Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI establishes structure for Anglicans uniting with Rome




The following story by Cindy Wooden appears on the Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has established a special structure for Anglicans who want to be in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church while preserving aspects of their Anglican spiritual and liturgical heritage, said U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada.

The cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said a new apostolic constitution would establish "personal ordinariates" -- similar to dioceses -- to oversee the pastoral care of those who want to bring elements of their Anglican identity into the Catholic Church with them.

Anglican priests who are married may be ordained Catholic priests, but married Anglican bishops will not be able to function as Catholic bishops in keeping with the long-standing Catholic and Orthodox tradition of ordaining only unmarried clergy as bishops, Cardinal Levada said.

The cardinal announced the new arrangement at a press conference Oct. 20 at the Vatican. He said the pope's apostolic constitution and norms for implementing it were undergoing final revisions and would be published in a couple of weeks.

In establishing the new jurisdictions, Pope Benedict is responding to "many requests" submitted by individual Anglicans and by Anglican groups -- including "20 to 30 bishops" -- asking to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, the cardinal said.

At the same time, Cardinal Levada said the new provision does not weaken the commitment of the Vatican to promoting Christian unity, but is a recognition that many Anglicans share the Catholic faith and that Anglicans have a spiritual and liturgical life worth preserving.

"It has always been the principal aim -- the principal aim -- to achieve the full, visible unity" of the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion, the cardinal said.

But given recent changes within many Anglican provinces with the ordination of women priests and bishops and the acceptance of homosexuality in some areas, the prospect of full unity "seemed to recede," he said.

The church recognizes and welcomes those Anglicans who fully share the Catholic faith, agree with the Catholic view that only men can be ordained priests and recognize the role of the bishop of Rome -- the pope -- as the sign and guarantor of church unity, he said.

At a press conference in London Oct. 20, Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Communion, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, issued a joint statement saying the new provisions are a recognition of "the substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality between the Catholic Church and the Anglican tradition."

"Without the dialogues of the past 40 years, this recognition would not have been possible, nor would hopes for full visible unity have been nurtured," the two leaders said.

Archbishop Williams told reporters that some members of the Church of England are uneasy about positions their church is taking, yet they would not want to become Roman Catholic.

"This will not resolve their challenges, and we in the Church of England have to continue to engage with that," he said.

Cardinal Levada told reporters he met personally Oct. 19 with Archbishop Williams, who had been told about the new arrangement a month earlier.

In a letter to top Anglican leaders, Archbishop Williams said, "In the light of recent discussions with senior officials in the Vatican, I can say that this new possibility is in no sense at all intended to undermine existing relations between our two communions or to be an act of proselytism or aggression. It is described as simply a response to specific inquiries from certain Anglican groups and individuals wishing to find their future within the Roman Catholic Church."

"For those who wish to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church in the near future, this announcement will clarify possible options, and we wish them God's strength and guidance in their discernment," the Anglican leader said.

Cardinal Levada also said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, had been informed about the pope's decision.

Asked Oct. 15 about the possible entrance of groups of former Anglicans into the Catholic Church, Cardinal Kasper said, "We are not fishing in the Anglican lake; proselytism is not the policy of the Catholic Church. But if there are people who, obeying their consciences, want to become Catholic, we cannot shut the door."

U.S. Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments and former undersecretary of the doctrinal congregation, spoke at the press conference with Cardinal Levada.

"We have been praying for unity for 40 years. We find now that the prayers we have had are being answered in a way that we did not anticipate. So the Holy Spirit is at work here and the Holy See cannot not respond," the archbishop said.

In 1993 the Catholic bishops of England and Wales asked the Vatican not to implement special structures for former Anglicans in their country, saying that the formation of Anglican-identity Catholic parishes would only further fracture the Christian community and would make the eventual unity of the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion more difficult.

Participants in the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue also have expressed concern in the past that the movement of Catholics to the Anglican Communion is making the Anglican Communion more liberal, while the movement of Anglicans to the Catholic Church is making the Catholic community more conservative.

Archbishop Di Noia said, "The ecumenical movement has changed. There has been a tremendous shift" in the prospects for full, complete union.

Many Anglicans already consider themselves to be Catholic, Archbishop Di Noia said, and the pope's new initiative will make "explicit the bond that is already implicit."

