Pope Francis Condemns the Cult of Greed, Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan Support It

by Brent Budowsky

In recent remarks that were stunning and profound, Pope Francis harshly criticized what he called “the cult of money” and condemned what he called the “dictatorship” of economies that are socially unjust and morally unfair.

These remarks, reported in The Daily Telegraph and highlighted on the Drudge Report (but not in major American media) suggest a papacy with the potential to transform the global economic and financial debate.

Most recent popes, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, raised the same issues that Francis dramatized this week. What makes the Holy Father different today is that he views economic and social injustice as a defining, and possibly THE defining, theme of his papacy.

This is extraordinary, powerful and profound. There are profound differences between the policies of President Obama and Democrats versus the policies proposed by the atheist Ayn Rand and conservative voices such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Paul Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Republican leaders in Congress.

Francis suggests there should be far more economic and social justice regarding the wealthy and everyone else within the leading industrial nations, and between the leading industrial nations and poorer nations throughout the world.

There is a debate raging in Washington, across Europe and throughout the world pitting the right, which favors cruel austerity at a time of slow growth and high joblessness, versus progressives and moderates who believe harsh austerity today is economically disastrous and morally repellant.

The pope specifically calls on world leaders to address the great economic and financial injustices, and I agree with him completely. The pope uses words like “cult” and “dictatorship” to describe the champions of financial justice and the conditions their policies create, and I fully agree with him about this, as well.

Francis has also put his money where his mouth is. The Vatican Bank has already announced new openness and reforms at his direction, which should interest opponents of financial reform in America, Britain and elsewhere. Paul Ryan is a fervent disciple of Ayn Rand, who was the atheist champion of the culture of greed.

Ryan famously tried to employ Catholic theology on behalf of his budget austerity against the poor, and was quickly forced to retreat as the absurdity of this view became obvious. Various rightist and Republican voices have championed aspects of the cult of money, including Cruz, Ryan, Rand Paul, Ron Paul, Republican leaders in Congress and Mitt Romney, who famously ridiculed and demeaned much of the nation on video, championing the cult of money to a room of Republican donors whose money he sought.

It is ironic that these profound and important views of the Holy Father have so far received more attention from the Drudge Report than the leading newspapers of America, the network television news, or cable networks with so much airtime to put to work.

The BBC, Al-Jazeera, The Daily Telegraph and other international media have respected and reported the profound thoughts from Francis, which deserve far more attention here, which is why I write these words today.

Let us advance this great discussion to the center of politics and media throughout America and across the world. For those who disagree with my views, or for whatever reason continue to champion the cult of money and greed, I command to their attention the recent comments from Francis and the timeless words of the Sermon on the Mount.

The Hill Magazine

Brent Budowsky is served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, responsible for commerce and intelligence matters, including one of the core drafters of the CIA Identities Law. Served as Legislative Director to Congressman Bill Alexander, then Chief Deputy Whip, House of Representatives. Currently a member of the International Advisory Council of the Intelligence Summit. Left government in 1990 for marketing and public affairs business including major corporate entertainment and talent management.
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Pope Francis condemns the cult of greed, Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan support it

In recent remarks that were stunning and profound, Pope Francis harshly criticized what he called “the cult of money” and condemned what he called the “dictatorship” of economies that are socially unjust and morally unfair.

These remarks, reported in The Daily Telegraph and highlighted on the Drudge Report (but not in major American media) suggest a papacy with the potential to transform the global economic and financial debate.

Most recent popes, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict, raised the same issues that Francis dramatized this week. What makes the Holy Father different today is that he views economic and social injustice as a defining, and possibly THE defining, theme of is papacy.

This is extraordinary, powerful and profound. There are profound differences between the policies of President Obama and Democrats versus the policies proposed by the atheist Ayn Rand and conservative voices such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Rep. Paul Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Republican leaders in Congress.

Francis suggests there should be far more economic and social justice regarding the wealthy and everyone else within the leading industrial nations, and between the leading industrial nations and poorer nations throughout the world.

There is a debate raging in Washington, across Europe and throughout the world pitting the right, which favors cruel austerity at a time of slow growth and high joblessness, versus progressives and moderates who believe harsh austerity today is economically disastrous and morally repellant.

The pope specifically calls on world leaders to address the great economic and financial injustices, and I agree with him completely. The pope uses words like “cult” and “dictatorship” to describe the champions of financial justice and the conditions their policies create, and I fully agree with him about this, as well.

Francis has also put his money where his mouth is. The Vatican Bank has already announced new openness and reforms at his direction, which should interest opponents of financial reform in America, Britain and elsewhere. Paul Ryan is a fervent disciple of Ayn Rand, who was the atheist champion of the culture of greed.

Ryan famously tried to employ Catholic theology on behalf of his budget austerity against the poor, and was quickly forced to retreat as the absurdity of this view became obvious. Various rightist and Republican voices have championed aspects of the cult of money, including Cruz, Ryan, Rand Paul, Ron Paul, Republican leaders in Congress and Mitt Romney, who famously ridiculed and demeaned much of the nation on video, championing the cult of money to a room of Republican donors whose money he sought.

It is ironic that these profound and important views of the Holy Father have so far received more attention from the Drudge Report than the leading newspapers of America, the network television news, or cable networks with so much airtime to put to work. 

The BBC, Al-Jazeera, The Daily Telegraph and other international media have respected and reported the profound thoughts from Francis, which deserve far more attention here, which is why I write these words today. 

