Media effort draws 92,000 inactive Catholics back home to church

By Ambria Hammel
Catholic News Service

PHOENIX (CNS) -- Maybe TV isn't so bad after all.

An estimated 92,000 inactive Catholics in the Phoenix Diocese have come back to the church in the last year thanks in large part to a groundbreaking television advertising campaign called Catholics Come Home.

The promotional spots featured people and locations from around the Phoenix Diocese to promote the church during prime-time television. The cornerstone of the campaign, the Catholics Come Home Web site, addresses often misunderstood aspects of the faith.

"For those who had fallen away from the practice of their faith, it let them know that we want them to come home," Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said.

The commercials, which ran during Lent in 2008, detail the good works of the Catholic Church throughout history. They also offer real-life testimonials of local fallen-away Catholics explaining what turned them away and what drew them back.

"Phoenix was supposed to be this quiet little test," said Tom Peterson, a former resident of Phoenix who is president and founder of Catholics Come Home, which is now based in Georgia.

"Word went worldwide as soon as you launched," he said in an interview with the Phoenix diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Sun.

More than half a million different visitors from all 50 states and 80 countries have visited the Web site catholicscomehome.com since the spots first aired.

The response was so positive that other dioceses around the country are looking to Phoenix for ideas on bringing Catholics back to the church.

The Diocese of Corpus Christi in Texas recently launched different versions of the television spots in English and Spanish. Each parish supplemented the commercials at Ash Wednesday services with a brochure for everyone answering common faith-related questions and listing Mass times and ministries.

The Catholics Come Home spots will appear in more than a dozen other dioceses around the country later in 2009 or early 2010. By the time Advent rolls around in 2010, organizers say they'll go national on major networks.

"Our family is made up of every race," begins the longest of the spots. "We are young and old, rich and poor, men and women, sinners and saints."

The two-minute ad highlights the vital part the Catholic Church has played in establishing hospitals, orphanages and schools in addition to its role in science, marriage, family life, Scripture and sacraments.

"If you've been away from the Catholic Church, we invite you to take another look," the announcer says toward the end. "We are Catholic; welcome home."

Another two-minute ad shows men and women alone watching the best and the worst scenes from their lives play back before them on an old movie reel.

The final ad that aired -- Peterson has dozens more like it ready to go -- featured snippets of testimonials about why Catholics left the church and what they found upon their return.

Peterson said the Catholics Come Home campaign has "the potential of re-Christianizing our society and even catechizing the world."

A lot of pro bono production, nearly $1 million from various donors and foundations, and a grant from the Catholic Community Foundation helped put the ads on the air.

The Diocese of Phoenix has witnessed increased interest in the church, which leaders are attributing to last year's campaign.

"It's exciting to see the fruits that continue to grow from this," said Ryan Hanning, coordinator of adult evangelization for the diocese. According to Hanning, a number of the faithful have found a renewed passion for the church, while fallen-away Catholics rejoined parish life.

Hanning worked closely with Peterson on the Catholics Come Home campaign and ensured that parish leaders, especially those in faith formation, were ready to welcome back Catholics and resolve sacramental and doctrinal issues. More than 25 parishes created programs to welcome Catholics back to the church.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Tempe was one of them. It showed a video before Easter Masses and held a six-week program for returning Catholics.

"The commercials helped (fallen-away Catholics) realize that they were missing something in their lives," said Father John Bonavitacola, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He noticed that Catholics who had grown lax in their faith or who felt hurt by the church, or who had divorced and remarried, returned. Many had their marriage validated in the church while others joined for the first time.

Six months after the media campaign ended, a comprehensive analysis of its impact revealed a 22 percent increase in Mass attendance at nine sample parishes. Throughout the diocese, the average increased Mass attendance -- returned and new Catholics -- was 12 percent. That's despite a flat population growth in the diocese during that period.

"Wherever they've been, they can come back home. It's a message that resonates," Hanning said. "I never thought I'd have thousands of Catholics calling and e-mailing me and saying, 'I'm proud to be Catholic and I want to help others.'"

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Philippe de Champaigne

Surprise Gift for Fr. Moneypenny

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Purgatory

"They are begging for our prayers. Ever so quietly. Do you hear them? Pray for those in purgatory. They will certainly pray for you and, then, welcome you with great joy and gratitude into the eternal habitations. Hail Mary…"

• Father George
  

Wash. Times: Bishop to shun Steele's address

Interview in magazine triggers snub

Ralph Z. Hallow
Sunday, March 22, 2009

EXCLUSIVE:

A Roman Catholic bishop in Indiana will shun a pro-life banquet if Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele addresses the sold-out event, The Washington Times has learned.

The other honoree at the April 16 Vanderburgh County Right to Life (VCRL) banquet is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and the snub by Bishop Gerald Andrew Gettelfinger of Evansville over Mr. Steele could embarrass Mrs. Palin, a hero to pro-lifers, and reverberate throughout the movement.

"At this point, the bishop's intention is not to attend the dinner he would normally attend," Paul Leingang, communications director for the diocese and editor of its weekly newspaper, the Message, said. "The bishop has had a conversation with Mr. Steele and has informed [VCRL Executive Director Mary Ellen] Van Dyke that his early decision not to attend still stands."

Mrs. Palin, an evangelical, is twinned with Mr. Steele, a Roman Catholic, as the featured attractions at the banquet, billed as the biggest such event in the nation and expected to attract more than 4,500 people.

