposition to the Arizona immigration law.

The bishops, in opposing Ryan’s budget, called for “shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues.”

Ryan, however, challenged the theologians’ theology.

“The holy father himself, Pope Benedict, has charged that governments, communities and individuals running up high debt levels are, quote, ‘living at the expense of future generations’,” he said from the pulpit in Georgetown’s ornate Gaston Hall.

Ryan argued that government welfare “dissolves the common good of society and it dishonors the dignity of the human person.” He would restore human dignity by removing anti-poverty programs.

The moderator asked the chairman about “the moral dimension” of a budget that gives tax cuts to the wealthy and cuts spending for the poor. Ryan’s answer included the phrase “subchapter S corporations.”

It was a bold economic — and theological — proposition. Even Jesus said to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. Ryan would rather give the rich a tax cut.

Dana Milbank is an American political reporter and columnist for The Washington Post. Email to danamilbank@washpost.com.

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Apr 18, 2012

Craig Hanson

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Catholicism: Live!

Has the American Catholic Church found its mojo? That seems to be the case lately, as American Catholic officials have seemingly been far more visable than ever before. Last Saturday (April 14, 2012) one of our local Illinois bishops, Daniel R. Jenky of the Diocese of Peoria, gave a particularly forceful homily where he stated President Obama is following the same path as Hitler and Stalin with his HHS mandate. Jenky stated: “Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care…In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.”

One word: Wow! I could see myself writing something like that as a lay Catholic speaking bluntly to my faithful readers on Examiner.com, but an Illinois bishop? Bishop Jenky has guts. It’s hard to imagine Chicago’s own Cardinal Francis George making such a statement – and if he did, he’d just as soon apologize for it immediately the next day, say he “misspoke” and is “deeply sorry” if he offended anyone.

In an earlier Examiner.com column titled “Change the American Catholic Church? Yes We Can!” I noted there was no “head” American Catholic official, per say. Yet the recently named Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York fills that role nicely as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, making him a sort of “outspoken, joyous front-man for the American Catholic Church” Not only is he outspoken like Bishop Jenky, he’s also “one of the most tech-savvy bishops in the world”, according to the Washington Post. He is active on his Facebook page, his own personal blog, live radio and TV appearances, and is a huge proponent of new media. What does Cardinal Dolan think would be ideal for spreading the Catholic Church’s message? He recently told Pope Benedict, “We Need More Twitter”

Many American Catholic Bishops are following in his lead. As another such example, I wrote about efforts in recent months to canonize Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who was the great-granddaddy of all “tech-savvy” American Catholics when he was the first Catholic official to use television (then a new medium) to bring Catholic theology into people’s living rooms on a weekly basis via his radio and TV shows.

This week, American Catholics will get a taste of 21st century media technology on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at 1 p.m. There, they will be able to watch the enthronement of a new Catholic Archbishop live via the internet. Bishop William C. Skurla of the Eparchy of Passaic, New Jersey, will formally become the fifth Metropolitan of the Byzantine Catholic Church in America and be sworn in as Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh that day. Thanks to internet streaming technology, Chicago Catholics, as well Catholics across America and around the world will be able to watch the event at the Pittsburg Cathedral from their living room.

Of course, this has gotten very little media coverage, and for understandable reasons. You may have never heard of the “Metropolitan of the Byzantine Catholic Church” or the “Archeparchy of Pittsburgh”, because they are rather small in numbers. While Bishop Skurla will be one of the top Catholic officials in the United States and oversee parishes from coast to coast, all Byzantine Catholics in the United States, total, amounts to around 100,000 people. Worldwide, they have only 6 dioceses, four of which are in the United States (the other two are in the Ukraine, and the Czech Republic) By contrast, the Archdiocese of Chicago alone has at least 2,300,000 Catholic faithful, and that’s only in two Illinois counties – Cook and Lake.

What really matters though, is not the size, but their actions and what it represents. For example, Catholics in Poland are quite small compared to the hundreds of millions of Catholic faithful found in Latin America, yet it was that tiny nation of Poland and the legendary John Paul II who hailed from there who led the fight to bring down some of the odious 20th century regimes like communism and the red curtain. Likewise, some Byzantine Catholic officials have been at the forefront of the 21st century efforts to defeat the HHS mandate and to use new media to communicate the Catholic message. For example, the recent “Rally for Religious Freedom” that resulted in huge turnout in Chicago, was spearheaded by Byzantine Catholics, as was this year’s sold out Passion Play in Chicago during the Easter season, “Seven Last Words of Christ”