Let us advance this great discussion to the center of politics and media throughout America and across the world. For those who disagree with my views, or for whatever reason continue to champion the cult of money and greed, I command to their attention the recent comments from Francis and the timeless words of the Sermon on the Mount. 

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Ahiara Diocese: Time For Truce

Ahiara Diocese: Time For Truce  

Published on May 16, 2013 by pmnews   ·   No Comments

By Peter Claver Oparah

When he entered the conclave, in the wake of the historical resignation of Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, Pope Francis (then Cardinal Bergoglio), like the nearly 120 Cardinals that made up the conclave, went with his little briefcase containing essentials he may need for the period of time the conclave will last. This was televised live to the entire world. Since  he emerged, after two days, as Pope Francis, no one has known or seen him go back to his native Argentina, either to take his personal belongings or check on his father’s heirloom, lands and estates. Recall that Pope Emeritus Benedict had not visited his native Germany since he voluntarily abdicated the Papacy on February 28. He may not even visit Germany again in his life time as he lives in a sequestrated monastery at the Vatican. The late Pope John Paul II lost his last earthly close relative, his father, when he was barely eighteen. This was after the death of his brother Edward but he went on to become a priest and reached the very zenith of priesthood, which is the Papacy. At his death in 2005, he was known not to have left any earthly possession except his private mails, which he instructed his Secretary to burn at his death. He was not known to have gone to his native Poland to inspect or supervise his family estate, lands or businesses.

That is how it is for every Catholic priest. He is ordained for the Church and exists for the Church. By Church, I mean the Holy Catholic Church and not the church where he is born or is raised. By my understanding, a Catholic priest can be called upon to work anywhere his services are needed. He exists and lives his life at the behest of the Church, exercised through the delegated authority of the local ordinary, which is the Bishop of the Diocese where he works. A priest can work for a diocese other than the one he is born into. That becomes his diocese and if he dies, he is buried there. He may be required to work in a different diocese from the one he is born and where duty calls, he moves without question. He belongs to that diocese for life and when he dies, he will be buried in that diocese as his body may not even be laid in state in the diocese of his origin. A priest, on ordination, takes the vow of poverty, obedience and chastity. This forbids him from owning properties, estates, wives, children or heirlooms or to inherit his father’s estates or properties.   As it is with priests, so it is with bishops and even the Pope. While a priest, he is expected to live on the goodwill of the Church and the community of the faithful. That is the rule for Bishops and even the Pope.

This is why I find really disturbing the on-going slugfest over who should succeed the late Bishop Victor Adibe Chikwe as the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara (Mbaise) Diocese. Since this battle was kicked off with the announcement of Msgr. Peter Ebele Okpalaeke as the second bishop of Ahiara, and the rejection by a section of the Catholic community in the diocese, I had maintained a studied silence over the issue. I had rather decided to study and perhaps learn more from that issue than interfere but above all, I prayed silently and wished that the combatants will do their best and let the wheel of progress roll on. Since the issue started, I had read extensively  the submissions of the section of Mbaise people that rejected the appointment of Okpalaeke and the often engaging, deep and incisive reactions from others, mainly Catholic priests, from outside the diocese. Curiously, as I read, I had not found any opinion or any voice outside Mbaise support the rejection of Okpalaeke.

In all I read, I had been nit picking to see where any egregious infraction that impedes the choice of Okpalaeke could be advertised. I had read deeper to see if there is any impediment that would prevent him from being a Catholic bishop to the faithful of Ahiara diocese. I had searched for any hefty indiscretion that endangers his capacity to be an effective bishop for the people of Ahiara diocese. I believe such indiscretion should be founded on very strong reasons to sustain any strong opposition against his candidacy for the Bishopric as being touted by a section of the Catholic community and the huge number of non Catholics that have tapped into this issue for reasons best known to them. Curiously, I have not seen any such malfeasance. I have not seen any scandal and I have not seen any dent in the tons of paid adverts, features and opinions sent forth by those who have sworn that Okpalaeke will not be Bishop of Ahiara. In fact, in its first noted public statement on the rejection, these combatants made up of some priests and lay faithful have said they were not opposing Msgr. Okpalaeke’s candidacy as an attack against him as they said they found nothing wrong about him as a person. So what is firing the unusual obduracy so far displayed by these people?

They said they will never accept Okpalaeke because he is not from Ahiara, that he is from Anambra and they have gone further to allege what they call a deliberate policy of forcing Anambra priests on many dioceses in and outside the East. They have gone further to say that Okpalaeke is not qualified to shepherd the teeming faithful in Ahiara because, as they put it, he doesn’t speak our language or understand our culture. In a nutshell, these form the corpus of their opposition. I have continued to search for more beefy reasons to tag along them and have found out that the many press statements and features they have brought out on this issue revolve around these issues. Strictly speaking, and in line with Catholic traditions, are these weighty enough to disallow Okpalaeke from being Bishop of Ahiara? I don’t think so. Given historical evidences and with our knowledge of the Catholic priesthood and the general history of the Catholic Church, are these sufficient reasons to withdraw the candidacy of Msgr. Okpalaeke? I don’t think so and I feel that those that are sworn to the opposition of Msgr. Okpalaeke’s candidacy should advance further reasons to ground their positions.