Nor will Bishop Gettelfinger be the only prominent area pro-lifer to shun the banquet over Mr. Steele. Evansville Catholic Charities Director Jim Collins also plans to boycott the gathering, saying he was "shocked" by Mr. Steele's answers on abortion during a recent interview.

In an interview with GQ, published in the latest issue of the magazine, the reporter asked, "Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?" According to GQ, Mr. Steele said, "Yeah. I mean, again, I think that's an individual choice." The reporter then said, "You do?" and Mr. Steele said, "Yeah. Absolutely."

However, he also said the Supreme Court "wrongly decided" the 1973 case that struck down state limits on abortion and made it a matter of individual choice. And on the day after GQ posted the article on its Web site, Mr. Steele backtracked, saying "I am pro-life, always have been, always will be" and reiterating his statement that the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling was flawed.

"No pro-life person could have answered the way he did," Mr. Collins said. "I don't care how he dances around it afterward, he is not a pro-lifer," he added, contending that Mr. Steele's presence would thus tarnish the event.

"The banquet has always been the high point because the speaker was always someone who had impeccable pro-life credentials - who had actually accomplished something to protect human life in the womb," Mr. Collins said, adding that he has "not found one credible achievement by Michael Steele" on pro-life issues.

The expected attendees have yet to learn of the decision by Bishop Gettelfinger, 73, to shun the banquet as all sides have labored to keep secret the decision, and private negotiations were held involving the banquet organizers, the bishop and the local Catholic Charities director.

But the talks collapsed after a Thursday afternoon meeting of the Vanderburgh County Right to Life board when the panel secretly voted, after contentious debate, to honor the speaking contract it had made with Mr. Steele, which predated not only the GQ remarks but even his Jan. 30 election as chairman of the Republican National Committee, the GOP's 168-member governing body.

"Mr. Steele was contracted to speak last fall," Mrs. Van Dyke said.

A last-ditch conversation between Mr. Steele and the bishop failed to reach an agreement, making final the bishop's decision to avoid the gathering.

Bishop Gettelfinger had written a warning letter to Mrs. Van Dyke that laid out his objections to Mr. Steele's scheduled appearance at the banquet. The bishop has repeated publicly to politicians in his own diocese Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 worldwide warning to Catholic politicians that they risk excommunication from the church and should not receive Communion if they support legal abortion.

When Mr. Steele learned his planned appearance had become an issue, he telephoned Mrs. Van Dyke and convinced her that he was genuinely pro-life.

"We have done our due diligence," Mrs. Van Dyke said. "Michael Steele has made the board of directors more than satisfied with his response regarding the GQ article. He told us he always has been and will be pro-life and against abortion in all cases."

Having publicly stated his intention to try to heal differences between pro-life and pro-choice Republicans, Mr. Steele has belonged to two pro-choice groups - the Main Street Republican Coalition and the Republican Leadership Council. He has variously maintained that he has been unintentionally imprecise on the abortion issue, that GQ distorted his answers and that he supports the GOP platform's call for a constitutional ban on abortion.

But Bishop Gettelfinger said in his letter to VCRL that "the principled answer for us is that there can be no equivocation: Intentional abortion is an act of killing the unborn. There is no room for choice in this deadly matter. Mr. Steele assiduously avoids such strong language."

The bishop's letter, parts of which were read by Mr. Leingang to The Times, balances condemnation with some praise for other things that the GOP leader said in the GQ article, including highlighting his mother's decision not to abort him.

"Mr. Steele is to be applauded for drawing attention to the other side of a woman's choice in detailing for us his mother's choice to put him up for adoption," the bishop says in his letter.

Mr. Leingang also said he has told VCRL that he is "writing an article in our diocese's weekly newspaper opposing Mr. Steele's appearance."

The deadline for articles is Wednesday morning, and the newspaper will be printed and distributed Friday.

The banquet, which had Cal Thomas as its main speaker last year, is testimony to the drawing power of Mrs. Palin among pro-lifers. Almost immediately on the announcement that she would appear, tickets promptly sold out, even though a majority of them are not in the banquet room.

"We expect 2,180 people to attend the banquet," Mrs. Van Dyke said. "Another 2,500 tickets are available for a live feed broadcast in the auditorium."

Pro-life Republicans informed by The Times of the developments in Vanderburgh County agreed Mrs. Palin's appearance could tie her to a fuss in which she played no part. They also called the bishop's boycott an indication of how both the church and the pro-life community might continue to react to Mr. Steele's leadership of a political party with a platform that stands firmly against abortion.

But at least one pro-life conservative opposed Bishop Gettelfinger's no-show plans.

"The bishop would be foolish to a fault if he carries through with his threat to boycott because it has never been clearer how committed the Democratic Party's leadership is to opposing the pro-life community," said Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, which describes itself as a public policy group promoting traditional values. "While the bishop and others may be unhappy with what Michael Steele has said, the bishop and other Steele critics are profoundly naive if they think dividing the pro-life community is a good idea."

Besides, said Mr. Hanna, "I am not sure Steele's unfortunate phrasing quite constitutes the support for abortion that would warrant the bishop's staying away from the banquet."