As a result, all eyes are on Bishop Skurla and what direction he will take after taking the reins in Pittsburgh. Since most people will be unable to make the trek to Pennsylvania to see the enthronement in person, most people will be watching via the internet, and that’s probably a first for Catholicism. In 2005, repeats of Pope Benedict XVI’s inaugural mass could be accessed via the internet by going to EWTN.com, although most Catholics watched it live on television. As the decade has progressed, watching things live via the internet has become an increasingly popular option. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Cathedral Rector Father Dennis M. Bode and HyperDo Media of Steubenville, Ohio, this enthronement will be able to be viewed online at www.stjohnsbyzantinecathedral.com, and no special software is needed to view the broadcast. Viewers can simply go online to the Cathedral website to initiate the video stream. It can be watched over their computer, and may be viewed on iPhone, Droid or other mobile devices by installing the Ustream, application, or by visiting the Ustream website. (www.ustream.tv ), via a search for “st-john-the-baptist-byzantine-catholic-cathedral” In another first, the broadcast will be streamed live in HD (High Definition) via Ustream arrangements of which were set up by HyperDo earlier this year. As a test, “We did a live broadcast when the seminarians from Prešov [Slovakia] were here last fall”, noted Christopher Wendt, President of HyperDo Media.

Viewers are expected to watch the event from all over the world, including remote regions of the U.S. and in areas of eastern Europe where the American parishioners originated from, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ukraine. For Roman Catholics who have no particular interest in Bishop Skurla, think of this event as a “warm up” event for other Catholics events in America that will increasingly use the internet to reach out to the faithful. Many masses are streamed live over the internet now, and HD technology allows the experience to be much more intimate and “real” than watching a grainy, pixilated view of events. The idea of the enthronement of a Catholic leader being broadcast on the internet certainly will affect Chicago Catholics soon, as Cardinal George turned 75 and recently submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI on Monday, January 16, 2012, as it custom for Cardinals reaching the retirement age. While he won’t formally retire until a successor is chosen and appointment in “one or two years”, we can expect there will be massive media attention on who will succeed Francis George as Cardinal, as well as who will follow Benedict XVI as Pope. So, as American Catholics, let’s embrace this strange new world of new internet media. Don’t be bitter – Cardinal Dolan is right, “We Need More Twitter!”

Apr 18, 2012

Michael Gadson

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Catholic Bishops Say Ryan Budget Fails Moral Test

Ryan Budget Catholic

By David Gibson
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS) A week after House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan claimed his Catholic faith inspired the Republicans’ cost-cutting budget plan, the nation’s Catholic bishops reiterated their demand that the federal budget protect the poor, and said the GOP measure “fails to meet these moral criteria.”

That and other strongly-worded judgments on the GOP budget proposal flew in a flurry of letters from leading bishops to the chairmen of key congressional committee.

The letters to Capitol Hill were highlighted in a Tuesday (April 17) statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that came after Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and rising conservative hero, told an interviewer last week (April 10) that his fiscal views were informed by Catholic social teaching.

The hierarchy’s pushback comes after liberal Catholics in Congress and progressive activists challenged the bishops to resist the GOP budget proposals with the same vigor that they have challenged the Obama administration’s contraception mandate and its perceived violations of religious freedom.

Even though the Republican-passed House budget has almost no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate or the White House, it is nonetheless serving as a proxy economic platform for Republicans in the presidential campaign, and as a counterpoint for Democrats.

Last Thursday, (April 12), the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty called for American Catholics to engage in a “Fortnight for Freedom” campaign — starting in late June and ending on July 4 — to actively resist the contraception mandate and other measures that the bishop say impinge on religious liberty.

The next day, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations, wrote to the bishops’ president, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, saying that as a Catholic she felt the bishops should highlight the injustices she and others saw in the Republican plans.

“What I am asking for is a campaign for the poor, the hungry, the middle class, the people who are going to be eviscerated by the Ryan budget,” DeLauro told Catholic News Service.

That same day, some 60 Catholic social justice leaders, theologians and clergy also released a statement saying that “this budget is morally indefensible and betrays Catholic principles of solidarity, just taxation and a commitment to the common good.”

Tuesday’s statement from the bishops came the same day as Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., called a proposed cut in benefits for children of immigrants “unjust and wrong.” Blaire, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, also decried any cuts in food stamps while preserving federal subsidies for industrial farming enterprises.

“Congress faces a difficult task to balance needs and resources and allocate burdens and sacrifices,” Blaire wrote to the House Agriculture Committee. “Just solutions, however, must require shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and fairly addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs.”

“The House-passed budget resolution fails to meet these moral criteria.”

Also on HuffPost:

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Apr 17, 2012

Craig Hanson

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My Take: Catholic bishops against the common good

(CNN) –

The U.S. Catholic bishops who claim, increasingly incredibly, to speak on behalf of American Catholics hit a new low last week when they released a self-serving statement called “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty.” As this title intimates, the supposed subject is religious liberty, but the real matter at hand is contraception and (for those who have ears to hear) the rapidly eroding moral authority of U.S. priests and bishops.

On Easter Sunday, Timothy Dolan, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CBS that the controversial Health and Human Services contraception rule represents a “radical intrusion” of government into “the internal life of the Church.” On Thursday, 15 of his fellow Catholic clerics (all male) took another sloshy step into the muck and mire of the politics of fear.