I am a Catholic from Ahiara diocese and I remain in full communion with the Catholic Church. To be fair to it, the Catholic Church has had least considerations for place of origin in deciding where its priests or bishops work. Why should it when it professes one Faith, one Baptism and one Father who is God? A priest once ordained becomes a member of the church. It does not assign roles to its priests on consideration of where one comes from. In other words, when ordained, a Catholic priest is primed to work in any part of the world. It may be true that most bishops particularly in the Eastern parts of the country are from Anambra, as insinuated by those that oppose Msgr. Okpalaeke. It may be true that Msgr. Okpalaeke was favoured over priests from Ahiara, in consideration for who succeeds Bishop Chikwe. It is true that Ahiara has one of the highest density of Catholic priests in Nigeria.

It is true that Ahiara has one of the highest density of Catholics in Nigeria. These facts have been well rehearsed by those that want someone from Ahiara as the next bishop of Ahiara. However, none of these facts dents the suitability of Okpalaeke for the Bishop of Ahiara. None is weighty enough to disqualify him for the position and those opposing him, especially the priests among them, know this fact. Okpalaeke is a priest of the Catholic Church and that qualifies him to be bishop of any diocese in the world. It is trite to insist that it must be ‘our son’ or nobody else as the provocateurs of the succession crisis in Ahiara are insisting. Their position finds no known anchor in the ordinances, practices and authorities of the Catholic Church. It is alien to the Church and that is why Ahiara priests work all over the globe.

Coming nearer home, it is an incontestable fact that more than sixty five per cent of Catholic bishops in Nigeria work in dioceses other their diocese of origin. It is an incontestable fact that more priests from Ahiara’s rich pool of priests work in several dioceses all over the world and in different religious congregations. If these were true, how can those opposed to Okpalaeke justify their position on the flimsy basis of ‘he is from Anambra’ or ‘he does not speak our language’ or ‘he does not understand our culture’? Okpalaeke, on my last check is Igbo, he speaks Igbo and is part of that culture, even when we insists that the Church is not a cultural platform. Igbo is a uniform people, with a single culture and language, albeit with slight dialectical variations so it is an abomination to hurl those charges on Igbo just because you want to strengthen a weak point. So if we must disallow Okpalaeke from Bishop of Ahiara on these flimsy grounds, what happens to the multitude of Ahiara born priests working in various parts of the world? Deport them to come and become parts of the okpulo inheritance syndrome that is firing the present tussle?

I know that the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, as a group and individually, has worked round the clock to solve this issue. I know that respectable Priests and Bishops have made rounds to Mbaise to clear this mess. But after each intervention, all you get is one belly-churning publication or the other, alleging injustice and name calling. I have tried my utmost best to understand the grouse of these agitators beyond the flabby articulation put forth so far. It is just repetition of why it should be ‘one of us of no other person’ and when you press it further, everything is collapsed into the magic word, ‘injustice’ and you begin to wonder if the issue is really about injustice. If it is, why is it that more than 65 per cent of Catholic Bishops in Nigeria work in dioceses outside their diocese of origin? When had justice in the Catholic Church been watered down to restricting priests and bishops to their home dioceses?

As it is, by the appointment of Okpalaeke as Bishop of Ahiara, he automatically becomes a citizen of Ahiara. If and when he dies, he would be buried in Ahiara and this conforms to the practice of the Catholic Church so why are we breaking our heads over nothing? Why have we willingly allowed agent provocateurs, fifth columnists into our barn such that they make rounds vilifying the Catholic Church and treating its traditions and practices to trampling? I ask this because I found out that those who have been most fanatical in this warfare are non-Catholics, self confessed traditionalists, people of doubtful Catholicity and those who have publicly renounced their communion with the Catholic Church. They have been carrying on as if their lives rest on the appointment of an Mbaise man as Bishop of Ahiara and shockingly, they are in cahoots with a section of priests and lay Catholics.

I do not see the protest of a section of Ahiara priests and lay faithful to Okpalaeke’s emergence as out of place. It  is natural and should be limited to protests from which some useful lessons should be drawn. But then, they missed the opportunity to press the finest point in their position, which I believe, is asking why Mbaise priests cannot be Bishop of other dioceses. What prevents an Mbaise priest from being the Bishop of Awka or even the Archbishop of Onitsha when these positions become vacant? This was a beautiful ground the agitators for a native Bishop for Ahiara missed in the pent up obduracy to insist they must have their way.

I feel the church however takes note of this salient point and move on. Those who are agitating for a native bishop should rest their war machine and work for the progress of the church. All those who are engaged in this battle should call the truce and embrace peace so that we all will further the ends of development for the diocese and Mbaise land. Equally, those on the other side who are murmuring that ‘they rejected our son’ are misguided because they did not take into consideration the sentiments of a people just coming in contact with such succession reality.

We should put this squabble behind us because it is meaningless. Let us embrace Msgr. Okpalaeke as our brother and put forth our well known Mbaise warmth and conviviality to him. I know my people are capable of this and know when to end a battle. Let the new Bishop start his work, with an urgent mission to pursue reconciliation and peace among the fractious divisions that have developed amongst our people. Let all hands get on the deck and let everybody put the past behind to work for our people. Welcome, Msgr. Peter Ebele Okpalaeke to Ahiara Mbaise and long may your reign be!

•Oparah wrote from Lagos. •E-mail:peterclaver2000@yahoo.com

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Steve’s sharing the sounds of his faith

Published: 19 May 2013

Evangelising: US speaker and worship leader Steve Angrisano singing in Brisbane last week

US speaker and worship leader Steve Angrisano finished his Brisbane-exclusive tour this week.