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Notre Dame Switchboard Overwhelmed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY
Catholic PRWire

Notre Dame Grads Condemn Obama Decision

Detroit/South Bend (March 21, 2009) - As of late Friday night, hundreds of callers had overwhelmed the switchboard at Notre Dame as news began to circulate that Obama had been invited to give the commencement address at Notre Dame on May 17th. Sources at Notre Dame as well as the White House late Friday afternoon confirmed the invitation had been extended and accepted.

ND operators said the calls simply became too much to handle. Voice mails of the University President, Vice-President, Provost, assistant-provost and PR director were all full by 10pm EST. Operators were suggesting that callers try again on Monday when university officials would be back in their offices.

All the calls were expressing outrage. None supported the decision.

Two Notre Dame alumni who own and operate the world’s first Catholic internet TV station www.realcatholictv.com both immediately denounced the university’s decision to award Barack Obama honors and give him a stage from which to speak.

Marc Brammer, ND Class of ’74 and MBA’76 and Michael Voris ’83 each called the move a disgrace and a smear on the University’s reputation of being a Catholic school.

Voris discovered the news while live on the air with Relevant Radio’s Drew Mariana while he was being interviewed about the week’s news. “While I was actually on the air with Drew”, Voris said, “I shot off an email to Fr. Jenkins (ND President) expressing my deep anger that the carnage done to the Faith by Notre Dame is continuing.”

Voris shared the text of his email – It is beyond sinful that a University dedicated to the Mother of God, in whose womb the salvation of the world became incarnate, would give a platform to the biggest enemy of life in the womb this country has ever seen.

“This is a direct slap in the face to all who venerate the Mother of God. To be honoring a man who continues to do everything in his power to destroy the fundamental essence of motherhood through abortion,” said Brammer, “shows just how much the University has lost its moral bearings.”

RealCatholicTV.com has pledged its support to encouraging protests and condemnation of the Obama visit.

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Promoting the Glamour of Evil

From Alan Keyes:

"Apparently the Catholic folks at Notre Dame University have no more respect for the Baptismal vows they renew every Easter than their invited Commencement Speaker this year has for the Presidential Oath of Office. At this moment in time, Barack Obama is the living incarnation of the glamour of evil. His smiley tones and non-threatening manner mask a studied commitment to the promotion of the most deadly form of evil in the world today- the cult of abortion centered on the ritual of child sacrifice. Obama has moved with impetuous determination to prove his claim to the mantle of High Priest of the Worldwide Abortion cult. With Executive orders he has shifted the resources of the U.S. government behind the global implementation of abortion. He has declared open season on embryonic human life. He has appointed enthusiastic political and judicial acolytes of this cult of death to high positions in the Executive and Judicial branches.

Even before these actions there was no rational basis for pretending to doubt his absolute commitment to the evil of abortion for its own sake. There can be no other explanation for his opposition, while an Illinois state Senator, to the bipartisan effort in the legislature to end the heinous practice of infanticide against innocent babies- delivered in the course of an abortion attempt; wrapped in soiled linens; and left on a cart to languish without medical care or any human comfort until they died. His only real explanation for refusing to support an end to this abominable practice was the cold-blooded logic that any interference with the mother's intention to kill the child would damage so-called abortion rights.

The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is objective evil of the most deadly spiritual kind. Obama embraces this evil for its own sake, without even the specious calculus of cost and benefit to cloak the true nature of his devotion. Except the Notre Dame University community consciously wishes to promote similar devotion in its students, there can be no valid explanation for their willingness to extend a platform to such a man. They cannot plead respect for his supposed High Office, unless they mean to suggest that it is consistent with Catholic teaching or the Lord's example to put such worldly reverence above the reverence for God, and the sacred laws commanding respect for innocent human life. Human honor cannot redeem that which God abhors. It cannot clear away the stain and curse that mars it. Vox Populi, Vox Dei is no maxim for the Body of Christ.

Nor can apologists at Notre Dame point to any positions he takes, or worldly programs he promises that can offset the sacrifice of spiritual integrity his unapologetic support for the cult of child sacrifice entails. It may be that he has gained the whole world's momentary adulation and tinsel honor. But as Christ spoke true, his soul is forfeit in the bargain, and the gain is as nothing compared to the cost.

Neither can they plead respect for the historic breakthrough his election supposedly represents. How can one who withdraws the protection of God's ordained equality of rights from innocent, helpless children claim to represent the triumph of justice over the very evils, born of greed and passion, unleashed by disregard for that equality? The vicious heart of selfish passion that perverted the souls of slave masters or self-worshiping lynch mobs, is the same heart offered in service to the Father of lies and evil in the abortion cult.

In the literal sense therefore, Barack Obama is the incarnation of what the Catholic Church identifies as the epitome of evil in the world today. What Notre Dame has done puts the stamp of Catholicity upon him, as if there is no absolute contradiction between what he advocates and represents and what can honorably be presented from platforms that benefit from the auspices of the Church. A Commencement speech represents a word spoken at the beginning of a new stage of life. In the literal sense it represents a principle for thought and action. Are we seriously to believe that some morally truthful argument can be made that justifies presenting Barack Obama in a Catholic context, as one who speaks for decent moral principle? It is sophomoric to suggest that any good thing he promises, promotes or even implements can compensate for his declared war upon the very principle of goodness, which is nowhere more clearly at stake than in the law of love that shrouds, protects and sanctifies our reverence for innocent human life. What Catholic theology makes good the rationalization that good works somehow supply the deficiency of a spirit and will that in the innocent person of the child, defile and abuse the very image of God Himself?