In 1980 the Vatican made a special pastoral provision for members of the Episcopal Church, the U.S. province of the Anglican Communion, who wanted to become Catholic after the Episcopalians began ordaining women priests. The provision included permission for entire parishes of former Episcopalians to use elements of their liturgy in the Catholic Mass.

Archbishop Di Noia said only a handful of parishes took advantage of that special permission, and in 2003 the Vatican approved "The Book of Divine Worship" for their liturgical use.

But he said many of those now seeking communion with Rome wanted a stronger affirmation of their Anglican heritage and a guarantee that it would continue to have a place in the Catholic Church, which is why the pope ordered the establishment of personal ordinariates.

The number of ordinariates and their headquarters will be determined by the number of Anglicans seeking full communion, Cardinal Levada said. The head of each ordinariate will be a former Anglican clergyman, who will not necessarily be ordained a Catholic bishop.

New priests for the ordinariates will study in seminaries with other Catholic seminarians, but an ordinariate can "establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony," Cardinal Levada said.

In general, married Anglican priests and bishops who become Catholic will be ordained Catholic priests, as will married Anglican seminarians, he said.

But an unmarried man ordained a Catholic priest will not be permitted to marry, and the pope's apostolic constitution will state a clear preference for a celibate clergy, Archbishop Di Noia said.

Cardinal Levada told reporters that he realizes "for some people it seems to be a problem" that the Vatican is allowing married former Anglicans to be ordained Catholic priests, but will not allow Catholic priests who have left to marry to return to ministry.

"They are two different circumstances," the cardinal said. Respecting "the authenticity of the call to service" of Anglican clergy who were married when they came to the decision to become Catholic is different from the case of "a Catholic who knowingly commits to a celibate priesthood and then decides for different reasons to leave the priesthood for married life."

"I do not think it is an insurmountable problem," Cardinal Levada said, adding that the church needs to educate Catholics that the dispensation for former Anglican clergy is an exception and that the church continues to uphold the virtue of celibacy.

END

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Remarkable Music of Tony Melendez




You Tube - The Remarkable Music of Tony Melendez

News Story and Video by Loci B. Lenar

On Sunday, October 18, 2009, Tony Melendez and his band played a selection of inspirational music of faith at The Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. The Catholic shrine held a televised event of One World Praying for Life and Peace. EWTN was broadcasting the prayer service with Tony's beautiful music.

Remarkably, Tony was born without arms, but is gifted with an ability to play a guitar with his amazing feet. I attended the event and recorded some video with my Canon G7 digital camera.  The video is of course not on the same scale as someone using professional equipment.  However, it's presented for the purpose of exhibiting the artistic talent of Tony Melendez.




The following excerpt is from Tony's website:

It was an unforgettable moment when, on September 15, 1987, he played his guitar for Pope John Paul II in Los Angeles. Born without arms, he performed a touching song entitled Never Be The Same. When the Pope approached him from the stage to kiss him in appreciation, it seemed to reflect the sentiments of the entire country.

Tony Melendez Ministries is dedicated to bringing compassion and hope to people throughout the world while inspiring and changing the hearts of all God's people.


Photograph and Video Copyright 2009 Loci B. Lenar

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Miracle of the Sun Witnessed at Knock Shrine in Ireland



The following excerpt is from an article published on IrishTimes.com:

THOUSANDS GATHERED at Knock Shrine, County Mayo, yesterday hoping to see an apparition of Our Lady.

There were ripples of applause from a crowd estimated at more than 5,000 as some people believed they could see the sun shimmering, changing colour and dancing in the sky.

John Tunney, from Islandeady, Castlebar, said: “I’m 53 years old and I never seen the sun go like that before. I witnessed the sun go all different colours, yellow, red and green. Then it completely darkened and began shimmering. Sometimes the sun emitted a clean, bright light, then it would darken again.”

Mr Tunney’s wife, Nina, said: “The sun was spinning in the sky. I experienced a feeling of total happiness. It is a feeling I would love to experience again. It was amazing. I felt marvellous.”

Yvonne Rabbitte, from Dunmore, Co Galway, showed other pilgrims a photograph she had taken on her digital camera which showed vivid rays radiating downwards from the sun at the time the image was taken.

Maggie Ahern, from Castlebar, had no doubt that the happenings in Knock were due to “heavenly intervention”.