EMILIE NG caught up with Steve before his Monday night concert, Set Free, to chat about music, life and being a Catholic missionary

IF there was one word to describe Catholic musician Steve Angrisano, it would be “alive”.

He is a man who lives off the joy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and, as a result, is alive and full of the love of Christ.

The Texan embodies the great motivation of Blessed Pope John Paul II, who proclaimed, “We are an Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”

Steve’s principal ministry is sharing the Catholic faith using music and storytelling (specifically with the aid of his Takamine guitar) which he calls “a product of the new evangelisation”.

“I think the new evangelisation gives it a name, and it calls us to new methods, and new approaches to share our faith, but it’s the same faith,” he said.

“The faith is not changing at all, but we are finding ways to reach out to people and allow them to experience it.

“I think what I’m doing is very much a fruit of that spirit that’s moving in the larger Church, and I feel very blessed to do this.”

Last week, Steve brought his energetic and moving ministry to parishes and youth leaders across Brisbane archdiocese.

His performances are a blend of prayers, music, and hand actions, but the most compelling part is his stories, which range from the 12-year-long miracle adoption of his third child, to witnessing the Sisters of the Disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ publically evangelise at a diner in Amarillo, Texas.

His busy schedule as a married man with three kids doesn’t allow much room for extended overseas trips, and his loyalty to his family meant he could only manage a Brisbane tour.

“The truth is, my own son is graduating this year and this weekend is a pretty big weekend for him, and he’s winning some pretty big awards back home,” he said.

“There was a possibility to go to Sydney for the weekend but I didn’t want to miss the things from my own family, so just kept it to Brisbane this time.”

At his live performances and workshops, there’s an immediate sense of Steve’s humility before God, not only from the stories he shares, but also from the prayerfulness of his music.

For Steve, his concerts are not about him, but about increasing his faith experiences.

“If you really don’t engage with your heart, and you just kind of do your thing and then leave, you’re really just having a near-faith experience, that is, you’re around people who are really experiencing it,” he said.

“I try really hard not to do that, but to really engage – to pray when everyone’s praying, or to sing when they’re singing.

“I feel very blessed that there’s a richness in my faith that comes from being in all these big events that people are gathered so it is definitely real significant faith experiences for me.”

The future for Steve lies in Nashville, where he will spend some time recording his new album, due out in November.

“It takes about three trips for me to finish one and about every three years or so, so we’re right in the midst of one now,” he said.

Scott Hahn, internationally recognized theologian, headlines May 25 seminar at …

Internationally acclaimed speaker and best-selling author Scott Hahn will be guest presenter at “Our Response to the Trinity,” a seminar that will be held from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Saturday, May 25, at Christ the King Catholic Parish, 1501 S. Main St., Lombard. Hahn’s topics include “The Lamb’s Supper,” “The Bible, the Eucharist, and the New Evangelization” and “Lord Have Mercy.”

Ticket purchase as soon as possible is encouraged because of limited seating availability. Cost of tickets through Sunday, May 19, is: adult, $20; religious, $10; young adults (aged 13 – 25), $10; and a family of four, $50. Afterward, ticket prices increase by $5. Tickets for youths aged 12 and younger are $5 no matter when purchased. Tickets include a bag lunch, and handicapped seating can be arranged.

The day will begin with registration and prayer at 8:00 a.m., followed by Mass at 9:00 a.m. and the seminar at 10 a.m. The seminar is being sponsored in cooperation with the Holy Trinity Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Charismatic Prayer Community of Christ the King Parish.

In “The Lamb’s Supper,” Hahn will help people understand the Book of Revelation in light of the Mass, a heavenly liturgy so powerfully and beautifully described in the Book of Revelation.

Hahn will explore the New Evangelization in “The Bible, the Eucharist, and the New Evangelization,” delving into why it is the greatest priority of the Catholic Church at this time. He also will discuss why Blessed John Paul II taught that Catholic evangelization must be based on the Eucharist, what difference the Eucharist makes in explaining Jesus’ death and resurrection, and how the Catholic faith can be shared with family, friends and co-workers.

In “Lord Have Mercy,” Hahn will discuss the power of confession and its critical role in bringing healing and promoting spiritual growth, especially in today’s world rife with anxiety and uncertainty.

Hahn, also an exceptionally popular teacher, has delivered thousands of presentations on Scripture, theology and the Catholic faith. He has appeared on hundreds of television programs on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), where he has been the host and presenter on several 13-week series, including “Our Father’s Plan,” “The Lamb’s Supper,” and “Genesis to Jesus.”

Among Hahn’s best-selling books are “Rome Sweet Home,” “Hail Holy Queen,” “A Father Who Keeps his Promises,” and “First Comes Love.” He also has written many academic publications, and is editor of the periodical “Letter Spirit: A Journal of Catholic Biblical Theology” and co-editor of the “Ignatius Catholic Study Bible.”

Founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology in Steubenville, Ohio, Hahn was awarded the Fr. Michael Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2012, where he is a faculty member. Previously, he was awarded the Pope Benedict XVI Chair of Biblical Theology and Liturgical Proclamation at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Penn., and the Pio Cardinal Laghi Chair of Catholic Theology at the Pontifical Seminary Joesphinum in Columbus, Ohio.