Given the evil he represents, Notre Dame's invitation to Obama is a slavish capitulation to the glamour of evil. Across America there are people of many different hues and denominations who devote themselves to the protection of innocent life, respect for the God-ordained family, and promotion of social justice in ways that conform with the principle of subsidiarity that respects human responsibility before God for the exercise of freedom His will for us makes possible. The world does not elevate them to platforms of power. Indeed it threatens them with punishment; ridicules and reviles their single-hearted devotion to Christ's example; relegates them to what it believes are the dingy fringes of respectability and esteem. Yet where is Christ to be found more than in those willing to bear with him the cross of human anguish on the long climb toward Calvary and the sacrifice that redeems mankind from the burden of sin? Rather than give an honorable platform to an evil man the world admires, a Catholic institution would do better to offer students a voice that speaks from the depths of this redemptive anguish, with a heart that sees past the glamour and power of evil, to the truth that will someday repel and triumph over it.

In an era when the Catholic Church in America still reels from the damaging effect of leaders who seem to connive at what gives scandal to the faithful, this scandalous gesture of admiration and respect toward the man who best represents the temporary triumph of evil over America's public life is a renewed scandal. As the first reeked of worldly fear and selfish licentiousness, this reeks of death and the prideful embrace of the doctrine that rejects the sovereignty of God in order to make man the master of life and death, right and wrong, hope and salvation. Catholics who abhor such scandal need to speak out. With one voice we should say to Notre Dame what Joshua said to the people of Israel: "If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve…" (Josue 24:15)

As a Catholic I earnestly pray to God, and ask of our Church leaders, that they make clear that this invitation cannot stand. If it stands, the scandalous lesson of subservience to human pride and power will lengthen the shadow of spiritual corruption that still haunts the Church. But if it is rebuked and withdrawn, every Catholic and Christian heart submissive to the sovereignty of God, as they bear witness to the affirmation of its truth, will be emboldened to speak and act with courage, even in the teeth of the whole world's scornful power.

This may also be an opportunity to begin the work that may someday turn Obama's heart from evil. Rather than confirm him in his present heedless service to objective evil, confront Him with the truth that there are Christian hearts that honor God above any man or human office. The seed planted by that confrontation will remind him of the true spirit of liberty. And it might someday grow up to impel him to repent of evil, who knows? With God, all things are possible"

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Mission: it is our duty to offer everyone the possibility of attaining eternal life

From RORATE CÆLI:

At this moment I would like to go back in thought five centuries, to the years following 1506, when, in these lands, then visited by the Portuguese, the first sub-Saharan Christian kingdom was established, thanks to the faith and determination of the king, Dom Alphonsus I Mbemba-a-Nzinga, who reigned from 1506 until his death in 1543.

The kingdom remained officially Catholic from the sixteenth century until the eighteenth, with its own ambassador in Rome. You see how two quite different ethnic groups – the Bantu and the Portuguese – were able to find in the Christian religion common ground for understanding, and committed themselves to ensuring that this understanding would be long-lasting, and that differences – which undoubtedly existed, and great ones at that – would not divide the two kingdoms! For Baptism enables all believers to be one in Christ.

Today it is up to you, brothers and sisters, following in the footsteps of those heroic and holy heralds of God, to offer the Risen Christ to your fellow citizens. So many of them are living in fear of spirits, of malign and threatening powers. In their bewilderment they end up even condemning street children and the elderly as alleged sorcerers.

Who can go to them to proclaim that Christ has triumphed over death and all those occult powers (cf. Eph 1:19-23; 6:10-12)? Someone may object: “Why not leave them in peace? They have their truth, and we have ours. Let us all try to live in peace, leaving everyone as they are, so they can best be themselves.” But if we are convinced and have come to experience that without Christ life lacks something, that something real – indeed, the most real thing of all – is missing, we must also be convinced that we do no injustice to anyone if we present Christ to them and thus grant them the opportunity of finding their truest and most authentic selves, the joy of finding life. Indeed, we must do this. It is our duty to offer everyone this possibility of attaining eternal life.

Benedict XVI

Mass with religious of Angola and São Tomé

Luanda, Angola

March 21, 2009

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Is the throne of the Bishop of Linz wobbling?

From DiePresse.com via Catholic Church Conservation:

"Is the seat of Bishop Schwarz wobbling?

Arch-conservative circles place Linzer Bishop Schwarz in a serious situation. Schwarz himself has just completed a particularly stressful week of meetings.

Is the seat of Bishop Schwarz wobbling?
Will he be appointed to Rome? To the Curia? Or will he go back to a leading position in his Salesian Order? Will the Vatican send him an "assistant" in the form of a coadjutor, who then has the right to follow him? One thing is certain: Influential arch conservative circles are presently attempting to - from the public until now unnoticed - remove the Bishop of Linz.

Problems with Friedl and Wagner
The situation is serious for Schwarz. So serious that even Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn is involved. He wants to keep his former Auxilliary Bishop (2001-2005). Only recently, the chairman of the Bishops' Conference hurried to the side of Schwarz with a remarkable appearance. Schoenborn was personally travelled to a meeting of the Bishops Consistory in Linz. The body of the 20 highest officials of the Diocese of Linz had considered in his presence (Schoenborn is Metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province which Upper Austria belongs to) the situation after the "voluntary" resignation of the Windischgarsten parish priest Gerhard Maria Wagner. The conservative wing of Upper Austria was particularly hard hit by the resignation before the inauguration. It is powerful - and now seeks to strike back.