Earlier in the week Dublin-based clairvoyant Joe Coleman predicted Our Lady would appear at the old parish church – scene of the 1879 apparition – at 3pm. Quite a number of those present were members of the Travelling community.

The crowds waited in the open air despite an invitation on loudspeaker at about 2.30pm from Knock parish priest Msgr Joseph Quinn that those in the grounds enter the adjacent Basilica to participate in ceremonies to mark the annual Dominican pilgrimage.

Msgr Quinn was not available for comment last night.

(For additional information, read Joe Coleman's Profile.

(For additional information about the story, please visit Spirit Daily.com)


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Monday, October 12, 2009

The Anointing of the Holy Spirit (Poetry)


Photographed inside St. Mary's Church, Denville, NJ

The Holy Spirit

Wings of loving freedom—
soaring peacefully into harmony with hymns of faith
encircling earth in search of virtuous souls
encountering scores of compassionate hearts
in tunes of praise and glory—
the gospel music of salvation.

Our Heavenly Father
aggrieved by turbulent winds
and clouds of fury
that displace innocent lives,
humanity is gifted with prayer to mitigate ominous storms,
protecting God’s children from misfortune.

The outpouring of divine love
thawing humanity’s chilled heart,
shadowed in moments of indifference,
blessed and thoughtfully forgiven by grace.



Photographed inside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Boonton, NJ

In unified prayer of mercy,
Jesus pardons our sins,
wipes away tears—
prepares our soul to embrace the Holy Spirit.

Behold the Light of Resurrection—
the Choir of Heaven in symphony with the Book of Life
recording all who believe in God’s providence!

By Loci B. Lenar


Photographs © 2009 Loci B. Lenar 
Poem © 2005 Loci B. Lenar
Registration Number TXU1-286-432


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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI Canonizes Saint Damien


Photo REUTERS/Francois Lenoir


Reuters reported that Pope Benedict canonized Saint Damien and four others on Sunday. The following story is by Stephen Brown:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict created five saints on Sunday including Belgian priest Damien who worked and died among Hawaiian lepers, earning the admiration of President Barack Obama who sent a message hailing Damien's canonization.

The U.S. president was born in Hawaii, where Damien worked in the leper colony of Molokai, caught leprosy and died in 1889. Obama said in a statement that Damien had "a special place in the hearts of Hawaiians."

"I recall many stories from my youth about his tireless work there to care for those suffering from leprosy who had been cast out," Obama said, adding that the priest had "challenged the stigmatizing effects" of the disfiguring disease.

"In our own time as millions around the world suffer from disease, especially the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, we should draw on the example of Fr. Damien's resolve in answering the urgent call to heal and care for the sick," the president said.

Born Jozef De Veuster, Damien went to Hawaii when he was 23 and 10 years later began work among the lepers, "not without fear and repugnance" at first, the pope said. He got ill and was "a leper among the lepers" for the last four years of his life.

The life of "Damien of Molokai" is well known to young U.S. Catholics but his appeal stretches to members of the broader Christian community such as Obama, who was baptized as an adult in the Trinity United Church of Christ. There is even a statue of Damien in the U.S. Congress.

Belgium's King Albert and Queen Paola attended the ceremony in St. Peter's, as did Polish President Lech Kaczynski, French premier Francois Fillon and Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos to celebrate new saints from their countries.

The pope also canonized Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski, archbishop of Warsaw when Poland rebelled against annexation by imperial Russia in 1863. Exiled to Siberia for 20 years by the czar, he was "a shining example for all the church," the pope said.

Dominican friar Francisco Coll Guitart, one of two Spaniards created a saint, preached in Catalonia in the 19th century and "reached the hearts of others because he transmitted what he himself lived with passion, which burned in his heart," said the pontiff.

The other is Brother Rafael Arnaiz Baron who became a Trappist monk and died at the age of 27 in 1938. He "did not know how to pray" when he began monastic life but became an example "especially for young persons who are not easily satisfied," the pope said.

France's new saint is Jeanne Jugan, venerated as Marie de la Croix. She worked with the poor and elderly, shedding all her own material possessions to become "a poor person among the poor" until her death in 1879.

(Writing by Stephen Brown; editing by David Stamp)

© Thomson Reuters 2009


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