“Our Response to the Trinity” is part of Christ the King’s official observance of “The Year of Faith,” Oct. 11, 2012 – Nov. 24, 2013, as proclaimed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Tickets may be purchased by sending a check, payable to Christ the King Parish, to the church at 1501 S. Main St., Lombard, IL 60148. Information enclosed with the check should include: the number of tickets and the types (adult, religious, youth, etc.); the names of those attending; and the name, complete address, phone number and email address of the purchaser. Please indicate whether handicapped seating is necessary. Tickets will be available for pick up at the door.

For more information about ticket purchase or “Our Response to the Trinity,” contact Eileen Maggiore, pastoral associate in adult faith formation at Christ the King, at (630) 396-6076, or at eileen@ctklombard.org.

Established in 1960, the faith community of Christ the King, a parish of the Diocese of Joliet, numbers about 1,200 households that include approximately 4,000 individuals. Complete information about Christ the King or parish activities is available at www.ctklombard.org. For general information call (630) 629-1717.

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How Catholics can conquer depression

I was motivated to write the book A Catholic Guide to Depression because I believe that our Catholic tradition – including the writings of the Church Fathers and saints – has something important to say to those suffering from this terrible affliction. Depression is often misunderstood; most people mistakenly believe it’s nothing more than intense or prolonged sadness, when in fact it’s a complex illness that can profoundly impair a person’s mental and physical functioning. Because of mistaken assumptions, those who are afflicted with clinical depression often suffer in silence, unrecognised by others. I wrote the book first to speak to those who suffer from depression. I hope it will also be helpful for family, friends, clergy, and spiritual directors to gain a better understanding of depression, so that they can more effectively support their loved ones.

If someone is afflicted with cancer, this person is flooded with sympathy from family and friends, and support from the local parish, perhaps with special mention in the general intercessions at Mass, and so on. If someone suffers from depression, this person probably receives, at best, a few well-meaning but ineffective attempts at sympathy from family or close friends, but often without true understanding. There is rarely public mention of the problem due to the stigma of mental illness.

I recall one patient, a married Catholic woman with several children and grandchildren, who had suffered from both life-threatening breast cancer and severe depression. She once told me she would choose the cancer over the depression, as the latter caused far more intense suffering. She tragically committed suicide a few years after she stopped seeing me for treatment.

In a 2003 address on the theme of depression (included in an appendix of the book), Blessed John Paul II said that depression is always a spiritual trial: “This disease is often accompanied by an existential and spiritual crisis that leads to an inability to perceive the meaning of life.” He went on to stress how non-professionals, motivated by Christian charity and compassion, can help those with depression: “The role of those who care for depressed persons and who do not have a specifically therapeutic task consists above all in helping them to rediscover their self-esteem, confidence in their own abilities, interest in the future, the desire to live. It is therefore important to stretch out a hand to the sick, to make them perceive the tenderness of God, to integrate them into a community of faith and life in which they can feel accepted, understood, supported, respected; in a word, in which they can love and be loved.”

Depression is a complex condition that affects more than just a person’s emotions; it impairs one’s cognition, perceptions of the world, physical health and bodily functioning. The causes of depression are likewise complex. The medical model that characterises depression as simply a “chemical imbalance in the brain” is true but also incomplete. Neurobiological and genetic factors do play a causative role; but so do psychological, interpersonal, behavioural, cultural, social, moral, and indeed, spiritual factors. Depression should be understood and treated from all of these complementary perspectives. Medications and other biological treatments have an important therapeutic role in many cases, as does psychotherapy provided by competent, sensitive, and skilled professionals. These should be integrated with spiritual support and spiritual direction, a life of prayer and the sacraments.

All truth is symphonic: there is a harmony between faith and reason, theology and science, if only we discover it. Our understanding of depression can be more complete if we draw upon insights from medicine and psychology on the one hand, and from our Catholic tradition on the other. There is a need for a constructive dialogue here, as John Paul II pointed out to a group of psychiatrists in 1993: “By its very nature your work often brings you to the threshold of human mystery. It involves sensitivity to the tangled workings of the human mind and heart, and openness to the ultimate concerns that give meaning to people’s lives. These areas are of the utmost importance to the Church, and they call to mind the urgent need for a constructive dialogue between science and religion for the sake of shedding greater light on the mystery of man in his fullness.”

According to its original Greek root, the word “psychiatrist” literally means “doctor of the soul”. But in modern psychiatry, this original meaning has largely been abandoned: psychiatrists today tend to focus on the body, especially the brain, to the exclusion of the soul. Other critics have levelled the opposite complaint against psychiatry and psychology, claiming that we overstep our limitations and often tread on territory that was once occupied by religion. For example, Archbishop Fulton Sheen wondered whether the psychoanalyst’s couch has replaced the priest’s confessional in the modern world.

Despite the legitimate concerns raised by these critics, John Paul II reaffirmed that a genuine dialogue presupposes that both parties involved have something worthwhile to say to the other. The confessional was never meant to cure neurosis or other mental disturbances, and the couch was never meant to absolve sin. John Paul II continues in the same address: “The confessional is not, and cannot be, an alternative to the psychoanalyst or psychotherapist’s office, nor can one expect the Sacrament of Penance to heal truly pathological conditions. The confessor is not a physician or a healer in the technical sense of the term; in fact, if the condition of the penitent seems to require medical care, the confessor should not deal with the matter himself, but should send the penitent to competent and honest professionals.”