Schwarz himself has just completed a particularly stressful week of meetings. On Monday with Father Josef Friedl, who confessed that he lives with a woman in the rectory. On Thursday with the deans, who no longer believe in the maintenance of celibacy. Just yesterday, Friday, with the priests’ council who have little to no understanding of the events surrounding the almost Bishop Wagner...."

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Special honors

From DOR Catholic:

"Two prominent members of the Women's Ordination Conference are currently in charge of Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Rochester. Sister Joan Sobala, SSJ is heading up the Our Lady of Lourdes - St. Anne Church Cluster, while Nancy DeRycke is in charge at Good Shepherd Parish.

Both of these women have now been granted what seems to be a special honor in DOR. Last September Bishop Clark visited Our Lady of Lourdes and formally installed Sister Joan as the cluster's Pastoral Administrator and this past weekend he was at Good Shepherd to lead the installation of Ms. DeRycke as its PA. (The latter must have been more challenging, as it seems the bishop needed 3 Masses to get the job done.)

It is no secret that Bishop Clark has said that he would be happy to ordain women as priestesses, if only Rome would allow it. Well, Rome has emphatically said that it lacks the power to allow it and so the bishop now seems reduced to these public displays of his support for their leadership.

To the best of my knowledge our bishop had never traveled to a parish to formerly install a pastoral administrator until last fall.

Isn't that special?"

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Prayer Request for Swissmiss

She's still in bad shape - please take a few moments to pray for her.

"Please keep us all in your prayers...a Chaplet of Divine Mercy would be wonderful!!"

• Prayer Request for Swissmiss
• St. Monica's Kneeler

Vatican clamps down on Killala Latin Mass move

Michael Kelly

A high-profile Vatican office has ordered Bishop John Fleming to make provision for the traditional Latin Mass in his Killala diocese. The move, from the powerful 'Ecclesia Dei' Commission comes after the Killala Council of Priests decided that no provision should be made for the celebration of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

In July 2007, Pope Benedict's letter, Summorum Pontificum, eased restrictions on the pre-Vatican II Mass, the so-called Tridentine Rite and established that any Catholic priest can celebrate the traditional Latin Mass without first seeking the permission of his bishop. Prior to the coming into force of Summorum Pontificum bishops had the right to restrict access to the Latin Mass.

Initially, the Killala Council of Priests, an advisory body made up of both elected members and priests appointed by Bishop Fleming, advised that no provision should be made for the Latin Mass pending a request for clarification from the Vatican on aspects of the Pope's letter. This advice was accepted by Bishop Fleming and an announcement made that the Mass would be unavailable in the Killala diocese.

However, The Irish Catholic has learned that the matter came to the attention of the Holy See as a number of people in Killala wrote to the Vatican to express their frustration at the lack of provision. The Irish Catholic also understands that a number of diocesan priests who believed the decision countermanded papal legislation, contacted Bishop Fleming to register discontent.

The 'Ecclesia Dei' Commission, headed by Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, then wrote to Bishop Fleming insisting that the restriction was forbidden under Church law since Pope Benedict had made universal provision for the availability of the Mass in the extraordinary form. In its letter, the Commission insisted that neither Bishop Fleming, nor the Council of Priests, had the right to place a restriction on a right approved by the Pope. Bishop Fleming has now designated the Church of the Assumption, Ardagh, Crossmolina, Co Mayo as the centre for the traditional Mass in the Killala diocese and the celebrant will be Fr John Loftus, a priest of the diocese.

h/t to Ulster Taig

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Find Your Career in the Church -- The Scientific Way

By Anonymous

Anonymous is a priest who is very familiar with the contemporary Catholic scene in America.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a long-standing psychological instrument used to identify personality types. It is often administered to prospective employees by business, government -- and the Church -- as a screening device. The MMPI lists a series of statements, and the applicant must indicate whether the statements apply to him or not. Many adult professionals may be familiar with the test.

Have you ever wondered how the MMPI categorizes people? I have broken the code! If you are correctly identified by the following assertions (which are actual statements taken from the "Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory" by Hathaway and McKinley, Group Form Test Booklet), you are a good candidate for the following positions:


Vocations Director:

22. At times I have fits of laughing and crying that I cannot control.

298. If several people find themselves in trouble, the best thing for them to do is to agree upon a story and stick to it.

284. I am sure I am being talked about.

554. If I were an artist I would like to draw children.

393. Horses that don't pull should be beaten or kicked.

35. If people had not had it in for me I would have been much more successful.


Youth Minister:

437. It is all right to get around the law if you don't actually break it.

101. I believe women ought to have as much sexual freedom as men.

142. I certainly feel useless at times.

10. There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time.

231. I like to talk about sex.


Liturgical Design Consultant:

39. At times I feel like smashing things.

476. I am a special agent of God.

538. I think I would like the work of a dress-maker.

358. Bad words, often terrible words, come into my mind and I cannot get rid of them.

49. It would be better if almost all laws were thrown away.

200. There are persons who are trying to steal my thoughts and ideas.


Chancery Official:

462. I have no difficulty starting or holding my urine.

106. Much of the time I feel as if I have done something wrong or evil.

14. I have diarrhea once a month or more.

19. When I take a new job, I like to be tipped off on who should be gotten next to.

151. Someone has been trying to poison me.

510. Dirt frightens or disgusts me.

87. I would like to be a florist.


Bishop of an Average American Diocese:

481. I can remember "playing sick" to get out of something.

28. When someone does me a wrong I feel I should pay him back if I can, just for the principle of the thing.

73. I am an important person.

121. I believe I am being plotted against.

236. I brood a great deal.

158. I cry easily.

360. Almost every day something happens to frighten me.


Possible Priest (who will first need lots of therapy):

1. I like mechanics magazines.

113. I believe in law enforcement.

133. I have never indulged in any unusual sex practices.

249. I believe there is a Devil and a Hell in the afterlife.

294. I have never been in trouble with the law.

302. I have never been in trouble because of my sexual behavior.

488. I pray several times a week.

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Pontiff Notes Africa's Vocation to Know Christ

Highlights Need for Reconciliation Among Peoples

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon, MARCH 19, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Africa has a particular vocation to know Christ, and that's something all Africans should be proud of, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this today upon meeting with the Special Council of the Synod for Africa at the apostolic nunciature of Yaoundé. The meeting took place to mark the publication of the "instrumentum laboris" (working document) of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.

The synod will be held Oct. 4-25 in the Vatican on the theme "The Church in Africa, at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace: You Are the Salt of the Earth; You Are the Light of the World."

"Your continent has been blessed by our Lord Jesus himself," the Pontiff began. "At the dawn of his earthly life, sad circumstances led him to set foot on African soil. God chose your continent to become the dwelling-place of his Son.

"In Jesus, God drew near to all men and women, of course, but also, in a particular way, to the men and women of Africa. Africa is where the Son of God was weaned, where he was offered effective sanctuary."

Noting the continent's long history of Christianity, the Holy Father recalled that "God himself brought salt and light to Africa. From that time on, the seed of his presence was buried deep within the hearts of this dear continent, and it has blossomed gradually, beyond and within the vicissitudes of its human history.

"As a result of the coming of Christ who blessed it with his physical presence, Africa has received a particular vocation to know Christ. Let Africans be proud of this!"

Rebirth

In reflecting on the events since the Second Vatican Council, which coincided with the emergence of new democracies on the continent, Benedict XVI noted the progress of the Church in Africa, which "accompanied the building of new national identities and, at the same time, sought to translate the identity of Christ along its own ways."

"As the hierarchy became increasingly African following Pope Pius XII’s ordination of Bishops from your continent, theological reflection began to ferment quickly," the Pope continued. "It would be well for your theologians today to continue to probe the depth of the Trinitarian mystery and its meaning for everyday African life.

"This century will perhaps permit, by God’s grace, the rebirth, on your continent, albeit certainly under a different and new form, of the prestigious School of Alexandria. Why could we not hope that Africans today and the universal Church might thereby be furnished with great theologians and spiritual masters capable of contributing to the sanctification of those who dwell in this continent and throughout the Church?"

Turning toward the themes to be addressed by the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, Benedict XVI spoke of the need for reconciliation "between peoples, ethnic groups and individuals" on the continent.

"Your continent," he said, "has been and continues to be a theatre of grave tragedies which cry out for true reconciliation between peoples, ethnic groups and individuals."

For Christians, the Pope said, "reconciliation is rooted in the merciful love of God the Father, and it is accomplished through the person of Christ Jesus who, in the Holy Spirit, has offered the grace of reconciliation to all. Its consequences will be shown, then, in the justice and peace which are indispensable for building a better world."

"If it is true," he added, "that in Jesus Christ we belong to the same family and share the same life -- since in our veins there flows the Blood of Christ himself, who has made us children of God, members of God’s Family -- there must no longer be hatred, injustice and internecine war."

Nourishment

Benedict XVI also spoke of the need of fostering a deeper eucharistic life and a "profound listening to the word of God and meditative reading of sacred Scripture."

"The word of life and the Bread of life offer light and nourishment as medicine and food for our journey in fidelity to the Teacher and Shepherd of our souls, so that the Church in Africa can carry out the service of reconciliation, justice and peace," the Pope explained.

"If they are truly to be this, the faithful must undergo conversion and follow Jesus Christ; they must become his disciples in order to be witnesses of his saving power," he added.

"No ethnic or cultural difference, no difference of race, sex or religion must become a cause for dispute among you," the Holy Father concluded. "You are all children of the one God, our Father, who is in heaven. With this conviction, it will then be possible to build a more just and peaceful Africa, an Africa worthy of the legitimate expectations of all its children."

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Father Erik - "yeah, another child of God!"

• Loved Sinner: All About the Babies
  

The Story of a Modern-Day Exorcist

By Gilbert Cruz Monday, Mar. 16, 2009

Swedish actor Max von Sydow performs an exorcism in a scene from The Exorcist

When he first heard about a Vatican-sponsored course on exorcism for priests, journalist Matt Baglio was intrigued by the idea of this ancient ritual taking place in the modern world. In his new book, The Rite, Baglio follows American priest Father Gary — sent to Rome to train as an exorcist — and his apprenticeship with Father Carmine. Baglio talked to TIME about belief, skeptical priests and the particulars of the exorcism ritual.

TIME: The thing that inspired this book was a class on exorcism. Tell me about it.
BAGLIO: I was a freelance journalist living in Rome and had heard about this course called Exorcism and the Prayer of Liberation. It was organized by the Legion of Christ and their school, the Regina Apostolorum, which is Vatican-affiliated. Not knowing anything about exorcism or if the Church even still believed in it, I was intrigued by the idea of a university-level course teaching priests about exorcism.