In “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty” there is talk of religious liberty as the “first freedom” and a tip of the cap to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. But first and foremost there is anxiety. “Our freedoms are threatened,” these clerics cry. “Religious liberty is under attack.”

But what freedoms are these clerics being denied? The freedom to say Mass? To pray the Rosary? No and no. The U.S. government is not forcing celibate priests to have sex, or to condone condoms. The freedom these clerics are being denied is the freedom to ignore the laws of the land in which they live.

When I first heard of the HHS rule requiring all employers to pay for birth control for their employees, I thought it should include, on First Amendment grounds, an exemption for Catholic churches. And in fact it did.

Moreover, when Catholic bishops and priests opposed the contraception mandate, HHS modified its rule, exempting not only Catholic churches but also Catholic-affiliated hospitals, universities, and social service agencies. (For these organizations, employees would receive contraceptive coverage from insurance companies separately from the policies purchased by their employers).

Once the Obama administration presented this compromise, I thought Catholic clerics would withdraw their objections. I was wrong. Instead they acted like political hacks rather than spiritual authorities, doubling down on the invective and serving up to the American public an even deeper draught of petty partisanship.

The bishops refer repeatedly in their statement to “civil society.” But think for a moment of the sort of “civil society” we would have if religious people were exempt from any law they deemed “unjust” for religious reasons.

Mormon employers who object to same-sex marriages could deny life insurance benefits to same-sex couples.

Jehovah’s Witnesses who object to blood transfusions could deny health care coverage for blood transfusions.

Christian Scientists who oppose the use of conventional medicine could refuse to cover their employees for anything other than Christian Science treatments.

And Roman Catholics could demand (as the bishops do in this statement) state financing for foster care programs that refuse to place foster children with same-sex parents.

As the Roman Catholic Church has taught for millennia, human beings are not isolated atoms. We live together in society, and we come together to pass laws to make our societies function. Virtually every law is coercive, and care must be taken not to violate the religious liberties of individual citizens. But care must also be taken to preserve the common good.

In their statement, Catholic bishops accused American political leaders of launching “an attack on civil society.” They also attempted to cloak themselves in the mantle of Dr. King. But theirs is a vision of an uncivil society, and their cause has nothing to do with the civil rights movement.

The civil rights movement succeeded because its cause was just, and because its leaders were able to mobilize millions of Americans to bring an end to the injustice of segregation. The effort by male Roman Catholic leaders to deny contraception coverage to female employees who want it does not bear even a passing resemblance to that cause. And even the bishops behind this so-called “movement” must admit that it is failing to mobilize even American Catholics themselves.

At least since the Second Vatican Council of the early 1960s, Catholics worldwide have been asking, “Who is the Roman Catholic Church?” Is it the hierarchy–a collection of priests, bishops, and cardinals overseen by a pope? Or is it the “People of God” in the pews whom these leaders are ordained to serve?

In recent years, this question has jumped by necessity from the realm of Catholic theology into the rough and tumble of American politics. Does American Catholicism oppose contraception? It depends on who speaks for the Church. The 98% of American Catholic women who have used contraception? Or the 15 male clerics who issued this statement?

According to “Catholics for Choice,” which has published a rejoinder to “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” “The bishops have failed to convince Catholics in the pews to follow their prohibitions on contraception. Now, they want the government to grant them the legal right to require each of us, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, to set aside our own guaranteed freedom from government-sanctioned religious interference in our lives.”

The bishops’ statement gives lip service to “civil society” and the “common good,” but what these 15 clerics are trying to do here is destructive of both. To participate in civil society is to get your way sometimes and not others. To seek the common good is to sacrifice your own interests at times to those of others.

I will admit that the HHS contraception rule does ask these Catholic clerics to sacrifice something. But what is this sacrifice? Simply to allow the women who work for their organizations to be offered contraceptive coverage by their insurers. To refuse this sacrifice is not to uphold civil society. It is to refuse to participate in it.

Toward the end of their statement, the 15 bishops who signed this statement called on every U.S. Catholic to join in a “great national campaign” on behalf of religious liberty. More specifically, they called for a “Fortnight for Freedom” concluding with the Fourth of July when U.S. dioceses can celebrate both religious liberty and martyrs who have died for the Catholic cause.

As Independence Day approaches, I have a prediction. I predict that rank-and-file American Catholics will ignore this call. They will see that the issue at hand has more to do with women’s health than with religious liberty. And in the spirit of Vatican II, which referred to the church as the “People of God,” they will refuse to allow these 15 men to speak for them. Whatever moral capital U.S. bishops have in the wake of the sex abuse scandal that rocked the nation for decades will be insufficient to win over lay Catholics to what has been for at least a half a century a lost cause.

These 15 clerics write that American Catholics “must have the courage not to obey” unjust laws. I think the courage called for today is something else–the courage not to obey those who no longer speak for them.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero.

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