While the sacraments alone were never meant to cure mental afflictions like depression, they can and do play a healing role in a plan of recovery. The principle of “sacramentality” in Catholic theology, based on the central Christian doctrine of the Incarnation, affirms that the material world can mediate spiritual realities. As creatures of both body and soul, we relate to God through our senses. If I’m burdened by guilt or by sins of the past (often the case in depressed persons), when I go to Confession I’m able, in a very tangible way, to hear words of absolution from the priest who is acting in the name of Christ and the Church.

Many people who have gone to Confession describe this powerful experience of psychological healing. They are able to walk out knowing with total conviction that they have indeed been forgiven, that the burden they’ve been carrying has been lifted. The Catholic sacramental system is indeed consistent with our psychological make-up: we need to hear these words of absolution in order to more tangibly experience God’s mercy. We also know that sin not only harms our relationship with God but with others as well. In Confession there is the experience a sense of reintegration with a community: the priest represents the Church, the community of Christians, with whom the penitent is reconciled. All this is powerfully healing, and lifts a burden spiritually and psychologically.

Likewise, in participating at Mass, one’s own psychological suffering is united to the suffering of Christ – who suffered for me psychologically and physically. In Holy Communion, I receive his flesh offered for me and his blood poured out for my redemption and my healing. While this does not magically cure all physical or mental afflictions, the grace of the sacrament does strengthen me to bear these burdens in union with Christ. Our Lord says now to those who suffer what he said to his Apostles at the Last Supper: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (Jn 16:20), and he assures us: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).

Dr Aaron Kheriaty is the director of residency training and medical education in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. A Catholic Guide to Depression is published by Sophia Institute Press (Sophiainstitute.com)
and available on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk

This article first appeared in the print edition of The Catholic Herald dated 3/5/13

Exhibit honors life of Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day

To extend the legacy of Dorothy Day on Marquette’s campus, the Raynor Library Archives is sponsoring an exhibit designed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the first publication of the Catholic Worker, the newspaper Day helped found.

The exhibit also celebrates the Catholic Worker Movement begun by Day and a French peasant philosopher Peter Maurin.

Day, a controversial figure in Catholic Church history, is best known for her work in New York with the Catholic Worker Movement, which focused on non-violence and hospitality to the poor. Pope John Paul II gave the Archdiocese of New York permission in 2000 to open the cause for her canonization in the Church, which allows her to be called a “Servant of God” by Catholics.

The Dorothy Day Exhibit was inspired by a documentary entitled “Dorothy Day: Don’t Call Me a Saint,” which was written, produced and directed by Claudia Larson. Larson, who also conceived and designed the exhibit, worked on the documentary for 15 years before its world premiere at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival in 2006.

“I often say that it’s as though Dorothy Day walked up my front steps, knocked on my door, I answered,” said Larson. “She’s been here pushin’ ‘n proddin’ me for over 22 years.”

Larson has been interested in Day her whole life, but was especially inspired by stories about Day at the Movement’s 60th anniversary celebration in New York in 1993, which was an opportunity to meet some of Day’s oldest friends from the Catholic Worker. There, she spent time with Phil Runkel, an archivist in Raynor Memorial Library who is responsible for the Catholic social action holdings at Marquette. She also said she is working on a book based on transcripts from her interviews about Day.

“It is a rare privilege to have this collection of documents at Marquette because they present a significant contribution to and perspective on the history of the Catholic Church in the United States,” said Susan Mountin, the director of Manresa for Faculty in the Center for Teaching and Learning and an adjunct assistant professor in the theology department.

The exhibit features many documents from Raynor Memorial Library’s archives as well as some of Day’s personal items. It is designed to give the Marquette community a chance to explore details about Day’s life and experiences, and to see the impact of the Catholic Worker.

“This exhibit is a great visual kick-start to further study of Dorothy Day,” Larson said.

Marquette also hosts a student program for sophomores called the Dorothy Day Social Justice Living Learning Community. Students participating in the program live on two floors of Straz Tower and do many things together such as take a class each semester (Philosophy 1001 and Philosophy 2310), a pair of retreats, and service learning.

Maddie Chouanard, a junior in the College of Arts Sciences, was in the program last semester and is an RA on the Dorothy Day floor. She said that being in the community forced her to re-evaluate her plans.

“It changed my perspective,” Chouanard said. “(The program) has become a large part of my life now.”

Chouanard said service learning allows the students to connect with the community. The students attend the same sites throughout the year.

Day, who underwent a major transformation during her conversion to Catholicism, is known for pushing for major reforms in the Church.

“Dorothy Day was inspired by the Gospel stories about Jesus and looked to what he said and did as the guide to her life,” Mountin said. “She had an incredibly deep love of the Catholic Church, but from that love she also critiqued the institution when it did not live up to the standards of Jesus.”

The exhibit will be on display through at least the end of the semester.

“The ease in which the exhibit is laid out makes for a casual, but profound, learning tool,” Larson said.

Christendom College Celebrates 35 Years of ‘Truth Exists; the Incarnation …

CHANTILLY, Va. — “Truth exists; the Incarnation happened.”

Those words formed the motto of Warren Carroll, the late founder of Christendom College, and stood at the heart of celebrations surrounding the lay-run Catholic college’s 35th anniversary earlier this month.

More than 300 hundred donors, alumni and VIPs gathered April 6 for Christendom’s 35th anniversary gala at the Westfields Marriott Hotel in Chantilly, Va., to celebrate the college’s legacy of providing Catholic education since 1977 and raise funds for student financial aid.