What were your first thoughts about the class? Did you think, Wait a minute, this is the 21st century. Why are we even still talking about exorcism?
Absolutely. My first thought was, Why is the church doing this class? Is it just a p.r. stunt? But then I saw that a lot of the course work itself was very theologically and historically based. None of it was practical, which is why Father Gary had to eventually go out and apprentice with a veteran exorcist, Father Carmine. The course would bring in experts — experts in satanic cults, experts in criminology, they even had a psychiatrist come in to talk to the priests about the differences between the various mental illnesses that could be confused for demonic possession vs. what the church says is actually demonic possession. (See photos of Pope Benedict XVI.)

As we understand more and more about multiple personalities, epilepsy, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, doesn't demonic possession get explained away?
There's a definite degree to which that's true. You can't deny the fact that many illnesses in the past were misunderstood. The church has to be very careful about confusing mental illness with demonic possession.

When you started the book, did you lean one way or another in terms of whether or not you believed in the possibility of exorcism?
I came at this topic very journalistically, not having an opinion for or against it. I wanted to really understand what it is and why the church still believes in it. But even exorcists themselves admit that 90% of the people that come to see them don't need an exorcism. There still remains a small percentage of cases, however, involving levitation, mind-reading and other paranormal phenomena that can't be explained through science. Maybe one day.

You write about how most priests don't even like to talk about exorcism, that they find the idea distasteful. Why is that?
There's a lot of taboo when it comes to the devil and evil itself. Parishioners don't want to hear about Satan and evil and sin. Father Gary, he's in his 50s, and he was ordained in the late '70s. During that period, you had a lot of turmoil in conjunction with Vatican II shaking up the church and getting rid of many very old traditions, the Latin mass and those sorts of things. But you have to look at priests themselves as being creatures of their environment. Coupled with that were all this these new psychoanalytical approaches that were uncovering a lot of things that in the past were considered to be in the realm of the spiritual. I think a lot of priests saw that and said, Let's just keep becoming more modern and more open and don't worry about all these "medieval things."

And as a result, many exorcists are marginalized within the church.
I had priests tell me that their superiors belittled the fact that they were exorcists. Interestingly, though, the newer generation of priests are more responsive to the reality of the devil, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that John Paul II was and Pope Benedict XVI is a little more conservative, so the younger seminarians are a little less apt to ridicule. The older priests of Father Gary's generation didn't want to talk about it.

So how is a priest supposed to figure out that an exorcism is warranted? How do they judge who is and who isn't a worthy candidate?
The ritual stipulates that there are three signs that the priest has to look for: abnormal strength, the ability to understand unknown languages and the knowledge of hidden things. But they're very arbitrary, even those things. So they have to be in concert with something else. And typically what priests look for is what they call the aversion to the sacred, which is a person's inability to pray, to say the name of Jesus or Mary, to even look at the priest. Typically, when the person comes to see them, it's the last thing they want to do. They tend to have gone to see many doctors in search of a medical cure for whatever is afflicting them. They don't believe that the problem is demonic. They don't come in and say, "Father, I'm being attacked by demons. You need to pray over me." When someone says that to them, the priests immediately discounts that the problem is demonic.

So what happens during the exorcism rite?
The ritual, as its written, has several different stages to it. You say the litany of saints, you read the Gospel, you say a homily. The priest is allowed to bring in other elements if he wants to — the renewal of the baptismal vows, for example. But at the core of it are the exorcism prayers themselves, which are composed of the imperative and the depreciatory. The depreciatory involves the exorcist entreating God — "God, come down and bless this person." The imperative is the command, "I command you to leave this person." If you were to do the whole thing from start to finish, it would take out about an hour. But none of the priests that I followed in Rome do it like that. Almost all of them get rid of everything except the exorcism prayers. And the reason they do that is because they don't have time. They have a waiting room of 20 people. That's one day. The next day they have another 20 people.

Most of the exorcisms that Father Gary witnesses are fairly low-key. What happens during the dramatic ones?
If an exorcist sees 100 people, there are only going to be 2 or 3 that are dramatic. And I would characterize those as being when the person actually speaks to the exorcist. Quite often they'll be burping or belching or coughing or yawning. There's moaning and screaming too. But in the stronger cases, in almost every instance, you'll have the voice. The person will speak in a demonic voice, and they'll say things like, "This person belongs to us," "You have no power over us," "You can't defeat us." They are usually very dramatic in the sense that the person will be screaming at the top of their lungs. There can also be shaking. Picture a person sitting in a chair with their arms sticking straight out, their legs sticking straight out, convulsing. That's common.

But usually, the more dramatic cases deal with people who are screaming, using their voice, shoving and punching, getting up, smacking their head against the wall — just very violent. And that voice is beyond a simple mimic of a strange voice. It's very uncanny, very unnatural. And then, of course, there's vomiting, which is common. Father Carmine saw a case where a woman vomited up a small black toad that was still alive. He went to catch it, and it dissolved into saliva. I had another priest who I talked to who dealt with a woman who vomited up seven little black nails, six of which dissolved into this black liquid. Father Carmine saw a woman vomiting up buckets of human sperm.

Don't you think that regardless of your book or the testimonials by these priests, there are many people who aren't going to believe that exorcism is valid?
For people to just outright discount it is a little premature. I think that there's clearly something going on here. Even if you don't believe in the devil, how do you explain the paranormal? I would dearly love if science could really explain some of these things, but until then, the question is just too big to ignore.

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Israeli ambassador confirms Pope Benedict may wear cross at Western Wall

Rome, Italy, Mar 18, 2009 / 02:13 am (CNA).- Contrary to comments attributed to an Israeli rabbi, Pope Benedict XVI will not be barred from entering the holy area of Jerusalem’s Western Wall while wearing a cross.

On Tuesday the Jerusalem Post quoted Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who oversees worship matters at the Western Wall, as saying that the Pope should not wear a cross during his visit to the area.

“It is not fitting to enter the Western Wall area with religious symbols, including a cross,” the rabbi reportedly said, according to SIR.

Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, issued a clarifying statement saying that the Jerusalem Post’s quotation was “misleading.”

Ambassador Lewy said that Israel will “respect, as a matter of course, the religious symbols of the Holy Father and of his entourage, as expected in accordance with rules of hospitality and dignity,” following the same procedure applied in Pope John Paul II’s papal visit to Israel in 2000.

“This was confirmed to a high Official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Jerusalem personally by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch,” the ambassador’s statement continued.

Pope Benedict is scheduled to visit the Western Wall on May 12 as part of his journey to the Holy Land.

• Israeli ambassador confirms Pope Benedict may wear cross at Western Wall
• Western Wall rabbi says pope should not wear cross at site

Depart From Me! I Never Knew You, Eaters of Bacon

By Katharine Shilcutt in Spaced City
Monday, Feb. 23 2009 @ 2:14PM

Did you know that Joel Osteen is kicking it old school now? And by old school, I mean Old Testament. Straight outta Hebron!

The new-agey motivational speaker preacher at Lakewood Church took a bizarrely old-fashioned approach recently when he advised his congregation against eating both pork and seafood, saying that "...for our health's sake, we have to be willing to make some changes."

He further explained his newfound nutritional path to salvation with deeply theological phrases like "back in the Bible days" and "this is kinda gross" before launching into a detailed diatribe about the inherent filth and evil associated with porcine digestive tracts...

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Ninja Cathy

• The Recovering Dissident Catholic

The Protestant Meltdown

By David Mills

March 22-28, 2009 Issue | Posted 3/13/09 at 10:25 AM

"Many cradle Catholics I know look at the moral conflicts tearing apart the mainline denominations with sadness, but as a convert from one of them (the Episcopal Church, the most notoriously divided one of them all), I think this is not quite the right response.

We will feel sad at the sight of beloved Christian friends suffering as their churches divide, but we might be heartened to see that because these conflicts express flaws in the original design, they will encourage some to greater friendship, if not full reconciliation, with the Catholic Church..."

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Continuity, Not Rupture

From Fr. Erik Richtsteig:

"In gratitude for the continuing witness of Fr. Finigan."

• Continuity, Not Rupture
• Hermeneutic of Continuity

Pope Benedict XVI's Book on Saint Paul

Available March 27

St. Paul is one of the most important figures in Christian history. As Saul of Tarsus he vigorously persecuted Christianity, even collaborating in the death of Christianity’s first martyr, Stephen. His encounter with the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus changed Paul’s life, the Christian Church, and world history. More than anyone else in the early Church, Paul saw the universal nature of the Christian message. He became the “Apostle to the Gentiles” and the “Teacher of the Nations”. As the human author of half of the New Testament, Paul is a figure who cannot be overlooked by anyone who wants to understand Jesus Christ and Christianity.

In this book, Pope Benedict XVI, a profound spiritual leader in his own right and a first-rate theologian and Bible commentator, explores the legacy of Paul. Pope Benedict follows the course of the Apostle’s life, including his missionary journeys and his relationship with the other apostles of Jesus such as St. Peter and St. James, and Paul’s martyrdom in Rome. Benedict also examines such questions as: Did Paul know Jesus during his earthly life and how much of Jesus’ teaching and ministry did he know of? Did Paul distort the teachings of Jesus? What role did Jesus’ death and resurrection play in Paul’s teaching? What are we to make of Paul’s teaching about the end of the world? What does Paul’s teaching say about the differences between Catholic and Protestant Christians over salvation and the roles of faith and works in the Christian life? How have modern Catholic and Protestant scholars come together in their understanding of Paul? What does Paul have to teach us today about living a spiritual life?

These and other important issues are addressed in this masterful, inspirational, and highly-readable presentation of St. Paul and his writings by one of today’s great spiritual teachers, Pope Benedict XVI.

“The Apostle Paul, an outstanding and almost inimitable yet stimulating figure, stands before us as an example of total dedication to the Lord and to his Church, as well as of great openness to humanity and its cultures.”
—Pope Benedict XVI

• Saint Paul
• Saint Paul
• Saint Paul

Children seen by a portrait, depicting Pope Benedict XVI, painted by Cameroonian artist Jules Ricky Soh Fongang in honor of the pope's coming visit, outside Mary Queen of Apostles Basilica in Yaounde, Cameroon Sunday, March 15, 2009. Pope Benedict XVI leaves this week on his first trip to Africa, the fastest-growing region for the Roman Catholic church, saying Sunday that he wants to bring a message of hope to a continent suffering from poverty, disease and armed conflict. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)