“This is so important to us, as we do not accept and will not accept any federal aid when it comes to the support for our students and our program at Christendom,” Christendom’s president, Timothy O’Donnell, said in his remarks. “We’re now in a position of strengthening our cash reserves to help meet our future challenges,” he said.

The Register learned from John Ciskanik, vice president for advancement, that Christendom had surpassed its Annual Fund goal for this fiscal year and its goal for student financial aid by raising approximately $200,000 from the gala.

Touching Tributes

Bishop Paul Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., which includes Christendom in its territory, was honored that evening. O’Donnell presented Bishop Loverde with a bust of Blessed John Paul II to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the episcopate.

In his remarks, O’Donnell recognized former GOP presidential candidate and Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and his wife, Karen, who were in attendance, “for the heroic, prophetic defense of life, the truth of our Catholic faith” and for their “great witness in the public square,” both in the last presidential election and throughout their lives.

Also publicly recognized among the guests that evening was Anne Carroll, the wife of Christendom’s founder and first president until 1985: Warren Carroll started Christendom in response to the Second Vatican Council’s exhortation to the laity to promote the Church’s saving mission.

Although the college takes its motto — “Restore All Things in Christ” — from Pope St. Pius X, Carroll said the “watchwords of Christendom College” could be summed up as “Truth exists; the Incarnation happened.” The words are inscribed on Carroll’s tombstone, which rests on the college’s campus, overlooking the Shenandoah River.

Christendom has enjoyed strong personal connections with both Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, and that tradition appears to continue with the current papacy. The college’s chaplain, Father Donald Planty, read a message delivered on behalf of Pope Francis both congratulating the college on its 35th anniversary and imparting his apostolic blessing.

“His Holiness Pope Francis sends his cordial greetings to the entire academic community with prayers that this commemoration will foster a renewed commitment to the ideals of Christian faith and academic excellence which inspired the college’s foundation.”

The gala’s mistress of ceremonies, actress and original Mouseketeer Sherry Alberoni, regaled the mostly black-tie audience with her humor and later chimed in that, while Pope Francis was a pope of many firsts, he also had the distinction of being the Church’s “266th conservative pope.”

Students for the New Evangelization

But Christendom’s role in forming students for the New Evangelization was on the minds of many that night.

Bishop Loverde told the Register at the gala that he believed Christendom’s influence would have a multiplying effect by preparing young people to give an authentic witness to those they meet in society.

“What the world needs are committed believers in the Lord Jesus, Catholics who live their faith,” he said. “The mission and goals of Christendom are to form young people in such a way that they will go forth to be these dynamic, articulate, faith-filled Catholics who will bring to the wider society truth and charity — the world is thirsty for both.”

Alumnus Frank O’Reilly, from the Class of 1983, recounted to the Register some of the experiences of being a student in Christendom’s early days.

“It was wonderful,” he said. “Back then, there were about 50 of us, so it was a very intimate community. I suppose that’s one reason why Dr. Carroll wanted to keep the college relatively small.”

O’Reilly said the college always had a “family atmosphere,” which has taken on new meaning, with many alumni now sending their own children to Christendom for their education.

But O’Reilly said the words of Father Cornelius O’Brien, one of the college’s first chaplains, hit home for him. The chaplain commented on why every student had a mission to evangelize.

“He said you have to be like the leaven in the dough. But you can’t ever be leaven in the dough if you stay on the shelf,” O’Reilly said.

Since its founding, Christendom says it has formed more than 2,640 alumni, including 300 alumnus-to-alumna marriages, 63 priests and 43 religious brothers and sisters.

Christendom Today

Today Christendom’s main campus in Front Royal, Va., teaches 400 undergraduate students; there is a semester-long Rome program and an additional campus in nearby Alexandria, which houses its Notre Dame Graduate School. In July, Christendom is also inaugurating the month-long St. Columcille Institute, an annual program in Ireland to explore Catholic theology, history and literature.

This past spring break, the college sent 19% of its student body, 66 students, to work with Catholic missions in Guatemala, Peru, Jamaica and the Bronx, N.Y.

“We’ve had 35 years of sending people forth, but I think in many, many ways there remains so much more to be done,” Timothy O’Donnell told the Register. “I think the spirit that is within Christendom has deepened with the passing of time.”

Daily Mass, Rosary, Eucharistic adoration and confession form much of the tapestry of the college’s spiritual life. And Christendom also requires all professors to take an “Oath of Fidelity” to the magisterium, even though the Church requires only theology professors to profess the mandatum once.

The college also now broadcasts Catholic programming in the Shenandoah Valley area as a member of the EWTN Catholic Radio Network (ETWN is the parent company of the Register).

“I’m hoping that what started out as a small candle, like the light at the Easter vigil, will be passed on by heart speaking to heart,” O’Donnell said. “As it gets darker and darker in the culture, I hope that light shines brighter through the darkness.”

Register correspondent Peter Jesserer Smith writes from Rochester, New York.

He is a 2009 graduate of Christendom College. 

One month in, Pope Francis is on the right track

Editor’s note: Michael D’Antonio is the author of “Mortal Sins, Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal.” He is a former religion writer for Newsday.

(CNN) — Thirty days of signs and signals have revealed to the world in Francis I, a pope who seems eager to earn the title pontiff, or bridge-builder. Beginning with his choice of a name, which evokes the beloved image of St. Francis of Assisi, the former cardinal of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, put the world on notice that change was afoot by forgoing the fancy red slippers and ermine stole favored by other popes.

Since then he has shown a remarkable common touch in his encounters with the public and greater sensitivity to others than the man who came before him.

Try as he did, Francis’ immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, never looked comfortable in his own skin, let alone in pastoral contact with others. Clad in his ornate robes, he seemed to keep the world at arm’s length in a way that betrayed his long service as Rome’s “Rottweiler” (a nickname he received from the press) in charge of disciplining those who deviated from doctrine.

While personally warmer, the pope before Benedict, John Paul II, was stern when it came to religious matters and approached the world with an Us vs. Them mindset. As the church was rocked by a seemingly endless number of sex abuse scandals — thousands of child victims and systematic cover-ups by the hierarchy — he blamed secular society, especially the media, and capitalistic materialism.

In contrast with John Paul and Benedict, Francis doesn’t seem capable of greeting anyone without a big, sincere smile and whenever given the choice between clerical privilege and everyday human experience, he opts for the human.

This was demonstrated most clearly as he visited a jail during Holy Week to symbolically wash the feet of a dozen people who represented the apostles. Among them were two women and two Muslims. Their presence, and Francis’s ease with them, dismayed traditionalists who recoiled at the sight of females and non-Catholics being included in the ritual. It thrilled those who hunger for a more accessible and inclusive church.

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The survivors of clerical abuse, who I have come to know during three years of writing my book “Mortal Sins,” hope that Francis will bring real change. However, they have been discouraged by 30 years of church evasions and counterattacks and are understandably wary.

Tough-minded evaluators, they criticize Francis’ record on abuse in Argentina. There he was among many of the world’s Catholic bishops — fully 25% — who failed to meet a deadline for establishing policies to deal with complaints and priests who were accused, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Victims also wait for Francis to demonstrate that he will discipline offenders and reveal their records. “We don’t think statements make kids any safer,” SNAP leader Barbara Blaine told me this week. “Unless he makes kids safer, he’s not doing his job.”

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Blaine’s “show-me” attitude is echoed by her SNAP colleague Peter Isely, who was sexually abused when he attended a Catholic boarding school in Wisconsin. Isely said he admires the new man’s style and sees, in his personality, reason for hope.

“St. Francis was the single greatest reformer in the history of the Catholic Church,”‘ noted Isely. “My favorite quote by St. Francis is, `Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.’ Confronting and reforming the church’s global system of child sex abuse and cover-up, that is doing what is necessary. If Pope Francis does that, who knows what’s possible? Better yet, what’s impossible.”

Jeffrey Anderson, the attorney most responsible for the waves of litigation that have revealed the church’s secrets on abusive priests, is even more optimistic. Regarded by some as the most dreaded enemy of institutional Catholicism, Anderson told me, “This pope has already demonstrated in action and words a humility we haven’t seen before. I see that as revolutionary and it is in direct contrast with the hubris that was the source of the abuse crisis. It gives me hope that he can, if he chooses to, go against the power structure and fundamentally change things. For today I have hope like I never had.”

Although I am also skeptical of church leaders and well aware of the hierarchy’s long-standing failure on the abuse issue, Francis’ first 30 days have led me to agree with Anderson when it comes to the new pope’s personality. This is a shift for me, and I make it tentatively, because like all Catholics and former Catholics, I know we are susceptible to the influence of church stagecraft. We want to believe, and that desire has been exploited too often in the past.

If Francis makes the changes that the church must make to end the sex abuse crisis, it will happen because he grasps and wields the power of his office. As a cardinal, he was bound by his oath of obedience to “go along.” As pope, he is the one who makes the rules and requires others to obey. What if one of those requirements included an open, transparent and serious program to make children safe and heal the trauma of the past 30 years?

Many of history’s transformational figures have been men who, when they finally achieved power, used it in surprising ways.

Theodore Roosevelt, son of wealth and privilege, became the trust-busting enemy of corporate monopolists. Southerner Lyndon Johnson used his considerable skills to champion civil rights. Richard Nixon, Republican friend of industrialists, created the Environmental Protection Agency.

Francis has his chance now.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael D’Antonio.

Pope Francis trinkets sell briskly near Vatican

VATICAN CITY |
Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:45pm IST

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Less than 48 hours after his surprise election, Pope Francis’s smiling face adorns pendants and devotional souvenir cards packaged with rosaries at the trinket stands near St. Peter’s Square.

Small plastic bags containing a picture of Francis and a rosary – a string of prayer beads – were selling for 7 euros ($9) at Antonio Cardone’s stand and postcards showing the new pontiff were selling briskly at 50 cents.

“We expect more stuff to arrive in the coming days,” said Cardone. “Especially when he’s officially installed on Tuesday.”

Another stallholder, Stefano Di Segni, said his suppliers were scrambling to meet demand now that uncertainty had ended over who would succeed after the abdication of Benedict XVI.

Nearby, outside a Vatican City bookshop, tourists were swarming around posters with the face of the new pope on one side and excerpts from his first address on the other. Inside, they were buying Pope Francis pendants and holy cards.

Di Segni said the most popular item on his stall was still a rosary set with an image of Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005.

But he said Francis, the former Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, had the potential to become as revered as his much-loved Polish predecessor, who reigned for 27 years.

“I think he’s going to be a good pope,” said Di Segni, who has run trinket stands around the Vatican for 30 years.

“He was very emotional when he spoke for the first time, so different from Benedict, who was more cold and reserved.”

(Reporting By Catherine Hornby; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)